4. SURAH AN-NISA(WOMEN)

INTRODUCTION

NAME: The name of the surah is An-Nisa which points to the topics in which the rights etc. of women have been discussed.

TIME OF REVELATION: It is a Madani surah. i.e: revealed in Madina. It seems to have been revealed after the revelation of surah Al-i- Imran. from the end of 03 A.H. to 05 A.H. at different times. The various verses were later on collected together under one Surah.

CENTRAL THEME: In this surah commands and laws in respect of the family and social life have been discussed but the style is neither dry nor complicated. It is simple, appealing to the mind and the heart and enlightening. Along with the commands and the laws, the Quranic dawah is also presented so that the sight may be focussed on the real aim of life and the commands and the laws may be observed in the proper Islamic spirit and not merely to meet the legal and Fiqh requirements.

In one part of the Surah the mischief mongering and the machinations of the munafiqeen (hypocrites) are criticised because the circumstances prevailing at the time of the revelation of this Surah demanded that the increasing activities of the hypocrites should be taken notice of and secondly because the proper and correct observance of the religious commands and injunctions is possible only when the follower is sincere in his belief and faith otherwise he would find innumerable excuses for avoiding them and it would put obstacles in the enforcement of the Shariah laws. In other words the real danger to muslim society is from the hypocrites only and in the matter of enforcement of the Shariah laws these people can place great obstacles.

ORDER OF THE VERSES: This surah is linked with its previous Surah, Al-i-Imran and also with Surah Baqrah. In the last verse of the Surah Aal-i- Imran the believers were exhorted to fear Allah and this surah begins with the injunction to fear Allah. As if they are the musical notes of the same tune. As for its link with surah Baqrah in that surah also direction have been given in respect of the family and social life. Further directions are given in this surah. In this way the direction of the surah is towards completing the laws of the Shariah.

The position of Verse No. 1 is that of a preamble. Whatever is stated in that is like the foundation of the Islamic family and social life.

Verses Nos. 2 to 43 state the commands and the laws relating to family and social life. e.g. the rights of the orphans, the rights of the kinsmen, the laws of the distribution of the inheritance, the rights of women, the laws of nikah, sanctity of life and property. etc. These commands end with the directions about salat (prayer).

In verses Nos. 44 to 57 the people of the Book have been warned on their straying and they have been invited to believe in the holy Quran.

In Verses Nos. 58 and 59 the requirements of faith have been presented, which concern the Islamic state and the Islamic social system.

Verses Nos. 60 to 70 criticise the attitude of the hypocrites and they have been invited to consider what a high place will be given to those who will be faithful to Allah and His messenger.

The subject matter of the verses Nos. 71 to 126 is in the same context. The hypocrites were trying to avoid giving sacrifices, whether they were in connection with migrating to some other place or to going on jihad (fighting). In this background, there is exhortation for migration and for jihad. It has been made clear that these sacrifices are a means of good fortune for the faithful people. In the discussion commands in respect of the problems arising from jihad have been given. e.g. salati- khauf (prayer at the time of danger) and a mention is also made of the conspiratorial activities of the hypocrites and it has been made clear that Islam is the right and true religion.

The contents of Verses Nos. 127 to 175 form the last part of the Surah, in which answers to questions which arose in connection with the commands in the beginning of the surah are given. Thereafter, the believers are addressed and they are given guidance, till the end of the Surah, and the hypocrites and the people of the Book are warned for their certain evil deeds and their attention is invited to reform.

Verse No.176 is like a supplement in which a question regarding inheritance has been answered.

4. SURAH AN-NISA(WOMEN) Verses ¹⁷⁶ (Translation of the Text)

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

1. O Mankind ! Fear your¹ Lord, who created you from a single soul² and from it created its mate³ and from these two spread many men and women⁴. Fear Allah, by Whom you demand (your rights) of one another⁵ and abstain from breaking off kinship.⁶ Allah ever watches over you.

2. And give to orphans⁷ their property. And exchange not their good things with your bad things, nor devour their wealth by adding it to your wealth. Indeed, that is a great sin ⁸.

3. And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans⁹, marry of those women who are lawful to you, two or three or four¹⁰ and if you fear that you cannot do justice¹¹ (to them) then marry one only or that which have come in your possessionl². That will be more proper to prevent you from doing injustice.

4. And give the women their dower as a free gift,¹³ but if they, of their own sweet will, remit any portion of it to you, you may enjoy it with pleasure.

5. And give not to those of weak understanding¹⁴ , ¹⁵ your wealth, which Allah has made the mean of your maintenance but feed and clothe them from it and speak to them kindly.

COMMENTARY

1. This direction is like a foundation for the responsibilities of the human rights and the society that have been mentioned in this Surah. The fact is that an honest fear of Allah produces in man the true spark of humanity and prompts him to respect rights of others and to sympathise with the weaker sections. Those people who consider that fear of Allah is unimportant on account of their disregard for religion and then formulate plans of building up the human society are making castles in the air. This is the reason why they are unable to develop men who are true sympathisers of humanity and who are the guardians of their rights and conscious of their duties. As against this, whoever adopts this direction of the Quran that is whoever honestly fears God, he would become in reality a standard-bearer of humanity. Quran has presented the best examples of such persons in every age and this process still continues. Accordingly even today the real quality of love for humanity will be found only in those who have absorbed in themselves this teaching of the Quran-fear of Allah.

2. That is: From Adam, who is the father of all mankind.

3. That is: Hawwa (Eve) was born out of Adam. The saying of the Quran that all were created from a single being proves that Hawwa was also created from Adam. If Hawwa would have been born from any separate source then it would have been said that all were created from two souls. As regards the detailed manner in which Hawwa was created, it is neither mentioned in Quran nor is it in hadith. Therefore, we have to accept and be content with the broad saying of the Quran.

4. Here two important realities have been mentioned. One: that all humans were created by Allah and He alone is their Lord. Second: The human race began with Adam therefore all humans. whether male or female whether black or white and to whatever nation or country they may belong are the offshoots of only one father Adam and one mother, Hawwa. Therefore, there is no difference among them in the matter of their humanity. All are equally deserving of respect and the right of every one should be respected. This teaching of Quran about humanity refutes the concept of racialism. It also cuts at the root of the polytheistic concept that the high caste people are born from devtas (gods) and the low caste or the shudras from rakshasas ( demons).

5. Men appeal to others for sympathy, justice and respecting the rights of others in the name of the God. It means that the inner spontaneous call of human soul is that Allah is the Lord of all mankind and that the concept of His greatness makes men respect the rights of others. Quran confirms this inner, spontaneous call and it declares fear of Allah as the basis of mutual respect for rights of one another.

6. Abstaining from breaking the kinship means to be sympathetic to your relatives. The stress with which this teaching is imparted shows what a great sin it is to be unjust to our own relatives. It also throws a light on the importance of being kind to our kinsfolk and relatives. In the hadith instructions have been given in a very effective way to be kind to the relatives and breaking up relation with the kinsmen has been discouraged. The Prophet says:

“Rehm is derived from Rehman: accordingly Allah says: whoever will join you, I will be joined with him and whoever will cut you, I will be cut off from him.”(Mishkat-with reference to Bukhari)

“Breaker of relationship with kinsmen will not enter paradise.”-( Muslim).

7. The orphaned children are the weakest section of the society. After the passing away of their fathers they become quiet helpless therefore for respecting their rights and paying thier dues very strict instructions have been given.

8. It is necessary to keep the wealth or property of the orphans separate. Any misappropriation in that is a major sin. And it is also not permissible for the guardian to take any benefit from an orphan’s property. If the wealth of an orphan is invested in some business, then the profit from that business should also go to the orphan. As regards joining in eating and drinking etc, such a permission has been given in Surah Baqarah. Verse No.220 (See Note No.321.)

9. Orphan is that minor whose father is dead but in Shariah even a major can be considered so till he reaches a moderate level of understanding.

In this verse, the word yatama is used, which is the plural of yateem (orphan) and it is used both for the male and the female. Here it means orphan girls and the address here is mainly to their guardians.

10. It means that if you feel that as guardians of the orphan girls you will not be able to do justice to them after marrying them, then marry those other women marrying whom is not forbidden by the Shariah. In the pre-Islamic days, the guardians of the orphan girls, on account of their wealth and beauty, generally used to marry them themselves and then ill-treat them and be unjust to them. They also used to usurp their inheritance and did not even pay their mehr (dower). Therefore the guardians of the orphan girls were allowed to marry their wards only on the condition that they would respect their rights, pay their dues and be just to them.

The permission to marry more than one woman is based on various moral and social reasons, for example for solving the problem of widows or for being childless. or if the wife is a permanent invalid, or for man’s not being satisfied with one wife. This and similar other kinds of reasons justify this permission. The Shariah has permitted marrying of more than one woman in view of the reasons mentioned above so that a man may not take the wrong course and his wants may be met by a permitted method. In the pre- Islamic days there was no limit to the number of women a man married but Quran limited the number of wives by this verse and allowed a maximum of four wives to a man and that too with the condition of doing justice to all of them.

It should be clear that there is a consensus of opinion of ulema on the limit of four wives.

11. It is clear from this that marrying more than one wife is with the condition that justice is done. A man who marries more than one wife without caring for this condition imposed by Allah, is taking undue advantage of the permission given by Him and for such a man very severe warning has been given in the hadith:

“A person who had two wives and he was favourably inclined towards one, he would come on the Day of Judgment in such a condition that his one arm would be falling and he would be dragging it.”-(Ahlus- Sunan). And by justice to the wives means to be just in matters of food, drinks, living conditions, sleeping with wives etc. In all matters a man should be able to deal with all the wives fairly and justly.

12. At the time when the Quran was being revealed there were female slaves in Arabia and other places. On the one hand Islam encouraged freeing these female slaves and made certain rules in their regard and on the other hand it made arrangements to save them from sexual misdemeanour. Accordingly it allowed those persons who possessed female slaves to have sexual relations with them. For details regarding female slaves, please see note No. 64

13. Mehr (dower) is that gift which a husband gives to his wife on being united with her by the tie of marriage. Its position is like the essential gift which nobody has a right to drop or to render void because this is a duty imposed byAllah. However, a woman has right to forgo whatever part of dower she wishes. In Islam Mehr is not the price of the woman nor is it a compensation for nikah but it is a religious duty and sincere gift, whose main aim is to establish the relationship of love and regard between the parties and to create a sense of importance about the tie of nikah. It should be noted that the dower is the right of the woman and not of her parents.

14. Allah has made wealth the means of maintenance therefore it is necessary that man should recognise its importance and value and save it from being wasted, particularly the wealth and property of the orphans. Any person who has the property and wealth of an orphan or orphans in his trust should safeguard it in a way as if it is his own wealth or property.

15. Means orphan children. The idea is to make it clear that the instruction to hand over the wealth of the orphans to them does not imply that the wealth should be handed over to minors and children of weak understanding but that it is the responsibility of the guardian to see that the wealth of the orphan is not wasted and that he safeguards it in the best possible manner. From this wealth he can spend for the food and clothes of the orphans as long as they are minors and when they come of age and gain a moderate level of understanding, their property and wealth should be handed over to them.

There is a share for men in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives and there is a share for women in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives, whether the property be small or large a fixed share. (Al-Quran)

6. And examine the orphans until they reach the age of marriage¹⁶; if then you find sound judgment in them, ¹⁷ release their property to them: and consume it not extravagantly and hastily against their growing up. Whoever is rich let him abstain: and whoever is needy, let him eat reasonably.¹⁸ And when you hand over their property to them, call witnesses in their presence, and Allah suffices as Reckoner.

7. There is a share for men in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives and there is a share for women in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives, whether the property be small or large – a fixed share.¹⁹

8. And if at the time of division other relatives, and orphans and poor are present, give them some thing out of it and speak kind words ²⁰.

9. People should be afraid that if they had left behind them helpless children what would have been their anxiety about them.²¹ So they Should fear Allah and speak properly.

10. Verily those who devour the property of orphans unjustly, devour only fire in their bellies; soon they will enter a blazing fire.

11. Allah enjoins²² you in the matter of (inheritance) your children, the male shall have a portion equal to the portion of two females;²³ but if there are more than two females, they shall have two-thirds of that which he (the deceased) has left,²⁴ and if only one she shall have the half.²⁵ And for the parents of the deceased, each of them shall have the sixth of that which he has left if he has a child,²⁶ but if he has no child and the parents are the only heirs, the mother shall have the one third; ²⁷ if the deceased has brothers and sisters, the mother shall have the sixth.²⁸ The distribution (in all cases) should be after the payment of a bequest²⁹ he may have bequeathed or a debt. ³⁰ Your parents and your children, you do not know who are nearer to you in benefit.³¹ These are settled portions ordained by Allah and indeed Allah is All- Knowing , All wise. ³²

16. To reach the age of marriage means to be adolescent. According to Shariah, it is fixed on the manifestation of the natural growth of the human parts of the body. It means that according to Quran the age for marriage of a boy or a girl is on his or her reaching the age of adolescence.

17. For handing over the property of the orphans to them, their reaching adolescence is not sufficient but it is necessary that they should have sound judgment so that they may be able to spend their wealth with responsibility. If in an orphan boy or a girl this ability is found lacking then a little time may be allowed to pass.

18. That is: If the guardian of an orphan is needy, he can draw according to his need from the wealth of the orphan as a compensation for his services. But in this connection a reasonable and proper procedure must be adopted.

19. This is the preamble of the Law of Inheritance which is mentioned further. After the orphans, the other weaker section is that of women, which was being deprived of the benefits of inheritance. During the pre-Islamic days, women had no share in the inheritance nor were children given any shares. Only men were considered as the legal heirs. Their concept about inheritance was this that only men have the ablity to fight in battles; women and children are unable to fight, therefore, they cannot have any share in the inheritance. This cruel and false law had totally deprived the widows and the orphan boys and girls of inheritance.

Islam, declaring this customary law of the pre- Islamic days as false, proclaimed that along with men, women also have a right to a share in the inheritance. Similarly Islam also declared children as inheritors and fixed the shares for all. In the history of mankind this was a great step forward in the reform of law and society, which was taken by Islam and whose deep influence was imprinted on the lives of the peoples of the world. The esteem in which women were held by other nations was not much different from that of the Arabs, so much so that among the uncivilised nations women were mere chattel and were considered a part of the inheritance, and therefore question of giving them share in the inheritance did not arise.

“Women do not inherit because they are themselves the property of their husband.” (Ency. of Religion and Ethics Vol. VII, P. 306).

‘‘Women as inheritable property–many primitive people especially in Africa, regard wives and daughters as an important part of the estate to be transmitted in accordance with the regular rules of inheritance with the rest of the property. The explanation is to be sought partly in the economic value of women either as workers or in the case of daughters, as potential wealth in the shape of a bride–price.” – (Do p. 290).

This verse also clarifies the law about succession that inheritance in all conditions should be distributed, however low its value may be. This law will be applied to every kind of moveable and immovable property and if anything is indivisible, then it would be sold and its price so collected would be distributed among the heirs according to their shares.

In the verse the word’ “Aqrabun” has been used. which means the nearest kins. This means that in the presence of nearest of kin the distant relations cannot inherit.

20. The address is to the heirs. They have been exhorted that among the kindred there can be persons who may not have a share in the inheritance according to Shariah but they may be poor and needy and similarly there some orphans and poor people may present themselves. They should be given something from the inheritance and if this is not practicable then at least they should be spoken to kindly.

A point that can be derived from this is that if the orphaned grandchild does not inherit and the grandfather did not make a will for him, then the other heirs should, on account of his being a near relative and also an orphan, give him something from the inheritance of his grandfather and thus comfort him.

21. People should reflect that as the children of other persons have become orphans, their children too can become orphans. This thought would restrain them from usurping the rights of the orphans and from breaking their hearts.

22. In these verses the distribution of inheritance has been detailed and which Allah has declared to be His command. It means that this is a very important and compulsory command.

There is another point also: that in Surah Baqarah,180,the absolute command that was given to the faithful to make a will in favour of their parents and their near relatives,this command has now restricted it therefore in favour of these whom. Allah has declared as heirs. There is no necessity for the believers to make any will. That is now the will can be made in favour of those relatives only who do not inherit according to Shariah.

23. Allah has fixed the share of a male twice as much as that of the female in the inheritance not because women are lower than men. If it were so then in no condition the share of women would have been fixed equal to that of men. When in a number of cases the share of women is fixed equal to that of men: e.g. when the deceased. has children, where the father gets one-sixth share. the mother also gets one-sixth share. Similarly the share of the uterine brother and sister of the deceased has been made equal.

The main reason for not keeping the shares of the sons and daughters equal is that Islam has placed the responsibility of earning the livelihood on men, who are responsible for maintaining the wife and also the children, while the woman has not been made responsible even to support herself. Moreover, man has been burdened with paying the mehr (dower) to his wife. In view of these responsibilities, justice demands that man’s share should be twice that of the woman.

The meaning of giving two shares to the son as against one share of the daughter, is that if the deceased has left behind one son and one daughter then after giving the shares to other heirs—if they are there – the remaining inheritance should be divided into three parts and one part should go to the daughter and two parts to the son; and if there are more sons and daughters then the inhertance will be distributed in this way: every son will get two shares and every daughter one share. However, if there are only sons, then all of them will get equal shares.

It may be noted that in the presence of one’s own begotten son, the grandson cannot be an heir as in the presence of the father the grandfather cannot be an heir.

24. If the deceased has left behind only daughters. and if they are more then two then they are to get two-third share. The same command is there in respect of only two daughters. that is: if the deceased has left behind only two daughters, they would get two-third share. This point is clear from the context, because it is said earlier that a son’s share is twice that of a daughter’s, it means that if there is one son and one daughter then the son would get two-third, and the daughter would get one-third, this share of the son is equal to the shares of two daughters. As this point was clear from the context, the command regarding the share of more than two daughters was explained clearly. Moreover in Verse No.176 the shares of two sisters have been stated to be two-third therefore the shares of the two daughters would convincingly be two-third.

That the share of the two daughters is equal to two-third is also confirmed by the hadith. Accordingly it is narrated in Tirmizi that the widow of Saad bin Rabi’ went to the Prophet and stated: “O Prophet of Allah ! These are the two daughters of Sa’ad; their father was martyred in the battle of Uhad and their uncle has usurped their entire property. Now who would marry them !” On this, the Verse about inheritance was revealed and the Prophet called for the uncle of the orphaned girls and told him to give them two-third share from the property and one-eight share to their mother and then whatever should remain might be taken by him. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer. Vol. I. P. 457).

This two-third share of the inheritance will be distributed equally among all the daughters and other heirs would claim the remaining onethird share.

25. That is: If the deceased has left behind only one daughter, and no son then she would get half the portion of inheritance and the remaining half portion would go to the remaining heirs. This point is also derived from this command that if there is only one son, then he would get twice the share of the daughter that is the whole inheritance. However, if there are also other heirs like father and mother, then he would get the whole share of what remains after distributing their share.

26. There may be one child or more children. and whether it is a son or a daughter, the parents of the deceased would each get one-sixth share.

Ordinarily, the right of the parents should have been more compared to the children but the reason for keeping the share of children more and that of the parents less is that generally the parents have reached such an age when they do not need much wealth as against the children who being younger in age have more need of the wealth. It shows how wise is this distribution.

27. That is: If there are no heirs except the parents then the mother would get one-third share and the father get the remaining share.

28. That is: If the deceased has brother and sister then the mother would get one-sixth instead of one-third and the remaining would be given to the father because in these circumstances the responsibilities of the father are increased.

It may be noted that in the event of the deceased’s father and mother or only father being alive, the deceased’s brother and sister do not get anything.

29. A Muslim has the right to make a will about his wealth and property to the extent of only one-third of the whole property and wealth, as is clear from the hadith. Besides, any will in favour of any heir is not proper and nor such a will would be considered operative, save if the heirs may permit it to be executed. The permission is given to make will to the extent of onethird of the property because those of the relatives who would not be getting any share in inheritance, like the orphaned grandson or orphaned grand-daughter. or widowed daughterin- law etc, may be provided in the will by the man concerned. Similarly such a will can be made in favour of other deserving people or for utilising the money for some good cause. (Note No, 233 of Surah Baqarah may also be kept in view).

30. First of all the debts will be paid, then the will would be executed and thereafter inheritance would be distributed. The mention of the will has been made before the payment of debts because people act carelessly about this matter. As the will is without any compensation and the payment of which is generally felt to be burdensome. As against this the debt is a liability which is an accepted fact and payment of which is absolutely necessary.

31. That is: In the matter of heritage man cannot take a correct decision on account of his limited knowledge neither can he determine the heirs correctly nor their shares. Accordingly whenever man has tried to make rules for the distribution of inheritance without paying heed to the divine guidance he has become a prey to personal desires and has made unjust decisions. If in the old pre-Islamic days women were deprived of inheritance then in the present non-Islamic times women have been considered equal to men, while the responsibilities of the two are not equal.

In the Civil Code of Napoleon, the spouses have been deprived of the inheritance in the presence of the blood relatives. The Hindu code Bill does not accept the right of the father to inherit in the presence of the children of the deceased however it allows a share to the mother. According to the Indian Succession Act. 1925, if the deceased has children then his parents have no share in the inheritance. This is the proof of the fact that man has been a prey to his personal desires, contemporary theories and tendencies and all the rules that have been made in this connection have not been made on any solid foundation : but the Islamic laws are based on Divine Knowledge and therefore they are perfectly balanced .

32. Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise, therefore His distribution cannot be wrong. Our own proclivities and theories can be wrong and against the demands of justice and fairplay. Only Allah knows what is good for us and most suitable, therefore, we must believe that His Shariah is right and correct, and we should accept only the Divine Shariah and follow it scrupulously.

12. And you shall have half of that which your wives leave if they leave no child: but if they have a child you shall have the fourth of that which they leave, after paying a bequest they may have bequeathed or a debt. And they shall have one-fourth or that which you have left if you have ³³ no child. But if you have a child, then they shall have one-eighth of that which you have left after paying a bequest you may have bequeathed or a debt. And if the man or woman whose inheritance is to be distributed, is Kalala (ie has left neither father nor a child) but has left a brother or a sister, each one of the two shall have a sixth: but if more than that , they shall share in a one-third ³⁴ after paying a bequest that may have been bequeathed or a debt, provided that it does not cause harm .³⁵ This is a commandment from Allah, and Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.³⁶

13. These are the limits³⁷ fixed by Allah: those who obey Allah and His Messenger, He will cause them to enter gardens with rivers flowing beneath, wherein they will abide, and that will be the great achievement.

14. And whoever, who disobeys Allah and His messenger, and transgresses His limits. He will cast him in the fire, wherein he will abide and shall have a humiliating punishment³⁸.

15. And as for those of your women who may commit the act of indecency,³⁹ call against them for witnesses ⁴⁰ from amongst you; if they testify, confine them to the houses ⁴¹until death completes their time or Allah opens for them some other way⁴².

16. And those two among you (man and woman) who are guilty, harm them both.⁴³ Then if they repent and set themselves right, turn aside,⁴⁴ for Allah is one who accepts repentance and is Most Merciful.

33. In the case of the deceased not having a child, the share of his widow would be one- fourth while in the case of having a child, one-eight. If there are more than one wives then they will all be sharing equally in this one-fourth or one-eight share.

34. There is a consensus of opinion that this command is concerning the uterine brothers and sisters i-e having a common mother. As for the full brothers and sisters and consanguine brothers and sisters i.e. having a common father, instructions about their share are given at the end of the surah.

In case of uterine brothers and sisters the command is this: If there is one brother or one sister . he/she will get one-sixth and if there are two or more brothers and sisters then they will all have equal shares in one-third. It may be noted that the brothers and sisters of the deceased, whether full or half, get a share in the inheritance only if the deceased has no child and if the father of the deceased is not alive.

35. That is: No undue advantage be taken of the provision about legacies and debts in the law of inheritance e.g. some one may make an improper will in order to deprive the rightful heirs to get their lawful shares or he may admit of a debt as payable by him although he has not actually taken the debt. This kind of acts which cause harm to the rightful heirs is declared to be a major sin in the hadith.

36. Here Allah has referred to His two attributes: knowledge and forbearance,in order to indicate that whoever disobeys Allah’s law of inheritance should understand that Allah is aware of his acts and that He is not punishing him instantly because of His attribute of forbearance. But it does not mean that such a person will escape Allah’s punishment.

37. By limits are meant laws, rules and regulations. The commands of inheritance mentioned in Quran are the Divine Law, obeying which is compulsory for all His slaves.

38. After detailing the law of inheritance,a warning is given that those who would disobey this law would meet with severe punishment. From this the seriousness of the crime of those who want to change the Islamic law of inheritance or who want to introduce a new Succession Code for Muslims would be understood: This can be the work of such people as have nothing to do with obeying the commands of Allah and His messenger otherwise no Muslim can dare disobey Allah’s commands.

39. Means adultery.

40. If a Muslim woman is found guilty of adultery she can be punished only if her crime is proved by four Muslim witnesses. For proving the commitment of the adultery the evidence of four witnesses is considered necessary as against the evidence of two witnesses in other crimes because adultery is a very serious crime, after commiting which a person loses all honour and shame and he or she dies a moral death. It is therefore, absolutely necessary that great precaution is taken before accusing a person of such a grave crime.

41. Those women,who are found to be guilty of adultery and whose crime is proved by four witnesses have been ordained to be confined within the four walls of the house so that they may not further indulge in their immoral practices and moreover, they may also be protected against being kidnapped, etc. These commands are for special circumstances, which would be explained further.

42. This points to the fact that the command for the confinement within the house for the women found guilty of adultery has been given for special conditions. As regards the general command it would be given later. Accordingly, subsequently in the year 06 A.H. in Surah Noor the punishment for this crime has been fixed as one hundred lashes (Surah Noor, Verse No. 2). It does not mean that the command for confinement has been revoked. Had it been so, the recitation of these verses in the Quran would not have been continued. When the recitation has been continued, it means that this command is for those circumstances in which the Muslim society is not in a position to enforce the command of lashes against those guilty of this crime. However, that Muslim society which is in a position to enforce the punishment of striking lashes should enforce that punishment only.For proving the commitment of adultery, the evidence of four witnesses has been kept unchanged even after the coming of the command regarding punishment by lashes, it proves that this verse cannot be treated as revoked.

The fact of the matter is that no verse in the holy Quran is revoked. Some commands which apparently appear to be different, in reality there is no contradiction in them. Actually it is like this: one command is for one set of conditions and the second command is for the second set of conditions, e.g. at one place the command is given: leave the infidels to their conditions and at another place the command is to fight against them. It is obvious that these command are for different stages and different circumstances, and that the subsequent command does not revoke the earlier one.

43. By harming them is meant to reproach them, to rebuke them and to beat them in order to reform them. This is command of punishment operative for both man and woman who have been found guilty of adultery.

44. In the case of setting himself or herself right harming them would be avoided but the command in Verse No.15 about confining the woman to the house is in addition to the command about harming and there are other considerations also for executing it therefore the command about confinement would be executed.

TABLE OF HEIRS WITH THEIR SHARES S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

1.Son Residuary Twice that Every son gets when the deceased has both of daughter. twice that of sons and daughters and only daughter. they are the heirs. – do– – do – Whole Equal shares when there is only one son or in whole more sons as heir. – do – – do – what remains after giving when the deceased has left after giving to to the Quranic behind, father, mother, husband or wife. the Quranic sharer, what then whatever remains. sharer. remains to be after giving them. equally shared by all .

2. Daughter Quranic 1/2 Equally shared when the deceased has no son. sharer in 2/3 – do – Residuary Half that of Every daughter when the deceased has left the son. to get half behind a son. of the son’s share.

3. Father Quranic 1/6 when the deceased has a son. Sharer – do – Quranic 1/6 and what when the deceased has a Sharer & remains after daughter and has no son. Residuary giving to the Quranic Sharer – do – Residuary whole When the deceased has no child living, nor mother. husband or wife.

4. Mother Quranic 1/6 when the deceased has left Sharer behind children, or brother and sister, two or more in number. - do – - do – 1/3 when the deceased has left behind no child, nor brother and sister, at least two in number. – do – Quranic 1/3 when the deceased has left Sharer behind father, wife, or husband In such a case. after giving the share of husband or wife

1/3rd of the remaining inheritance will be given to the mother. Dawatul Qur’an 239 S.4 S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

5. Husband Quranic 1/2 when the deceased has left Sharer behind no child. – do – – do – 1/4 when the deceased has left behind a child.

6. Wife Quranic 1/4 All equal when the deceased has left Sharer Shares in 1/4 no child – do – –do – 1/8 All equal when the deceased has left Shares in 1/8 a child.

7. Uterine Quranic 1/6 All brothers when the deceased has left Brother Sharer and sisters behind no child or father. or Sister equal sharers in 1/3 – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left a child or father.

8. Full Sister Quranic 1/2 2/3 when the deceased has left Sharer behind no father, child and no full brother. – do – Residuary what remains All equal when the deceased has left after giving sharers in behind a daughter, but no father to the giving to the male child or a full brother. daughter daughter – do – Residuary Half share of Every sister to when the deceased has left the brother get half share behind full brother but no of the brother father or no male child. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father or a male child.

9. Full Brother Residuary Whole All equal when the deceased has sharers in not left behind father, a male whole child, wife or husband and uterine brother or sister, – do – – do – what remains All equal when the deceased has left no after giving sharers in father, no male child,but to the what remains daughter or mother or uterine Quranic after giving to brother and sister or husband sharers Quranic or wife, then after giving their sharers shares what remains will be given to the full brother. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father or male child. S.4 240 Dawatul Qur’an S.4 S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

10. Consanguine Quranic 1\2 2\3 when the deceased has left Sister sharer no full brother,sister. consanguine brother, father or child. – do – –do– 1/6 1/6 when the deceased has left behind only one full sister, and no consanguine brother, father or child. –do– Residuary what remains All equal when the deceased has left a after giving to sharers in daughter,but no full brother, the daughter what remains or sister,consanguine brother, after giving to uterine brother & sister, the daughter husband or wife, father or a male child. – do – Residuary Half sharer Half share of when the deceased has left a of the Brother the Brother consanguine brother, but no full brother, father, husband or wife, or a male child. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left two full sisters or full brother, or father or a male child or a full sister as a residuary.

11. Consanguine Residuary Whole All equal when the deceased has left Brother sharers in behind no mother or father whole or child or husband or wife or full brother, or full sister, consanguine sister or uterine brother or uterine sister. – do – – do – what remains All equal when the deceased has left no after giving sharers in daughter, or mother or to the Quranic what remains husband or wife or full sister Sharers. after giving or uterine brother, to the Quranic or uterine sister Sharers. If there is a consanguine sister, then twice her share will be given to the consanguine brother. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father, son, full brother or full sister.

NOTE

•In this table only shares of those heirs have been shown whose mention has been made in the Quran with clarity.

•There is a consensus of opinion on this point that in the absence of the son the grandson and in the absence of the father, the grandfather will be the heir and so on.

•If out of the stated heirs, none is living then the distant kindred get the shares. These injunctions and laws are based on the hadith and conjecture and ijtihad of Islamic Jurists (fuqaha).

Acceptance of repentance is incumbent on Allah in the case of those only who commit evil in ignorance and then repent immediately thereafter. Those are the persons whose repentance is accepted by Allah, and Allah is All- knowing, All wise. (Al-Quran)

17. Acceptance of repentance is incumbent on Allah in the case of those only who commit evil in ignorance and then repent immediately thereafter. ⁴⁵ Those are the persons whose repentance is accepted by Allah, and Allah is All- knowing, All wise.

18. And the repentance is not of those who go on doing evil, until death confronts one of them and he says: “Now have I repented indeed,” nor (is the repentance a real repentance) of those who die as infidels.⁴⁶ For them We have prepared a punishment most grievous.

19. O You who believe! It is not lawful for you to become inheritors of women forcibly⁴⁷ nor should you treat them with harshness that you may take away a part of that which you have given them, unless they have been gui¹ty of flagrant indecency.⁴⁸ Live with them, in a good manner. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah has placed (for you) much good⁴⁹ therein.

20. And if you intend to take one wife in place of another and you have given to one of them heaps of wealth, take nothing from it. ⁵⁰ Would you take it by slander and a manifest injustice?

21. And how can you take it back when you had enjoyed among yourselves the relationship of a husband and wife and they had taken from you firm pledge⁵¹?

22. And marry not women whom your father had married⁵² except that which has already passed.⁵³ It is indecent and odious and an evil practice indeed !

45. Here the reality of repentance has been explained in relation to the reference made to repentance above. The meaning of ‘Taubah’ or repentance is to give up sinning and to turn towards Allah’s obedience. The person who commits sin in ignorance or being overwhelmed by his desires and does not persist in it but is sorry and turns towards Allah and seeks His forgiveness– the repentance of such a person is the real repentance and Allah has promised to accept the repentance of such a person.

46. That is: Those persons who continue committing sins throughout their life and when the angel of death appears they start repenting. The repentance of such persons is not the real repentance, for when the hour of the examination is over and the time of declaring the results has come, there is no meaning of repenting at such a time. Therefore, Allah does not accept the repentance of such persons nor of those who remain nonbelievers till the last. When death comes and man sees the reality being unveiled, at this time he seeks Allah’s forgiveness. This is not the time of test but of the declaration of the result. Therefore , if the matter is of committing sin, man should immediately give it up and if so far his attitude has been of rejection and infidelity, then he should immediately change his attitude without further delay and he should embrace the faith. Nobody knows when death would come and the time for repentance may suddenly end.

47. It was the custom in the Arabia of the non- Islamic days that the widows of the deceased were also considered a part of the heritage. Accordingly after the death of the father, the son used to become the inheritor of his step-mother and used to establish the relation of a husband and a wife with her. Quran has declared it haram and has explained that woman is not a property to be inherited which the inheritors of the deceased may claim and possess, but that she, after passing the time of ‘waiting’(Iddat), can marry anybody she likes. This is also a revolutionary change and reform which Islam introduced’ concerning women.

48. That is: In case of their committing any immoral act, you have the right to harm them.

49. That is: it is not proper to ill-treat the wife or divorce her on the grounds of not being beautiful or having some defect.If she is a chaste woman, then every effort should be made to carry on with her as far as possible because it is likely that she may have other good qualities which may be important for a conjugal life and may be Allah may bless this union on account of the beauty of character. Therefore, no haste should be shown in the matter of breaking the relationship,

50. The Mehr (dower) and whatever gifts given to the wife during her relationship as a wife, cannot be demanded back by the husband, as of right, in the event of a divorce.

51. The knot of marriage has been termed as a strong pledge because with it are attached rights and responsibilities. This is not an ordi- nary relationship but a very strong and impor- tant relationship and a firm pledge. Therefore, if man wants to end this relationship at his own sweet will then he has no right to take back whatever he had given to her, whether it be dower or other presents.

52. Quran has declared the custom of establishing conjugal relationship with the stepmother on the death of the father, as was being practised in the pre-Islamic days, as absolutely haram and forbidden.

53. That is: Now the past relationship would not be probed.

23. Forbidden⁵⁴ to you (for marriage) are: your mothers⁵⁵, daughters ⁵⁶, sisters ⁵⁷, father’s sisters, mother’s sisters, brother’s daughters, sister’s daughters, foster – mothers ( who breast - fed you ⁵⁸) foster-sisters, your wives mother, your step daughters which are your wards, born of your wives to whom you have gone in – no prohibition if you have not gone in;⁵⁹ and the wives of your sons who are from your loins ⁶⁰; and also that you have two sisters together ( in wedlock ⁶¹), except that which has ⁶² already passed. Verily, Allah is Oft - Forgiving , Most Merciful.

24. And (prohibited are) women already married⁶³, except those who come in your possession⁶⁴ (as captives in wars). It is the law of Allah to be obeyed by you⁶⁵ with the exception of these women, all others are lawful for you, provided you seek them with⁶⁶ (gifts from) your wealth taking them in marriage, not committing fornication. Then to those whom you have enjoyed (of conjugal life) given them their dowers as an obligation, but if after a dower is prescribed, you agree mutually (to vary it) there is no sin for you.⁶⁷Verily Allah is All-knowing, All-Wise.

25. And if any of you have not the means where with to wed free believing women, he may wed from among the believing slave-girls that have come into your possession. Allah has full knowledge of your faith.⁶⁸ You are one from the other. ⁶⁹ So marry them with the leave of their masters and give them their dowers⁷⁰ according to what is reasonable, (However, it is necessary that) they should be in honest wedlock, not fornicating nor taking secret paramours, if they commit indecency after being married, their punishment is half that of free women⁷¹.This (permission of wedlock with slave-girls) is for those among you who fear of committing sin, but it is better for you if you practise self-restraint,⁷² and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

54. In this verse marriage with the nearest relative women has been declared haram (forbidden).This prohibition is based on this demand of the human nature that these relationships with the nearest relatives should be established on nobler passions of love and regard and there should be no trace of any sexual feelings in this relationship otherwise there will be a great disturbance in the human society.

55. Mother, whether real or step is haram (prohibited) for purposes of marriage. So also the father’s mother and mother’s mother.

56. Daughter of the son and daughter of the daughter are included under the command concerning daughter .

57. Sister, whether full or consanguine or uterine, all are equally haram (forbidden).

58. The woman who breast-feeds a child is like a mother to that child therefore, Islam has given due regard to this consideration. Accordingly the Prophet (sallal lahu alaihi wa sallam.) has said:

“The relationship that has been forbidden on account of blood is also forbidden on account of sucking (foster ship).”–( Tafseer Ibn katheer p.469 with ref.to Muslim)

59. The daughter of the wife from her former husband. Such a daughter is forbidden if the man has established sexual relation with the mother of this girl. But if the daughter is from such a mother with whom the man has not been able to consummate marriage and has divorced her before the sex act, then marriage with the daughter of such a woman is allowed, As regards growing up under the guardianship is not the necessary condition but only to remind of the delicacy of the relationship. If the step daughter is of the wife with whom the man has established a sexual relationship she in all circumstances is haram whether she had been under his guardianship or not.

60. This restriction has excluded, the divorced wife of the adopted son from the list of forbidden women. Marriage is haram only with the divorced wife of one’s own begotten son.

61. To have two sisters at one and the same time as wives has been forbidden so that there may not arise jealousy between them, which is quite inevitable and that would cause disruption of the blood relation. Accordingly such an act has also been declared haram. The same disruptive element is present in collecting in marriage a woman and her sister’s daughter i.e. aunt and niece so also a woman and her brother’s daughter. Through in the hadith, the Prophet has prohibited it.

62. That is: Whatever has happened before the revealing of this command has happened but from now onwards if you desist from it, Allah would forgive your sins commited in the past.

63. A woman who is married to another man is haram. because she cannot be allowed to be the wife of two persons at one and the same time. Polyandry is against human nature therefore the revealed Divine commands always declared it forbidden. The system of polyandry was practised either by the wild tribes or else the modern apostate civilization appears to favour its adoption.

64. That is: Those women who have been taken captive in the war and their husbands are in Darul Harab (Country at war) are not haram because in such a case their earlier marriage is annulled.

To understand properly the Islamic injunctions concerning slaves – male and female the conditions prevailing at the time be kept in mind. During those days the custom of taking prisoners of war as slaves was common on international level. There was no practice of confining them to prisons or at least it was not common. It was not possible to make arrangements for accommodating and feeding war prisoners. Therefore, they used to be handed over to the individuals as slaves. In these circumstances, Islam which encouraged freeing of slaves, and not making more slaves, and which considered this as a virtuous act, tolerated taking prisoners of wars as slaves as it was an international problem. However, the general directions were that the war prisoners be freed as an act of virtue or they may be released against taking some ransom amount as is clear from Verse No. 4 of surah ‘Muhammad’.

In the wars that were fought during the time of the prophet, generally this very procedure was followed in the case of war prisoners; Since this was an international problem which could not be done away with immediately. Islam prescribed some rights for the male and female slaves and issued the necessary commands. One such command has been mentioned here, which means that the earlier marriages with the disbeliver husbands of those women who have been taken as captives in the war and who have been officially handed over to the Muslim individuals will be annulled and the man to whom such a captive woman has been handed over and who is responsible for maintaining her will also have the right to have sex with her and moreover he will also have the right to give her in marriage to any other needy Muslim, if she had become a Muslim. But as is clear from the subsequent verse none will be permitted to make these women a prey of lust or a means of prostitution.

Here one reality cannot be overlooked and that is as a result of the policy adopted by Islam in the matter of slaves quite a large number of people were enriched by the wealth of faith, and a great many persons achieved a very high position in the Islamic society.

65. That is: These commands regarding the family life have the status of the Divine Law, which must essentially be obeyed. The obvious demand of it is that in the Muslim Society only the family laws prescribed by Islam should be enforced and the question of any other family laws being acceptable to Muslims does not at all arise.

66. In the text the word used is ‘Ehsan’which means that man should take the woman under his protection with the intention of making her his wife and the woman should also enter the tie of wedlock with the same good intention. This purpose is not achieved by establishing a temporary and passing relationship. Therefore, by putting this condition, Quran has once and for all ended the abominable system of “Muta’h” which was in vogue in the pre-Islamic days.

67. That is: The husband and the wife can mutually agree to increase or reduce the amount of the dower, that was earlier prescribed.

In this direction there is a solution of the present day exaggerated problem of the dower. In some societies, there is a custom of fixing a very large amount as the dower, the main idea or purpose of this custom is to reflect their importance or high rank, but ordinarily the financial condition of the husband does not allow of such a high fixation like paying the amount equivalent to 40 tolas of gold. Therefore, generally the question of payment of the dower does not arise at all while the Mehr or the dower is meant to be actually paid and not merely to be fixed. Therefore, those persons whose dowers are fixed so unreasonably high and whose payment may be absolutely out of their power, can request their wives to review the position and by mutual agreement the amount of the dower can be refixed.

68. The main basis of honour and respectability is faith and it is very likely that a slave girl may be better than a free woman, on account of her Faith.

69. That is : By birth all are descendents of Adam and Hawwa ( Eve), whether he may be a free man or a slave. Therefore there is nothing wrong in marrying a slave-girl:

70. The command is given to pay the Mehr to the slave-woman, if a man marries her and that it is not to be given to her master. In other words, Mehr or dower is the right of the woman whether she is slave-woman or a free-woman. It also shows what a high place has been given by Islam to a slave-woman by giving her the right to property.

71. That is: if after the marriage the slavewoman is found to have committed fornication, then she would get half the punishment of what is prescribed for a free woman i.e. hundred lashes for free woman ‘(Surah Noor, Verse No.2). This concession in punishment is for the reason that the slave woman did not enjoy the same safeguards which were generally available to a free woman.

72. Permission to marry the slave-woman has been given to those persons who are likely to go astray if they are not provided with legal wives. Those who do not feel that there is any danger of this kind for them, it is better for them to practise self-restraint.

In the event of marrying the slave-women of others, it would have been difficult to do justice to the rights of the husband and also that of the master. Therefore, marriages of this kind were not encouraged.

Allah does intend to make clear to you His commands and to guide you to the ways of those who have preceded you and to turn to you mercifully. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. And Allah desires to turn to you with mercy, but those who follow their lusts want that you should go tremendously astray. (Al-Quran)

26. Allah does intend to make clear to you His commands and to guide you to the ways of those who have preceded you⁷³ and to turn to you mercifully. Allah is All- Knowing, All-Wise.

27. And Allah desires to turn to you with mercy, but those who follow their lusts want that you should go tremendously astray.

28. Allah desires to lighten your burden and (the fact is that) man is created weak⁷⁴.

29. O you who believe: Do not devour one another’s property by false methods;⁷⁵ however there can be a trading by your mutual good-will;⁷⁶ nor kill one another among yourselves ⁷⁷. Verily Allah is Most Merciful ⁷⁸ to you.

30. And whosoever will do that aggressively and unjustly soon shall We cast him into the Fire, and that is ever easy for Allah.

31. If you eschew the great sins⁷⁹ from which you are being forbidden, We will remove your minor sins and admit you to a place of great honour.

32. And do not covet the thing in which Allah has made some of you excel others. ⁸⁰ To men is allotted what they earn, and to women is allotted what they earn. However, ask Allah for His grace. Verily Allah has full knowledge of all things.

33. And to everyone we have appointed heirs to the inheritance left by parents and relatives.⁸¹ And for those with whom you have made a pledge give them their share.⁸² Surely, Allah is watching over all things⁸³.

73. Means the practices and ways of the prophets and the virtuous people. Quran guides to that way for the family life which was practised by Allah’s prophets and virtuous people. This makes it abundantly clear that the people who have turned away from God want to misguide you and take you to adopt a false culture in the name of following the practices of their forefathers or to adopt false theories in the name of modern civilization or to adopt man-made laws in the name of Modern Civil Code.

74. That is: By nature man cannot bear unnecessary and unnatural restrictions; the burden of man-made Shariah and invented customs needs to be thrown away.

The Islamic Shariah is free from undue formalities and is a simple Shariah in which man has been made to carry a burden which he can bear in a natural way.

75. By false methods are meant those methods which are morally unsound or which have been declared as forbidden by the Shariah.

76. That is: Trade and traffic should be with mutual good-will and agreement. The dealings in which deception and trickery are involved are not permissible.

Bribery also comes under the definition of false method because it is morally unsound and improper in which undue advantage is taken of others helplessness or some one’s rights are trampled.

77. When for amassing wealth man adopts improper and false methods, he also indulges in killing his fellow-beings, which means that killing and murdering is the result of adopting false and forbidden methods of amassing wealth.

78. And it is His kindness that He is preventing you from indulging in acts which are the causes of your destruction and doom.

79. By great sins are meant those sins against committing which clear commands have been given and for committing which warning of very severe punishment has been given. In a tradition the Prophet has mentioned polytheism, killing, disobedience of parents, false-witness, usury, misappropriation of orphan’s property, to run away from fighting in jihad and such other misdeeds as great sins and has explained some of these to be of a higher degree of great sins. But it does not mean that the great sins are limited to only these few crimes, as these are only a few examples of them. Accordingly when Ibn Abbas was asked whether major sins were seven, he replied that it is more probable that they are seven hundred than merely seven. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer Vol. l,p. 486).

80. Allah has kept a difference between the physique and the constitution of man and woman Their temperaments are also different and for this reason the Shariah has prescribed different duties and responsibilities to the two different sexes. Therefore, the desire of men to become women, or of the women to become men and under the influence of this desire to try to resemble one another is an attempt to interfere with the system of the nature and from the viewpoint of the result it is quite useless. Similarly deviating from the rights and duties prescribed by the Shariah, to fix up the rights and duties of men and women on the basis of equality amounts to challenging and resisting Nature and Shariah. For this reason direction is given to eschew such a mentality and to seek Allah’s grace.

81. It refers to the law of distribution of inheritance which is given in Verse No.7. This verse makes it more emphatic that the real inheritors are only those who have been fixed by Allah and that no changes should be made in this arrangement to suit our desires.

82. That is: The inheritors are only those who have been fixed by Allah. As for those whom you have promised to give something, give them what is their due according to the lawful bequest made in their favour, it may be noted that in the prelslamic days people used to make agreements to be one another’s inheritors. Islam stopped this practice and appointed kinsmen as the real heirs and allowed only one-third of the property to be given as a bequest after death .

83. It refers to the point that if you deviated from this law of inheritance, then it would not be hidden from God.

34. Men have authority⁸⁴ over women, because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend of their wealth (to support women). Therefore, the righteous women are obedient ⁸⁵ and guard (the husband’s) secrets under the protection of Allah.⁸⁶As for those women from whom you fear defiance, admonish them, leave them alone in their beds and beat them.⁸⁷ Then if they obey you seek not an excuse against them . Verily Allah is Most High, Great .

35. And if you fear a breach between the two appoint an arbiter from his relatives and an arbiter from her relatives.⁸⁸ If they both desire reconciliation, Allah will effect harmony between them. Verily,Allah has full knowledge. And is aware of everything.

36. And worship Allah⁸⁹ and do not associate anything with Him ; and do good to parents⁹⁰ and to kinsfolk, to orphans, to the needy, to neighbours who are near,⁹¹ to neighbours who are strangers, to the companions,⁹² to the way-farer and the male and female slaves⁹³ in your possession. Verily, Allah likes not the arrogant, the vainglorious.⁹⁴

37. Those who are niggardly themselves, and enjoin others to niggardliness, and hide the bounties which Allah has bestowed on them; we have prepared a disgraceful punishment for such ungrateful people;

38. And those who spend their wealth in order to be seen by the people, and believe not in Allah nor the Last Day; and whosoever has Satan as a comrade, an evil comrade is he!

39. And what would befall them if they were to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and if they spent out of what Allah had given them? Allah knows them well.

84. Allah has granted men the position of authority. One reason for this is stated to be that man is superior to woman on account of his nature and constitution, which provide him the ability to shoulder this reponsibility. Accordingly, man has also the ability to guard and protect woman. and also to strive for earning the livelihood. The second reason is that the responsibility of maintaining and feeding his wife and children falls on the shoulder of man.

The Western civilization which has presented the highly exaggerated theory of equality of men and women has been unsuccessful in fixing the leadership of the family, as a result of which the family life in the western society has been deprived of discipline. While obviously it is an undeniable reality that man has superiority over woman in strength, activity and courage:

“ A connected result of male superiority in strength, activity and courage is the element of protection in male love and of trust on the side of female.’’ —ERE Vol. VIII P. 156). (For further explanation. please see Note No. 337. Surah Baqarah).

85. In a hadith the Prophet is reported to have said:

“The best of women is that woman who when seen by you, pleases you, who when you give her an order, obeys you, who in your absence, guards her self and your property.” (Tafseer Ibn Katheer with ref. to Ibn Jarir).

From this verse the negative aspect of this quality also becomes clear, that is: those women who disobey their husbands and want to live like men are not righteous but are transgressors.

86. That is: A righteous woman is a trustee of man’s secrets. and a protector of his house. wealth and her own honour.

87. These are the disciplinary authorities that have been given to man and these are to be brought into use only when a woman is found to be defiant. It would not be proper to take severe steps against a woman for every kind of default and error. In the matter of beating a woman, in the hadith directions are given that the woman should not be beaten up so severely that she may be wounded or the marks of beating are left on her body.

To keep the woman within the moral limits and to run the home in the right way; it was necessary to give man these rights, but it does not mean that man should use these rights in an arbitrary way. At the end of the verse, the mention of Allah’s attributes of His being Most High and Great is to remind man that in his pride of leadership he may not be excessive in his treatment of his wife and should remember that an Exalted and High Being is over and above him watching his every action.

88. In the event of a dispute between the spouses, this last method has been advised here to be adopted, which is that an arbiter may be appointed from among the relatives of the spouses and two arbiters from the two parties should sit together and try to reach a reconciliation formula. As against going to the court of law, this method is more suitable because going to the court brings out matters between the husband and wife before the general public, which is not a desirable thing and besides the possibility of a reconciliation recedes in the background.

As for the question of the right and authority of the arbiters (panchas), the very word arbiter (Hakam) points to the fact that the decision would be joint and this decision can be of either reconciling and re-joining the spouses or of separating them and the majority of ulema support this view. (See.Tafseer Ibn Katheer V. I.,P .493)

89. After the commands concerning the family life, come the directions about worshipping Allah and not joining any partners with Him, which point to the fact that the main thrust of all the commands of Shariah is Tawheed (Unity of Allah), and man can correctly follow the Shariah commands about the family life only when he is worshipping Allah in the right manner, for Allah’s worship provided it is being performed with consciousness, prevents man from following his desires and passions.

90. After God the next greatest right is that of the parents for they took care of the growing children. This right requires that they should be treated kindly and decently.

91. In the hadith too great stress is laid on giving good and kind treatment to neighbours. The prophet has said:

“Jibril had been regularly stressing on giving good treatment to the neighbour,so much so that I thought that he would declare him an heir.”

92. Means a friend and also a person who may become a companion temporarily, e.g. a fellow-traveller, a partner in trade, class-fellow. participants in gatherings, etc. Care should be taken to see that no haram or hurt should come to them and that good treatment should be meted out to them.

93. In the hadith, the Prophet has shown what kind of treatment should be given to the slaves:

“These are your brothers whom Allah has placed under your control. Then the person under whose control his brother is should give him the same food which he eats, should clothe him in the same kind of clothes which he himself puts on. and see that you do not place such a burden on them that they are unable to bear it and if you put a heavy burden on them then assist them.”—(Tafseer Ibn Katheer Vol.l.P.495 Ref. Bukhari and Muslim)

94. To be vainglorious and to be conceited is contradictory to good and kind treatment. Those who think that the favour bestowed by Allah are the result of their own abilities are likely to have conceit and pride and this mentality keeps them away from paying the due rights of the people and meting out good treatment.

Allah does not do injustice to the weight of a grain ; if it is a good deed He shall multiply it and shall give from His own self a great reward. Then what will be their condition on the Day when We shall bring out from each community a witness, and shall bring you as a witness against these people. (Al- Quran)

40. Allah does not do injustice to the weight of a grain; if it is a good deed He shall multiply it and shall give from His own self a great reward.⁹⁵

41. Then what will be their condition on the Day when We shall bring out from each community a witness, and shall bring you as a witness against these people.⁹⁶

42. On that day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the messenger will wish that the earth would be levelled with them, and they will not be able to hide any fact from Allah.

43. O you who believe ! Approach not prayers while you are intoxicated⁹⁷ until you know what⁹⁸ you say, nor in a state when you are polluted⁹⁹, except when travelling on the road, until you have bathed.¹⁰⁰ And if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from answering the call of nature, or you have touched (had intercourse with)¹⁰¹ women, and you find no water,then make use of clean earth, touch it with your hands passing them over your faces and your hands.¹⁰² Verily, Allah is Pardoning, Forgiving.¹⁰³

44. Have you not seen¹⁰⁴ those who were given a portion of the book ?¹⁰⁵ They are purchasing misguidance (error) and wish you to go astray from the right path.

45. And Allah knows your enemies well. Allah suffices as a Friend,and Allah suffices as a Helper.

95. The reward of every righteous or virtuous deed will be doubled Besides this, Allah will add something more from His own bounty for which there is no limit.

96. It is narrated in the hadith that when Abdullah Ibn Masood, reciting Quran before the prophet, reached this verse the Prophet was so much moved that tears appeared in his eyes because as this verse confers an honour on him, it also places a heavy burden on him. On the Day of Judgement every prophet will have to give witness before Allah to the effect that he had conveyed the religion of Allah, without any kind of alteration to those people to whom he was sent and Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi wa sallam) will also have to give this witness. And Quran clarifies that the last prophet was sent for all the nations of the world and that he is the last of the prophets therefore the period of his prophethood is till the Doomsday.

97. In the text the word Sukara has been used. which means an intoxicating thing whether it be wine or some other solid thing or matter, is haram, (forbidden).

The command for declaring wine haram has been given in verse No. 219 of surah Baqarah. In this verse the command is given not to offer prayers in an intoxicated state.(For further explanation. please see note. 316, Surah Baqarah).

98. It means that for offering prayers consciousness and a state of being awake is necessary.

99. By ‘janabat’ (pollution) is meant that uncleanliness which results from the satisfaction of sexual desire or emission during sleep. In such a state offering prayers is prohibited and the method of removing this state is to take bath (Ghusl). The simple way suggested by Islam of taking a ghusl is to pass water over the whole body, to gargle and to wash the inside of the nose.

100. That is : While on a journey, exception can be made in the matter of taking a bath, as is mentioned furthur in this verse. Here it is meant to clarify that in the state of uncleanliness on account of not finding water while on a journey, prayers offered without taking the ghusl, provided ”tayammum”is performed as is stated in the verse further on.

101.The word used in the text is ‘’La mastum’ which means you have touched but this word used in Arabic to connotes sexual intercourse, (Lisanul Arab), and this explanation is also reported to have been given by Ibn Abbas.

102. In the Shariah terminology it is called ‘tayammum,’ which is a substitute for wazu (ablution) and ghusl (bathing). The method of performing tayammum is to touch the clean earth or soil with the palms and to pass both the hands over the face and the hands. This keeps one mindful of the real method of cleanness and also gives one a sense of cleanness.

Since during illness there is a danger of some harm from the use of water for ablution or bathing, the concession of performing tayammum has been granted. Similarly such a contingency can occur while on a journey that one cannot find water. So in such a condition also the necessary concession is given. On the basis of these two conditions, other conditions can also be thought of where benefit of this concession can be derived, for example when in extreme cold, man is polluted and bathing is likely to cause harm, at another time water may be available but in very small quantity, requiring it to be preserved for drinking, or during the journey by air or rail, bathing is found to be extremely difficult, advantage of the concession given by the Shariah can be taken.

Here two conditions of uncleanliness have been mentioned, one answering the call of nature and sexual intercourse. But other conditions of uncleanliness are also included in this and for every kind of uncleanliness, ‘when water is not available, “tayammum” can be performed.

103. That is: These attributes of the Lord demand that softness should be shown for you and concession be given to you in the Shariah command.

104. In these verses mention is made of those people who oppose the muslims in connection with the commands of Shariah given above.

105. The relationship between the holy Quran and the earlier divine Scripture is that of the whole and the part. So the divine book sent down to the People of the Book was a part or portion of the whole Divine Book. While the Divine Book revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is a whole and complete Book from every standpoint.

46. From among the Jews are those who pervert words from their places and say: “We hear and disobey,” and ‘’Hear, you may not be made to hear,”and “Rai’na” (O Our goat-herd), with twisting their tongues and scoffing at the religion¹⁰⁶, ¹⁰⁷. If only they had said: “We have heard and we obey,” and ‘’Isma” (Do hear) and “Unzurna”(Do look at us) it would have been better for them, and more proper. But Allah has cursed them ¹⁰⁸ for their infidelity, so little it is that they believe.

47. O you people whom the Book has been given, believe in the Book. We have now sent down confirming the Book which is already with you before we disfigure the faces and turn them hindwards,¹⁰⁹ or curse them as we cursed the Sabbath breakers.¹¹⁰ And the command of Allah is always executed.

48. Verily, Allah shall not forgive Shirk (that partner should be associated with Him¹¹¹) and will forgive any other sin, to whom He will please¹¹² and whosoever associates any partner with Allah does commit a sin most heinous¹¹³.

49. Have you not seen those who claim purity for themselves¹¹⁴? Nay, Allah purifies whom He pleases, and no injustice will be done to them in the least.

50. Behold! how they invent lies against Allah. That of itself is a flagrant sin.

51. Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book ? They believe in ‘Jibt’ (superstitions¹¹⁵) and Taghut (rebel¹¹⁶) and say about the infidels that they are more rightly guided than those who believe.¹¹⁷

106. The Jews who were hurling every kind of insult at the prophet have been referred to as indulging in slandering the religion. It shows that every taunt and insult against the Last prophet is a direct attack on the religion.

107: Please see Note No. 122. Surah Baqarah.

108. It means that only those dare indulge in insulting the Prophet who are disbelievers and transgressors, and there is a curse of Allah on them on account of their disbelief and transgression.

109. Face is a nobler part of the body and a special manifestation of the favour of God. The favour with which man is blessed demands that he should be grateful to his Creator. But those who adopt the line of infidelity and disbelief, they are ungrateful for this great favour of the Creator. They are unable to see the reality inspite of having eyes, and they become mute to acknowledge the great favours and the gratitude for the Creator’s gifts to them. They make use of their sight, their speech and their hearing for quite the opposite purpose. Therefore, they rightly deserve to have their faces disfigured and turned hindwards. Accordingly on the Day of Judgment they will have to undergo this terrible punishment. If man would think on the right lines, this severe warning is sufficient for him to make him sit up and take notice. Ka’ab Ahbar, a well known Jew of his time embraced Islam on hearing this verse.

110. A mention of People of Sabbath has been made in Verse No. 65 of Surah Baqarah.

111. It is “shirk” (polytheism) to associate any partners either with the person or attributes of Allah, whether it be sun or stars, fire or cobra, idol or man, angels or jinns, saints or prophets, material things or spiritual things or some imaginary devi or devta.

And example of associating some one with person of Allah is that which is found in the Christianity. The Christians believe in three gods instead of one God: Father, Son and the Holy (Ghost). The second example is that of the belief of a great religious group of India, which makes no difference between the Creator and the creatures but believes in only one existance.

That is this group considers everything as god and man is also a part of god. This theory is known as The Theory of Unity of Existence or Wahdatul Wujood.

One example of the association of partners to Allah in His attributes is the belief that others also are sharers with Him in the administration of the world and in His sovereignty, for example to believe that some one is the devta of rain, and some one of the winds, one is a devi of disease and the other of wealth, etc. Similarly there are such concepts about saints and awliya that some one is a ghaus (helper) and some one a mushkil kusha (remover of difficulty), and that they meet the needs of men. It is obvious that the attribute of providing for the needs of men is that of Allah, and believing others, to be so attributed is to consider them as partners with Allah in this attribute. A grand attribute of Allah is that He and only He is worthy of worship and it is His right that His slaves should worship Him alon. Polytheism in this regard is to consider others also worthy of worship or to perform puja or worship of some devi or devta, idol or sun etc. All these are the forms of polytheism. Besides this, it is also an open case of polytheism that some one else besides Allah should be regarded as worthy of being obeyed totally and absolutely, that some one else should be considered as to have the right to change or modify the laws of the Shariah or the claim of the democrats should be considered right, ignoring the commands and laws of Allah that the people have the absolute legislative right and can make every kind of law.

Since polytheism is against the nature on which Allah has created man, and since this is total transgression and rebellion against Him, it is considered as the greatest of sin and is unforgivable.

Here it is necessary to understand that rejection of faith (infidelity) and apostasy also constitute polytheism, since it also means rejection and rebellion against Allah. By denying and rejecting Allah man places himself and others on the pedestal of god. It is obvious in this way he becomes essentially guilty of polytheism. The only difference being that polytheism appears in the religious form and apostasy in the secular form. Since in the background of the verse are the Jews who inspite of their believing in God, were guilty of committing polytheism therefore it has been clear here that polytheism is an unforgiveable sin.

112. That is: The sins which would be lesser than polytheism have a chance of being forgiven. But if a man persists in polytheism and if he does not repent and turn away from it and dies in the same state, then the decision of Allah in the matter of this sin is that it will never be pardoned.

113. That is do not regard polytheism and idolworship as ordinary sins In fact this is a very great sin, and on the Day of Judgment the polytheists and idolworshippers will have to answer for their crime of rebellion.

114. That is: By putting on a garb of religiosity they pretend to be highly religious, while actually they are dirty with the pollution of polytheism, and they have become so much shameless that they do not feel any recrimination on presenting imaginary stories in the name of religion and ascribing them to God.

It may be noted that inspite of all these defects and corruption of belief and conduct, the Jews believed that they were the favourites of God.

115. In the text the word ‘Jibt’ has been used which means useless thing. Here it means every kind of absurd, superstitious and magical acts which are akin to polytheism, e.g. magic, sorcery witchery, fortune-telling, omen-hunting, etc. It also applies to soothsayers, magicians, idols and false gods.

In a hadith, the Prophet is reported to have said :

“To seek omens from the names of animals, from their voices and from their passing, to forecast by throwing pebbles or drawing lines and every kind of omen-hunting is a kind of ‘Jibt.’ (Mishkat W.R. to Abu Daud)

The relationship of superstition and polytheism is like that of hand and glove and the followers of religion have admitted all kinds of absurdities and superstitions in their religions to a very great extent. But Islam is free from these things. Its foundation is on realities and it has cut superstition at the roots. The absurd and superstitious practices found in the followers of Islam in the present day have no basis in religion and Islam is deadly opposed to them.

116. The word ‘Taghut’ used here in the text has been explained in note No. 418 in Surah Baqarah.

Here especially those religious leaders are meant who lead their followers to false beliefs. Belief in such a person has been called ‘Eeman bit Taghut’ or belief in the false and evil one.

117. The Jews had become so much hostile, towards the Muslims that they considered idolaters more rightly guided than the believers in one God, while thair religious book, Torah, considers idolatry as open straying and waywardness.

O you who believe ! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger, and those who are in authority from among you; then if you dispute about any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is good and will also bring in good results. (Al-Quran)

52. They are the people whom Allah has cursed, and those whom Allah has cursed, you will find, have no one to help.

53. Have they received a share in dominion? In that case they would not have given a speck to the people.¹¹⁸,¹¹⁹

54. Or are they jealous of the people for the grace with which Allah has blessed them?¹²⁰ If so (then they should not forget that) We did give the book and wisdom to the descendents of Ibrahim and blessed¹²¹ them with great kingdom.

55. But some of them believed in him and some of them averted their faces from him, and hell is sufficient for burning (them).

56. Verily, those who disbelieve in our Revelations, We shall soon cast them into the fire. As soon as their skins are roasted, We shall change them for other skins, that they may taste the punishment. Surely, Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.¹²²

57. And those who believed and performed good deeds, we shall soon admit them to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath, to dwell therein for ever; therein they shall have wives pure; and we shall admit them to shades, ever deepening.

58. Verily Allah commands you to render trusts¹²³ to those who are worthy of them, and that if you judge between people, judge with justice.¹²⁴ How excellent is the teaching He gives you! Verily , Allah hears and sees all things.

59. O you who believe ! Obey Allah, and obey the messenger, and those who are in authority from among you;¹²⁵ then if you dispute about any matter, refer it to Allah and the messenger,¹²⁶ if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is good and will also bring in good results.¹²⁷

118. Means Muslims.

119. That is: If they had their kingdom in Madina, they would have deprived Muslims of all kinds of facilities and benefits on account of their prejudices and hostility but Allah did not give them a chance to do so. For this reason they were in their heart of hearts jealous of Muslims and were unable to tolerate their increasing power.

It may be noted that outside and around Madina the colonies of the Jews were like those of free tribes. Beyond this sphere they had no control or power over the general population of Madina.

120. That is: They are jealous of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his followers because they could not tolerate the passing off of the prophethood from their own community(Bani Israil) to Bani Ismail (Arabs).

121. Here the idea is to bring home to Bani. Israil that they too are the descendents of Ibrahim and the Arabs (Bani Ismail) too are his progeny, and today if Allah has blessed the Arabs with the Divine Scripture and wisdom, and is also favouring them with granting of power there is no room for being jealous of them. This is Allah’s favour which He bestows on whomsoever He wills. The Jews should not forget that they were also once blessed with the Divine Scripture and wisdom, and were also favoured with the grant of a great kingdom. viz. that of prophet Daud and Prophet Sulaiman (David and Soloman), but they did not appreciate the favours of Allah and proved themselves to be inefficient and ungrateful. Therefore, Allah chose the other branch of the family of Ibrahim. Bani Ismail and blessed it with His great blessings favours and bounties.

122. The idea of mentioning these attributes is to make it clear that Allah has power to inflict such a severe punishment and it is also demanded by His wisdom that the transgressors and rebels should receive such severe punishment. Otherwise the system of this universe would not run smoothly on truth and justice.

123. In the trusts are included ordinary trusts like deposits, payable dues of loans. etc. and also the offices of responsibility, whether they pertain to leadership or government. Besides, for the office of responsibility the word, ‘Amanat’ or trust has been used in the hadith also. Accordingly in reply to a question as to when the Doomsday will occur the Prophet said:

“When the trust would be wasted, wait for the Doomsday. When asked: What is meant by wasting of the trust, he replied ‘When the affairs (of government) are placed in the hands of unworthy persons, then wait for the Doomsday,”- (Bukhari).

It shows that to place leadership, guidance. politics and government’s responsible posts in the hands of incapable, characterless, oppressive, dishonest and unrighteous persons is equal to inviting great disaster and ruin. (This is a point of principle. As for being compelled by the needs of the time, it pertains to ijtihad.)

The word’ Amanat’ (Trust) is used here to convey the fact that these responsibilities are entrusted by Allah about which people are answerable to Him.

124. Refers to the responsibility of power or government. Here the guidance is being given that after coming into power, the first responsibility would be to judge between the people justly and impartially.

125. Olil–Amr’ means men of authority, belonging to any section or department of government. The Prophet used to appoint an Amir (chief) over the military or army squads which he used to send for jihad. The word ‘Minkum’ (from yourselves) shows that here only those men in authority are meant who may be from among the Muslims. The purpose of obeying them is to ensure that the social commands of Islam are being obeyed, its laws are being enforced, the society is being helped to become righteous, and a just system is put into practice, and the most important of all points is that: the word of Truth may be raised high. The following points should be kept in mind in the matter of obeying the men of authority:

1. In this verse the command is given to obey Allah, and the messenger and the men of authority. In this command, the word ‘obey’ has been used twice, with Allah and with the messenger, while it has not been used with the men in authority. The idea is to show that the main obedience and loyalty are to Allah and thereafter to the messenger of Allah. As for the obedience to the men of authority, it is subservient to the obedience to these two and it is not independent at all.

2. It is not proper to apply the command of obeying the (men) authority in the case of those rulers who have thrown away the yoke of the obedience of Allah and his messenger from their necks, or whose mission is to encourage men to rebel against Allah or who represent secular governments or who have themselves become false gods, like Pharaoh.

3. The command of the obedience to the men of authority will hold good till they do not give any orders against the command of Allah and His messenger. However, if they give any order, which is contrary to the orders of Allah and His messenger, then the question of obeying them does not arise at all. There is a tradition of the Prophet:

“No obedience of creatures in disobeying the Creator is permissible.”

4. The meaning of the positive command of obeying the men of authority that is given in this verse is what has been stated above. It is not correct to derive the negative meaning from this command that it would be proper for Muslims under non–Islamic government to create anarchy there. In the modern systems of government, the administration is conducted by law. Therefore, regardless of the fact as to who has made those laws and what kind of persons they are, if the law itself does not clash with the commands of Allah and His messenger or if it comes under the wide sphere of permissibles that Islam has allowed, then obeying such laws is not against the intention of Islam. In other circumstances, they can be tolerated to the extent of helplessness and compulsion.

126. To refer to Allah and messenger means to refer to Quran and Sunnah. The above command to obey the men of authority are given with the direction that in the case of disputes, orders should be taken from Quran and Sunnah: These directions are for both those who are to obey the men of authority and also those who themselves are men in authority These are comprehensive directions which throw light on the following points:

I. Muslims have a right to differ with the men in power, and in the event of a dispute the decisive factor will be the holy Book and Sunnah.

II. This right demands that the generality of Muslims should have the freedom of criticising the men in power.

III. Differences, either they may be among the Ummah or between the government and the public or among the men of authority, for their decision reference should be made to Quran and Sunnah, and whatever decision is received from there, all should accept it obediently and willingly.

IV. The criterion of truth is Allah’s Book and His messenger’s Sunnah (traditions). Therefore, the sayings of all the ulema, respected persons’ imams, theologians and jurists and leaders. should be examined in the light of this criterion. None of these persons is a criterion of truth that his saying or his act must essentially be right or correct or must be considered as a last word on any subject.

V. The concept of an imam being totally innocent of all kinds of sins, big or small as is believed by some sects among Muslims is absolutely false If it were so then the generality of Muslims would not have been given the right to differ from their views and the general Muslims would have been asked, in the case of their disputes, to refer to imams, while this verse rejects both these points. There is no concept like the innocence of the church in Islam.

VI. A reference to the holy Book and Sunnah means that in matters in which there are clearcut commands in the Quran and Sunnah, they should be obeyed scrupulously, and if the circumstances create a new problem, then the reasoning (command) of the Quran and Sunnah should be accepted as a decisive judgment in the said matter. And keeping the pointers and requirements in view, it should be found out which point and decision is nearer to the teachings of the Book and Sunnah and which is more compatible with them This method is called ‘Qiyas. and ‘Ijtihad’.

127. To refer to Qur’an and Sunnah in every kind of dispute, whether political or religious, is the clear demand of Faith. This results in good dividend in the world and best fruits in the Hereafter.

Have you not seen those who declare that they believe in the Books that have been sent down to you and that which had been sent down before you desire to go for judgement (in their disputes) to the “Taghoot”, (the rebel), though they were commanded to reject him, and Satan desires to lead them astray, far away (from the right). (Al-Quran)

60. Have you not seen those who declare that they believe in the Books that have been sent down to you and that which had been sent down before you desire to go for judgement (in their disputes) to the “Taghoot”,¹²⁸ (the rebel), though they were commanded to reject him, and Satan desires to lead them astray, far away (from the right).

61. And when it is said to them: “Come to that which Allah has revealed and to the messenger”, you see that hypocrites turn from you with aversion¹²⁹,

62. How would it be when a misfortune befalls them because of their own misdeeds? Then they would come to you, swearing by Allah: We were seeking nothing but good-will and conciliation. ¹³⁰

63. There are they, of whom Allah knows what is in their hearts. So overlook them. and exhort them, and speak to them a word to reach their very hearts.¹³¹

64. And we did not send a messenger except that he should be obeyed by Allah’s command.¹³²And they, when they had wronged themselves, had come to you and asked for Allah’s forgiveness and the messenger also asked for forgiveness for them¹³³, they would have found Allah indeed Forgiving, Most Merciful.

65. But nay, (O Prophet !) By your Lord, they can have no faith until they accept you as judge in all disputes between them, and feel no resentment in their hearts against your decision, but accept them with the fullest submission .¹³⁴

66. And if we had enjoined them; slay yourselves, or leave your homes, they would not have done it except a few¹³⁵ of them. But if they had done what they are exhorted to do, it would have been better for them, and more strengthening.

128. The word used in the text is ‘Taghut’ which has been explained before:( Note No.418, Surah Baqarah and Note No.116, Surah Nisa). Here the word Taghut has been used in opposition to the Quran and Sunnah, as is clear from the following verse. Therefore, here it means that ruler or judge who is opposed to Allah and His messenger, and who gives judgment contrary to the teachings of the holy Book and Sunnah.

129. Here the thing which has been considered as opposed to Faith is that man should be displeased with the decision of the Quran and Sunnah and take his case to the court of the Rebel (Taghut), so that the decision may go in his favour, even if that decision may be against the Shariah. It may be noted that here those hypocrites are mentioned who were the people of the Book. They claimed to be men of faith and yet they wanted to take their cases to the courts of the Jews instead of presenting them before the prophet. In the narratives of the time the name of Ka’ab bin Ashraf is mentioned, who was a chieftain of the Jews and who used to deliver judgments. The hypocrites used to refer their cases to him. It is obvious that this action of theirs was contrary to faith, but they wanted to have faith as well as infidelity. Here it should also be understood that at the time of the revelation of these verses the sphere of the lslamic state of Madina was not very wide and there were tribal colonies of the Jews around Madina. Thus there were two parallel courts at that time, one was that of Islam and the other one of the Taghut.

130. That is: When the power of the enemies of Islam will fade and the Muslims will gain supremacy and become strong, these hypocrites would find themselves helpless and without friends, and they would come to you with excuses and they would be trying to explain away their previous attitude by saying that they only wanted to bring harmony and friendship among the Muslims and the Jews. Accordingly, only a few years after the revelation of this verse this very thing happened as was foreseen here.

131. Those who were suffering from the disease of hypocrisy, for their cure a correct method has been shown here, which provides a hint for the workers in the field of dawah and reform that they should, for their work, adopt an effec- Dawatul Qur’an 267 S.4 tive style of speech and address and their approach should be such that it should touch the hearts of their listeners and shake them to their very souls.

132. That is: the prophet should be obeyed not merely out of regard and respect, but also because he brings commands and laws from Allah (god).

133. In the presence of The Prophet to take one’s matters to the court of the’Taghoot’(rebels against Allah) for decision, was a painful matter for the Prophet and it amounted to contempt of the court of the Prophet. To undo this wrong, it was considered necessary that they should go to the Prophet and admit their error and ask for Allah’s forgiveness, and also desire that the Prophet should also pray for their forgiveness.

134. This verse clarifies that the obedience of the Prophet without any reservation and unhesitatingly is the obvious demand of faith. A Muslim should never feel even the slightest twinge in his heart about any decision given by the Prophet let alone his open display of his displeasure or anger against the Prophet’s decision which may be against his wishes or not in accordance with the tendencies of the time.

Allama Jussas writes:

“This verse shows that any person who rejects any command of Allah or His messenger (p.b.u.h.) is to be considered as expelled from Islam. whether he has rejected it on account of some doubt or he has refused to accept it.” (Ahkamul Quran, Vol. 2, page 260).

135. Allah has the authority to give whatever command He wills to His slaves. When the life in this world is a test, then Allah could have given the command of killing oneself or leaving the home, but the gracious God did not subject man to such a gruelling test, and ordained an easier Shariah. If even after this, people do not follow His commands of Shariah, then it is their misfortune. This verse makes it abundantly clear that the real spirit of Islam is that loyalty to Allah should come first and should take precedence over everything, even over one’s own life. Every thing can be sacrificed for Him, even one’s home, family and native land, if demanded by Him. Real religiosity and faith is to meet the demand of the religion as and when, required by it.

67. And we would then have given them from Ourselves a great reward.

68. And We would have guided them to a straight path.¹³⁶

69. And whosoever obeys Allah and the messenger will be in the company of those whom Allah has blessed,¹³⁷ the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the righteous. And what excellent companions these are !¹³⁸

70. This is the bounty from Allah, and Allah suffices as knower .

71. O you who believe! Take up your weapons and set forth ( for Jihad), either in detachment or all together .¹³⁹

72. And surely, among you there is some one who is hesitating, and if a disaster befalls you says: “Allah did favour me in that I was not present among them”.

73. And if grace from Allah comes to you, he says - as if there had not been any friendly relation between you and him. ’’Oh ! would that I had been with them, then I would have achieved a great success ! ¹⁴⁰”

74. So let those, who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter,¹⁴¹ fight in the way of Allah. And whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious. We shall give him a great reward.

75. And why should you not fight in the way of Allah and for the sake of weak men, women and children, who cry: “Our Lord! Deliver us from this town, whose people are oppressors,¹⁴² and raise for us from You one who will protect; and raise for us from You one who will help.”

136. That is: If they would have given up the hypocritical attitude and would have adopted the course of obeying the Prophet, they would have been able to see the path of truth and reality in every affair of life and they would have received the right guidance for the right course of action.

137. By blessing here is meant to be blessed by the gift of faith and guidance. (Please see Note No.10, Surah Fatiha).

138. There are four groups of people on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace: The Prophets, Siddiqeen (truthful), martyrs, and the righteous.

In the group of the prophets are included all those prophets who were sent down by Allah at different times to different nations with the religion of Truth.

By Siddiqeen are meant those persons who were truthful to the degree of perfection. From the standpoint of faith and acts, they are deemed as the persons of first rank after the prophets.

Martyrs are those who laid down their lives in giving witness for truth.

And by Saleheen (the righteous) are meant those who believed in Islam and lived a life of righteousness and virtue.

In the Paradise the society will consist of these people only. In other words, the very essence of the best of humanity will be found there. To be fortunate enough to gain the companionship and fellowship of these best of the people is a great reward from Allah. A virtuous man in this world too selects other virtuous persons for companionship, and wants to be in the company of the virtuous even after death.

139. In those days war was fought in two ways: one was an organised attack by the armed soldiers, and the second was of guerilla attacks by smaller units which was called ‘Sariyyah’ In this verse directions have been given to adopt both the methods. and the Prophet had used both these methods in his wars.

140. That is : These hypocrites do not regard the success of the muslims as their own success. Therefore. they feel sorry that muslims have come out victorious and they themselves have been deprived of having a share in the booty.

141. That is : Those persons who have given up this world for the Hereafter should offer themselves to fight in Jihad for Allah, only such people are sincere in their faith and are the mujahids in the cause of Allah. Those who keep dear the pleasures of this world in preference to the Hereafter, and do not want to offer any sacrifice for religion are not the ones who can take up Jihad.

142. At that time Muslims in Macca and in the surrounding localities were the butt of aggression of the infidels, only for the reason that they had embraced Islam. In other words, the infidels were not prepared to give freedom of conscience and religion to the Muslims. Even women and children were not safe from their acts of oppression. Quran has shown that to wage a war to free such oppressed people from the oppression of the tyrants is Jihad (fighting) in the cause of Allah.

76. Those who believe fight in the way of Allah, and those who reject faith fight in the way of Taghut ¹⁴³ (Rebel). “So fight against the companions of Satan. Indeed, the scheme of Satan is ever weak ¹⁴⁴.

77. Have you not seen those to whom it was said: “Withhold your hands, establish Salat (prayer) and pay Zakat;”¹⁴⁵ but when fighting was prescribed for them, a group of them fear people as they should have feared Allah¹⁴⁶ or even more than that. They said; “Our Lord! why have you ordained fighting for us? Why have you not given us a brief respite.” Say: “The provision of this world is little and the Hereafter is much better for him who fears Allah; and you ¹⁴⁷ shall not be dealt with unjustly in the least .”

78. Wherever you are, death will overtake you, even if you are in strong fortresses.¹⁴⁸ If some good befalls them, they say: “This is from Allah; “ and if some evil, they say: “This is because of you.” Say: “ All things are from Allah.” Then what has happened to these people that they fail to understand a single fact?¹⁴⁹

79. (In reality) whatever good befalls you, it is from Allah, and whatever ill befalls you, it is because of yourself.¹⁵⁰ And We have sent you as a messenger to mankind, and sufficient is Allah as a witness.¹⁵¹

80. He who obeys the messenger, obeys Allah¹⁵²; and if anyone turns away, We have not sent you to keep watch over them.¹⁵³

81. And they say (apparently) : “Obedience;” but when they leave you a party of them meets at night to plot against what you say.¹⁵⁴ And Allah records their plotting at night. So do not heed their talk, and put your trust in Allah; and Allah is sufficient as a Trustee.

143. Here Taghut means Satan. as is clear from the sentence that follows. To fight in the cause of Taghut is to fight for those false objectives for which Satan provokes men that is for opposing the religion of Allah, for weakening the believers, for enforcing the commands of men in place of the commands of God, for causing mischief and corruption on the earth instead of effecting reform and fighting with the intent of bringing victory to infidelity.

144. That is: Those who being influenced by the devil indulge in activities against Islam and its standard bearers. do not do so on any sound basis. Therefore if the people of Truth stand up to them and resist them then all their plans would go awry.

145. From this verse, Imam Razi has concluded that salat (prayers) and zakat (compulsory charity) have precedence over Jihad. (Please see Tafseer Razi. Vol. lll. page 272).

There is no doubt that these two forms of worship have precedence and are desirable for themselves. As for Jihad, its importance and greatness are also not to be ignored. Jihad becomes a compulsory duty to be performed when the occasion demands and otherwise it is sufficient for a Muslim to have an intention of offering Jihad whenever called upon to do so. This is the reason why in Islam the importance of Jihad. though very great, has not been included in the fundamental pillars of Islam, which are five. However. it is a fact that when Jihad becomes an absolute duty and essential, to hesitate or to try to avoid it makes one’s faith doubtful and questionable, because it is the obvious demand of faith that man should strive for the supremacy of Islam and should be ready to offer his life for Allah.

146. That is : So far as the command for fighting was not given, great enthusiasm was being shown for it. But actually when the fighting was ordained, it became hard for them. It refers to those who were not sincere in their faith.

147. That is: Whatever sacrifices you would offer in the cause of Allah will not go waste, and that you will get full compensation and reward for them.

148. It does not mean that man may not try to plan out and take precautions, etc., but it means that he may not think that his planning and his precautions will keep him away from death for ever. Death will come at its appointed hour. Therefore, man should try to fulfil his responsibilities.

149. That is: If some misfortune befalls Muslims, these hypocrites attribute it to the faulty planning of the Prophet, even though the Prophet does not perform any act without the leave of Allah. Allah rules over the universe, therefore without Allah’s will no harm or benefit can be experienced by any person and to consider Prophet responsible for it is against reality and contrary to faith.

150. Though good and evil, both are caused by the will of Allah, the difference between the two is that occurrence of good is on account of Allah’s blessings while the occurrence of evil and unfavourable conditions is the result of man’s own faulty acts and it is caused by misusing the authority given by Allah. Therefore, the occurrence of evil and unfavourable conditions should be attributed to his own failings.

151. It means that if the hypocrites do not regard everything of the Prophet as coming from Allah, they may not do so for Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) being the Prophet. Allah’s witness is sufficient, and this witness is given by Allah through the Quran.The mention of the Prophet’s having been sent as a messenger for mankind means that he has not been sent as a messenger only to the Arabs but to all the nations of the world.

152. This verse and other verses like this explain that the obedience to the messenger is in reality obedience to Allah, for whatever command is given by the Prophet is the command given from Allah. It also clarifies that obedience to the last Prophet is desired not only during his lifetime, but even after his death in the same manner. For us the right source of finding his teachings are his undisputed traditions and authentic ahadith. To follow them would mean obeying the Prophet and rejecting and ignoring them would amount to his disobedience.

153. That is: It is not the responsibility of the Prophet that he may forcefully compel the people to follow the right path but that his responsibility is to merely convey the message of Allah to the people.

154. There were some persons among the hypocrites who used to hold conspiratorial meetings during the night to plot against the Prophet, so that obstacles may be placed in the way of Islam and harm may be caused to the Prophet.

82. Do they not then ponder on the Quran? If it were from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein many contradictions.¹⁵⁵

83. And when any news whether of peace or danger comes to them, they spread it around, whereas if they had referred it to the Messenger (of Allah ) and such of them as are in authority, those among them who are able to think out the matter would have found out the fact.¹⁵⁶ Were it not for the grace of Allah upon you, all but a few of you would have followed Satan.

84. Then fight (O Prophet !) in Allah’s way. You are held responsible only for yourself and rouse the faithful. It may be that Allah will break the strength of the disbelievers and Allah is the strongest in might and in giving punishment.

85. Whoever recommends a good cause becomes a partner therein, and whoever recommends an evil cause shares in its burden.¹⁵⁷ And Allah oversees all things.

86. And when a greeting of good wishes is offered you, meet it with a still more courteous greeting, or at least say the same words,¹⁵⁸ in return. Allah takes account of all things.

87. Allah! There is no god, but He. Surely He will gather you together on the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt, and whose word can be truer than Allah’s?

88. Why should you be divided into two parties about the hypocrites,¹⁵⁹ whereas Allah has cast them back for their evil deeds.¹⁶⁰ Would you guide those whom Allah has sent astray? And whom Allah has sent astray never shall you find the way for him.

155. In this verse, people have been invited to ponder on the teachings of Quran, which throw light on the following points:

(1) The invitation to ponder is general for all the people including those who have not yet come into the fold of Islam, so that they may learn that the teachings of this book are mutually linked and harmonious while its subject matters are very vast, that is: perfect guidance for the human life. This is the perfect proof of the point that Quran is the word of Allah. Had it been the word of a human, it was inevitable that there should have been contradictions and incongruities in it when it dealt with such a wide range of subject matters as were concerned with not only observations but also metaphysical realities, and which discussed man’s nature, his psychology, his beginning and end, and all the aspects of his life. Since man’s knowledge is limited, he cannot lift the veil from the secrets of the universe, nor can he present such teachings as would help men to lead a right kind of life and as would be necessary for establishing a correct relationship with his Creator.

(2) By continuing to ponder on Quran, the gates of wisdom keep up opening for man, and his faith and belief get enriched.

(3) It is not correct to think that Quran is to be understood by the learned men only, but that it is meant to be understood by all persons. If it had been meant only for the learned men then this invitation for general pondering would not have been given.

(4) All the points in the Quran are mutually linked and are harmonious. Therefore, it would not be proper to attribute any such meaning to any of its verse that may be contradictory or opposed to the meaning and sense of other verses.

(5) To believe in the Quran as the Book from Allah and then to object to its teachings is an intellectual contradiction, and this is the result of not pondering on Quran.

156. At that time war conditions prevailed in Madina. In such conditions rumour mongering would have been very dangerous. But the hypocrites were bent on harming Muslims by spreading all sorts of false rumours. This activity of theirs is criticized here, and directions are given to refer to this kind of rumours to the Prophet and other responsible companions of the Prophet.

From this a principle can be derived that the rumours and the news items which may exercise some influence on the political life of the Ummah should be brought to the notice of the responsible persons before spreading them among the general public. Incidentally, this point is also derived from it that for the office of authority in the Ummah only such persons can be considered suitable as are intelligent, wise and shrewd.

157. That is: whoever will support and plead for Truth will be rewarded therefore and whoever oppose it will be punished therefore.

158. The instructions about keeping away from the hypocrites given to Muslims in Verse No. 81 do not signify that Muslims should not treat them politely and should not try to reform them. Here instructions are being given in this very connection that whoever declares himself to be a Muslim and salutes you or greets you, you should not meet his salutation with indifference, instead you should return his greetings in a better way or at least equally courteously.

It is an important aspect of Islamic civilization that whenever Muslims meet, they should greet one another with the words of good wishes As-Salamu-Alaikum’ (Peace be on you), and in reply the Muslim so addressed should answer ‘Wa Alaikumus-Salam’ (Peace be on you too). This is the shortest form, and it would be better if these words are also added to it:‘Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu’ (and Allah’s grace and blessings on you). These words have been mentioned in the hadith.

159. It refers to the hypocrites of the Darul harab (enemy Country) who had apparently embraced Islam but really were interested in infidelity. They used to work with the infidels in their activities against the Muslims and they had so much love of their homes and families that they were not prepared to migrate to be with the Prophet and his companions. There were two kinds of opinions about dealing with these hypocrites, one group said that they should be dealt with in the same manner in which the infidels were being dealt with. but the other group. in the hope that they would become better Muslims. wanted to treat them leniently. On this occasion, Quran warns them that there is no hope of their becoming good Muslims, on the contrary they wish to make the Muslims infidels like themselves, if they are sincere, let them migrate and join the Prophet else Muslims should wage a war against them.

160. That is: After embracing Islam they have become opportunists and have advanced towards rejection of faith. Therefore Allah has cast them back towards rejection of faith and infidelity.

They wish that you should also reject faith as they have done, and thus be on the same footing. So take no friends from amongst them until they migrate in the cause of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity), seize them and slay them wherever you find them, and take no friend or helper from amongst them; (Al-Quran)

89. They wish that you should also reject faith as they have done¹⁶¹, and thus be on the same footing. So take no friends from amongst them until they migrate in the cause of Allah¹⁶²; if they turn back (to enmity), seize them and slay them¹⁶³ wherever you find them, and take no friend or helper from amongst them;

90. Except those who join a people between whom and you there is a treaty, or those who approach you with hearts restraining them from fighting you as well as fighting their own people ¹⁶⁴. Had Allah willed, He could have given them power over you and they would have fought you¹⁶⁵. So if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has opened no way for you to act against them.

91. You will find others who desire that they may be secure from you and may be secure from their own people. And yet whenever brought back to the temptation, they succumb there to l⁶⁶. So if they withdraw not from you, neither offer you peace, nor hold back their hands, then seize them and slay them wherever you find them. And We have given you clear authority against them ¹⁶⁷.

92. And never should a believer kill a believer except by mistake. And he who has killed a believer by mistake must set free a believing (Momin) slave¹⁶⁸ and pay the blood – money to the heirs of the slain¹⁶⁹, except that they forgo. If he (the victim) be of a people hostile to you and is himself a believer a believing , slave should be set free . And if he (slain person) be of a people between whom and you there is a covenant, then the blood–money must be paid to his heirs and a believing slave must be set free ¹⁷⁰, And he who has not the means, (to do all this) must fast for two consecutive months ¹⁷¹ by way of repentance as prescribed by Allah¹⁷²; and Allah has all knowledge and all wisdom.

161. It shows that here the condition' of those persons is being described who had accepted Islam for the sake of appearance but in their heart of hearts were infidels and they desired that Muslims should also turn to rejection of faith. It was their unbelief which had restrained them from migrating because for migration great sincerity for sacrifice was needed.

162. If they migrate then it can be hoped that they would become sincere Muslims and it would surprise no one if Allah is pleased by their sacrifice and guides them to become sincere Muslim. It may be noted that here the condition of in the way of Allah is attached to the direction of migrating, that is migrating in the cause of Allah. In other words, their migration should be for safeguarding faith and for meeting its demands. On their fulfilling condition only they can be taken as friends.

163. That is: In such a case you should consider them as allies of the enemy and so wherever you find them catch them and kill them. This command applies to those hypocrites who may ally with the infidel nation and fight against Muslims. See Note 159 above.

164. Here instructions are given in the case of those who have been exempted from being slain that is those hypocrites who may join a community who has a treaty with the Muslims and to honour the treaty no action would be taken against these hypocrites. Similarly no action would be taken against those hypocrites who would remain neutral that means those who would not fight Muslims in company of their people or who would join Muslims to fight against their own people.

165. That is: If Allah had given them sufficient courage they would have fought Muslims but it did not happen.Therefore be satisfied with this and as long as they do not fight you maintain peace with them and do not fight them till they do not take up arms against you.

166. By ‘fitna’ (Temptation) is meant the hostile activities in which the infidels were indulging against the Muslims.

167. These instructions are against those who wanted to be secure from the danger of Muslims as well as from the danger of their own community. But when the pressure of their community on them increased, they used to join them and fight against the Muslims. The people of the tribes Asad and Ghatfan had come to Madina and embraced Islam. They had also made a treaty with the Prophet but when they returned to their people, on being pressed by them they joined their community in the hostile activities against the Muslims. About such people, Quran says that they do not deserve any concession; Allah has given full authority to the Muslims to capture them and to kill them wherever they are found.

168. This is the penance for unintentionally killing some one. Since the slain person was a Momin (faithful), the penance for this was prescribed as freeing of a believing slave. In the present time there are no slaves available for being freed, so other forms will have to be adopted for meeting the requirements of this penance, viz fasting for two consecutive months, as has been mentioned in the verse further on.

169. ‘Diyat’ or blood money was fixed at one hundred camels by the Prophet. -(Ahkamul Quran; Jassas, Vol.II page 283).

If the penance is to be given in the form of cash, then the price of one hundred camels should be paid.

170. In this verse three circumstances concerning the killing of a Muslim have been mentioned. In the first case the slain person may be a citizen of Darul Islam (Islamic state). In such a case penance will have to be offered and blood money will also have to be paid. In the second case the victim may be a citizen of Darul Harab (non-Islamic state). In this case only penance will have to be offered. In the third case the slain person may be a citizen of a country or nation with which the Muslims may have signed an agreement of peace. In such a case penance will have to be offered and blood money will also have to be paid.

In a hadith it is reported that once the Prophet sent Khalid bin Waleed to the people of Bani Khuzaima, with an invitation to embrace Islam. They declared their embracing of Islam in a vague word, instead of saying ‘Aslamna’ (we have accepted) they said ‘Sabana’. On account of some misunderstanding, Khalid killed a few of their people. When the Prophet was informed of this, he raised his hands in prayer saying that he was innocent of whatever Khalid did. Thereafter he sent Ali for paying the blood money of the persons killed by Khalid, and made good their losses, even to the extent of paying the price for their dog.

This is narrated in Bukhari. Quoting this narration Ibn Katheer says that from this tradition a conclusion can be drawn that if the leader or his deputy (commander in chief, etc) commits a mistake its compensation will be paid from Baitul Mal, state fund. –(Tafseer Ibn Katheer Vol.l,p.535).

171. In the present days when there are no slaves, the alternative would be to observe fast for two consecutive months. By consecutive (or continually) is meant that without any excuse permissible by the Shariah no day for two months should go without fast. A person who is unable to observe fast for two consecutive months, for him a group of ulema has suggested a solution of feeding sixty poor and needy persons. This suggestion is based on the penance fixed for ‘Zihar’.

172. This penance is prescribed by Allah as a mark of repentance, so that the killer may realise the seriousness of his error, and turn to Allah with a sorry and heavy heart.

And whosoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell, to abide therein (for ever): and the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and He has prepared a dreadful torment for him.(Al-Quran)

93. And whosoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell, to abide therein (for ever): and the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and He has prepared a dreadful torment for him ¹⁷³.

94. O you who believe ! When you go forth in the way of Allah, investigate carefully, and do not say to anyone who offers you salutation: “You are not a believer !¹⁷⁴ ”–- coveting the gain of the life of this world. With Allah are spoils abundant. You your selves were like this before, then Allah conferred on you His favours¹⁷⁵; therefore, carefully investigate. Verily Allah is well aware of all that you do.

95. Among the faithful, those who sit (at home) without any due excuse and those who fight in the way of Allah with their wealth and lives are not equal. Allah has granted a rank higher to those who fight with their wealth and lives than to those who sit (at home ). And to both Allah has promised good¹⁷⁶; but Allah has preferred those who fight to those who sit (at home) with a mighty reward.

96. Ranks bestowed by Him, and forgiveness and mercy. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

97. When the angels take away the souls of those who had wronged themselves, and ask them: “In what plight were you?” They reply: ‘’We were quite weak in the land.” They say: “Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to migrate therein !” Such men will have their abode in Hell. And it is an evil abode.¹⁷⁷

98. Except those who are (really) weak among men, women and children who have no means of migration, nor a guidance to direct them away.

173. In this verse five kinds of punishment have been mentioned for wilfully killing a Muslim. First; he will be sent to hell; secondly he will stay there for ever; third, Allah’s wrath will be on him; fourth, Allah’s curse will be on him; and fifth, he will be subjected to a very grievous punishment, which has been especially prepared for him. This shows the seriousness of the sin. In Islam, this is the greatest sin after polytheism and in the tradition it has been termed as kufr (rejection of faith).

In the hadith, it is reported that the Prophet has said:

“To abuse a Muslim is an evil act, and to fight him is the rejection of faith.” -( Muslim -Kitabul Eeman).

“Do not become disbelievers after me that you may kill one another.” -’- (Muslim -Kitabul Eeman).

174. That is: When you set forth for launching an attack on any region, investigate fully as to where the Muslims are, so that you may not attack them by mistake. And if somebody salutes you to express that he is a Muslim, do not refuse to answer his salutation. If you want to attack him being greedy of the booty, then you should know that Allah has abundant profits and spoils, therefore make the reward in the Hereafter your objective.

In Islam the objective and purpose of fighting or waging a war is not merely to occupy land or territory, but it is the establishment of Truth and Justice. Therefore, if in the thick of war any person from the forces of the enemy says, “As-Salamu- Alaikum” or recites the kalimah to show that he is a Muslim, then inspite of the probability that he may be doing so to save his life, he cannot be killed, for there is every possibility that he may in reality be a Muslim. Therefore as a precaution he should not be killed.

A guiding principle is derived from this that no person who recites the kalimah should be called an infidel and whoever calls himself a Muslim should be considered as a Muslim except that after investigation it is established that his claim is false.

175. That is: Before this you had also joined the ranks of Muslims by merely reciting the kalimah. Thereafter Allah gave firmness in your faith and you became firm and steadfast Muslims. Similarly if these persons declare themselves as Muslims then recognise them as such.

176. This refers to the circumstance when the call for Jihad had not been made general and the fighting of a few persons was considered sufficient. The Prophet used to send small units for small campaigns. which were called ‘Sariyyah. In such circumstances the call for Jihad is bestowing a higher rank on those who are called. But in the case when the call for Jihad is general and when it becomes a compulsory duty in such a condition there is no promise of good for those who sit at home without any excuse permissible by the Shariah.

It may be noted that in the ghazawat (battles) in which the Prophet had personally taken part during these campaigns those who avoided joining the Prophet have been very severely reprimanded by Quran. It is contrary to faith that the messenger of Allah may risk his own precious life while his followers may sit at home for protecting their own lives. The obvious demand of the faith is that the life of the Prophet should be more valuable and more precious than one’s own life. And it is a fact that on such occasions only those people avoided joining the Prophet in his battles against the infidels who were hypocrites otherwise every Muslim was a devoted soldier and life-sacrificer for the Prophet.

177. After the migration of the Prophet to Madina, for the Muslims remaining in Macca migration had become a compulsory duty (Farz). This command of migration was for the following reasons :

(1) In Makka and the region surrounding it, where the idolaters were in power there was no freedom of creed and conscience

The people who were embracing Islam. leaving their polytheistic beliefs were being subjected to inhuman oppression and unbearable treatment, They were being forced to give up Islam and return to their old polytheistic belief. In such conditions, it amounted to risking one’s life if one stuck to one’s religion. The result was that those persons, who were not yet very firm in their faith, tended to hide their faith or to compromise with the polytheistic belief. In this way Faith and rejection of faith, Islam and polytheism were being brought together. It is obvious in the land where there was no freedom to follow one’s own faith, the obvious demand of faith was to leave such a land, even if it happened to be the holy land of Macca, because loyalty to faith and God takes precedence over all loyalties to land and blood.

(2) Hesitation to migrate after the migration of the Prophet meant their love of their family and home had a preference to their love of the Prophet, while the love of the Prophet demanded that whatever the Prophet has given up, the people of faith should also give up and should consider the company service and help of the Prophet a means of their good fortune; they should be prepared to sacrifice everything for their Prophet;

(3) There was a war between Islam and Kufr, and Allah’s messenger, with a handful of his companions, himself used to go to the battlefield to meet the challenge of the idolaters of Macca. The need of the moment was that the strength of Islam should be gathered at one centre and the enemies of Islam should be opposed under the leadership of the Prophet. When the Muslims had not migrated, their strength was added to the strength of the infidels instead of to the strength of the Prophet, so much so that some of the Muslims, being pressurized by the polytheists, were forced to join their army and thus used to find themselves arrayed against the Prophet and his men.

These were the conditions in which the Muslims in and around Macca were commanded to migrate to Madina. Disobeying this command meant that they agreed to endanger their faith but did not like to leave their homes and families. That is why in the verse, the act of disregarding the command of migration without a proper cause has been termed as wronging one’s soul, and such persons have been warned of grievous punishment.

The guiding principle can be derived from this verse : It is necessary to migrate, from the land in which the freedom of professing Islam is not given, and where one’s faith may be in danger, to a land where such freedam is available, and where at least the basic demands of Islam can be met. However in exceptional cases it may not be possible for some people.

And he who migrates in the way of Allah, will find in the earth many a refuge and abundant resources, and who leaves his home to migrate towards Allah and His messenger and death overtakes him, his reward is due with Allah; and Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (Al-Quran)

99. For these, there is hope that Allah will forgive; and Allah is ever Pardoning, Forgiving.

100. And he who migrates in the way of Allah, will find in the earth many a refuge and abundant resources¹⁷⁸, and who leaves his home to migrate towards Allah and His messenger and death overtakes him, his reward is due with Allah¹⁷⁹; and Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.

101. And when you travel through the earth, there is no sin on you if you shorten the prayers, for fear that the unbelievers may trouble you¹⁸⁰; in truth the unbelievers are to you open enemies.

102. And when you (O Prophet !) are with them (Muslims), and stand to lead them in salat (prayers ), let one group of them stand up (in prayer) with you, and take their arms with them; when they have prostrated themseleves, let them take their position behind you, and let the other group come up-which has not prayed-and let them pray with you, taking security measures and their arms ¹⁸¹.The infidels wish, if you were negligent of your arms and your(war) materials, to attack you in a single rush. But there is no harm for you if you put away your arms because of the inconvenience of rain or because you are ill. But take security measures for yourselves¹⁸². Verily for the infidels Allah has prepared a humiliating punishment.

103. When you have finished the prayer remember Allah, standing and sitting and reclining ¹⁸³. And when you are in safety, offer the (prayers) Salat properly¹⁸⁴. Salat (prayers) at fixed hours has been enjoined on the believers¹⁸⁵.

178. This promise of Quran came to be true, word for word. ‘The Muhajireen’ those who migrated, found a very good refuge in Madina, and gradually they became economically well off.

179. It throws light on the point that Allah gives importance to man’s intention and his desire to act on that intention. If a man dies before completing the act of which the man had the intention, then his reward would not go waste he would get his reward from Allah.

180. This is the description of ‘Salatul-Khauf.’ (Prayer in case of danger), that is: the method of offering prayer in the battlefield, which is termed as ‘Qasr’(shortened) prayer. The form of shortened prayer as established by Prophet’s Sunnah is like this instead of four Rakaat of the Farz prayer of Zuhar, Asr. and Isha two Rakaat should be performed; there is no shortening in the prayers of Fajr and Maghrib. Therefore, for Fajr two and for Maghrib three Rakaat are to be performed, while on a journey or in residence.

The command of shortening the prayers (Qasr) was given because of jihad. but subsequently it was made common for all kinds of travel. During travels there is generally a sort of discomfort and uncertainty, therefore, the Prophet declared it proper to take advantage of the concession given by Allah for the travels during the peace time also :

“The permission for shortening the prayers is Allah’s favour, therefore, accept this favour.” - (Muslim-Kitabul Musafireen). And it is also a confirmed tradition that the prophet used to shorten the prayer while on a journey and on account of fear of the enemy during war.

181. Here a method of offering a particular kind of ‘Salat’ (prayer) on the battlefield has been shown, which was necessary to be followed in the presence of the prophet. It was quite proper that when the prophet was leading the prayers, the entire army should participate in the prayer under his leadership – there should not be different leaders (Imams)and different congregations (Jamaats). It was also unpalatable for his companions that he should lead the prayers and some of them should be deprived of participating in the congregations. So a special method of performing “Salatul-Khauf’’ in his presence was shown. Its details are like this : one group should offer prayers behind him. with their arms and equipment. while another group should act as guards. When the first group has performed one rakaat under his leadership then it should perform the second rakaat by itself, and thereafter should go behind to act as guard. Then the second group should come up with its arms and join the prophet in the prayer. When they perform one rakaat under his leadership, they should perform the other by themselves.

These instructions show the importance of prayers that even in the battlefield it is considered necessary to be offered. The fact is that the real spirit of Jihad is prayer only. Moreover this also throws light on the importance of offering prayers in congregation. If it is not possible to offer prayers in congregation during a battle. then it should be offered individually; if it is not possible to turn the face towards Qibla, then it should be turned ‘to any side; and if it is not possible to perform Ruku (bending) and Sajda (prostration), then the prayer may be offered by merely nods of heads and other signs.

However, if there is such a condition that it is not at all possible to offer prayers, then it may be delayed and, offered later on. At the time of the Ghazwatul-Khandaq (Battle of the Pit) when the fighting was going on, the prophet delayed the prayer and offered it later on.

182. That is: If on account of rain, it became necessary to put away arms, then some thing that may come handy for protection should be kept with oneself. At that time the equipment used for ,protection consisted of coat of arms, helmet, shield, etc. It also shows how much importance Quran has given to the defence arrangements.

183. That is: Remember Allah in every circumstance. Remembering Allah gives hope and boosts morale, therefore people should not be negligent of remembering Allah even in the battlefield.

184. That is when the conditions creating fear and terror pass away, and when there is peace and tranquility, then the prayers (salat) should be offered in its full form.

185. It shows that the timings of the prayer (salat) are fixed and that they should be followed scrupulously, as it has been prescribed as farz on the faithful. During the day and night, five prayers are compulsory (farz): Fajr, Zuhr , Asr, Maghrib, Isha.The details about their timings have been given by the Prophet.

104. And relent not in pursuit of the enemy. If you are suffering hardships, they are also suffering as you are suffering, and you hope from Allah that for which they cannot hope.¹⁸⁶Allah is ever knowing, Wise.

105. Verily, We have sent down this Book to you in Truth, so that you may judge between men, in accordance with that which Allah has shown you, and do not become a pleader for the dishonest¹⁸⁷ people.

106. And seek the forgivenss of Allah. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

107. And plead not on behalf of the people who are dishonest to themselves. Verily, Allah loves not one who is treacherous and sinful.

108. They hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide themselves from Allah. He is with them when by night they hold discourse displeasing to Him¹⁸⁸. And Allah encompasses all that they do.

109. Ah ! you are the ones that you contended on their behalf in life of this world, but who will contend on their behalf against Allah on the Day of Judgment, or who will take responsibility of their deeds¹⁸⁹?

110. And if anyone does evil or wrongs to his own soul, but afterwards seeks Allah ‘s forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.¹⁹⁰

111. And if anyone earns sin, he earns it against his own soul. And Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.

112. And whosoever commits a crime or a sin, and throws the blame there of on some innocent, then he has burdened himself with false accusation and flagrant sin ¹⁹¹.

186. That is: You hope to get help and success in the Hereafter from Allah, therefore, your morale should be high and you should be patient.

187. In this verse dishonesty and treacherousness mean disloyalty to Allah and His messenger. Those who were not sincere in their faith, acted in such a way that religion received a set back, and their wicked mentality about Allah and His messenger was obvious. But since they had become a part of the Muslim society, being called Muslims and having their relations among the Muslims, some Muslims took their side when questioned or criticised for their wrong acts. Here a warning is given on this very point that people who are breaking their promise with Allah and His messenger should not be supported and their case should not be pleaded.

The decision of any person’s being on the right or otherwise should be taken in the light of the Divine Book only, and it should be taken honestly and dispassionately.

In the verse, the addressee is the Prophet, but actually the warning is meant through the Prophet, for other Muslims who were advocating the case of the hypocrites.

188. Refers to the secret meetings and conspiracies of the hypocrites.

189. That is: On the Day of Judgment everybody will be responsible for his own deeds and will not accept other’s burden. Then what would you get by supporting and pleading the case of these so-called Muslims in the world?

190. Those persons who were not sincere in their faith, and were active in conspiring secretly against the rising power of Islam, have been invited to realise that even now if they feel sorry for their past acts and establish their relationship of loyalty with Allah, they can deserve to get His forgiveness and bounties.

191. Refers to the practice of the hypocrites that whenever any of their conspiracies or sins was unearthed they used to find some excuses and falsely implicate others. Quran has clarified that as a principle the committing of a sin or crime in itself is a bad thing, but to implicate falsely some other innocent person for that crime or sin is to take a very heavy burden of sin on one’s head, for excuse is worse than the crime.

113. And were not the grace of Allah on you and His mercy, a party of them had resolved to mislead you, although they are misleading only themselves. They will hurt you not at all. Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom, and has taught you that which you did not know. And great is the grace of Allah to you¹⁹².

114. There is no good in much of their secret talks ¹⁹³; but whosoever exhorts to a deed of charity, or justice or conciliation between men, there is definite good in it ¹⁹⁴

115. And whosoever does this, seeking the pleasure of Allah We shall soon give him a great reward. And whosoever opposes the messenger after the guidance has become manifest to him, and follows other than the believer’s way¹⁹⁵, We shall put him in the path he has chosen, and land him in Hell, -an evil abode.

116. Verily, Allah pardons not, that partners should be ascribed to Him (shirk)¹⁹⁶; but He pardons other sins than this, whom He pleases¹⁹⁷. And he who joins other gods with Allah has strayed far, far away.

117. They invoke in His stead the female gods¹⁹⁸; and (really) they invoke none else but Satan, a rebel¹⁹⁹.

118. Allah has cursed him²⁰⁰. And he had said to Allah: “I will take of your slaves an appointed portion²⁰¹.

119. “And surely I will lead them astray, and surely I will arouse hopes in them²⁰², and surely I will command them and they will cut the cattle’s ears²⁰³, and surely I will command them and they will change the form of Allah’s creation²⁰⁴.” And whoever, forsaking Allah, took Satan for a friend, has verily suffered an obvious loss.

192. Here, addressing the Prophet, the faithful are being warned that if Allah had not been kind to them, they could not have remained safe from the conspiracies of the hypocrites; they were regularly making schemes aginst the Muslims and were trying to mislead them. The only way of countering their schemes is to appreciate and follow the Book and wisdom sent down by Allah for guidance.

193. That is: The secret meetings and talks of the hypocrites were for scheming and hatching conspiracies for causing mischief and distur bances.

194. This is an exhortation for talking and planning for good covertly.

195. By believer’s way is meant the way or the method of the true believers in Islam. At the time of the revelation of this verse the companions of the Prophet conformed to this description and were the true believers. They had adopted the way of sincerely following the religion and they were the truely faithful followers of the Prophet. They followed him totally and never deviated a bit in obeying his commands even if they were required to undergo dangers of a severe kind. On the other side was the group of the hypocrites, which also called itself Muslims; but these persons found it disagreeable to sincerely follow the commands of the Prophet and were unable to give proof of their true loyalty to the Messenger of Allah. They wanted to adopt a method which conformed to the needs of the time and which did not call for giving any sacrifice of their wealth and life. They were satisfied with the formal and spiritless religiosity and regarded it sufficient as a ‘shortcut’ to Paradise.

People of this mentality are found among the Muslims even today. The needs of the time have compelled them to find out new ways and means of practising Islam. Therefore there is a lot of difference between their religiosity and that of the sincere Muslims. If one faces the Qibla, the other turns his face to the opposite side. If one tries to follow the teachings of Islam sincerely then the other tries to find excuses for avoiding to follow its teachings. If one revives the spirit of religion then the other throws the veils of materialism over it. One group wants that the social laws of Islam should be kept and followed scrupulously while the other group wants to do away with these laws. While one group insists on putting into practice the commands of Shariah, the other group stresses the necessity of enforcing the man-made laws. Thus, there is a vast difference between their viewpoints and their methods of work. All these people are considered as parts of the Muslim Society, but in reality the second group is not Muslim. People of this kind inspite of their being called Muslims can be considered as deserving of Hell in the Hereafter.

196. For the explanation of Shirk’( Polytheism) please see Note. No.111 , Surah Nisa.

197. That is: Polytheism is an unpardonable sin before Allah, therefore it should be avoided in all circumstances.

198. By invoking is meant invoking for help, for solving some problem, for relieving from distress and difficulty, etc. The polytheists invoke devis (goddesses) because they are under the wrong impression that God has distributed his authority and power to these goddesses. and as such one devi gives wealth another can cure from illness, still another blesses with children and still another goddess can change the misfortune into good fortune Quran shows that first of all these devis and devtas have no existence at all and intellect and nature support this view. All the powers and full control is with Allah. Godhood is an indivisible thing and then to invoke some one for help in difficulties is to consider that being as a god and deserving of worship, while the fact is that there is none worthy of worship except Allah.

“It should be noted that in the mythology of the polytheists, belonging to any country or nation goddesses were given the greatest importance. A glance over the history that is available. of China, India, Arabia, Egypt, Babylon, Nyneveh etc. confirms this view. This point also should be taken note of that all the real needs of life are considered to be connected with these goddesses. In the history of the Non-islamic days of Arabia too, goddesses held their sway over the system of godhood, ‘Laat,’ ‘Manat, ‘Uzza’, etc are the names of their goddesses; these were the idols of the angels. about which the polytheists believed that they were the favourite daughters of God, who never turns down any of their request. For this reason if anything is prayed for through their good offices– and if they are pleased it is sure to be granted.” —(Tadabbur-i-Quran Vol.II. page 160).

It is worth noting that not only polytheists (idolaters) were guilty of the sin of joining partners with Allah, but also the people of the Book were influenced by such practices and were committing the sin.

199. The concept of devi and devta is in reality a deception of Satan and the command of worshipping them is also given by him Therefore, those who, obeying his command, commit polytheism, are really the worshippers of Satan.

200. Satan has been cursed by Allah, therefore he is totally deprived and bereft of good and is evil in his entirety. Whatever thoughts he would put in the human mind would be misleading thoughts. In view of this reality, man should always be alert and wary of Satan and should not be influenced by any evil thoughts that may occur in his mind.

201. This is the saying of Iblees, who is the chief of Satans. He had uttered these words before Allah when Allah had created man and had crowned him with the vicegerency of the earth Iblees was jealous of man, and had obtained Allah’s word to live till the Doomsday, therefore, he declared his plan that he would exercise his control over a very large number of Allah’s slaves, that is human beings.

Satan himself is a helpless creature, created for testing humans, Allah has given satan the ability to mislead humans, hence he braggingly claimed that he would mislead a very large number of humans.This challenge of Satan should not be misunderstood to be a challenge against the godhood of Allah. The fact is that when God expressed his plan to him and he realised that he has gained the authority of misleading humans, he boasted about his plan that he would mislead a very large number of humans.

Allah has not authorized Satan to forcefully lead humans to the wrong path, but he has been, authorized to or rather he has been given the ability to invite humans to the wrong path, to tempt them to commit sin, and to beautify evil. so that in the matter of good and evil humans may be tested.

202. The Devil tries his best to see that man does not become realistic in the matter of religion. Therefore, he involves man in the wrong interpretations about the basic points of religion and gives false hopes of successes. This is the reason why the people, inspite of their being fully involved in committing polytheism, expect good rewards form Allah. And there is no dearth of such persons among Muslims also, who try to cut the very roots of the religion by introducing innovations and absurdities in the religious beliefs and practices, and expect from Allah that he would reward them for this ‘service’ of theirs.

203. The Arab polytheists used to cut or slit the ears of their animals as a token of offering to their gods or goddessess and they used to let such animals go wherever they liked.

204. One example of changing the form of Allah’s creation is that which is quoted above, that is: cutting or slitting the ear of the cattle. Apart from this, there can be many other forms of this, e.g. vasectomy as a means of birth control or family planning, surgery on the calves (legs) for the purpose of beautification, castration, change of sex, men trying to dress and look like women and vice versa, etc. In fact man has no authority to change the form in which Allah has created His creatures, except when the Maker of the Shariah has allowed it, e.g. circumcision, nail-cutting, cutting of the hair in the axilla, etc. which in reality are the demands of nature, or when compelled by the force of circumstances to ampute an arm or a part of the leg, etc. in surgery. Apart from these exceptional cases, to change the form of the Divine creation merely to meet any polytheistic purpose, or under some false theory, or in the name of modern civilization means that we disapprove of the form of our model which our Creator has made, and we want to convert ourselves into a model of our own liking. It is obvious that it amounts to fighting against nature and is the result of the Devil’s machinations.

And those who believe and perform righteous acts. We shall soon admit them to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath, to dwell there forever. Allah’s promise is the truth, and who is truer in his word than Allah ! (Al-Quran)

120. He promises them and stirs up hopes in them, and Satan’s promises are nothing but deception.

121. The abode of such persons will be Hell, and from it they will find no way of escape.

122. And those who believe and perform righteous acts,–We shall soon admit them to gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,–to dwell there in forever. Allah’s promise is the truth, and who is truer in his word than Allah !

123. (Salvation) is not dependent on your desires, nor on those of the people of the Book. Whoever performs evil deeds, will be requited accordingly²⁰⁵, nor will he find besides Allah, any protector or helper .

124. And whoever performs righteous acts, be a male or female–provided he is a faithful, such will enter Paradise, and not the least injustice will be done to them.

125. And who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, is righteous, and followed the way of Ibrahim, the upright? And Allah did take Ibrahim for a friend²⁰⁶.

126. And whatever is in the heavens and on the earth, belongs to Allah and Allah encompasses all things²⁰⁷.

127. And people ask you for a decree²⁰⁸ concerning women. Say: “ Allah enjoins you about them, and (reminds you of the commands) that are being recited in the Book concerning the orphan girls²⁰⁹ – those orphan girls to whom you do not give their prescribed rights, and whom you desire to marry²¹⁰. Similarly those commands which have been given concerning the helpless children²¹¹ ( reminds of that too); moreover of that command also - that you should deal justly²¹² with the orphans. And whatever good that you would do, Allah is aware of it”.

205. That is: In the Hereafter salvation will not be gained by entertaining false hopes and wishful thinking but there the law of Requital will come into force. In the world people of every religion regard their formal attachment to their own religion sufficient for their salvation, and are under a happy illusion that they are followers of such and such religious leaders and gurus, therefore, all their problems after death have been solved. Muslims have also fallen a prey to this kind of wishful thinking. But Quran warns that mere hopes and desires will not be of any help, the basis on which the judgment will be given in the Hereafter will be man’s own faith and his own acts of righteousness. So any person, who will be found to have performed evil acts in this life, will definitely be punished for that, regardless of the religion to which he has been claiming to attach himself.

206. Being Allah’s friend is a very high honour, which Allah bestowed on Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), which is also supported by the Bible:

“Jacob whom I liked and who is from the race of My friend, Abraham,” -(Isiah 41 : 8).

207. Points to the fact that Allah’s power is all pervasive and Allah’s knowledge too is all embracing.

208. In the beginning of the Surah permission is given to marry more than one wife with the condition of doing justice to all. In that connection certain questions had arisen which are being answered here. This answer appears in Verse No.128, and from this answer the nature of the question can be understood.

209. Before answering the main question of the people, they are reminded of the directions given concerning the rights of the orphans and particularly dealing justly with the orphan girls. It shows how much importance is given by Quran to the rights of the orphans. and how emphatically the people have been asked to take care of their rights.

210. Refers to verse no. 3 in which it was stated: “If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry of women, who are’ lawful for you, two or three or four. Here in this verse it is stated: “Those orphan girls to whom you do not give their prescribed rights and whom you desire to marry.’’ It is clear that in Verse No.3, orphan means orphan girls, and not to deal justly with them means not to give them their dues. In this prescribed right is included their right of inheritance (the property left by their fathers), and also this point that if anyone is already having a wife marries an orphan girl, he will have to deal with her also justly, and equitably.

Although the address is general, but here specifically the guardians of the orphan girls are meant. From the narration of Ayesha (R) it is learnt that those orphan girls who were wealthy as well as beautiful their guardians generally used to marry them themselves and used to appropriate their properties. They avoided to marry them elsewhere for fear of giving them their inherited properties. -(Tafseer Ibn Katheer! Vol. I. page 561 ).

It should not be misconstrued that Quran discourages marrying of the orphan girls. To make an orphan girl as one’s better half is in itself a virtuous deed but if this act is performed with the ulterior motive of appropriating her property. or if one marries her inspite of already having a wife, considering her to be of no significance and throwing all the demands of justice and fairplay to the winds thus taking undue advantage of the permission to have more than one wife, then such an act does no more remains an act of virtue or righteousness.

It also throws light on the point that in Islam the real importance is attached to a person’s moral behaviour and attitude therefore this permission should be considered from this aspect only. and not as a means of ‘solving problems’.

211. Refers to those commands which were given in the beginning of the Surah concerning handing over of the properties of the orphans who were intellectually immature and inexperienced, and concerning the right of inheritance of the children.

212. Refers to those commands that have been given in the begininng verses of the Surah concerning orphans.

128. And if a woman fears indifference or excess from her husband, there is nothing wrong if they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves; and settlement is better²¹³. Human natures tend to be narrow- minded²¹⁴ but if you deal kindly²¹⁵ and fear Him, then be sure that Allah is well aware of what you do.

129. And you can never be able to be just between women even if it is your ardent desire; but do not incline towards one altogether, so as to leave the other as if suspended. If you act in a peaceful way and fear Allah, then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving. Most Merciful²¹⁶.

130. And if they separate from one another, Allah will, from His abundance, make both of them independent of one another²¹⁷. And Allah is ever All-Embracing and Wise.

131. And to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on the earth. Verily, We had enjoined the people of the Book before you, and enjoin you too to fear Allah. And if you disbelieve, then (remember) to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on the earth. And Allah is free of all wants, Worthy of Praise.

132. And to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on the earth ²¹⁸, and Allah is enough to carry through all affairs.

133. If He will, O people! He can remove you and bring others (in your stead). Allah is powerful to do this.

134. Whoever desires the reward of the world, (let him know that) with Allah is the reward both of the world and the Hereafter²¹⁹. And Allah hears and sees all things.

213. This is the answer to the main query. The condition of dealing justly with all if more than one wife is taken, put by Quran has created a problem. If a man after marrying a second wife does not deal justly with his first wife, and if the first one insists on having all her rights then she fears that he would divorce her, and she does not want to be divorced then in such a situation, the question arises whether the first wife can forgo some of her rights and placate her husband not to divorce her ? Allah has answered this query in the affirmative, that is: if the wife feels that her husband does not deal with her justly, and her insistence for justice would result in a divorce, then the better course is to reach an amicable settlement. In such a case, the wife can forgo some of her rights, because in the matter of divorce, compromise is better in all conditions.

214. That is: Narrow-mindedness plays a big part in vitiating the relationship, and this narrow- mindedness can be shown by the husband or by the wife. If both of them treat one another with broad-mindedness, then the rights of both of them can be taken care of, and the atmosphere in the home can also be pleasant.

215. Here man has been exhorted to adopt the attitude of kindness with his partner in life.

216. Binding the permission to have more than one wife with the condition of dealing justly with all the wives raises a point : there cannot be the same amount of love and consideration for all the wives. In such a circumstance, can the condition of dealing justly with all the wives be fulfilled’’? This question is answered thus: Total fulfilment of this condition that is equal justice to all in every respect is not within the powers of man because there is always a difference between the wives in many respects, e.g. beauty, temperament age, health and ability. etc. One of them may be better than the others in any one or more of these respects and therefore the attraction of man towards a particular wife would be greater than towards others. Therefore Shariah does not want to establish such relationship of equality among them as is not humanly possible but it demands that as far as possible deal justly with the wives, and do not be inclined towards one wife to such an extent that the other ones are left suspended; you have to safeguard the rights of both or all the wives. If any defect is noticed, it should be removed. If after adopting the attitude of righteousness, still some faults are committed, then man should seek and hope to get forgiveness from Allah.

217. That is: If after making efforts, it is considered that compromise would not be possible, then they should separate and put their trust in Allah that He would make them independent of one another, by His grace.

218. “To Allah belong all the things in the heavens and on the earth” has been repeated here three times (In Verse No.131 twice and In Verse No.132 once). This is not mere repetition, the idea is to bring home to the people from different aspects that the sole master is the One Almighty Being and they should hope to get the fulfilment of their desire from Him alone. only He should be feared and He should be the central point of efforts. In the first place this sentence is used with a view to stressing that the Being who is the Master of the heavens and earth cannot be narrow-minded and miserly and that He must be very broad-minded and very generous, therefore you (the spouses in the event of your separation) can hope that He, with His graciousness will make you independent of one another By repeating it the second time, it is intended to show that the social directions that have been given are for your own good and Allah is not going to benefit from it, for the entire universe is His and He is independent of everything and possesses every kind of perfection. And its third repetition is to instruct the slaves that they should have trust only in Him.

219. That is: With Allah are the benefits of this world as well as of the next world. Now it is up to you to decide what benefits you want to collect, merely of this world or of both the worlds. If you want to gain the benefits of this life and that of the life in the Hereafter, then adopt the line of obeying Allah.

135. O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, and be witnesses for the sake of Allah even if it is against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin²²⁰. If any one is rich or poor, then Allah has the greatest right over them²²¹. So follow not the passions lest you lapse from justice. And if you are ambiguous or avoid (to be just) then (remember) verily, Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do²²².

136. O You who believe! Believe in Allah²²³ and His messenger, and the Book which He has sent down to His messenger, and the Book which He sent down before this. And who disbelieves in²²⁴ Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Day of Judgment, has gone far, far astray.

137. Verily, those who believed, then disbelieved, then believed (again), and (again) disbelieved, and then increased in disbelief, Allah will never forgive them, nor guide them on the way.

138. To the hypocrites give the glad tidings that there is for them a grievous punishment.

139. Those who choose disbelievers for their friends instead of believers; do they seek honour among them? Verily, all honour is with Allah.²²⁵

140. And he has already revealed to you²²⁶ in the Book that when you hear the revelations of Allah being rejected and derided, do not sit with them, until they engage in some other talk, otherwise you will become like them²²⁷.Verily, Allah will gather hypocrites and disbelievers all in Hell.

220.In this verse directions are given to stand firmly for justice, to dispense justice dispassionately and impartially, and to give witness selflessly for the sake of God. This is that highest standard of justice, fairplay and truthfulness, which Allah wants every faithful to adopt. Among the rights of Allah’s creatures, the greatest right is that of the parents. But according to Quran the demand of truthfulness is that no concession or leniency should be shown even in their case when giving evidence. When no leniency is to be shown to the parents in matters of giving truthful witness. then where is the question of showing any leniency to others? This directive principle cuts at the root of every kind of prejudice and partiality and explains that however great a man’s rank or position may be in the matter of meeting out justice all are equal.

221. That is: the right of Allah is greater than that of any other person or thing, therefore, all are equal in the eyes of Allah’s justice.

222. That is: In the legal proceeding clear witness should be given. and one should not avoid giving evidence, or else one will be questioned about it in the court of Allah.

223. Here those who believe means the general Muslims, who affirm that their religion is Islam, though they may be sincere in their belief or not. To demand of them to believe in Allah. means; that they are being asked to be sincerely faithful and to become true and firm Momin.

224. One form of rejection of Faith is this that man may openly and clearly deny and reject faith while the other form is that man overtly may claim to be a Muslim but covertly may not believe in it.

225. It shows that to make friends with the infidels against the interests of the faithful in order to gain office and position, and in order that one may become popular is a hypocritical act. This cannot be the practice of a true Muslim that he may act against his own community and be traitrous to it.

Inspite of this clear direction of Quran, there is no dearth, among Muslims, who act traitrously against the Muslim Ummah and are inclined towards the infidels, and try to please them at all costs, so that they may gain positions of honour. Would it, that they had known that this is the false honour which they are striving for. True honour is with Allah and it can be achieved only by seeking His pleasure.

226. Refers to Verse No.68 of Surah An’am.

227. The gatherings and meetings in which the religion and commands of Allah are ridiculed and rejected are not fit places for Muslims to attend and it is against their belief and sense of honour to attend such meetings.

141. Those who wait (for the result) about you; if you gain a victory from Allah, they say: “Were we not with you?” But if the disbelievers have an advantage they say (to them): “Did we not gain an advantage over you and defend you from the believers?” So Allah will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection. And never will Allah make for the disbelievers a way to overcome the believers.

142. Indeed, the hypocrites seek to beguile Allah²²⁸, but it is Allah who beguiles them. When they stand up for salat (prayers), they perform it languidly and with a view to be seen by men²²⁹, and remember Allah, but little.²³⁰

143. Swaying between this and that; belonging neither to these nor to those. He whom Allah causes to go astray, you will not find a way for him .²³¹

144. O you who believe! Take not disbelievers for your friends in place of believers²³². Do you wish to offer Allah an open proof against yourselves?

145. The hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire²³³; no helper will you find for them.

146. Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and keep their religion (devotion) pure for Allah²³⁴. These people will definitely, be with the believers, and soon Allah will grant to the believers a great reward.

147. What can Allah gain by your punishment, if you are grateful²³⁵ and you believe? Allah appreciates²³⁶ good deeds and knows all things.

143. Allah likes not the utterance of evil speech, except by one who is wronged²³⁷; and Allah hears and knows all things²³⁸.

228. This point is explained in Verse No.9, Surah Baqarah.

229. That is: Their prayer is only for show. In those days to be considered a member of the Muslim community it was necessary to join the congregational prayers. But now the downfall of Muslims has reached such a point that the man who does not offer prayer at all, is not only considered a Muslim but he can also become a leader and hero of the Muslims, and the man who never goes to a mosque can become a trustee (Mutawalli) of the mosque.

230. Here three defects in the style of prayers of the hypocrites have been mentioned. First: to stand up languidly or in a lazy manner, secondly to offer prayers for a show, and third: to remember Allah nominally. From this the characteristics of the sincere Muslims prayers become automatically clear. that is: to stand up for the prayer with agility. avoiding show and ostentation and to pray sincerely for Allah, and to remember Allah sincerely and often.

231. He who has chosen to follow the wrong path. for him the doors of Allah’s guidance are closed. To guide such a person to the right path is not possible for any person.

232.For explanation,please see Note No.41 surah Aal-i-Imran.

233. It is a warning to the hypocrites that they should not remain under the wrong impression that because they claim to be Muslims they are better than the infidels and that they would be given some honour in Allah’s presence. Nay, they are worse than the infidels. They deserve to receive greater punishment than the infidels, as the infidels are sincere in their disbelief. Besides, they deceive Allah and His creatures by calling themselves as Muslims.

234. That is: The hypocrites can be spared this punishment only if they reform themselves mentally, ideologically and practically.

235. It shows that rejection of faith and hypocrisy are absolute ingratitude, while the reality of faith is gratefulness.

236. Therefore. if you become grateful slaves, then He will recognise and appreciate your acts and services, and He will give full rewards for that.

237. That is: The oppressed has a right to speak against the oppressor.

238. The purpose of mentioning these attributes of Allah is to make it clear that Allah hears the appeals of the oppressed people, and He is well aware of the excesses committed against them. The context in which this point has been mentioned is that the opponents and the hypocrites were bent on provoking the Muslims and hurting them.

149. If you do good openly or keep it secret, or forgive evil, verily Allah is Forgiving, (although) He ²³⁹ is Powerful (to punish).

150. Verily, those who deny Allah and His messengers, and seek to make distinction between Allah and His messengers, and say: “We believe in some and disbelieve in others,” and seek to choose a way in between;

151. Such are, in truth, disbelievers²⁴⁰, and for disbelievers We have prepared a humiliating punishment.

152. And those who believe in Allah and His messengers and make no distinction among any of the messengers, We shall soon give their (due) rewards²⁴¹. And Allah is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful²⁴².

153. (O Prophet !) The people of the Book ask you to cause a Book to descend to them from heaven; indeed they asked Moosa for an even greater thing, for they said: “Show us Allah openly,” but a thunder bolt smote them²⁴³, for their wickedness. Then they chose the calf (for worship) ²⁴⁴ after the clear signs had come to them. Even so We overlooked this. And We bestowed on Moosa evident authority.²⁴⁵

154. And We caused (the Mount) Tur to tower above them for taking of their covenant ²⁴⁶; and We bade them: “Enter the gate making prostration,” ²⁴⁷ and We directed them: “Transgress not the command concerning Sabbath,” ²⁴⁸ and We took from them a firm covenant.²⁴⁹

155. Then (We cursed them) because of their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the revelations of Allah²⁵⁰, and their slaying of the Prophets without justification, and their saying: “Our hearts are covered²⁵¹”, –Nay, but Allah has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not but a little.

239. That is: If in spite of the excesses of the opponents, you adopted the attitude of good behavior openly and secretly, and kept on forgiving them, then your act would be very much approved by Allah, for He forgives His slaves inspite of His being able to punish them for their sins, and He wants that His slaves should be duly influenced by His attributes.

240. This verse very clearly declares those persons as infidels, who believe in Allah and all of His messengers, except a particular messenger, because only that faith is true and recognised which is according to the directions given by Allah, and not according to one’s sweet will or whims. Therefore, one who does not believe in the prophethood of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is without any shadow of doubt. a truly and confirmed infidel, even if he very emphatically claims to have faith in God and His messengers.

241.‘Their due reward’ means that whatever would be their due reward in accordance with their beliefs and acts would be given to them.

242. Means that those who would believe in Allah and all His messengers, Allah would deal with them with forgiveness and would bestow mercy on them.

243. Those who demand things of this nature, want that the reality should appear before them in such a way that they should be able to see it with their physical eyes, and they may not be required to believe in the Unseen. It is quite obvious that this desire and demand of theirs are quite contrary to the wisdom that is behind the creation of man on this earth, and that is that’man should be tested here. and he should make use of his intellect taking into consideration the signs, leading to reality’ in the light of the Divine guidance, and believe in the Unseen Realities. If man is realistic, he would never make such demands, but instead he would try to understand seriously the Divine Scheme that is in force in this world.

‘But a Thunderbolt smote them. For explanation of this event please refer to Note No.75. Surah Baqarah.

244. After leaving Egypt, Bani Israil has worshipped calf. This national common crime of theirs is referred to here. Its details have been described in Surah A’raf, Verses Nos. 148-152, and Surah ,Taha,Verses Nos. 87-98.

245. Allah had granted Moosa the authoritative proof, so that when he would present the directives from Allah; the people might not find any excuse for not accepting them.

From the thrust of the discourse, it is clear that the Prophet of Islam has been given the authoritative proof in the form of Quran and therefore, to accept it as a revelation from Allah, there should be no excuse for the disbelievers or the people of the Book.

246. Please see Note No.88, Surah Baqarah.

247. Please see Note No.89, Surah Baqarah.

248. Please see Note No.78, Surah Baqarah.

249. In recounting the crimes of the Jews, so much wrath has been expressed and the style of narration has become so forceful that the punishment that has been meted out to them is not required to be expressly mentioned. Therefore, what is not mentioned here and is understood, has been put by us in the brackets, that is on account of these crimes they have been cursed by Allah, as if by the expression of the intensity of the wrath, the wrath has over flowed.

250. The purpose of referring to these crimes of Bani Israil is to show that the community whose history is full of such crimes and whose national temperament has become rebellious, and that if such a community demands to see the Quran descending down from the heavens, it should not he surprising at all. They neither want to understand anything nor do they want to accept faith. They are putting up conditions and demands only to avoid accepting the truth.

251.The jews used to say with pride that their own belief was so firm that the presentation of the Prophet had no effect on their hearts, even though to stick to wrong beliefs after the coming of the truth is nothing but obstinacy.

156. And (they were accursed) because they rejected faith, and they uttered against Maryam a grave false charge ²⁵²;

157. And because of their saying: “We have slain the Messiah, Eesa son of Maryam, Allah’s messenger²⁵³”–whereas²⁵⁴ they could not slay him nor could they crucify him, but it was made dubious²⁵⁵ to them; and verily, those who have differed about it are in doubt there of ²⁵⁶; they have no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow²⁵⁷; certainly they slew him not.²⁵⁸

158. Nay, Allah raised him up to himself ²⁵⁹, and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise²⁶⁰.

159. And there shall be none among the people of the Book but will believe in him before his death²⁶¹; and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them²⁶².

160. Because of the wrong-doing of the Jews²⁶³, We forbade them clean things which were lawful to them before, and because of their much hindering from Allah’s way.

161. And because of their taking interest when they were forbidden it ²⁶⁴, and of their devouring people’s wealth unlawfully. And we have prepared for those of them who disbelieve, a painful punishment²⁶⁵.

162. However those among them who are firm in knowledge²⁶⁶ and who are faithful²⁶⁷ believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you; and who establish salat and pay zakat²⁶⁸, and believe in Allah and in the Last Day; to them shall we soon give a great reward.

252. The birth of Prophet Eesa (Jesus) was a miracle, as he was born without a father, and he declared of his being a prophet in his cradle during his infancy. Therefore, during his life-time, nobody dared utter the false charge against his holy mother. But subsequently the Jews purposely and with a view to opposing the truth levelled the grave charge against his mother Maryam (Mary).

253. The Jews had become so shameless that they did not feel any pangs in conspiring to kill the great prophet, Jesus, and then they proudly proclaimed that they slew the Prophet. Although this claim of theirs is false because Allah had thwarted their nefarious scheme, but . from their proud claim, the seriousness of their crime and their stone heartedness can be imagined.

254. From here to the end of verse no.159, ‘witness against them’, is a parenthetical sentence. Since a reference to the killing of Prophet Eesa has been made, Allah interrupted the main narration and expressed the correct position.

255. This verse refutes the claim of the Jews that they crucified the Messiah, they neither slew him nor crucified him, but the fact is that Allah raised him up to Himself with safety and by his being raised up suddenly, the actual position had become dubious for them. To defame him and to defeat his mission, they concocted the imaginary story of his being crucified, and they spread this propaganda so widely that even the Christians were deceived by this deception. The Christians, in order to prove Jesus to be an oppressed person and to construct the edifice of the belief of penance, not only accepted this propaganda as true but included it in the Bible also, even though this matter was a cause for pride for the Jews and a cause for shame for the Christians. Quran has added to the honour of Prophet Eesa by unveiling the reality about the crucifixion of the Christ. As regards the question as to how the doubt was created, it is difficult to ascertain the exact happening. In this connection it is better to be content with what the Quran says in outlines instead of making wild guesses. At that time Bait-ul-Maqdis was being ruled by the Romans, and the learned men of the Jews and their leading men had conspired and had provoked the Romans against the Christ, and had prepared them to arrest and crucify him. The weapon used by them for provoking the Roman against the Christ was the baseless charge that he was claiming to be the king of the Jews.

256. By those who differed are meant the Christians.

257. It shows that when the Quran was being revealed there were severe differences among the Christians about the crucifixion of the Christ. The obvious proof of it is found in the Bible, in which the events describing the crucifixion of the Christ, and his resurrection from the grave have become a puzzle. From the description in the Bible it becomes quite clear that it is unable to present the reality about those events. On this account the Christians have invented very strange theories about the death of the Christ. Accordingly one theory known as Docetism, does not recognise that Prophet Eesa had a material body. This unrealistic mentality led them to believe that he was not a creation of God, but (we seek Allah’s refuge) His son’ All concepts were the product of the later years. The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics states:

“One would have thought that the first and second Christian generations would at any rate have had no doubt about our Lord’s real manhood.” -(Ency. Of Reli. & Ethics, Vol. IV P. 832).

It was possible to show anyone who accepted the story of His life in the Gospels’ that he was a real man, subject to the normal conditions of human life.”-(ERE VOl. IV P. 833). This admission is also there in the Bible that Besilides believed that Simon was crucified by mistake:

“Irenaeus says that Besilides’ account of the Crucifixion was that Simon of Cyrene was crucified by mistake.”-(ERE Vol.IV P.833).

As for the story of prophet Eesa’s reviving and coming out of the grave, this story has been narrated in the Bible in different ways. From the style of its narration it is obvious that these are merely hearsay stories which have been collected, and which have no more reality than an imaginary story. For example in the Bible of John it is stated:

“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stopped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Saying this she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek’? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away ! Jesus said to her, “Mary” She turned and said to him in Hebrew. ‘Rab-bo ni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold me for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,’ Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20: 11-18)

(It may be noted that the Mary mentioned here is not the mother of prophet Eesa but another Mary.) But in the Bible of Luke there is no mention of Maryam’s seeing the Christ standing near the grave, but this story is narrated as follows:

“And did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels: who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” (Luke 24 :.23 -24)

According to this narration the women saw the angels in the dream and the angels had informed that the Christ was alive, which means that it was not their eye-witness account.

Similarly there is also no mention in the Bible of Mark that these women had seen the Christ standing near the grave, but there is this description:

“And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid:” (Mark 16:8) In these Bibles claims have been made that the disciples saw the Christ, after his death, in Galile, along with the statement that some doubted it:

“And when they saw him they worshipped him: but some doubted”. (Matthew 28:17)

And the Bible of Mark states:

“Afterward he appeared to the eleven of them selves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” (Mark 16:14)

And in John’s Bible it is mentioned that the Christ appeared among his disciples after eight days. Besides, this is also narrated that.

“This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” (John 21:14)

This uncertain, indefinite and confused narration in the Bible is a clear proof that the story of Christ’s being buried and his resurrection is nothing more than a confused dream. The narration is so much confused that the Bible’s commentator himself states:

“There are however numerous critical problems about the story (see Taylor 602 ff ) especially when it is compared in details with the accounts in the other Gospels.” —(Peake’s commentary on the Bible, p.818).

And the Commentator of Mark’s Bible has even said about the last chapter of the Bible of Mark that originally it is not the part of the Bible of Mark:

“It is now generally agreed that 9-20 are not an original part of MK. They are not found in the oldest MSS and indeed were apparently not in the copies used by Mt. and LK.” (Do)

Similarly about the last chapter (No.21) of Yuhanna’s Bible the commentator writes that this addition has been made by the editor himself: “It was a supplement added by the evangelist himself .” (Do P. 867).

In short the tale of Prophet Eesa’s resurrection from the grave is an imaginary tale, and then it has no more remained a mere tale but has become a basic belief of Christianity, on which the edifice of the entire Christian theology has been erected. But the Quran by its realistic narration that the Christ was neither killed nor was he crucified and that Allah had raised him up to Himself. demolishes the edifice of the Christian theological theory.

258.That is : That the jews could not at all kill the Christ is a fact without any shadow of doubt.

259.Please see Note No. 82, Surah Aal-i- Imran.

260. The purpose of referring to the two attributes of Allah is to point out that the raising up of the Christ towards the heaven is an extraordinary event and it is the manifestation of Allah’s extraordinary power and His wisdom.

261.That is: when the Christ would die his physical and natural death, then all the people of the Book, living at the time, whether Jews or Chrisitians would have believed in his prophethood.

In the Hadith, Prophet has explained that the Christ would reappear near about the time of the Doomsday and would kill the greatest leader of the Jews of that time, the Conspirator Dajjal, after which all the people of the Book, will embrace Islam at the hands of the Christ, and there will not remain in the world jewry nor Christianity. There will be Islam and only Islam.

Some of the authentic traditions concerning the reappearance of the Christ are given below:

“Abu Huraira narrates that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wasallam) has said: ‘By the’ Being in whose hands my soul is, the son of Maryam will come among you as a just ruler then he will break the cross and will kill the swine and will terminate fighting : (at the times there will be so much of wealth that there will be none to accept it. At that time one prostration ( for God ) will be better then the world and its contents. After narrating this Abu Huraira said that if you want to confirm this, read the verse Wa In-min ahlil kitab... ( No. 159 Surah Nisa ). Bukhari Kitab Ahadithil Anbiya ).

“Nawas bin Sama’an narrates that the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi wa sallam) has said: ‘In the meantime (when Dajjal would be creating mischief) Allah will send Masih, the son of Maryam, and he will descend, clothed in two yellow- coloured sheets, resting his hands on the arms of two angels, in the eastern part of Damascus near the white minaret, When he will bend his head it would appear as if pearls are falling. Every infidel that would come in contact with his breath will instantly die, and his breath will reach as far as the limit of his sight. Then he will pursue Dajjal and will seize him near the gate of (the city of) Ludd and will kill him. “ -(Muslim , Kitabul Fitan).

“Majma’ bin Jariyya narrates that he has heard the Messenger of Allah saying that the son of Maryam would kill Dajjal at the door of Ludd.” -(Tirmizi– Abwabul Fitan)

These traditions and others like these show that the reappearance of the Christ, that would take place in the last periods of the world will be for accomplishing a specific task, that is to kill Dajjal, and to defeat the mischief created by him. From the said verse of the Quran it appears that the specific purpose of reappearance of the Christ uuuu S.4 306 Dawatul Qur’an is to refute the claim of the Jews that they killed him, and also to refute the wrong beliefs of the Christians particularly the one claiming Christ to be the son of God.

It would also provide a further proof of the prophethood of Eesa and the truth of Quran and so that physical death of the Christ, which has not so far taken place, may take place on this earth. It may be noted that Prophet Eesa (Alai hissalam) had come before Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and Muslims believe in the prophethood of the last prophet. The reappearance of Christ in the last years of the world will not be as a new prophet therefore his reappearance does not in any way affect the belief in the Prophet Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) being the last of the prophets.

It should also be noted that the Christ will not begin to claim anything, but he will achieve the purpose for which he would be re-sent. His success in this mission will itself proclaim that he is Eesa, son of Maryam. Therefore Muslims will have no difficulty in recognising him. If this reality is clearly understood; then man can be secure against the mischief that is coming in the form of Qadiyanism, etc. and the claims of some men to be Christ etc.

262. On the Day of Judgment the witness that will be given by prophet Eesa has been narrated in detail in Surah Maidah.Verses Nos. 116 -117.

263.The parenthetical sentence ended above. From here begins the topic which was left off at verse no.155.

264. The command of forbidding taking of interest (usury) is found in the Bible even today. We have already reproduced the extracts in Note No.456 of Surah Baqarah.

265.The crimes of the Jews have been described up to here. The idea is to show that if this community, which had been so rebellious, shows so much obstinacy in believing in Quran, then what is surprising in that ! Allah warns them that those who would show obstinacy in sticking to disbelief, very painful punishment has been prepared for them.

266. Means those learned men who had a firm and correct knowledge of the religion. They were distinct from the generality of the Jewish learned men on account of their words and practice, their conduct and character. Due to their regard for truth, they were fortunate in being guided to believe in the truth of Quran.

267. Means those people who were not very learned but who were righteous and good natured. When they heard the call of the Quran they believed in it.

268. The Jews had given up both the salat and zakat (prayer and compulsory charity). This resulted in their giving up the religion itself. Only those people remained attached to religion who were offering prayers and zakat. Only such people came forward to accept the truth of Quran. In other words this was the blessing of the salat and zakat that they were guided to accept the truth. It shows that wherever these two basic pillars of the religion are given up, it results in the giving up of the religion.

Verily, We have sent revelation to you as We sent revelation to Nooh (Noah) and the messengers after him. We also sent revelation to Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and the children of Yaqub (the tribes)to Eesa, Ayub (Job), Yunus (Jonah), Harun (Aaron) and Sulaiman. And, We gave Zaboor (psalms) to Dawood (David). (Al-Quran)

163. Verily, We have sent revelation to you²⁶⁹ as We sent revelation to Nooh (Noah) and the messengers after him. We also sent revelation to Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and the children of Yaqub²⁷⁰ (the tribes) to Eesa, Ayub (Job), Yunus (Jonah), Haroon (Aaron) and Sulaiman.²⁷¹ And, We gave Zaboor (psalms)²⁷² to Dawood (David).

164. And (We have sent revelation) to the messengers We have mentioned to you before, and the messengers We have not mentioned to you²⁷³. And Allah spoke to Moosa directly²⁷⁴;

165. We sent all these messengers as bearers of glad tidings and warners²⁷⁵ that, after the coming of the messengers, people should have no plea against Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.

166. (If inspite of this they deny, they may do so) but Allah bears witness that what He has sent to you He has sent with His own knowledge²⁷⁶, and the angels bear witness; though suffices Allah as a witness.

167. Verily those who deny faith and keep off (men) from the way of Allah have strayed far, far away from the path.

168. Verily, those who have rejected faith and done wrong, Allah will not forgive them, nor show them any other way.

169. Except the way of Hell, to dwell therein forever and this to Allah is easy.

170. O mankind! The messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord. Therefore, believe; (it will be) better for you. But if you disbelieve, then (remember) to Allah belong all things in the heavens and the earth; and Allah is All-Knowing, All– Wise.

269. ‘Wahi’ (Revelation) means to hint by signs and to cast or instil a speech in the heart of a person. The secret manner in which Allah sends down his messages to His prophets has been described by Quran by the terminology “Wahi” The words inspiration and revelation do not fully connote the meaning of this terminology.

270. In the text the word ‘Asbat’ is used, which is a specific terminology for the twelve tribes of Bani Israil. Here it refers to the prophets that were sent in these tribes.

271. Here the purpose is to show that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was not the first person who has claimed to have received the revelation from Allah. There had been many prophets before him to whom Allah had been sending down His revelations in the same way in which He was doing to the last of the Prophets. All the Prophets had been deriving benefit from the same source of guidance.

272. Zabur which Allah revealed to prophet Dawood (David) is not available today in its original form. However its parts can be seen in the scripture called Psalms included in the present day Bible. In it Allah’s praises, His oneness and exhortations are narrated in a very effective way.

273. Quran does not say that only those prophets whom it has mentioned by name are the prophets of Allah and others besides them were not sent as the messengers of Allah, but it says that other than those mentioned in it were also sent as messengers. and that it is necessary to believe in all prophets.

274. A particular method of revelation was adopted in the case of prophet Moosa. Accordingly. Allah used to directly speak to him This has ben mentioned in the Bible too.

“Thus the lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11)

275. That is: The purpose of sending those prophets was to make sure that the people might not seek an excuse on the Day of Judgment that no arrangement was made to stir them out of their slumber and to warn them of the adverse consequences of their evil deeds, and that had some arrangement had been made therefor they would have followed the right path. and not neglected the Hereafter.

276.Witness of the fact that Quran was sent down by Allah, in which the Satans had no hand and this is pure and unmixed Divine word. This witness can be heard by everybody who reads Quran carefully and diligently for its every verse declares that it is the word of God. But this voice can be heard only by those who have the ears that hear the voice of truth.

171. O people of the Book! Commit no exaggeration in your religion²⁷⁷; nor say of Allah anything but truth²⁷⁸. Messiah, Eesa, son of Maryam, was no more than a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed to Maryam, and a spirit from Him²⁷⁹; so believe in Allah and His messengers; and say not “gods are three²⁸⁰” Desist ! It is better for you. In reality Allah is one God, glory be to him, He is above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on the earth. And enough is Allah as a guardian²⁸¹.

172. The Messiah disdains not that he should be a slave of Allah nor do the angels who are nearest to Him. And whoever disdains his worship and is proud, (the time is not far off when) He will gather them all in His presence.

173. Then, to those who believed and performed deeds of righteousness, He will give their rewards in full, adding to them out of His bounty; and to those who were disdainful and proud, He will punish with a grievous punishment. And they will not find, besides Allah, any protecting friend or helper.

174. O mankind ! There has come to you a convincing proof from your Lord²⁸², and We have sent to you a clear light²⁸³.

175. So those who will believe in Allah and hold fast to Him, soon will He admit them to mercy and grace from Him, and guide them straight way to Himself ²⁸⁴.

176. They ask you for a fatwa²⁸⁵(legal pronouncement ). Say: Allah directs about kalalah²⁸⁶. If a person dies childless and he has a sister²⁸⁷, she shall have half of his inheritance; and (if the sister dies leaving a brother as the survivor then) the brother shall be her heir²⁸⁸, provided the sister was childless. If there are two sisters, they shall have two-thirds of the inheritance²⁸⁹. And if there are several brothers and sisters, then the share of the male shall be twice that of the female.²⁹⁰ Allah clarifies (His commands) for you so that you may not err. And (remember) Allah has knowledge of all things.

277. ‘Ghulu’ means to exaggerate beyond limits. Exaggeration in the religion means to give a thing more value in religion than what is fixed for it and real, and to give it a higher position than what it is in reality. The very prominent example of exaggeration in religion is this practice of the Christians that they began worshipping Jesus, supposing him to be the son of God. Examples of excess and exaggeration can be found in other religions also: some gave the position of an avatar (incarnation) to the prophet, some placed their religious leaders on God’s pedestal. Believers in Quran also gradually became a prey to exaggeration. Some suggested the rank of prophethood for some pious persons, while some raised the saints to the rank ‘of godhood, and invented for them words like ‘Ghausul Azam’ (the great helper) and ‘Mushkil Kusha’(solver of difficulty), when actually these epithets are fit only for God, the Almighty, and are reserved for Him. Similarly some invented the belief of the Imam being innocent, and some one invented Tariqat (mysticism), and busied himself with the meditation of ‘Shaikh’. Islam had commanded to make the graves in a simple way, but the excess – loving people constructed grand buildings as dargahs for the graves of the pious persons. Islam had taught to be simple and to lead a life of contentment, but the exaggeration- loving mentality adopted ascetism in the name of abstinence. In the same way the things which were ‘mustahab’ (good) were converted into farz and wajib (compulsory) This affected the temperament of Islam. After this, there remained neither simplicity in Islam nor balance. As a result various kinds of disruptions were caused in the millat, and various sects were formed, and at the hands of the excess loving people no brick of the edifice of religion remained in its place.The whole system of the religion was shaken to its roots.

278. If to Allah are ascribed only those things which are true, then all the mischiefs are finished. But when to him are attributed such things as He has not said then the way for innovation and exaggeration is opened and the complexion of the religion is changed. The real cause of the straying of the Christians is this, that they included many imaginary things in religion; and to include any imaginary things in the religion is equivalent to ascribing it to Allah because’ religion is the system of worship and obedience which Allah has revealed. To include anything from one’s own imagination is to claim that it is from Allah, while actually the reality is not so. Among the Muslims also many misguided things have entered through innovations (only) and they helped in making so many absurdities to be part of the religion. Therefore, unless a man tries to study the Quran and Sunnah with a clear mind it will be difficult for him to find out what is the real religion of Allah.

279. Here three things have been mentioned concerning Prophet Eesa. First, he is the messenger of Allah. Secondly; he is the word of Allah. Third, he is a spirit from Allah. The purpose of this elaboration is to refute the belief of the Christians about the divinity of the Christ. It means that the birth of prophet Eesa in the extraordinary way is not such a thing as would make him the son of God. His birth in the extraordinary manner had taken place by the command of Allah, and the spirit in his body was from Allah only. Therefore, this belief is extremely misleading that Allah’s spirit had dissolved into him (We seek Allah’s refuge from such a blasphemy). ( For further explanation please see Note No.56. Surah Aal-i-Imran).

280. The belief in three gods is a self invented belief of the Christians. It is composed of three: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This belief is totally polytheistic. Since the teaching of the Torah, the Psalms and the Injeel and also of all the Divine Scriptures is the teaching of oneness of God, therefore declaration of belief in Unity and Trinity was made simultaneously, and attempts were made to conform to both. In these attempts the complexion of the religion was very badly disfigured.

Where this verse refutes the belief of three gods of the Christians there it also declares all the concepts of the polytheistic religions of many gods as totally false, whether it may be the belief in two gods or in hundred and thousand gods.

281. That is: When all that is in the heavens and on the earth belong to Allah, then what is the necessity for Him to have a son, and that when He is sufficient for taking care of all, then where is the question of His taking some one’s help by making him His son.

282. Means Quran, which has a style of appeal that is intellectual and argumentative, and from this point of view it is Allah’s argument and proof against human excuses.

283. This is another characteristic of the holy Quran that it distinguishes between Truth and falsehood, and shows the right way of living.

284. That is: In the Hereafter they will gain nearness to God, which is the goal of guidance. The purport of the verse is that those who will believe in Quran and will hold fast to Allah will be successful in achieving their goal, that is Allah, and this is the greatest gift and blessing that they would get.

285. This verse is a supplement to the commands concerning inheritance which were given in the verses at the beginning of the Surah. The queries concerning inheritance were raised in connection with those commands, and their answers have been added as a supplement at the end of the Surah as an explanation.

286. It shows that the query was about the inheritance of kalalah (a person who has no living father or no living child), about which the directions are given in Verse No.12. (For explanation, please see Note No.34)

287. In Verse No. 12, the shares of uterine brothers and sisters were shown. In this verse the shares of full and consanguine brothers and sisters have been shown.

288. If no one from the Quranic sharers is alive, then the brother will have the whole inheritance, and if some one from the Quranic sharers may be alive, e.g. husband, then after giving his share, the remaining inheritance will go to the brother.

289. Same is the direction for more than two sisters. They will be equal sharers in the two third inheritance.

290. The details about the shares of the full and consanguine brothers and sisters may be seen in the Table of Inheritance, pages 239 to 242.