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هَٰٓأَنتُمْ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ جَٰدَلْتُمْ عَنْهُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا فَمَن يُجَٰدِلُ ٱللَّهَ عَنْهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ أَم مَّن يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكِيلًا

<p>Banu Ubayriq telling them that their support given to betrayers of trust in the mortal world does not end at that. There will be the Day of Doom when their case will come before Almighty Allah. Who will lend support to them at that time? The verse serves two purposes. It admonishes them, and then reminds them of the hazards of the Hereafter persuading them thereby to repent and turn to Allah.</p>

Banu Ubayriq telling them that their support given to betrayers of trust in the mortal world does not end at that. There will be the Day of Doom when their case will come before Almighty Allah. Who will lend support to them at that time? The verse serves two purposes. It admonishes them, and then reminds them of the hazards of the Hereafter persuading them thereby to repent and turn to Allah.

وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوٓءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُۥ ثُمَّ يَسْتَغْفِرِ ٱللَّهَ يَجِدِ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

<p>In the sixth verse (110), we can once again see the wise way of the Qur'an at work when, in order to save sinners from total disappointment, it was said that a sin was a sin, big or small. When a sinner repents and seeks Allah's forgiveness, he finds Him forgiving, merciful. As obvious, there is an element of persuasion for those who have committed sin suggesting that they still had the time and the hope to just desist and repent sincerely; nothing is lost, Allah will forgive everything.</p>

In the sixth verse (110), we can once again see the wise way of the Qur'an at work when, in order to save sinners from total disappointment, it was said that a sin was a sin, big or small. When a sinner repents and seeks Allah's forgiveness, he finds Him forgiving, merciful. As obvious, there is an element of persuasion for those who have committed sin suggesting that they still had the time and the hope to just desist and repent sincerely; nothing is lost, Allah will forgive everything.

وَمَن يَكْسِبْ إِثْمًا فَإِنَّمَا يَكْسِبُهُۥ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِۦ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا

<p>In the event that these people choose not to repent despite the option given to them, the seventh verse (111) carries the assurance that this action of theirs brings no harm to Almighty Allah or His Messenger or to Muslims. The sad nemesis of a person's evil deed shall be faced by the person himself.</p>

In the event that these people choose not to repent despite the option given to them, the seventh verse (111) carries the assurance that this action of theirs brings no harm to Almighty Allah or His Messenger or to Muslims. The sad nemesis of a person's evil deed shall be faced by the person himself.

وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيٓـَٔةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْمِ بِهِۦ بَرِيٓـًٔا فَقَدِ ٱحْتَمَلَ بُهْتَٰنًا وَإِثْمًا مُّبِينًا

<p>In the eighth verse (112), a general rule of conduct has been set forth. It stipulates that anyone who himself commits a crime, then goes on to put the blame on some innocent person (as in the episode cited above where the theft was committed by Banu Ubayriq themselves and they went on to put the blame on Sayyidna Labid or the Jew) has done something grave by levelling a false accusation of great magnitude against an innocent person plus an open sin weighing heavy on one's shoulders.</p>

In the eighth verse (112), a general rule of conduct has been set forth. It stipulates that anyone who himself commits a crime, then goes on to put the blame on some innocent person (as in the episode cited above where the theft was committed by Banu Ubayriq themselves and they went on to put the blame on Sayyidna Labid or the Jew) has done something grave by levelling a false accusation of great magnitude against an innocent person plus an open sin weighing heavy on one's shoulders.

وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكَ وَرَحْمَتُهُۥ لَهَمَّت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُضِلُّوكَ وَمَا يُضِلُّونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَضُرُّونَكَ مِن شَىْءٍ وَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ وَكَانَ فَضْلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكَ عَظِيمًا

<p>Addressing the Holy Prophet ﷺ in the ninth verse (113), it has been said: It was Allah's grace and mercy that He revealed to you the reality behind the event of theft, otherwise these people would have misled you into error. But, since you are not alone, Allah's grace and mercy is with you, these people can never mislead you into error.</p><p>On the contrary, they themselves fall into error. Be sure that these people cannot harm you in any way whatsoever because Allah has revealed the Book and wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know.</p><p>The Holy Prophet ﷺ and Ijtihad</p><p>From verse 105 which begins with the words: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ (Surely we have revealed to you the book with the truth) helps establish five rulings:</p><p>1. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had the right to arrive at his judgement in situations not covered by an explicit authority given in the Holy Qur'an. In situations of major importance, there were many decisions he took by his Ijtihad.</p><p>2. The second rule that emerges from here is inseparably linked with the authenticity of Ijtihad. It means that, in the sight of Allah, an Ijtihad can be considered trustworthy only when it is based on and is deduced from Qur'anic principles and the clear authority of its text. Simple opinions or views are not trustworthy, nor can they be termed as Ijtihad in the sense recognized in Shari’ ah.</p><p>3. The third rule of guidance we get to know is that the Ijtihad done by the Holy Prophet al was not like that done by Mujtahid Imams where the probability of an error of judgement always remains. As for the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، when he took a decision on the basis of his Ijtihad any possible error in the judgment would always stand corrected by Allah Almighty. Therefore, when he took a decision based on his Ijtihad and nothing against it came from Almighty Allah, then, this was an indicator that the decision taken finds favour with Allah and is correct in His sight.</p><p>4. The fourth rule of guidance we come to know is: at the Holy Prophet ﷺ understood from the Qur'an was nothing but what Almighty Allah had Himself made him understand. A possibility of misunderstanding just did not exist there. This is contrary to the case of other ` Ulama and Mujtahidin whose understanding of the Qur'-an cannot be attributed to Almighty Allah in the sense that it was what Allah had told them. You will realize the difference when you carefully look at بِماٰ اَراکَ اللہُ (with the insight Allah has given to you) which refers to the noble Prophet ﷺ in this very verse. This is why - when someone said to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ عنہ (Decide as Allah shows you to) - he scolded him by saying: This is special to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ</p><p>5. The fifth ruling we deduce from here is that pursuing or advocating a false case or a false claim or to second or support them is totally Haram (forbidden).</p><p>The Reality of Repentance</p><p>Verse no which begins with the words: وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ tells us that all sins, whether they affect others or affect one's own self, that is, whether they violate the rights of human beings (Huququl-‘Ibad) or rights of Allah (Huququllah), can be forgiven by one's repenting and praying for forgiveness. But; it is necessary to know the reality of showing repentance and seeking forgiveness. Mere verbal declarations of 'I seek Allah's forgiveness' (Astaghfirullah) and 'I turn to Him in repentance' (Wa atubu ilaihi) are not acts of genuine repentance as such. Therefore, according to a consensus of ` Ulama, the person who is involved in some sin, is not ashamed of it and does not leave it or, at least, does not resolve to leave it in the future, then, his verbal declaration of Astaghfirullah is an open mockery of repentance.</p><p>In short, for repentance (Taubah) to be genuine, three things are necessary:</p><p>1. Being ashamed of past sins.</p><p>2. Immediately leaving the sin one is in.</p><p>3. Resolving to stay away from sin in future.</p><p>However, forgiveness for sins related to the rights of the servants of Allah has to be sought from the wronged party itself; or, one should, to begin with, pay what was due or fulfill what was denied. These are binding conditions of genuine repentance.</p><p>Attributing one's sins to others brings added punishment</p><p>From verse 112 – اَلخ وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيئَةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْ‌مِ بِهِ we know that a person who himself commits a sin, then goes on to ascribe it to an innocent man, does something terrible - he doubles and hardens his sin. He has made himself deserving of severe punishment, the punishment of his own sin, then the added punishment for lying and accusing falsely.</p><p>The Reality of Qur'an and Sunnah</p><p>In verse 113: وَأَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (And Allah has revealed to you the Book and the wisdom and has taught you what you did not know), by pairing al-Kitab (the Book) and al-Hikmah (the Wisdom) it has been pointed out that . Hikmah which is the name of the Sunnah and teachings of the noble Prophet ﷺ was also sent down by none but Allah Almighty. The difference is that its words are not from Allah and that is why they are not part of the Qur'an. But, its meanings and that of the Qur'an are certainly from Allah, therefore, it is obligatory to act in accordance with both.</p><p>This explains what some jurists say about Wahy (Revelation) being of two kinds: Matluww - that which is recited, and Ghayr-Matluww - that which is not recited. Wahy Matluww or the revelation which is recited is the name of the Qur'an - the words and meanings of which are both from Allah. And Ghayr-Matluww or that which is not recited is the name of the Hadith of the Rasul the words of which are from the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the meanings of which are from Allah.</p><p>Another problem which gets resolved from the words: وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (and taught you what you did not know) (113) is that the noble Prophet ﷺ did not have the all-comprehending knowledge of the entire universe equal to Almighty Allah, as some ignorant people do insist. The truth is that the measure of his knowledge was corresponding to what Allah bestowed upon him. However, there is no doubt that the knowledge bestowed upon the Holy Prophet ﷺ exceeds the combined knowledge of all created beings.</p>

Addressing the Holy Prophet ﷺ in the ninth verse (113), it has been said: It was Allah's grace and mercy that He revealed to you the reality behind the event of theft, otherwise these people would have misled you into error. But, since you are not alone, Allah's grace and mercy is with you, these people can never mislead you into error.On the contrary, they themselves fall into error. Be sure that these people cannot harm you in any way whatsoever because Allah has revealed the Book and wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know.The Holy Prophet ﷺ and IjtihadFrom verse 105 which begins with the words: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ (Surely we have revealed to you the book with the truth) helps establish five rulings:1. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had the right to arrive at his judgement in situations not covered by an explicit authority given in the Holy Qur'an. In situations of major importance, there were many decisions he took by his Ijtihad.2. The second rule that emerges from here is inseparably linked with the authenticity of Ijtihad. It means that, in the sight of Allah, an Ijtihad can be considered trustworthy only when it is based on and is deduced from Qur'anic principles and the clear authority of its text. Simple opinions or views are not trustworthy, nor can they be termed as Ijtihad in the sense recognized in Shari’ ah.3. The third rule of guidance we get to know is that the Ijtihad done by the Holy Prophet al was not like that done by Mujtahid Imams where the probability of an error of judgement always remains. As for the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، when he took a decision on the basis of his Ijtihad any possible error in the judgment would always stand corrected by Allah Almighty. Therefore, when he took a decision based on his Ijtihad and nothing against it came from Almighty Allah, then, this was an indicator that the decision taken finds favour with Allah and is correct in His sight.4. The fourth rule of guidance we come to know is: at the Holy Prophet ﷺ understood from the Qur'an was nothing but what Almighty Allah had Himself made him understand. A possibility of misunderstanding just did not exist there. This is contrary to the case of other ` Ulama and Mujtahidin whose understanding of the Qur'-an cannot be attributed to Almighty Allah in the sense that it was what Allah had told them. You will realize the difference when you carefully look at بِماٰ اَراکَ اللہُ (with the insight Allah has given to you) which refers to the noble Prophet ﷺ in this very verse. This is why - when someone said to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ عنہ (Decide as Allah shows you to) - he scolded him by saying: This is special to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ5. The fifth ruling we deduce from here is that pursuing or advocating a false case or a false claim or to second or support them is totally Haram (forbidden).The Reality of RepentanceVerse no which begins with the words: وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ tells us that all sins, whether they affect others or affect one's own self, that is, whether they violate the rights of human beings (Huququl-‘Ibad) or rights of Allah (Huququllah), can be forgiven by one's repenting and praying for forgiveness. But; it is necessary to know the reality of showing repentance and seeking forgiveness. Mere verbal declarations of 'I seek Allah's forgiveness' (Astaghfirullah) and 'I turn to Him in repentance' (Wa atubu ilaihi) are not acts of genuine repentance as such. Therefore, according to a consensus of ` Ulama, the person who is involved in some sin, is not ashamed of it and does not leave it or, at least, does not resolve to leave it in the future, then, his verbal declaration of Astaghfirullah is an open mockery of repentance.In short, for repentance (Taubah) to be genuine, three things are necessary:1. Being ashamed of past sins.2. Immediately leaving the sin one is in.3. Resolving to stay away from sin in future.However, forgiveness for sins related to the rights of the servants of Allah has to be sought from the wronged party itself; or, one should, to begin with, pay what was due or fulfill what was denied. These are binding conditions of genuine repentance.Attributing one's sins to others brings added punishmentFrom verse 112 – اَلخ وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيئَةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْ‌مِ بِهِ we know that a person who himself commits a sin, then goes on to ascribe it to an innocent man, does something terrible - he doubles and hardens his sin. He has made himself deserving of severe punishment, the punishment of his own sin, then the added punishment for lying and accusing falsely.The Reality of Qur'an and SunnahIn verse 113: وَأَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (And Allah has revealed to you the Book and the wisdom and has taught you what you did not know), by pairing al-Kitab (the Book) and al-Hikmah (the Wisdom) it has been pointed out that . Hikmah which is the name of the Sunnah and teachings of the noble Prophet ﷺ was also sent down by none but Allah Almighty. The difference is that its words are not from Allah and that is why they are not part of the Qur'an. But, its meanings and that of the Qur'an are certainly from Allah, therefore, it is obligatory to act in accordance with both.This explains what some jurists say about Wahy (Revelation) being of two kinds: Matluww - that which is recited, and Ghayr-Matluww - that which is not recited. Wahy Matluww or the revelation which is recited is the name of the Qur'an - the words and meanings of which are both from Allah. And Ghayr-Matluww or that which is not recited is the name of the Hadith of the Rasul the words of which are from the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the meanings of which are from Allah.Another problem which gets resolved from the words: وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (and taught you what you did not know) (113) is that the noble Prophet ﷺ did not have the all-comprehending knowledge of the entire universe equal to Almighty Allah, as some ignorant people do insist. The truth is that the measure of his knowledge was corresponding to what Allah bestowed upon him. However, there is no doubt that the knowledge bestowed upon the Holy Prophet ﷺ exceeds the combined knowledge of all created beings.

لَّا خَيْرَ فِى كَثِيرٍ مِّن نَّجْوَىٰهُمْ إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَٰحٍۭ بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ ٱبْتِغَآءَ مَرْضَاتِ ٱللَّهِ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

<p>Sequence</p><p>Moving from the episode of theft and the conspiracies made to cover up the crime by false accusations against others, the text now highlights positive things that can be done through mutual consultation and which could help one to remain obedient to the Messenger's teachings and the command of Allah without ever trying to go against the ideal path taken by those who believe in Allah and His Messenger.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>In the first part of the verse لَّا خَيْرَ‌ فِي كَثِيرٍ‌ مِّن نَّجْوَاهُمْ translated as 'there is no good in most of their whisperings..', it has been declared that most talks people hold and plans they make to ensure transitory worldly gains, while unmindful of the concerns of their life-to-come, are devoid of good.</p><p>The second part: إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ‌ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُ‌وفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَاحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ means that real good can come forth from mutual consultations only when people persuade each other to take part in charitable activities or ask people to do what is good and right or tell them to make peace between one another. It is said in a hadith that anything one says is harmful for him in one way or the other unless, of course, the subject of his utterance is the remembrance of Allah or that he is bidding the Fair and forbidding the Unfair.</p><p>Bidding the Fair stands for اَمَر باِلمَعرُف Amr bi al-Ma` ruf which refers to every action considered good in the Shari` ah and is patently recognized as such by those who know it. In contrast, there is the forbidding of the Unfair which stands for Nahy ` an al-Munkar which refers to every action considered undesirable in the Shari` ah and is squarely unrecognized and unfamiliar to those who know it.</p><p>Bidding the Fair includes all imperatives and motivations through which people are led to do what is good and right. Things like helping the oppressed, assisting the needy with loans, guiding the lost, all fall under this broad category. Though, charity and reconciliation between people are also part of this definition, but they have been taken up separately because their benefit reaches from one to another and improves the collective life of a community.</p><p>In addition to that, these two fields of activity cover what is most essential about public service. They seek to bring benefit to Allah's creation and they protect people against pain and loss. Charity spreads out benefits to people and reconciliation between them stops mutual pain and loss. Therefore, according to a consensus of the scholars of Tafsir, the word Sadaqah (charity) used here carries a general sense which includes the obligatory zakah, voluntary charities and everything done to bring benefit to someone.</p><p>The Graces of Making Peace</p><p>The Holy Prophet has spoken highly about the merit of removing mutual bickerings among people and of bringing them to understand, accommodate and cooperate with each other. He said:</p><p>"Shall I not tell you about an act which is far superior in rank to fasting, prayers and charity? The Companions submitted, Please do.' He, then, said: "That act is the removal of discord. That is, to remove bickering between two persons, make peace between them and thus eliminate discord."</p><p>He has also said: فساد ذات البین ھی الحالقہ "Mutual discord among people is what really shaves." Then, he explained it by saying: "This discord does not shave the head, but it shaves off one's faith."</p><p>In the concluding part of the verse (114), there appears a significant reminder that these good deeds to bid charity and fair action or a reconciliation among people can only be worthwhile and acceptable when they are undertaken sincerely, and exclusively for the pleasure of Allah, without any traces of personal or material interest.</p>

SequenceMoving from the episode of theft and the conspiracies made to cover up the crime by false accusations against others, the text now highlights positive things that can be done through mutual consultation and which could help one to remain obedient to the Messenger's teachings and the command of Allah without ever trying to go against the ideal path taken by those who believe in Allah and His Messenger.CommentaryIn the first part of the verse لَّا خَيْرَ‌ فِي كَثِيرٍ‌ مِّن نَّجْوَاهُمْ translated as 'there is no good in most of their whisperings..', it has been declared that most talks people hold and plans they make to ensure transitory worldly gains, while unmindful of the concerns of their life-to-come, are devoid of good.The second part: إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ‌ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُ‌وفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَاحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ means that real good can come forth from mutual consultations only when people persuade each other to take part in charitable activities or ask people to do what is good and right or tell them to make peace between one another. It is said in a hadith that anything one says is harmful for him in one way or the other unless, of course, the subject of his utterance is the remembrance of Allah or that he is bidding the Fair and forbidding the Unfair.Bidding the Fair stands for اَمَر باِلمَعرُف Amr bi al-Ma` ruf which refers to every action considered good in the Shari` ah and is patently recognized as such by those who know it. In contrast, there is the forbidding of the Unfair which stands for Nahy ` an al-Munkar which refers to every action considered undesirable in the Shari` ah and is squarely unrecognized and unfamiliar to those who know it.Bidding the Fair includes all imperatives and motivations through which people are led to do what is good and right. Things like helping the oppressed, assisting the needy with loans, guiding the lost, all fall under this broad category. Though, charity and reconciliation between people are also part of this definition, but they have been taken up separately because their benefit reaches from one to another and improves the collective life of a community.In addition to that, these two fields of activity cover what is most essential about public service. They seek to bring benefit to Allah's creation and they protect people against pain and loss. Charity spreads out benefits to people and reconciliation between them stops mutual pain and loss. Therefore, according to a consensus of the scholars of Tafsir, the word Sadaqah (charity) used here carries a general sense which includes the obligatory zakah, voluntary charities and everything done to bring benefit to someone.The Graces of Making PeaceThe Holy Prophet has spoken highly about the merit of removing mutual bickerings among people and of bringing them to understand, accommodate and cooperate with each other. He said:"Shall I not tell you about an act which is far superior in rank to fasting, prayers and charity? The Companions submitted, Please do.' He, then, said: "That act is the removal of discord. That is, to remove bickering between two persons, make peace between them and thus eliminate discord."He has also said: فساد ذات البین ھی الحالقہ "Mutual discord among people is what really shaves." Then, he explained it by saying: "This discord does not shave the head, but it shaves off one's faith."In the concluding part of the verse (114), there appears a significant reminder that these good deeds to bid charity and fair action or a reconciliation among people can only be worthwhile and acceptable when they are undertaken sincerely, and exclusively for the pleasure of Allah, without any traces of personal or material interest.

وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ ٱلرَّسُولَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِۦ مَا تَوَلَّىٰ وَنُصْلِهِۦ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَآءَتْ مَصِيرًا

<p>The Consensus of the Community is a Valid Religious Authority</p><p>Two things have been identified as a great crime and as a cause of one's consignment to Hell in verse 115: وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ الرَّ‌سُولَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَىٰ (And whoever breaks away with the Messenger after the right path has become clear to him...). The first is opposing the Messenger of Allah. Obviously, doing so is Kufr (disbelief, infidelity) and a terrible curse. The second crime relates to a violation of universal Muslim consensus. It means the abandoning of something which has the universal agreement of all Muslims and opting for some other way against them. This explains that the consensus of the Muslim community has valid religious authority. In other words, we know that following the injunctions given in the Qur'an and Sunnah is obligatory. Similarly, when the Muslim Ummah (Community) agrees about something universally, following its consensus becomes equally obligatory. Any opposition to this consensus is a grave sin as was said by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in a hadith:</p><p>یَدُ اللہِ عَلَی الجمعۃِ مَن شَدَّ شُذَّ فِی النَّار</p><p>That is, the hand of Allah is on the Muslim community. Whoever breaks away or separates himself from it will himself be separated for consignment to Hell.</p><p>Imam al-Shafi` (رح) was asked: 'Can the validity of the authority of the Consensus of Muslim Ummah be proved from the Holy Qur'an?' He devoted to the recitation of the Qur'an full three days, completing three recitals each during the day and night. Finally, the proof that he came up with was this verse. When he cited it before scholars, they all agreed: This proof is sufficient to confirm the authority of ` Ijma`, the Consensus of Muslim Community</p>

The Consensus of the Community is a Valid Religious AuthorityTwo things have been identified as a great crime and as a cause of one's consignment to Hell in verse 115: وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ الرَّ‌سُولَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَىٰ (And whoever breaks away with the Messenger after the right path has become clear to him...). The first is opposing the Messenger of Allah. Obviously, doing so is Kufr (disbelief, infidelity) and a terrible curse. The second crime relates to a violation of universal Muslim consensus. It means the abandoning of something which has the universal agreement of all Muslims and opting for some other way against them. This explains that the consensus of the Muslim community has valid religious authority. In other words, we know that following the injunctions given in the Qur'an and Sunnah is obligatory. Similarly, when the Muslim Ummah (Community) agrees about something universally, following its consensus becomes equally obligatory. Any opposition to this consensus is a grave sin as was said by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in a hadith:یَدُ اللہِ عَلَی الجمعۃِ مَن شَدَّ شُذَّ فِی النَّارThat is, the hand of Allah is on the Muslim community. Whoever breaks away or separates himself from it will himself be separated for consignment to Hell.Imam al-Shafi` (رح) was asked: 'Can the validity of the authority of the Consensus of Muslim Ummah be proved from the Holy Qur'an?' He devoted to the recitation of the Qur'an full three days, completing three recitals each during the day and night. Finally, the proof that he came up with was this verse. When he cited it before scholars, they all agreed: This proof is sufficient to confirm the authority of ` Ijma`, the Consensus of Muslim Community

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

<p>Sequence</p><p>Though, the mention of Jihad in preceding verses includes all forces hostile to Islam, yet the actual description was limited to Jews and the hypocrites. Out of the larger group of antagonists there were the pagans who were much more in numbers. The verses that follow take up their beliefs and point out to the punishment they will face. This has a coherence of its own at this place. It will be recalled that the thief mentioned earlier became an apostate. The lasting punishment he thus earned for himself becomes evident. (Bayan a1-Qur'an)</p><p>Commentary</p><p>The first verse (116) إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ‌ أَن يُشْرَ‌كَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ‌ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ (Surely, Allah does not forgive the ascribing of a partner to Him and forgives anything short of that for whomsoever He wills ...) has appeared earlier (48) in Surah al-Nis-a' in the same words except for the words at their ends. In verse 48 appearing earlier, the words at the end are: وَمَن يُشْرِ‌كْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا whoever ascribes a partner to Allah has designed a great sin) while the words at the end of verse 116 before us are: وَمَن يُشْرِ‌كْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا (And whoever ascribes a partner to Allah has indeed gone far astray). As explained by master exegetes, the reason for this difference is that the addressees of the earlier verse (48) were the Jewish people of the Book who knew all about the truth of Tauhid (Allah's oneness), the falsity of Shirk (ascribing of a partner to Allah) and the veracity of the mission of the noble Prophet ﷺ through the Torah. Despite that, they got involved in Shirk. Thus, through their own conduct, they pretended that it was the very teaching of the Torah which is total forgery and false accusation. That is why it was said: فَقَدِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا (... has designed a great sin) at the end of verse 48. As for the verse before us (116), the addressees were the pagans of Makkah who did not have the background of any Book or Prophet before that time, but the rational arguments in support of the Oneness of Allah were all too clear. Taking stones crafted with their own hands as their objects of worship was something ineffectual, false and erroneous even in the sight of someone with ordinary common-sense. Therefore, here it was said: فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا (... has indeed gone far astray).</p><p>The eternal Punishment of Shirk and Kufr:</p><p>Some people express doubt at this point. They think that punishment should be proportionate to the deed. The crime of disbelieving and of ascribing partners to Allah committed by the Kafir and the Mushrik was committed within the limited time frame of a given life. Why would its punishment be limitless and permanent? The answer is that the doer of Kufr and Shirk simply does not regard what he does as crime. This is, on the contrary, taken as something good and proper, worth one's while. Therefore, his line of action is accompanied by his firm intention that he will always be like that. Now, if such a Kafir or Mushrik adheres to this position right through the last breath, he has committed a permanent crime to the extent of his choice and volition, therefore, the punishment for it has to be permanent.</p><p>Zulm:</p><p>There are three kinds of Zulm (injustice):</p><p>1. That which Allah will never forgive.</p><p>2. That which could be forgiven.</p><p>3. That which meets retribution from Allah.</p><p>The first kind of injustice is Shirk, the ascribing of a partner to Allah; the second kind of injustice is falling short in fulfilling the rights of Allah, known as Huququllah; and the third kind of injustice is the contravention of the rights of Allah's created beings against each other, known as Huququl-‘Ibad. (Ibn Kathir vide Musnad Bazar)</p><p>What is the reality of Shirk?</p><p>To consider any created being other than Allah equal to Allah in worship, or in love and reverence, is what Shirk really is. The Holy Qur'an has reported the words of the disbelievers they shall utter on arrival into the Jahannam:</p><p>اللَّـهِ إِن كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿97﴾ إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُم بِرَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿98﴾</p><p>By Allah, we were in obvious error when we had equated you with Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (26:97, 98)</p><p>It is evident that even the polytheists did not believe that the idols of their making were the Creator and the Master of the universe. It was, rather, under other erroneous assumptions that they had taken to regarding their idols equal to Allah in worship or in love and reverence. This was the Shirk which caused their being in Jahannam (Fath al-Mulhim).</p><p>In short, taking any created being as equal to Allah in His particular attributes - such as, the Creator, the Provider, the Absolute Master, the Knower of the Seen and the Unseen - is Shirk</p>

SequenceThough, the mention of Jihad in preceding verses includes all forces hostile to Islam, yet the actual description was limited to Jews and the hypocrites. Out of the larger group of antagonists there were the pagans who were much more in numbers. The verses that follow take up their beliefs and point out to the punishment they will face. This has a coherence of its own at this place. It will be recalled that the thief mentioned earlier became an apostate. The lasting punishment he thus earned for himself becomes evident. (Bayan a1-Qur'an)CommentaryThe first verse (116) إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ‌ أَن يُشْرَ‌كَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ‌ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۚ (Surely, Allah does not forgive the ascribing of a partner to Him and forgives anything short of that for whomsoever He wills ...) has appeared earlier (48) in Surah al-Nis-a' in the same words except for the words at their ends. In verse 48 appearing earlier, the words at the end are: وَمَن يُشْرِ‌كْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا whoever ascribes a partner to Allah has designed a great sin) while the words at the end of verse 116 before us are: وَمَن يُشْرِ‌كْ بِاللَّـهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا (And whoever ascribes a partner to Allah has indeed gone far astray). As explained by master exegetes, the reason for this difference is that the addressees of the earlier verse (48) were the Jewish people of the Book who knew all about the truth of Tauhid (Allah's oneness), the falsity of Shirk (ascribing of a partner to Allah) and the veracity of the mission of the noble Prophet ﷺ through the Torah. Despite that, they got involved in Shirk. Thus, through their own conduct, they pretended that it was the very teaching of the Torah which is total forgery and false accusation. That is why it was said: فَقَدِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا (... has designed a great sin) at the end of verse 48. As for the verse before us (116), the addressees were the pagans of Makkah who did not have the background of any Book or Prophet before that time, but the rational arguments in support of the Oneness of Allah were all too clear. Taking stones crafted with their own hands as their objects of worship was something ineffectual, false and erroneous even in the sight of someone with ordinary common-sense. Therefore, here it was said: فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا (... has indeed gone far astray).The eternal Punishment of Shirk and Kufr:Some people express doubt at this point. They think that punishment should be proportionate to the deed. The crime of disbelieving and of ascribing partners to Allah committed by the Kafir and the Mushrik was committed within the limited time frame of a given life. Why would its punishment be limitless and permanent? The answer is that the doer of Kufr and Shirk simply does not regard what he does as crime. This is, on the contrary, taken as something good and proper, worth one's while. Therefore, his line of action is accompanied by his firm intention that he will always be like that. Now, if such a Kafir or Mushrik adheres to this position right through the last breath, he has committed a permanent crime to the extent of his choice and volition, therefore, the punishment for it has to be permanent.Zulm:There are three kinds of Zulm (injustice):1. That which Allah will never forgive.2. That which could be forgiven.3. That which meets retribution from Allah.The first kind of injustice is Shirk, the ascribing of a partner to Allah; the second kind of injustice is falling short in fulfilling the rights of Allah, known as Huququllah; and the third kind of injustice is the contravention of the rights of Allah's created beings against each other, known as Huququl-‘Ibad. (Ibn Kathir vide Musnad Bazar)What is the reality of Shirk?To consider any created being other than Allah equal to Allah in worship, or in love and reverence, is what Shirk really is. The Holy Qur'an has reported the words of the disbelievers they shall utter on arrival into the Jahannam:اللَّـهِ إِن كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿97﴾ إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُم بِرَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿98﴾By Allah, we were in obvious error when we had equated you with Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (26:97, 98)It is evident that even the polytheists did not believe that the idols of their making were the Creator and the Master of the universe. It was, rather, under other erroneous assumptions that they had taken to regarding their idols equal to Allah in worship or in love and reverence. This was the Shirk which caused their being in Jahannam (Fath al-Mulhim).In short, taking any created being as equal to Allah in His particular attributes - such as, the Creator, the Provider, the Absolute Master, the Knower of the Seen and the Unseen - is Shirk

إِن يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِلَّآ إِنَٰثًا وَإِن يَدْعُونَ إِلَّا شَيْطَٰنًا مَّرِيدًا

لَّعَنَهُ ٱللَّهُ وَقَالَ لَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَّفْرُوضًا

وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ ءَاذَانَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ وَلَءَامُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَن يَتَّخِذِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنَ وَلِيًّا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُّبِينًا

يَعِدُهُمْ وَيُمَنِّيهِمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَأْوَىٰهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ عَنْهَا مَحِيصًا

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا وَعْدَ ٱللَّهِ حَقًّا وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ قِيلًا

لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَآ أَمَانِىِّ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوٓءًا يُجْزَ بِهِۦ وَلَا يَجِدْ لَهُۥ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا

<p>Commentary</p><p>A dialogue between Muslims and he People of the Book contending for glory against each other</p><p>Verse 123 which begins with the words: لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ 'This is not (a matter of) your fancies or the fancies of the People of the Book...', is about a cross talk between Muslims and the People of the Book. It is followed by a wise and judicious ruling on the confronting claims aimed at bringing the contestants to the right path. Finally, given here is a standard measure of, determining as to who is superior and acceptable in the sight of Allah, a standard which, if observed carefully, would not let any human being fall into error or go astray.</p><p>According to Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ ، once it so happened that some Muslims and the People of the Book started talking to each other in a vainglorious strain. The People of the Book said that they were superior to Muslims because their Prophet came before the Prophet of Islam and that their Book appeared before the Qur'an of Muslims did. The Muslims countered by saying that they were superior to all of them for their Prophet was the Last of the Prophets and their Book was the Last of the Books which has abrogated all previous Books. Thereupon, the verse cited above was revealed. It means that such self-glorification and self-congratulation does not behove anyone for nobody becomes superior to anybody simply on the basis of conjectures, fancies and claims. Instead, everything depends on deeds. No matter how noble and superior one's Prophet and Book may be, it is the deed of the adherent which will count. If he acts evil, he will receive the kind of punishment from which he can never hope to be rescued by anyone.</p><p>When this verse was revealed, the noble Companions were acutely disturbed. Imam Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ahmad رحمۃ اللہ علیہم have reported a narration from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ in which he said: When this verse was revealed مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ "And whoever does evil shall be requited for it", we were deeply grieved and concerned. We submitted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ : 'This verse leaves nothing out - the minutest of evil found in our deeds shall be requited!' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Do not worry. Keep doing what you can to the best of your ability for (the punishment mentioned here does not necessarily have to be that of Hell, instead) whatever hardship or pain which afflicts you makes amends for your sins and requites your evil deeds, to the limit that even a thorn which pinches someone's foot becomes an expiation of some sin.'</p><p>There is another narration which says that any sorrow or pain or sickness or anxiety which afflicts a Muslim in the life of this world becomes an expiation of his or her sins.</p><p>According to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ عنہ as reported in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Tafsir Ibn Jarir and elsewhere, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse: مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ (And whoever does evil shall be requited for it) to him, he felt as if his back was broken. When the noble Messenger of Allah noticed the reaction on him, he asked: 'What is the matter with you?' Thereupon, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ submitted: 'Ya. Rasulallah, there is hardly anyone among us who can claim to have done nothing bad in one's life. Now, if every evil deed has to be requited, who can hope to go unscathed from among us?' He said: '0 Abu Bakr, you and your believing brothers need not worry about it because worldly hardships that you face shall make amends for your sins.'</p><p>As it appears in another narration, he said: '0 Abu Bakr, do you not get sick? Are you never tested by distress and sorrow?' Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ said: 'No doubt, all this does happen.' Then, he said: 'There, this is the requital of whatever evil you may have done.'</p><p>In a hadith appearing in Abu Dawud, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ has been reported to have said: 'A discomfort faced by a servant of Allah in fever, or a pain that afflicts him in any other way, even the pinch of a thorn, all become an expiation of his or her sins, so much so that even the insignificant effort made by someone to look for something in one of his pockets and finding it in another comes to be an expiation of his sins.'</p><p>In short, this verse is a reminder to Muslims as well that they should not indulge in tall claims and wishful thinking. On the contrary, they should be concerned with what they actually do, for their success will not come solely on the basis of their formal adherence to a given Prophet and a Book. Instead, their real prosperity lies in making certain that their belief in them is correct and that they are particular about doing good deeds as enjoined.</p>

CommentaryA dialogue between Muslims and he People of the Book contending for glory against each otherVerse 123 which begins with the words: لَّيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ 'This is not (a matter of) your fancies or the fancies of the People of the Book...', is about a cross talk between Muslims and the People of the Book. It is followed by a wise and judicious ruling on the confronting claims aimed at bringing the contestants to the right path. Finally, given here is a standard measure of, determining as to who is superior and acceptable in the sight of Allah, a standard which, if observed carefully, would not let any human being fall into error or go astray.According to Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ ، once it so happened that some Muslims and the People of the Book started talking to each other in a vainglorious strain. The People of the Book said that they were superior to Muslims because their Prophet came before the Prophet of Islam and that their Book appeared before the Qur'an of Muslims did. The Muslims countered by saying that they were superior to all of them for their Prophet was the Last of the Prophets and their Book was the Last of the Books which has abrogated all previous Books. Thereupon, the verse cited above was revealed. It means that such self-glorification and self-congratulation does not behove anyone for nobody becomes superior to anybody simply on the basis of conjectures, fancies and claims. Instead, everything depends on deeds. No matter how noble and superior one's Prophet and Book may be, it is the deed of the adherent which will count. If he acts evil, he will receive the kind of punishment from which he can never hope to be rescued by anyone.When this verse was revealed, the noble Companions were acutely disturbed. Imam Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i and Ahmad رحمۃ اللہ علیہم have reported a narration from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ in which he said: When this verse was revealed مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ "And whoever does evil shall be requited for it", we were deeply grieved and concerned. We submitted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ : 'This verse leaves nothing out - the minutest of evil found in our deeds shall be requited!' The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Do not worry. Keep doing what you can to the best of your ability for (the punishment mentioned here does not necessarily have to be that of Hell, instead) whatever hardship or pain which afflicts you makes amends for your sins and requites your evil deeds, to the limit that even a thorn which pinches someone's foot becomes an expiation of some sin.'There is another narration which says that any sorrow or pain or sickness or anxiety which afflicts a Muslim in the life of this world becomes an expiation of his or her sins.According to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ عنہ as reported in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Tafsir Ibn Jarir and elsewhere, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse: مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ (And whoever does evil shall be requited for it) to him, he felt as if his back was broken. When the noble Messenger of Allah noticed the reaction on him, he asked: 'What is the matter with you?' Thereupon, Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ submitted: 'Ya. Rasulallah, there is hardly anyone among us who can claim to have done nothing bad in one's life. Now, if every evil deed has to be requited, who can hope to go unscathed from among us?' He said: '0 Abu Bakr, you and your believing brothers need not worry about it because worldly hardships that you face shall make amends for your sins.'As it appears in another narration, he said: '0 Abu Bakr, do you not get sick? Are you never tested by distress and sorrow?' Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ said: 'No doubt, all this does happen.' Then, he said: 'There, this is the requital of whatever evil you may have done.'In a hadith appearing in Abu Dawud, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ has been reported to have said: 'A discomfort faced by a servant of Allah in fever, or a pain that afflicts him in any other way, even the pinch of a thorn, all become an expiation of his or her sins, so much so that even the insignificant effort made by someone to look for something in one of his pockets and finding it in another comes to be an expiation of his sins.'In short, this verse is a reminder to Muslims as well that they should not indulge in tall claims and wishful thinking. On the contrary, they should be concerned with what they actually do, for their success will not come solely on the basis of their formal adherence to a given Prophet and a Book. Instead, their real prosperity lies in making certain that their belief in them is correct and that they are particular about doing good deeds as enjoined.

وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ مِن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرًا

<p>Verse 124 says: وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ مِن ذَكَرٍ‌ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرً‌ا ﴿124﴾. It means a man or woman who does good deeds, subject to the condition that such deeds issue forth from true faith, shall certainly go to Paradise fully rewarded for all his or her deeds without being wronged in the least. The hint given here is that the People of the Book or other non-Muslims may also have some good deeds of their own, but, since their faith is not sound, therefore, those deeds of theirs are not acceptable. As for Muslims, since their faith is sound and their deeds too are good, therefore, they are the successful ones, and superior to others.</p><p>Acceptability in the sight of Allah: A Criterion</p><p>The fourth verse (125) lays down a criterion to help determine correctly as to who is acceptable in the sight of Allah, and who is not. This criterion has two components. Any shortfall in either of the two components makes all efforts go waste. A careful look will reveal that all strayings into error and evil, wherever they may be in this wide world, are triggered because of a shortfall in one of these two components. Compare Muslims with non-Muslims. Or, compare the different sects, groups and parties within the Muslim community itself. You will come across the same two points of reference - any deviation from either is bound to land one in disgrace.</p>

Verse 124 says: وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ مِن ذَكَرٍ‌ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرً‌ا ﴿124﴾. It means a man or woman who does good deeds, subject to the condition that such deeds issue forth from true faith, shall certainly go to Paradise fully rewarded for all his or her deeds without being wronged in the least. The hint given here is that the People of the Book or other non-Muslims may also have some good deeds of their own, but, since their faith is not sound, therefore, those deeds of theirs are not acceptable. As for Muslims, since their faith is sound and their deeds too are good, therefore, they are the successful ones, and superior to others.Acceptability in the sight of Allah: A CriterionThe fourth verse (125) lays down a criterion to help determine correctly as to who is acceptable in the sight of Allah, and who is not. This criterion has two components. Any shortfall in either of the two components makes all efforts go waste. A careful look will reveal that all strayings into error and evil, wherever they may be in this wide world, are triggered because of a shortfall in one of these two components. Compare Muslims with non-Muslims. Or, compare the different sects, groups and parties within the Muslim community itself. You will come across the same two points of reference - any deviation from either is bound to land one in disgrace.

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُۥ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَٱتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ خَلِيلًا

<p>The verse says:</p><p>وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ حَنِيفًا</p><p>And who is better in Faith than one who has surrendered his self to Allah and is good in deeds, and has followed the creed of Ibrahim, the upright...) (125)</p><p>It means that there can be no way better than the way of the person who is an embodiment of two virtues:</p><p>1. Firstly, 'surrenders his or her self to Allah.' In other words, acts for the good pleasure of Allah with all sincerity at one's command without ever contaminating one's deeds with hypocritical or materialistic motives.</p><p>2. Secondly, 'and is good in deeds.' In other words, the way in which one acts should also be correct. According to the great commentator, Ibn Kathir., the way in which one acts, the correct way, means that it will not be some self-invented way. On the contrary, this will have to be the unalloyed way of Islam as based on the injunctions of Almighty Allah and the teachings of His noble Messenger ﷺ .</p><p>Thus, we can see that there are two conditions for any deed to be acceptable in the sight of Almighty Allah. These are sincerity of intention and soundness of action, that is, being in accordance with the Shari’ ah and Sunnah. The first of the two conditions, Ikhlas or sincerity, relates to the heart, the inner most human dimension. The second condition, the compatibility with Shari’ ah, relates to the human exterior. Whoever fulfills both these conditions finds his or her exterior and interior perfectly synchronized. But, the moment one of the two conditions is found missing, that which is done becomes imperfect and unsound. The loss of sincerity makes one a hypocrite in practice while the failure in following the Shari` ah, the designated way, makes one go astray.</p><p>Nations go astray because they lack sincerity or do not act right.</p><p>The history of nations and faiths reveals that all deviant groups of peoples have either lacked sincerity or have not acted right. These very two groups have been indentified in Surah Al-Fatihah as those who have deviated from the straight path. Those referred to as مَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ (who incurred { Your) wrath) are people who lack sincerity, and those called ضَّالِّينَ (who have gone astray) are those who have not acted right. The first group is a victim of desires while the other, that of doubts.</p><p>Everyone generally understands the first condition, that is, the need for sincerity and the futility of acting without it. But, good conduct - that is, following the Shari'ah - is the condition even many Muslims ignore. They think a good deed is a good deed and could be done at one's choice although the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah have made it perfectly clear that good conduct depends exclusively on the teachings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and on following the Sunnah, the example set by him. Doing less than that and doing more than that are both crimes. The way offering three raka` at of Zuhr prayers instead of the prescribed four is a crime, so, offering five is also a crime and sin of the same nature. The rule is: The condition set forth by Almighty Allah and His Messenger ﷺ for any act of worship is final. Any addition of conditions or restrictions from one's own side or taking to some form other than the one laid out by him are all impermissible and patently against the norms of good conduct, no matter how attractive they may appear to be on the surface. All new alterations (Bid` at and Muhdathat) in the established religion which the Holy Prophet ﷺ declared to be straying into error, and against which he left behind emphatic instructions for Muslims so that they can stay safe, are all of this nature. Ignorant people do this with 'sincerity' as an act of worship worthy of the reward and pleasure of Allah, but the deed of such a person goes waste or becomes even sinful in the light of the Shari'ah bequeathed by the noble Prophet ﷺ . It is for this reason that the Holy Qur'an has repeatedly stressed on good conduct, that is, on following the Sunnah. It appears in Surah al-Mulk: لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا (So that He tests you as to who among you is good in deed - 67:2). It will be noticed that the words used here are: أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا (good in deed) and not اَکثَرُ عَمَلاً (outnumbering in deeds). It shows that the text is not talking about the numerical abundance of deeds. It is, rather, pointing out to the doing of good deeds - and a good deed is nothing but what is done in accordance with the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .</p><p>This very concept of good conduct and the practical adherence to the Sunnah of the noble Prophet ﷺ has been identified in another verse of the Holy Qur'an in the words وَمَنْ أَرَ‌ادَ الْآخِرَ‌ةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا (17:19) It means that Allah accepts the efforts and deeds of those who intend to have the good of the Hereafter, pure and unadulterated by any temporal considerations, and that they are making the needed effort, and that the effort they are making is proper as well, and the proper effort is exactly what has been explained to the community by the Holy Prophet ﷺ although his word and deed. Any shift from this ideal of effort - whether increased or decreased - will not be accepted as the proper effort. Proper effort is nothing but what has been termed as good deed in the present verse.</p><p>Let us now recapitulate that the acceptance of any deed with Allah depends on the fulfillment of two conditions. These are sincerity and good deed. Good deed is another name of the act of following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Therefore, everyone who intends to do a good deed with full sincerity must first find out how it was done by the noble Messenger of Allah and what instructions he has left behind for us in that connection, We must understand that any deed of ours which stands removed from the course set by our noble Prophet, known as his Sunnah, will stand unacceptable. There-fore, in all our deeds relating to Salah, Sawm, Hajj, Zakah, Sadaqat, Khayrat, Dhikr of Allah, Salah (durud) and Salam, it is necessary to keep in mind the way these were done by the Messenger of Allah and how he told us to do them.</p><p>At the end of the verse (125), an example has been cited, the example of sincerity and good conduct set by Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) the following of which has been declared as mandatory. By saying: وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّـهُ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ خَلِيلًا (And Allah has made Ibrahim a friend), it has been hinted that this high station bestowed on Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) has good reason behind it for he was absolutely and superbly sincere and his deed too was sound and correct with intimation from Allah.</p>

The verse says:وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِّمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّـهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ حَنِيفًاAnd who is better in Faith than one who has surrendered his self to Allah and is good in deeds, and has followed the creed of Ibrahim, the upright...) (125)It means that there can be no way better than the way of the person who is an embodiment of two virtues:1. Firstly, 'surrenders his or her self to Allah.' In other words, acts for the good pleasure of Allah with all sincerity at one's command without ever contaminating one's deeds with hypocritical or materialistic motives.2. Secondly, 'and is good in deeds.' In other words, the way in which one acts should also be correct. According to the great commentator, Ibn Kathir., the way in which one acts, the correct way, means that it will not be some self-invented way. On the contrary, this will have to be the unalloyed way of Islam as based on the injunctions of Almighty Allah and the teachings of His noble Messenger ﷺ .Thus, we can see that there are two conditions for any deed to be acceptable in the sight of Almighty Allah. These are sincerity of intention and soundness of action, that is, being in accordance with the Shari’ ah and Sunnah. The first of the two conditions, Ikhlas or sincerity, relates to the heart, the inner most human dimension. The second condition, the compatibility with Shari’ ah, relates to the human exterior. Whoever fulfills both these conditions finds his or her exterior and interior perfectly synchronized. But, the moment one of the two conditions is found missing, that which is done becomes imperfect and unsound. The loss of sincerity makes one a hypocrite in practice while the failure in following the Shari` ah, the designated way, makes one go astray.Nations go astray because they lack sincerity or do not act right.The history of nations and faiths reveals that all deviant groups of peoples have either lacked sincerity or have not acted right. These very two groups have been indentified in Surah Al-Fatihah as those who have deviated from the straight path. Those referred to as مَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ (who incurred { Your) wrath) are people who lack sincerity, and those called ضَّالِّينَ (who have gone astray) are those who have not acted right. The first group is a victim of desires while the other, that of doubts.Everyone generally understands the first condition, that is, the need for sincerity and the futility of acting without it. But, good conduct - that is, following the Shari'ah - is the condition even many Muslims ignore. They think a good deed is a good deed and could be done at one's choice although the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah have made it perfectly clear that good conduct depends exclusively on the teachings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and on following the Sunnah, the example set by him. Doing less than that and doing more than that are both crimes. The way offering three raka` at of Zuhr prayers instead of the prescribed four is a crime, so, offering five is also a crime and sin of the same nature. The rule is: The condition set forth by Almighty Allah and His Messenger ﷺ for any act of worship is final. Any addition of conditions or restrictions from one's own side or taking to some form other than the one laid out by him are all impermissible and patently against the norms of good conduct, no matter how attractive they may appear to be on the surface. All new alterations (Bid` at and Muhdathat) in the established religion which the Holy Prophet ﷺ declared to be straying into error, and against which he left behind emphatic instructions for Muslims so that they can stay safe, are all of this nature. Ignorant people do this with 'sincerity' as an act of worship worthy of the reward and pleasure of Allah, but the deed of such a person goes waste or becomes even sinful in the light of the Shari'ah bequeathed by the noble Prophet ﷺ . It is for this reason that the Holy Qur'an has repeatedly stressed on good conduct, that is, on following the Sunnah. It appears in Surah al-Mulk: لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا (So that He tests you as to who among you is good in deed - 67:2). It will be noticed that the words used here are: أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا (good in deed) and not اَکثَرُ عَمَلاً (outnumbering in deeds). It shows that the text is not talking about the numerical abundance of deeds. It is, rather, pointing out to the doing of good deeds - and a good deed is nothing but what is done in accordance with the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .This very concept of good conduct and the practical adherence to the Sunnah of the noble Prophet ﷺ has been identified in another verse of the Holy Qur'an in the words وَمَنْ أَرَ‌ادَ الْآخِرَ‌ةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا (17:19) It means that Allah accepts the efforts and deeds of those who intend to have the good of the Hereafter, pure and unadulterated by any temporal considerations, and that they are making the needed effort, and that the effort they are making is proper as well, and the proper effort is exactly what has been explained to the community by the Holy Prophet ﷺ although his word and deed. Any shift from this ideal of effort - whether increased or decreased - will not be accepted as the proper effort. Proper effort is nothing but what has been termed as good deed in the present verse.Let us now recapitulate that the acceptance of any deed with Allah depends on the fulfillment of two conditions. These are sincerity and good deed. Good deed is another name of the act of following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Therefore, everyone who intends to do a good deed with full sincerity must first find out how it was done by the noble Messenger of Allah and what instructions he has left behind for us in that connection, We must understand that any deed of ours which stands removed from the course set by our noble Prophet, known as his Sunnah, will stand unacceptable. There-fore, in all our deeds relating to Salah, Sawm, Hajj, Zakah, Sadaqat, Khayrat, Dhikr of Allah, Salah (durud) and Salam, it is necessary to keep in mind the way these were done by the Messenger of Allah and how he told us to do them.At the end of the verse (125), an example has been cited, the example of sincerity and good conduct set by Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) the following of which has been declared as mandatory. By saying: وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّـهُ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ خَلِيلًا (And Allah has made Ibrahim a friend), it has been hinted that this high station bestowed on Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) has good reason behind it for he was absolutely and superbly sincere and his deed too was sound and correct with intimation from Allah.

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّحِيطًا

وَيَسْتَفْتُونَكَ فِى ٱلنِّسَآءِ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِيهِنَّ وَمَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ فِى يَتَٰمَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ ٱلَّٰتِى لَا تُؤْتُونَهُنَّ مَا كُتِبَ لَهُنَّ وَتَرْغَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ وَٱلْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ ٱلْوِلْدَٰنِ وَأَن تَقُومُوا۟ لِلْيَتَٰمَىٰ بِٱلْقِسْطِ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمًا

<p>1. The Qur'anic words وَتَرْ‌غَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ admit two possible translations: First, and tend to marry them," which refers to the people who, attracted to the beauty of the orphan girls, used to marry them without giving them the due rights- of a wife. The second possible translation is: and you avoid marrying them". It refers to the people who did not marry the orphan girls because of their unattractive features, but at the same time did not let them marry others, because they wanted that their wealth should remain in their hands.</p><p>At the beginning of this Surah, particular injunctions relating to orphans and women were mentioned. Also stressed there was the mandatory nature of the need to fulfill their rights. The reason was that, during the days of Jahiliyyah, some people would simply refuse to give any part of the inheritance to them, others would unlawfully eat up what they got in inheritance or through any other alternate source, still others would marry them but avoided paying full dower they were entitled to; these were practices prohibited as stated earlier. This caused different situations to arise. There were those who thought that women and children are not entitled to inherit as a matter of right - may be, this injunction had come as an expedient measure for some people only and it was likely that it will be abrogated later. Some of them even waited for this to happen. But, when there was no abrogation, they decided among themselves that they should go directly to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and ask him. This they did. According to Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir, this very question was the reason behind the revelation of this verse and the verses which followed carried additional rulings relating to women (Bayan al-Qur'an).</p>

1. The Qur'anic words وَتَرْ‌غَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ admit two possible translations: First, and tend to marry them," which refers to the people who, attracted to the beauty of the orphan girls, used to marry them without giving them the due rights- of a wife. The second possible translation is: and you avoid marrying them". It refers to the people who did not marry the orphan girls because of their unattractive features, but at the same time did not let them marry others, because they wanted that their wealth should remain in their hands.At the beginning of this Surah, particular injunctions relating to orphans and women were mentioned. Also stressed there was the mandatory nature of the need to fulfill their rights. The reason was that, during the days of Jahiliyyah, some people would simply refuse to give any part of the inheritance to them, others would unlawfully eat up what they got in inheritance or through any other alternate source, still others would marry them but avoided paying full dower they were entitled to; these were practices prohibited as stated earlier. This caused different situations to arise. There were those who thought that women and children are not entitled to inherit as a matter of right - may be, this injunction had come as an expedient measure for some people only and it was likely that it will be abrogated later. Some of them even waited for this to happen. But, when there was no abrogation, they decided among themselves that they should go directly to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and ask him. This they did. According to Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir, this very question was the reason behind the revelation of this verse and the verses which followed carried additional rulings relating to women (Bayan al-Qur'an).

وَإِنِ ٱمْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنۢ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَآ أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا وَٱلصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ وَأُحْضِرَتِ ٱلْأَنفُسُ ٱلشُّحَّ وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا

<p>Commentary</p><p>Some Qur'anic Instructions about Married Life</p><p>Verses 128-130 which begin with the words: وَإِنِ امْرَ‌أَةٌ خَافَتْ مِن بَعْلِهَا (And if a woman fears ill treatment or aversion from her husband ...) and end at وَاسِعًا حَكِيمًا (... All-Embracing, All-Wise) carry instructions about the painful and hard part of married life which is faced by every married couple during one or the other stage of their long association. This is mutual displeasure and tension which, if allowed to prevail without being checked through proper control, does not only result in severe problems for the couple in their married lives but also, at times, carries the evil effects to families and tribes involving them in all sorts of mutual confrontation and even fighting and killing. The Glorious Qur'an has come to introduce a system of family life for man and woman both, keeping in view the whole range of their feelings. This system when followed will definitely make a home a paradise. Love and harmony will replace whatever bitterness there may be in the family. Just in case, inevitable circumstances bring the couple to the limit of separation, it would still be desirable to see that the parting of ways is done smoothly and painlessly. After that, when the relation-ship breaks, it is also necessary to watch that it leaves no emotional fallouts in the form of enmity, hostility, harm or hurt.</p><p>Out of these three verses, verse 128 is about circumstances under which relationship between a husband and wife becomes strained for reasons beyond their control. Both parties seem to be helpless in the matter. However, their mutual bitterness makes it likely that they will fail in fulfilling the rights they have on each other. For example, a husband does not have amorous feelings in his heart for his wife and she has no control over the means which could change his heart. She may be ugly or aged while the husband is handsome. Thus, it is obvious that the woman cannot be blamed in any way for what she is, nor can the man be censured for whatever he is.</p><p>Eventualities of this nature as part of the background in which the worse under reference was revealed, have been reported in Mazhari and elsewhere. Under such circumstances, as for men, the general rule given by the Holy Qur'an is: فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُ‌وفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِ‌يحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ (2:229) that is, 'retain in an honourable manner or part amicably'. It means that if the intention is to continue living with one's wife, then, it is necessary to live with her amicably, fulfilling all rights due to her in the recognized manner. For anyone who finds himself incapable of doing so, it is proper to release her from the bond of marriage in a decent way. Now, if the woman too is willing to be released, the situation is open and clear as the parting of ways will come about in a pleasant manner. But, should it be that the woman, under such conditions, is not willing to secure her release - whether in the interest of her children or because she has no other supporter - then, she is left with only one alternative: Get the husband to agree to some option. For example, the woman may surrender all or some of her rights while the husband takes it to be reasonable enough as it unburdens him of many claims against him with the advantage of having a wife in bonus. May be this arrangement makes peace prevail between them.</p><p>That such a compromise could be expected has been pointed out in this verse of the Holy Qur'an by saying: وَأُحْضِرَ‌تِ الْأَنفُسُ الشُّحَّ (Avarice is made to be present in human souls). In such a compromise, the greed of the woman lies in her intense desire to protect the future of her children for she fears that her release from the husband will ruin it, or that her life elsewhere may come out to be more bitter. On the other side, the husband is tempted by what the woman does. He sees that she has forgiven her dower due on him fully or partly and that she has also stopped from claiming other rights as well. Why then, he may think, should it be at all difficult for him to get along with her? Thus, a mutual compromise would become easy.</p><p>Then, along with this, it was also said:</p><p>وَإِنِ امْرَ‌أَةٌ خَافَتْ مِن بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَ‌اضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا</p><p>"And if a woman fears ill treatment or aversion from her husband, then, there is no sin upon them in entering into a compromise between them."</p><p>Here, the expression فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا (…there is no sin upon them ...) has been used to cover the nature of the deal which, on the surface, appears to be a sort of bribe where the husband has been tempted with the forgiveness of dower and other claims and the bond of marital life has been kept intact. But, this (sagacious) statement of the Qur'an has made it clear that this is not included under bribery. Instead, it is included under expediency in the sense of a wise consideration under complex circumstances when the parties involved surrender their initial claims and agree to some moderated mean. This is permissible.</p><p>The Interference of Others in a marital Dispute</p><p>According to al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, the words used in the Holy Qur'an at this place are: أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا . It means that the husband and wife should enter into a compromise in between them. Here, the word بَيْنَهُمَا (between the two of them) suggests that it is better if no third person interferes in husband-wife matters - let the two of them come to mutual compromise on some basis. This is because the injection of a third person may, at times, make the very compromise impossible. Even if such a compromise is reached, the weaknesses of the couple get exposed before a third person unnecessarily, staying safe against which is expedient for both parties.</p><p>Towards the end of this verse (128), it was said:</p><p>وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرً‌ا</p><p>"And if you do good and fear Allah, then, Allah is all-aware of what you do."</p><p>In the background of options given earlier, the husband did have the legal choice of releasing his wife on the basis of emotional incompatibility which made it difficult for him to fulfill her rights. Then, according to the first sentence of this verse, it is also permissible to enter into a compromise with one's wife when she offers to surrender some of her claims. Now, the last of the verse cited here brings forth a third option. The meaning of what has been said is: 'But, if you keep the fear of Allah in your heart and elect to be gracefully benign in your conduct and carry on accommodatingly with the relationship despite your emotional incompatibility and keep fulfilling her rights as due, then, this excellent conduct of yours is before Allah, the result of which is obvious. Almighty Allah will reward you for your forbearance and for the graces of your good deeds with blessings you can never imagine Perhaps, this is the reason why the text stops at; 'Allah is all-aware of what you do.' It does not spell out the return for the good deed. The hint thus given is that it will be far more than one can ever imagine.</p><p>A Summary of Comments made</p><p>When the husband, for some reason, feels emotionally estranged with his wife and realizes that his rights remain unfulfilled, he should try to correct matters which fall within the range of what the wife can do. Such effort of correction can temporarily be expressed in the form of coldness, hard advice and even soft disciplining under circumstances of extreme compulsion as it has already appeared in the early verses of Surah al-Nis-a'. If the husband loses hope in correction in spite of all his efforts, or there is something about it the correction of which is just not in the control of his wife, then comes the situation in which the law of Islam gives him the right to divorce and release his wife in a decent manner without any altercation. But, if he elects to go along with the relationship living under the same conditions while ignoring his rights and fulfilling hers in full, then, this conduct of his is highly meritorious and deserving of a great reward. In contrast, if the case is the ether way around, that is, the husband does not fulfill the necessary rights of his wife for which reason the wife wishes to be released by him. Now, under this situation, if the husband is also willing to release her, the course is clear. The woman too has the right to react when the husband wishes to release her on the basis of non-fulfillment of his rights - she too has the right to opt for her freedom. In case, the husband is not ready to release her on his own, the wife has the right to reclaim her freedom through an Islamic court. But, if she braves through the cold and crooked ways of her husband with patience surrendering her claims to due rights, carries on living with him in a spirit of accommodation and keeps fulfilling his rights, then, this is highly meritorious for her and deserving of a great reward.</p><p>The Guideline in Essence</p><p>Thus, on the one hand, the Holy Qur'an gives to both parties the legal right to remove difficulties from their relationship and to receive their due right; while, on the other, by prompting both of them to demonstrate high morals and to be patient with the loss of their rights, the instruction given was that they should abstain from severing their relationship to the farthest limit of possibility. Both parties should bypass bits of their claims and come to a compromise on some mutually agreed formula.</p><p>Compromise: The Better Option</p><p>Initially, this verse simply mentions that compromise is permissible in the event of a husband-wife difference and towards the end of the verse, the parties have been prompted to carry on with the relationship in the best spirit of patience and forbearance in the event that such a compromise does not materialize. In between, there appears a sentence which proves the desirability of compromise as the favoured choice. It was said: وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ‌ (The compromise is better). The nature of the sentence is fairly general as stated. It certainly includes husband-wife disputes in the present context. However, it also includes all other kinds of family differences as well as all mutual disputes, altercations and litigations that come up in worldly life. This is because the words of the Holy Qur'an are general - 'The compromise is better'.</p><p>Thus, the parties would fare better if they avoid being stubborn about the fulfillment of their demands in toto and elect to forgo some of these from each side and agree to a compromise on some middle ground. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said:</p><p>کُلُ صُلحِ جَایٔزُ بَینَ اَلمُسلین اِلَّا صُلحَاً اَحَلَّ حَرَامَاً اَو حَرَّمَ حَلَالاً ، والمُسلِمُونَ عَلٰی شُرُوطِھِم اِلَّا شَرطاً حَرَّمَ حَلَالاً</p><p>"Every compromise is permissible between Muslims except a compromise in which something unlawful has been made lawful or something lawful has been made unlawful and Muslims must abide by accepted conditions except a condition in which something lawful has been made unlawful." (Narrated by M-Hakim from Kathir ibn ` Abdullah, Tafsir Mazhari)</p><p>For example, it is not permissible to enter into a compromise with one's wife on the condition that the husband will also marry her sister because Islamic law prohibits combining two sisters in the bond of marriage. This is harem or unlawful. Or, the husband may wish to compromise on the condition that he will not fulfill the rights of the other wife for this amounts to turning something lawful into something unlawful.</p><p>Since, in the hadith narration quoted above, every compromise has been declared as permissible in a general sense, Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) has deduced from this statement the ruling that all kinds of compromises are permissible. They may be with an avowal, for example, the defendant's confession that he owes $1, 000 as claimed by the plaintiff following which a compromise may be arrived at either by the surrender of a certain part of the total amount claimed by the plaintiff, or by his taking something in lieu of the claimed amount, or through a lack of avowal or disavowal by the defendant who may simply wish to reach a certain compromise no matter what the claim be in reality. Or, despite a disclaimer, the defendant may bring himself round to pay up some of the amount just to end the dispute and this very action may make the compromise possible. All these three kinds of compromise are permissible. However, in the eventuality of silence or denial, there does exist a difference among some jurists.</p><p>Finally, worth mentioning here is a problem which relates to the compromise between a married couple mentioned in this verse. If a woman makes a compromise by surrendering some of her rights, this compromise will totally eliminate the right of the woman the fulfill-ment of which stood incumbent on the husband at the time of the compromise. For example, the payment of the dower which was due to, to be paid by the husband before the compromise. So, when she makes a compromise by forgiving the whole or part of the dower, then, this dower or its part would stand devolved after which her right to claim it would lapse. But, the rights the fulfillment of which was just not obligatory on the husband at the time of the compromise - for example, the payment of expenses in the future or the right to privacy which would be applicable in the future - will not be, for all practical purposes, his responsibility to fulfill. If a compromise is reached on the basis of a surrender of these rights, the right of the woman to claim these does not devolve forever. Instead, she can declare any time she so chooses that she is not willing to forgo the right in future. Under this situation, the husband will have the choice to release her. (Tafsir Mazhari etc.)</p><p>In the last verse (130): وَإِن يَتَفَرَّ‌قَا يُغْنِ اللَّـهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِ (And if they separate, Allah shall, through His capacity, make each of them need-free), both parties have been comforted in case all efforts to put things right between them come to naught and they have to separate. This should be no cause for concern. Allah Almighty will make each of them free from needing the other. The woman will get another home, and a source of support, and the man will find another woman. The power of Allah is extensive. There is no reason to lose hope. Let each one of the couple think of the life they had before getting married. They were two separate individuals who did not know each other as husband and wife. Almighty Allah made it possible for them to be united in marriage. The same thing can happen again.</p><p>By saying: وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ وَاسِعًا حَكِيمًا (And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Wise) at the close of the verse, it has been confirmed that the dimensions of Allah's capacity are most extensive and everything that issues forth from Him is based on wisdom. It is quite possible that the very separation may be the most expedient solution of the problem. The post-separation period may bless them with mates that make their lives good to live.</p>

CommentarySome Qur'anic Instructions about Married LifeVerses 128-130 which begin with the words: وَإِنِ امْرَ‌أَةٌ خَافَتْ مِن بَعْلِهَا (And if a woman fears ill treatment or aversion from her husband ...) and end at وَاسِعًا حَكِيمًا (... All-Embracing, All-Wise) carry instructions about the painful and hard part of married life which is faced by every married couple during one or the other stage of their long association. This is mutual displeasure and tension which, if allowed to prevail without being checked through proper control, does not only result in severe problems for the couple in their married lives but also, at times, carries the evil effects to families and tribes involving them in all sorts of mutual confrontation and even fighting and killing. The Glorious Qur'an has come to introduce a system of family life for man and woman both, keeping in view the whole range of their feelings. This system when followed will definitely make a home a paradise. Love and harmony will replace whatever bitterness there may be in the family. Just in case, inevitable circumstances bring the couple to the limit of separation, it would still be desirable to see that the parting of ways is done smoothly and painlessly. After that, when the relation-ship breaks, it is also necessary to watch that it leaves no emotional fallouts in the form of enmity, hostility, harm or hurt.Out of these three verses, verse 128 is about circumstances under which relationship between a husband and wife becomes strained for reasons beyond their control. Both parties seem to be helpless in the matter. However, their mutual bitterness makes it likely that they will fail in fulfilling the rights they have on each other. For example, a husband does not have amorous feelings in his heart for his wife and she has no control over the means which could change his heart. She may be ugly or aged while the husband is handsome. Thus, it is obvious that the woman cannot be blamed in any way for what she is, nor can the man be censured for whatever he is.Eventualities of this nature as part of the background in which the worse under reference was revealed, have been reported in Mazhari and elsewhere. Under such circumstances, as for men, the general rule given by the Holy Qur'an is: فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُ‌وفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِ‌يحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ (2:229) that is, 'retain in an honourable manner or part amicably'. It means that if the intention is to continue living with one's wife, then, it is necessary to live with her amicably, fulfilling all rights due to her in the recognized manner. For anyone who finds himself incapable of doing so, it is proper to release her from the bond of marriage in a decent way. Now, if the woman too is willing to be released, the situation is open and clear as the parting of ways will come about in a pleasant manner. But, should it be that the woman, under such conditions, is not willing to secure her release - whether in the interest of her children or because she has no other supporter - then, she is left with only one alternative: Get the husband to agree to some option. For example, the woman may surrender all or some of her rights while the husband takes it to be reasonable enough as it unburdens him of many claims against him with the advantage of having a wife in bonus. May be this arrangement makes peace prevail between them.That such a compromise could be expected has been pointed out in this verse of the Holy Qur'an by saying: وَأُحْضِرَ‌تِ الْأَنفُسُ الشُّحَّ (Avarice is made to be present in human souls). In such a compromise, the greed of the woman lies in her intense desire to protect the future of her children for she fears that her release from the husband will ruin it, or that her life elsewhere may come out to be more bitter. On the other side, the husband is tempted by what the woman does. He sees that she has forgiven her dower due on him fully or partly and that she has also stopped from claiming other rights as well. Why then, he may think, should it be at all difficult for him to get along with her? Thus, a mutual compromise would become easy.Then, along with this, it was also said:وَإِنِ امْرَ‌أَةٌ خَافَتْ مِن بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَ‌اضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا"And if a woman fears ill treatment or aversion from her husband, then, there is no sin upon them in entering into a compromise between them."Here, the expression فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا (…there is no sin upon them ...) has been used to cover the nature of the deal which, on the surface, appears to be a sort of bribe where the husband has been tempted with the forgiveness of dower and other claims and the bond of marital life has been kept intact. But, this (sagacious) statement of the Qur'an has made it clear that this is not included under bribery. Instead, it is included under expediency in the sense of a wise consideration under complex circumstances when the parties involved surrender their initial claims and agree to some moderated mean. This is permissible.The Interference of Others in a marital DisputeAccording to al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, the words used in the Holy Qur'an at this place are: أَن يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا . It means that the husband and wife should enter into a compromise in between them. Here, the word بَيْنَهُمَا (between the two of them) suggests that it is better if no third person interferes in husband-wife matters - let the two of them come to mutual compromise on some basis. This is because the injection of a third person may, at times, make the very compromise impossible. Even if such a compromise is reached, the weaknesses of the couple get exposed before a third person unnecessarily, staying safe against which is expedient for both parties.Towards the end of this verse (128), it was said:وَإِن تُحْسِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرً‌ا"And if you do good and fear Allah, then, Allah is all-aware of what you do."In the background of options given earlier, the husband did have the legal choice of releasing his wife on the basis of emotional incompatibility which made it difficult for him to fulfill her rights. Then, according to the first sentence of this verse, it is also permissible to enter into a compromise with one's wife when she offers to surrender some of her claims. Now, the last of the verse cited here brings forth a third option. The meaning of what has been said is: 'But, if you keep the fear of Allah in your heart and elect to be gracefully benign in your conduct and carry on accommodatingly with the relationship despite your emotional incompatibility and keep fulfilling her rights as due, then, this excellent conduct of yours is before Allah, the result of which is obvious. Almighty Allah will reward you for your forbearance and for the graces of your good deeds with blessings you can never imagine Perhaps, this is the reason why the text stops at; 'Allah is all-aware of what you do.' It does not spell out the return for the good deed. The hint thus given is that it will be far more than one can ever imagine.A Summary of Comments madeWhen the husband, for some reason, feels emotionally estranged with his wife and realizes that his rights remain unfulfilled, he should try to correct matters which fall within the range of what the wife can do. Such effort of correction can temporarily be expressed in the form of coldness, hard advice and even soft disciplining under circumstances of extreme compulsion as it has already appeared in the early verses of Surah al-Nis-a'. If the husband loses hope in correction in spite of all his efforts, or there is something about it the correction of which is just not in the control of his wife, then comes the situation in which the law of Islam gives him the right to divorce and release his wife in a decent manner without any altercation. But, if he elects to go along with the relationship living under the same conditions while ignoring his rights and fulfilling hers in full, then, this conduct of his is highly meritorious and deserving of a great reward. In contrast, if the case is the ether way around, that is, the husband does not fulfill the necessary rights of his wife for which reason the wife wishes to be released by him. Now, under this situation, if the husband is also willing to release her, the course is clear. The woman too has the right to react when the husband wishes to release her on the basis of non-fulfillment of his rights - she too has the right to opt for her freedom. In case, the husband is not ready to release her on his own, the wife has the right to reclaim her freedom through an Islamic court. But, if she braves through the cold and crooked ways of her husband with patience surrendering her claims to due rights, carries on living with him in a spirit of accommodation and keeps fulfilling his rights, then, this is highly meritorious for her and deserving of a great reward.The Guideline in EssenceThus, on the one hand, the Holy Qur'an gives to both parties the legal right to remove difficulties from their relationship and to receive their due right; while, on the other, by prompting both of them to demonstrate high morals and to be patient with the loss of their rights, the instruction given was that they should abstain from severing their relationship to the farthest limit of possibility. Both parties should bypass bits of their claims and come to a compromise on some mutually agreed formula.Compromise: The Better OptionInitially, this verse simply mentions that compromise is permissible in the event of a husband-wife difference and towards the end of the verse, the parties have been prompted to carry on with the relationship in the best spirit of patience and forbearance in the event that such a compromise does not materialize. In between, there appears a sentence which proves the desirability of compromise as the favoured choice. It was said: وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ‌ (The compromise is better). The nature of the sentence is fairly general as stated. It certainly includes husband-wife disputes in the present context. However, it also includes all other kinds of family differences as well as all mutual disputes, altercations and litigations that come up in worldly life. This is because the words of the Holy Qur'an are general - 'The compromise is better'.Thus, the parties would fare better if they avoid being stubborn about the fulfillment of their demands in toto and elect to forgo some of these from each side and agree to a compromise on some middle ground. The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said:کُلُ صُلحِ جَایٔزُ بَینَ اَلمُسلین اِلَّا صُلحَاً اَحَلَّ حَرَامَاً اَو حَرَّمَ حَلَالاً ، والمُسلِمُونَ عَلٰی شُرُوطِھِم اِلَّا شَرطاً حَرَّمَ حَلَالاً"Every compromise is permissible between Muslims except a compromise in which something unlawful has been made lawful or something lawful has been made unlawful and Muslims must abide by accepted conditions except a condition in which something lawful has been made unlawful." (Narrated by M-Hakim from Kathir ibn ` Abdullah, Tafsir Mazhari)For example, it is not permissible to enter into a compromise with one's wife on the condition that the husband will also marry her sister because Islamic law prohibits combining two sisters in the bond of marriage. This is harem or unlawful. Or, the husband may wish to compromise on the condition that he will not fulfill the rights of the other wife for this amounts to turning something lawful into something unlawful.Since, in the hadith narration quoted above, every compromise has been declared as permissible in a general sense, Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) has deduced from this statement the ruling that all kinds of compromises are permissible. They may be with an avowal, for example, the defendant's confession that he owes $1, 000 as claimed by the plaintiff following which a compromise may be arrived at either by the surrender of a certain part of the total amount claimed by the plaintiff, or by his taking something in lieu of the claimed amount, or through a lack of avowal or disavowal by the defendant who may simply wish to reach a certain compromise no matter what the claim be in reality. Or, despite a disclaimer, the defendant may bring himself round to pay up some of the amount just to end the dispute and this very action may make the compromise possible. All these three kinds of compromise are permissible. However, in the eventuality of silence or denial, there does exist a difference among some jurists.Finally, worth mentioning here is a problem which relates to the compromise between a married couple mentioned in this verse. If a woman makes a compromise by surrendering some of her rights, this compromise will totally eliminate the right of the woman the fulfill-ment of which stood incumbent on the husband at the time of the compromise. For example, the payment of the dower which was due to, to be paid by the husband before the compromise. So, when she makes a compromise by forgiving the whole or part of the dower, then, this dower or its part would stand devolved after which her right to claim it would lapse. But, the rights the fulfillment of which was just not obligatory on the husband at the time of the compromise - for example, the payment of expenses in the future or the right to privacy which would be applicable in the future - will not be, for all practical purposes, his responsibility to fulfill. If a compromise is reached on the basis of a surrender of these rights, the right of the woman to claim these does not devolve forever. Instead, she can declare any time she so chooses that she is not willing to forgo the right in future. Under this situation, the husband will have the choice to release her. (Tafsir Mazhari etc.)In the last verse (130): وَإِن يَتَفَرَّ‌قَا يُغْنِ اللَّـهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِ (And if they separate, Allah shall, through His capacity, make each of them need-free), both parties have been comforted in case all efforts to put things right between them come to naught and they have to separate. This should be no cause for concern. Allah Almighty will make each of them free from needing the other. The woman will get another home, and a source of support, and the man will find another woman. The power of Allah is extensive. There is no reason to lose hope. Let each one of the couple think of the life they had before getting married. They were two separate individuals who did not know each other as husband and wife. Almighty Allah made it possible for them to be united in marriage. The same thing can happen again.By saying: وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ وَاسِعًا حَكِيمًا (And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Wise) at the close of the verse, it has been confirmed that the dimensions of Allah's capacity are most extensive and everything that issues forth from Him is based on wisdom. It is quite possible that the very separation may be the most expedient solution of the problem. The post-separation period may bless them with mates that make their lives good to live.

وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوٓا۟ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا۟ كُلَّ ٱلْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُوهَا كَٱلْمُعَلَّقَةِ وَإِن تُصْلِحُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

<p>No one is responsible for something beyond his control</p><p>In order to make married life pleasant and stable, the Holy Qur'an has given important instructions to both parties in these verses. Out of these, there is the verse: وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ (And you shall never be able to maintain real equality between wives ... -129) which carries a special instruction for both. At this point it will be recalled that the Holy Qur'an has already established in the beginning of Surah al-Nis-a' that a man who holds more than one wife in the bond of marriage is duty-bond to maintain justice and equality among all wives, and that if one thinks that he would be unable to fulfill this obligation, he should not take more than one wife. It was said: فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً "But, if you fear that you will not maintain equity, then, (keep to) one woman (4:3)."</p><p>The Holy Prophet ﷺ has, by his word and deed, declared that maintaining justice and equality among wives is a very emphatic injunction and he has given stern warnings to those who contravene it. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ has said that the Holy Prophet ﷺ took great care in making perfectly sure that he treats his wives equally and justly. While he did so, he prayed to Allah:</p><p>اَللَّھُمَّ ھٰذا قَسمِی فِیمَا اَملِکُ ، فَلَا تَلُمنِی فِیمَا تَملِکُ وَلَا اَملِکُ</p><p>O Allah, this equalization of mine is in what I have in my control, therefore, do not make me answerable for what is in Your control (that is, emotional inclination) and not in mine.</p><p>Who could be in control of his self more than the Holy Prophet ﷺ ?</p><p>Yet, the matter of emotional inclination was what he too ruled as something out of his control and prayed to Almighty Allah that he be excused on that count.</p><p>The veneer of the words in verse 3 of Surah al-Nis-a' gave' the impression that maintaining equity between wives was ark absolute obligation which, obviously, includes equity in emotional inclination while this is something not in one's control. Therefore, in this verse of the Surah al-Nisa', the matter was clarified by saying that in things which one does not control, equality is not obligatory. However, equality shall be observed in matters within one's control, for example, equality in spending nights with them, their living standards and cost of maintenance. Allah Almighty has revealed this injunction in a way which compels a God-fearing person to put it into practice. It was said: وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلَوْ حَرَ‌صْتُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُ‌وهَا كَالْمُعَلَّقَةِ (And you shall never be able to maintain real equality between wives, even though you are eager to. So, do not lean totally (towards one) and leave the other hanging).</p><p>This leads us to realize that the inability to maintain equality pointed out in this verse actually refers to the equality in emotional inclination which is beyond human control. Then, the words of this verse: فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ (So, do not lean totally ...) themselves contain the justification of this sense. This is because the words mean: 'Even though maintaining equality in emotional inclination is not within your power, yet you should not lean totally towards one of your wives so much so that you start preferring her even in matters which lie within your power and control'.</p><p>Thus, this verse of Surah al-Nisa' (129) becomes a clarification of the earlier verse (3) of the same Surah which outwarldly appeared to be suggesting that equality in motional inclination too was obligatory. Now, this verse makes it precisely clear that this is not obligatory because it does not lie in one's power. Instead, what is obligatory is the equality in matters which do lie in one's power and discretion.</p><p>This verse cannot be used against polygamy</p><p>Incidentally, the details appearing above also serve to remove the misunderstanding of those who, by juxtaposing these two verses, wish to conclude that the verse appearing at the beginning of Surah al-Nis'a</p><p>(3) says: 'If you cannot maintain equality between wives, marry only one'; while, the other verse (129) says: 'Maintaining equality between two wives is just not possible'; therefore, the outcome is: The very keeping of two (or more) wives in the bond of marriage is impermissible as such!</p><p>Though surprising, Allah Almighty has Himself phrased these very two verses with the necessary material to remove this misunderstanding. The indication given in the present verses by the use of the words: فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ (So, do not lean totally) has appeared immediately before while the words used in verse 3 were: فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً "But, if you fear that you will not maintain equity, then, (keep to) one woman." Here, in the later verse, saying: 'If you fear' as a condition openly indicates that maintaining justice and equality between wives is not beyond the realm of possibility or ability. Otherwise, there was no need for this extended word arrangement, more so, not to the limit of two full verses. For example, the verse which says: حُرِّ‌مَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ (Forbidden for you are your mothers and your daughters - 4:23) carries details pertaining to women marriage with whom is forbidden. Then, by saying: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (and that you combine two sisters in the bond of marriage - 4:23), it has been declared that combining two sisters in marriage is unlawful. Similarly, it was quite possible to say that having more than one wife simultaneously is unlawful. If so, the restriction of بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (two sisters) with وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا (that you combine) would have become redundant. It was possible to say this in one single sentence, something like: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (and that you combine two women in the bond of marriage) which would have made it unlawful in the absolute sense. But, the Holy Qur'an avoids this lexical brevity for the sake of a longer narration, the detail of which extends to as much as two full verses. This treatment also indicates that the verse: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ )that you combine two sisters in the bond of marriage - 4:23) is, in a way, suggesting the justification of combining more than one woman in the bond of marriage which is quite permissible with the condition that they should not be sisters of each other</p>

No one is responsible for something beyond his controlIn order to make married life pleasant and stable, the Holy Qur'an has given important instructions to both parties in these verses. Out of these, there is the verse: وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ (And you shall never be able to maintain real equality between wives ... -129) which carries a special instruction for both. At this point it will be recalled that the Holy Qur'an has already established in the beginning of Surah al-Nis-a' that a man who holds more than one wife in the bond of marriage is duty-bond to maintain justice and equality among all wives, and that if one thinks that he would be unable to fulfill this obligation, he should not take more than one wife. It was said: فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً "But, if you fear that you will not maintain equity, then, (keep to) one woman (4:3)."The Holy Prophet ﷺ has, by his word and deed, declared that maintaining justice and equality among wives is a very emphatic injunction and he has given stern warnings to those who contravene it. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ has said that the Holy Prophet ﷺ took great care in making perfectly sure that he treats his wives equally and justly. While he did so, he prayed to Allah:اَللَّھُمَّ ھٰذا قَسمِی فِیمَا اَملِکُ ، فَلَا تَلُمنِی فِیمَا تَملِکُ وَلَا اَملِکُO Allah, this equalization of mine is in what I have in my control, therefore, do not make me answerable for what is in Your control (that is, emotional inclination) and not in mine.Who could be in control of his self more than the Holy Prophet ﷺ ?Yet, the matter of emotional inclination was what he too ruled as something out of his control and prayed to Almighty Allah that he be excused on that count.The veneer of the words in verse 3 of Surah al-Nis-a' gave' the impression that maintaining equity between wives was ark absolute obligation which, obviously, includes equity in emotional inclination while this is something not in one's control. Therefore, in this verse of the Surah al-Nisa', the matter was clarified by saying that in things which one does not control, equality is not obligatory. However, equality shall be observed in matters within one's control, for example, equality in spending nights with them, their living standards and cost of maintenance. Allah Almighty has revealed this injunction in a way which compels a God-fearing person to put it into practice. It was said: وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُوا أَن تَعْدِلُوا بَيْنَ النِّسَاءِ وَلَوْ حَرَ‌صْتُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ فَتَذَرُ‌وهَا كَالْمُعَلَّقَةِ (And you shall never be able to maintain real equality between wives, even though you are eager to. So, do not lean totally (towards one) and leave the other hanging).This leads us to realize that the inability to maintain equality pointed out in this verse actually refers to the equality in emotional inclination which is beyond human control. Then, the words of this verse: فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ (So, do not lean totally ...) themselves contain the justification of this sense. This is because the words mean: 'Even though maintaining equality in emotional inclination is not within your power, yet you should not lean totally towards one of your wives so much so that you start preferring her even in matters which lie within your power and control'.Thus, this verse of Surah al-Nisa' (129) becomes a clarification of the earlier verse (3) of the same Surah which outwarldly appeared to be suggesting that equality in motional inclination too was obligatory. Now, this verse makes it precisely clear that this is not obligatory because it does not lie in one's power. Instead, what is obligatory is the equality in matters which do lie in one's power and discretion.This verse cannot be used against polygamyIncidentally, the details appearing above also serve to remove the misunderstanding of those who, by juxtaposing these two verses, wish to conclude that the verse appearing at the beginning of Surah al-Nis'a(3) says: 'If you cannot maintain equality between wives, marry only one'; while, the other verse (129) says: 'Maintaining equality between two wives is just not possible'; therefore, the outcome is: The very keeping of two (or more) wives in the bond of marriage is impermissible as such!Though surprising, Allah Almighty has Himself phrased these very two verses with the necessary material to remove this misunderstanding. The indication given in the present verses by the use of the words: فَلَا تَمِيلُوا كُلَّ الْمَيْلِ (So, do not lean totally) has appeared immediately before while the words used in verse 3 were: فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا فَوَاحِدَةً "But, if you fear that you will not maintain equity, then, (keep to) one woman." Here, in the later verse, saying: 'If you fear' as a condition openly indicates that maintaining justice and equality between wives is not beyond the realm of possibility or ability. Otherwise, there was no need for this extended word arrangement, more so, not to the limit of two full verses. For example, the verse which says: حُرِّ‌مَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ (Forbidden for you are your mothers and your daughters - 4:23) carries details pertaining to women marriage with whom is forbidden. Then, by saying: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (and that you combine two sisters in the bond of marriage - 4:23), it has been declared that combining two sisters in marriage is unlawful. Similarly, it was quite possible to say that having more than one wife simultaneously is unlawful. If so, the restriction of بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (two sisters) with وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا (that you combine) would have become redundant. It was possible to say this in one single sentence, something like: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ (and that you combine two women in the bond of marriage) which would have made it unlawful in the absolute sense. But, the Holy Qur'an avoids this lexical brevity for the sake of a longer narration, the detail of which extends to as much as two full verses. This treatment also indicates that the verse: وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا بَيْنَ الْأُخْتَيْنِ )that you combine two sisters in the bond of marriage - 4:23) is, in a way, suggesting the justification of combining more than one woman in the bond of marriage which is quite permissible with the condition that they should not be sisters of each other

وَإِن يَتَفَرَّقَا يُغْنِ ٱللَّهُ كُلًّا مِّن سَعَتِهِۦ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعًا حَكِيمًا

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَقَدْ وَصَّيْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ أَنِ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَإِن تَكْفُرُوا۟ فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَنِيًّا حَمِيدًا

<p>Sequence</p><p>After having stated the rules of behaviour as related to women and orphans, the text now reminds the promise of rewards for those abiding by these rules, and the warning for those contravening them, which is the usual style of the Holy Qur'an.</p><p>Significant Inferences</p><p>Readily noticeable here is the repetition of لِّلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ which means that everything created in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. Repeated thrice, these words signify three shades of meaning. In the first place, the aim is to point out to the limitless scope of Allah's power of creation which lacks nothing. In the second instance, the objective is to focus on Allah's attribute of self sufficiency, self-adequacy and His being need-free. It means: Should one disbelieve, deny or reject the good counsel given, He is in no need of anyone's obedience for He stands ever-praised in His pristine glory.</p>

SequenceAfter having stated the rules of behaviour as related to women and orphans, the text now reminds the promise of rewards for those abiding by these rules, and the warning for those contravening them, which is the usual style of the Holy Qur'an.Significant InferencesReadily noticeable here is the repetition of لِّلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ which means that everything created in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. Repeated thrice, these words signify three shades of meaning. In the first place, the aim is to point out to the limitless scope of Allah's power of creation which lacks nothing. In the second instance, the objective is to focus on Allah's attribute of self sufficiency, self-adequacy and His being need-free. It means: Should one disbelieve, deny or reject the good counsel given, He is in no need of anyone's obedience for He stands ever-praised in His pristine glory.

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ أَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ وَيَأْتِ بِـَٔاخَرِينَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ قَدِيرًا

<p>The third mention of these words embodies a statement of Allah's mercy which makes things work for people. It means: Should one fear Allah and be obedient to Him, Allah will fulfill all his needs, because He is the owner of everything in this universe.</p>

The third mention of these words embodies a statement of Allah's mercy which makes things work for people. It means: Should one fear Allah and be obedient to Him, Allah will fulfill all his needs, because He is the owner of everything in this universe.

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ثَوَابَ ٱلدُّنْيَا فَعِندَ ٱللَّهِ ثَوَابُ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ سَمِيعًۢا بَصِيرًا

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ ٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيًّا أَوْ فَقِيرًا فَٱللَّهُ أَوْلَىٰ بِهِمَا فَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلْهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعْدِلُوا۟ وَإِن تَلْوُۥٓا۟ أَوْ تُعْرِضُوا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا

<p>The real purpose of sending prophets and scriptures</p><p>In this verse of Surah Al-Nisa', all Muslims have been instructed to uphold justice and be true when appearing as witnesses. Besides, things which can become impediments to the establishment of justice or the availability of true evidence have been removed in a highly eloquent manner. A verse of Surah al-Ma` idah (Volume 3) which will follow immediately after the completion of Surah al-Nis-a' carries the same subject. In fact, their words are nearly common. Then, there is a verse in Surah al-Hadid which tells us that the important purpose of sending Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) as the vice-regent of Allah in this world followed by other blessed prophets one after the other with the same status alongwith Scriptures and Missions was to see that justice prevails in the world with peace coming in its wake. The objective was to have every human being as a distinct individual adopt justice as his or her hallmark within his or her circle of influence of control. As for the chronically contumacious who would not take to the path of justice and fairness through good counsel, education and communication and continue being dogged in their contumacy, then, they will be the ones who have to be compelled to observe justice through legal process and due penalization and punishment.</p><p>The words of this verse from Surah Al-Hadid (57:25) are as follows:</p><p>لَقَدْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا رُ‌سُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَنزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ</p><p>We have sent Our messengers with clear signs and We have sent with them the Book and the Balance so that people stand firm with justice and we sent the iron in which there is great awe, and benefits for people.</p><p>Thus we know that the system under which Prophets and Books were sent was basically aimed at establishing justice. The reference to sending down iron at the end of the verse hints towards the eventuality when the good counsel alone would not be enough to make people abide by justice. Instead, there would still be some compulsive miscreants who must be disciplined with the deterrent of iron, chains and bars and other weapons, in the best interest of establishing justice.</p><p>Abiding by justice is not for the government alone.</p><p>Now, we have before us the present verse Surah al-Nis-a' (4:135), and verse 8 of Surah al-Ma` idah (5) -</p><p>كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَ‌بُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌ‌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ</p><p>Be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice. And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice. Do justice. That is nearer to Taqwa. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is all-aware of what you do. (5:8)</p><p>as well as the verse from Surah al-Hadid (57:25) cited immediately above. In these verses, it has been clearly stated that establishing, and maintaining justice and being steadfast on it is not simply the duty of governments and courts. The instruction has been given to every human being obligating him or her to fulfill the demands of justice by being personally firm about it and, at the same time, by making efforts that others too stay equally firm about seeing justice done. However, a certain level of justice does fall in the jurisdiction of government and its officials when the wicked, the rebellious and the contumacious challenge and confront the processes of justice by flouting it personally as well as by stopping others to carry out its dictates. On such occasions, penalization and punishment do become necessary. This enforcement of justice, obviously, can be done only by government which holds the reins of power in its hands.</p><p>In the world today, leave alone the illiterate millions, even fairly educated people think that the dispensing of justice is the sole duty of governments and courts and the masses of people are not responsible for it. This attitude is one of the major reasons which has made the government and the people act as two confronting parties in every country and every state. As a result, a gulf of conflict divides the rulers and the ruled. Masses of people from every country demand and expect justice and fairness from their government but, strangely enough, are not themselves ready and eager to uphold justice. The outcome is all too visible everywhere in the world. Law stands on hold. Crime wave rides high. No doubt, we have law-making bodies in every country costing millions. When elections come, the furore created to elect representatives really shakes God's earth. Then, these elected few, being supposedly the cream of the whole country, go on to make laws with great concern and caution keeping in view the needs and sentiments of their electorate. Then, the law is put forth for public opinion. When favourable, the law is considered enforceable. Then, the whole machinery of the government with its countless departments and experienced personal goes about enforcing the law so made. Now, this is a window to the custom-ridden world we live in. We have to look afresh and aim higher. In order to do something like this, we have to shake off from the torpor of blind following, the following of self-promoting custodians of civilization, and we shall, then, realize that things are not as bright as we are being made to see.</p><p>Compare the state of affairs for a hundred years from now, say 1857-1957. The data will confirm that with every increase in law-making, there increased the exhibition of popular will in law and a corresponding increase in the machinery of law enforcement. One kind of police sprouted out in many more kinds resulting in a more than matching increase in ever-escalating crimes causing people to remain far more deprived of justice. With this graph of conditions rising up, more disorder in the world started showing up.</p><p>Belief in the Hereafter and the fear of God: The only guarantee of universal peace</p><p>The world is waiting for someone sensitive and discerning who would cross over the barriers of customised routines and seriously consider the message brought by the Arabian messenger ﷺ and deliberate in the reality of things as they are. Peace in the world has never been achieved through penal codes, nor will it ever be. The guarantee of universal peace can be delivered by nothing but the belief in the Hereafter and the fear of God. This twosome is the channel through which all obligations of the ruler and the ruled, masses and the government merge together on a common platform. Everyone starts pulsating with the crucial sense of individual responsibility. When it comes to respecting and defending law, the masses of people cannot get away by saying that this was the job of the officials. It will be noticed that the verses of the Holy Qur'an dealing with the establish-ment of justice as cited above end with an exhortation to this very revolutionary article of faith.</p><p>The present verse of Surah al-Nis-a' ends with the reminder: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرً‌ا (Allah is all-aware of what you do). At the end of the verse from Surah al-Ma` idah, first came the instruction to observe Tagwa, the fear of Allah, after which it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌ‌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (Allah is aware of what you do). Then, at the end of Surah al-Hadid, it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (Allah is powerful, mighty).</p><p>Seen together; these three verses do not rest at giving instructions to both officials and masses that they should not only uphold and establish justice personally but should also see that others too do that. These verses go further ahead through their concluding statements whereby they focus all attention to a decisive reality which has the potential to generate a great revolution in human life and its aspirations. This, in a few words, is the realization of the power and domain of Almighty Allah, the thought of having to be present before Him, and of reckoning, and of retribution. This was, gain in a nutshell, the secret behind the peace which prevailed in the less educated world a hundred years ago as compared with what we have in our day; and, in fact, it is the abandoning of such a valuable teaching that has deprived the modern progress-claiming, high-flying and satellite-borne world from the blessings of genuine peace on earth.</p><p>It is in the best interest of the liberal people of the world to realize that science and its progress can take them to all sorts of frontiers - they can climb the skies, camp on stars and visit the depths of seas - but, the real end-product of all these high-tech equipments and efforts is something which they would fail to find on far away stars or in ever new inventions. This is still there for seekers to find. It is there, clear and true as ever, in the message brought by the Prophet ﷺ who appeared in Arabia, may our lives be ransomed for him and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, within the message and teaching of his, that of believing in Allah and believing in the life-to come and its reckoning:</p><p>أَلَا بِذِكْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ</p><p>"Listen! Hearts rest at peace through the Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah." (13:28)</p><p>Day by day, the astonishing discoveries of science do no more than confirm the most perfect power of Almighty Allah and go on to clearly demonstrate the state-of-the-art mastery of His creation which has no match. Before the skill and range of such creativity, every human claim to progress stands humbled - as the famous Persian line:</p><p>چہ سود چوں دل دانا و چشم بینا نیست seems to ask: If you have no wisdom and no vision, what is the use of doing what you do?</p><p>Recapitulating, we can say that the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, declared the establishment of justice and fairness as the very purpose of a universal order in the world while, on the other hand, it has proposed a unique system which - if adopted and put into practice - would metamorphose this very blood-thirsty and iniquitous world into a society of virtuous people which, in turn, would become Paradise now, instant and cash, much earlier than the promised Paradise of the Hereafter. In fact, one of the explanations given regarding the verse of the Qur'an: لِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَ‌بِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ : And for one who fears the high station of his or her رَبّ Rabb (Lord), there will be two Paradises' is exactly what has been stated above. That is, the God-fearing will have two Paradises, one in the Hereafter and the other right here in this world. There is nothing Utopian about the idea. That it is feasible has been already demonstrated by the great harbinger of this message, the Holy Prophet of Islam, upon him the blessings of Allah, and peace. He has bequeathed this message to posterity, not as some unproven theory, but as a practical and functioning system. Then, after him, came al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun, the rightly-guided Caliphs and many more from among the rulers who followed the Sunnah of the noble Prophet ﷺ of Islam strictly. As and when they acted in accordance with the principles set for them, the lion and the lamb were seen drinking at the same water trough, an imaginary saying for the ideal climate of justice for all, the strong and the weak, the poor and the rich, the labourer and the capitalist. Totally eliminated was whatever difference there could be between human beings. Law was respected by every individual in bolted homes and in the darkness of nights. This is no fairy tale. These are facts of authentic history widely corroborated and confessed, even by open-minded non-Muslims.</p><p>After understanding the essence of the Qur'anic system, detailed explanation of the verse is given below.</p><p>Explanation</p><p>The verse under reference opens with the words: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ be upholders of justice). The word, قِسْطِ Qist, when it begins with Kasrah on Qaf, (the vowel point for i), it means justice and fairness. The true sense of justice and fairness is that every holder of a right should be given his or her due in full. Taken generally, it includes the rights of Allah (Huququllah) and all kinds of human rights as well. Inclusive in the thrust of the meaning of 'upholding justice' (qiyam bi l'qist) is that nobody shall inflict injustice on anybody; also that the perpetrator of injustice (zalim) shall be stopped from inflicting injustice (zulm) and the victim of injustice (mazlum) shall be supported; and also that appearing as witness shall not be avoided, if witness is needed to help the victim of injustice to have his or her usurped right back; and also that the witness shall be true and factual as it really is, whether for or against anyone; and also that those who hold the reins of authority and dispensation of justice in their hands shall treat both parties to the case before them, equally and equitably. There shall be no tilt of any sort toward any one of the two. Statements given by witnesses shall be heard carefully. Every effort possible shall be made to investigate the case. Then, finally, perfect justice shall be observed in the verdict.</p><p>Impediments to Justice</p><p>Though the two verses from Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-M-a'idah quoted earlier come from two different chapters, yet their subject is almost the common denominator between them. The only difference is that justice is normally impeded, obstructed or compromised by two things. Firstly, by love, kinship or friendship or link with someone which pushes the witness to testify in his favour so that he remains shielded against loss or that he profits by it. As for the judge or Qadi who is to give the verdict is affected by any such linkage, he would naturally have the urge to decide the case in favour of the party of his linkage. Secondly, justice is impeded by hostility towards someone which may take the witness to testify against him, while it could also become the cause of an unfavourable judgement given by the judge or Qadi. So, love and hate are passions which can cause one to move away from the path of justice and become involved with all sorts of injustice and oppression. These very two impediments have been removed in both the verses of Surah al-Nisa' and Surah al-Ma` idah. The instruction given in the verse of Surah al-Nisa' is about removing the impediment of kinship or nearness. It has been said there: أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَ‌بِين (4:135 ( which means: even if your testimony goes against your parents or near relatives, say what is true and ignore the factor of such relationship when testifying the truth. And removed through the verse of Surah al-Ma` idah is the impediment of grudge, malice or enmity. So, there it was said: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ۚ اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَ‌بُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ (And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice. Do justice. That is nearer to Taqwa - 5:2). As clear from the translation, it means that malice should not make one desert the path of justice and go about testifying or ruling against them.</p><p>In addition to that, there is a slight difference between the form of address and the mode of expression appearing in these two verses. In Surah al-Nisa', it was said: قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ (...upholders of , justice, witnesses for Allah - 4:135) while the words from Surah al-Ma` idah are: قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ (... be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice - 5:8). To explain, we can say that the first verse contains two instructions: Uphold justice and witness for Allah. As for the second verse, the same two things have been commanded but with a changed form of address, that is, 'be steadfast for Allah and witnesses for justice.'</p><p>Most commentators say that this change in address shows .that both these things are two interpretations of the same reality. At one place, it was referred to as being steadfast with justice and witnesses for Allah, while at another, the word arrangement was: Steadfast for Allah and witnesses for justice. Moreover, worth noticing is the mode of expression adopted in both these verses where multiple-worded sentences such as كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ or قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ have been preferred, although the command to do justice could have been given through the use of one single. word: اَقسِطوا : Aqsi tu: Do justice (as in Surah Al-Hujurat, 49:9). Actually, the choice of the longer sentence is there to indicate that being just and fair in a particular case accidentally does not liquidate one's responsibility wholly. The reason is that being able to do justice in one or the other case is a natural possibility which can apply even to the most evil and tyrannical ruler who may find himself having done justice in some case. So, by the use of the word, qawwamin (those who uphold and are steadfast), it has been established that upholding justice and fairness is a constant duty which must be observed at all times, under all conditions, for every friend or foe.</p><p>Qur'anic Principles of Universal Justice</p><p>Now, concluding our discussion about the meanings of verse 135 in conjunction with verse 8 of Surah a1-Ma` idah, it can be safely Said that the principles of universal justice by one and all enunciated through these two verses form part of the many distinctions of the glorious Qur'an. These can be better appreciated when seen through two major' aspects as given below:</p><p>1. To begin with, officials and masses of people have all been alerted to the supreme subduing power of Almighty Allah and to the ultimate reckoning of the fateful Day of Retribution so that they could think, stop and deter or be prepared to face the consequences. In view of this, the masses themselves have to respect law, and the officials who are responsible for the enforcement of law, they too, have to keep the thought of Allah and Akhirah (God and the Hereafter) before them while enforcing law and thus be the servants and not the thoughtless masters of God's multitudes of people. They should make law a source of service to people and a source of betterment of the whole world, never causing their worries to increase, never engineering ways to condemn victims of injustice to. their grinding mills of red tape, never making them suffer from injustice multiplied with more injustices, and finally, never ever selling law for mean desires or paltry gains. By saying: Be steadfast for Allah - witnesses for Allah, both officials and masses have been exhorted to act for Allah and act with sincerity at its best.</p><p>2. The second element of importance here is that the responsibility of establishing justice and fairness as a way of life has been placed on the shoulders of all human beings. As for the verses from Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-Ma` idah wherein, by saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا (0 those who believe), the entire Muslim community has been addressed. But, in Surah al-Hadid, by saying: لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ (so that mankind stands firm with justice - 57:25), this duty has been considered binding on all human beings. Similarly, by saying: وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ (even though against yourselves...), instruction has been given that justice is not something to be demanded from others only, instead, it should also be exacted from one's own self. It means that one should say nothing against what is true and just, even when one has to declare something against one's own self, even if such an action is likely to bring loss upon one's person, because this loss is insignificant, tiny and transitory. On the contrary, should someone elect to placate his self by flat lies, then he has bought for himself the severe punishment of the Day of Retribution.</p>

The real purpose of sending prophets and scripturesIn this verse of Surah Al-Nisa', all Muslims have been instructed to uphold justice and be true when appearing as witnesses. Besides, things which can become impediments to the establishment of justice or the availability of true evidence have been removed in a highly eloquent manner. A verse of Surah al-Ma` idah (Volume 3) which will follow immediately after the completion of Surah al-Nis-a' carries the same subject. In fact, their words are nearly common. Then, there is a verse in Surah al-Hadid which tells us that the important purpose of sending Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) as the vice-regent of Allah in this world followed by other blessed prophets one after the other with the same status alongwith Scriptures and Missions was to see that justice prevails in the world with peace coming in its wake. The objective was to have every human being as a distinct individual adopt justice as his or her hallmark within his or her circle of influence of control. As for the chronically contumacious who would not take to the path of justice and fairness through good counsel, education and communication and continue being dogged in their contumacy, then, they will be the ones who have to be compelled to observe justice through legal process and due penalization and punishment.The words of this verse from Surah Al-Hadid (57:25) are as follows:لَقَدْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا رُ‌سُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ وَأَنزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِWe have sent Our messengers with clear signs and We have sent with them the Book and the Balance so that people stand firm with justice and we sent the iron in which there is great awe, and benefits for people.Thus we know that the system under which Prophets and Books were sent was basically aimed at establishing justice. The reference to sending down iron at the end of the verse hints towards the eventuality when the good counsel alone would not be enough to make people abide by justice. Instead, there would still be some compulsive miscreants who must be disciplined with the deterrent of iron, chains and bars and other weapons, in the best interest of establishing justice.Abiding by justice is not for the government alone.Now, we have before us the present verse Surah al-Nis-a' (4:135), and verse 8 of Surah al-Ma` idah (5) -كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَ‌بُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌ‌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَBe steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice. And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice. Do justice. That is nearer to Taqwa. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is all-aware of what you do. (5:8)as well as the verse from Surah al-Hadid (57:25) cited immediately above. In these verses, it has been clearly stated that establishing, and maintaining justice and being steadfast on it is not simply the duty of governments and courts. The instruction has been given to every human being obligating him or her to fulfill the demands of justice by being personally firm about it and, at the same time, by making efforts that others too stay equally firm about seeing justice done. However, a certain level of justice does fall in the jurisdiction of government and its officials when the wicked, the rebellious and the contumacious challenge and confront the processes of justice by flouting it personally as well as by stopping others to carry out its dictates. On such occasions, penalization and punishment do become necessary. This enforcement of justice, obviously, can be done only by government which holds the reins of power in its hands.In the world today, leave alone the illiterate millions, even fairly educated people think that the dispensing of justice is the sole duty of governments and courts and the masses of people are not responsible for it. This attitude is one of the major reasons which has made the government and the people act as two confronting parties in every country and every state. As a result, a gulf of conflict divides the rulers and the ruled. Masses of people from every country demand and expect justice and fairness from their government but, strangely enough, are not themselves ready and eager to uphold justice. The outcome is all too visible everywhere in the world. Law stands on hold. Crime wave rides high. No doubt, we have law-making bodies in every country costing millions. When elections come, the furore created to elect representatives really shakes God's earth. Then, these elected few, being supposedly the cream of the whole country, go on to make laws with great concern and caution keeping in view the needs and sentiments of their electorate. Then, the law is put forth for public opinion. When favourable, the law is considered enforceable. Then, the whole machinery of the government with its countless departments and experienced personal goes about enforcing the law so made. Now, this is a window to the custom-ridden world we live in. We have to look afresh and aim higher. In order to do something like this, we have to shake off from the torpor of blind following, the following of self-promoting custodians of civilization, and we shall, then, realize that things are not as bright as we are being made to see.Compare the state of affairs for a hundred years from now, say 1857-1957. The data will confirm that with every increase in law-making, there increased the exhibition of popular will in law and a corresponding increase in the machinery of law enforcement. One kind of police sprouted out in many more kinds resulting in a more than matching increase in ever-escalating crimes causing people to remain far more deprived of justice. With this graph of conditions rising up, more disorder in the world started showing up.Belief in the Hereafter and the fear of God: The only guarantee of universal peaceThe world is waiting for someone sensitive and discerning who would cross over the barriers of customised routines and seriously consider the message brought by the Arabian messenger ﷺ and deliberate in the reality of things as they are. Peace in the world has never been achieved through penal codes, nor will it ever be. The guarantee of universal peace can be delivered by nothing but the belief in the Hereafter and the fear of God. This twosome is the channel through which all obligations of the ruler and the ruled, masses and the government merge together on a common platform. Everyone starts pulsating with the crucial sense of individual responsibility. When it comes to respecting and defending law, the masses of people cannot get away by saying that this was the job of the officials. It will be noticed that the verses of the Holy Qur'an dealing with the establish-ment of justice as cited above end with an exhortation to this very revolutionary article of faith.The present verse of Surah al-Nis-a' ends with the reminder: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرً‌ا (Allah is all-aware of what you do). At the end of the verse from Surah al-Ma` idah, first came the instruction to observe Tagwa, the fear of Allah, after which it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ خَبِيرٌ‌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (Allah is aware of what you do). Then, at the end of Surah al-Hadid, it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (Allah is powerful, mighty).Seen together; these three verses do not rest at giving instructions to both officials and masses that they should not only uphold and establish justice personally but should also see that others too do that. These verses go further ahead through their concluding statements whereby they focus all attention to a decisive reality which has the potential to generate a great revolution in human life and its aspirations. This, in a few words, is the realization of the power and domain of Almighty Allah, the thought of having to be present before Him, and of reckoning, and of retribution. This was, gain in a nutshell, the secret behind the peace which prevailed in the less educated world a hundred years ago as compared with what we have in our day; and, in fact, it is the abandoning of such a valuable teaching that has deprived the modern progress-claiming, high-flying and satellite-borne world from the blessings of genuine peace on earth.It is in the best interest of the liberal people of the world to realize that science and its progress can take them to all sorts of frontiers - they can climb the skies, camp on stars and visit the depths of seas - but, the real end-product of all these high-tech equipments and efforts is something which they would fail to find on far away stars or in ever new inventions. This is still there for seekers to find. It is there, clear and true as ever, in the message brought by the Prophet ﷺ who appeared in Arabia, may our lives be ransomed for him and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, within the message and teaching of his, that of believing in Allah and believing in the life-to come and its reckoning:أَلَا بِذِكْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ"Listen! Hearts rest at peace through the Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah." (13:28)Day by day, the astonishing discoveries of science do no more than confirm the most perfect power of Almighty Allah and go on to clearly demonstrate the state-of-the-art mastery of His creation which has no match. Before the skill and range of such creativity, every human claim to progress stands humbled - as the famous Persian line:چہ سود چوں دل دانا و چشم بینا نیست seems to ask: If you have no wisdom and no vision, what is the use of doing what you do?Recapitulating, we can say that the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, declared the establishment of justice and fairness as the very purpose of a universal order in the world while, on the other hand, it has proposed a unique system which - if adopted and put into practice - would metamorphose this very blood-thirsty and iniquitous world into a society of virtuous people which, in turn, would become Paradise now, instant and cash, much earlier than the promised Paradise of the Hereafter. In fact, one of the explanations given regarding the verse of the Qur'an: لِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَ‌بِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ : And for one who fears the high station of his or her رَبّ Rabb (Lord), there will be two Paradises' is exactly what has been stated above. That is, the God-fearing will have two Paradises, one in the Hereafter and the other right here in this world. There is nothing Utopian about the idea. That it is feasible has been already demonstrated by the great harbinger of this message, the Holy Prophet of Islam, upon him the blessings of Allah, and peace. He has bequeathed this message to posterity, not as some unproven theory, but as a practical and functioning system. Then, after him, came al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun, the rightly-guided Caliphs and many more from among the rulers who followed the Sunnah of the noble Prophet ﷺ of Islam strictly. As and when they acted in accordance with the principles set for them, the lion and the lamb were seen drinking at the same water trough, an imaginary saying for the ideal climate of justice for all, the strong and the weak, the poor and the rich, the labourer and the capitalist. Totally eliminated was whatever difference there could be between human beings. Law was respected by every individual in bolted homes and in the darkness of nights. This is no fairy tale. These are facts of authentic history widely corroborated and confessed, even by open-minded non-Muslims.After understanding the essence of the Qur'anic system, detailed explanation of the verse is given below.ExplanationThe verse under reference opens with the words: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ be upholders of justice). The word, قِسْطِ Qist, when it begins with Kasrah on Qaf, (the vowel point for i), it means justice and fairness. The true sense of justice and fairness is that every holder of a right should be given his or her due in full. Taken generally, it includes the rights of Allah (Huququllah) and all kinds of human rights as well. Inclusive in the thrust of the meaning of 'upholding justice' (qiyam bi l'qist) is that nobody shall inflict injustice on anybody; also that the perpetrator of injustice (zalim) shall be stopped from inflicting injustice (zulm) and the victim of injustice (mazlum) shall be supported; and also that appearing as witness shall not be avoided, if witness is needed to help the victim of injustice to have his or her usurped right back; and also that the witness shall be true and factual as it really is, whether for or against anyone; and also that those who hold the reins of authority and dispensation of justice in their hands shall treat both parties to the case before them, equally and equitably. There shall be no tilt of any sort toward any one of the two. Statements given by witnesses shall be heard carefully. Every effort possible shall be made to investigate the case. Then, finally, perfect justice shall be observed in the verdict.Impediments to JusticeThough the two verses from Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-M-a'idah quoted earlier come from two different chapters, yet their subject is almost the common denominator between them. The only difference is that justice is normally impeded, obstructed or compromised by two things. Firstly, by love, kinship or friendship or link with someone which pushes the witness to testify in his favour so that he remains shielded against loss or that he profits by it. As for the judge or Qadi who is to give the verdict is affected by any such linkage, he would naturally have the urge to decide the case in favour of the party of his linkage. Secondly, justice is impeded by hostility towards someone which may take the witness to testify against him, while it could also become the cause of an unfavourable judgement given by the judge or Qadi. So, love and hate are passions which can cause one to move away from the path of justice and become involved with all sorts of injustice and oppression. These very two impediments have been removed in both the verses of Surah al-Nisa' and Surah al-Ma` idah. The instruction given in the verse of Surah al-Nisa' is about removing the impediment of kinship or nearness. It has been said there: أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَ‌بِين (4:135 ( which means: even if your testimony goes against your parents or near relatives, say what is true and ignore the factor of such relationship when testifying the truth. And removed through the verse of Surah al-Ma` idah is the impediment of grudge, malice or enmity. So, there it was said: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ۚ اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَ‌بُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ (And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice. Do justice. That is nearer to Taqwa - 5:2). As clear from the translation, it means that malice should not make one desert the path of justice and go about testifying or ruling against them.In addition to that, there is a slight difference between the form of address and the mode of expression appearing in these two verses. In Surah al-Nisa', it was said: قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ (...upholders of , justice, witnesses for Allah - 4:135) while the words from Surah al-Ma` idah are: قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ (... be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice - 5:8). To explain, we can say that the first verse contains two instructions: Uphold justice and witness for Allah. As for the second verse, the same two things have been commanded but with a changed form of address, that is, 'be steadfast for Allah and witnesses for justice.'Most commentators say that this change in address shows .that both these things are two interpretations of the same reality. At one place, it was referred to as being steadfast with justice and witnesses for Allah, while at another, the word arrangement was: Steadfast for Allah and witnesses for justice. Moreover, worth noticing is the mode of expression adopted in both these verses where multiple-worded sentences such as كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ or قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ have been preferred, although the command to do justice could have been given through the use of one single. word: اَقسِطوا : Aqsi tu: Do justice (as in Surah Al-Hujurat, 49:9). Actually, the choice of the longer sentence is there to indicate that being just and fair in a particular case accidentally does not liquidate one's responsibility wholly. The reason is that being able to do justice in one or the other case is a natural possibility which can apply even to the most evil and tyrannical ruler who may find himself having done justice in some case. So, by the use of the word, qawwamin (those who uphold and are steadfast), it has been established that upholding justice and fairness is a constant duty which must be observed at all times, under all conditions, for every friend or foe.Qur'anic Principles of Universal JusticeNow, concluding our discussion about the meanings of verse 135 in conjunction with verse 8 of Surah a1-Ma` idah, it can be safely Said that the principles of universal justice by one and all enunciated through these two verses form part of the many distinctions of the glorious Qur'an. These can be better appreciated when seen through two major' aspects as given below:1. To begin with, officials and masses of people have all been alerted to the supreme subduing power of Almighty Allah and to the ultimate reckoning of the fateful Day of Retribution so that they could think, stop and deter or be prepared to face the consequences. In view of this, the masses themselves have to respect law, and the officials who are responsible for the enforcement of law, they too, have to keep the thought of Allah and Akhirah (God and the Hereafter) before them while enforcing law and thus be the servants and not the thoughtless masters of God's multitudes of people. They should make law a source of service to people and a source of betterment of the whole world, never causing their worries to increase, never engineering ways to condemn victims of injustice to. their grinding mills of red tape, never making them suffer from injustice multiplied with more injustices, and finally, never ever selling law for mean desires or paltry gains. By saying: Be steadfast for Allah - witnesses for Allah, both officials and masses have been exhorted to act for Allah and act with sincerity at its best.2. The second element of importance here is that the responsibility of establishing justice and fairness as a way of life has been placed on the shoulders of all human beings. As for the verses from Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-Ma` idah wherein, by saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا (0 those who believe), the entire Muslim community has been addressed. But, in Surah al-Hadid, by saying: لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ (so that mankind stands firm with justice - 57:25), this duty has been considered binding on all human beings. Similarly, by saying: وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ (even though against yourselves...), instruction has been given that justice is not something to be demanded from others only, instead, it should also be exacted from one's own self. It means that one should say nothing against what is true and just, even when one has to declare something against one's own self, even if such an action is likely to bring loss upon one's person, because this loss is insignificant, tiny and transitory. On the contrary, should someone elect to placate his self by flat lies, then he has bought for himself the severe punishment of the Day of Retribution.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ ءَامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَٰبِ ٱلَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ وَٱلْكِتَٰبِ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱللَّهِ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَكُتُبِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

<p>Sequence</p><p>Discussed upto this point were subsidiary injunctions mostly, alongwith issues relating to faith ('Iman) and disbelief (kufr) appearing as a corollary to dealings with antagonists. Onwards from here, these issues appear in some detail continuing almost close to the end of the Surah. In the sequence of statements, first comes a description of 'Iman (faith) as credible in the sight of the Shari’ ah. After that, various groups of disbelievers have been censured for their beliefs and for some of their deeds also which issue forth from their faulty beliefs.</p>

SequenceDiscussed upto this point were subsidiary injunctions mostly, alongwith issues relating to faith ('Iman) and disbelief (kufr) appearing as a corollary to dealings with antagonists. Onwards from here, these issues appear in some detail continuing almost close to the end of the Surah. In the sequence of statements, first comes a description of 'Iman (faith) as credible in the sight of the Shari’ ah. After that, various groups of disbelievers have been censured for their beliefs and for some of their deeds also which issue forth from their faulty beliefs.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا۟ ثُمَّ ءَامَنُوا۟ ثُمَّ كَفَرُوا۟ ثُمَّ ٱزْدَادُوا۟ كُفْرًا لَّمْ يَكُنِ ٱللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلًۢا

<p>Important Notes</p><p>1. The first part of the verse 137 which begins with the words: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُ‌وا (Surely, those who believed and then disbelieved, believed again and then disbelieved, then went on increasing in their disbelief) refers to the hypocrites. But, some commentators say that this verse is about the Jews for they were the ones who first believed, then, after having taken to the golden calf, became disbelievers. After that, they repented and believed. Then again, they rejected the prophethood of Sayyidna 'Isa علیہ و الصلوٰۃ السلام and fell back into disbelief. Finally, by refusing to believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ ، they further increased in their disbelief (Ruh al-Ma’ ani).</p><p>2. The second part of the verse 137 لَّمْ يَكُنِ اللَّـهُ لِيَغْفِرَ‌ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلًا Allah is not to forgive them nor lead them on the path), when read as a whole with the first part, would mean that their repeated return to disbelief will cause their very ability to receive true guidance to be taken away from them and, in that event, they will have neither the future option to repent nor the opportunity to believe. Otherwise, the general rule laid out by the definitive texts of the Qur'an and ' Sunnah is that a disbeliever (kafir) or an apostate (مُاتَد murtadd), no matter how hardened, has his past sins forgiven -- if the taubah (repentance) made by him is sincere and true. So, if such, people too change and repent, the law of amnesty and forgiveness is open.</p>

Important Notes1. The first part of the verse 137 which begins with the words: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ثُمَّ كَفَرُ‌وا (Surely, those who believed and then disbelieved, believed again and then disbelieved, then went on increasing in their disbelief) refers to the hypocrites. But, some commentators say that this verse is about the Jews for they were the ones who first believed, then, after having taken to the golden calf, became disbelievers. After that, they repented and believed. Then again, they rejected the prophethood of Sayyidna 'Isa علیہ و الصلوٰۃ السلام and fell back into disbelief. Finally, by refusing to believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ ، they further increased in their disbelief (Ruh al-Ma’ ani).2. The second part of the verse 137 لَّمْ يَكُنِ اللَّـهُ لِيَغْفِرَ‌ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلًا Allah is not to forgive them nor lead them on the path), when read as a whole with the first part, would mean that their repeated return to disbelief will cause their very ability to receive true guidance to be taken away from them and, in that event, they will have neither the future option to repent nor the opportunity to believe. Otherwise, the general rule laid out by the definitive texts of the Qur'an and ' Sunnah is that a disbeliever (kafir) or an apostate (مُاتَد murtadd), no matter how hardened, has his past sins forgiven -- if the taubah (repentance) made by him is sincere and true. So, if such, people too change and repent, the law of amnesty and forgiveness is open.

بَشِّرِ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا

<p>Commentary</p><p>In the first verse (138), the hypocrites have been given the news of a painful punishment. By articulating a distressing news with the word, 'basharah' (good news), the hint given is that everyone looks forward to some good news to brighten his or her future but, for the hypocrites, there is just no other news except this.</p>

CommentaryIn the first verse (138), the hypocrites have been given the news of a painful punishment. By articulating a distressing news with the word, 'basharah' (good news), the hint given is that everyone looks forward to some good news to brighten his or her future but, for the hypocrites, there is just no other news except this.

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا

<p>Seek Honour from Allah alone</p><p>Close friendly relations with disbelievers and polytheists have been forbidden in the second verse (139). Warning has been served on those who do so. Right along, after giving the reason why people get involved with this disease, the practice has been declared ineffectual and absurd. The words of the text are: أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ الْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّـهِ جَمِيعًا (139) (Are they seeking honour in their company? But, indeed, all honour belongs to Allah). To explain, we can say that the urge to meet and be friendly with disbelievers and polytheists is generally prompted by the assumption that their outwardly visible influence, power and collective strength may give honour and power to those who have close relations with them. Almighty Allah has exposed the reality behind this absurd notion by saying: You want to acquire honour from those who them-selves have no honour. ` Izzah (عِزَّۃَ ) which means might and mastery, belongs to none but Allah and whenever some sort of might and mastery is given to any person, it is given by Allah. With the scheme of things being such, it would certainly be a gross lack of reason to go about acquiring honour by displeasing the owner and giver of real honour and stooping down to the level of scroungers for temporal honour through His enemies?</p><p>The same subject has appeared in the Qur'anic Surah al-Munafiqun with one addition as follows:</p><p>وَلِلَّـهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَ‌سُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ</p><p>For Allah is all honour, and for His Messenger, and for believers - but, the hypocrites do not know. 63:8.</p><p>By adding the messenger and the believers with Almighty Allah in this verse, it has been emphasized that Allah is the only owner-possessor of real honour and it is He Who bestows on whosoever He wills a certain part of that honour. Since the Messenger of Allah and those who believe in them are dear in the sight of Allah, therefore, honour and mastery are given to them. As for the disbelievers and the polytheists, they themselves do not have this kind of honour, then, what sort of honour can one get by acting in league with them? There-fore, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said:</p><p>مَن اعتَزَّ بِالعبِیدِ اَذَلَّہُ اللہ</p><p>Whoever seeks honour through human beings (His servants) is disgraced by Allah. (Jassas)</p><p>As in Mustadrak al-Hakim, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said to Sayyidna Abu ` Ubaydah ؓ ، the Governor of Syria:</p><p>کُنتم اَقَلَّ النَّاسِ وَ اَذَلَّ النَّاسِ فَکَثَّرَکُم بالاِسلام، وَ کُنتم اَذَلَّ النَّاسِ فَاَعَزَّکُمُ اللہُ بالاسلام مھما تطلُبُو العِزَّۃَ بغیرِ اللہِ یُذَلُّکُمُ اللہُ</p><p>You were the lowest (in numbers) and the weakest (in strength) among the people (of the world), then Allah made you exceed in numbers and strength with (the grace of) Islam; and you were the meanest (in status) among the people (of the world), then Allah raised you in honour with (the grace of) Islam. So, understand this very clearly: If you seek honour from any source other than Allah, Allah will disgrace you.</p><p>Explaining the meaning of this verse, the famous commentator, Abu Bakr al-Jassas has said in Ahkam al-Qur'an that the verse forbids the seeking of honour through friendship with disbelievers and sinners. However, the seeking of honour and power through Muslims is not forbidden because this verse of Su-rah al-Munafiqun has made it clear that Almighty Allah has blessed His messenger and the believers with honour. (Jassas, p. 352, v.2)</p><p>If the ` Izzah or honour mentioned here means the everlasting honour of the life-to-come, the 'Akhirah, then, its applicability to Allah's messenger and the believers in the life of the present world is quite obvious, for the honour of the 'Akhirah can never become the lot of any disbeliever or polytheist. Conversely, if it is taken to mean honour in the present life of the world, then, barring transitional periods and accidental happenings, this honour and mastery is, ultimately, the right of Islam and Muslims alone. Until such time that Muslims remained Muslims in the true sense, the whole world witnessed the spectacle. Then, there shall be the later period when Muslims will reassemble around true Islam under the leadership of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) ascendancy will again be theirs. That Muslims appear to be weak during the interim period, because of their weakness of faith and involvement with sins does not go against it.</p>

Seek Honour from Allah aloneClose friendly relations with disbelievers and polytheists have been forbidden in the second verse (139). Warning has been served on those who do so. Right along, after giving the reason why people get involved with this disease, the practice has been declared ineffectual and absurd. The words of the text are: أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ الْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ الْعِزَّةَ لِلَّـهِ جَمِيعًا (139) (Are they seeking honour in their company? But, indeed, all honour belongs to Allah). To explain, we can say that the urge to meet and be friendly with disbelievers and polytheists is generally prompted by the assumption that their outwardly visible influence, power and collective strength may give honour and power to those who have close relations with them. Almighty Allah has exposed the reality behind this absurd notion by saying: You want to acquire honour from those who them-selves have no honour. ` Izzah (عِزَّۃَ ) which means might and mastery, belongs to none but Allah and whenever some sort of might and mastery is given to any person, it is given by Allah. With the scheme of things being such, it would certainly be a gross lack of reason to go about acquiring honour by displeasing the owner and giver of real honour and stooping down to the level of scroungers for temporal honour through His enemies?The same subject has appeared in the Qur'anic Surah al-Munafiqun with one addition as follows:وَلِلَّـهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَ‌سُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَFor Allah is all honour, and for His Messenger, and for believers - but, the hypocrites do not know. 63:8.By adding the messenger and the believers with Almighty Allah in this verse, it has been emphasized that Allah is the only owner-possessor of real honour and it is He Who bestows on whosoever He wills a certain part of that honour. Since the Messenger of Allah and those who believe in them are dear in the sight of Allah, therefore, honour and mastery are given to them. As for the disbelievers and the polytheists, they themselves do not have this kind of honour, then, what sort of honour can one get by acting in league with them? There-fore, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said:مَن اعتَزَّ بِالعبِیدِ اَذَلَّہُ اللہWhoever seeks honour through human beings (His servants) is disgraced by Allah. (Jassas)As in Mustadrak al-Hakim, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said to Sayyidna Abu ` Ubaydah ؓ ، the Governor of Syria:کُنتم اَقَلَّ النَّاسِ وَ اَذَلَّ النَّاسِ فَکَثَّرَکُم بالاِسلام، وَ کُنتم اَذَلَّ النَّاسِ فَاَعَزَّکُمُ اللہُ بالاسلام مھما تطلُبُو العِزَّۃَ بغیرِ اللہِ یُذَلُّکُمُ اللہُYou were the lowest (in numbers) and the weakest (in strength) among the people (of the world), then Allah made you exceed in numbers and strength with (the grace of) Islam; and you were the meanest (in status) among the people (of the world), then Allah raised you in honour with (the grace of) Islam. So, understand this very clearly: If you seek honour from any source other than Allah, Allah will disgrace you.Explaining the meaning of this verse, the famous commentator, Abu Bakr al-Jassas has said in Ahkam al-Qur'an that the verse forbids the seeking of honour through friendship with disbelievers and sinners. However, the seeking of honour and power through Muslims is not forbidden because this verse of Su-rah al-Munafiqun has made it clear that Almighty Allah has blessed His messenger and the believers with honour. (Jassas, p. 352, v.2)If the ` Izzah or honour mentioned here means the everlasting honour of the life-to-come, the 'Akhirah, then, its applicability to Allah's messenger and the believers in the life of the present world is quite obvious, for the honour of the 'Akhirah can never become the lot of any disbeliever or polytheist. Conversely, if it is taken to mean honour in the present life of the world, then, barring transitional periods and accidental happenings, this honour and mastery is, ultimately, the right of Islam and Muslims alone. Until such time that Muslims remained Muslims in the true sense, the whole world witnessed the spectacle. Then, there shall be the later period when Muslims will reassemble around true Islam under the leadership of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) ascendancy will again be theirs. That Muslims appear to be weak during the interim period, because of their weakness of faith and involvement with sins does not go against it.

وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا۟ مَعَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا۟ فِى حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِۦٓ إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ جَامِعُ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا

<p>In the third verse (140): وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ (... and He has revealed to you in the Book), by referring to another verse of the Holy Qur'an which had already been revealed' as a verse of the Surah al-An'-am before the event of Hijrah in Makkah al-Mukkarrmah, it has been re-emphasized that Allah had sent, much earlier, the command that they should not even sit in the company of disbelievers and sinners. Now, surprising as it is, these heedless people have gone much beyond that by establishing friendly relations with them assuming that they were the bearers of honour and the wielders of power in their own right.</p><p>The verse of Surah al-Nisa' under discussion (140) and the verse of Surah al-An'-am (68) which has been referred to in the Surah al-Nis-a' both carry the same sense. That is, should some people sitting in a group be engaged in denying and deriding the verses revealed by Allah, then, as long as they stay occupied with this vain exercise, sitting in their company to participate or observe is also forbidden (haram). However, the words of Surah a1-An` am have some generalization, and a little more detail for it says:</p><p>وَإِذَا رَ‌أَيْتَ الَّذِينَ يَخُوضُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا فَأَعْرِ‌ضْ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِ‌هِ ۚ وَإِمَّا يُنسِيَنَّكَ الشَّيْطَانُ فَلَا تَقْعُدْ بَعْدَ الذِّكْرَ‌ىٰ مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿68﴾</p><p>And when you see those who indulge in Our verses adversely, turn away from them, until such time that they may get busy with some subject other than that. And if Satan makes you forget, do not sit with the unjust people after the recollection. (6:68)</p><p>Here, in the verse cited above, the reference is to disputation in Divine verses which includes disbelief and mockery as well. Also included here is the act of distorting the meaning of a verse, that is, deducing such meanings from the verses of the Holy Qur'an which are contrary to the tafsir or explanation given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his blessed Companions, or are against the consensus of the Muslim Community. Therefore, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ as reported by Dahhak, has said that included within the sense of this verse are those who explain the Qur'an (tafsir) erroneously or distort its meaning تَحرِیف (tahrif) or invent what is not there (bid'ah). The actual words of this report are being given below:</p><p>دَخَلَ فِی ھٰذ، ہِ الاٰیَۃ، کُلُّ مُحدِّثِ فِی الِّدینِ ، وَ کُلُّ مُتدِ (علیہ السلام) عِ اِلٰی یَوم القِیٰمَۃِ (Mazhari, p.263, v.2)</p><p>The impermissibility of listening to opinion-based explanations of the Holy Qur'an:</p><p>From here we find out that a person who, while talking, explaining or teaching the Holy Qur'an, is not observant of the exegetical authenticity credited to the most righteous elders of the early period (i.e. the Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ or their pupils) instead, indulges in giving meanings of the Qur'an contrary to those stated by them, then, participation in the درس Dars (teaching sessions) or Tafsir (Exegesis) of such a person shall be impermissible under the authority of the Qur'an, being a sin rather than a source of reward. In Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit, Aba Hayyan has said: These verses tell us that what is sinful to say verbally remains equally sinful when heard through the ears voluntarily. He has even put it in a poetic exhortation:</p><p>وَ سَمعَکَ صُن عَن سِمَاعَ القَبیِح کَصَونِ اللِّسَانِ عَنِ النُّطقِ بِہِ</p><p>Protect your ears from hearing the evil</p><p>As you protect your tongue from saying it.</p><p>After looking at the element of some generalization in the verse of Surah al-An’ am, we can now turn to the other element of additional remarks about the possibility of someone having joined the company of such people unknowingly. In that case, once it is realised, the person should immediately leave that gathering. The point is that one should not sit with unjust people when alerted to the situation.</p><p>Now, in both verses of Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-An’ am it has been declared that as long as they remain occupied with their cross-comments, sitting in their company is forbidden. Here, we face another aspect of the problem which is: When they stop talking in that particular strain and digress to some other topic, would sitting with them and taking part in mutual discourse at that time become permissible, or not? The Qur'an has elected not to be explicit on this situation, therefore, on this subject, there is a difference of views among scholars. Some have said that the reason for this prohibition was the disparagement and distortion of Divine verses - when that stopped, the prohibition stopped too. Therefore, once they start talking about something else, sitting in their company is no sin. Some others have said that (sitting in) the company of such disbelieving, sinning and unjust people is not correct even after that. This is the position taken by Hasan al-Basri, may the mercy of Allah be upon him, the argument in support of his position comes from the following sentence of Surah al-An'am: فَلَا تَقْعُدْ بَعْدَ الذِّكْرَ‌ىٰ مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ. It means: Once you remember, do not sit with the unjust people. It is obvious that an unjust person remains what he is even after having terminated the questionable conversation. Therefore, abstaining from sitting in his company is necessary. (Jasas)</p><p>Qadi Thanaullah Panipati has, in his al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, found consistency in both views by saying that should comments laced with disbelief, mockery and distortion of the Qur'an cease and be replaced by some other topic of conversation, then, even at that time, sitting unnecessarily in the company of such people shall, after all, remain forbidden. But, should such participation be prompted by some religious contingency or physical need, it would be permissible.</p><p>Seclusion is better than bad company</p><p>Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas (رح) has said in Ahkam al-Qur'an: Should a Muslim, who is charged with the duty of forbidding the evil, witness sin being committed in a gathering, then, he should stop it by force, if he has the strength to do that. And should he be lacking in this capability, then, he should, in the least, show his displeasure, the lowest degree of which is that he should rise and leave such company. This is the reason why Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz had some people arrested on the charge that they were drinking wine. On investigation, it was found that one of them was fasting. He did not drink the wine, but he was sitting in the company of those drunkards. Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz punished him too for his unexplained sitting in that sort of company. (al-Bahr al-Muhit p.375, v.3)</p><p>It is useful to know that Ibn Kathir has reported at this point in his Tafsir the following hadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ where he has said:</p><p>مَن کَانَ یُؤمِنُ بِاللہِ وَالیَومِ الاٰخِرِ فلَا یجلِس عَلٰی مَآیِٔدَۃِ یُدَارُ عَلَیھا الخَمَرُ</p><p>One who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not sit to dine where liquor is being served. (Ibn Kathir, p.567, v.1)</p><p>What has been said about leaving a gathering as part of a debated issue summarized above is hemmed by a condition. The condition is that leaving such a gathering shall not entail some sin according to Shari’ ah. For example, joining the Jama ah (congregation) in a Masjid is necessary. Should something contrary to the Shari` ah start happening there, one should not abandon praying with the Jama'ah because of that; instead, simple emotional displeasure against what is undesirable shall be considered sufficient. Similarly, there could be some other gathering the necessity of which stands proved in the Shari` ah. If some people there start doing things which are contrary to the Shari` ah, then, leaving that gathering just because of the sin being committed by others would amount to committing a sin of your own. This is neither reasonable, nor correct. Therefore, Hasan al-Basri (رح) said: If we were to keep giving up what we must do just because of the sins of other people, we shall be paving the way for all sorts of sinners to come and destroy the Sunnah and Shari` ah.</p><p>To Sum Up</p><p>The nature of socialization with disbelieving or falsely-believing people takes some of the following forms:</p><p>1. By condescending to their infidelistic assaults. This is infidelity (kufr).</p><p>2. By showing repugnance when confronted with open expressions of disbelief. This, if done without a valid excuse admitted by the Shari’ ah, is 'fisq' or sinfulness, contrary to the required behaviour of unalloyed righteousness.</p><p>3. For some worldly need. This is allowed.</p><p>4. To disseminate injunctions of Islam. This is an act of worship, ` Ibadah.</p><p>5. Under compulsion, exigency or emergency or helplessness (idtirar). This is excusable.</p><p>Accommodating disbelief is disbelief</p><p>Towards the later part of the verse (140), it was said: إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ (You, in that case, would be like them). It means: 'If you kept sitting in such a gathering where the Word of Allah is being rejected or ridiculed or distorted, quite unruffled, almost willingly, then, you too, by becoming an accomplice in their sin, have become like them.' The sense of 'having become like them can be explained either as: °God forbid, if your own thoughts and feelings are such that you show your liking for and are satisfied with their expressions of disbelief, then, in reality, you too are a disbeliever (k afir), because liking kufr is nothing but kufr.' Otherwise, if that is not the case, 'being like them' would mean: °By your participation in the activity of those who are busy hurting Islam and Muslims through their falsification of the Faith, you too, by your abetment of their conspiracy, have become, God forbid, like them.'</p><p>The censure on hypocrites appearing earlier continues through the present verses. Their blameworthy approach to matters of Faith has been clearly identified here and is self-explanatory through the translation given.</p>

In the third verse (140): وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ (... and He has revealed to you in the Book), by referring to another verse of the Holy Qur'an which had already been revealed' as a verse of the Surah al-An'-am before the event of Hijrah in Makkah al-Mukkarrmah, it has been re-emphasized that Allah had sent, much earlier, the command that they should not even sit in the company of disbelievers and sinners. Now, surprising as it is, these heedless people have gone much beyond that by establishing friendly relations with them assuming that they were the bearers of honour and the wielders of power in their own right.The verse of Surah al-Nisa' under discussion (140) and the verse of Surah al-An'-am (68) which has been referred to in the Surah al-Nis-a' both carry the same sense. That is, should some people sitting in a group be engaged in denying and deriding the verses revealed by Allah, then, as long as they stay occupied with this vain exercise, sitting in their company to participate or observe is also forbidden (haram). However, the words of Surah a1-An` am have some generalization, and a little more detail for it says:وَإِذَا رَ‌أَيْتَ الَّذِينَ يَخُوضُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا فَأَعْرِ‌ضْ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يَخُوضُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِ‌هِ ۚ وَإِمَّا يُنسِيَنَّكَ الشَّيْطَانُ فَلَا تَقْعُدْ بَعْدَ الذِّكْرَ‌ىٰ مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿68﴾And when you see those who indulge in Our verses adversely, turn away from them, until such time that they may get busy with some subject other than that. And if Satan makes you forget, do not sit with the unjust people after the recollection. (6:68)Here, in the verse cited above, the reference is to disputation in Divine verses which includes disbelief and mockery as well. Also included here is the act of distorting the meaning of a verse, that is, deducing such meanings from the verses of the Holy Qur'an which are contrary to the tafsir or explanation given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his blessed Companions, or are against the consensus of the Muslim Community. Therefore, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ as reported by Dahhak, has said that included within the sense of this verse are those who explain the Qur'an (tafsir) erroneously or distort its meaning تَحرِیف (tahrif) or invent what is not there (bid'ah). The actual words of this report are being given below:دَخَلَ فِی ھٰذ، ہِ الاٰیَۃ، کُلُّ مُحدِّثِ فِی الِّدینِ ، وَ کُلُّ مُتدِ (علیہ السلام) عِ اِلٰی یَوم القِیٰمَۃِ (Mazhari, p.263, v.2)The impermissibility of listening to opinion-based explanations of the Holy Qur'an:From here we find out that a person who, while talking, explaining or teaching the Holy Qur'an, is not observant of the exegetical authenticity credited to the most righteous elders of the early period (i.e. the Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ or their pupils) instead, indulges in giving meanings of the Qur'an contrary to those stated by them, then, participation in the درس Dars (teaching sessions) or Tafsir (Exegesis) of such a person shall be impermissible under the authority of the Qur'an, being a sin rather than a source of reward. In Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit, Aba Hayyan has said: These verses tell us that what is sinful to say verbally remains equally sinful when heard through the ears voluntarily. He has even put it in a poetic exhortation:وَ سَمعَکَ صُن عَن سِمَاعَ القَبیِح کَصَونِ اللِّسَانِ عَنِ النُّطقِ بِہِProtect your ears from hearing the evilAs you protect your tongue from saying it.After looking at the element of some generalization in the verse of Surah al-An’ am, we can now turn to the other element of additional remarks about the possibility of someone having joined the company of such people unknowingly. In that case, once it is realised, the person should immediately leave that gathering. The point is that one should not sit with unjust people when alerted to the situation.Now, in both verses of Surah al-Nis-a' and Surah al-An’ am it has been declared that as long as they remain occupied with their cross-comments, sitting in their company is forbidden. Here, we face another aspect of the problem which is: When they stop talking in that particular strain and digress to some other topic, would sitting with them and taking part in mutual discourse at that time become permissible, or not? The Qur'an has elected not to be explicit on this situation, therefore, on this subject, there is a difference of views among scholars. Some have said that the reason for this prohibition was the disparagement and distortion of Divine verses - when that stopped, the prohibition stopped too. Therefore, once they start talking about something else, sitting in their company is no sin. Some others have said that (sitting in) the company of such disbelieving, sinning and unjust people is not correct even after that. This is the position taken by Hasan al-Basri, may the mercy of Allah be upon him, the argument in support of his position comes from the following sentence of Surah al-An'am: فَلَا تَقْعُدْ بَعْدَ الذِّكْرَ‌ىٰ مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ. It means: Once you remember, do not sit with the unjust people. It is obvious that an unjust person remains what he is even after having terminated the questionable conversation. Therefore, abstaining from sitting in his company is necessary. (Jasas)Qadi Thanaullah Panipati has, in his al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, found consistency in both views by saying that should comments laced with disbelief, mockery and distortion of the Qur'an cease and be replaced by some other topic of conversation, then, even at that time, sitting unnecessarily in the company of such people shall, after all, remain forbidden. But, should such participation be prompted by some religious contingency or physical need, it would be permissible.Seclusion is better than bad companyImam Abu Bakr al-Jassas (رح) has said in Ahkam al-Qur'an: Should a Muslim, who is charged with the duty of forbidding the evil, witness sin being committed in a gathering, then, he should stop it by force, if he has the strength to do that. And should he be lacking in this capability, then, he should, in the least, show his displeasure, the lowest degree of which is that he should rise and leave such company. This is the reason why Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz had some people arrested on the charge that they were drinking wine. On investigation, it was found that one of them was fasting. He did not drink the wine, but he was sitting in the company of those drunkards. Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz punished him too for his unexplained sitting in that sort of company. (al-Bahr al-Muhit p.375, v.3)It is useful to know that Ibn Kathir has reported at this point in his Tafsir the following hadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ where he has said:مَن کَانَ یُؤمِنُ بِاللہِ وَالیَومِ الاٰخِرِ فلَا یجلِس عَلٰی مَآیِٔدَۃِ یُدَارُ عَلَیھا الخَمَرُOne who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not sit to dine where liquor is being served. (Ibn Kathir, p.567, v.1)What has been said about leaving a gathering as part of a debated issue summarized above is hemmed by a condition. The condition is that leaving such a gathering shall not entail some sin according to Shari’ ah. For example, joining the Jama ah (congregation) in a Masjid is necessary. Should something contrary to the Shari` ah start happening there, one should not abandon praying with the Jama'ah because of that; instead, simple emotional displeasure against what is undesirable shall be considered sufficient. Similarly, there could be some other gathering the necessity of which stands proved in the Shari` ah. If some people there start doing things which are contrary to the Shari` ah, then, leaving that gathering just because of the sin being committed by others would amount to committing a sin of your own. This is neither reasonable, nor correct. Therefore, Hasan al-Basri (رح) said: If we were to keep giving up what we must do just because of the sins of other people, we shall be paving the way for all sorts of sinners to come and destroy the Sunnah and Shari` ah.To Sum UpThe nature of socialization with disbelieving or falsely-believing people takes some of the following forms:1. By condescending to their infidelistic assaults. This is infidelity (kufr).2. By showing repugnance when confronted with open expressions of disbelief. This, if done without a valid excuse admitted by the Shari’ ah, is 'fisq' or sinfulness, contrary to the required behaviour of unalloyed righteousness.3. For some worldly need. This is allowed.4. To disseminate injunctions of Islam. This is an act of worship, ` Ibadah.5. Under compulsion, exigency or emergency or helplessness (idtirar). This is excusable.Accommodating disbelief is disbeliefTowards the later part of the verse (140), it was said: إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا مِّثْلُهُمْ (You, in that case, would be like them). It means: 'If you kept sitting in such a gathering where the Word of Allah is being rejected or ridiculed or distorted, quite unruffled, almost willingly, then, you too, by becoming an accomplice in their sin, have become like them.' The sense of 'having become like them can be explained either as: °God forbid, if your own thoughts and feelings are such that you show your liking for and are satisfied with their expressions of disbelief, then, in reality, you too are a disbeliever (k afir), because liking kufr is nothing but kufr.' Otherwise, if that is not the case, 'being like them' would mean: °By your participation in the activity of those who are busy hurting Islam and Muslims through their falsification of the Faith, you too, by your abetment of their conspiracy, have become, God forbid, like them.'The censure on hypocrites appearing earlier continues through the present verses. Their blameworthy approach to matters of Faith has been clearly identified here and is self-explanatory through the translation given.

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَرَبَّصُونَ بِكُمْ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ فَتْحٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ قَالُوٓا۟ أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ وَإِن كَانَ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ نَصِيبٌ قَالُوٓا۟ أَلَمْ نَسْتَحْوِذْ عَلَيْكُمْ وَنَمْنَعْكُم مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ فَٱللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَلَن يَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا

إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ يُخَٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَٰدِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ قَامُوا۟ كُسَالَىٰ يُرَآءُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

<p>Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) has, in his Tafsir Bay-an al-Qur'an, taken up the question of 'standing up lazily' in the expression: قَامُوا كُسَالَ which appears in verse 142 saying: 'The laziness censured here is doctrinal laziness, (that is, slothfulness towards observance of the articles of faith due to lack of true conviction). However, laziness which is there despite correct beliefs stands excluded from the purview of this censure. Then, should this laziness be there due to some excuse, such as, sickness, fatigue or sleepiness, it is not even blameworthy. But, when without excuse, it is.'</p>

Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) has, in his Tafsir Bay-an al-Qur'an, taken up the question of 'standing up lazily' in the expression: قَامُوا كُسَالَ which appears in verse 142 saying: 'The laziness censured here is doctrinal laziness, (that is, slothfulness towards observance of the articles of faith due to lack of true conviction). However, laziness which is there despite correct beliefs stands excluded from the purview of this censure. Then, should this laziness be there due to some excuse, such as, sickness, fatigue or sleepiness, it is not even blameworthy. But, when without excuse, it is.'

مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ لَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَلَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ سَبِيلًا

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَجْعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَٰنًا مُّبِينًا

إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ فِى ٱلدَّرْكِ ٱلْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا

<p>The purpose in previous verses was to point out to some ugly traits of the hypocrites, though their punishment of being in Hell with disbelievers was also mentioned as a corollary to another subject.</p><p>From this stage onwards, the purpose is to state their punishment clearly. Since the inherent effect of such impending punishment generates a sense of fear in a good-natured person which usually becomes the reason for early repentance, therefore, exemption from punishment has been promised to those who repent alongwith the incentive of good reward for them.</p><p>The Meaning of sincerity</p><p>The statement: وَأَخْلَصُوا دِينَهُمْ (Make their Faith pure for Allah) in verse 146 shows that a deed in order to be acceptable with Allah has to be free of hypocrisy and exclusively for His sake and pleasure, for Muslim jurists have enunciated the meaning of Mukhlis (translated with the weaker equivalent 'sincere' ) as follows:</p><p>اَلَّذِی یَعمَلُ للہ لَا یُحِبُّ اَن یُّحمَدَہُ النَّاسُ عَلَیہِ</p><p>A sincere person is one who acts for Allah alone and does not like that people praise him for it. (Mazhari)</p>

The purpose in previous verses was to point out to some ugly traits of the hypocrites, though their punishment of being in Hell with disbelievers was also mentioned as a corollary to another subject.From this stage onwards, the purpose is to state their punishment clearly. Since the inherent effect of such impending punishment generates a sense of fear in a good-natured person which usually becomes the reason for early repentance, therefore, exemption from punishment has been promised to those who repent alongwith the incentive of good reward for them.The Meaning of sincerityThe statement: وَأَخْلَصُوا دِينَهُمْ (Make their Faith pure for Allah) in verse 146 shows that a deed in order to be acceptable with Allah has to be free of hypocrisy and exclusively for His sake and pleasure, for Muslim jurists have enunciated the meaning of Mukhlis (translated with the weaker equivalent 'sincere' ) as follows:اَلَّذِی یَعمَلُ للہ لَا یُحِبُّ اَن یُّحمَدَہُ النَّاسُ عَلَیہِA sincere person is one who acts for Allah alone and does not like that people praise him for it. (Mazhari)

إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ وَٱعْتَصَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

مَّا يَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَءَامَنتُمْ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًا

لَّا يُحِبُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْجَهْرَ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ إِلَّا مَن ظُلِمَ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا

إِن تُبْدُوا۟ خَيْرًا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُوا۟ عَن سُوٓءٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرًا

<p>Commentary</p><p>Out of these verses, the first (148) and the second (149) give a law to eradicate injustice and oppression from the world. But, this is not like the usual worldly laws which are limited to dictatory formulations. This, in turn, is the kind of law which tries a combination of persuasion and awe whereby, on the one hand, the victim of injustice has been permitted to protest against the perpetrator of injustice, or to go to a court of law to seek redress. All this is nothing but the basic demand of justice and, certainly, a source of eradication of crimes. But, along with this option, there is a restriction on it as mentioned in Surah al-Nahl: وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُم بِهِ ۖ وَلَئِن صَبَرْ‌تُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ‌ لِّلصَّابِرِ‌ينَ ﴿126﴾. It means: 'If a person inflicts injustice on you, you too can retaliate against him for that injustice. But, the condition is that your retaliation should not exceed the unjust aggressive action by him - if so, it is you who would turn into the unjust one.' (16:126) The outcome is that returning an injustice by another injustice is not allowed. Rather, the retaliation to injustice, if any, can be made only through justice. On the other hand alongwith this course of action, comes the instruction that revenge is, though permissible, yet observing patience (Sabr) and forgiving is better.</p><p>This verse also tells us that for an oppressed person who goes about complaining to people about the injustice done to him or her, this will not be included under backbiting ghibah غِیبہ ، which is Haram (forbidden) - because it is the oppressor who has given the victim the opportunity to complain. Thus, the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, allowed the oppressed person to use the option of 'even retaliation' against the injustice. On the other hand, by teaching the oppressed to practice high morals and to forgive and forget, and by focusing before him the great gain of the life-to-come, the victim of injustice has been persuaded to do a little sacrifice in this matter of his legitimate right and take no revenge for the injustice inflicted. The Holy Qur'an says:</p><p>إِن تُبْدُوا خَيْرً‌ا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُوا عَن سُوءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرً‌ا ﴿149﴾</p><p>If you do good openly or keep it secret or overlook an evil deed, then, Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful - 4:149</p><p>It means: If you do a good deed openly or do it secretly or forgive any injustice or evil done by someone, then, this is better, because Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful. Primarily, this verse is concerned with the forgiving of injustice but, by also mentioning the doing of what is good, openly or secretly, the hint given is that this act of over-looking and forgiving is great and anyone who elects to do it shall become deserving of the mercy and forgiveness from Almighty Allah.</p><p>Towards the end of the verse, by saying فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرً‌ا (Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful), it has been made clear that Allah is powerful in the absolute sense. He can punish whomsoever He wills, yet He is All-Forgiving. Now, a human being, who does not have much of power or choice, were to think of taking revenge, it is quite possible that he may just not have the capability to do that. Therefore, for such a person, overlooking and forgiving is far more desirable.</p><p>This is the principle which the Holy Qur'an enunciates to eradicate injustice and reform the society. The counsel, befitting of the Sustainer of everything, does, on the one hand permit retaliation in an equal measure, thus upholding justice. On the other hand, it exhorts the aggrieved party to forgive and forgo. The result is what has been described in Qur'an at another place:</p><p>فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ</p><p>"You will see that he with whom you had enmity has become your closest friend" (41:34).</p><p>Court decisions and taking of revenge for injustices do play a role in checking injustice. The fact, however, is that the parties to the dispute are usually left saddled with long term grievances and feelings of abhorrence against each other which can result in further disputes in the future. The impeccable lesson in morality, given by Holy Qur'an results in patch up among quarrelling parties such that even old enmities change into close and lasting friendships.</p><p>Now, we move on to verses 150, 151 and 152 where the Holy Qur'an has given the clear verdict that anyone who believes in Allah but does not believe in His messengers (علیہم السلام) ، or believes in some of them and does not believe in some others is not a believer in the sight of Allah. He is, rather, an open and avowed disbeliever for whom there is no road to salvation in the Hereafter. Let us examine this aspect of the verses concerned in some detail.</p>

CommentaryOut of these verses, the first (148) and the second (149) give a law to eradicate injustice and oppression from the world. But, this is not like the usual worldly laws which are limited to dictatory formulations. This, in turn, is the kind of law which tries a combination of persuasion and awe whereby, on the one hand, the victim of injustice has been permitted to protest against the perpetrator of injustice, or to go to a court of law to seek redress. All this is nothing but the basic demand of justice and, certainly, a source of eradication of crimes. But, along with this option, there is a restriction on it as mentioned in Surah al-Nahl: وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُم بِهِ ۖ وَلَئِن صَبَرْ‌تُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ‌ لِّلصَّابِرِ‌ينَ ﴿126﴾. It means: 'If a person inflicts injustice on you, you too can retaliate against him for that injustice. But, the condition is that your retaliation should not exceed the unjust aggressive action by him - if so, it is you who would turn into the unjust one.' (16:126) The outcome is that returning an injustice by another injustice is not allowed. Rather, the retaliation to injustice, if any, can be made only through justice. On the other hand alongwith this course of action, comes the instruction that revenge is, though permissible, yet observing patience (Sabr) and forgiving is better.This verse also tells us that for an oppressed person who goes about complaining to people about the injustice done to him or her, this will not be included under backbiting ghibah غِیبہ ، which is Haram (forbidden) - because it is the oppressor who has given the victim the opportunity to complain. Thus, the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, allowed the oppressed person to use the option of 'even retaliation' against the injustice. On the other hand, by teaching the oppressed to practice high morals and to forgive and forget, and by focusing before him the great gain of the life-to-come, the victim of injustice has been persuaded to do a little sacrifice in this matter of his legitimate right and take no revenge for the injustice inflicted. The Holy Qur'an says:إِن تُبْدُوا خَيْرً‌ا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُوا عَن سُوءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرً‌ا ﴿149﴾If you do good openly or keep it secret or overlook an evil deed, then, Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful - 4:149It means: If you do a good deed openly or do it secretly or forgive any injustice or evil done by someone, then, this is better, because Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful. Primarily, this verse is concerned with the forgiving of injustice but, by also mentioning the doing of what is good, openly or secretly, the hint given is that this act of over-looking and forgiving is great and anyone who elects to do it shall become deserving of the mercy and forgiveness from Almighty Allah.Towards the end of the verse, by saying فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرً‌ا (Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful), it has been made clear that Allah is powerful in the absolute sense. He can punish whomsoever He wills, yet He is All-Forgiving. Now, a human being, who does not have much of power or choice, were to think of taking revenge, it is quite possible that he may just not have the capability to do that. Therefore, for such a person, overlooking and forgiving is far more desirable.This is the principle which the Holy Qur'an enunciates to eradicate injustice and reform the society. The counsel, befitting of the Sustainer of everything, does, on the one hand permit retaliation in an equal measure, thus upholding justice. On the other hand, it exhorts the aggrieved party to forgive and forgo. The result is what has been described in Qur'an at another place:فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ"You will see that he with whom you had enmity has become your closest friend" (41:34).Court decisions and taking of revenge for injustices do play a role in checking injustice. The fact, however, is that the parties to the dispute are usually left saddled with long term grievances and feelings of abhorrence against each other which can result in further disputes in the future. The impeccable lesson in morality, given by Holy Qur'an results in patch up among quarrelling parties such that even old enmities change into close and lasting friendships.Now, we move on to verses 150, 151 and 152 where the Holy Qur'an has given the clear verdict that anyone who believes in Allah but does not believe in His messengers (علیہم السلام) ، or believes in some of them and does not believe in some others is not a believer in the sight of Allah. He is, rather, an open and avowed disbeliever for whom there is no road to salvation in the Hereafter. Let us examine this aspect of the verses concerned in some detail.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُوا۟ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا

<p>Salvation depends on Islam</p><p>This clear verdict of the Holy Qur'an has exposed the rudderless and crooked ways of those who, in an effort to appear tolerant in dealings with peoples of other faiths, would like to present their religion and religious beliefs as gifts on a platter. By doing so, they wish to tell - despite and contrary to the clear injunctions of the Qur'an and Sunnah - people of other faiths that Muslims do not think that salvation depends on Islam alone and a Jew could keep to his or her creed and a Christian to his or hers and yet, both could look forward to salvation; though, they deny all prophets or at least some of them, for which reason this verse has declared them to be the kind of disbelievers who are destined for Hell.</p><p>There is no doubt about the fact that Islam stands unmatched in its attitude to non-Muslims in matters of justice and fairness, sympathy and goodwill, favour and tolerance. But, good favours can be made within the limits of one's rights and possessions. Religious principles and articles of faith are not our property which we could donate or present to somebody. Of course, Islam is generous and benevolent in its teachings of tolerance and good treatment with non-Muslims, but it is also equally cautious and firm in the defence of its frontiers. It maintains its essential approach of all possible sympathy and maximum tolerance with non-Muslims, but, at the same time, Islam absolves itself decisively from all forms of disbelief and customs woven around it, declaring Muslims as a people distinct from non-Muslims - and yet, it provides full protection to their national hallmarks. In short, Islam prefers to keep not only the acts of worship Muslims perform distinct from those of others, but also its way of life in a society, the examples of which abound in the Qur'an and Sunnah.</p><p>Had Islam believed in the possibility of salvation through every religion or community, it would have had no right to lay so much stress on spreading the message (Tabligh تَبلِیغ) of Islam, almost to the limit of staking property and life for it. This would have been wrong in principle and quite contrary to dictates of reason. In fact, by accepting such a premise, the very coming of the noble Prophet, may the blessings of Allah and peace be upon him, and the revelation of the glorious Qur'an, is rendered, God forbid, redundant. And, lest we miss, the entire Jihad carried out by the noble Prophet ﷺ and the rightly-guided Caliphs ؓ becomes meaningless, rather reduced to nothing but the lust for more land.</p><p>In this case, some people have fallen victims to doubt by a misreading of verse 62 in Surah al-Baqarah which is cited below:</p><p>إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَ‌ىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ‌ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُ‌هُمْ عِندَ رَ‌بِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿62﴾</p><p>Surely, those who believed in Allah, and those who happened to be Jews and Christians, and the Sabeans - whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day, and does good deeds - they have their reward with their Lord. And there is no fear for them nor shall they grieve.</p><p>Since, in this verse, rather than giving the full detail of what constitutes faith, only belief in Allah and in the Last Day has been considered sufficient, those who try to understand the Qur'an through an incomplete study have misunderstood the whole idea. They assumed that simply believing in Allah and the Last Day is enough for salvation and that believing in prophets is no condition for it: Thus, they failed to understand that the Qur'an has its own terminology in which Belief in Allah, in order to be acceptable, has to be in conjunction with Belief in the Prophet. Otherwise, even the Satan admits that there is a God and that He is One. The Holy Qur'an has itself clarified the real issue in the following words:</p><p>فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنتُم بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوا ۖ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّمَا هُمْ فِي شِقَاقٍ ۖ فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّـهُ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ﴿137﴾</p><p>So, if they believe in the like of what you believe in, they have certainly found the right path. And if they turn away, they are nothing but in antagonism. Then Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (2:137)</p><p>In other words, we can say that their faith will be valid and trust-worthy only when they have the same faith as common Muslims do, a faith in which Belief in the Prophet is indispensably necessary with Belief in Allah. Otherwise, if they do not do that, let it be understood that they are the ones who wish to create dissension. After that, for them, Allah will be sufficient on your behalf, and He is the One who hears everything and He is the One who knows everything.</p><p>As for the verses under discussion, it has been clearly declared that anyone who rejects even one of the prophets of Allah is an avowed disbeliever (kafir) and a recipient of the punishment of Hell. So, let us remember that Belief in Allah, in order to be valid, has to be with Belief in the Prophet. If the Belief in the Prophet is not there, even referring to Belief in Allah as such will not be correct.</p>

Salvation depends on IslamThis clear verdict of the Holy Qur'an has exposed the rudderless and crooked ways of those who, in an effort to appear tolerant in dealings with peoples of other faiths, would like to present their religion and religious beliefs as gifts on a platter. By doing so, they wish to tell - despite and contrary to the clear injunctions of the Qur'an and Sunnah - people of other faiths that Muslims do not think that salvation depends on Islam alone and a Jew could keep to his or her creed and a Christian to his or hers and yet, both could look forward to salvation; though, they deny all prophets or at least some of them, for which reason this verse has declared them to be the kind of disbelievers who are destined for Hell.There is no doubt about the fact that Islam stands unmatched in its attitude to non-Muslims in matters of justice and fairness, sympathy and goodwill, favour and tolerance. But, good favours can be made within the limits of one's rights and possessions. Religious principles and articles of faith are not our property which we could donate or present to somebody. Of course, Islam is generous and benevolent in its teachings of tolerance and good treatment with non-Muslims, but it is also equally cautious and firm in the defence of its frontiers. It maintains its essential approach of all possible sympathy and maximum tolerance with non-Muslims, but, at the same time, Islam absolves itself decisively from all forms of disbelief and customs woven around it, declaring Muslims as a people distinct from non-Muslims - and yet, it provides full protection to their national hallmarks. In short, Islam prefers to keep not only the acts of worship Muslims perform distinct from those of others, but also its way of life in a society, the examples of which abound in the Qur'an and Sunnah.Had Islam believed in the possibility of salvation through every religion or community, it would have had no right to lay so much stress on spreading the message (Tabligh تَبلِیغ) of Islam, almost to the limit of staking property and life for it. This would have been wrong in principle and quite contrary to dictates of reason. In fact, by accepting such a premise, the very coming of the noble Prophet, may the blessings of Allah and peace be upon him, and the revelation of the glorious Qur'an, is rendered, God forbid, redundant. And, lest we miss, the entire Jihad carried out by the noble Prophet ﷺ and the rightly-guided Caliphs ؓ becomes meaningless, rather reduced to nothing but the lust for more land.In this case, some people have fallen victims to doubt by a misreading of verse 62 in Surah al-Baqarah which is cited below:إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَ‌ىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ‌ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُ‌هُمْ عِندَ رَ‌بِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿62﴾Surely, those who believed in Allah, and those who happened to be Jews and Christians, and the Sabeans - whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day, and does good deeds - they have their reward with their Lord. And there is no fear for them nor shall they grieve.Since, in this verse, rather than giving the full detail of what constitutes faith, only belief in Allah and in the Last Day has been considered sufficient, those who try to understand the Qur'an through an incomplete study have misunderstood the whole idea. They assumed that simply believing in Allah and the Last Day is enough for salvation and that believing in prophets is no condition for it: Thus, they failed to understand that the Qur'an has its own terminology in which Belief in Allah, in order to be acceptable, has to be in conjunction with Belief in the Prophet. Otherwise, even the Satan admits that there is a God and that He is One. The Holy Qur'an has itself clarified the real issue in the following words:فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنتُم بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوا ۖ وَّإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّمَا هُمْ فِي شِقَاقٍ ۖ فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّـهُ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ﴿137﴾So, if they believe in the like of what you believe in, they have certainly found the right path. And if they turn away, they are nothing but in antagonism. Then Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. (2:137)In other words, we can say that their faith will be valid and trust-worthy only when they have the same faith as common Muslims do, a faith in which Belief in the Prophet is indispensably necessary with Belief in Allah. Otherwise, if they do not do that, let it be understood that they are the ones who wish to create dissension. After that, for them, Allah will be sufficient on your behalf, and He is the One who hears everything and He is the One who knows everything.As for the verses under discussion, it has been clearly declared that anyone who rejects even one of the prophets of Allah is an avowed disbeliever (kafir) and a recipient of the punishment of Hell. So, let us remember that Belief in Allah, in order to be valid, has to be with Belief in the Prophet. If the Belief in the Prophet is not there, even referring to Belief in Allah as such will not be correct.

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ حَقًّا وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَمْ يُفَرِّقُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ سَوْفَ يُؤْتِيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا

<p>In the concluding verse (15:22), it has been reaffirmed that salvation in the Hereafter is the lot of those who believe in Him and in all of His prophets as well. Therefore, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:</p><p>اِنَ القُرٰانَ یُفَسِرُ بعصُہ بَعضاً</p><p>One part of the Qur'an explains the other.</p><p>It is not permissible for anyone to explain the Qur'an in any way contrary to the Tafsir of the Qur'an itself.</p>

In the concluding verse (15:22), it has been reaffirmed that salvation in the Hereafter is the lot of those who believe in Him and in all of His prophets as well. Therefore, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:اِنَ القُرٰانَ یُفَسِرُ بعصُہ بَعضاًOne part of the Qur'an explains the other.It is not permissible for anyone to explain the Qur'an in any way contrary to the Tafsir of the Qur'an itself.

يَسْـَٔلُكَ أَهْلُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ أَن تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْهِمْ كِتَٰبًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَقَدْ سَأَلُوا۟ مُوسَىٰٓ أَكْبَرَ مِن ذَٰلِكَ فَقَالُوٓا۟ أَرِنَا ٱللَّهَ جَهْرَةً فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ ٱلصَّٰعِقَةُ بِظُلْمِهِمْ ثُمَّ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ ٱلْعِجْلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَتْهُمُ ٱلْبَيِّنَٰتُ فَعَفَوْنَا عَن ذَٰلِكَ وَءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَىٰ سُلْطَٰنًا مُّبِينًا

<p>Some previous verses censured Jews for their mistrustfulness in matters of faith. In the present verses too, there appears a long list of some of their other evil doings and, because of these ugly problems with them, mention has been made of their punishment. This strain continues in many more verses coming later.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>Some Jewish chiefs came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and demanded that he bring down a book from the heaven similar to that which came to Musa (علیہ السلام) ، all written from there: If so, they would believe him. They had made this demand not because they wished to believe with all their heart on this condition. It was just a device to drag and stall. In fact, because of their chronic urge to take an opposite stand, they were given to offering one or the other excuse all the time. By revealing this verse, Almighty Allah made the Holy Prophet ﷺ become aware of the real state of affairs. This was to give him comfort and peace of mind against the doings of a people who are used to harassing the prophets of Allah. They would go to unbelievable limits of audacity by going as far as committing outrage against Almighty Allah. Their forefathers had gone even beyond them by demanding something more grave: "Make us see Allah openly." Upon this audacity of theirs, came' a thunderbolt from the heaven and destroyed them. Then, it was despite being fully cognizant of clear signs and proofs of Allah being One and free of any partners in His Divinity, they stooped lowest of the low by taking a calf as their object of worship bypassing their own genuine Creator. But, Allah still remained forbearing; otherwise the occasion demanded that they be eliminated. Then, Allah gave His prophet, Sayyidna Musa, peace be upon him, authority and power. Then, there came an occasion when these people had flatly refused to acknowledge the canonical law of the Torah whereupon Allah raised the Mount of Tur high suspending over them, thus threatening and forcing them to acknowledge the Law of Torah or otherwise they were to be mashed under the mountain. Allah had also told them to enter the gate of the city of Eliah humbly filled with fervour to obey Him. Allah had also asked them to catch fish on the day of Sabbath which was a command from Him and which was not to be transgressed. And Allah had taken a solemn pledge from them, but it so turned out that they contravened every single command one after the other breaking the solemn pledge with Allah. So, Allah too put disgrace on them in the mortal life of the world and they will have to undergo the worst punishment in the Hereafter as well.</p>

Some previous verses censured Jews for their mistrustfulness in matters of faith. In the present verses too, there appears a long list of some of their other evil doings and, because of these ugly problems with them, mention has been made of their punishment. This strain continues in many more verses coming later.CommentarySome Jewish chiefs came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and demanded that he bring down a book from the heaven similar to that which came to Musa (علیہ السلام) ، all written from there: If so, they would believe him. They had made this demand not because they wished to believe with all their heart on this condition. It was just a device to drag and stall. In fact, because of their chronic urge to take an opposite stand, they were given to offering one or the other excuse all the time. By revealing this verse, Almighty Allah made the Holy Prophet ﷺ become aware of the real state of affairs. This was to give him comfort and peace of mind against the doings of a people who are used to harassing the prophets of Allah. They would go to unbelievable limits of audacity by going as far as committing outrage against Almighty Allah. Their forefathers had gone even beyond them by demanding something more grave: "Make us see Allah openly." Upon this audacity of theirs, came' a thunderbolt from the heaven and destroyed them. Then, it was despite being fully cognizant of clear signs and proofs of Allah being One and free of any partners in His Divinity, they stooped lowest of the low by taking a calf as their object of worship bypassing their own genuine Creator. But, Allah still remained forbearing; otherwise the occasion demanded that they be eliminated. Then, Allah gave His prophet, Sayyidna Musa, peace be upon him, authority and power. Then, there came an occasion when these people had flatly refused to acknowledge the canonical law of the Torah whereupon Allah raised the Mount of Tur high suspending over them, thus threatening and forcing them to acknowledge the Law of Torah or otherwise they were to be mashed under the mountain. Allah had also told them to enter the gate of the city of Eliah humbly filled with fervour to obey Him. Allah had also asked them to catch fish on the day of Sabbath which was a command from Him and which was not to be transgressed. And Allah had taken a solemn pledge from them, but it so turned out that they contravened every single command one after the other breaking the solemn pledge with Allah. So, Allah too put disgrace on them in the mortal life of the world and they will have to undergo the worst punishment in the Hereafter as well.

وَرَفَعْنَا فَوْقَهُمُ ٱلطُّورَ بِمِيثَٰقِهِمْ وَقُلْنَا لَهُمُ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْبَابَ سُجَّدًا وَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ لَا تَعْدُوا۟ فِى ٱلسَّبْتِ وَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُم مِّيثَٰقًا غَلِيظًا

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَٰقَهُمْ وَكُفْرِهِم بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَقَتْلِهِمُ ٱلْأَنۢبِيَآءَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ وَقَوْلِهِمْ قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌۢ بَلْ طَبَعَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا بِكُفْرِهِمْ فَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا

<p>Like the earlier verses, the censure of Jews continues through the present ones. As a thematically coherent subject, their false ideas have also been refuted which have been discussed in detail in the following commentary.</p>

Like the earlier verses, the censure of Jews continues through the present ones. As a thematically coherent subject, their false ideas have also been refuted which have been discussed in detail in the following commentary.

وَبِكُفْرِهِمْ وَقَوْلِهِمْ عَلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ بُهْتَٰنًا عَظِيمًا

وَقَوْلِهِمْ إِنَّا قَتَلْنَا ٱلْمَسِيحَ عِيسَى ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ وَمَا صَلَبُوهُ وَلَٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ وَإِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱخْتَلَفُوا۟ فِيهِ لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ مَا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا ٱتِّبَاعَ ٱلظَّنِّ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًۢا

<p>Commentary</p><p>In the verse يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَ‌افِعُكَ (Isa, I am to take you in full and lift you towards Me... 3:55) appearing in Surah 'Al-` Imran, Almighty Allah had made five promises in connection with foiling the Jewish plans against Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and protecting him from their hostile intentions. A detailed explanation of these has been given earlier on that occasion in Surah 'Al-` Imran. One of the promises made there was that the Jews will not be allowed to have their way with their intention to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Instead of that, Allah will lift him towards Him.</p><p>In the present verses (157-158) of Surah al-Nis-a', it has been made explicit that they did not kill nor crucify Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، rather, what actually happened was that they were deluded by resemblance.</p><p>How were the Jews 'deluded by resemblance?'</p><p>While explaining the words of the Qur'an: وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ (but they were deluded by resemblance), master exegete, Dahhak says: It so transpired that, following the intention of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) his disciples assembled at a given place. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) joined them there. It was Iblis who gave the address of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) to the execution squad standing ready for the mission. Four thousand men surrounded the suspected house. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) said to his disciples : 'Is one of you willing to go out and be killed and then be in Paradise with me?' One of them offered to do so. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) gave him his shirt and head-cover. Then, cast on him was the resemblance of Jesus and as soon as he came out, the Jews, believing him to be Jesus, caught him and crucified him, and Sayyidna ` Isa was lifted. (Qurtubi)</p><p>According to some reports, the Jews had sent a person known to Arabs as Teetlanoos to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . He did not find Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the house for he was already lifted by Allah towards Himself. So, when this person came out of the house, he had been made to resemble the looks of Sayyidna ` Isa . The Jews took him to be Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Thus, they took away their own man and killed him. (Mazhari)</p><p>There is room for whichever of the situations came to pass - the Holy Qur'an has not determined any particular situation. Therefore, Allah alone knows what really happened. However, this sentence of the Holy Qur'an seen with other exegetical reports does yield the common factor that the Jews and Christians were subjected to compelling delusion. The event as it took shape remained hidden from them, though they did advance all sorts of claims based on their conjectures which only landed them into mutual differences. This is what the Holy Qur'an points out to in the following words:</p><p>وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا ﴿157﴾</p><p>And those who disputed in this matter are certainly in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it, but they follow whims.</p><p>It means that they do not have certitude based on any true knowledge. The diverse claims put forward by those who have differed in the case of Masih (علیہ السلام) are simply based on doubt and conjecture. The truth of the matter is that they certainly did not kill Masih (علیہ السلام) rather Allah lifted him towards Himself.</p><p>According to some other reports, when some of them woke up to what had happened, they said, We seem to have killed our own man, for the man we have put to death resembles Masih in face only but not in the rest of the body. Now, if this man we have killed is Masih (علیہ السلام) where, then, is our man? And if this is our man where, then, is Masih (علیہ السلام) ?'</p><p>Verse 158, part of which was referred to immediately earlier, ends at: وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا : (And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise) carrying a significant message. It means that the planning of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was insignificant as matched against the Power of Allah who has taken it upon Himself to protect Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Might and mastery are His domain. If materialists in their single-track isolation, remain incapable of understanding the reality of the 'lifting off of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، that is their own limitation. As for Allah, He is All-Wise - everything He does is based on wisdom and fitness to whatever end is desired.</p>

CommentaryIn the verse يَا عِيسَىٰ إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيكَ وَرَ‌افِعُكَ (Isa, I am to take you in full and lift you towards Me... 3:55) appearing in Surah 'Al-` Imran, Almighty Allah had made five promises in connection with foiling the Jewish plans against Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and protecting him from their hostile intentions. A detailed explanation of these has been given earlier on that occasion in Surah 'Al-` Imran. One of the promises made there was that the Jews will not be allowed to have their way with their intention to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Instead of that, Allah will lift him towards Him.In the present verses (157-158) of Surah al-Nis-a', it has been made explicit that they did not kill nor crucify Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، rather, what actually happened was that they were deluded by resemblance.How were the Jews 'deluded by resemblance?'While explaining the words of the Qur'an: وَلَـٰكِن شُبِّهَ لَهُمْ (but they were deluded by resemblance), master exegete, Dahhak says: It so transpired that, following the intention of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) his disciples assembled at a given place. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) joined them there. It was Iblis who gave the address of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) to the execution squad standing ready for the mission. Four thousand men surrounded the suspected house. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) said to his disciples : 'Is one of you willing to go out and be killed and then be in Paradise with me?' One of them offered to do so. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) gave him his shirt and head-cover. Then, cast on him was the resemblance of Jesus and as soon as he came out, the Jews, believing him to be Jesus, caught him and crucified him, and Sayyidna ` Isa was lifted. (Qurtubi)According to some reports, the Jews had sent a person known to Arabs as Teetlanoos to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . He did not find Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the house for he was already lifted by Allah towards Himself. So, when this person came out of the house, he had been made to resemble the looks of Sayyidna ` Isa . The Jews took him to be Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Thus, they took away their own man and killed him. (Mazhari)There is room for whichever of the situations came to pass - the Holy Qur'an has not determined any particular situation. Therefore, Allah alone knows what really happened. However, this sentence of the Holy Qur'an seen with other exegetical reports does yield the common factor that the Jews and Christians were subjected to compelling delusion. The event as it took shape remained hidden from them, though they did advance all sorts of claims based on their conjectures which only landed them into mutual differences. This is what the Holy Qur'an points out to in the following words:وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِّنْهُ ۚ مَا لَهُم بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِلَّا اتِّبَاعَ الظَّنِّ ۚ وَمَا قَتَلُوهُ يَقِينًا ﴿157﴾And those who disputed in this matter are certainly in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it, but they follow whims.It means that they do not have certitude based on any true knowledge. The diverse claims put forward by those who have differed in the case of Masih (علیہ السلام) are simply based on doubt and conjecture. The truth of the matter is that they certainly did not kill Masih (علیہ السلام) rather Allah lifted him towards Himself.According to some other reports, when some of them woke up to what had happened, they said, We seem to have killed our own man, for the man we have put to death resembles Masih in face only but not in the rest of the body. Now, if this man we have killed is Masih (علیہ السلام) where, then, is our man? And if this is our man where, then, is Masih (علیہ السلام) ?'Verse 158, part of which was referred to immediately earlier, ends at: وَكَانَ اللَّـهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا : (And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise) carrying a significant message. It means that the planning of Jews to kill Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was insignificant as matched against the Power of Allah who has taken it upon Himself to protect Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) . Might and mastery are His domain. If materialists in their single-track isolation, remain incapable of understanding the reality of the 'lifting off of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، that is their own limitation. As for Allah, He is All-Wise - everything He does is based on wisdom and fitness to whatever end is desired.

بَل رَّفَعَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا

وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِۦ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِۦ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ يَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا

<p>Then comes the finale of the subject in verse 159 beginning with the words: وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (And there is not one among the People of the Book but shall certainly believe in him { Jesus} before he { Jesus} dies, and on the Day of Doom, he shall be a witness against them). It means: Though, at this time, so blinded by malice and envy are these people that they are unable to see reality as it is, hold false ideas about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and, in addition to that, they are denying the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ yet, a time is to come when their eyes will open up and they will realize that all their notions about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ were totally false.</p><p>One explanation of this verse (159), which appears in Bay-an al-Qur'an by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi, is that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word (mawtihi: his death) be attributed to the People of the Book. The verse, in that sense, would mean that those Jews, when they see a glimpse of Barzakh (the state between death and resurrection) moments before their death, they will readily believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) though, their believing at that point of time will be of no use to them, very much useless like the believing of Pharaoh which he did while drowning.</p><p>The second tafsir (explanation) which has been adopted by a large number of Sahabah and Tabi` in (the Companions and their Successors) and which also has the support of authentic Hadith maintains that the pronoun in the word 'mawtihi' refers back to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and, in that light, the verse means that the People of the Book of this time, be they Jews or Christians, do not believe in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the real sense. The Jews just do not accept him as a prophet, rather, they accuse him of being, God forbid, a liar and imposter! As for the Christians, some of them despite claiming to believe in him, reached a level of ignorance which, like the Jews, led them to accept that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was crucified and killed. Then, there were others among them who, in their excess of belief, went out of the limits when they took him to be God and Son of God - but, says the verse of the Qur'an, though they do not believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) at this time as they should; but the time will come, close to the Day of Doom, when he will reappear on this earth and all Peoples of the Book will believe in him genuinely and authentically. All Christians will become Muslims holding true beliefs. The hostile among the Jews will be killed, the rest will become Muslims. That will be the time when Kufr will be banished from the world along with whatever forms it may have. Islam will finally reign supreme on the earth.</p><p>Reproduced below is a report from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ :</p><p>عن ابی ہریرہ ؓ عن النبی ﷺ أنہ قال : ابن مریم حکماً عدلاً فلیقتلن الدجال، ولیقتلن الخنزیر، ولیکسرن الصلیب و تکون السجدہ واحدۃ للہ رَبِّ العٰلمین ۔ ثمّ قال ابوہریرہ : واقرؤا ان شٔتم " وَاِن مِّن اَھلِ الکِتٰابِ اِلَّا لَیُؤمِنَنَّ بِھِ قبلَ مَوتِہِ قال ابوہریرہ : قبل موت عیسیٰ یعیدھا ثلث مَّرات۔</p><p>"The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The son of Maryam shall definitely reappear as a just ruler. He will kill the Anti-Christ and the swine. He will break the Cross and worship shall be made for Allah alone, the one Lord of all the worlds. Then, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ said: Read, if you wish, the verse of the Qur'an وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (159) which mentions that not one person from out of the People of the Book will remain without having believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) before his death. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، then, said with stress: 'Before the death of ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and he repeated it three times. (Qurtubi)</p><p>This Tafsir (explanation) of the verse under reference stands proved from a highly venerated Companion such as Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ on the added strength of sound chain of narrators.</p><p>This report establishes that the Qur'anic words: (before his death) mean 'before the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and which explicitly determines that this verse is related to the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) close to the Qiyamah (Doomsday).</p><p>As based on this tafsir, this verse is a conclusive evidence that the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) has not yet come to pass. In fact, when he is sent down from the heaven close to Qiyamah and the wise considerations of Almighty Allah working behind his coming reach their ultimate fruition, it will be only then that his death will occur on this very earth.</p><p>This. is also supported by the following verse of Surah al-Zukhruf وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ فَلَا تَمْتَرُ‌نَّ بِهَا وَاتَّبِعُونِ ۚ (43:61): (that is, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a sign of the .Doomsday. So, do not doubt it and listen to what I say.) A larger number of commentators has said that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word إِنَّهُ at this point refers back to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and it means that Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام is a sign of Qiyamah (Doomsday). From here we learn that this verse reports the coming of the Masih (علیہ السلام) ، that is, he will appear close to the Qiyamah and his appearance will be one of the signs of it.</p><p>Also worth attention is yet another reading of the Qur'-anic word (la'ilmun) in this verse (43:61) which is: لَعِلمُ (la` alamun). According to this reading the meaning becomes all the more clear because the word عَل (رح) م ('alam) with the fatha of lam means °sign or symbol.' The following tafsir of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ends added support to this view: قال : خروج عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) “ وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ ” عن ابن عباس ؓ فی قولہ (About the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ - 43:61 - Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas عباس ؓ reported that it refers to Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام who will come before the Qiyamah (Ibn Kathir)</p><p>In short, if we combine the statement: 'Qabla mawtihi' قبلَ مَوتہ (Before his death - 4:159) with the authentic hadith of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ and its explanation., the truth that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، is alive and that he will reappear close to the Doomsday and overcome the Jews stands proved conclusively. Similarly, this view also becomes certain through the words: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ : 'Surely, he (Sayyidna ` Isa) is a sign of the Doomsday,' as explained by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما .</p><p>The master commentator, Ibn Kathir, while explaining the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ cited above, has said:</p><p>وقد توارت الاحادیث عن رسول اللہ ﷺ انہ اخبر بنزول عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) قبل یوم القیامہ اماما عادلا (ابن کثیر)</p><p>"The sayings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in this connection have been reported through tawatur (in an uninterrupted succession) that he has conveyed the tidings of the coming of Isa عیسیٰ علیہ in this world before the Day of Doom as a just ruler. (Ibn Kathir)</p><p>These narrations appearing in an uninterrupted succession (mutawatir) were collected by my teacher and a great servant of Islam, Maulana Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri. These were more than a hundred in number. This humble writer compiled this collection in Arabic and it was published way back under the title: التصریح بما تواتر فی نزول المسیح as proposed by my 'respected teacher. Recently, a major Syrian scholar, Al-'lamah ` Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah has published from the city of Beirut a deluxe edition of this work with additional explanations and notes.</p><p>The belief in the coming of 'Isa (علیہ السلام) towards the later times is absolute and unanimous as held by the Muslims and the denier of which goes out of the pale of Islam</p><p>This subject has become clear enough from the discussion of verses in this part of the commentary. A more comprehensive treatment of the subject has already appeared in the commentary on Surah 'Al-` Imran which may be consulted. The discussions there also include answers to doubts raised by some so-called modernists of our time in order to hurt the credibility of this article of Muslim faith. Only Allah can guide whomsoever He wills.</p>

Then comes the finale of the subject in verse 159 beginning with the words: وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (And there is not one among the People of the Book but shall certainly believe in him { Jesus} before he { Jesus} dies, and on the Day of Doom, he shall be a witness against them). It means: Though, at this time, so blinded by malice and envy are these people that they are unable to see reality as it is, hold false ideas about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and, in addition to that, they are denying the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ yet, a time is to come when their eyes will open up and they will realize that all their notions about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ were totally false.One explanation of this verse (159), which appears in Bay-an al-Qur'an by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi, is that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word (mawtihi: his death) be attributed to the People of the Book. The verse, in that sense, would mean that those Jews, when they see a glimpse of Barzakh (the state between death and resurrection) moments before their death, they will readily believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) though, their believing at that point of time will be of no use to them, very much useless like the believing of Pharaoh which he did while drowning.The second tafsir (explanation) which has been adopted by a large number of Sahabah and Tabi` in (the Companions and their Successors) and which also has the support of authentic Hadith maintains that the pronoun in the word 'mawtihi' refers back to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and, in that light, the verse means that the People of the Book of this time, be they Jews or Christians, do not believe in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the real sense. The Jews just do not accept him as a prophet, rather, they accuse him of being, God forbid, a liar and imposter! As for the Christians, some of them despite claiming to believe in him, reached a level of ignorance which, like the Jews, led them to accept that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was crucified and killed. Then, there were others among them who, in their excess of belief, went out of the limits when they took him to be God and Son of God - but, says the verse of the Qur'an, though they do not believe in the prophethood of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) at this time as they should; but the time will come, close to the Day of Doom, when he will reappear on this earth and all Peoples of the Book will believe in him genuinely and authentically. All Christians will become Muslims holding true beliefs. The hostile among the Jews will be killed, the rest will become Muslims. That will be the time when Kufr will be banished from the world along with whatever forms it may have. Islam will finally reign supreme on the earth.Reproduced below is a report from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ :عن ابی ہریرہ ؓ عن النبی ﷺ أنہ قال : ابن مریم حکماً عدلاً فلیقتلن الدجال، ولیقتلن الخنزیر، ولیکسرن الصلیب و تکون السجدہ واحدۃ للہ رَبِّ العٰلمین ۔ ثمّ قال ابوہریرہ : واقرؤا ان شٔتم " وَاِن مِّن اَھلِ الکِتٰابِ اِلَّا لَیُؤمِنَنَّ بِھِ قبلَ مَوتِہِ قال ابوہریرہ : قبل موت عیسیٰ یعیدھا ثلث مَّرات۔"The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The son of Maryam shall definitely reappear as a just ruler. He will kill the Anti-Christ and the swine. He will break the Cross and worship shall be made for Allah alone, the one Lord of all the worlds. Then, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ said: Read, if you wish, the verse of the Qur'an وَإِن مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا لَيُؤْمِنَنَّ بِهِ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ (159) which mentions that not one person from out of the People of the Book will remain without having believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) before his death. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ ، then, said with stress: 'Before the death of ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and he repeated it three times. (Qurtubi)This Tafsir (explanation) of the verse under reference stands proved from a highly venerated Companion such as Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ on the added strength of sound chain of narrators.This report establishes that the Qur'anic words: (before his death) mean 'before the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and which explicitly determines that this verse is related to the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) close to the Qiyamah (Doomsday).As based on this tafsir, this verse is a conclusive evidence that the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) has not yet come to pass. In fact, when he is sent down from the heaven close to Qiyamah and the wise considerations of Almighty Allah working behind his coming reach their ultimate fruition, it will be only then that his death will occur on this very earth.This. is also supported by the following verse of Surah al-Zukhruf وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ فَلَا تَمْتَرُ‌نَّ بِهَا وَاتَّبِعُونِ ۚ (43:61): (that is, Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a sign of the .Doomsday. So, do not doubt it and listen to what I say.) A larger number of commentators has said that the pronoun in the Qur'anic word إِنَّهُ at this point refers back to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and it means that Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام is a sign of Qiyamah (Doomsday). From here we learn that this verse reports the coming of the Masih (علیہ السلام) ، that is, he will appear close to the Qiyamah and his appearance will be one of the signs of it.Also worth attention is yet another reading of the Qur'-anic word (la'ilmun) in this verse (43:61) which is: لَعِلمُ (la` alamun). According to this reading the meaning becomes all the more clear because the word عَل (رح) م ('alam) with the fatha of lam means °sign or symbol.' The following tafsir of Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ends added support to this view: قال : خروج عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) “ وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ ” عن ابن عباس ؓ فی قولہ (About the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ - 43:61 - Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas عباس ؓ reported that it refers to Sayyidna ` Isa علیہ السلام who will come before the Qiyamah (Ibn Kathir)In short, if we combine the statement: 'Qabla mawtihi' قبلَ مَوتہ (Before his death - 4:159) with the authentic hadith of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ and its explanation., the truth that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، is alive and that he will reappear close to the Doomsday and overcome the Jews stands proved conclusively. Similarly, this view also becomes certain through the words: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ : 'Surely, he (Sayyidna ` Isa) is a sign of the Doomsday,' as explained by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما .The master commentator, Ibn Kathir, while explaining the verse: وَإِنَّهُ لَعِلْمٌ لِّلسَّاعَةِ cited above, has said:وقد توارت الاحادیث عن رسول اللہ ﷺ انہ اخبر بنزول عیسیٰ (علیہ السلام) قبل یوم القیامہ اماما عادلا (ابن کثیر)"The sayings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in this connection have been reported through tawatur (in an uninterrupted succession) that he has conveyed the tidings of the coming of Isa عیسیٰ علیہ in this world before the Day of Doom as a just ruler. (Ibn Kathir)These narrations appearing in an uninterrupted succession (mutawatir) were collected by my teacher and a great servant of Islam, Maulana Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri. These were more than a hundred in number. This humble writer compiled this collection in Arabic and it was published way back under the title: التصریح بما تواتر فی نزول المسیح as proposed by my 'respected teacher. Recently, a major Syrian scholar, Al-'lamah ` Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah has published from the city of Beirut a deluxe edition of this work with additional explanations and notes.The belief in the coming of 'Isa (علیہ السلام) towards the later times is absolute and unanimous as held by the Muslims and the denier of which goes out of the pale of IslamThis subject has become clear enough from the discussion of verses in this part of the commentary. A more comprehensive treatment of the subject has already appeared in the commentary on Surah 'Al-` Imran which may be consulted. The discussions there also include answers to doubts raised by some so-called modernists of our time in order to hurt the credibility of this article of Muslim faith. Only Allah can guide whomsoever He wills.

فَبِظُلْمٍ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَادُوا۟ حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ طَيِّبَٰتٍ أُحِلَّتْ لَهُمْ وَبِصَدِّهِمْ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ كَثِيرًا

<p>Mentioned earlier through several verses were the wrongdoings of Jews and the punishment they would get for doing so. The present verses talk about some other vices of theirs and mention yet another kind of punishment as well. This punishment will, obviously, visit them on the Day of Judgment. But, right here in this present world, the outcome will be that they will find many things already lawful for</p><p>them made unlawful as a measure of punishment.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>In the Shari` ah brought by the Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustafa ﷺ there are some things too, known as Haram or unlawful, but these were forbidden because of one or the other physical or spiritual harm they bring. This was contrary to what happened with the Jews - the good things forbidden to them had no physical or spiritual harm in them, instead, these were forbidden to them as the punishment of their acts of transgression and disobedience.</p>

Mentioned earlier through several verses were the wrongdoings of Jews and the punishment they would get for doing so. The present verses talk about some other vices of theirs and mention yet another kind of punishment as well. This punishment will, obviously, visit them on the Day of Judgment. But, right here in this present world, the outcome will be that they will find many things already lawful forthem made unlawful as a measure of punishment.CommentaryIn the Shari` ah brought by the Holy Prophet Muhammad al Mustafa ﷺ there are some things too, known as Haram or unlawful, but these were forbidden because of one or the other physical or spiritual harm they bring. This was contrary to what happened with the Jews - the good things forbidden to them had no physical or spiritual harm in them, instead, these were forbidden to them as the punishment of their acts of transgression and disobedience.

وَأَخْذِهِمُ ٱلرِّبَوٰا۟ وَقَدْ نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَأَكْلِهِمْ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ مِنْهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا

لَّٰكِنِ ٱلرَّٰسِخُونَ فِى ٱلْعِلْمِ مِنْهُمْ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَٱلْمُقِيمِينَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَٱلْمُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ سَنُؤْتِيهِمْ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

<p>The previous verses referred to Jews who adhered to their disbelief and obstinately continued practising what was blame-worthy. The present verse now cites those who were, no doubt, from among the People of the Book, but, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ came with his mission and they found in him, fully and unmistakably, all qualities the Last among Prophets was supposed to have according to the prophesies of their Scriptures, they believed in him - like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Salam, Usayd and Tha'labah, may Allah be pleased with them all. The words of praise in this verse are for these blessed souls.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>The great reward promised to those referred to here is because of their qualities of faith and righteous deeds. As far as salvation as such is concerned that depends on the correction of essentials of doctrinal matters - of course, subject to the condition, that one's life ends with the blessing of faith ('Iman).</p>

The previous verses referred to Jews who adhered to their disbelief and obstinately continued practising what was blame-worthy. The present verse now cites those who were, no doubt, from among the People of the Book, but, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ came with his mission and they found in him, fully and unmistakably, all qualities the Last among Prophets was supposed to have according to the prophesies of their Scriptures, they believed in him - like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Salam, Usayd and Tha'labah, may Allah be pleased with them all. The words of praise in this verse are for these blessed souls.CommentaryThe great reward promised to those referred to here is because of their qualities of faith and righteous deeds. As far as salvation as such is concerned that depends on the correction of essentials of doctrinal matters - of course, subject to the condition, that one's life ends with the blessing of faith ('Iman).

إِنَّآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ كَمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ وَإِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَإِسْحَٰقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَٱلْأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَىٰ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَٰرُونَ وَسُلَيْمَٰنَ وَءَاتَيْنَا دَاوُۥدَ زَبُورًا

<p>1. These are the names of the prophets Biblically spelt respectively as follows:</p><p>Abraham, Ishmael, Issac, Israel, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and David.</p><p>Zabur is the name of the Book revealed to David, Biblically known as the Psalms.</p><p>If we refer back to Verse يَسْأَلُكَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ (The People of the Book ask you...), it will be noticed that a silly question asked by the Jews was responded to in the mode of reproach. Here, in the present verse, the same question is being proved false in a different manner. It takes up their condition which they place before the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، that is, they would believe in him if he brings before them a Book, all written up, from the heavens. They are being asked to realize that they do not make such demands before believing in the great prophets mentioned in the verse, prophets they too accept. Keeping this in view, it is necessary that they keep to the line of argument they use in favour of these great prophets, that is, they accept them on the basis of their miracles. As for miracles, Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ has his miracles as well, therefore, there is no reason why they cannot step forward and believe in him too. But, the truth of the matter is that the demand they are making is no quest for truth. On the contrary, it is rooted in prejudice and hostility.</p><p>Then comes a delineation of the wisdom behind the sending of prophets and an address to the Holy Prophet ﷺ assuring him that Allah and His angels are witnesses to his prophethood and those who do not believe in him do nothing but ruin their own end. (Bayn a1-Qur'an)</p><p>Commentary</p><p>Verse 163 begins with the words: إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِن بَعْدِهِ 'Surely, We have revealed to you as We have revealed to Nuh (علیہ السلام) (Noah) and to the prophets after him ...'It tells us clearly that Wahy (revelation) is a command of Allah, unique and inimitable, and His message sent to prophets; and that Almighty Allah sent His Wahy to Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ just as it was sent to the past prophets; and that whoever believed in the Wahy sent to past prophets must believe in this too; and that whoever rejects this becomes so to say, a rejecter of all those revelations.</p><p>The reason for striking a similarity between Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) and those who came after him is probably that the Wahy at the time of S:ayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) was at an initial stage which reached its perfection with the prophethood of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) . It can be said that the first state was an state of educational initiation while by the time of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) that state reached a stage of development under which people could be tested with the incentive of reward for the obedient and the warning of punishment for the disobe-dient. Thus, it was from Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) himself that the chain of great prophets began and it was from his time too that the first punishment descended on those who transgressed against Divine revelation.</p><p>In short, punishment would not descend upon people for their hostility against Divine commandments and prophetic teachings. They were considered rather excusable and allowed to learn in due time through good counsel. Once religious education became fully widespread and people were left with no hidden reason to avoid following the dictates of Divine will, punishment did descend upon the disobedient ones. The Great Flood came during the time of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) followed by different kinds of punishment visiting disbelievers during the times of prophets Sayyidna Salih, Sayyidna Shu'ayb and many others, may peace be on them all. Thus, by likening the Wahy which came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ with the Wahy of Sayyidna Nuh and of those who came after him, full warning has been served on the People of the Book and on the. disbelievers of Makkah that anyone who will not believe in the Wahy (that is, The Qur'an) of the Last of the Prophets ﷺ will deserve the greatest punishment.</p><p>(Exegetical notes of Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmani)</p><p>Before we move to the next verse, it would be useful to keep in mind that the personal presence of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) whose name appears first in this verse, was a miracle by itself. He was blessed with an age of nine hundred and fifty years. He had lost none of his teeth and had no streaks of white hair on his head and had faced no deficiency in his physical strength - yet, he spent his whole life time braving the pain inflicted by his people on him with matching patience and fortitude. (Mazhari)</p>

1. These are the names of the prophets Biblically spelt respectively as follows:Abraham, Ishmael, Issac, Israel, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon and David.Zabur is the name of the Book revealed to David, Biblically known as the Psalms.If we refer back to Verse يَسْأَلُكَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ (The People of the Book ask you...), it will be noticed that a silly question asked by the Jews was responded to in the mode of reproach. Here, in the present verse, the same question is being proved false in a different manner. It takes up their condition which they place before the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، that is, they would believe in him if he brings before them a Book, all written up, from the heavens. They are being asked to realize that they do not make such demands before believing in the great prophets mentioned in the verse, prophets they too accept. Keeping this in view, it is necessary that they keep to the line of argument they use in favour of these great prophets, that is, they accept them on the basis of their miracles. As for miracles, Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ has his miracles as well, therefore, there is no reason why they cannot step forward and believe in him too. But, the truth of the matter is that the demand they are making is no quest for truth. On the contrary, it is rooted in prejudice and hostility.Then comes a delineation of the wisdom behind the sending of prophets and an address to the Holy Prophet ﷺ assuring him that Allah and His angels are witnesses to his prophethood and those who do not believe in him do nothing but ruin their own end. (Bayn a1-Qur'an)CommentaryVerse 163 begins with the words: إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِن بَعْدِهِ 'Surely, We have revealed to you as We have revealed to Nuh (علیہ السلام) (Noah) and to the prophets after him ...'It tells us clearly that Wahy (revelation) is a command of Allah, unique and inimitable, and His message sent to prophets; and that Almighty Allah sent His Wahy to Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ just as it was sent to the past prophets; and that whoever believed in the Wahy sent to past prophets must believe in this too; and that whoever rejects this becomes so to say, a rejecter of all those revelations.The reason for striking a similarity between Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) and those who came after him is probably that the Wahy at the time of S:ayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) was at an initial stage which reached its perfection with the prophethood of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) . It can be said that the first state was an state of educational initiation while by the time of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) that state reached a stage of development under which people could be tested with the incentive of reward for the obedient and the warning of punishment for the disobe-dient. Thus, it was from Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) himself that the chain of great prophets began and it was from his time too that the first punishment descended on those who transgressed against Divine revelation.In short, punishment would not descend upon people for their hostility against Divine commandments and prophetic teachings. They were considered rather excusable and allowed to learn in due time through good counsel. Once religious education became fully widespread and people were left with no hidden reason to avoid following the dictates of Divine will, punishment did descend upon the disobedient ones. The Great Flood came during the time of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) followed by different kinds of punishment visiting disbelievers during the times of prophets Sayyidna Salih, Sayyidna Shu'ayb and many others, may peace be on them all. Thus, by likening the Wahy which came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ with the Wahy of Sayyidna Nuh and of those who came after him, full warning has been served on the People of the Book and on the. disbelievers of Makkah that anyone who will not believe in the Wahy (that is, The Qur'an) of the Last of the Prophets ﷺ will deserve the greatest punishment.(Exegetical notes of Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmani)Before we move to the next verse, it would be useful to keep in mind that the personal presence of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) whose name appears first in this verse, was a miracle by itself. He was blessed with an age of nine hundred and fifty years. He had lost none of his teeth and had no streaks of white hair on his head and had faced no deficiency in his physical strength - yet, he spent his whole life time braving the pain inflicted by his people on him with matching patience and fortitude. (Mazhari)

وَرُسُلًا قَدْ قَصَصْنَٰهُمْ عَلَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَرُسُلًا لَّمْ نَقْصُصْهُمْ عَلَيْكَ وَكَلَّمَ ٱللَّهُ مُوسَىٰ تَكْلِيمًا

<p>In verse 164 which opens with the words: وَرُ‌سُلًا قَدْ قَصَصْنَاهُمْ عَلَيْكَ And, (We have sent down) some Messengers We have already told you about ...', after a brief mention of prophets who appeared after Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) ، a special citation has been made of the greatest prophets from among them. The purpose is to tell us that they are all prophets and Wahy comes to prophets via different modes. It could be an angel with a message. It could also be a written Book. Sometimes Almighty Allah talks directly to His Messenger. In short, when Wahy comes, no matter in what mode or manner it does, acting in accordance with it becomes obligatory. Therefore, the saying of Jews that they would believe only if there comes to them a written Book like the Torah, otherwise they would not, is to say the least, being short on sense and tall on disbelief.</p><p>As reported by Sayyidna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Almighty Allah has sent one hundred and twenty four thousand prophets out of which three hundred and thirteen were Shari` ah-bearing Messengers of Allah. (Qurtubi)</p>

In verse 164 which opens with the words: وَرُ‌سُلًا قَدْ قَصَصْنَاهُمْ عَلَيْكَ And, (We have sent down) some Messengers We have already told you about ...', after a brief mention of prophets who appeared after Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) ، a special citation has been made of the greatest prophets from among them. The purpose is to tell us that they are all prophets and Wahy comes to prophets via different modes. It could be an angel with a message. It could also be a written Book. Sometimes Almighty Allah talks directly to His Messenger. In short, when Wahy comes, no matter in what mode or manner it does, acting in accordance with it becomes obligatory. Therefore, the saying of Jews that they would believe only if there comes to them a written Book like the Torah, otherwise they would not, is to say the least, being short on sense and tall on disbelief.As reported by Sayyidna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Almighty Allah has sent one hundred and twenty four thousand prophets out of which three hundred and thirteen were Shari` ah-bearing Messengers of Allah. (Qurtubi)

رُّسُلًا مُّبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ حُجَّةٌۢ بَعْدَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا

<p>Then comes verse رُّ‌سُلًا مُّبَشِّرِ‌ينَ وَمُنذِرِ‌ينَ (-- Messengers giving good tidings and warning...) which succinctly tells that Almighty Allah consistently sent messengers to convey good tidings to all believers and to warn all disbelievers so that there remains no room for the excuse that they did not know the will of God and His Messengers --had they known about it, they would have certainly followed it! Now, that Almighty Allah has sent messengers with miracles and His messengers have shown the straight path of truth, the option of not accepting the true faith cannot be accepted from anyone, under any pretext or excuse. Such is the nature of Divine Revelation. Wahy is an absolute argument, final, conclusive and disarming. No argument stands operative against it. In fact, all arguments lie surrendered under its weight. And this is the wisdom of Allah and His modus operandi.</p><p>It has been narrated by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ عنہما that a group of Jews came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He said to them: Surely, you do know that I am a true messenger of Ajllah? They refused to accept that whereupon came the following verse (166): لَّـٰكِنِ اللَّـهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَا أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكَ. 'But Allah bears witness (to your prophethood) through what He has revealed to you ...' The verse addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ declares that Allah is a witness to his prophet-hood through the miraculous Qur'an, a perfect message from out of His Knowledge. The Book has been revealed to him with full realization that he is deserving of it, and the angels too join in the testimony. After the very witnessing of the All-Knowing, All-Aware Allah, there is nothing left to argue about.</p><p>The text, after having confirmed the veracity of the glorious Qur'an and the noble Prophet ﷺ ، turns to those who still deny them, conceal his character traits and circumstantial indicators of his appearance present in the Torah .and, sordidly enough, try to keep others away from the true faith by bringing out before them things which are not there or things .which have .been jumbled together to distort the truth. For such people, there shall be no forgiveness and no guidance either. Thus, it becomes very clear that guidance or the ability to find the straight path depends on following the Holy Prophet ﷺ and straying away, whatever be its nature, is nothing but hostility towards him. This, then, comprehensively refutes all erroneous ideas of the Jews.</p>

Then comes verse رُّ‌سُلًا مُّبَشِّرِ‌ينَ وَمُنذِرِ‌ينَ (-- Messengers giving good tidings and warning...) which succinctly tells that Almighty Allah consistently sent messengers to convey good tidings to all believers and to warn all disbelievers so that there remains no room for the excuse that they did not know the will of God and His Messengers --had they known about it, they would have certainly followed it! Now, that Almighty Allah has sent messengers with miracles and His messengers have shown the straight path of truth, the option of not accepting the true faith cannot be accepted from anyone, under any pretext or excuse. Such is the nature of Divine Revelation. Wahy is an absolute argument, final, conclusive and disarming. No argument stands operative against it. In fact, all arguments lie surrendered under its weight. And this is the wisdom of Allah and His modus operandi.It has been narrated by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ عنہما that a group of Jews came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He said to them: Surely, you do know that I am a true messenger of Ajllah? They refused to accept that whereupon came the following verse (166): لَّـٰكِنِ اللَّـهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَا أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكَ. 'But Allah bears witness (to your prophethood) through what He has revealed to you ...' The verse addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ declares that Allah is a witness to his prophet-hood through the miraculous Qur'an, a perfect message from out of His Knowledge. The Book has been revealed to him with full realization that he is deserving of it, and the angels too join in the testimony. After the very witnessing of the All-Knowing, All-Aware Allah, there is nothing left to argue about.The text, after having confirmed the veracity of the glorious Qur'an and the noble Prophet ﷺ ، turns to those who still deny them, conceal his character traits and circumstantial indicators of his appearance present in the Torah .and, sordidly enough, try to keep others away from the true faith by bringing out before them things which are not there or things .which have .been jumbled together to distort the truth. For such people, there shall be no forgiveness and no guidance either. Thus, it becomes very clear that guidance or the ability to find the straight path depends on following the Holy Prophet ﷺ and straying away, whatever be its nature, is nothing but hostility towards him. This, then, comprehensively refutes all erroneous ideas of the Jews.

لَّٰكِنِ ٱللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكَ أَنزَلَهُۥ بِعِلْمِهِۦ وَٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ يَشْهَدُونَ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًا

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّوا۟ ضَلَٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَظَلَمُوا۟ لَمْ يَكُنِ ٱللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقًا

إِلَّا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرًا

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ بِٱلْحَقِّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ وَإِن تَكْفُرُوا۟ فَإِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا

<p>After answering the objections raised by the Jews and confirming the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa, ﷺ the Qur'an carries the message of Allah to all human beings wherever they may be as they are its direct addressees this verse. The essence of the message is: Your salvation lies nowhere but in your belief in the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ so, believe and prosper.</p><p>As for those who choose to disbelieve, they lose everything while Allah loses nothing. With His limitless domain and power, who can conceive of bringing any loss or harm to Him? This is something the disbelievers should worry about. Let them be certain that Allah knows everything about their believing and disbelieving and let not the delay or decrease in punishment in this world put them on the wrong foot for He is All-Wise too and does what His wisdom allows to prevail.</p>

After answering the objections raised by the Jews and confirming the prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa, ﷺ the Qur'an carries the message of Allah to all human beings wherever they may be as they are its direct addressees this verse. The essence of the message is: Your salvation lies nowhere but in your belief in the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ so, believe and prosper.As for those who choose to disbelieve, they lose everything while Allah loses nothing. With His limitless domain and power, who can conceive of bringing any loss or harm to Him? This is something the disbelievers should worry about. Let them be certain that Allah knows everything about their believing and disbelieving and let not the delay or decrease in punishment in this world put them on the wrong foot for He is All-Wise too and does what His wisdom allows to prevail.

يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْحَقَّ إِنَّمَا ٱلْمَسِيحُ عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ رَسُولُ ٱللَّهِ وَكَلِمَتُهُۥٓ أَلْقَىٰهَآ إِلَىٰ مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ مِّنْهُ فَـَٔامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَا تَقُولُوا۟ ثَلَٰثَةٌ ٱنتَهُوا۟ خَيْرًا لَّكُمْ إِنَّمَا ٱللَّهُ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥٓ أَن يَكُونَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ وَكِيلًا

<p>Jews' were the addressees in previous verses which provided details of how astray they had gone. The present verses address the Christians and refute their doctrinal position as related to God and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .</p><p>Commentary_</p><p>The word: كَلِمَتُهُ : Kalimatuh used in this verse tells us that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is the 'word' of Allah. Commentators have given different meanings of this expression:</p><p>1. Imam al-Ghazzali has said that two factors operate in the birth of a child: One is the sperm, the other is the saying of the word کُن or 'be' by Almighty Allah after which the child comes to exist_ Since the first factor is out of question in the case of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، therefore, it was by attribution to the second factor that he was called كَلِمَتُهُ اللہ (the word of Allah). It means that he came into existence solely through the word: کُن (be) without the mediacy of material means. In this case, the statement which follows immediately, that is, أَلْقَاهَا إِلَىٰ مَرْ‌يَمَ would mean that Almighty Allah delivered this word to Maryam (علیہا السلام) as a result of which the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) came to be.</p><p>2. Some have said that the expression: كَلِمَتُهُ اللہ (the word of Allah) has been used in the sense of: بشارۃ اللہِ (the glad tiding of Allah) and it refers to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہا السلام) . It will be recalled that the glad tiding of the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) given to Maryam (علیہا السلام) by Almighty Allah through the angels carries the expression: Kalimah or word: إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْ‌يَمُ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُبَشِّرُ‌كِ بِكَلِمَةٍ (When the angels said, "O Maryam, Allah gives you the good news of a word ... 3:45).</p><p>3. Some have said that kalimah (word) has been used here in the sense of 'ayah or sign, as it has appeared elsewhere in the same sense: وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَ‌بِّهَا 'She (Maryam) testified to the word of her Lord as true.' (66:12)</p><p>Let us now consider the statement: وَرُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (... and a spirit from Him.) in this verse. Worth attention here are two aspects of our probe. Firstly, why has Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .1s been referred to as ruh or spirit? Secondly, since by saying 'from Him' the spirit has been attributed to Almighty Allah, what, then, would be the sense of such an attribution?</p><p>In this connection, several exegetical stances of commentators have.. been reported. Their gist is being given below:</p><p>1. Some of them explain it on the basis of lexical usage. They say that, according to the rule of ` urf or recognized customary practice, the word 'ruh'' or 'spirit' is used in the sense of 'essence' to enhance the effect of pristine purity in something. Since the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was totally unrelated to the mediation of any father and he was the outcome of nothing but the will of Allah, in His supreme majesty, and a result of the word: کُن )kun : be), therefore, he was blessed with the most perfect degree of purity. This is the reason why he was called 'a spirit' or 'essence' as admitted by recognized practice. As for the attribution to Allah, it is there to hold him in esteem. This is like attributing Masajid (mosques) to Allah in order to enhance the respect in which they are held. Hence, the expression: Masajidullah or the Mosques of Allah. Or,' the Holy Ka'bah, by attributing it to Allah, is called: Baytullah or the House of Allah. Or, by attributing someone religiously observing and worshipfully obedient to Allah, he is called: ` Abd Allah' or the servant or slave of Allah. Thus, it is in accord with this formulation that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been referred to in Surah Bani Isra'i1 in the wordings: أَسْرَ‌ىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ (carried His servant) (17:1)</p><p>where the attribution to Allah reflects honour given to him.</p><p>2. Some commentators have said that the purpose behind the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was that he should infuse spiritual life into the dead hearts of people and make them alive once again (familiar as born-again Christians in the West). Since he was the cause of spiritual life very much like the spirit is the cause of physical life, therefore, it was in this light that he was called a spirit. In fact, this word has been used for the Holy Qur'an as well: وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُ‌وحًا مِّنْ أَمْرِ‌نَا (and thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our Command - 42:52) because the Holy Qur'an too blesses people with spiritual life.</p><p>3. Some others have said that ruh (spirit) is also used in the sense of secret. Since Sayyidna ` Isa r - was, because of his unusual birth, a sign and secret of Allah, _therefore, he was called: Ruhullah (the spirit of Allah).</p><p>4. Some say that the adjunct is understood here' since the statement was to be read as: ذُو رُوحِ مِنہُ (the possessor of a spirit from Him). However, since all rational beings are equal as the possessors of a spirit, the distinction of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) was made manifest when Almighty Allah turned his attribution towards Himself.</p><p>5. According to yet another exegetical view, the word: Ruh has been used in the sense of nafkh or the blowing of breath. Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) . had, as commanded by Allah, blown his breath on the collar of Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) and that became the conception. Since only a blow of breath had caused the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as a miracle, therefore, he was called: Ruhullah or the spirit of Allah. Another verse of the Holy Qur'an: فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّ‌وحِنَا (then, We blew Our spirit in her - 21:91) points out in this direction.</p><p>In addition to these, several other probabilities have also been suggested. However, none of these come to mean that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah or a divine person on the basis of which it could be suggested that this very spirit we are talking about has mani-fested itself in the human form, of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .</p><p>A telling repartee</p><p>` A1lamah A1-Alusi, the author of the famous Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani has reported an episode from the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid where a Christian physician entered into a debate against the scholar ` Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Waqidi challenging him that his Book_ (the Qur'an) has a particular word which indicates that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah. And as a proof, he read out the verse (171) which carries the words: رُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (a spirit from Him). ` Allamah al-Waqidi came up with a rejoinder and recited another verse (45:13) of the Qur'an: وَسَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ جَمِيعًا مِّنْهُ (The meaning of the verse is that everything that there is in the heavens and the earth is from the same Allah where the word - minhu: from Him - serves to attribute everything to Allah) and said: 'If رُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (rulhim-minhu: a spirit from Him) means, as you think, that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah, then, the verse I have just recited would mean that everything in the heavens and the earth is also a part of Allah?' Thus, silenced, the Christian physician chose to become a Muslim.</p><p>The Qur'an and the doctrine of Trinity</p><p>Reflected in the statement of the Qur'an: وَلَا تَقُولُوا ثَلَاثَةٌ (And do not say "Three" ) is the state of the major sects among Christians in which they were divided at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an. The doctrine of Trinity they adhered to was based on three separate principles. One sect maintained that Masih is God and it is God Himself who has appeared in the world in the form of Masih. The second sect believed that Masih is the son of God while the third sect claimed unity in trinity - the father, the son and Mary. Even this group was split in two. The second group said that the Holy Spirit (ruhul-Quds) and not Sayyidah Maryam (Mary) was the third person (hypostasis). So, these people acknowledged Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as the third of the three. Therefore, all the three sects have been addressed, separately and jointly in the Holy Qur'an whereby the Christians have been clearly told that there is just one truth and that truth is that Masih (علیہ السلام) is a human being born to Maryam (علیہا السلام) and a true Messenger of God. Whatever is said beyond that is all false and ineffectual - whether it be loaded with the excess of under-estimation, as believed by the Jews, viz., God forbid, he was an imposter and fabricator: or, be a case of the excess of over-estimation as believed by the Christians, viz., God forbid, he is God or the son of God or the third of the three.</p><p>In many of its verses, the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, pointed out to the strayings of the Christians and Jews while, on the other, it has focused brightly on the exalted station of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the sight of Almighty Allah so that the true path of moderation could emerge clearly from out of the mazes of excess and deficiency.</p><p>Those interested in detailed information about various aspects of Christian beliefs vis-a-vis the veracity of Islam may wish to study the world-famous book, Izharul-Haqq by Maulana Rahmatullah Kiranawi. This original work in Arabic has been translated and published by Darul-Uloom, Karachi, Pakistan in three volumes with detailed annotations.1</p><p>1. An English translation of this work has been recently completed by Maulana Muhammad Wall Raazi, son of Hadrat Mufti Muhammad Shaf ی i (رح) and is presently under the process of publication under the auspices of translator himself.</p><p>Towards the end of the verse, it was declared: لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّـهِ وَكِيلًا (To him belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. And Allah is enough to trust in). The drive of the meaning is: When everything has been created by Him, when everything falls under the domain of His mastery and when everyone is a servant of Allah, who and how could anyone become His partner or associate or son? The fact is that Almighty Allah is the dispenser of all our needs and the sole caretaker of everyone's wants - He is universally and perennially sufficient, all by Himself. He needs nobody. How, then, could He need to have a partner or son?</p><p>To sum up, we can say that no created being has'. the ability or qualification to become His partner, nor does His most sacred Being have the room or need for it, This much is enough to tell us that suggesting a partner to God or ascribing a son to Him can be accom-plished by none but the one who is deprived of faith and reason both.</p><p>Excess in Faith</p><p>Let us now go back to the opening statement of the verse: لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ. In this verse, the People of the Book have been asked not to indulge in excess in matters relating to their Faith. Lexically, the Qur'anic word: اَلغُلُو : al-Ghuluww means to cross the limits or trans-gress.. In Ahkam a1-Qur'an, Imam al-Jassas says:</p><p>الغلوفی الدین ھو مجاوزۃ حدالحق فیہ</p><p>Excess in Faith is crossing the limit set therein.</p><p>The People of the Book, that is, the Jews and the Christians were both made addressees of this injunction because excess in Faith is the common factor between them. Both groups have fallen victims to nothing but excess in matters of Faith. The Christians committed excess in believing and honouring Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) when they went on to the extreme of taking him to be God or son of God or the third God. As for Jews, they committed excess in disbelieving and rejecting him - not simply that they did not accept him even as a prophet, they were audacious enough to, God forbid, impute a false accusation to his revered mother, Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) and to cast a slur against her parentage.</p><p>Since the disastrous deviation of Jews and Christians in matters of Faith was a common scene of the time, the Holy Prophet ﷺ specially instructed his community to be very careful about it. According to a report from Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:</p><p>لا تطرونی کما اطرت النصاری عیسیٰ بن مریم ، فانما انا عبد، فقولوا : عبد اللہ ورسولہ</p><p>Do not exaggerate in my praise as was done by Christians in the case of ` Isa son of Maryam . Beware, I am only a servant. So, call me a servant of Allah and fiis messenger. (This narration has also been reported by al-Bukhari and Ibn al-Madini rating it as sound and authentically reported)</p><p>In brief, the sense of what he said is: I am one with everyone in being a servant of Allah and a human being. The highest rank I have is that I am a Messenger of Allah. Raising it higher to the limit that you go about taking me as partner in the attributes of Almighty Allah is excess and I do not want you to fall into this excess like the Christians. This excess in Faith practiced by the Jews and Christians did not remain limited to prophets only. Once used to it, they extended this attitude of theirs to the apostles, followers and deputies of the prophets. They had already assigned Godhood to their prophet, now they invested the followers of the prophet with immunity from sin. While doing so, they did not even take the trouble of investigating and making sure if such followers were genuine followers of the prophet and who correctly and firmly adhered to his teachings, or they were no more than hereditary religious scholars and guides. This resulted in the emergence of a leadership which was astray in itself and could do nothing but keep adding to the strayings of others. So, they ruined their Faith by practicing it erroneously from within. The Holy Qur'an has described this very condition of these people in the verse اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَ‌هُمْ وَرُ‌هْبَانَهُمْ أَرْ‌بَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّـهِ (that is, these people took their religious leaders as objects of worship, other than Allah). It means that they had already been excessive in making their prophet a God, then they started worshipping later-day religious leaders in the name of following the prophet!</p><p>The lesson to be learnt is that excess in Faith is a dangerous attitude which has destroyed the Faiths of earlier religious communities all in the fair name of Faith. So serious were the implications that our noble master devised perfect defences to keep his community safe against this terrible epidemic.</p><p>It appears in hadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ on the occasion of Hajj that he should go and collect pebbles which he could use to throw at the Jamarat. He returned with average-sized pebbles and presented them to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who liked them very much and said twice: بِمِثلِھِنِّ بِمِثلِھِنِّ (like these, like these) which means that one should do his or her ramy at Jamarat using average-sized pebbles like these. Then, he said:</p><p>اِیَّاکُم وَ الغُلُوَّ فی الدِیّنِ ، فَاِنَّمَا ھَلَکَ مِن قَبلِکُم بالغُلُوِّ فی دِینِھِم</p><p>It is your duty to avoid excess in Faith for communities before you were destroyed because of being excessive in their Faith.</p><p>Important Rules of Guidance</p><p>Some important rules come out from this hadith:</p><p>1. The masnun limit placed on pebbles thrown at the Jamarat during the Hajj is that they should be average in size, neither too small nor too big. Throwing big rocks is included under excess in Faith.</p><p>2. The legal limit of everything is what the Holy Prophet ﷺ has left determined by his word and deed. Going beyond this limit is ghuluww, excess in Faith.</p><p>3. Precisely defined, excess in Faith is the crossing of the masnun limit set for doing something.</p><p>The Limits of Materialism</p><p>The greed for worldly wealth and luxury beyond the level of need is considered blameworthy in Islam. Instructions to observe restraint against such urges are profusely spread out in the Qur'an. But, the Holy Prophet ﷺ while prohibiting attachment to wordly life greedily, has set its proper limits by his word and deed. He declared marriage to be his way and persuaded others to follow his example. He explained the many-faceted blessings of having children. To live nicely and wisely with the family and to fulfill the rights of everyone properly were things he prescribed as obligatory. To work for one's family and earn a good living was what he called an obligation after the obligation (فَرِیضۃ بعد الفریضۃ). He laid stress on people to engage in business, agriculture, industry and labour. The establishment of an Islamic state and government and the promotion of a system governed by Islam was something he declared to be part of the mandate of prophethood. Thus, by acting in accordance with it, he went on to establish a state system throughout the Arabian Peninsula which was later extended to other parts of the world in the East and the West. All this shows that being engaged in these pursuit within the limits of need is not counted as gross love of the material nor as greed and avarice.</p><p>The Jews and Christians did not realize the truth of the matter and got themselves involved in monasticism. The Holy Qur'an has refuted this uncalled for involvement of theirs by saying:</p><p>وَرَ‌هْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِ‌ضْوَانِ اللَّـهِ فَمَا رَ‌عَوْهَا حَقَّ رِ‌عَايَتِهَا</p><p>It means that they took to ways of monasticism which were not prescribed for them by Allah except that they were to seek the pleasure of Allah Then, they failed to fulfill the conditions of what they had themselves imposed. (57:27)</p><p>The Limits of Sunnah and Bid'ah</p><p>By his word and deed, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has, in every-thing such as religious acts of worship and social transactions and dealings, demarcated the limits of moderation. Any deviation from these limits, whether it be in falling behind or in pushing ahead of them, is forbidden for it leads a believer astray from the right path. It was for this reason that he has very emphatically blocked the incursion of bid` at: بِدعَات (self-promoted innovations in established religion) and muhdathat: مُحَدِّثات (the embracing of everything appearing recent and novel in a given time as if a part of established religion which, in our time, are introduced under the fancy garbs of recension and modernity). Let us, therefore, remember what he said:</p><p>کُلُّ بِدعَۃِ ضَلَالَۃُ ، وَکُلُّ ضَلَالَۃِ فی النَّارِ</p><p>"Every Bid'ah is straying and every straying ends in Jahannam."</p><p>The word Bid'ah used in the hadith refers to everything (assumed to be a part of religion) which is not there in the word and deed of the Holy Prophet ﷺ clearly or through hint. Hadrat Shah Waliyyullah has said that Islam condemns Bid'ah as a serious offence because it opens the doors to alteration in religion. This is what happened with earlier religious communities. They added up things on their own to what their Book said and their prophet taught. Then came another generation, and the generations that followed, each adding its share to the original. Finally, everything got to mixed up that it became impossible to identify the true religion as distinct from the additions introduced by its adherents.</p><p>In his famous book, Hujjatullah al-Balighah, he has also given details of circumstances under which efforts have been made all over the world to inject alterations in the religion of Islam. He has also pointed out to the concern shown by the Shari’ ah of Islam which has installed defensive mechanisms on all such doors of incursion so that there remains no single outlet through which this disease could hit the Muslim community in epidemic proportions.</p><p>The Moderate Course in honouring and following religious leaders</p><p>One such cause referred to above is the practice of excess in Faith (غُلُو فی الدین ). Two factors distinctly contribute to the emergence of this attitude: Firstly, the desire to undertake deep investigations unnecessarily or to be involved in far-fetched interpretations; and secondly, the choice of a hardened stance. It is a matter of great regret that, despite so much elaborations made by the Holy Prophet ﷺ and active restrictions placed by the Shari'ah of Islam, the Muslim community is suffering fatally from this very disease of excess. Its fallout can be distinctly noticed in all departments of our Faith. Out of these, the field most affected is that of religious leaders where the question is: Whom to follow?</p><p>Stretching between two extremes, a group of Muslims has gone far out by holding that there is no such thing as a religious leader or teacher or ` A1im or Shaykh. They would say: 'The Book of Allah is sufficient for us. If they understand the Book of Allah so do we ھُم رجالُ و نَحنُ رِجالُ - They are men, so are we.' The result was that every ambitious pseudo-intellectual - unlettered in Arabic and uninitiated into the facts of and insights into the Qur'an and unfamiliar with the exegetical clarifications given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ – considered it sufficient to look at translations of the - Qur'an and be hoisted as a scholar of the Qur'an! How can a tafsir or explanation of the Qur'an which has been authentically reported from the Holy Prophet ﷺ or from his direct disciples, the noble Companions ؓ ، be ever ignored or bypassed? But, such is the breed of these dabblers in the discipline that they would dismiss anything in favour of their brain wave and still have the temerity to tie it with the Qur'an. Although, had a book without a teacher been enough, Almighty Allah had the power to snake written copies of the book become available for people at their homes - there was, then, no need to send a prophet to teach. A little reflection would reveal that this is not something peculiar to the Book of Allah. No one can, by simply looking at the translation of any book in the arts and sciences, become an expert in those fields. We have yet to find a physician who became a physician through a familiarity with translations of medical books. No engineer became an engineer by browsing through engineering texts. Even the study of common books on sewing and cooking has not made anyone succeed as a master tailor or chef. So, the truth lies elsewhere - the system needs the elements of teaching and learning under a teacher. This is all too established for everyone. But, it is indeed sad to see that the Qur'an and Sunnah alone, of all things around us, have been taken so casually as not to need any teacher. Thus, a fairly large group of educated people drifted down in the direction of serious deficiency when they took the lone study of the Qur'an as all sufficient and totally dispensed of with the need to consult the exegesis and interpretation of early scholars, and to be guided by them.</p><p>On the other side of the extreme, a large group of Muslims got involved in a kind of excess which goaded them to take just about anyone as their religious guide almost blindly, and blindly it was that they started following them. They never took the trouble of finding out whether or not the person they were taking as guide came up to the standard of high intellectual achievement, corresponding personal behaviour, concern for the good of people and the genuine sense of responsibility before Allah. They did not even care to apply a much simpler test by looking at the kind of teaching such a person was imparting and making sure that it was not against the Qur'an and Sunnah.</p><p>The Ideal Solution</p><p>The Shari'ah of Islam has wisely shielded Muslims from falling into the trap of excess. The middle course in between the two extremes it has suggested is: Learn the Book of Allah (Kitabullah) from the Men of Allah (Rijalullah) and recognize the Men of Allah from the Book of Allah. In other words, one should first recognize those who are engaged in learning and communicating the true knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah through the all too well-known teachings of these twin sources of Islamic Faith. Once this is settled, no intricate problem relating to Qur'an and Sunnah will ever bother you - if you give precedence to their explanation above your own opinion, and follow them.</p>

Jews' were the addressees in previous verses which provided details of how astray they had gone. The present verses address the Christians and refute their doctrinal position as related to God and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .Commentary_The word: كَلِمَتُهُ : Kalimatuh used in this verse tells us that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is the 'word' of Allah. Commentators have given different meanings of this expression:1. Imam al-Ghazzali has said that two factors operate in the birth of a child: One is the sperm, the other is the saying of the word کُن or 'be' by Almighty Allah after which the child comes to exist_ Since the first factor is out of question in the case of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، therefore, it was by attribution to the second factor that he was called كَلِمَتُهُ اللہ (the word of Allah). It means that he came into existence solely through the word: کُن (be) without the mediacy of material means. In this case, the statement which follows immediately, that is, أَلْقَاهَا إِلَىٰ مَرْ‌يَمَ would mean that Almighty Allah delivered this word to Maryam (علیہا السلام) as a result of which the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) came to be.2. Some have said that the expression: كَلِمَتُهُ اللہ (the word of Allah) has been used in the sense of: بشارۃ اللہِ (the glad tiding of Allah) and it refers to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہا السلام) . It will be recalled that the glad tiding of the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) given to Maryam (علیہا السلام) by Almighty Allah through the angels carries the expression: Kalimah or word: إِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَا مَرْ‌يَمُ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُبَشِّرُ‌كِ بِكَلِمَةٍ (When the angels said, "O Maryam, Allah gives you the good news of a word ... 3:45).3. Some have said that kalimah (word) has been used here in the sense of 'ayah or sign, as it has appeared elsewhere in the same sense: وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَاتِ رَ‌بِّهَا 'She (Maryam) testified to the word of her Lord as true.' (66:12)Let us now consider the statement: وَرُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (... and a spirit from Him.) in this verse. Worth attention here are two aspects of our probe. Firstly, why has Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .1s been referred to as ruh or spirit? Secondly, since by saying 'from Him' the spirit has been attributed to Almighty Allah, what, then, would be the sense of such an attribution?In this connection, several exegetical stances of commentators have.. been reported. Their gist is being given below:1. Some of them explain it on the basis of lexical usage. They say that, according to the rule of ` urf or recognized customary practice, the word 'ruh'' or 'spirit' is used in the sense of 'essence' to enhance the effect of pristine purity in something. Since the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was totally unrelated to the mediation of any father and he was the outcome of nothing but the will of Allah, in His supreme majesty, and a result of the word: کُن )kun : be), therefore, he was blessed with the most perfect degree of purity. This is the reason why he was called 'a spirit' or 'essence' as admitted by recognized practice. As for the attribution to Allah, it is there to hold him in esteem. This is like attributing Masajid (mosques) to Allah in order to enhance the respect in which they are held. Hence, the expression: Masajidullah or the Mosques of Allah. Or,' the Holy Ka'bah, by attributing it to Allah, is called: Baytullah or the House of Allah. Or, by attributing someone religiously observing and worshipfully obedient to Allah, he is called: ` Abd Allah' or the servant or slave of Allah. Thus, it is in accord with this formulation that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been referred to in Surah Bani Isra'i1 in the wordings: أَسْرَ‌ىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ (carried His servant) (17:1)where the attribution to Allah reflects honour given to him.2. Some commentators have said that the purpose behind the coming of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was that he should infuse spiritual life into the dead hearts of people and make them alive once again (familiar as born-again Christians in the West). Since he was the cause of spiritual life very much like the spirit is the cause of physical life, therefore, it was in this light that he was called a spirit. In fact, this word has been used for the Holy Qur'an as well: وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُ‌وحًا مِّنْ أَمْرِ‌نَا (and thus We have revealed to you a spirit of Our Command - 42:52) because the Holy Qur'an too blesses people with spiritual life.3. Some others have said that ruh (spirit) is also used in the sense of secret. Since Sayyidna ` Isa r - was, because of his unusual birth, a sign and secret of Allah, _therefore, he was called: Ruhullah (the spirit of Allah).4. Some say that the adjunct is understood here' since the statement was to be read as: ذُو رُوحِ مِنہُ (the possessor of a spirit from Him). However, since all rational beings are equal as the possessors of a spirit, the distinction of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) was made manifest when Almighty Allah turned his attribution towards Himself.5. According to yet another exegetical view, the word: Ruh has been used in the sense of nafkh or the blowing of breath. Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) . had, as commanded by Allah, blown his breath on the collar of Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) and that became the conception. Since only a blow of breath had caused the birth of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as a miracle, therefore, he was called: Ruhullah or the spirit of Allah. Another verse of the Holy Qur'an: فَنَفَخْنَا فِيهَا مِن رُّ‌وحِنَا (then, We blew Our spirit in her - 21:91) points out in this direction.In addition to these, several other probabilities have also been suggested. However, none of these come to mean that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah or a divine person on the basis of which it could be suggested that this very spirit we are talking about has mani-fested itself in the human form, of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) .A telling repartee` A1lamah A1-Alusi, the author of the famous Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani has reported an episode from the court of Caliph Harun al-Rashid where a Christian physician entered into a debate against the scholar ` Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Waqidi challenging him that his Book_ (the Qur'an) has a particular word which indicates that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah. And as a proof, he read out the verse (171) which carries the words: رُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (a spirit from Him). ` Allamah al-Waqidi came up with a rejoinder and recited another verse (45:13) of the Qur'an: وَسَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ جَمِيعًا مِّنْهُ (The meaning of the verse is that everything that there is in the heavens and the earth is from the same Allah where the word - minhu: from Him - serves to attribute everything to Allah) and said: 'If رُ‌وحٌ مِّنْهُ (rulhim-minhu: a spirit from Him) means, as you think, that Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) is a part of Allah, then, the verse I have just recited would mean that everything in the heavens and the earth is also a part of Allah?' Thus, silenced, the Christian physician chose to become a Muslim.The Qur'an and the doctrine of TrinityReflected in the statement of the Qur'an: وَلَا تَقُولُوا ثَلَاثَةٌ (And do not say "Three" ) is the state of the major sects among Christians in which they were divided at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an. The doctrine of Trinity they adhered to was based on three separate principles. One sect maintained that Masih is God and it is God Himself who has appeared in the world in the form of Masih. The second sect believed that Masih is the son of God while the third sect claimed unity in trinity - the father, the son and Mary. Even this group was split in two. The second group said that the Holy Spirit (ruhul-Quds) and not Sayyidah Maryam (Mary) was the third person (hypostasis). So, these people acknowledged Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as the third of the three. Therefore, all the three sects have been addressed, separately and jointly in the Holy Qur'an whereby the Christians have been clearly told that there is just one truth and that truth is that Masih (علیہ السلام) is a human being born to Maryam (علیہا السلام) and a true Messenger of God. Whatever is said beyond that is all false and ineffectual - whether it be loaded with the excess of under-estimation, as believed by the Jews, viz., God forbid, he was an imposter and fabricator: or, be a case of the excess of over-estimation as believed by the Christians, viz., God forbid, he is God or the son of God or the third of the three.In many of its verses, the Holy Qur'an has, on the one hand, pointed out to the strayings of the Christians and Jews while, on the other, it has focused brightly on the exalted station of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) in the sight of Almighty Allah so that the true path of moderation could emerge clearly from out of the mazes of excess and deficiency.Those interested in detailed information about various aspects of Christian beliefs vis-a-vis the veracity of Islam may wish to study the world-famous book, Izharul-Haqq by Maulana Rahmatullah Kiranawi. This original work in Arabic has been translated and published by Darul-Uloom, Karachi, Pakistan in three volumes with detailed annotations.11. An English translation of this work has been recently completed by Maulana Muhammad Wall Raazi, son of Hadrat Mufti Muhammad Shaf ی i (رح) and is presently under the process of publication under the auspices of translator himself.Towards the end of the verse, it was declared: لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّـهِ وَكِيلًا (To him belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth. And Allah is enough to trust in). The drive of the meaning is: When everything has been created by Him, when everything falls under the domain of His mastery and when everyone is a servant of Allah, who and how could anyone become His partner or associate or son? The fact is that Almighty Allah is the dispenser of all our needs and the sole caretaker of everyone's wants - He is universally and perennially sufficient, all by Himself. He needs nobody. How, then, could He need to have a partner or son?To sum up, we can say that no created being has'. the ability or qualification to become His partner, nor does His most sacred Being have the room or need for it, This much is enough to tell us that suggesting a partner to God or ascribing a son to Him can be accom-plished by none but the one who is deprived of faith and reason both.Excess in FaithLet us now go back to the opening statement of the verse: لَا تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ. In this verse, the People of the Book have been asked not to indulge in excess in matters relating to their Faith. Lexically, the Qur'anic word: اَلغُلُو : al-Ghuluww means to cross the limits or trans-gress.. In Ahkam a1-Qur'an, Imam al-Jassas says:الغلوفی الدین ھو مجاوزۃ حدالحق فیہExcess in Faith is crossing the limit set therein.The People of the Book, that is, the Jews and the Christians were both made addressees of this injunction because excess in Faith is the common factor between them. Both groups have fallen victims to nothing but excess in matters of Faith. The Christians committed excess in believing and honouring Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) when they went on to the extreme of taking him to be God or son of God or the third God. As for Jews, they committed excess in disbelieving and rejecting him - not simply that they did not accept him even as a prophet, they were audacious enough to, God forbid, impute a false accusation to his revered mother, Sayyidah Maryam (علیہا السلام) and to cast a slur against her parentage.Since the disastrous deviation of Jews and Christians in matters of Faith was a common scene of the time, the Holy Prophet ﷺ specially instructed his community to be very careful about it. According to a report from Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:لا تطرونی کما اطرت النصاری عیسیٰ بن مریم ، فانما انا عبد، فقولوا : عبد اللہ ورسولہDo not exaggerate in my praise as was done by Christians in the case of ` Isa son of Maryam . Beware, I am only a servant. So, call me a servant of Allah and fiis messenger. (This narration has also been reported by al-Bukhari and Ibn al-Madini rating it as sound and authentically reported)In brief, the sense of what he said is: I am one with everyone in being a servant of Allah and a human being. The highest rank I have is that I am a Messenger of Allah. Raising it higher to the limit that you go about taking me as partner in the attributes of Almighty Allah is excess and I do not want you to fall into this excess like the Christians. This excess in Faith practiced by the Jews and Christians did not remain limited to prophets only. Once used to it, they extended this attitude of theirs to the apostles, followers and deputies of the prophets. They had already assigned Godhood to their prophet, now they invested the followers of the prophet with immunity from sin. While doing so, they did not even take the trouble of investigating and making sure if such followers were genuine followers of the prophet and who correctly and firmly adhered to his teachings, or they were no more than hereditary religious scholars and guides. This resulted in the emergence of a leadership which was astray in itself and could do nothing but keep adding to the strayings of others. So, they ruined their Faith by practicing it erroneously from within. The Holy Qur'an has described this very condition of these people in the verse اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَ‌هُمْ وَرُ‌هْبَانَهُمْ أَرْ‌بَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّـهِ (that is, these people took their religious leaders as objects of worship, other than Allah). It means that they had already been excessive in making their prophet a God, then they started worshipping later-day religious leaders in the name of following the prophet!The lesson to be learnt is that excess in Faith is a dangerous attitude which has destroyed the Faiths of earlier religious communities all in the fair name of Faith. So serious were the implications that our noble master devised perfect defences to keep his community safe against this terrible epidemic.It appears in hadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ on the occasion of Hajj that he should go and collect pebbles which he could use to throw at the Jamarat. He returned with average-sized pebbles and presented them to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who liked them very much and said twice: بِمِثلِھِنِّ بِمِثلِھِنِّ (like these, like these) which means that one should do his or her ramy at Jamarat using average-sized pebbles like these. Then, he said:اِیَّاکُم وَ الغُلُوَّ فی الدِیّنِ ، فَاِنَّمَا ھَلَکَ مِن قَبلِکُم بالغُلُوِّ فی دِینِھِمIt is your duty to avoid excess in Faith for communities before you were destroyed because of being excessive in their Faith.Important Rules of GuidanceSome important rules come out from this hadith:1. The masnun limit placed on pebbles thrown at the Jamarat during the Hajj is that they should be average in size, neither too small nor too big. Throwing big rocks is included under excess in Faith.2. The legal limit of everything is what the Holy Prophet ﷺ has left determined by his word and deed. Going beyond this limit is ghuluww, excess in Faith.3. Precisely defined, excess in Faith is the crossing of the masnun limit set for doing something.The Limits of MaterialismThe greed for worldly wealth and luxury beyond the level of need is considered blameworthy in Islam. Instructions to observe restraint against such urges are profusely spread out in the Qur'an. But, the Holy Prophet ﷺ while prohibiting attachment to wordly life greedily, has set its proper limits by his word and deed. He declared marriage to be his way and persuaded others to follow his example. He explained the many-faceted blessings of having children. To live nicely and wisely with the family and to fulfill the rights of everyone properly were things he prescribed as obligatory. To work for one's family and earn a good living was what he called an obligation after the obligation (فَرِیضۃ بعد الفریضۃ). He laid stress on people to engage in business, agriculture, industry and labour. The establishment of an Islamic state and government and the promotion of a system governed by Islam was something he declared to be part of the mandate of prophethood. Thus, by acting in accordance with it, he went on to establish a state system throughout the Arabian Peninsula which was later extended to other parts of the world in the East and the West. All this shows that being engaged in these pursuit within the limits of need is not counted as gross love of the material nor as greed and avarice.The Jews and Christians did not realize the truth of the matter and got themselves involved in monasticism. The Holy Qur'an has refuted this uncalled for involvement of theirs by saying:وَرَ‌هْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِ‌ضْوَانِ اللَّـهِ فَمَا رَ‌عَوْهَا حَقَّ رِ‌عَايَتِهَاIt means that they took to ways of monasticism which were not prescribed for them by Allah except that they were to seek the pleasure of Allah Then, they failed to fulfill the conditions of what they had themselves imposed. (57:27)The Limits of Sunnah and Bid'ahBy his word and deed, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has, in every-thing such as religious acts of worship and social transactions and dealings, demarcated the limits of moderation. Any deviation from these limits, whether it be in falling behind or in pushing ahead of them, is forbidden for it leads a believer astray from the right path. It was for this reason that he has very emphatically blocked the incursion of bid` at: بِدعَات (self-promoted innovations in established religion) and muhdathat: مُحَدِّثات (the embracing of everything appearing recent and novel in a given time as if a part of established religion which, in our time, are introduced under the fancy garbs of recension and modernity). Let us, therefore, remember what he said:کُلُّ بِدعَۃِ ضَلَالَۃُ ، وَکُلُّ ضَلَالَۃِ فی النَّارِ"Every Bid'ah is straying and every straying ends in Jahannam."The word Bid'ah used in the hadith refers to everything (assumed to be a part of religion) which is not there in the word and deed of the Holy Prophet ﷺ clearly or through hint. Hadrat Shah Waliyyullah has said that Islam condemns Bid'ah as a serious offence because it opens the doors to alteration in religion. This is what happened with earlier religious communities. They added up things on their own to what their Book said and their prophet taught. Then came another generation, and the generations that followed, each adding its share to the original. Finally, everything got to mixed up that it became impossible to identify the true religion as distinct from the additions introduced by its adherents.In his famous book, Hujjatullah al-Balighah, he has also given details of circumstances under which efforts have been made all over the world to inject alterations in the religion of Islam. He has also pointed out to the concern shown by the Shari’ ah of Islam which has installed defensive mechanisms on all such doors of incursion so that there remains no single outlet through which this disease could hit the Muslim community in epidemic proportions.The Moderate Course in honouring and following religious leadersOne such cause referred to above is the practice of excess in Faith (غُلُو فی الدین ). Two factors distinctly contribute to the emergence of this attitude: Firstly, the desire to undertake deep investigations unnecessarily or to be involved in far-fetched interpretations; and secondly, the choice of a hardened stance. It is a matter of great regret that, despite so much elaborations made by the Holy Prophet ﷺ and active restrictions placed by the Shari'ah of Islam, the Muslim community is suffering fatally from this very disease of excess. Its fallout can be distinctly noticed in all departments of our Faith. Out of these, the field most affected is that of religious leaders where the question is: Whom to follow?Stretching between two extremes, a group of Muslims has gone far out by holding that there is no such thing as a religious leader or teacher or ` A1im or Shaykh. They would say: 'The Book of Allah is sufficient for us. If they understand the Book of Allah so do we ھُم رجالُ و نَحنُ رِجالُ - They are men, so are we.' The result was that every ambitious pseudo-intellectual - unlettered in Arabic and uninitiated into the facts of and insights into the Qur'an and unfamiliar with the exegetical clarifications given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ – considered it sufficient to look at translations of the - Qur'an and be hoisted as a scholar of the Qur'an! How can a tafsir or explanation of the Qur'an which has been authentically reported from the Holy Prophet ﷺ or from his direct disciples, the noble Companions ؓ ، be ever ignored or bypassed? But, such is the breed of these dabblers in the discipline that they would dismiss anything in favour of their brain wave and still have the temerity to tie it with the Qur'an. Although, had a book without a teacher been enough, Almighty Allah had the power to snake written copies of the book become available for people at their homes - there was, then, no need to send a prophet to teach. A little reflection would reveal that this is not something peculiar to the Book of Allah. No one can, by simply looking at the translation of any book in the arts and sciences, become an expert in those fields. We have yet to find a physician who became a physician through a familiarity with translations of medical books. No engineer became an engineer by browsing through engineering texts. Even the study of common books on sewing and cooking has not made anyone succeed as a master tailor or chef. So, the truth lies elsewhere - the system needs the elements of teaching and learning under a teacher. This is all too established for everyone. But, it is indeed sad to see that the Qur'an and Sunnah alone, of all things around us, have been taken so casually as not to need any teacher. Thus, a fairly large group of educated people drifted down in the direction of serious deficiency when they took the lone study of the Qur'an as all sufficient and totally dispensed of with the need to consult the exegesis and interpretation of early scholars, and to be guided by them.On the other side of the extreme, a large group of Muslims got involved in a kind of excess which goaded them to take just about anyone as their religious guide almost blindly, and blindly it was that they started following them. They never took the trouble of finding out whether or not the person they were taking as guide came up to the standard of high intellectual achievement, corresponding personal behaviour, concern for the good of people and the genuine sense of responsibility before Allah. They did not even care to apply a much simpler test by looking at the kind of teaching such a person was imparting and making sure that it was not against the Qur'an and Sunnah.The Ideal SolutionThe Shari'ah of Islam has wisely shielded Muslims from falling into the trap of excess. The middle course in between the two extremes it has suggested is: Learn the Book of Allah (Kitabullah) from the Men of Allah (Rijalullah) and recognize the Men of Allah from the Book of Allah. In other words, one should first recognize those who are engaged in learning and communicating the true knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah through the all too well-known teachings of these twin sources of Islamic Faith. Once this is settled, no intricate problem relating to Qur'an and Sunnah will ever bother you - if you give precedence to their explanation above your own opinion, and follow them.

لَّن يَسْتَنكِفَ ٱلْمَسِيحُ أَن يَكُونَ عَبْدًا لِّلَّهِ وَلَا ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ ٱلْمُقَرَّبُونَ وَمَن يَسْتَنكِفْ عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِۦ وَيَسْتَكْبِرْ فَسَيَحْشُرُهُمْ إِلَيْهِ جَمِيعًا

<p>From the affirmation of Allah's absolute purity and the refutation of assumed Godhood of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) earlier, the text now moves to further strengthen the argument by showing that Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) would himself confess to being a servant of Allah and so will the angels (which includes Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) alleged to be a person of Trinity). Then, follows the warning for those who choose to retract in distaste and the good news for those who believe and are good in deeds for they will be rewarded for their belief and deeds with many more added graces from Allah.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>The Honour of being a servant of Allah</p><p>Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmani, in his comments on the opening statement of Verse 172: لَّن يَسْتَنكِفَ الْمَسِيحُ أَن يَكُونَ عَبْدًا لِّلَّـهِ (The Masih shall never spurn being a slave of Allah, nor shall the angels, the close ones), says that so it is because being a servant of Allah, being devoted to His worship and being obedient to His will and command, is an honour by itself and certainly a nobility of the highest class. Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and the close angels are the best testifiers to the worth and value of this blessing. How could they spurn an honour like that? Quite contrary to this, the worst disgrace and dishonour there can be imagined lies in worshipping someone other than Allah. This is what the Christians did when they took Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as the son of Allah and the object of their worship. Similar was the case with disbelievers who took angels as daughters of Allah and started worshipping them alongwith their idols. So, for them, there is punishment, and disgrace. (Notes in Tafsir Usmani)</p>

From the affirmation of Allah's absolute purity and the refutation of assumed Godhood of Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) earlier, the text now moves to further strengthen the argument by showing that Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) would himself confess to being a servant of Allah and so will the angels (which includes Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) alleged to be a person of Trinity). Then, follows the warning for those who choose to retract in distaste and the good news for those who believe and are good in deeds for they will be rewarded for their belief and deeds with many more added graces from Allah.CommentaryThe Honour of being a servant of AllahMaulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmani, in his comments on the opening statement of Verse 172: لَّن يَسْتَنكِفَ الْمَسِيحُ أَن يَكُونَ عَبْدًا لِّلَّـهِ (The Masih shall never spurn being a slave of Allah, nor shall the angels, the close ones), says that so it is because being a servant of Allah, being devoted to His worship and being obedient to His will and command, is an honour by itself and certainly a nobility of the highest class. Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and the close angels are the best testifiers to the worth and value of this blessing. How could they spurn an honour like that? Quite contrary to this, the worst disgrace and dishonour there can be imagined lies in worshipping someone other than Allah. This is what the Christians did when they took Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as the son of Allah and the object of their worship. Similar was the case with disbelievers who took angels as daughters of Allah and started worshipping them alongwith their idols. So, for them, there is punishment, and disgrace. (Notes in Tafsir Usmani)

فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ فَيُوَفِّيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَيَزِيدُهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِۦ وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَنكَفُوا۟ وَٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ فَيُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا وَلَا يَجِدُونَ لَهُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَكُم بُرْهَٰنٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَأَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ نُورًا مُّبِينًا

<p>After a refutation of beliefs held by Christians, specially those which ascribe Godhood to Jesus, alongwith the promise of reward for those who acknowledge the truth and punishment for those who insist on denying, the text turns to a universal address praising the blessed status and mission of His Messenger who taught what was the truth revealed to him, who conveyed the truth of the Qur'an admirably, and also those who believed in and testified to the truth of the Book and the Messenger.</p><p>What is Burhan?</p><p>The word, Burhan, appearing in verse قَدْ جَاءَكُم بُرْ‌هَانٌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ proof has come to you from your Lord) lexically means proof refers to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . (Ruh al-Ma` ani)</p><p>Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was referred to as 'Burhan' in consideration of his blessed person, his noble morals, his miracles and his being the very recipient of the revelation of the Book of Allah. All these are open proofs of his prophethood beyond which there remains no need for any other proof. Thus, in summation, his person is, in itself, proof personified.</p><p>As for the word, وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ نُورً‌ا مُّبِينًا (and We have sent down to you a vivid light) (174), it refers to the Holy Qur'an (Ruh al-Ma` ani) which also seems to be the case in Verse 15 of Surah al-Ma` idah (5): قَدْ جَاءَكُم مِّنَ اللَّـهِ نُورٌ‌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ (There has come to you from Allah a light and clear Book). In the explanatory translation of Maulana Ashraf Thanavi (رح) in Bayan al-Qur'an, the rendering of this verse appears as: 'There has come to you from Allah a light and (which is) a clear Book (that is) the Qur'an.' In this verse, what has been first identified as 'Nu-r' (light) has later been called 'kitabum-mubin' (clear Book). Let there be no doubt at this point that the conjunction demands dissimilarity, therefore, Nur (light) and Kitab (book) cannot be one and the same thing. The answer is that dissimilarity in expression is sufficient, even though the meanings are the same. (Ruh al-Ma` ani)</p><p>And if 'Nur' (light) is taken as referring to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and 'Kitab' (the Book) to the Holy Qur'an - that will also be correct (Ruh al-Ma` ani). But, this does not go on to prove that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was Nur or light in the literal sense, therefore, it is not against his being physically human.</p>

After a refutation of beliefs held by Christians, specially those which ascribe Godhood to Jesus, alongwith the promise of reward for those who acknowledge the truth and punishment for those who insist on denying, the text turns to a universal address praising the blessed status and mission of His Messenger who taught what was the truth revealed to him, who conveyed the truth of the Qur'an admirably, and also those who believed in and testified to the truth of the Book and the Messenger.What is Burhan?The word, Burhan, appearing in verse قَدْ جَاءَكُم بُرْ‌هَانٌ مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ proof has come to you from your Lord) lexically means proof refers to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . (Ruh al-Ma` ani)Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was referred to as 'Burhan' in consideration of his blessed person, his noble morals, his miracles and his being the very recipient of the revelation of the Book of Allah. All these are open proofs of his prophethood beyond which there remains no need for any other proof. Thus, in summation, his person is, in itself, proof personified.As for the word, وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ نُورً‌ا مُّبِينًا (and We have sent down to you a vivid light) (174), it refers to the Holy Qur'an (Ruh al-Ma` ani) which also seems to be the case in Verse 15 of Surah al-Ma` idah (5): قَدْ جَاءَكُم مِّنَ اللَّـهِ نُورٌ‌ وَكِتَابٌ مُّبِينٌ (There has come to you from Allah a light and clear Book). In the explanatory translation of Maulana Ashraf Thanavi (رح) in Bayan al-Qur'an, the rendering of this verse appears as: 'There has come to you from Allah a light and (which is) a clear Book (that is) the Qur'an.' In this verse, what has been first identified as 'Nu-r' (light) has later been called 'kitabum-mubin' (clear Book). Let there be no doubt at this point that the conjunction demands dissimilarity, therefore, Nur (light) and Kitab (book) cannot be one and the same thing. The answer is that dissimilarity in expression is sufficient, even though the meanings are the same. (Ruh al-Ma` ani)And if 'Nur' (light) is taken as referring to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and 'Kitab' (the Book) to the Holy Qur'an - that will also be correct (Ruh al-Ma` ani). But, this does not go on to prove that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was Nur or light in the literal sense, therefore, it is not against his being physically human.

فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱعْتَصَمُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَسَيُدْخِلُهُمْ فِى رَحْمَةٍ مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلٍ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَيْهِ صِرَٰطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا

يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِى ٱلْكَلَٰلَةِ إِنِ ٱمْرُؤٌا۟ هَلَكَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ وَلَدٌ وَلَهُۥٓ أُخْتٌ فَلَهَا نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ وَهُوَ يَرِثُهَآ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهَا وَلَدٌ فَإِن كَانَتَا ٱثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُمَا ٱلثُّلُثَانِ مِمَّا تَرَكَ وَإِن كَانُوٓا۟ إِخْوَةً رِّجَالًا وَنِسَآءً فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ ٱلْأُنثَيَيْنِ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ أَن تَضِلُّوا۟ وَٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌۢ

<p>A little after the beginning of Surah al-Nis-a', there appeared some injunctions relating to inheritance. Then, after a considerable gap, the text returned to the injunction of inheritance alongwith others. Now, at the end of the Surah, the text reverts to the subject once again. Perhaps the wisdom behind this scattering of the subject at three different places could be the consideration of prevailing injustice in matters of inheritance before the advent of Islam. By taking it up in the beginning, then in the middle,. and finally in the end. it was hoped that the addressees would be gradually alerted to the need of justice in this area and would this be enabled to show their maximum concern.</p><p>Summary of the Rulings given2</p><p>The verse (176) was revealed in answer to the question posed by some Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ regarding the inheritance of a Kalalah. Kalalah means a person who dies leaving neither children nor parents. The verse has clarified that the property left by a Kalalah shall be distributed in the following manner:</p><p>(1) If the Kalalah has left one real sister, or one half sister from father's side, 3 then, after settling the preferential rights (such as debts, wills, burial expenses) she will get one half of the property. The other half will be given to the heirs falling in the category of Asbat. If no heir from the category of Asbat is alive, then this half, too, will be given back to the sister of the deceased (meaning thereby that she will secure the whole property).</p><p>1. Kalalah: A person who has no ascendent or descendent at the time of his death.</p><p>2. This summary is based on the given in the original, without translating it word-by-word. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)</p><p>3. As for a half sister from mother's side, her share has already been mentioned in 4:12 as being one sixth if she is alone. And if there are two or more such sisters or brothers, they will share one third of the property equally. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)</p><p>(2) If the sister referred to in Para (1) above dies, and leaves children, and her brother is alive, then he will get the whole property left by her.</p><p>(3) If a Kalalah, male or female, dies and leaves two or more sisters, either real sisters or half-sisters from fathers side then they shall get two thirds of the property left by the Kalalah." The remaining one third will be given to Asbat, if any, and in the absence of Asbat this one third will also be given to the sisters who will distribute their share among themselves equally.</p><p>(4) If a Kalalah leaves behind a combination of brothers and sisters (either real or from fathers side only), then the whole property, after satisfying the preferential rights, shall be distributed between them on the principle that every brother will get twice the share of every sister.</p><p>Important Notes</p><p>1. The cause of revelation and the injunction of Kalalah described in the verse beginning with: يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ اللَّـهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِي الْكَلَالَةِ (They seek a ruling from you. Say, "Allah gives you the ruling concerning kalalah" ) provides us with information on certain important aspects. To be noted first is a comparison between two examples given earlier in the text. In verse 170 وَإِن تَكْفُرُ‌وا فَإِنَّ لِلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ (And if you disbelieve, then, to Allah belongs what is in the heavens and the earth), there was the condition of disbelievers. Then came a similar statement in Verse 175: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَاعْتَصَمُوا بِهِ الخ (Now those who believe in Allah and hold on to Him) which presented the model of the noble Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . These two parallel but divergent states of the believers and the disbelievers were brought into focus so that people can fully understand how astray and evil were those who turned away from the revelation (wahy) and how true and virtuous were those who followed it.</p><p>2. Subsequent to observations made above, it also becomes obvious that the People of the Book did something terrible when they made the abomination of suggesting a partner and son in the purest conceivable divinity of Almighty Allah an article of their faith. They also went as far as taking a blatant position against the Divine revelation.</p><p>Quite contrary to this is the life style of the nobel Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may the blessing of Allah and peace be upon him. Not to say much about their consistent concern for the fundamentals of Faith and the most devoted performance of acts of worship, they would be equally inquisitive and eager to find out their obligations in matters subsidiary and commonplace such as those of inheritance and marriage. They would wait for Wahy, the command of Allah through revelation and they would look for guidance from the Holy Prophet ﷺ in everything they did. Though, it is easier to do your own bidding under the dictate of reason or desire, yet they did not elect to be ruled by their personal desire or reason. If they did not understand some-thing at a given time, they would return to the Prophet to recheck until they were satisfied. Here are two sets of people, so different and so apart!</p><p>3. This also tells us that our noble Prophet ﷺ would not give a decision on his own without the guiding command of Wahy (revelation). If there was no standing guidance revealed through Wahy present in a certain case, he would put his decision on hold and wait for the coming of Wahy. When it did, he gave his verdict. In addition to that, there is a subtle hint here in the direction of the wisdom behind the gradual revelation of the Qur'an. If the whole Book was revealed all at one fixed time as demanded by the People of the Book, it would have not carried the same benefits as there are in the fact that the Qur'an was revealed as needed and when appropriate, all functionally spaced out. This modality accommodated the requirements of addressees who could ask a question out of some necessity and be answered through the recited revelation (al-Wahy al-Matluww). An example of this methodology appears right here in the present verse while others appear at several other occasions in the Qur'an. No doubt, this form is far beneficial, but the core of its distinction lies elsewhere. That is because of the most refined sublimity of men and women of faith who turn to Allah in remembrance and are honoured by being addressed by their most exalted Creator. This is indeed a great honour never granted to any other community. Certainly no grace is greater than the grace granted by Allah, the ultimate dispenser. Now, any verse of the Qur'an which was revealed in the favour of or in answer to the question of a particular Companion is treasured as a testament of his virtues. And a Wahy which came favouring the position taken by one of them on the occasion of some matter causing difference of opinion is sufficient to keep the name and merit of that Companion alive right upto the Day of Doom.</p><p>Thus, by referring to the question and answer regarding Kalalah, hint has been given towards similar questions and answers elsewhere.</p><p>(Exegetical notes, Tafsir ` Usmani</p><p>by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmni)</p><p>Praised be Allah. Surah al-Nis-a' ends here</p><p>وَ للہِ الحَمدُ اَوَّلَہ و آخِرَہ</p>

A little after the beginning of Surah al-Nis-a', there appeared some injunctions relating to inheritance. Then, after a considerable gap, the text returned to the injunction of inheritance alongwith others. Now, at the end of the Surah, the text reverts to the subject once again. Perhaps the wisdom behind this scattering of the subject at three different places could be the consideration of prevailing injustice in matters of inheritance before the advent of Islam. By taking it up in the beginning, then in the middle,. and finally in the end. it was hoped that the addressees would be gradually alerted to the need of justice in this area and would this be enabled to show their maximum concern.Summary of the Rulings given2The verse (176) was revealed in answer to the question posed by some Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ regarding the inheritance of a Kalalah. Kalalah means a person who dies leaving neither children nor parents. The verse has clarified that the property left by a Kalalah shall be distributed in the following manner:(1) If the Kalalah has left one real sister, or one half sister from father's side, 3 then, after settling the preferential rights (such as debts, wills, burial expenses) she will get one half of the property. The other half will be given to the heirs falling in the category of Asbat. If no heir from the category of Asbat is alive, then this half, too, will be given back to the sister of the deceased (meaning thereby that she will secure the whole property).1. Kalalah: A person who has no ascendent or descendent at the time of his death.2. This summary is based on the given in the original, without translating it word-by-word. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)3. As for a half sister from mother's side, her share has already been mentioned in 4:12 as being one sixth if she is alone. And if there are two or more such sisters or brothers, they will share one third of the property equally. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)(2) If the sister referred to in Para (1) above dies, and leaves children, and her brother is alive, then he will get the whole property left by her.(3) If a Kalalah, male or female, dies and leaves two or more sisters, either real sisters or half-sisters from fathers side then they shall get two thirds of the property left by the Kalalah." The remaining one third will be given to Asbat, if any, and in the absence of Asbat this one third will also be given to the sisters who will distribute their share among themselves equally.(4) If a Kalalah leaves behind a combination of brothers and sisters (either real or from fathers side only), then the whole property, after satisfying the preferential rights, shall be distributed between them on the principle that every brother will get twice the share of every sister.Important Notes1. The cause of revelation and the injunction of Kalalah described in the verse beginning with: يَسْتَفْتُونَكَ قُلِ اللَّـهُ يُفْتِيكُمْ فِي الْكَلَالَةِ (They seek a ruling from you. Say, "Allah gives you the ruling concerning kalalah" ) provides us with information on certain important aspects. To be noted first is a comparison between two examples given earlier in the text. In verse 170 وَإِن تَكْفُرُ‌وا فَإِنَّ لِلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ (And if you disbelieve, then, to Allah belongs what is in the heavens and the earth), there was the condition of disbelievers. Then came a similar statement in Verse 175: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَاعْتَصَمُوا بِهِ الخ (Now those who believe in Allah and hold on to Him) which presented the model of the noble Companions of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . These two parallel but divergent states of the believers and the disbelievers were brought into focus so that people can fully understand how astray and evil were those who turned away from the revelation (wahy) and how true and virtuous were those who followed it.2. Subsequent to observations made above, it also becomes obvious that the People of the Book did something terrible when they made the abomination of suggesting a partner and son in the purest conceivable divinity of Almighty Allah an article of their faith. They also went as far as taking a blatant position against the Divine revelation.Quite contrary to this is the life style of the nobel Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may the blessing of Allah and peace be upon him. Not to say much about their consistent concern for the fundamentals of Faith and the most devoted performance of acts of worship, they would be equally inquisitive and eager to find out their obligations in matters subsidiary and commonplace such as those of inheritance and marriage. They would wait for Wahy, the command of Allah through revelation and they would look for guidance from the Holy Prophet ﷺ in everything they did. Though, it is easier to do your own bidding under the dictate of reason or desire, yet they did not elect to be ruled by their personal desire or reason. If they did not understand some-thing at a given time, they would return to the Prophet to recheck until they were satisfied. Here are two sets of people, so different and so apart!3. This also tells us that our noble Prophet ﷺ would not give a decision on his own without the guiding command of Wahy (revelation). If there was no standing guidance revealed through Wahy present in a certain case, he would put his decision on hold and wait for the coming of Wahy. When it did, he gave his verdict. In addition to that, there is a subtle hint here in the direction of the wisdom behind the gradual revelation of the Qur'an. If the whole Book was revealed all at one fixed time as demanded by the People of the Book, it would have not carried the same benefits as there are in the fact that the Qur'an was revealed as needed and when appropriate, all functionally spaced out. This modality accommodated the requirements of addressees who could ask a question out of some necessity and be answered through the recited revelation (al-Wahy al-Matluww). An example of this methodology appears right here in the present verse while others appear at several other occasions in the Qur'an. No doubt, this form is far beneficial, but the core of its distinction lies elsewhere. That is because of the most refined sublimity of men and women of faith who turn to Allah in remembrance and are honoured by being addressed by their most exalted Creator. This is indeed a great honour never granted to any other community. Certainly no grace is greater than the grace granted by Allah, the ultimate dispenser. Now, any verse of the Qur'an which was revealed in the favour of or in answer to the question of a particular Companion is treasured as a testament of his virtues. And a Wahy which came favouring the position taken by one of them on the occasion of some matter causing difference of opinion is sufficient to keep the name and merit of that Companion alive right upto the Day of Doom.Thus, by referring to the question and answer regarding Kalalah, hint has been given towards similar questions and answers elsewhere.(Exegetical notes, Tafsir ` Usmaniby Maulana Shabbir Ahmad ` Usmni)Praised be Allah. Surah al-Nis-a' ends hereوَ للہِ الحَمدُ اَوَّلَہ و آخِرَہ

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَوْفُوا۟ بِٱلْعُقُودِ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّى ٱلصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِيدُ

<p>Background of revelation and a summary of subjects</p><p>This is the initial verse of Surah al-Ma'idah. As agreed upon, Surah al-Ma'idah is a Madani (Madinite) Surah and also the last among all Madani Chapters (Surah) so much so that some revered elders have identified this as the last Surah of the Qur'an itself. On the authority of narrations from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Umar and Sayyidah Asma' bint Yazid ؓ ، it appears in the Musnad of Ahmad that Surah al-Ma'idah was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ while in travel riding the she-camel named Adba'. As explained in the introduction to this Tafsir in Volume 1, there used to be a sense of being under some heavy weight, extraordinary and unexplained, at a time the Wahy (revelation) came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . So, this is what happened as customary. When the she-camel could bear the phenomenon of unusual weight no more, he dismounted from her back. This journey is obviously the journey he made to perform his last Hajj as supported by some relevant reports. The Last Hajj took place in the tenth year of Hijrah. After his return from there, his blessed life in the mortal world lasted for about eighty more days. In al-Bahr al-Muhit, commentator Ibn Hayyan has said that some portions of Surah al-Ma'idah were revealed during the journey of Hudaybiyah, some others during the journey of the Conquest of Makkah and still others during the journey of the Last Hajj. This tells us that Surah al-Ma'idah has been revealed during the final stages of the revelation of the Qur'an - though, it may not be the very last Surah.</p><p>Ruh al-Ma'ani on the authority of Abu ` Ubaydh, cites a narration of ibn Habib and ` Atiyyah ibn Qays ؓ in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said:</p><p>اَلمایدہ مِنَ اٰخر القران فاحلوا حلالھا حرمواحرامھا</p><p>Surah al-Ma'idah is from what has been revealed towards the last stage of the revelation of the Qura'n. So, take what has been made lawful there as lawful forever and take what has been made unlawful there as unlawful forever.</p><p>Referring to Mustadrak al-Hakim, Ibn Kathir cites a similar narration from Sayyidna Jubayr ibn Nufayr in which he has been reported to have called upon Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ soon after Hajj. She asked him: "Do you read Surah al-Ma'idah, 0 Jubayr?" He submitted: "I do." Sayyidah A'ishah ؓ then said: "This is the last Surah of Holy Qur'an. The injunctions about things lawful and unlawful in it are Muhkam (of established meaning). The probability of any abrogation (Naskh) does not exist there. So, be specially particular about them."</p><p>Like Surah Al-Nis-a', Surah al-Ma'idah too carries many subsidiary injunctions relating to dealings and contracts. Accordingly, Ruh al-Ma` ani notices subject homogeneity in Surah al-Baqarah and Al-'Imran because both of them mostly feature injunctions relating to Principles, Doctrines, Unicity, Prophethood, Doomsday and similar other basic concerns of importance. As for subsidiary injunctions, they appear there as corollaries. Regarding Surah Al-Nis-a’ and Surah al-Ma'idah, it can be said that they are homogeneous subject-wise because both of them describe subsidiary injunctions. Any description of basic princi-ples appears there by implication. In Surah al-Nisa', emphasis has been laid on mutual dealings, particularly on rights servants of Allah have on each other (Huquq al-` Ibad). Then, in it, there are details of the rights of the husband and the wife, the rights of orphans and the rights of the parents and other relatives. In the very first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, there appears the instruction to stand by all dealings made and pledges given. The words of the Verse: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (0 those who believe, fulfill the contracts) command that all such commitments must be met. Therefore, Surah al-Ma'idah is also referred to as Surah al-` Uqud (Al-Bahr al-Muhit).</p><p>This Surah, specially its opening verse, has a special bearing on matters relating to mutual dealings and contractual agreements. Therefore, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ sent Sayyidna ` Amru ibn Hazm ؓ as the ` Amil (Governor) of Yaman, he gave him a written decree of appointment at the head of which he had this verse written (Al Bahr al-Muhit).</p><p>Commentary</p><p>The first sentence of the first verse of this Surah is so comprehensive that its proper discussion would deservedly go beyond thousands of pages. In fact, Muslim scholars and jurists have done exactly that. The verse says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (0 those who believe, fulfill the contracts). Here, the very form of address: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ( O those who believe ...) helps to divert attention to the very crucial nature of the subject for the command being given here is centrally required by one's faith. Then comes the command: أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (fulfill the contracts). The word, ` al-` uqud', used in the Qur'an is the plural form of al-'aqd, the literal meaning of which is to tie. A contract which ties two individuals or groups to each other is also known as ` aqd. Thus, al-` uqud takes the meaning of al-` uhud or contracts.</p><p>Commentator Ibn Jarir has reported the consensus of revered exegetes among the Sahabah and Tabi'in on this approach. Imam al-Jassas explains that ` aqd (contract) or ` ahd (pledge) or Mu` ahadah (pact) are all applied to a transaction in which two parties have placed the responsibility of doing or not doing something on each other and to which both of them agree and are bound by. According to our recognized practice, this is what a contractual agreement is. Therefore, the essential meaning of the sentence is: Take the fulfilling of mutual contracts to be binding and necessary.</p><p>Now, we have to determine the nature of contracts meant here. The interpretations of commentators appear to be different, though outwardly only. Some say that it refers to the Covenant of Allah under which His created beings are bound to believe in and obey Him, or they refer to pledges Allah has taken from His created beings regarding His revealed injunctions of things lawful and unlawful. This is what has been reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ۔ ؓ Others say that here it means the contracts people enter into with each other, such as, the Contract of Marriage and the Contract of Buying and Selling. Commentators Ibn Zayd and Zayd ibn Aslam have taken this very line of interpretation. Still others take contracts to mean sworn alliances and pacts which the tribes of Jahiliyyah entered into with each other for mutual assistance when needed. This is also the position taken by Commentators such as Mujahid, RabI' and Qatadah. But, the truth is that there is no contradiction or difference in what they have said. Instead, all these varied contracts come under the Qur'anic word, "al-` uqud", appearing in this verse and the instruction to fulfill all of them comes from the Qur'an itself.</p><p>Therefore, Imam Raghib al-Isfahani has said that all kinds of contracts and binding agreements are included under the imperative of this word. He further divides these into three kinds as given below:</p><p>1. The Covenant which human beings have with their Creator who is Lord of all the worlds, such as, the pledge to believe in Him, to obey Him, or to observe the restrictions imposed by Him on matters and things lawful and unlawful.</p><p>2. The vow or promise or commitment one enters into with one's own self, such as, to commit to fulfill a vow (nadhr) for something, or to bind oneself on oath that something will be done.</p><p>3. The contract that one human being enters with another which includes all contracts which bind two persons or two groups or parties or governments.</p><p>So, in the light of this verse, strict adherence to all permissible provisions and conditions which have been mutually agreed upon is mandatory and all parties must observe and fulfill these. This covers all international pacts and treaties between governments, bilateral agreements, all commitments, alliances, charters between groups and parties, also all sorts of contracts and deals between two human beings ranging from marriage, business, partnership, leasing, gift deed to many other bi-partite human dealings. Please note that the restriction of ` permissible' imposed a little earlier has a reason, for entering into a contract against the dictates of the Shari'ah, or accepting it, is not permissible for anyone.</p><p>The Logic of the Lawful</p><p>After the initial declaration of the general rule in the first sentence of the verse, its particular details appear in the second sentence where it has been said: أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ (The cattle have been made lawful for you ...). The word, ` bahimah' (بَهِيمَةُ ) used here is applied to animals usually considered to be devoid of understanding because people usually do not understand their speech which thus remains obscure. Imam al-Sha` rani says: The name ` bahimah' is not given to an animal just be-cause it has no sense and everything sensible remains obscure for it - as people commonly think. But, the truth is that no animal or beast, not even trees and rocks, can be taken to be devoid of sense as such - of course, subject to the difference in its degrees. They do not have the same measure of sense as human beings do. This is the reason why human beings have been obligated to observe the percepts and injunctions revealed for them. Animals have not been so obligated, other-wise Allah has given to every animal sense and awareness within the limits of its needs - even to all trees and rocks, for that matter. This is why everything glorifies Allah in its own way: وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ : That is, ` there is nothing which does not but glorify Him with His praise' (17:44). How then, without sense, would it have ever recognized its creator and master and how would it have, thus, been able to engage in the act of glorifying Allah?</p><p>The word, ` al-An` am', used in the text is the plural form of na'am (grazing livestock). Eight kinds of domestic animals or cattles such as the camel, the cow, the buffalow, the goat which have been described in Surah al-An'-am are called the An'-am. Since the word, ` bahimah' (animal) was general, the word, 'Al-An'-am' (the cattle) has made it particular. So, the meaning of the verse comes to be that ` eight kinds of domestic animals have been made lawful for you.' Under the discussion about the word, ` al-` uqud', you have already read a little earlier that it includes all kinds of contracts. One of these is the pledge Allah Almighty has taken from His created beings that they would observe the restrictions of the lawful and the unlawful. The present sentence is referring to this particular pledge when it says that Allah has made the cattle lawful for you and they can be eaten after having been slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic manner.</p><p>Thus believers have been exhorted to obey this injunction by staying within its limits. They should not take it upon themselves, as do the fire-worshippers and the idolaters, to declare the very slaughter of these animals as absolutely unlawful, for this is raising an objection against the wisdom of the Creator and certainly an open ingratitude for His blessing. Nor should they become like some other meat-eating people who would, totally unfettered, go about eating all sorts of animals. Rather than do something like that, believers must eat from animals Allah Almighty has made lawful to eat under the Law given by Him. Similarly, they should abstain from animals which have been declared unlawful to eat. The reason is that Allah Almighty is the Creator of the Universe. He knows the nature and the properties of all animals and He is also aware of the effects they bring about when in the human body. He, in His grace, makes what is good and pure openly lawful for human consumption, things which leave no ill effects on physical health and moral strength. Similarly, He forbids unclean and impure animals which are either harmful for human health or contribute metabolically into the generation of evil morals. Therefore, there are a few things exempted from this general rule. These are as follows:</p><p>1. The first exemption is contained إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ. It means: Except animals which have been declared unlawful in the Qur'an, that is, dead animal or the swine.</p><p>2. The other exemption appears in: غَيْرَ‌ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُ‌مٌ Quadruped animals are lawful for you and wild game too. But nin the state when you have entered into the garments of Ihram with the intention of doing Hajj or ` Umrah, hunting becomes a crime and sin. Stay away from it.</p><p>Living under the Authority and Wisdom of the Creator</p><p>Towards the end of the verse, it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِ‌يدُ which means that Allah Almighty ordains what He wills. Nobody has the right to ask questions or take exception in obeying it. This statement is perhaps indicative of an element of wisdom - that the permission given to human beings to slaughter and eat some animals is no act of injustice. The Creator and Master who has made all these life forms is also the One who has formulated, in His perfect wisdom and insight, the law that the lower form shall be the sustenance of the higher. The soil of the earth is food for trees and trees are food for animals and animals are food for human beings. There is no higher form of creation in this world, therefore, human beings cannot become food for anyone.</p>

Background of revelation and a summary of subjectsThis is the initial verse of Surah al-Ma'idah. As agreed upon, Surah al-Ma'idah is a Madani (Madinite) Surah and also the last among all Madani Chapters (Surah) so much so that some revered elders have identified this as the last Surah of the Qur'an itself. On the authority of narrations from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Umar and Sayyidah Asma' bint Yazid ؓ ، it appears in the Musnad of Ahmad that Surah al-Ma'idah was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ while in travel riding the she-camel named Adba'. As explained in the introduction to this Tafsir in Volume 1, there used to be a sense of being under some heavy weight, extraordinary and unexplained, at a time the Wahy (revelation) came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . So, this is what happened as customary. When the she-camel could bear the phenomenon of unusual weight no more, he dismounted from her back. This journey is obviously the journey he made to perform his last Hajj as supported by some relevant reports. The Last Hajj took place in the tenth year of Hijrah. After his return from there, his blessed life in the mortal world lasted for about eighty more days. In al-Bahr al-Muhit, commentator Ibn Hayyan has said that some portions of Surah al-Ma'idah were revealed during the journey of Hudaybiyah, some others during the journey of the Conquest of Makkah and still others during the journey of the Last Hajj. This tells us that Surah al-Ma'idah has been revealed during the final stages of the revelation of the Qur'an - though, it may not be the very last Surah.Ruh al-Ma'ani on the authority of Abu ` Ubaydh, cites a narration of ibn Habib and ` Atiyyah ibn Qays ؓ in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said:اَلمایدہ مِنَ اٰخر القران فاحلوا حلالھا حرمواحرامھاSurah al-Ma'idah is from what has been revealed towards the last stage of the revelation of the Qura'n. So, take what has been made lawful there as lawful forever and take what has been made unlawful there as unlawful forever.Referring to Mustadrak al-Hakim, Ibn Kathir cites a similar narration from Sayyidna Jubayr ibn Nufayr in which he has been reported to have called upon Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ soon after Hajj. She asked him: "Do you read Surah al-Ma'idah, 0 Jubayr?" He submitted: "I do." Sayyidah A'ishah ؓ then said: "This is the last Surah of Holy Qur'an. The injunctions about things lawful and unlawful in it are Muhkam (of established meaning). The probability of any abrogation (Naskh) does not exist there. So, be specially particular about them."Like Surah Al-Nis-a', Surah al-Ma'idah too carries many subsidiary injunctions relating to dealings and contracts. Accordingly, Ruh al-Ma` ani notices subject homogeneity in Surah al-Baqarah and Al-'Imran because both of them mostly feature injunctions relating to Principles, Doctrines, Unicity, Prophethood, Doomsday and similar other basic concerns of importance. As for subsidiary injunctions, they appear there as corollaries. Regarding Surah Al-Nis-a’ and Surah al-Ma'idah, it can be said that they are homogeneous subject-wise because both of them describe subsidiary injunctions. Any description of basic princi-ples appears there by implication. In Surah al-Nisa', emphasis has been laid on mutual dealings, particularly on rights servants of Allah have on each other (Huquq al-` Ibad). Then, in it, there are details of the rights of the husband and the wife, the rights of orphans and the rights of the parents and other relatives. In the very first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, there appears the instruction to stand by all dealings made and pledges given. The words of the Verse: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (0 those who believe, fulfill the contracts) command that all such commitments must be met. Therefore, Surah al-Ma'idah is also referred to as Surah al-` Uqud (Al-Bahr al-Muhit).This Surah, specially its opening verse, has a special bearing on matters relating to mutual dealings and contractual agreements. Therefore, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ sent Sayyidna ` Amru ibn Hazm ؓ as the ` Amil (Governor) of Yaman, he gave him a written decree of appointment at the head of which he had this verse written (Al Bahr al-Muhit).CommentaryThe first sentence of the first verse of this Surah is so comprehensive that its proper discussion would deservedly go beyond thousands of pages. In fact, Muslim scholars and jurists have done exactly that. The verse says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (0 those who believe, fulfill the contracts). Here, the very form of address: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ( O those who believe ...) helps to divert attention to the very crucial nature of the subject for the command being given here is centrally required by one's faith. Then comes the command: أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ (fulfill the contracts). The word, ` al-` uqud', used in the Qur'an is the plural form of al-'aqd, the literal meaning of which is to tie. A contract which ties two individuals or groups to each other is also known as ` aqd. Thus, al-` uqud takes the meaning of al-` uhud or contracts.Commentator Ibn Jarir has reported the consensus of revered exegetes among the Sahabah and Tabi'in on this approach. Imam al-Jassas explains that ` aqd (contract) or ` ahd (pledge) or Mu` ahadah (pact) are all applied to a transaction in which two parties have placed the responsibility of doing or not doing something on each other and to which both of them agree and are bound by. According to our recognized practice, this is what a contractual agreement is. Therefore, the essential meaning of the sentence is: Take the fulfilling of mutual contracts to be binding and necessary.Now, we have to determine the nature of contracts meant here. The interpretations of commentators appear to be different, though outwardly only. Some say that it refers to the Covenant of Allah under which His created beings are bound to believe in and obey Him, or they refer to pledges Allah has taken from His created beings regarding His revealed injunctions of things lawful and unlawful. This is what has been reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ۔ ؓ Others say that here it means the contracts people enter into with each other, such as, the Contract of Marriage and the Contract of Buying and Selling. Commentators Ibn Zayd and Zayd ibn Aslam have taken this very line of interpretation. Still others take contracts to mean sworn alliances and pacts which the tribes of Jahiliyyah entered into with each other for mutual assistance when needed. This is also the position taken by Commentators such as Mujahid, RabI' and Qatadah. But, the truth is that there is no contradiction or difference in what they have said. Instead, all these varied contracts come under the Qur'anic word, "al-` uqud", appearing in this verse and the instruction to fulfill all of them comes from the Qur'an itself.Therefore, Imam Raghib al-Isfahani has said that all kinds of contracts and binding agreements are included under the imperative of this word. He further divides these into three kinds as given below:1. The Covenant which human beings have with their Creator who is Lord of all the worlds, such as, the pledge to believe in Him, to obey Him, or to observe the restrictions imposed by Him on matters and things lawful and unlawful.2. The vow or promise or commitment one enters into with one's own self, such as, to commit to fulfill a vow (nadhr) for something, or to bind oneself on oath that something will be done.3. The contract that one human being enters with another which includes all contracts which bind two persons or two groups or parties or governments.So, in the light of this verse, strict adherence to all permissible provisions and conditions which have been mutually agreed upon is mandatory and all parties must observe and fulfill these. This covers all international pacts and treaties between governments, bilateral agreements, all commitments, alliances, charters between groups and parties, also all sorts of contracts and deals between two human beings ranging from marriage, business, partnership, leasing, gift deed to many other bi-partite human dealings. Please note that the restriction of ` permissible' imposed a little earlier has a reason, for entering into a contract against the dictates of the Shari'ah, or accepting it, is not permissible for anyone.The Logic of the LawfulAfter the initial declaration of the general rule in the first sentence of the verse, its particular details appear in the second sentence where it has been said: أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ (The cattle have been made lawful for you ...). The word, ` bahimah' (بَهِيمَةُ ) used here is applied to animals usually considered to be devoid of understanding because people usually do not understand their speech which thus remains obscure. Imam al-Sha` rani says: The name ` bahimah' is not given to an animal just be-cause it has no sense and everything sensible remains obscure for it - as people commonly think. But, the truth is that no animal or beast, not even trees and rocks, can be taken to be devoid of sense as such - of course, subject to the difference in its degrees. They do not have the same measure of sense as human beings do. This is the reason why human beings have been obligated to observe the percepts and injunctions revealed for them. Animals have not been so obligated, other-wise Allah has given to every animal sense and awareness within the limits of its needs - even to all trees and rocks, for that matter. This is why everything glorifies Allah in its own way: وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ : That is, ` there is nothing which does not but glorify Him with His praise' (17:44). How then, without sense, would it have ever recognized its creator and master and how would it have, thus, been able to engage in the act of glorifying Allah?The word, ` al-An` am', used in the text is the plural form of na'am (grazing livestock). Eight kinds of domestic animals or cattles such as the camel, the cow, the buffalow, the goat which have been described in Surah al-An'-am are called the An'-am. Since the word, ` bahimah' (animal) was general, the word, 'Al-An'-am' (the cattle) has made it particular. So, the meaning of the verse comes to be that ` eight kinds of domestic animals have been made lawful for you.' Under the discussion about the word, ` al-` uqud', you have already read a little earlier that it includes all kinds of contracts. One of these is the pledge Allah Almighty has taken from His created beings that they would observe the restrictions of the lawful and the unlawful. The present sentence is referring to this particular pledge when it says that Allah has made the cattle lawful for you and they can be eaten after having been slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic manner.Thus believers have been exhorted to obey this injunction by staying within its limits. They should not take it upon themselves, as do the fire-worshippers and the idolaters, to declare the very slaughter of these animals as absolutely unlawful, for this is raising an objection against the wisdom of the Creator and certainly an open ingratitude for His blessing. Nor should they become like some other meat-eating people who would, totally unfettered, go about eating all sorts of animals. Rather than do something like that, believers must eat from animals Allah Almighty has made lawful to eat under the Law given by Him. Similarly, they should abstain from animals which have been declared unlawful to eat. The reason is that Allah Almighty is the Creator of the Universe. He knows the nature and the properties of all animals and He is also aware of the effects they bring about when in the human body. He, in His grace, makes what is good and pure openly lawful for human consumption, things which leave no ill effects on physical health and moral strength. Similarly, He forbids unclean and impure animals which are either harmful for human health or contribute metabolically into the generation of evil morals. Therefore, there are a few things exempted from this general rule. These are as follows:1. The first exemption is contained إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ. It means: Except animals which have been declared unlawful in the Qur'an, that is, dead animal or the swine.2. The other exemption appears in: غَيْرَ‌ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُ‌مٌ Quadruped animals are lawful for you and wild game too. But nin the state when you have entered into the garments of Ihram with the intention of doing Hajj or ` Umrah, hunting becomes a crime and sin. Stay away from it.Living under the Authority and Wisdom of the CreatorTowards the end of the verse, it was said: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَحْكُمُ مَا يُرِ‌يدُ which means that Allah Almighty ordains what He wills. Nobody has the right to ask questions or take exception in obeying it. This statement is perhaps indicative of an element of wisdom - that the permission given to human beings to slaughter and eat some animals is no act of injustice. The Creator and Master who has made all these life forms is also the One who has formulated, in His perfect wisdom and insight, the law that the lower form shall be the sustenance of the higher. The soil of the earth is food for trees and trees are food for animals and animals are food for human beings. There is no higher form of creation in this world, therefore, human beings cannot become food for anyone.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُحِلُّوا۟ شَعَٰٓئِرَ ٱللَّهِ وَلَا ٱلشَّهْرَ ٱلْحَرَامَ وَلَا ٱلْهَدْىَ وَلَا ٱلْقَلَٰٓئِدَ وَلَآ ءَآمِّينَ ٱلْبَيْتَ ٱلْحَرَامَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرِضْوَٰنًا وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَٱصْطَادُوا۟ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا۟ وَتَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْبِرِّ وَٱلتَّقْوَىٰ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ

<p>Linkage of Verses</p><p>The first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah emphasized the fulfillment of contracts. Included among these contracts is the contract or pledge to abide by the restrictions of the lawful and the unlawful as ordained by Allah Almighty. The second verse cited here describes two important articles of this contract. The first relates to the sanctity of the signs, symbols or hallmarks of Allah with the specific instruction to stay away from desecrating them. The second article recommends an even-handed dispension of justice to everyone, your own or not your own, friend or foe, which has been combined with a corresponding prohibition of any counter injustice inflicted in return for some injustice done.</p><p>Background</p><p>There are some events which form the background of the revelation of these verses. Let us go to them first so that the subject of the verse becomes fully clear to us. One of these is the event of Hudaybiyah the details of which have been taken up by the Holy Qur'an elsewhere. This relates to the sixth year of Hijrah when the Holy Prophet g and his noble Companions decided to perform ` Umrah.</p><p>The Holy Prophet ﷺ entered into the Ihram of ` Umrah with more than one thousand of his Companions and left for Makkah al-Mu` azzamah. After having reached Hudaybiyah close to Makkah al-Mu` azzamah, he sent a message to the Makkans that he was coming in with his group to perform ` Umrah and not for any aggressive designs. He requested that they be allowed to perform ` Umrah. The disbelievers of Makkah, not only that they refused it, they put forward many hard conditions and challenged them to agree to a treaty which stipulated that all Muslims will undo their Ihram they were in at that time and go back. When they come next year to perform their ` Umrah, they would be required to come without any arms, stay for three days only, perform ` Umrah and leave. Besides these conditions, there were many others agreeing to which was obviously very much against the self-respect of Muslims. But, obeying the orders of the Holy Prophet ﷺ everyone returned in peace. After that, it was in the month of Dhu-al-Qa'dah of the Hijrah year 7 that this missed ` Umrah was performed again with full observance of the conditions imposed under the Treaty.</p><p>However, the events at Hudaybiyah and the insulting conditions imposed there had planted seeds of discord in the hearts of the Companions against the disbelievers of Makkah. Then there came up the other incident when Hatim ibn Hind, one of the disbelievers of Makkah, came to Madinah al-Tayyibah with his trading goods. After having sold his goods, he left his baggage and his attendant outside Madinah and came to visit the Holy Prophet ﷺ and expressed his desire to enter the fold of Islam, in all hypocrisy, so that Muslims are satisfied. But, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had, well before he came to him, told his Companions on the strength of revelation that a man was coming to them who would talk in the words of the Satan. And when he went away, he said that the man came with disbelief and returned with deception and treason. Leaving the company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، this man went straight out of Madinah where the livestock of the people of Madinah were grazing. He drove them away with him. The noble Companions ؓ came to know about this somewhat late. When they went out after him, he was gone out of their reach. Then it was in the seventh year of Hijrah, when they were going with the Holy Prophet ﷺ to perform the Qada' of ` Umrah they had missed at Hudaybiyah, they heard someone reciting Talbiyyah at some distance. When they looked, they discovered that the same Hatim ibn Hind who had decamped with the animals belonging to the people of Madinah was right there going for ` Umrah with the same animals going with him as sacrificial animals. At that time, the noble Companions ؓ thought of attacking him and taking their animals back by killing him off right there.</p><p>The third event came to pass in the eighth year of Hijrah when Makkah al-Mukarramah was conquered in Ramadan a1-Mubarak and the entire Arabian Peninsula came under Islamic rule. The disbelievers of Makkah were set free by the Holy Prophet ﷺ without any revenge. They went about doing everything they used to do with complete freedom to the extent that they even kept observing their 'pagan customs of Hajj and ` Umrah too. At that time some noble Companions thought of taking their revenge for what had happened at Hudaybiyah. These people had stopped them from doing ` Umrah to which they were entitled on all counts, as permissible and justified. Why, they thought, should they now allow their Hajj and 'Umrah, on any count which were all impermissible and unjustified? Why not attack them, take their animals and finish them off?</p><p>These events have been narrated by Ibn Jarir on the authority of ` Ikrimah and al-Suddi. It was on the basis of some of these events that the present verse was revealed. Through it, Muslims were told that holding the signs of Allah in esteem was their own bounden duty. Malice and hostility against an enemy was no reason to disturb this standing rule. This was absolutely impermissible. Even fighting during the sacred months was not permissible. Also not permissible was stopping sacrificial animals from reaching the Haram or taking them away forcibly. As for the disbelievers who have donned the Ihram garments and who, in their estimation, have embarked on their pilgrimage to seek the good pleasure of Allah Almighty (though, because of their disbelief, this is a mistaken notion, yet) the sanctity of the signs of Allah demands that they should not be confronted in any way. Then there was the case of people who had stopped their ` Umrah. Any effort to avenge their past hostility against Muslims in the form of Muslims stopping Muslims from performing their rites of Ha them was not permissible. This is so because this amounts to Muslims doing an injustice in return for an injustice to them which was not permissible in Islam. We can now go to a detailed explanation of the verse.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>The first sentence of the Verse says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (0 those who believe, do not violate [ the sanctity on the Marks of Allah). Here the word, شَعَائِرَ‌ Sha` a'ir has been translated as ` Marks.' This is the plural form of Sha'irah which means mark, sign or symbol. Therefore, Sha` air and Sha'irah signify things perceptible through the senses which symbolize something. As such the Marks (Sha` a'ir) of Islam would be deeds and actions recognized as symbolic of one's being Muslim in faith. These are quite common such as Salah, Adhan, Hajj, Circumcision and Beard in accordance with the Sunnah. The Tafslr or explanation of the Qur’ anic expression شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (Sha` a'irullah: The Marks of Allah) as it appears in this verse has been reported in varying words. But, the clearest of them is what has been reported from Hasan al-Basri (رح) and 'Ata' on whom both be the mercy of Allah. Imam al-Jassas finds their statement as a compendium of all explanations. According to this statement, "Sha'a'irullah" means all obligations the limits of which have been set forth by the Shari'ah of Islam. In this verse, the essence of the meaning is that one should not violate the sanctity of the marks of Allah. One form of such violation could be a total dismissal of what one has been obligated with. Under the second form, one may act in accordance with these obligations by electing to obey some injunctions and leave out others ending up with a compliance which remains incomplete. A third form could be that one starts transgressing the appointed limits and keeps going farther beyond. The Qur'anic statement: لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (do not violate [ the sanctity on the Marks of Allah) forbids all these three forms.</p><p>The Holy Qur'an gives the same instruction elsewhere in a different mode as follows:</p><p>وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ</p><p>And whoever exalts the Marks of Allah, then this is from the fear of Allah in hearts. (22:32)</p><p>The part of the sentence which follows in the verse under study gives details of a particular kind of the Marks of Allah, that is, the Marks that concern the rites of Hajj.</p><p>The text says:</p><p>وَلَا الشَّهْرَ‌ الْحَرَ‌امَ وَلَا الْهَدْيَ وَلَا الْقَلَائِدَ وَلَا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَ‌امَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّ‌بِّهِمْ وَرِ‌ضْوَانًا</p><p>It means: Do not violate its sanctity by fighting and killing during the months in which it is prohibited. This refers to the four months during which mutual fighting was legally prohibited. They are Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. Later on, this injunction was abrogated as agreed under the overwhelming consensus of ` Ulama'. In addition to this, command was given that there should be no violation of the sanctity of sacrificial animals within the Haram of Makkah, specially of the band round their necks placed there as a symbol of sacrifice. One form of violating the sanctity of these animals could be that they are stopped from reaching the Haram or are snatched away. The second form could be that of using the animals for a purpose other than sacrifice, such as using them to ride or milk. The verse has declared all these form as impermissible.</p><p>The text then prohibits the violation of the sanctity of those who have left their homes to embark on a journey to al-Masjid al-Haram with the intention of performing Hajj - for their purpose on this journey is to seek the blessing and pleasure of their Lord. Not violating the sanctity of such people means that they should neither be stopped during their journey nor should any pain be caused to them.</p><p>After that it was said: وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَادُوا . It means: And when you get released from the Ihram, you may hunt. In other words, the limit of the prohibition of hunting during the state of Ihram appearing in the first verse has been declared by saying that your release from the Ihram neutralizes the in-Ihram prohibition of hunting which has now become permissible.</p><p>Being delineated in the verse under reference is a particular part of the contract which is operative between every human being and the Lord of all the worlds. Some of it has already been identified upto this point. The first out of these is the instruction to uphold the inviolable dignity of the Marks of Allah as sacrosanct and to guard against any chances of their being desecrated. Then come some details concerning the Marks of Allah which belong to Hajj. Here, the instruction given is that nothing should be done to stop them and that effort should be made to stay away from any action which desecrates them.</p><p>The statement which follows after that takes up the second part of the contract in the following words: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَ‌امِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا . It means: There were those people who had stopped you from entering Makkah and performing your ` Umrah and after that event at Hudaybiyah, you were returning all sad and angered. Now that you have power in your hands, let things not turn in a way that you start taking revenge for what happened in the past by stopping them from entering the House of Allah and the Sacred Mosque and performing their Hajj - because this is injustice and Islam does not favour avenging injustice by inflicting counter injustice. Instead of that, it teaches the doing of justice in return for injustice done and upholding it under all odds. It is true that those people, under the sway of their power_ and position at that time, had stopped Muslims from entering the Sacred Mosque and performing ` Umrah, quite unjustly indeed. But, the retaliation for this injustice can hardly be that Muslims now go about using their power to stop them from carrying out their Hajj rites.</p><p>The Qur'an teaches that friend and foe should be treated equally on the scale of justice. It commands Muslims to do nothing but justice as a matter of obligation, no matter how deadly the enemy and no matter how serious the pain inflicted. That Islam guards the rights of enemies is certainly one of the peculiar qualities of Islam which does not answer one injustice by another, rather elects to do justice in return.</p><p>The Qur'anic Principle of Mutual Cooperation and Assistance</p><p>وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ‌ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ</p><p>And help each other in righteousness and piety, and do not help each other in sin and aggression. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is severe at punishment.</p><p>This is the last sentence of the second verse of Surah al-Ma'idah. Here, the Holy Qur'an has given such a wise verdict on an elemental question of human life that it can be confidently taken as the moving spirit behind any reliable world order on which depends the prosperity and survival of all human beings. As such, acting in accordance with the Qur'anic principle of Mutual Cooperation and Assistance is the only way to the betterment of the human beings. Every sensible per-son already realizes that things get done in our world through the cooperative efforts of all human beings. This is how the system keeps running. A solitary person, no matter how smart, powerful or rich, cannot procure what he needs to sustain his life single-handedly. One lone person cannot go through all the stages of growing and processing his ready-to-eat food, nor can he cope up with the countless steps required in growing cotton, manufacturing cloth and having a dress pre-pared to fit his measurements, nor can he move his things from one place to the other. Thus, it is not difficult to see that every human being needs hundreds and thousands of others to run his life. This mutual cooperation of theirs is what keeps the whole system going. Incidentally, this cooperation is not limited to the life of the world of our experience, it is also needed in the stages from death to burial – even beyond, when one remains depending upon those he left behind and who may pray for his forgiveness and do things the reward of which keeps reaching him after his death.</p><p>Great is the majesty of Allah who, in His perfect wisdom and power, set up such a formidable system of this world, a system where every human being needs the other. The poor man needs the rich while the richest of the rich need the poor worker to handle jobs with labour and skill. The traders need consumers and consumers need traders. The home owner needs a team of technicians having expertise in many areas in order to build a house and they, in turn, need him. If this universal element of need was not there and mutual assistance remained dependant on moral superiority of persons and parties, just imagine who would have been working for whom. The whole thing would have fallen flat for we have been seeing what has happened to common moral virtues and ethical values in this world of ours. Even if this division of labour could have been enforced as some law made by some government or international organization, the fate it would have met would have been no different than the fate of all sorts of laws proliferating the many national and international forums of the world where the law rests at peace in acts while the bazars and offices are run by shadow laws of bribery, nepotism, neglect of duty and apathy of application. We have to salute the framework of doing things given to us by the wisest of the wise, the power of the powers, who placed in the hearts of people of different inclinations to have the ability and desire to run their lives with a particular line of work as its pivot. Had it been otherwise and some international organization or a government chose to assign fields of work among people making someone a carpenter, others iron-mongers or janitors or managers of water and food supplies, who would have become so obedient to such commands from governments and institutions as to sacrifice all personal considerations and jump right into the line of work chosen for them?</p><p>So, it is Allah Almighty who has put into man's heart the inclination towards and liking for whatever work or role for which He has created him. Now he takes the service he is doing as his lifework without any legal compulsion and it is through this that he earns his living. The end product of this firmly established system is that all human needs are easily satisfied at the cost of small cash. It may be ready-to-eat food or ready-to-wear clothes or ready-to-use furniture or a turn-key home - one can buy all this at some affordable price. Without the benefit of this system, even a billionaire would have failed to acquire a single grain of wheat despite being ready to stake all his wealth. In order to visualize the outcome of this natural system, think of one of your stays in a hotel where you enjoy the benefit of so many things without blinking. Only if you were to analyze how this works, you will notice that the food you eat there is comprised of courses featuring eatables and seasonings from many countries, china and cutlery and furniture from many more, and managers, chefs and stewards from still others. The tiny morsel of food which reaches your mouth is the result of the combined contribution of millions of machines, animals and human beings - and it is only after that, that you have been able to pamper your palate. Take another example. You come out of the house to go to some place a few miles away. You may either cannot walk all that distance or you do not have the time to do so. You find a taxi cab or a bus nearby without realizing that these vehicles have been assembled with components from many parts of the world and with drivers and conductors from as many. What things and what people stand there to wait on you and serve you! Just pay the fare and be on your way! No government has forced them to provide these for you. Working behind this scheme of things is the natural law ingrained into the human heart as a creational imperative by none but the great master of all hearts Himself.</p><p>Not far is the example of what the socialist countries did when they did away with this natural arrangement by taking over the function of telling people what they will do in their lives. In order to do this, they had to, first of all, do away with human freedom through co-ercion and injustice resulting in the killing and imprisonment of thou-sands and thousands of people. Those who remained behind were coerced into working like the parts of a machine, as a result of which, it can be conceded that production did increase at some places, but it must also be granted at the same time that this increase came at the cost of a gross demolition of the free choice of human beings. Thus, the deal did not turn out to be economical. Look at the natural arrangement in contrast. Here, everyone is free and restricted at the same time - restricted in the sense of being devoted to particular jobs and roles on the basis of natural dispension of dispositions. Since this restriction or compulsion comes from nowhere but from natural disposition, nobody feels being coerced. People who would themselves come forward to do the toughest labour or the most menial job, people who would even make efforts to get such jobs, are found everywhere during all times. The same people would, if a government started forcing them to do these jobs, just start running away from it en masse.</p><p>In a nutshell, the universal world order revolves round mutual cooperation. But, let us not forget the other side of the picture which is very much there. For example, if this mutual cooperation were to be seriously practiced to carry out activities of crime, theft, robbery, kill-ing and vandalization resulting in big, powerful and organized associations of thieves and robbers, then, this very mutual cooperation can destroy the whole system. This tells us that mutual cooperation is a two-edged sword which cannot only hurt you but it can also knock out the universal order of things. Since the world we live in a mix of good and bad, it was not unlikely that people would start using the power of mutual cooperation to infest human society with crimes, killings, destruction and general loss. Incidentally, this is no more a matter of likelihood, instead, it is an open fact of life for the whole world to see. Thus, it was as a reaction to this situation that theorists of the world laid the foundation of groups and nations based on different ideologies in order to have security for themselves. The idea was to use the power of mutual cooperation in favour of a particular group or people by offering an allied defence against another group or people who attacked them.</p><p>The Formation of Separate Nations</p><p>According to ` Abd al-Karim al-Shahristani in Al-Milal-wa-al-Nihal, in the beginning when human population was not much, four nations came into being in terms of East, West, North and South. People living in each of these directions started taking themselves as one nation while taking others as other nations. And it was on this basis that they established their mutual cooperation. Later, when the population of the world became larger, the idea of nationalism and multilaterism on the basis of genealogy, family ties and tribal affiliations became a working principle among peoples of all directions. The whole system of Arabia rested on the basis of such tribal and genealogical affinities, so much so that these were sufficient grounds to go to wars against each other. Banu Hashim was one nation, Banu Tamim was another and Banu Khuza` ah still another. Among the Hindus in India, this di-vision on the basis of the high caste and the low caste still persists unchanged.</p><p>The modern period of European nations did nothing to retain their genealogical distinction, nor did they give any credence to the genealogical peculiarities of the rest of the world. When they gained ascendency in the world, all genealogical and tribal groupings were eliminated, separate nations were raised on the basis of regions, provinces, homelands and languages - almost by placing a piece of humanity on each such altar. The fact is that this is the form that prevails in most parts of the world. The limit is that Muslims too - of all the peoples the least likely - fell a victim to this modern voodoo of community organization. As if the division as Arabs, Turks, Iraqis and Sindhis were not enough, they went on dividing and sub-dividing themselves into Egyptians, Syrians, Hijazis, Najdis, Panjabis, Bangalis, and so many others who started identifying themselves as separate nations or nationalities or peoples. Since all affairs of their governments were run on this basis, regional or provincial prejudice went deep into their response patterns and peoples of all regions or provinces began relating to each other on this basis - that became their idea of mutual cooperation.</p><p>The Teaching of the Qur'an about Nationalism and Universalism</p><p>Then came the Holy Qur'an reminding human beings of the lesson they had forgotten. The initial verses of Surah al-Nis-a' clearly declared that all human beings are the children of one father and mother. The noble Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ made this all the more clear when he publicly announced during the famous address of his last Hajj that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab nor a white to a black. Superiority depends on nothing but Taqwa, on the fear of Allah and obedience to Him. It was this teaching of the Qur'an which gave the call of "إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ " (Believers are brothers - 49:10) and it was in one stroke that the jet blacks of Ethiopia were related to the reds of Turkey and Byzantium and the lineally less endowed non-Arabs to the Qurayshi and Hashmi Arabs as brothers to each other. The concept of nation and brotherhood was established on the basis that those who believe in Allah and His Rasul are one nation and those who do not so believe are the other. It was this foundation which cut asunder the family ties of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab from the noble Prophet ﷺ while joining it with Sayyidna Bilal ؓ from Ethiopia and Sayyidna Suhayb ؓ from Byzantium. Finally, came the proclamation of the Qur'an: خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ‌ وَمِنكُم مُّؤْمِنٌ (64:2). It means that Allah created all human beings, then, they split in two groups - some became disbelievers and some others became believers. A practical demonstration of this Qur'anic classification was visible during the battles of Badr, Uhud, Ahzab and Hunayn when a blood brother who elected to stay away from the obedience of Allah and His Rasul found that his bond of mutual coopera-tion with his believing brother stood severed and he could no longer escape the stroke of his believing brother's sword.</p><p>Stated in the verse of the Qur'an cited above: وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ‌ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ is this very principle of mutual cooperation and assistance. Being so reasonable and correct, it exhorts people to cooperate in deeds which are righteous and matters which are motivated by the fear of Allah and forbids them from extending their cooperation to anything sinful and aggressive. Just consider that the noble Qur'an has not suggested here that one should cooperate with Muslim brothers and not with non-Muslims. Instead of that, it declares that righteousness and the fear of Allah are the bases on which cooperation is to be extended for this is the real foundation on which rests any cooperation among Muslims themselves. It clearly means that no help is to be ex-tended even to a Muslim brother if he is acting contrary to truth or is advancing towards injustice and aggression. Rather than help him in what is false and unjust, effort should be made to hold his hands against indulging in the false and the unjust for this, in reality, is helping him at its best - so that his present life as well as his life in the Hereafter is not ruined.</p><p>According to a narration from Sayyidna Anas appearing in the Sahih of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said: اں صراخاک ظالماً او مظلوماً (That is: Help your brother, just or unjust). His Companions ؓ who were soaked in the teaching of the Qur'an were surprised. They asked: ` Ya Rasul Allah (0 Messenger of Allah) as for helping the oppressed brother, that we understand. But, what does helping the oppressor mean? He said: Stop him from doing injustice - this is helping him.</p><p>This teaching of the Qur'an helped establish that righteousness بِرّ (birr) and the fear of Allah (Taqwa) are the real criterions on which it raised the edifice of Muslim nationalism and to which it invited the peoples of the world as the common denominator of mutual cooperation and assistance. Contrary to this were sin and aggression (ithm اِثم and عُدوان ` udwan) which were declared to be serious crimes and cooperation in these was prohibited. To describe the positive criterions, two separate words of Birr and Taqwa were used. According, to a consensus of commentators, the word, Birr at this place means the doing of deeds which are good. This has been translated here as righteousness. The word, Taqwa means abstinence from what is evil. The word, ithm اِثم has been used here in an absolute sense meaning sin and disobedience, whether it relates to rights or acts of worship. As for ` Udwan, it lexically means the crossing of limits, that is, injustice and aggression.</p><p>About cooperating in what is righteousness and the fear of Allah, the Holy Prophet ؓ said: الدلال علی الخیر کفاعلی which means: The reward of the person who shows someone the path of righteousness is very much the same as if it was taken personally. Ibn Kathir has re-ported this hadith with reference to al-Bazzar. In addition to that, it appears in the Sahib of al-Bukhari that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that whoever invites people to true guidance and righteous conduct shall receive a reward equal to all those who would heed to the call and act right - without the least cut from the reward of such people. As for the one who invites people to the path of error or sin, he or she will be earning the same amount of sin fully equal to the sins of all those who got involved with the filth of sin because of the inviter to sin - without any decrease in the count of such sins.</p><p>Citing Tabarani, reports Ibn Kathir: The Holy Prophet ﷺ said that anyone who joins up with an unjust person to assist him goes out of the fold of Islam. It is on the basis of this guidance that the righteous elders of the community have strictly abstained from accepting any office or service in the courts of unjust rulers - for this amounts to assisting them in their acts of injustice. Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani, while explaining the noble verse: فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرً‌ا لِّلْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ ' I will never be a helper for the criminals - 28:17', has reported a hadith in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said that a call will go forth on the Day of Judgment citing the oppressors and the unjust and their helpers, so much so that all those who have handled chores even as insignificant as setting up the pens and inkpots of the unjust and the oppressive will all be rammed into a steel coffin and thrown into the Hell.</p><p>This is the teaching of the Qur'an and Sunnah which aimed at spreading the virtues of righteousness, justice, sympathy and good mannerliness throughout the world by presenting every single individual of the community as a living herald and model of the truth. And conversely, in order to eradicate crimes, injustices and oppressions, the same teaching had converted every member of the community into a kind of soldier who was bound to do his duty under all circumstances, whether watched or unwatched - because of the fear of Allah in his heart. The whole world saw the outcome of this wise teaching and grooming during the blessed period of the noble Companions ؓ and their Successors. Even in our day, when war threatens a certain country, departments of civil defence are established which impart some level of training for all its citizens. But, nothing of the sort gets done when it comes to the eradication of crimes, to making people promoters of good and blockers of evil. It is obvious that an objective like this can-not be achieved by military parades or civil defence exercises. This is the ultimate art of living which can only be learnt and practiced in educational institutions which, unfortunately, seem to have become strangers to spiritual and social refinements. This is very much true about the great qualities of righteousness and the fear of Allah which seem to be all banned in modern day educational institutions while the admittance of sin and high-handedness is all too open. What can the police do when a whole people throw away the concerns of the law-ful and the unlawful and the right and the wrong on their backs and turn crime-oriented? Today we see the graph of crime rising high - theft, robbery, sexual offences, killings and destructions are taking place everywhere. That the legal machinery can do nothing to root out these crimes is because of their failure to take advantage of the Qur'anic solution suggested above, that is, the governments are far removed from this Qur'anic system, and that they, particularly those who hold power into their hands, demur from adopting the principle of righteousness and the fear of Allah as the aim of their life - even though they have to face a thousand other hardships as a result of such avoidance. It may be interesting if such deviationists would swallow their pride at least for once, even if this be on a trial basis. Let them, then, witness the spectacle of the power of Allah and how it blesses them and their people with good life filled with the best of peace and comfort.</p><p>On the other side, there were the masses of people who took it for granted that the eradication of crimes is the exclusive responsibility of the government. In fact, they have become used to keeping crimes covered up. The idea of coming up with true witnesses to confirm truth and eliminate crime is no more a favoured practice among them. Such people must understand that covering up the crime of the criminal and avoiding to put their witness on record is an, abetment of crime which, according to the Holy Qur'an, is Haram (unlawful) and a grave sin in-deed. Furthermore, it is also a flagrant disobedience of the Divine command: وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ (And help each other in righteousness and piety, and do not help each other in sin and aggression) (5:2).</p>

Linkage of VersesThe first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah emphasized the fulfillment of contracts. Included among these contracts is the contract or pledge to abide by the restrictions of the lawful and the unlawful as ordained by Allah Almighty. The second verse cited here describes two important articles of this contract. The first relates to the sanctity of the signs, symbols or hallmarks of Allah with the specific instruction to stay away from desecrating them. The second article recommends an even-handed dispension of justice to everyone, your own or not your own, friend or foe, which has been combined with a corresponding prohibition of any counter injustice inflicted in return for some injustice done.BackgroundThere are some events which form the background of the revelation of these verses. Let us go to them first so that the subject of the verse becomes fully clear to us. One of these is the event of Hudaybiyah the details of which have been taken up by the Holy Qur'an elsewhere. This relates to the sixth year of Hijrah when the Holy Prophet g and his noble Companions decided to perform ` Umrah.The Holy Prophet ﷺ entered into the Ihram of ` Umrah with more than one thousand of his Companions and left for Makkah al-Mu` azzamah. After having reached Hudaybiyah close to Makkah al-Mu` azzamah, he sent a message to the Makkans that he was coming in with his group to perform ` Umrah and not for any aggressive designs. He requested that they be allowed to perform ` Umrah. The disbelievers of Makkah, not only that they refused it, they put forward many hard conditions and challenged them to agree to a treaty which stipulated that all Muslims will undo their Ihram they were in at that time and go back. When they come next year to perform their ` Umrah, they would be required to come without any arms, stay for three days only, perform ` Umrah and leave. Besides these conditions, there were many others agreeing to which was obviously very much against the self-respect of Muslims. But, obeying the orders of the Holy Prophet ﷺ everyone returned in peace. After that, it was in the month of Dhu-al-Qa'dah of the Hijrah year 7 that this missed ` Umrah was performed again with full observance of the conditions imposed under the Treaty.However, the events at Hudaybiyah and the insulting conditions imposed there had planted seeds of discord in the hearts of the Companions against the disbelievers of Makkah. Then there came up the other incident when Hatim ibn Hind, one of the disbelievers of Makkah, came to Madinah al-Tayyibah with his trading goods. After having sold his goods, he left his baggage and his attendant outside Madinah and came to visit the Holy Prophet ﷺ and expressed his desire to enter the fold of Islam, in all hypocrisy, so that Muslims are satisfied. But, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had, well before he came to him, told his Companions on the strength of revelation that a man was coming to them who would talk in the words of the Satan. And when he went away, he said that the man came with disbelief and returned with deception and treason. Leaving the company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، this man went straight out of Madinah where the livestock of the people of Madinah were grazing. He drove them away with him. The noble Companions ؓ came to know about this somewhat late. When they went out after him, he was gone out of their reach. Then it was in the seventh year of Hijrah, when they were going with the Holy Prophet ﷺ to perform the Qada' of ` Umrah they had missed at Hudaybiyah, they heard someone reciting Talbiyyah at some distance. When they looked, they discovered that the same Hatim ibn Hind who had decamped with the animals belonging to the people of Madinah was right there going for ` Umrah with the same animals going with him as sacrificial animals. At that time, the noble Companions ؓ thought of attacking him and taking their animals back by killing him off right there.The third event came to pass in the eighth year of Hijrah when Makkah al-Mukarramah was conquered in Ramadan a1-Mubarak and the entire Arabian Peninsula came under Islamic rule. The disbelievers of Makkah were set free by the Holy Prophet ﷺ without any revenge. They went about doing everything they used to do with complete freedom to the extent that they even kept observing their 'pagan customs of Hajj and ` Umrah too. At that time some noble Companions thought of taking their revenge for what had happened at Hudaybiyah. These people had stopped them from doing ` Umrah to which they were entitled on all counts, as permissible and justified. Why, they thought, should they now allow their Hajj and 'Umrah, on any count which were all impermissible and unjustified? Why not attack them, take their animals and finish them off?These events have been narrated by Ibn Jarir on the authority of ` Ikrimah and al-Suddi. It was on the basis of some of these events that the present verse was revealed. Through it, Muslims were told that holding the signs of Allah in esteem was their own bounden duty. Malice and hostility against an enemy was no reason to disturb this standing rule. This was absolutely impermissible. Even fighting during the sacred months was not permissible. Also not permissible was stopping sacrificial animals from reaching the Haram or taking them away forcibly. As for the disbelievers who have donned the Ihram garments and who, in their estimation, have embarked on their pilgrimage to seek the good pleasure of Allah Almighty (though, because of their disbelief, this is a mistaken notion, yet) the sanctity of the signs of Allah demands that they should not be confronted in any way. Then there was the case of people who had stopped their ` Umrah. Any effort to avenge their past hostility against Muslims in the form of Muslims stopping Muslims from performing their rites of Ha them was not permissible. This is so because this amounts to Muslims doing an injustice in return for an injustice to them which was not permissible in Islam. We can now go to a detailed explanation of the verse.CommentaryThe first sentence of the Verse says: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (0 those who believe, do not violate [ the sanctity on the Marks of Allah). Here the word, شَعَائِرَ‌ Sha` a'ir has been translated as ` Marks.' This is the plural form of Sha'irah which means mark, sign or symbol. Therefore, Sha` air and Sha'irah signify things perceptible through the senses which symbolize something. As such the Marks (Sha` a'ir) of Islam would be deeds and actions recognized as symbolic of one's being Muslim in faith. These are quite common such as Salah, Adhan, Hajj, Circumcision and Beard in accordance with the Sunnah. The Tafslr or explanation of the Qur’ anic expression شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (Sha` a'irullah: The Marks of Allah) as it appears in this verse has been reported in varying words. But, the clearest of them is what has been reported from Hasan al-Basri (رح) and 'Ata' on whom both be the mercy of Allah. Imam al-Jassas finds their statement as a compendium of all explanations. According to this statement, "Sha'a'irullah" means all obligations the limits of which have been set forth by the Shari'ah of Islam. In this verse, the essence of the meaning is that one should not violate the sanctity of the marks of Allah. One form of such violation could be a total dismissal of what one has been obligated with. Under the second form, one may act in accordance with these obligations by electing to obey some injunctions and leave out others ending up with a compliance which remains incomplete. A third form could be that one starts transgressing the appointed limits and keeps going farther beyond. The Qur'anic statement: لَا تُحِلُّوا شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ (do not violate [ the sanctity on the Marks of Allah) forbids all these three forms.The Holy Qur'an gives the same instruction elsewhere in a different mode as follows:وَمَن يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ‌ اللَّـهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِAnd whoever exalts the Marks of Allah, then this is from the fear of Allah in hearts. (22:32)The part of the sentence which follows in the verse under study gives details of a particular kind of the Marks of Allah, that is, the Marks that concern the rites of Hajj.The text says:وَلَا الشَّهْرَ‌ الْحَرَ‌امَ وَلَا الْهَدْيَ وَلَا الْقَلَائِدَ وَلَا آمِّينَ الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَ‌امَ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّن رَّ‌بِّهِمْ وَرِ‌ضْوَانًاIt means: Do not violate its sanctity by fighting and killing during the months in which it is prohibited. This refers to the four months during which mutual fighting was legally prohibited. They are Dhul-Qa'dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. Later on, this injunction was abrogated as agreed under the overwhelming consensus of ` Ulama'. In addition to this, command was given that there should be no violation of the sanctity of sacrificial animals within the Haram of Makkah, specially of the band round their necks placed there as a symbol of sacrifice. One form of violating the sanctity of these animals could be that they are stopped from reaching the Haram or are snatched away. The second form could be that of using the animals for a purpose other than sacrifice, such as using them to ride or milk. The verse has declared all these form as impermissible.The text then prohibits the violation of the sanctity of those who have left their homes to embark on a journey to al-Masjid al-Haram with the intention of performing Hajj - for their purpose on this journey is to seek the blessing and pleasure of their Lord. Not violating the sanctity of such people means that they should neither be stopped during their journey nor should any pain be caused to them.After that it was said: وَإِذَا حَلَلْتُمْ فَاصْطَادُوا . It means: And when you get released from the Ihram, you may hunt. In other words, the limit of the prohibition of hunting during the state of Ihram appearing in the first verse has been declared by saying that your release from the Ihram neutralizes the in-Ihram prohibition of hunting which has now become permissible.Being delineated in the verse under reference is a particular part of the contract which is operative between every human being and the Lord of all the worlds. Some of it has already been identified upto this point. The first out of these is the instruction to uphold the inviolable dignity of the Marks of Allah as sacrosanct and to guard against any chances of their being desecrated. Then come some details concerning the Marks of Allah which belong to Hajj. Here, the instruction given is that nothing should be done to stop them and that effort should be made to stay away from any action which desecrates them.The statement which follows after that takes up the second part of the contract in the following words: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ أَن صَدُّوكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَ‌امِ أَن تَعْتَدُوا . It means: There were those people who had stopped you from entering Makkah and performing your ` Umrah and after that event at Hudaybiyah, you were returning all sad and angered. Now that you have power in your hands, let things not turn in a way that you start taking revenge for what happened in the past by stopping them from entering the House of Allah and the Sacred Mosque and performing their Hajj - because this is injustice and Islam does not favour avenging injustice by inflicting counter injustice. Instead of that, it teaches the doing of justice in return for injustice done and upholding it under all odds. It is true that those people, under the sway of their power_ and position at that time, had stopped Muslims from entering the Sacred Mosque and performing ` Umrah, quite unjustly indeed. But, the retaliation for this injustice can hardly be that Muslims now go about using their power to stop them from carrying out their Hajj rites.The Qur'an teaches that friend and foe should be treated equally on the scale of justice. It commands Muslims to do nothing but justice as a matter of obligation, no matter how deadly the enemy and no matter how serious the pain inflicted. That Islam guards the rights of enemies is certainly one of the peculiar qualities of Islam which does not answer one injustice by another, rather elects to do justice in return.The Qur'anic Principle of Mutual Cooperation and Assistanceوَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ‌ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِAnd help each other in righteousness and piety, and do not help each other in sin and aggression. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is severe at punishment.This is the last sentence of the second verse of Surah al-Ma'idah. Here, the Holy Qur'an has given such a wise verdict on an elemental question of human life that it can be confidently taken as the moving spirit behind any reliable world order on which depends the prosperity and survival of all human beings. As such, acting in accordance with the Qur'anic principle of Mutual Cooperation and Assistance is the only way to the betterment of the human beings. Every sensible per-son already realizes that things get done in our world through the cooperative efforts of all human beings. This is how the system keeps running. A solitary person, no matter how smart, powerful or rich, cannot procure what he needs to sustain his life single-handedly. One lone person cannot go through all the stages of growing and processing his ready-to-eat food, nor can he cope up with the countless steps required in growing cotton, manufacturing cloth and having a dress pre-pared to fit his measurements, nor can he move his things from one place to the other. Thus, it is not difficult to see that every human being needs hundreds and thousands of others to run his life. This mutual cooperation of theirs is what keeps the whole system going. Incidentally, this cooperation is not limited to the life of the world of our experience, it is also needed in the stages from death to burial – even beyond, when one remains depending upon those he left behind and who may pray for his forgiveness and do things the reward of which keeps reaching him after his death.Great is the majesty of Allah who, in His perfect wisdom and power, set up such a formidable system of this world, a system where every human being needs the other. The poor man needs the rich while the richest of the rich need the poor worker to handle jobs with labour and skill. The traders need consumers and consumers need traders. The home owner needs a team of technicians having expertise in many areas in order to build a house and they, in turn, need him. If this universal element of need was not there and mutual assistance remained dependant on moral superiority of persons and parties, just imagine who would have been working for whom. The whole thing would have fallen flat for we have been seeing what has happened to common moral virtues and ethical values in this world of ours. Even if this division of labour could have been enforced as some law made by some government or international organization, the fate it would have met would have been no different than the fate of all sorts of laws proliferating the many national and international forums of the world where the law rests at peace in acts while the bazars and offices are run by shadow laws of bribery, nepotism, neglect of duty and apathy of application. We have to salute the framework of doing things given to us by the wisest of the wise, the power of the powers, who placed in the hearts of people of different inclinations to have the ability and desire to run their lives with a particular line of work as its pivot. Had it been otherwise and some international organization or a government chose to assign fields of work among people making someone a carpenter, others iron-mongers or janitors or managers of water and food supplies, who would have become so obedient to such commands from governments and institutions as to sacrifice all personal considerations and jump right into the line of work chosen for them?So, it is Allah Almighty who has put into man's heart the inclination towards and liking for whatever work or role for which He has created him. Now he takes the service he is doing as his lifework without any legal compulsion and it is through this that he earns his living. The end product of this firmly established system is that all human needs are easily satisfied at the cost of small cash. It may be ready-to-eat food or ready-to-wear clothes or ready-to-use furniture or a turn-key home - one can buy all this at some affordable price. Without the benefit of this system, even a billionaire would have failed to acquire a single grain of wheat despite being ready to stake all his wealth. In order to visualize the outcome of this natural system, think of one of your stays in a hotel where you enjoy the benefit of so many things without blinking. Only if you were to analyze how this works, you will notice that the food you eat there is comprised of courses featuring eatables and seasonings from many countries, china and cutlery and furniture from many more, and managers, chefs and stewards from still others. The tiny morsel of food which reaches your mouth is the result of the combined contribution of millions of machines, animals and human beings - and it is only after that, that you have been able to pamper your palate. Take another example. You come out of the house to go to some place a few miles away. You may either cannot walk all that distance or you do not have the time to do so. You find a taxi cab or a bus nearby without realizing that these vehicles have been assembled with components from many parts of the world and with drivers and conductors from as many. What things and what people stand there to wait on you and serve you! Just pay the fare and be on your way! No government has forced them to provide these for you. Working behind this scheme of things is the natural law ingrained into the human heart as a creational imperative by none but the great master of all hearts Himself.Not far is the example of what the socialist countries did when they did away with this natural arrangement by taking over the function of telling people what they will do in their lives. In order to do this, they had to, first of all, do away with human freedom through co-ercion and injustice resulting in the killing and imprisonment of thou-sands and thousands of people. Those who remained behind were coerced into working like the parts of a machine, as a result of which, it can be conceded that production did increase at some places, but it must also be granted at the same time that this increase came at the cost of a gross demolition of the free choice of human beings. Thus, the deal did not turn out to be economical. Look at the natural arrangement in contrast. Here, everyone is free and restricted at the same time - restricted in the sense of being devoted to particular jobs and roles on the basis of natural dispension of dispositions. Since this restriction or compulsion comes from nowhere but from natural disposition, nobody feels being coerced. People who would themselves come forward to do the toughest labour or the most menial job, people who would even make efforts to get such jobs, are found everywhere during all times. The same people would, if a government started forcing them to do these jobs, just start running away from it en masse.In a nutshell, the universal world order revolves round mutual cooperation. But, let us not forget the other side of the picture which is very much there. For example, if this mutual cooperation were to be seriously practiced to carry out activities of crime, theft, robbery, kill-ing and vandalization resulting in big, powerful and organized associations of thieves and robbers, then, this very mutual cooperation can destroy the whole system. This tells us that mutual cooperation is a two-edged sword which cannot only hurt you but it can also knock out the universal order of things. Since the world we live in a mix of good and bad, it was not unlikely that people would start using the power of mutual cooperation to infest human society with crimes, killings, destruction and general loss. Incidentally, this is no more a matter of likelihood, instead, it is an open fact of life for the whole world to see. Thus, it was as a reaction to this situation that theorists of the world laid the foundation of groups and nations based on different ideologies in order to have security for themselves. The idea was to use the power of mutual cooperation in favour of a particular group or people by offering an allied defence against another group or people who attacked them.The Formation of Separate NationsAccording to ` Abd al-Karim al-Shahristani in Al-Milal-wa-al-Nihal, in the beginning when human population was not much, four nations came into being in terms of East, West, North and South. People living in each of these directions started taking themselves as one nation while taking others as other nations. And it was on this basis that they established their mutual cooperation. Later, when the population of the world became larger, the idea of nationalism and multilaterism on the basis of genealogy, family ties and tribal affiliations became a working principle among peoples of all directions. The whole system of Arabia rested on the basis of such tribal and genealogical affinities, so much so that these were sufficient grounds to go to wars against each other. Banu Hashim was one nation, Banu Tamim was another and Banu Khuza` ah still another. Among the Hindus in India, this di-vision on the basis of the high caste and the low caste still persists unchanged.The modern period of European nations did nothing to retain their genealogical distinction, nor did they give any credence to the genealogical peculiarities of the rest of the world. When they gained ascendency in the world, all genealogical and tribal groupings were eliminated, separate nations were raised on the basis of regions, provinces, homelands and languages - almost by placing a piece of humanity on each such altar. The fact is that this is the form that prevails in most parts of the world. The limit is that Muslims too - of all the peoples the least likely - fell a victim to this modern voodoo of community organization. As if the division as Arabs, Turks, Iraqis and Sindhis were not enough, they went on dividing and sub-dividing themselves into Egyptians, Syrians, Hijazis, Najdis, Panjabis, Bangalis, and so many others who started identifying themselves as separate nations or nationalities or peoples. Since all affairs of their governments were run on this basis, regional or provincial prejudice went deep into their response patterns and peoples of all regions or provinces began relating to each other on this basis - that became their idea of mutual cooperation.The Teaching of the Qur'an about Nationalism and UniversalismThen came the Holy Qur'an reminding human beings of the lesson they had forgotten. The initial verses of Surah al-Nis-a' clearly declared that all human beings are the children of one father and mother. The noble Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ made this all the more clear when he publicly announced during the famous address of his last Hajj that no Arab is superior to a non-Arab nor a white to a black. Superiority depends on nothing but Taqwa, on the fear of Allah and obedience to Him. It was this teaching of the Qur'an which gave the call of "إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ " (Believers are brothers - 49:10) and it was in one stroke that the jet blacks of Ethiopia were related to the reds of Turkey and Byzantium and the lineally less endowed non-Arabs to the Qurayshi and Hashmi Arabs as brothers to each other. The concept of nation and brotherhood was established on the basis that those who believe in Allah and His Rasul are one nation and those who do not so believe are the other. It was this foundation which cut asunder the family ties of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab from the noble Prophet ﷺ while joining it with Sayyidna Bilal ؓ from Ethiopia and Sayyidna Suhayb ؓ from Byzantium. Finally, came the proclamation of the Qur'an: خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ‌ وَمِنكُم مُّؤْمِنٌ (64:2). It means that Allah created all human beings, then, they split in two groups - some became disbelievers and some others became believers. A practical demonstration of this Qur'anic classification was visible during the battles of Badr, Uhud, Ahzab and Hunayn when a blood brother who elected to stay away from the obedience of Allah and His Rasul found that his bond of mutual coopera-tion with his believing brother stood severed and he could no longer escape the stroke of his believing brother's sword.Stated in the verse of the Qur'an cited above: وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ‌ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ is this very principle of mutual cooperation and assistance. Being so reasonable and correct, it exhorts people to cooperate in deeds which are righteous and matters which are motivated by the fear of Allah and forbids them from extending their cooperation to anything sinful and aggressive. Just consider that the noble Qur'an has not suggested here that one should cooperate with Muslim brothers and not with non-Muslims. Instead of that, it declares that righteousness and the fear of Allah are the bases on which cooperation is to be extended for this is the real foundation on which rests any cooperation among Muslims themselves. It clearly means that no help is to be ex-tended even to a Muslim brother if he is acting contrary to truth or is advancing towards injustice and aggression. Rather than help him in what is false and unjust, effort should be made to hold his hands against indulging in the false and the unjust for this, in reality, is helping him at its best - so that his present life as well as his life in the Hereafter is not ruined.According to a narration from Sayyidna Anas appearing in the Sahih of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said: اں صراخاک ظالماً او مظلوماً (That is: Help your brother, just or unjust). His Companions ؓ who were soaked in the teaching of the Qur'an were surprised. They asked: ` Ya Rasul Allah (0 Messenger of Allah) as for helping the oppressed brother, that we understand. But, what does helping the oppressor mean? He said: Stop him from doing injustice - this is helping him.This teaching of the Qur'an helped establish that righteousness بِرّ (birr) and the fear of Allah (Taqwa) are the real criterions on which it raised the edifice of Muslim nationalism and to which it invited the peoples of the world as the common denominator of mutual cooperation and assistance. Contrary to this were sin and aggression (ithm اِثم and عُدوان ` udwan) which were declared to be serious crimes and cooperation in these was prohibited. To describe the positive criterions, two separate words of Birr and Taqwa were used. According, to a consensus of commentators, the word, Birr at this place means the doing of deeds which are good. This has been translated here as righteousness. The word, Taqwa means abstinence from what is evil. The word, ithm اِثم has been used here in an absolute sense meaning sin and disobedience, whether it relates to rights or acts of worship. As for ` Udwan, it lexically means the crossing of limits, that is, injustice and aggression.About cooperating in what is righteousness and the fear of Allah, the Holy Prophet ؓ said: الدلال علی الخیر کفاعلی which means: The reward of the person who shows someone the path of righteousness is very much the same as if it was taken personally. Ibn Kathir has re-ported this hadith with reference to al-Bazzar. In addition to that, it appears in the Sahib of al-Bukhari that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that whoever invites people to true guidance and righteous conduct shall receive a reward equal to all those who would heed to the call and act right - without the least cut from the reward of such people. As for the one who invites people to the path of error or sin, he or she will be earning the same amount of sin fully equal to the sins of all those who got involved with the filth of sin because of the inviter to sin - without any decrease in the count of such sins.Citing Tabarani, reports Ibn Kathir: The Holy Prophet ﷺ said that anyone who joins up with an unjust person to assist him goes out of the fold of Islam. It is on the basis of this guidance that the righteous elders of the community have strictly abstained from accepting any office or service in the courts of unjust rulers - for this amounts to assisting them in their acts of injustice. Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani, while explaining the noble verse: فَلَنْ أَكُونَ ظَهِيرً‌ا لِّلْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ ' I will never be a helper for the criminals - 28:17', has reported a hadith in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said that a call will go forth on the Day of Judgment citing the oppressors and the unjust and their helpers, so much so that all those who have handled chores even as insignificant as setting up the pens and inkpots of the unjust and the oppressive will all be rammed into a steel coffin and thrown into the Hell.This is the teaching of the Qur'an and Sunnah which aimed at spreading the virtues of righteousness, justice, sympathy and good mannerliness throughout the world by presenting every single individual of the community as a living herald and model of the truth. And conversely, in order to eradicate crimes, injustices and oppressions, the same teaching had converted every member of the community into a kind of soldier who was bound to do his duty under all circumstances, whether watched or unwatched - because of the fear of Allah in his heart. The whole world saw the outcome of this wise teaching and grooming during the blessed period of the noble Companions ؓ and their Successors. Even in our day, when war threatens a certain country, departments of civil defence are established which impart some level of training for all its citizens. But, nothing of the sort gets done when it comes to the eradication of crimes, to making people promoters of good and blockers of evil. It is obvious that an objective like this can-not be achieved by military parades or civil defence exercises. This is the ultimate art of living which can only be learnt and practiced in educational institutions which, unfortunately, seem to have become strangers to spiritual and social refinements. This is very much true about the great qualities of righteousness and the fear of Allah which seem to be all banned in modern day educational institutions while the admittance of sin and high-handedness is all too open. What can the police do when a whole people throw away the concerns of the law-ful and the unlawful and the right and the wrong on their backs and turn crime-oriented? Today we see the graph of crime rising high - theft, robbery, sexual offences, killings and destructions are taking place everywhere. That the legal machinery can do nothing to root out these crimes is because of their failure to take advantage of the Qur'anic solution suggested above, that is, the governments are far removed from this Qur'anic system, and that they, particularly those who hold power into their hands, demur from adopting the principle of righteousness and the fear of Allah as the aim of their life - even though they have to face a thousand other hardships as a result of such avoidance. It may be interesting if such deviationists would swallow their pride at least for once, even if this be on a trial basis. Let them, then, witness the spectacle of the power of Allah and how it blesses them and their people with good life filled with the best of peace and comfort.On the other side, there were the masses of people who took it for granted that the eradication of crimes is the exclusive responsibility of the government. In fact, they have become used to keeping crimes covered up. The idea of coming up with true witnesses to confirm truth and eliminate crime is no more a favoured practice among them. Such people must understand that covering up the crime of the criminal and avoiding to put their witness on record is an, abetment of crime which, according to the Holy Qur'an, is Haram (unlawful) and a grave sin in-deed. Furthermore, it is also a flagrant disobedience of the Divine command: وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ (And help each other in righteousness and piety, and do not help each other in sin and aggression) (5:2).

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةُ وَٱلدَّمُ وَلَحْمُ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمُنْخَنِقَةُ وَٱلْمَوْقُوذَةُ وَٱلْمُتَرَدِّيَةُ وَٱلنَّطِيحَةُ وَمَآ أَكَلَ ٱلسَّبُعُ إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ وَمَا ذُبِحَ عَلَى ٱلنُّصُبِ وَأَن تَسْتَقْسِمُوا۟ بِٱلْأَزْلَٰمِ ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ ٱلْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَٱخْشَوْنِ ٱلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِى وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ ٱلْإِسْلَٰمَ دِينًا فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ فِى مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

<p>Commentary</p><p>This is the third verse of Surah al-Ma'idah where a number of fun damental and subsidiary injunctions and rulings have been described. The first problem relates to lawful and unlawful animals. As for animals whose meat is harmful for human beings - whether physically, to it may pose the danger of disease in the human body, or spiritually, for it may hold the danger of spoilage in human morals or its many emotional states - these the Qur'an has classed as evil declaring them to be unlawful. Then there are animals which have no physical or spiritual harmfulness, these the Qur'an has declared to be good, pure and lawful.</p><p>The first prohibition in this verse is that of dead animals. These refer to animals which die without having been slaughtered, either be-cause of some sickness or because of their natural death. The meat of such dead animals is extremely harmful for human consumption, not simply ` medically', but spiritually as well.</p><p>However, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has exempted fish and locust as reported in Ahadith narrated in the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Majah, Darqutni and al-Baihaqi and elsewhere.</p><p>The second thing declared unlawful in this verse is blood. By saying: أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا (Or, flowing blood - 6:145) in another verse of the Holy Qur'an, it was made clear that blood here means blood which flows. For this reason, liver and spleen, despite being blood, stand exempted from the purview of this injunction. The Hadith referred to a little earlier where fish and locust have been exempted from the purview of 'Maitah' or carrion also carries the exemption of liver and spleen from the definition of blood.</p><p>The third thing declared unlawful is the flesh of swine. 'Lahm' or flesh means the whole body of the swine which includes fat, ligaments, everything.</p><p>The fourth prohibition is that of an animal which has been invoked upon with (a name) other than that of Allah (dedicated in this manner, or slaughtered). And, at the time of slaughtering it as well, the act of invoking any name other than that of Allah will amount to flagrant Shirk, which is the ascribing of partners, sharers or associates in the pure divinity of Allah. This animal, thus slaughtered, shall fall under the injunction of a dead animal with the consensus of Muslim jurists. This is what was done by the disbelievers of Arabia when they slaughtered animals invoking the name of their idols, or as some ignorant people would do when they would slaughter animals in the name of some saint or savant. It is also possible that someone does invoke the name of Allah at the time of slaughtering but actually offers it for one other than Allah making that sacrifice for the pleasure of whatever that non-Allah is. If so, this too, according to a consensus of Muslim jurists, is unlawful under the injunction of مَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ بِهِ (what has been invoked upon with [ a name ] other than that of Allah).</p><p>The fifth category made unlawful is that of an animal which has been strangulated to death, or which has choked itself to death while struggling out of some trap. Though Munkhaniqah مُنْخَنِقَةُ (dead by strangulation) and Mawqudhah مَوْقُوذَةُ (dead by blow) are included under the broad Qur'anic term of مَيْتَةُ 'Maitah' (carrion), but they have been mentioned here particularly because the people of Jahiliyyah took them to be permissible.</p><p>The sixth category of animals is Mawqudhah مَوْقُوذَةُ (dead by blow). It means an animal which has been killed by some hard blow, the kind of blow that comes from being hit by a staff, rod or rock. Should an arrow strike and kill its game in a manner that the arrow does not hit it with the sharp arrow head but does end up killing it just the same from the force of the blow itself, then, this too will be counted as Mawqudhah and will, as such, be unlawful. Sayyidna ibn Hatim ؓ said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` There are times when I hunt with an arrow heavy in the middle. If the game is killed with this arrow, can I eat it?' He ﷺ said: ` If the animal has been killed by a blow from the heavy side of the arrow, it is included under Mawqudhah - do not eat it (and if it has been hit by the sharp-edged point and it has wounded the game, then, you can eat it). Al-Jassas has reported this narration in Ahkam al-Qur'an citing his own chain of authorities.</p><p>Here, the condition is that the arrow should have been released from the bow after having said Bismillah.</p><p>The game killed by a gun bullet has also been ruled by Muslim Jurists as included under the category of 'Mawqudhah' and is, therefore, unlawful. Imam al-Jassas reports from Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn ` Umar ؓ that he used to say: المقتولۃ بلبندقۃ تلک الموقوذہ which means that an animal killed by gunshot is the 'Mawqudhah'; therefore, it is unlawful. Imams Abu Hanifah, Shafi'i, Malik and others رحمۃ اللہ علیہم are all in agreement with this view (al-Qurtubi).</p><p>The seventh category is called مُتَرَ‌دِّيَةُ 'al-Mutaraddiyah' (killed by a fall). It means that an animal which dies by falling from a mountain, mound or a high building, or which dies by falling into a well or some similar depth is also unlawful. Therefore, says a report from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ : If you see a game standing on top of a mountain and you shoot your arrow at it after reciting Bismillah and the hit of the arrow causes the game to fall down and die, then, do not eat it.</p><p>Because, here too, the probability exists that the animal did not die with a hit from the arrow. May be, it died from the shock of the fall - if so, it will be counted under the category of 'Mutaraddiyah' (dead by a fall). Similarly, if an arrow is shot at a bird and it falls down in water, its eating has also been prohibited for the same reason that probability exists that the hunted bird had died by drowning (al-Jasss).</p><p>It should also be noted that Sayyidna ` Adiyy ibn Hatim ؓ too has reported the same ruling from the Holy Prophet ﷺ - (a1-Jasss).</p><p>The eighth category is that of النَّطِيحَةُ An-Natihah' (dead by goring). It refers to an animal which has died in some collision such as by bumping against a train or vehicle, or it has been gored by butting against another animal.</p><p>The ninth category is of an animal which died when torn apart by some beast.</p><p>After describing the unlawfulness of these nine categories, an exception has been mentioned. It was said: إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ. It means: If you find any of these animals alive and you slaughter it properly, then, it becomes lawful - eating it is permissible.</p><p>This exemption cannot be applied to the first four categories, because in Maitah (carrion) and Dam (blood), the very possibility does not exist; and as for Khinzir (swine) and what falls under وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ ma uhilla li-ghayrillah (what has been invoked upon with [ a name ] other than that of Allah), they are unlawful in themselves - slaughtering or not slaughtering them is equally irrelevant. Therefore, there is a consensus of Sayyidna ` Ali, Ibn ` Abbas, Hasan al-Basri, Qatadah and other righteous elders on the view that this exemption applies to cate-gories after the first four, that is, to the 'Munkhaniqah' (dead by strangulation) and what comes after it. So, it comes to mean that, should the animal be found alive under all these circumstances with commonly discernable signs of life, and slaughtered with the name of Allah while in the same condition, then, it is lawful - whether dead by strangulation, dead by blow, dead by a fall, dead by goring or that which a beast has eaten. Any of these slaughtered while sensing signs of life in it shall become lawful.</p><p>Under the tenth category, an animal which has been slaughtered at an altar is unlawful. The altar refers to slabs of rocks placed around the Ka'bah which the people of Jahiliyyah took as objects of worship and they would bring animals near the altars and sacrifice them dedicated to these rock slabs. They thought it was worship.</p><p>The people of Jahiliyyah used to eat all these kinds of animals, animals which are evil. The Holy Qur'an declared all of them to be unlawful.</p><p>The eleventh practice declared unlawful in this verse is the determining of shares with arrows: al-istiqsam bi al-azlam. The Arabic word, 'al-azlam' used in the Qur'an is the plural of zalam. This was an arrow used to determine shares during the days of Jahiliyyah. They were seven in number. One would have 'yes' and the other would have 'no' or some similar words written on them. These arrows were kept in the custody of the keeper of the Ka'bah.</p><p>When someone wanted his fortune told or wished to find out whether doing something in the future will be beneficial or harmful, they would go to the keeper of the Ka'bah, present money gift to him in anticipation of his service, who would, then, take out these arrows from the quiver one by one. If the arrow so drawn turned out to be the one with the word 'yes' on it, they thought that doing what they wanted to do was beneficial; and if, the arrow drawn had a 'no' on it, they drew the conclusion that they should not do what they wanted to do. The reason why this has been mentioned in the context of unlawful animals is that small groups of pagan Arabs used to have a joint slaughter of a camel or some other animal but, rather than divide up shares from the meat to all participants in accordance with the num-ber of shares originally subscribed to, they would decide it by drawing these arrows. Obviously, by doing that, someone would remain totally deprived, someone else would get too much and there would be someone getting less than what was his right. Therefore, the unlawfulness of this procedure was explained alongwith the unlawfulness of animals.</p><p>.</p><p>` Ulama' say that all methods used to divine future happenings or to find out what is 'Ghayb' (Unseen) - whether divination through numbers (` ilm al.-Jafr or Jafar), or palm-reading, or the taking of omen - fall under the injunction of 'determining shares with arrows.'</p><p>The Arabic term for 'determining shares with arrows' is sometimes used for Qimar or gambling as well wherein rights are determined by the methods of lots or lottery. This too is Haram (unlawful) on the authority of the Qur'an which prohibits it under the name, 'Maisir' (gambling). Therefore, righteous early elders Said ibn Jubayr, Mujahid and Al-Sha` bi said that the way the pagan Arabs used arrows to determine shares, people of Persia and Asia Minor used chessmen and pieces of backgammon for the same purpose. They all fall under the injunction about arrows.</p><p>After explaining the unlawfulness of determining shares with arrows al-Tafsir al-Mazhari has particularly pointed out that the Qur'anic statement: ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ (This is sin) which follows immediately after this injunction means that this method of divination or determining of shares is an act of sin which leads people astray. After that, it was said:</p><p>الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِ</p><p>Today those who disbelieve have lost hopes of (damaging) your faith. So do not fear them, and fear Me.</p><p>This verse was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ on the day of ` Arafah of the Last Hajj in the tenth year of Hijrah. This was a time when the conquest of Makkah and almost of all Arabia was complete. Islamic law prevailed all over the Peninsula. Thereupon, refer-ence was made to the assessment of disbelievers that Muslims were much lower in number as against them and that they were weak too based on which they planned to eliminate them. Now that they do not have those ambitions any more nor do they have the power to pose a challenge, Muslims have been asked to feel secure against them and go on to spend their energy in obeying and worshipping their Lord:</p><p>الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَ‌ضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا</p><p>Today, I have perfected your religion for you, and have completed My blessing upon you, and chosen Islam as Din for you.</p><p>The combination of circumstances in which this verse was revealed is special. Imagine. This is the day of Arafah, the foremost day out of the days of the entire year and by chance this ` Arafah fell on a Jumu'ah (Friday) the merits of which are well-known. The place is nothing less than the plain of Arafat, close to the Mount of Mercy (Jabl ar-Rahmah) which, on the day of ` Arafah, is the chosen spot of the incessant descent of Mercy from Allah Almighty. The time is after Asr, which is a blessed time even during normal days, specially so on Friday wherein comes the hour when prayers are answered as confirmed by many authentic reports and this is the time for it. Then, this being the day of Arafah as well, it is all the more likely that prayers shall be answered particularly at this hour and time.</p><p>This is the largest and the first great gathering of Muslims for their Hajj. Participating in it are some one hundred and fifty thousand noble Sahabah, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all. And present with his Companions is the Holy Prophet ﷺ who is the very mercy of all universes sitting on his mount, the she-camel Adba' under the legendary Mount of Mercy busy with his Wuquf in ` Arafat, now a great basic rite of Hajj.</p><p>It is under the canopy of these blissful merits and blessings and mercies that this verse is being revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Spot witnesses to this spectacle, the noble Companions said: When this verse came in the mode of Wahy (revelation) to the Holy Prophet ﷺ what happened was what had transpired earlier too: The weight released by the descending Revelation could be perceived as the she camel was crouching under that weight, so much so that she was compelled to sit down.</p><p>Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that this verse is almost the last verse of the Holy Qur'an; no verse dealing with Ahkam (Injunctions) was revealed after that. The only exception here is that of some verses of persuasive nature which have been identified as having been revealed after this verse. After the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ lived in this mortal world for only eighty one days, for this verse was revealed on the ninth day of Dhil-Hijjah in the Hijrah year 10 and it was on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al Awwal in the eleventh year of Hijrah that the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world.</p><p>That this verse was revealed in such elegant setting with a very special concern has its secret in the message it conveys which is a great news, a solemn reward and an abiding hallmark of distinction for Islam and Muslims and for the Ummah at large. In a nutshell, the message is that the ultimate standard of True Faith and Divine Blessing which was to be bequeathed to human beings in this world has reached its perfection on that great day. This is, so to say, the climax of the divine blessings in the shape of a True Faith which began with Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) and continued in later times when the children of Adam in every period and every area kept receiving a part of this blessing in proportion to their prevailing conditions. Today, that Faith and that Blessing in its final form has been bestowed upon the Last of the Prophets, the Rasul of Allah ﷺ and to his Ummah.</p><p>It goes without saying that this bestowal primarily highlights the excellence and distinction of the last and the foremost Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ among the community of prophets, messengers and apostles. But, it also proves that the Ummah has a distinct status among other Traditional Communities.</p><p>This is why some Jewish scholars came to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ and told him: Your Qur'an has a verse which, if it was revealed to Jews, would have given them an occasion to celebrate its revelation through a festival. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ asked: Which verse is that? They, in response, recited this very verse الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said: Yes, we know where and when this verse was revealed. The hint was that the particular day was a day of doubled rejoicing (Eid) for Muslims, one for 'Arafah and the other for Jumu'ah (Friday).</p><p>The Islamic Principle of Celebrating Festive Occasions</p><p>This reply given by Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ also carries a hint towards a cardinal Islamic principle which, of all peoples and religions of the world, is the hallmark of Islam alone. It is common knowledge that peoples from every nation and every religious group commemorate their particular historical events conditioned by their respective self-view. Such days which return each year acquire the status of a major festival with them.</p><p>Somewhere the celebration is about the birth or death anniversary of a great person. Elsewhere, it would be a day of coronation, or the day of the conquest of some country or city, or some acclaimed historical event. The net outcome of all such celebrations is no more than increasing the image of particular individuals. Islam is against the cult of personality. It has bypassed the customs of the age of ignorance by eliminating the commemoration of persons and by introducing the commemoration of principles and objectives as standard practice.</p><p>Sayyidna Ibrahim, (علیہ السلام) the patriarch of prophets, was given the title of "Friend of Allah." The Holy Qur'an paid tributes to him on his success against trials. The verse: وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ رَ‌بُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ (and when his Lord put Ibrahim to a test with certain Words! And he fulfilled them) (2:124) means exactly this. But, no anniversary of his birth or death was ever celebrated, nor that of his son, Ismail (علیہ السلام) ، nor that of his mother, nor any kind of memorial was established to perpetuate their memory.</p><p>Of course, there were things of significance in their deeds, things related to the objectives of religion and faith. This legacy was worth the best of preservation and commemoration and this legacy was not only preserved but made mandatory for all succeeding generations as an obligatory part of their religion and faith. Sacrifice. Circumcision. Running between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Throwing pebbles at three places in Mina. All these are living, ever-reminding monuments to the deeds of the same righteous elders which they performed by sacrificing their personal desires and natural needs aiming for nothing but the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Right there, in these deeds, there is a lesson for all peoples of all times that human beings should sacrifice everything, even the dearest of the dear, for the good pleasure of Allah.</p><p>So, this was how Islam abstained from celebrating days devoted to the birth and death of prominent men, or women, no matter how great, or the days highlighting their personal lives and times. Celebrated instead, were days centered around their deeds, especially those pertaining to some particular act of worship, for example, Laylatul-Bara’ ah (the Night of Deliverance from Sin), Ramadan al-Mubarak (the Blessed Month of Ramadan), Laylatul-Qadr (the Night of Power), Yowm al-Arafah (the Day of Arafah), Yowm al-Ashura (the Day of ` Ashura) etc. As for the well-known Muslim Festival of Rejoicing, it was limited to only two and that too was made purely religious in nature. The first ` Id (` Idul-Fitr) was set in between at the end of the month of Ramadan al-Mubarak and at the beginning of the Hajj months while the second ` Id (` Idul-Adha) was appointed to be celebrated after the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage.</p><p>To sum up, let us return to the reply given by Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ which so succinctly declared that ` Ids in Islam do not follow historical events as among Jews and Christians. This was the custom of Jahiliyyah, the first age of ignorance when the passing of some major historical event would be turned into a festival. Now, as witnesses to the modern Age of Ignorance, we can see how wide-spread this urge to celebrate has become. The limit is that Muslims themselves have started imitating other nations indulging in practices contrary to their way.</p><p>Christians started celebrating a Festival commemorating the birth of Sayyidna With their example before them, some Muslims introduced another ` Id, the Festival of the birth of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، may peace be upon him, and the blessings of Allah. Devoting a day to take out processions on streets with activities neither reasonable nor valid and filling a night with displays of lamps and lights, they took this to be an act of worship. For this there is no basic justification in the words and deeds of the Sahabah, the noble Companions, or the Tabi` in, the Successors to the Companions, or the large body of the righteous elders of the Muslim Community.</p><p>The truth of the matter is that this practice of celebrating days would pass with nations which lack individuals with superior merits and achievements. When lucky, they would find a couple or few suitable enough with a record of something special they may have done and commemorating them would become a matter of national pride for them.</p><p>If this custom of celebrating days were to be practiced in Islam, we would have to begin with more than one hundred and twenty thousand prophets each of whom has a big roster of wonderful achievements to his credit. Celebrating the birthday of and commemorating the achievements of each would be very much in order. After past prophets, peace be upon them, let us move to the Last of them ﷺ and look at his pure and pristine life. When you do that there would not remain even one day which could turn out to be devoid of one or the other achievement which deserves to be celebrated. From his childhood to his youth, he was an epitome of moral perfections (or a paradigm of virtues, as termed by some modern Muslim writers in the West) whereby he was considered the most trustworthy person in the whole country of ` Arabia. Are these embellishments not worthy enough for Muslims to celebrate? Then, there is the Revelation of the Holy Qur'an, the event of Hijrah, the Battle of Badr and Uhud, and Khandaq, and Hunayn, and Tabuk, and the Conquest of Makkah. Add to these all other battles in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ participated. Each deserves a celebration. Similarly, there are thousands of his miracles; each one of them needs commemoration. One needs insight to look at the life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ which would bring an honest person to come to the conclusion that his good life - not just a day from it, rather every hour in it - is most worthy of being commemorated, celebrated and rejoiced in.</p><p>After the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، think of some one hundred and twenty thousand of his noble Companions each one of whom is really a living miracle of their master. Would it not be unjust to ignore them and avoid celebrating their achievements? If we pursue this practice still further on, we shall be looking at those who followed after the noble Companions - righteous elders, men of Allah, scholars, masters and guides - whose number would shoot up to millions. If commemorative days have to be celebrated, how could one leave them out? Would it not be an injustice to them? Or, a failure to recognize intellectual merit or spiritual excellence? And if, left with not much choice, Muslims were to decide to celebrate memorial days for everyone, they would have a calendar of activities all full of celebrations with no day free - in fact, they would have to celebrate several commemorations, festivals and 'Ids every hour of every day!</p><p>No wonder the Prophet of Islam and all his Companions ignored this custom as outmoded pagan practice from the days of Jahiliyyah! Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ ، the second Khalifah of Islam, may Allah be pleased with him, alludes to this very approach in his policy statement made before the Jews.</p><p>Understanding Important Meanings of the Verse</p><p>This Verse carries the good news that Allah has given to the noble Prophet ﷺ and his Community three rewards: Perfection of Faith, Completion of Divine Blessing and the Shari'ah of Islam as the Chosen Way for the Muslim Community.</p><p>1. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، and others with him, explain that Perfection of Faith refers to the perfection of all limits, obligations, injunctions and refinements in personal and social behaviour as necessary for the True Faith. Now there is no need to add to it, nor there remains any probability of a shortfall (Ruh a1-Ma` ani). For this reason, no new injunction from among the total corpus of injunctions was revealed after this. As already pointed out earlier, the few verses which were revealed later on carry either some subjects of persuasion or were a reiteration of injunctions already revealed.</p><p>What has been said here is not contrary to the function of the most-authentically qualified jurists of Islam (Mujtahid Imams through which they could explicate and elaborate injunctions of the Shari’ ah related to new and unprecedented events and circumstances as based on their highest possible effort and judgement (Ijtihad). The reason is simple - because the Holy Qur'an which has laid down the limits and obligations of religious injunctions has also, at the same time, determined the principles of Ijtihad. Pursuant to this authority, all rules and regulations deduced by Ijtihad right through the Last Day will be considered as if they are, in a way, the very injunctions of the Qur'an itself - because they are subordinate to the principles given by the Qur'an.</p><p>To sum up, we can say that 'Perfection of Faith', as explained by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، is the perfection of all injunctions of the Faith. It needs no addition, while the probability of any shortfall through abrogation just does not exist - because, soon after, the ongoing process of Wahy (revelation) was to be discontinued following the passing away of the Holy Prophet ﷺ from this mortal world; and no injunction of the Holy Qur'an can be abrogated without a Divine revelation (Wahy). As for the apparent multiplicity of sub-injunctions that generated from jurists under the principle of Ijtihad was, in reality, no multiplicity as such. It was, rather, the explication and elaboration of the Qur'anic injunctions.</p><p>2. 'Completion of Blessing' means the rise of Muslims and the fall of their antagonists - which was manifested through the Conquest of Makkah, the eradication of the customs of Jahiliyyah and through the absence of all disbelievers from the 1Iajj that year.</p><p>The words of the Qur'an used here show that 'Ikmal' (perfection) has been coupled with 'DIn' (Faith) while the word 'Itmam' (Completion) goes with 'Ni` mah' (blessing) - though both words are obviously synonymous and are generally used interchangeably. But, in fact, there is a difference in the sense they both carry. This has been explained by Imam Raghib al-Isfahan' in his Mufradat al-Qur'an by saying that the 'Ikmal and TakmIl' (Perfection) of something means that the purpose and objective behind it has been accomplished (perfection of something carries exactly the same sense in English, specially at a time when spoken of, as 'al-yowm' (today) in the verse al-ready indicates). The other word, 'Itmam' (Completion) means that nothing else is needed any more. Thus, 'Perfection of Faith' tells us that the purpose of sending Divine Law and the injunctions of Faith into this world stands fulfilled and perfected today; and 'Completion of Blessing' means that Muslims do not have to depend on anyone any-more. Allah has Himself given them supremacy, power, authority. They can use these to promulgate and implement the imperatives (AM am, Injunctions) of this True Faith.</p><p>Also noteworthy here is the arrangement in the Verse where دِین 'Din' (Faith) has been attributed to Muslims while the attribution of 'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is towards Almighty Allah. This is because 'Din' (Faith) is demonstrated by what the members of the Community do while the consummation of 'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is directly from Al-mighty Allah (Ibn al-Qayyim, Tafsir).</p><p>The meanings as established here also clarify that the Perfection of Faith 'today' does not mean that, earlier, the Faith of the blessed prophets was imperfect. Quite contrary to that, the 'Din' (Faith) of every prophet and messenger was perfect and complete in terms of the relevant period of time (Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit with reference to al-Qaffal al-Marwazi). In other words, it means that the period in which a Law or Faith was sent by Allah to a prophet, it was in itself perfect and complete for that period and for the people who belonged to it. But, the fu-ture projection, that the Faith quite perfect for that period and its people will not remain perfect for later periods and peoples, was already there in the ultimate Knowledge of Almighty Allah - He knew that it would be abrogated and another Faith and Law will take its place. This is contrary to the case of the Shari'ah of Islam which was sent last of all since it is perfect from all sides and angles. It is neither specified for any particular time nor is it restricted to any particular area, country or people. Instead of all that, Islam is a Shari’ ah which is perfect and complete for every period and every area and every people for all times to come right upto the Last Day.</p><p>3. The third reward which has been bestowed upon the Muslim Community through this Verse is that Allah has, by His creational prerogative, authority and wisdom, chosen the Faith of Islam for this Ummah which is perfect and complete in all its aspects - and on which depends the ultimate Salvation.</p><p>Certainly great was the message this Verse gave to the Muslim Community which was thus blessed with the finest gift they could ever dream of: the gift of the Din of Islam - the last and the most perfect Faith, after which there is no Faith to come and in which there shall be no addition or deletion. When this Verse was revealed, Muslims had good reason to be jubilant about Allah's mercy which descended upon them in that manner. But, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ was found in tears. The Holy Prophet ﷺ asked him the reason for his tears. He replied: This Verse seems to indicate that now your stay in this world is very short, because with the perfection of Islam, the need of a Rasul to be present also stands fulfilled! The Holy Prophet ﷺ agreed with him (Tafsir ibn Kathir and al-Bahr al-Muhit). Time showed that the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world only after eighty one days this event took place.</p><p>Unlawfulness of Animals: Exception under Compulsion</p><p>Towards the end of the Verse, the statement: فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ‌ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ (But, whoever is compelled by severe hunger with no way out) relates to animals the unlawfulness of which has been mentioned in the earlier part of the Verse. The purpose of the sentence is to exclude a particular condition from the general rule. If a person is subjected to severe hunger to a point where death becomes likely, then, under this condition, were he to eat a little from unlawful animals mentioned in the Verse, there will be no sin on him. But, the condition is that the purpose of - such eating should not be to have one's fill or to enjoy it. Instead of do-ing that, one should eat just about what would remove the state of compulsion.</p><p>This is exactly what the words: غَيْرَ‌ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ (having no inclination to sin) following immediately mean, that is, this act should be free from any inclination to commit a sin. Contrary to that, the purpose should only be limited to get relief from the excruciating state of compulsion. Towards the end of the Verse, the statement: فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ‌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ to (Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful) makes a pointed reference to the fact that these unlawful things are still unlawful as they already were, but only such a person has been given leave because of the state of compulsion he may be in.</p>

CommentaryThis is the third verse of Surah al-Ma'idah where a number of fun damental and subsidiary injunctions and rulings have been described. The first problem relates to lawful and unlawful animals. As for animals whose meat is harmful for human beings - whether physically, to it may pose the danger of disease in the human body, or spiritually, for it may hold the danger of spoilage in human morals or its many emotional states - these the Qur'an has classed as evil declaring them to be unlawful. Then there are animals which have no physical or spiritual harmfulness, these the Qur'an has declared to be good, pure and lawful.The first prohibition in this verse is that of dead animals. These refer to animals which die without having been slaughtered, either be-cause of some sickness or because of their natural death. The meat of such dead animals is extremely harmful for human consumption, not simply ` medically', but spiritually as well.However, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has exempted fish and locust as reported in Ahadith narrated in the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Majah, Darqutni and al-Baihaqi and elsewhere.The second thing declared unlawful in this verse is blood. By saying: أَوْ دَمًا مَّسْفُوحًا (Or, flowing blood - 6:145) in another verse of the Holy Qur'an, it was made clear that blood here means blood which flows. For this reason, liver and spleen, despite being blood, stand exempted from the purview of this injunction. The Hadith referred to a little earlier where fish and locust have been exempted from the purview of 'Maitah' or carrion also carries the exemption of liver and spleen from the definition of blood.The third thing declared unlawful is the flesh of swine. 'Lahm' or flesh means the whole body of the swine which includes fat, ligaments, everything.The fourth prohibition is that of an animal which has been invoked upon with (a name) other than that of Allah (dedicated in this manner, or slaughtered). And, at the time of slaughtering it as well, the act of invoking any name other than that of Allah will amount to flagrant Shirk, which is the ascribing of partners, sharers or associates in the pure divinity of Allah. This animal, thus slaughtered, shall fall under the injunction of a dead animal with the consensus of Muslim jurists. This is what was done by the disbelievers of Arabia when they slaughtered animals invoking the name of their idols, or as some ignorant people would do when they would slaughter animals in the name of some saint or savant. It is also possible that someone does invoke the name of Allah at the time of slaughtering but actually offers it for one other than Allah making that sacrifice for the pleasure of whatever that non-Allah is. If so, this too, according to a consensus of Muslim jurists, is unlawful under the injunction of مَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ بِهِ (what has been invoked upon with [ a name ] other than that of Allah).The fifth category made unlawful is that of an animal which has been strangulated to death, or which has choked itself to death while struggling out of some trap. Though Munkhaniqah مُنْخَنِقَةُ (dead by strangulation) and Mawqudhah مَوْقُوذَةُ (dead by blow) are included under the broad Qur'anic term of مَيْتَةُ 'Maitah' (carrion), but they have been mentioned here particularly because the people of Jahiliyyah took them to be permissible.The sixth category of animals is Mawqudhah مَوْقُوذَةُ (dead by blow). It means an animal which has been killed by some hard blow, the kind of blow that comes from being hit by a staff, rod or rock. Should an arrow strike and kill its game in a manner that the arrow does not hit it with the sharp arrow head but does end up killing it just the same from the force of the blow itself, then, this too will be counted as Mawqudhah and will, as such, be unlawful. Sayyidna ibn Hatim ؓ said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` There are times when I hunt with an arrow heavy in the middle. If the game is killed with this arrow, can I eat it?' He ﷺ said: ` If the animal has been killed by a blow from the heavy side of the arrow, it is included under Mawqudhah - do not eat it (and if it has been hit by the sharp-edged point and it has wounded the game, then, you can eat it). Al-Jassas has reported this narration in Ahkam al-Qur'an citing his own chain of authorities.Here, the condition is that the arrow should have been released from the bow after having said Bismillah.The game killed by a gun bullet has also been ruled by Muslim Jurists as included under the category of 'Mawqudhah' and is, therefore, unlawful. Imam al-Jassas reports from Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn ` Umar ؓ that he used to say: المقتولۃ بلبندقۃ تلک الموقوذہ which means that an animal killed by gunshot is the 'Mawqudhah'; therefore, it is unlawful. Imams Abu Hanifah, Shafi'i, Malik and others رحمۃ اللہ علیہم are all in agreement with this view (al-Qurtubi).The seventh category is called مُتَرَ‌دِّيَةُ 'al-Mutaraddiyah' (killed by a fall). It means that an animal which dies by falling from a mountain, mound or a high building, or which dies by falling into a well or some similar depth is also unlawful. Therefore, says a report from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ : If you see a game standing on top of a mountain and you shoot your arrow at it after reciting Bismillah and the hit of the arrow causes the game to fall down and die, then, do not eat it.Because, here too, the probability exists that the animal did not die with a hit from the arrow. May be, it died from the shock of the fall - if so, it will be counted under the category of 'Mutaraddiyah' (dead by a fall). Similarly, if an arrow is shot at a bird and it falls down in water, its eating has also been prohibited for the same reason that probability exists that the hunted bird had died by drowning (al-Jasss).It should also be noted that Sayyidna ` Adiyy ibn Hatim ؓ too has reported the same ruling from the Holy Prophet ﷺ - (a1-Jasss).The eighth category is that of النَّطِيحَةُ An-Natihah' (dead by goring). It refers to an animal which has died in some collision such as by bumping against a train or vehicle, or it has been gored by butting against another animal.The ninth category is of an animal which died when torn apart by some beast.After describing the unlawfulness of these nine categories, an exception has been mentioned. It was said: إِلَّا مَا ذَكَّيْتُمْ. It means: If you find any of these animals alive and you slaughter it properly, then, it becomes lawful - eating it is permissible.This exemption cannot be applied to the first four categories, because in Maitah (carrion) and Dam (blood), the very possibility does not exist; and as for Khinzir (swine) and what falls under وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ ma uhilla li-ghayrillah (what has been invoked upon with [ a name ] other than that of Allah), they are unlawful in themselves - slaughtering or not slaughtering them is equally irrelevant. Therefore, there is a consensus of Sayyidna ` Ali, Ibn ` Abbas, Hasan al-Basri, Qatadah and other righteous elders on the view that this exemption applies to cate-gories after the first four, that is, to the 'Munkhaniqah' (dead by strangulation) and what comes after it. So, it comes to mean that, should the animal be found alive under all these circumstances with commonly discernable signs of life, and slaughtered with the name of Allah while in the same condition, then, it is lawful - whether dead by strangulation, dead by blow, dead by a fall, dead by goring or that which a beast has eaten. Any of these slaughtered while sensing signs of life in it shall become lawful.Under the tenth category, an animal which has been slaughtered at an altar is unlawful. The altar refers to slabs of rocks placed around the Ka'bah which the people of Jahiliyyah took as objects of worship and they would bring animals near the altars and sacrifice them dedicated to these rock slabs. They thought it was worship.The people of Jahiliyyah used to eat all these kinds of animals, animals which are evil. The Holy Qur'an declared all of them to be unlawful.The eleventh practice declared unlawful in this verse is the determining of shares with arrows: al-istiqsam bi al-azlam. The Arabic word, 'al-azlam' used in the Qur'an is the plural of zalam. This was an arrow used to determine shares during the days of Jahiliyyah. They were seven in number. One would have 'yes' and the other would have 'no' or some similar words written on them. These arrows were kept in the custody of the keeper of the Ka'bah.When someone wanted his fortune told or wished to find out whether doing something in the future will be beneficial or harmful, they would go to the keeper of the Ka'bah, present money gift to him in anticipation of his service, who would, then, take out these arrows from the quiver one by one. If the arrow so drawn turned out to be the one with the word 'yes' on it, they thought that doing what they wanted to do was beneficial; and if, the arrow drawn had a 'no' on it, they drew the conclusion that they should not do what they wanted to do. The reason why this has been mentioned in the context of unlawful animals is that small groups of pagan Arabs used to have a joint slaughter of a camel or some other animal but, rather than divide up shares from the meat to all participants in accordance with the num-ber of shares originally subscribed to, they would decide it by drawing these arrows. Obviously, by doing that, someone would remain totally deprived, someone else would get too much and there would be someone getting less than what was his right. Therefore, the unlawfulness of this procedure was explained alongwith the unlawfulness of animals..` Ulama' say that all methods used to divine future happenings or to find out what is 'Ghayb' (Unseen) - whether divination through numbers (` ilm al.-Jafr or Jafar), or palm-reading, or the taking of omen - fall under the injunction of 'determining shares with arrows.'The Arabic term for 'determining shares with arrows' is sometimes used for Qimar or gambling as well wherein rights are determined by the methods of lots or lottery. This too is Haram (unlawful) on the authority of the Qur'an which prohibits it under the name, 'Maisir' (gambling). Therefore, righteous early elders Said ibn Jubayr, Mujahid and Al-Sha` bi said that the way the pagan Arabs used arrows to determine shares, people of Persia and Asia Minor used chessmen and pieces of backgammon for the same purpose. They all fall under the injunction about arrows.After explaining the unlawfulness of determining shares with arrows al-Tafsir al-Mazhari has particularly pointed out that the Qur'anic statement: ذَٰلِكُمْ فِسْقٌ (This is sin) which follows immediately after this injunction means that this method of divination or determining of shares is an act of sin which leads people astray. After that, it was said:الْيَوْمَ يَئِسَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا مِن دِينِكُمْ فَلَا تَخْشَوْهُمْ وَاخْشَوْنِToday those who disbelieve have lost hopes of (damaging) your faith. So do not fear them, and fear Me.This verse was revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ on the day of ` Arafah of the Last Hajj in the tenth year of Hijrah. This was a time when the conquest of Makkah and almost of all Arabia was complete. Islamic law prevailed all over the Peninsula. Thereupon, refer-ence was made to the assessment of disbelievers that Muslims were much lower in number as against them and that they were weak too based on which they planned to eliminate them. Now that they do not have those ambitions any more nor do they have the power to pose a challenge, Muslims have been asked to feel secure against them and go on to spend their energy in obeying and worshipping their Lord:الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَ‌ضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًاToday, I have perfected your religion for you, and have completed My blessing upon you, and chosen Islam as Din for you.The combination of circumstances in which this verse was revealed is special. Imagine. This is the day of Arafah, the foremost day out of the days of the entire year and by chance this ` Arafah fell on a Jumu'ah (Friday) the merits of which are well-known. The place is nothing less than the plain of Arafat, close to the Mount of Mercy (Jabl ar-Rahmah) which, on the day of ` Arafah, is the chosen spot of the incessant descent of Mercy from Allah Almighty. The time is after Asr, which is a blessed time even during normal days, specially so on Friday wherein comes the hour when prayers are answered as confirmed by many authentic reports and this is the time for it. Then, this being the day of Arafah as well, it is all the more likely that prayers shall be answered particularly at this hour and time.This is the largest and the first great gathering of Muslims for their Hajj. Participating in it are some one hundred and fifty thousand noble Sahabah, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all. And present with his Companions is the Holy Prophet ﷺ who is the very mercy of all universes sitting on his mount, the she-camel Adba' under the legendary Mount of Mercy busy with his Wuquf in ` Arafat, now a great basic rite of Hajj.It is under the canopy of these blissful merits and blessings and mercies that this verse is being revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Spot witnesses to this spectacle, the noble Companions said: When this verse came in the mode of Wahy (revelation) to the Holy Prophet ﷺ what happened was what had transpired earlier too: The weight released by the descending Revelation could be perceived as the she camel was crouching under that weight, so much so that she was compelled to sit down.Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ says that this verse is almost the last verse of the Holy Qur'an; no verse dealing with Ahkam (Injunctions) was revealed after that. The only exception here is that of some verses of persuasive nature which have been identified as having been revealed after this verse. After the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ lived in this mortal world for only eighty one days, for this verse was revealed on the ninth day of Dhil-Hijjah in the Hijrah year 10 and it was on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi' al Awwal in the eleventh year of Hijrah that the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world.That this verse was revealed in such elegant setting with a very special concern has its secret in the message it conveys which is a great news, a solemn reward and an abiding hallmark of distinction for Islam and Muslims and for the Ummah at large. In a nutshell, the message is that the ultimate standard of True Faith and Divine Blessing which was to be bequeathed to human beings in this world has reached its perfection on that great day. This is, so to say, the climax of the divine blessings in the shape of a True Faith which began with Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) and continued in later times when the children of Adam in every period and every area kept receiving a part of this blessing in proportion to their prevailing conditions. Today, that Faith and that Blessing in its final form has been bestowed upon the Last of the Prophets, the Rasul of Allah ﷺ and to his Ummah.It goes without saying that this bestowal primarily highlights the excellence and distinction of the last and the foremost Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ among the community of prophets, messengers and apostles. But, it also proves that the Ummah has a distinct status among other Traditional Communities.This is why some Jewish scholars came to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ and told him: Your Qur'an has a verse which, if it was revealed to Jews, would have given them an occasion to celebrate its revelation through a festival. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ asked: Which verse is that? They, in response, recited this very verse الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ said: Yes, we know where and when this verse was revealed. The hint was that the particular day was a day of doubled rejoicing (Eid) for Muslims, one for 'Arafah and the other for Jumu'ah (Friday).The Islamic Principle of Celebrating Festive OccasionsThis reply given by Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ also carries a hint towards a cardinal Islamic principle which, of all peoples and religions of the world, is the hallmark of Islam alone. It is common knowledge that peoples from every nation and every religious group commemorate their particular historical events conditioned by their respective self-view. Such days which return each year acquire the status of a major festival with them.Somewhere the celebration is about the birth or death anniversary of a great person. Elsewhere, it would be a day of coronation, or the day of the conquest of some country or city, or some acclaimed historical event. The net outcome of all such celebrations is no more than increasing the image of particular individuals. Islam is against the cult of personality. It has bypassed the customs of the age of ignorance by eliminating the commemoration of persons and by introducing the commemoration of principles and objectives as standard practice.Sayyidna Ibrahim, (علیہ السلام) the patriarch of prophets, was given the title of "Friend of Allah." The Holy Qur'an paid tributes to him on his success against trials. The verse: وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىٰ إِبْرَ‌اهِيمَ رَ‌بُّهُ بِكَلِمَاتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ (and when his Lord put Ibrahim to a test with certain Words! And he fulfilled them) (2:124) means exactly this. But, no anniversary of his birth or death was ever celebrated, nor that of his son, Ismail (علیہ السلام) ، nor that of his mother, nor any kind of memorial was established to perpetuate their memory.Of course, there were things of significance in their deeds, things related to the objectives of religion and faith. This legacy was worth the best of preservation and commemoration and this legacy was not only preserved but made mandatory for all succeeding generations as an obligatory part of their religion and faith. Sacrifice. Circumcision. Running between the hills of Safa and Marwah. Throwing pebbles at three places in Mina. All these are living, ever-reminding monuments to the deeds of the same righteous elders which they performed by sacrificing their personal desires and natural needs aiming for nothing but the pleasure of Allah Almighty. Right there, in these deeds, there is a lesson for all peoples of all times that human beings should sacrifice everything, even the dearest of the dear, for the good pleasure of Allah.So, this was how Islam abstained from celebrating days devoted to the birth and death of prominent men, or women, no matter how great, or the days highlighting their personal lives and times. Celebrated instead, were days centered around their deeds, especially those pertaining to some particular act of worship, for example, Laylatul-Bara’ ah (the Night of Deliverance from Sin), Ramadan al-Mubarak (the Blessed Month of Ramadan), Laylatul-Qadr (the Night of Power), Yowm al-Arafah (the Day of Arafah), Yowm al-Ashura (the Day of ` Ashura) etc. As for the well-known Muslim Festival of Rejoicing, it was limited to only two and that too was made purely religious in nature. The first ` Id (` Idul-Fitr) was set in between at the end of the month of Ramadan al-Mubarak and at the beginning of the Hajj months while the second ` Id (` Idul-Adha) was appointed to be celebrated after the completion of the Hajj pilgrimage.To sum up, let us return to the reply given by Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ which so succinctly declared that ` Ids in Islam do not follow historical events as among Jews and Christians. This was the custom of Jahiliyyah, the first age of ignorance when the passing of some major historical event would be turned into a festival. Now, as witnesses to the modern Age of Ignorance, we can see how wide-spread this urge to celebrate has become. The limit is that Muslims themselves have started imitating other nations indulging in practices contrary to their way.Christians started celebrating a Festival commemorating the birth of Sayyidna With their example before them, some Muslims introduced another ` Id, the Festival of the birth of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، may peace be upon him, and the blessings of Allah. Devoting a day to take out processions on streets with activities neither reasonable nor valid and filling a night with displays of lamps and lights, they took this to be an act of worship. For this there is no basic justification in the words and deeds of the Sahabah, the noble Companions, or the Tabi` in, the Successors to the Companions, or the large body of the righteous elders of the Muslim Community.The truth of the matter is that this practice of celebrating days would pass with nations which lack individuals with superior merits and achievements. When lucky, they would find a couple or few suitable enough with a record of something special they may have done and commemorating them would become a matter of national pride for them.If this custom of celebrating days were to be practiced in Islam, we would have to begin with more than one hundred and twenty thousand prophets each of whom has a big roster of wonderful achievements to his credit. Celebrating the birthday of and commemorating the achievements of each would be very much in order. After past prophets, peace be upon them, let us move to the Last of them ﷺ and look at his pure and pristine life. When you do that there would not remain even one day which could turn out to be devoid of one or the other achievement which deserves to be celebrated. From his childhood to his youth, he was an epitome of moral perfections (or a paradigm of virtues, as termed by some modern Muslim writers in the West) whereby he was considered the most trustworthy person in the whole country of ` Arabia. Are these embellishments not worthy enough for Muslims to celebrate? Then, there is the Revelation of the Holy Qur'an, the event of Hijrah, the Battle of Badr and Uhud, and Khandaq, and Hunayn, and Tabuk, and the Conquest of Makkah. Add to these all other battles in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ participated. Each deserves a celebration. Similarly, there are thousands of his miracles; each one of them needs commemoration. One needs insight to look at the life of the Holy Prophet ﷺ which would bring an honest person to come to the conclusion that his good life - not just a day from it, rather every hour in it - is most worthy of being commemorated, celebrated and rejoiced in.After the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، think of some one hundred and twenty thousand of his noble Companions each one of whom is really a living miracle of their master. Would it not be unjust to ignore them and avoid celebrating their achievements? If we pursue this practice still further on, we shall be looking at those who followed after the noble Companions - righteous elders, men of Allah, scholars, masters and guides - whose number would shoot up to millions. If commemorative days have to be celebrated, how could one leave them out? Would it not be an injustice to them? Or, a failure to recognize intellectual merit or spiritual excellence? And if, left with not much choice, Muslims were to decide to celebrate memorial days for everyone, they would have a calendar of activities all full of celebrations with no day free - in fact, they would have to celebrate several commemorations, festivals and 'Ids every hour of every day!No wonder the Prophet of Islam and all his Companions ignored this custom as outmoded pagan practice from the days of Jahiliyyah! Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ ، the second Khalifah of Islam, may Allah be pleased with him, alludes to this very approach in his policy statement made before the Jews.Understanding Important Meanings of the VerseThis Verse carries the good news that Allah has given to the noble Prophet ﷺ and his Community three rewards: Perfection of Faith, Completion of Divine Blessing and the Shari'ah of Islam as the Chosen Way for the Muslim Community.1. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، and others with him, explain that Perfection of Faith refers to the perfection of all limits, obligations, injunctions and refinements in personal and social behaviour as necessary for the True Faith. Now there is no need to add to it, nor there remains any probability of a shortfall (Ruh a1-Ma` ani). For this reason, no new injunction from among the total corpus of injunctions was revealed after this. As already pointed out earlier, the few verses which were revealed later on carry either some subjects of persuasion or were a reiteration of injunctions already revealed.What has been said here is not contrary to the function of the most-authentically qualified jurists of Islam (Mujtahid Imams through which they could explicate and elaborate injunctions of the Shari’ ah related to new and unprecedented events and circumstances as based on their highest possible effort and judgement (Ijtihad). The reason is simple - because the Holy Qur'an which has laid down the limits and obligations of religious injunctions has also, at the same time, determined the principles of Ijtihad. Pursuant to this authority, all rules and regulations deduced by Ijtihad right through the Last Day will be considered as if they are, in a way, the very injunctions of the Qur'an itself - because they are subordinate to the principles given by the Qur'an.To sum up, we can say that 'Perfection of Faith', as explained by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، is the perfection of all injunctions of the Faith. It needs no addition, while the probability of any shortfall through abrogation just does not exist - because, soon after, the ongoing process of Wahy (revelation) was to be discontinued following the passing away of the Holy Prophet ﷺ from this mortal world; and no injunction of the Holy Qur'an can be abrogated without a Divine revelation (Wahy). As for the apparent multiplicity of sub-injunctions that generated from jurists under the principle of Ijtihad was, in reality, no multiplicity as such. It was, rather, the explication and elaboration of the Qur'anic injunctions.2. 'Completion of Blessing' means the rise of Muslims and the fall of their antagonists - which was manifested through the Conquest of Makkah, the eradication of the customs of Jahiliyyah and through the absence of all disbelievers from the 1Iajj that year.The words of the Qur'an used here show that 'Ikmal' (perfection) has been coupled with 'DIn' (Faith) while the word 'Itmam' (Completion) goes with 'Ni` mah' (blessing) - though both words are obviously synonymous and are generally used interchangeably. But, in fact, there is a difference in the sense they both carry. This has been explained by Imam Raghib al-Isfahan' in his Mufradat al-Qur'an by saying that the 'Ikmal and TakmIl' (Perfection) of something means that the purpose and objective behind it has been accomplished (perfection of something carries exactly the same sense in English, specially at a time when spoken of, as 'al-yowm' (today) in the verse al-ready indicates). The other word, 'Itmam' (Completion) means that nothing else is needed any more. Thus, 'Perfection of Faith' tells us that the purpose of sending Divine Law and the injunctions of Faith into this world stands fulfilled and perfected today; and 'Completion of Blessing' means that Muslims do not have to depend on anyone any-more. Allah has Himself given them supremacy, power, authority. They can use these to promulgate and implement the imperatives (AM am, Injunctions) of this True Faith.Also noteworthy here is the arrangement in the Verse where دِین 'Din' (Faith) has been attributed to Muslims while the attribution of 'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is towards Almighty Allah. This is because 'Din' (Faith) is demonstrated by what the members of the Community do while the consummation of 'Ni'mah' (Blessing) is directly from Al-mighty Allah (Ibn al-Qayyim, Tafsir).The meanings as established here also clarify that the Perfection of Faith 'today' does not mean that, earlier, the Faith of the blessed prophets was imperfect. Quite contrary to that, the 'Din' (Faith) of every prophet and messenger was perfect and complete in terms of the relevant period of time (Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit with reference to al-Qaffal al-Marwazi). In other words, it means that the period in which a Law or Faith was sent by Allah to a prophet, it was in itself perfect and complete for that period and for the people who belonged to it. But, the fu-ture projection, that the Faith quite perfect for that period and its people will not remain perfect for later periods and peoples, was already there in the ultimate Knowledge of Almighty Allah - He knew that it would be abrogated and another Faith and Law will take its place. This is contrary to the case of the Shari'ah of Islam which was sent last of all since it is perfect from all sides and angles. It is neither specified for any particular time nor is it restricted to any particular area, country or people. Instead of all that, Islam is a Shari’ ah which is perfect and complete for every period and every area and every people for all times to come right upto the Last Day.3. The third reward which has been bestowed upon the Muslim Community through this Verse is that Allah has, by His creational prerogative, authority and wisdom, chosen the Faith of Islam for this Ummah which is perfect and complete in all its aspects - and on which depends the ultimate Salvation.Certainly great was the message this Verse gave to the Muslim Community which was thus blessed with the finest gift they could ever dream of: the gift of the Din of Islam - the last and the most perfect Faith, after which there is no Faith to come and in which there shall be no addition or deletion. When this Verse was revealed, Muslims had good reason to be jubilant about Allah's mercy which descended upon them in that manner. But, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ was found in tears. The Holy Prophet ﷺ asked him the reason for his tears. He replied: This Verse seems to indicate that now your stay in this world is very short, because with the perfection of Islam, the need of a Rasul to be present also stands fulfilled! The Holy Prophet ﷺ agreed with him (Tafsir ibn Kathir and al-Bahr al-Muhit). Time showed that the Holy Prophet ﷺ departed from this mortal world only after eighty one days this event took place.Unlawfulness of Animals: Exception under CompulsionTowards the end of the Verse, the statement: فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ‌ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ (But, whoever is compelled by severe hunger with no way out) relates to animals the unlawfulness of which has been mentioned in the earlier part of the Verse. The purpose of the sentence is to exclude a particular condition from the general rule. If a person is subjected to severe hunger to a point where death becomes likely, then, under this condition, were he to eat a little from unlawful animals mentioned in the Verse, there will be no sin on him. But, the condition is that the purpose of - such eating should not be to have one's fill or to enjoy it. Instead of do-ing that, one should eat just about what would remove the state of compulsion.This is exactly what the words: غَيْرَ‌ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ (having no inclination to sin) following immediately mean, that is, this act should be free from any inclination to commit a sin. Contrary to that, the purpose should only be limited to get relief from the excruciating state of compulsion. Towards the end of the Verse, the statement: فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ غَفُورٌ‌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ to (Allah is Most-Forgiving, Very-Merciful) makes a pointed reference to the fact that these unlawful things are still unlawful as they already were, but only such a person has been given leave because of the state of compulsion he may be in.

يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَآ أُحِلَّ لَهُمْ قُلْ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتُ وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ ٱلْجَوَارِحِ مُكَلِّبِينَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَكُلُوا۟ مِمَّآ أَمْسَكْنَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ

<p>Lawful and unlawful animals were mentioned in preceding verses. An answer to a question on the same subject appears in the present verse. Some Companions had asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ about the rule governing hunting with the help of a trained dog and falcon. Given in this verse is an answer to that question.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>To make an animal lawful when hunted through a dog or falcon, four conditions have been mentioned in the question and its answer appearing above. These are:</p><p>1. The dog or falcon should be taught, trained and disciplined. The functional principle given here is that the dog should have been groomed in a manner that it should, when released at the prey, catch it and bring it back to you - not that it starts eating it. As for a falcon, the rule set was that it should immediately return when called by you, even if it was chasing the prey. When so trained, it will prove that these beasts of prey hunt for you and not for themselves. Now the animal hunted by these beasts of prey will be considered your own. And if they act against this training once in a while, for example, the dog itself starts eating the prey, or the falcon does not return at your call, then, this game is not yours anymore, therefore, eating it is not permissible.</p><p>2. The second condition is that you should release the dog or falcon immediately at your choice and will, not that they dash after some game and hunt it on their own. In the verse under discussion, this condition has been made to come out clearly by the use of the word, "Mukallibin." Lexically, this word is a derivation from 'Taklib' which basically means the training of dogs. Later, it also came to be used in the sense of training beasts of prey and releasing them after the game. The author of the famous Tafsir Jalalayn explains it in the sense of 'Irsal' (send after) which means releasing after the game. This view has been reported in Tafsir al-Qurtubi as well.</p><p>3. The third condition is that the beasts of prey do not themselves start eating the game - instead, they should bring it to you. This condition has been explained through مِمَّا أَمْسَكْنَ عَلَيْكُمْ : (what they hold for you).</p><p>4. The fourth condition is: When you release the dog or the falcon after the game, do it after saying 'Bismillah' (With the name of Allah).</p><p>When these conditions stand fulfilled, the game - if dead before it reaches you - will still be lawful with no need to slaughter. If other-wise, it will not be lawful for you unless slaughtered.</p><p>With Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) ، there is a fifth condition as well: That this beast of prey should have also wounded the game. A hint towards this condition is embedded in the word, الْجَوَارِ‌حِ "Al-Jawarih" (birds and beasts of prey) which also means animals which wound or injure.</p><p>Ruling: This injunction covers wild animals out of one's possession and control. In case a wild animal has been captured, it will not become lawful without having been properly slaughtered.</p><p>Finally, at the end of the verse, there comes the instruction that hunting through a beast of prey has no doubt been made lawful by Al-mighty Allah, but, it is not permissible to ignore Salah and other necessary religious obligations for the sake of having fun chasing game.</p>

Lawful and unlawful animals were mentioned in preceding verses. An answer to a question on the same subject appears in the present verse. Some Companions had asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ about the rule governing hunting with the help of a trained dog and falcon. Given in this verse is an answer to that question.CommentaryTo make an animal lawful when hunted through a dog or falcon, four conditions have been mentioned in the question and its answer appearing above. These are:1. The dog or falcon should be taught, trained and disciplined. The functional principle given here is that the dog should have been groomed in a manner that it should, when released at the prey, catch it and bring it back to you - not that it starts eating it. As for a falcon, the rule set was that it should immediately return when called by you, even if it was chasing the prey. When so trained, it will prove that these beasts of prey hunt for you and not for themselves. Now the animal hunted by these beasts of prey will be considered your own. And if they act against this training once in a while, for example, the dog itself starts eating the prey, or the falcon does not return at your call, then, this game is not yours anymore, therefore, eating it is not permissible.2. The second condition is that you should release the dog or falcon immediately at your choice and will, not that they dash after some game and hunt it on their own. In the verse under discussion, this condition has been made to come out clearly by the use of the word, "Mukallibin." Lexically, this word is a derivation from 'Taklib' which basically means the training of dogs. Later, it also came to be used in the sense of training beasts of prey and releasing them after the game. The author of the famous Tafsir Jalalayn explains it in the sense of 'Irsal' (send after) which means releasing after the game. This view has been reported in Tafsir al-Qurtubi as well.3. The third condition is that the beasts of prey do not themselves start eating the game - instead, they should bring it to you. This condition has been explained through مِمَّا أَمْسَكْنَ عَلَيْكُمْ : (what they hold for you).4. The fourth condition is: When you release the dog or the falcon after the game, do it after saying 'Bismillah' (With the name of Allah).When these conditions stand fulfilled, the game - if dead before it reaches you - will still be lawful with no need to slaughter. If other-wise, it will not be lawful for you unless slaughtered.With Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) ، there is a fifth condition as well: That this beast of prey should have also wounded the game. A hint towards this condition is embedded in the word, الْجَوَارِ‌حِ "Al-Jawarih" (birds and beasts of prey) which also means animals which wound or injure.Ruling: This injunction covers wild animals out of one's possession and control. In case a wild animal has been captured, it will not become lawful without having been properly slaughtered.Finally, at the end of the verse, there comes the instruction that hunting through a beast of prey has no doubt been made lawful by Al-mighty Allah, but, it is not permissible to ignore Salah and other necessary religious obligations for the sake of having fun chasing game.

ٱلْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتُ وَطَعَامُ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ وَٱلْمُحْصَنَٰتُ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ وَٱلْمُحْصَنَٰتُ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ إِذَآ ءَاتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ مُحْصِنِينَ غَيْرَ مُسَٰفِحِينَ وَلَا مُتَّخِذِىٓ أَخْدَانٍ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِٱلْإِيمَٰنِ فَقَدْ حَبِطَ عَمَلُهُۥ وَهُوَ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ مِنَ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ

<p>Commentary<br/>In the first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, the lawfulness of domestic animals such as the goat, cow and buffalo has been described. The third verse has a detail of nine kinds of unlawful animals. From that detail to the opening sentence of the present verse, we come to know in summation the essentials of the lawfulness and unlawfulness of animals as well as its operating standard and rule.<br/>The verse opens with the words: الْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ (This day, good things have been made lawful for you). Here, 'this day' means the day on which this verse and those before it have been revealed, that is, the Day of ` Arafah in the Last Hajj of Hijrah 10. The sense is that the way your Faith has been made perfect and the blessing of Allah stands completed for you on this day, very similarly, good things from Allah which were already lawful for you have been allowed to stay lawful forever. The probability that the injunction could be withdrawn does not exist anymore because the ongoing process of revelation was to be discontinued.<br/>This sentence mentions the lawfulness of good things. But, another verse (7:157): يُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّ‌مُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ (Made lawful for them are good things and made unlawful for them are evil things). Here, by placing At-Tayyibat' (good things) against Al-Khaba'ith' (impure things), the reality of both words has been made clear. Lexically, things good, pure, clean and delightful are called 'At-Tayyibat'; and in contrast, 'Al-Khabaith' is used to denote things which are evil and disgusting. Therefore, this sentence of the verse stresses that everything good, pure and beneficial has been made lawful for human beings and everything disgusting and harmful has been made unlawful. The reason is that human beings are not like animals whose purpose of life is limited to eating, drinking, sleeping, waking - being no more than a sort of live-die cycle. Nature has made them the master of the universe for some special purpose and that cannot be achieved without having high and pure morals. Therefore, immoral human beings would really not deserve to be counted as human beings.<br/>That is why the Holy Qur'an has said about such people: بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ : that is, they are like cattle, rather more astray. Now if we accept that the 'humanity' of human beings depends on the betterment of their morals, it will become necessary to concede that they must be made to totally abstain from everything which leads to the corruption of human morals. Everyone knows how environment and society affect human morals. When things outside can do that to human morals, just imagine what would be the effect of things which go inside the human body for what becomes a part of the human body must affect its ethical behaviour. Therefore, caution must necessarily be observed in all foods and drinks. And let us keep in mind that unlawful income from theft, robbery, bribery, interest, gambling and evils like that, once it becomes part of anyone's body, will inevitably remove one farther from humanity and nearer to 'satanic nature.'<br/>Hence, says the Holy Qur'an: يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّ‌سُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا (O' Messengers, eat from good things [ made lawful as sustenance ] and do righteous deeds - 23:51). Here, the command to be righteous in deeds refers itself back to the command to eat from what is Halal (lawful) because without eating Halal, righteous deeds cannot be imagined. This consideration is very important specially in the case of meat which be-comes an integral part of the human body. One has to be most cautious and guard against the possibility of non-Halal meat entering his system through food and go on to spoil his morals. Similar is the case of meat which is physically harmful for human beings as the carrier of bacteria causing disease and death. Everyone knows that abstention from such meat is necessary. As for things declared evil by the Shari'ah of Islam, these are definitely agents of corruption for the human body or the soul or both. Since they are dangerous for human life and morals, they were made unlawful. As opposed to this, good things, the 'Tayyibat' contribute to the nurture and flowering of the human body, soul and morals - so, they were made lawful. In this way, this brief sentence of the Qur'an has given to us the philosophy and ground rules of the lawful and the unlawful, so to say, in a nutshell.<br/>Now, as to which things are pure, beneficial and desirable and which others are impure, harmful and disgusting, the real decision of the matter lies with the desire and aversion of one's inherent good taste. This is the reason why animals declared unlawful by Islam have been considered impure and disgusting by people of good taste during every period of time - for instance, carrion and blood. -Nevertheless, there come occasions when custom-based ignorance overpowers good taste and when the fine line between good and bad fades out. Or, the evil in some things is concealed. In such situations, the decision of the prophets, peace be on all of them, is the guiding and binding authority for everyone. The reason is that the noble prophets are the foremost in commonsense, decency, goodness and taste among human beings. They were specially gifted by Almighty Allah with an intrinsically sound and balanced nature and He Himself took the responsibility of their nurture and grooming. One might say that they rose to be what they were under a Divine security shield manned by angels which saw to it that their minds and hearts and morals would never be affected by any evil environment. So, things they took as evil are really evil; and what they found to be good is really good.<br/>In Hujjatullah al-Balighah, Shah Waliyyullah says that all animals declared unlawful by the Shari’ ah of Islam, when observed closely, will all fit compactly under two principles: one - an animal is evil by its nature and disposition; two - the method of slaughtering the animal is wrong, as a result of which it will be considered 'dead' ( 'Maitah' - carrion), not slaughtered.<br/>In the third verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, things called unlawful are nine in number. Out of these, the 'swine' is part of the first kind; the rest of the eight are in the second. By saying: وَيُحَرِّ‌مُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ (He allows them as lawful what is good [ and pure ] and prohibits them from what is bad [ and impure ] - 7:157 - AYA, revealed, Madinah) the Holy Qur'an declares the general rule that all evil animals are unlawful. For de-tails, the Holy Qur'an points out to some clearly, for instance, ' the flesh of swine' and 'flowing blood'... The enumeration of the rest was entrusted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . One sign of an animal being evil he gave was that a people could have been punished by having been transformed (Maskh) into the form of an animal. This indicates that the particular animal is evil by its very nature as divine wrath transformed it into an animal. For example, says the Holy Qur'an: وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَ‌دَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ‌ which means that some peoples have been transformed into swines and monkeys as punishment. This proves that both these kinds of animals are evil by nature - they, even if slaughtered, would still not become lawful. Then there are animals whose very doings and likings are sufficient for people of natural disposition to sense the evil inside them. For instance, there are beasts who live by injuring, tearing and eating other animals - a hard-hearted lifestyle indeed.<br/>Therefore, when someone asked about a wolf from the Holy Prophet ﷺ he said: "Can a human being eat it?" Similarly, there are many animals among crawlers and fliers whose very nature is to hurt or snatch away things, for instance, the snake, scorpion, house-lizard, fly, or a kite and falcon and others like them. So, the Holy Prophet ﷺ set the rule that animals among beasts which tear animals apart with teeth, such as the lion and the wolf and others of their kind, and animals among birds such as the falcon and the hawk and others of their kind which hunt with their claws, are all unlawful; or, animals which are by nature mean and low or get them-selves befouled with impurities, such as the rat or animals which eat carrion, or the donkey and similar others, all fall under the category of animals the physical properties and harmfulness of which is readily sensed by any human being with a normal mind and temperament.<br/>To recapitulate, we can say that the animals which have been made unlawful under the Shari` ah of Islam are of two kinds: Those intrinsically evil and those which are not evil by themselves but they have not been slaughtered following the method of slaughtering ani-mals ordained by Almighty Allah. This includes all other options such as the animal was not slaughtered at all - but was killed by shock or blow - or the act of slaughtering did take place, but rather than pronounce the name of Allah on it, a name other than that of Allah was recited, or just no name was pronounced by knowingly omitting the name of Allah at the time of slaughter. Such Dhibih or slaughter is equally untrustworthy and invalid in view of the Shari'ah. In fact, this is very much like having 'killed' an animal without proper slaughter.<br/>Something worth attention here is that everything one eats and drinks comes to him as a blessing from Allah, but, excepting the animals, no restriction has been imposed on cooking or eating anything from them other than that which would make it necessary for you to say Allahu-Akbar' or 'Bismillah' invariably before cooking and eating, as if, that food would not be lawful without it. At the most, the saying of 'Bismillah' at the time of eating and drinking anything has been classified as desirable or recommended ('Mustahabb' : acts the neglect of which is not punished by Allah, but the performance of which is rewarded). Contrary to this is the matter of animals, for it has been made necessary ('W ajib' ) that the name of Allah be invoked while slaughtering them - and if, anyone were to leave out the name of Allah at the time of the slaughter, the animal was declared to be carrion, and unlawful: at is the wisdom behind it?<br/>A little deliberation makes it clear that the lives of all living beings are equal in a way. Therefore, the act of one life form whereby another life form is slaughtered and exterminated should, obviously, be not permissible. Now, for those it has been made permissible, it is a major reward from Allah. That is why the realization of the presence of this Divine blessing and the expression of gratitude for it has been made necessary at the time of slaughtering the animal. This is contrary to the case of things like grains and fruits - their very growth is for the sole purpose that human beings use them up to fulfill their needs. Therefore, the saying of 'Bismillah' only whenever used has been placed at the level of being desirable ('Mustahabb' ) - it has not been made necessary ('W ajib': a duty which, if not done, brings punishment).<br/>There is yet another reason. There was a lingering custom from the days of Jahiliyyah that disbelievers used to pronounce the names of their idols while slaughtering animals. The Shari'ah of Islam transformed this un-Islamic custom into a wonderful act of worship by making it necessary to invoke the name of Allah instead. This was functionally the most appropriate strategy that some correct name instead of the false one be proposed, otherwise it would have been difficult to wean people away from ongoing customs and habits.<br/>The slaughter of the people of the Book<br/>The second sentence of the Verse is: وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ (and the food of the people of the Book is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them ... ). According to the consensus of Sahabah and Tabi` in (the Companions and their Successors), the word طعام 'Ta` am' (food) at this place means 'properly slaughtered animals' (Dhabihah). This is what has been reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, Abu ad-Darda', Ibrahim, Qatadah, al-Suddi, Dhahhak and Mujahid, may Allah be pleased with them all (Ruh a1-Ma` ani and al-Jassas) - because, in foods of all other kinds, the people of the Book and the idolaters and all other disbelievers are just the same as bread, flour, lintels, beans, rice, fruits and similar other eatables need no slaughtering. For Muslims, eating that kind of food, of course, when procured by any lawful means, is permissible - and conversely, when they procure it from Muslims, it is lawful for them. Thus, the essence of the sentence is that the Dhabihah (properly slaughtered animal) of the People of the Book is lawful for Muslims and the Dhabilhah (properly slaughtered animal) of Muslims is lawful for the People of the Book.<br/>At this point, there are some issues which should be considered. First of all, who are the People of the Book in the terminology of the Qur'an and Sunnah? What does 'Book' mean? And, is it also necessary that, in order to be regarded as the People of the Book, these people believe in and act according to their Book, correctly and faithfully? Here, it is obvious that the Book cannot be taken in its literal sense, that is, any written page. It can only mean a particular Book which has come from Allah. Therefore, there is a consensus of Muslim Ummah that 'Book' could only mean a particular Scripture about which there exists a certitude that, confirmed by the Holy Qur'an, it is the Book of Allah, for instance, the Torah, Evangel, Zabur (Psalms) and other scriptures of Sayyidna Musa and Ibrahim (علیہما السلام) . Therefore, peoples and nations which believe in some book and claim for it the status of a Divine Revelation - and which does not stand proved through the certain sources of the Qur'an and Sunnah - shall not be included under the term of the People of the Book, for example, the disbelievers of Makkah, the Magicians or the Zoroastrians, the idol-worshipping Hindus, the Buddhists, Aryans, Sikhs and many others.<br/>This tells us that the Jews and Christians who are believers of the Torah and the Evangel are included within the Qur'anic terminology of The People of the Book. The Sabians, a third people, cannot be identified precisely. Those who think that they believed in the Psalms of David (Zabur) are inclined towards including them too among The People of the Book. Those who were convinced that they had nothing to do with the Psalms, take them to be star-worshippers. They group them together with the idolaters and Magians. However, the Jews and Christians are the ones who are called The People of the Book by universal agreement. Now, we can return to the gist of the Qur'anic injunction, that is, the Dhabihah (slaughter) of Jews and Christians is Halal for Muslims and the Dhabihah of Muslims is Halal for them.<br/>As for the need to first determine the basis of calling and understanding the Jews and Christians as the People of the Book, one may ask: Is it bound with the condition that they should genuinely believe in the original Torah and Evangel and act in accordance with these? Or, even those who follow the altered Torah and Evangel and those who ascribe to Sayyidna ` Isa and Sayyidah Maryam, may Allah bless them both, partnership in the Divinity of God, shall be deemed as included among the People of the Book? The answer is that it is quite evident from the many clarifications of the Qur'an that for a people to be from 'The People of the Book', it is quite enough that they accept and believe in a Scripture and claim to follow it - irrespective of how much astray they may have gone while following it.<br/>Those to whom the Holy Qur'an gave the title of The People of the Book were also those about whom it said at several places that these people distort their Scriptures: يُحَرِّ‌فُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ (5:13). It also said that the Jews took Sayyidna 'Uzayr (علیہ السلام) as the son of God and the Christians did the same to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ‌ ابْنُ اللَّـهِ وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَ‌ى الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّـهِ (9:30). When, despite what they were and what they did, the Holy Qur'an insisted on calling them The People of the Book, it becomes evident that - unless the Jews and Christians were to abandon Judaism and Christianity totally - they shall continue to be the people of the Book, no matter how involved in false beliefs of their religion and dark doings they may be.<br/>Imam al-Jassas (رح) reports in Ahkam al-Qur'an that during the Khilafah of Sayyidna ` Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, one of his governors wrote to him for advice. He said that there were some people in his area who recited the Torah and observed the Sabbath like the Jews but they did not believe in Qiyamah (the Last Day). He wanted to know how he was supposed to deal with such people. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ wrote back telling him that they will be taken as a sect of The People of the Book after all.<br/>Atheist Jews and Christians are not the People of the Book:<br/>These days a very large number of people in Europe (and else-where) who are listed in the Census records as Jews and Christians do not really believe in the existence of God and, for that matter, do not subscribe to any institutionalized religion. They do not accept the To-rah and Evangel as Scriptures, nor do they have faith in Sayyidna Musa and ` Isa (Moses and Jesus), may peace be upon them, as prophets or messengers of Allah. It is obvious that such people cannot be counted as included under the injunction governing the People of the Book simply because their names are listed as Jews and Christians in the Census records.<br/> <br/>When Sayyidna Ali ؓ said that the slaughter of some Christians of Arabia is not Halal, he gave a reason. He said that those people believe in nothing but drinking. His words as reported by Ibn al-Jauzi are being cited below:<br/>روی ابن الجوزی بسندہ عن علی ؓ قال لا تأکلوا من ذبایٔح نصاری بنی تغلب فانھم لم یتمسکوا من النصرانیۃ بشیٔ الاشربھم الخمر ورواہ الشافعی بسند صحیح عنہ (تفسیر مظھری ص 34 ، ج 3 مایٔدہ)<br/>'Do not eat from the animals slaughtered by the Christians belonging to Bani' Taghlib for they have taken nothing from the Christian faith except the drinking of wine (narrated by Al-Shafi` i with sound authority - al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, p. 34, v. 3, al-Ma'idah)<br/>Sayyidna Ali ؓ prohibited the slaughter of the Christians of Bani Taghlib because, according to his information, they were libertines, not Christians. However, the majority of Sahabah and Tabi'in found out that these people too were like common Christians and had never rejected their Faith. Therefore, they ruled that the slaughter of these people was also lawful. Al-Qurtubl says in his commentary:<br/>The majority of the Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the Dhabiha of Christians is lawful, whether from Bani Taghlib or from some other tribe or group. Similarly, the Dhabiha of every Jew is also lawful. (Tafsir al-Qurtubi)<br/>In short, Christians about whom there is confirmed and certain in-formation that they do not believe in the very existence of God or do not accept Sayyidna Musa and ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as prophets, will not be included under the injunction governing the People of the Book.<br/>What does the 'food' of the People of the Book mean?<br/>Literally, طعام 'Ta’ am' means what is eaten which, in the Arabic lexicon, includes all kinds of eatables. But, the majority of the scholars of the Muslim Ummah hold that Ta` am' at this particular place refers to the meat of the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book because there is no distinction between the People of the Book and other disbelievers in eatables other than meat. Dry eatables like wheat, chick peas, rice and fruit are open commodities and are lawful when received from a disbeliever of any shade. Nobody differs about that. As for food which goes through human handling, the cautious practice is to avoid it since the purity (Taharah) of utensils and hands used by the disbelievers is not reliable. It is better not to use it without the urgency of need. But, this is a situation in which the probability of impurity is the same among idolaters and the People of the Book.<br/>To sum up, it can be said that the only possible legal difference in the 'food' of the People of the Book and other disbelievers is in the meat they slaughter. Therefore, in the present verse, it is a consensus of the Ummah that the 'food of the People of the Book' means their properly slaughtered animal. In his famous Tafsir, al-Qurtubl writes:<br/>والطعام اسم لما یؤکل والذبایٔح منہ و ھو ھھنا خاص بالذبایٔح عند کثیر من اھل العلم بالتأویل واما ماحرم من طعامھم فلیس بداخل فی عموم الخطاب۔ (قرطبی 77، ج 6)<br/>The word, 'Ta'am' is used for whatever is eaten, included within which are slaughtered animals as well - and here it has been used for slaughtered animals particularly. According to the view of the majority of exegetes of the Qur'an, whatever is unlawful from the 'food' of the People of the Book is not included in this generality of address (Qurtubi p. 77, v. 6).<br/>Later, al-Qurtubi gives a detailed comment as follows:<br/>لا خلاف بین العلماء ان مالا یحتاج الی ذبح کالطعام الذی لا محاولۃ فیۃ کالفاکھۃ والبر، جایٔزا کلہ اذ لا یضر فیہ تملک احد والطعام الذی فقع فیہ المحاولۃ علی ضربین احدھما مافی محاولۃ لھا بالدین کخبزۃ الدقیق وعصرہ الزیت۔ فھذا ان تجنب من الذمی فعلی وجہ التقذر۔ والضرب الثانی التذکیۃ التی ذکرنا انھا ھی اللتی تحتاج الی الدین والنیۃ۔ فلما کان القیاس ان لا تجوز ذبایٔحھم کما نقول انّھم لاصلاۃ لھم ولا عبادہ مقبولۃ رخص اللہ تعالیٰ فی ذبایٔحھم علی ھذہ الأمۃ اخرجھا النص عن القیاس علی ماذکرنا من قول ابن عباس۔ (قرطبی سورة مایٔدہ ص 77 ۔ ج 6 )<br/>There is no difference of view among scholars that it is lawful to eat what requires no slaughter such as fruit and wheat for its being owned (by a non-Muslim) does not bring any damage to the eatable. However, 'food' which requires effort has two kinds: First of these is the one in which one makes or produces something which has nothing to do with religion, such as, making bread from dough or pressing oil from olives - in this case, if a Muslim were to abstain from the outcome of the effort of a disbelieving citizen of an Islamic state (Dhimmi (, that would be an abstention simply based on temperamental distaste. The second kind needs the purifying process of slaughtering an animal properly which, in turn, requires Faith and Intention. In that case, the normal assumption would have required that the act of slaughter performed by a disbeliever should have not been acceptable very much like his acts of worship and prayer. But, Allah Almighty made their slaughtered animals specially lawful for the Muslim Community. This situation has been excepted by the express provision of the Holy Qur'an from the general rule, as mentioned by Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما (Qurtubi - Surah al-Ma'idah, p. 77, v. 6)<br/>The gist is that the 'food' of the People of the Book as it appears in this verse, means - with the agreement of scholars of Tafsir - food the lawfulness of which depends upon religion and belief: that is, the Dhabihah (the slaughter). Therefore, special treatment was meted out to the People of the Book in the case of this form of 'food' - because they too claim to believe in Books and Prophets sent by Allah, though their textual alterations invalidated their claim with the result that they got involved in disbelief and in ascribing partners to Allah. This was contrary to the position of disbelieving idolators who did not even claim to believe in any Scripture or Prophet or Messenger and the books or persons they believe in are neither books sent by Allah nor prophets or messengers as proved by any Word of Allah.<br/>The Wisdom behind the Lawfulness of the slaughter of the People of the Book<br/>The third question about the present verse is why the slaughter of the Jews and the Christians, as well as marrying their women, is made lawful for the Muslims, while all other non-Muslims have no such privilege. According to most of the Sahabah, Tabi` in and other exegetes of the Holy Qur'an, the answer to this question is very simple. Although the Jews and Christians had distorted their original religion by making many alterations therein, yet their faith regarding these two aspects matched with the Islamic injunctions. That is, they consider it necessary to invoke the name of Allah on their slaughter as an article of faith and take an animal to be impure and unlawful as carrion without that due process.<br/>Similar is the case in marriage - the list of the women of prohibited degree (marriage with whom is not lawful) is the same in their religion as in Islam. Also, the way it is necessary in Islam that marriage be pronounced openly, and in the presence of two witnesses, so it is with them - even in their present religion, the same injunctions continue.<br/>The great commentator, Ibn Kathir has reported this very position taken by most hahabah and Tabi'in. His words are as follows:<br/>(وطعام اھل الکتاب) قال ابن عباس ؓ وابو امامۃ ومجاھد و سعید بن جبیروعکرمہ وعطاء والحسن ومکحول وابراھیم النخفی وألسدی ومقاتل بن حیان یعنی ذبایٔحھم حلال للمسلمین لانھم یعتقدون تحریم الذبح لغیر اللہ ولا یذکرون علی ذبایٔحھم الا اسم اللہ وان اعتقدوا فیہ تعالیٰ ماھو منزہ عنہ تعالیٰ و تقدیس۔ (ابن کثیر مایٔدہ ص 19 ج 3)<br/>Ibn ` Abbas, Abu Ummah, Mujahid, Said ibn Jubayr, ` Ikrimah, Hasan, Makhhul, Ibrahim al-Nakh'ii, Suddi and Mugatil ibn Haan have explained the food of the People of the Book' as their 'Dhaba'ih' (properly slaughtered animals). These are lawful for Muslims because they consider slaughtering animals for anyone other than Allah as unlawful and do not in-voke any name other than that of Allah on animals they slaughter - even if they believe in things about Almighty Allah from which the great Creator is free and far above (Ibn Kathir, Surah al-Ma'idah, p. 19, v. 3).<br/>This statement of Ibn Kathir tells us two things: One, that all Companions and their Successors mentioned above take the 'food of the People of the Book' to mean their properly slaughtered animals (Dhaba'ih) and that there is a consensus of the Ummah that they are lawful. And the second point made clear here is that the reason why the Dhaba'ih of the People of the Book are lawful in the view of these revered authorities is that the issue of Dhabihah with the Jews and Christians still stays valid in accordance with the Shari` ah of Islam despite the many alterations in their religion - as they too take an animal slaughtered in the name of someone other than Allah as unlawful and that they deem it necessary to invoke the name of Allah upon the animal being slaughtered. However, it is a different matter that they fell into the polytheistic belief in Trinity whereby they started equating Allah and Mash son of Maryam as one and the same. The Holy Qur'an alludes to this in the following words:<br/>لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ‌ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ<br/>Certainly, gone infidel are those who say, "God is the Masih son of Maryam (Jesus son of Mary).<br/>The outcome is that all verses of the Qur'an concerning Dhabihah - which appear in Surah al-Baqarah and Surah al-An` am, and in which the animal slaughtered in a name other than that of Allah, as well as the animal upon which the name of Allah was not invoked - declare both being equally unlawful. All these verses have permanent legal effect and must be acted upon for all times to come. The verse of Surah al-Ma'idah which declares the food of the People of the Book as lawful is also no different from the injunctions appearing in these verses because the very reason of making the food of the People of the Book lawful is no other than that their present religion also maintains that an animal slaughtered by invoking the name of someone other than Allah upon it, and the animal upon which the name of Allah was not invoked, are both unlawful. Even today, the current copies of the Torah and the Evangel do have injunctions of slaughter and marriage almost similar to those of the Qur'an and Islam, details of which will appear a little later.<br/>However, the possibility is there that some ignorant people act in a manner which goes against this injunction of their own religion - very similar to many ignorance-based customs which have found currency among uninformed sections of Muslim masses as well: but, these can-not be called the religion of Islam. Noticing this behaviour of the ignorant masses among the Christians of that time, the revered Tabi` in (the successors to the Companions) took the position that Allah, when He made the food of the People of the Book lawful, already knew what they did with their slaughtering of animals. Some would invoke the name of Masih or ` Uzayr upon it while others would invoke no name at all. So, we see that the verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, which declares the 'food' of the People of the Book as lawful, acts as a particularizer or a sort of abrogator of the verses of the Surahs al-Baqarah and al-An'-am on the subject of the slaughter of animals, verses in which the slaughtering of animals in a name other than that of Allah or slaughtering them without invoking the name of Allah has been declared unlawful.<br/>According to the view of great ` Ulama', the respected Tabi` in, who declared that an un-named slaughter of an animal, or of one upon whom a name other than that of Allah was invoked were lawful, also knew that the original religion of the People of the Book was not different from what Islam enjoined and it was only the ignorant section of their masses which made such errors. Despite this, these revered elders did not exclude the ignorant masses of the People of the Book from the general rule governing the People of the Book. They upheld, in matters relating to the slaughter of animals and to marriage, the same injunction which governed their forefathers and the followers of the original religion, that is, the slaughter of animals by them and the marriage with their women was permissible.<br/>In Al-Ahkam al-Qur'an, Ibn al-Arabi says that he asked his teacher, Abu al-Fath al-Maqdisi about the Christians of his time who slaughtered an animal invoking a name other than that of Allah upon it - for example, they invoked the name of Masih or 'Uzayr at the time of slaughter - how could their Dhabihah become lawful, he wondered.<br/>The reply given by Al-Maqdisi was:<br/>ھم من ابایٔھم وقد جعلھم اللہ تعالیٰ تبعالمن کان قبلھم مع علمہ بحالھم (احکام ابن العربی ص 229، جلد اول)<br/>The injunction that governs them is like that of their forefathers. This condition (of the People of the Book) was already within the knowledge of Almighty Allah, but, He has made them subordinate to their forefathers. (Ahkam, Ibn al-` Arabi, p.229, v. 1)<br/>In recapitulation, it can be said that in the sight of the learned elders of the Muslim Community who have permitted the consumption of animals slaughtered by the People of the Book - those upon which the name of Allah was not invoked, rather, invoked thereupon was a name other than that of Allah - it was clear that these things are an integral part of the real faith of the People of the Book and are equally unlawful there. But, these learned elders allowed the erring masses also to be governed by the injunction which applies to the original People of the Book. It was for this reason that they allowed the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book to be taken as lawful. On the other side, the majority of the Sahabah, Tabi` in and Mujtahid Imams noticed that the animals slaughtered by the misled masses among the People of the Book, whether in a name other than that of Allah or without the name of Allah, were after all against the Islamic injunction but, in addition to that, the practice was against the current faith of the Christians themselves. Therefore, what they do should not affect the standing injunctions. So, they gave the verdict that the animals slaughtered by such people are not included under 'the food of the People of the Book' and, as such, there is no reason to support its lawfulness. Also, the act of going by the saying that their own wrong doing had caused particularization or abrogation in the verses of the Qur'an is not correct in any manner whatsoever.<br/>Therefore, all leading authorities in Tafsir - Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir, Abu Hayyan and others - are unanimous in holding that there was no abrogation (Naskh) in the verses of Surah al-Baqarah and Surah al. An'-am. This is also the favoured position of the majority of Sahabah and Ta</p>

CommentaryIn the first verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, the lawfulness of domestic animals such as the goat, cow and buffalo has been described. The third verse has a detail of nine kinds of unlawful animals. From that detail to the opening sentence of the present verse, we come to know in summation the essentials of the lawfulness and unlawfulness of animals as well as its operating standard and rule.The verse opens with the words: الْيَوْمَ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتُ (This day, good things have been made lawful for you). Here, 'this day' means the day on which this verse and those before it have been revealed, that is, the Day of ` Arafah in the Last Hajj of Hijrah 10. The sense is that the way your Faith has been made perfect and the blessing of Allah stands completed for you on this day, very similarly, good things from Allah which were already lawful for you have been allowed to stay lawful forever. The probability that the injunction could be withdrawn does not exist anymore because the ongoing process of revelation was to be discontinued.This sentence mentions the lawfulness of good things. But, another verse (7:157): يُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّ‌مُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ (Made lawful for them are good things and made unlawful for them are evil things). Here, by placing At-Tayyibat' (good things) against Al-Khaba'ith' (impure things), the reality of both words has been made clear. Lexically, things good, pure, clean and delightful are called 'At-Tayyibat'; and in contrast, 'Al-Khabaith' is used to denote things which are evil and disgusting. Therefore, this sentence of the verse stresses that everything good, pure and beneficial has been made lawful for human beings and everything disgusting and harmful has been made unlawful. The reason is that human beings are not like animals whose purpose of life is limited to eating, drinking, sleeping, waking - being no more than a sort of live-die cycle. Nature has made them the master of the universe for some special purpose and that cannot be achieved without having high and pure morals. Therefore, immoral human beings would really not deserve to be counted as human beings.That is why the Holy Qur'an has said about such people: بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ : that is, they are like cattle, rather more astray. Now if we accept that the 'humanity' of human beings depends on the betterment of their morals, it will become necessary to concede that they must be made to totally abstain from everything which leads to the corruption of human morals. Everyone knows how environment and society affect human morals. When things outside can do that to human morals, just imagine what would be the effect of things which go inside the human body for what becomes a part of the human body must affect its ethical behaviour. Therefore, caution must necessarily be observed in all foods and drinks. And let us keep in mind that unlawful income from theft, robbery, bribery, interest, gambling and evils like that, once it becomes part of anyone's body, will inevitably remove one farther from humanity and nearer to 'satanic nature.'Hence, says the Holy Qur'an: يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّ‌سُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا (O' Messengers, eat from good things [ made lawful as sustenance ] and do righteous deeds - 23:51). Here, the command to be righteous in deeds refers itself back to the command to eat from what is Halal (lawful) because without eating Halal, righteous deeds cannot be imagined. This consideration is very important specially in the case of meat which be-comes an integral part of the human body. One has to be most cautious and guard against the possibility of non-Halal meat entering his system through food and go on to spoil his morals. Similar is the case of meat which is physically harmful for human beings as the carrier of bacteria causing disease and death. Everyone knows that abstention from such meat is necessary. As for things declared evil by the Shari'ah of Islam, these are definitely agents of corruption for the human body or the soul or both. Since they are dangerous for human life and morals, they were made unlawful. As opposed to this, good things, the 'Tayyibat' contribute to the nurture and flowering of the human body, soul and morals - so, they were made lawful. In this way, this brief sentence of the Qur'an has given to us the philosophy and ground rules of the lawful and the unlawful, so to say, in a nutshell.Now, as to which things are pure, beneficial and desirable and which others are impure, harmful and disgusting, the real decision of the matter lies with the desire and aversion of one's inherent good taste. This is the reason why animals declared unlawful by Islam have been considered impure and disgusting by people of good taste during every period of time - for instance, carrion and blood. -Nevertheless, there come occasions when custom-based ignorance overpowers good taste and when the fine line between good and bad fades out. Or, the evil in some things is concealed. In such situations, the decision of the prophets, peace be on all of them, is the guiding and binding authority for everyone. The reason is that the noble prophets are the foremost in commonsense, decency, goodness and taste among human beings. They were specially gifted by Almighty Allah with an intrinsically sound and balanced nature and He Himself took the responsibility of their nurture and grooming. One might say that they rose to be what they were under a Divine security shield manned by angels which saw to it that their minds and hearts and morals would never be affected by any evil environment. So, things they took as evil are really evil; and what they found to be good is really good.In Hujjatullah al-Balighah, Shah Waliyyullah says that all animals declared unlawful by the Shari’ ah of Islam, when observed closely, will all fit compactly under two principles: one - an animal is evil by its nature and disposition; two - the method of slaughtering the animal is wrong, as a result of which it will be considered 'dead' ( 'Maitah' - carrion), not slaughtered.In the third verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, things called unlawful are nine in number. Out of these, the 'swine' is part of the first kind; the rest of the eight are in the second. By saying: وَيُحَرِّ‌مُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ (He allows them as lawful what is good [ and pure ] and prohibits them from what is bad [ and impure ] - 7:157 - AYA, revealed, Madinah) the Holy Qur'an declares the general rule that all evil animals are unlawful. For de-tails, the Holy Qur'an points out to some clearly, for instance, ' the flesh of swine' and 'flowing blood'... The enumeration of the rest was entrusted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . One sign of an animal being evil he gave was that a people could have been punished by having been transformed (Maskh) into the form of an animal. This indicates that the particular animal is evil by its very nature as divine wrath transformed it into an animal. For example, says the Holy Qur'an: وَجَعَلَ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَ‌دَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ‌ which means that some peoples have been transformed into swines and monkeys as punishment. This proves that both these kinds of animals are evil by nature - they, even if slaughtered, would still not become lawful. Then there are animals whose very doings and likings are sufficient for people of natural disposition to sense the evil inside them. For instance, there are beasts who live by injuring, tearing and eating other animals - a hard-hearted lifestyle indeed.Therefore, when someone asked about a wolf from the Holy Prophet ﷺ he said: "Can a human being eat it?" Similarly, there are many animals among crawlers and fliers whose very nature is to hurt or snatch away things, for instance, the snake, scorpion, house-lizard, fly, or a kite and falcon and others like them. So, the Holy Prophet ﷺ set the rule that animals among beasts which tear animals apart with teeth, such as the lion and the wolf and others of their kind, and animals among birds such as the falcon and the hawk and others of their kind which hunt with their claws, are all unlawful; or, animals which are by nature mean and low or get them-selves befouled with impurities, such as the rat or animals which eat carrion, or the donkey and similar others, all fall under the category of animals the physical properties and harmfulness of which is readily sensed by any human being with a normal mind and temperament.To recapitulate, we can say that the animals which have been made unlawful under the Shari` ah of Islam are of two kinds: Those intrinsically evil and those which are not evil by themselves but they have not been slaughtered following the method of slaughtering ani-mals ordained by Almighty Allah. This includes all other options such as the animal was not slaughtered at all - but was killed by shock or blow - or the act of slaughtering did take place, but rather than pronounce the name of Allah on it, a name other than that of Allah was recited, or just no name was pronounced by knowingly omitting the name of Allah at the time of slaughter. Such Dhibih or slaughter is equally untrustworthy and invalid in view of the Shari'ah. In fact, this is very much like having 'killed' an animal without proper slaughter.Something worth attention here is that everything one eats and drinks comes to him as a blessing from Allah, but, excepting the animals, no restriction has been imposed on cooking or eating anything from them other than that which would make it necessary for you to say Allahu-Akbar' or 'Bismillah' invariably before cooking and eating, as if, that food would not be lawful without it. At the most, the saying of 'Bismillah' at the time of eating and drinking anything has been classified as desirable or recommended ('Mustahabb' : acts the neglect of which is not punished by Allah, but the performance of which is rewarded). Contrary to this is the matter of animals, for it has been made necessary ('W ajib' ) that the name of Allah be invoked while slaughtering them - and if, anyone were to leave out the name of Allah at the time of the slaughter, the animal was declared to be carrion, and unlawful: at is the wisdom behind it?A little deliberation makes it clear that the lives of all living beings are equal in a way. Therefore, the act of one life form whereby another life form is slaughtered and exterminated should, obviously, be not permissible. Now, for those it has been made permissible, it is a major reward from Allah. That is why the realization of the presence of this Divine blessing and the expression of gratitude for it has been made necessary at the time of slaughtering the animal. This is contrary to the case of things like grains and fruits - their very growth is for the sole purpose that human beings use them up to fulfill their needs. Therefore, the saying of 'Bismillah' only whenever used has been placed at the level of being desirable ('Mustahabb' ) - it has not been made necessary ('W ajib': a duty which, if not done, brings punishment).There is yet another reason. There was a lingering custom from the days of Jahiliyyah that disbelievers used to pronounce the names of their idols while slaughtering animals. The Shari'ah of Islam transformed this un-Islamic custom into a wonderful act of worship by making it necessary to invoke the name of Allah instead. This was functionally the most appropriate strategy that some correct name instead of the false one be proposed, otherwise it would have been difficult to wean people away from ongoing customs and habits.The slaughter of the people of the BookThe second sentence of the Verse is: وَطَعَامُ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حِلٌّ لَّكُمْ وَطَعَامُكُمْ حِلٌّ لَّهُمْ (and the food of the people of the Book is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them ... ). According to the consensus of Sahabah and Tabi` in (the Companions and their Successors), the word طعام 'Ta` am' (food) at this place means 'properly slaughtered animals' (Dhabihah). This is what has been reported from Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn 'Abbas, Abu ad-Darda', Ibrahim, Qatadah, al-Suddi, Dhahhak and Mujahid, may Allah be pleased with them all (Ruh a1-Ma` ani and al-Jassas) - because, in foods of all other kinds, the people of the Book and the idolaters and all other disbelievers are just the same as bread, flour, lintels, beans, rice, fruits and similar other eatables need no slaughtering. For Muslims, eating that kind of food, of course, when procured by any lawful means, is permissible - and conversely, when they procure it from Muslims, it is lawful for them. Thus, the essence of the sentence is that the Dhabihah (properly slaughtered animal) of the People of the Book is lawful for Muslims and the Dhabilhah (properly slaughtered animal) of Muslims is lawful for the People of the Book.At this point, there are some issues which should be considered. First of all, who are the People of the Book in the terminology of the Qur'an and Sunnah? What does 'Book' mean? And, is it also necessary that, in order to be regarded as the People of the Book, these people believe in and act according to their Book, correctly and faithfully? Here, it is obvious that the Book cannot be taken in its literal sense, that is, any written page. It can only mean a particular Book which has come from Allah. Therefore, there is a consensus of Muslim Ummah that 'Book' could only mean a particular Scripture about which there exists a certitude that, confirmed by the Holy Qur'an, it is the Book of Allah, for instance, the Torah, Evangel, Zabur (Psalms) and other scriptures of Sayyidna Musa and Ibrahim (علیہما السلام) . Therefore, peoples and nations which believe in some book and claim for it the status of a Divine Revelation - and which does not stand proved through the certain sources of the Qur'an and Sunnah - shall not be included under the term of the People of the Book, for example, the disbelievers of Makkah, the Magicians or the Zoroastrians, the idol-worshipping Hindus, the Buddhists, Aryans, Sikhs and many others.This tells us that the Jews and Christians who are believers of the Torah and the Evangel are included within the Qur'anic terminology of The People of the Book. The Sabians, a third people, cannot be identified precisely. Those who think that they believed in the Psalms of David (Zabur) are inclined towards including them too among The People of the Book. Those who were convinced that they had nothing to do with the Psalms, take them to be star-worshippers. They group them together with the idolaters and Magians. However, the Jews and Christians are the ones who are called The People of the Book by universal agreement. Now, we can return to the gist of the Qur'anic injunction, that is, the Dhabihah (slaughter) of Jews and Christians is Halal for Muslims and the Dhabihah of Muslims is Halal for them.As for the need to first determine the basis of calling and understanding the Jews and Christians as the People of the Book, one may ask: Is it bound with the condition that they should genuinely believe in the original Torah and Evangel and act in accordance with these? Or, even those who follow the altered Torah and Evangel and those who ascribe to Sayyidna ` Isa and Sayyidah Maryam, may Allah bless them both, partnership in the Divinity of God, shall be deemed as included among the People of the Book? The answer is that it is quite evident from the many clarifications of the Qur'an that for a people to be from 'The People of the Book', it is quite enough that they accept and believe in a Scripture and claim to follow it - irrespective of how much astray they may have gone while following it.Those to whom the Holy Qur'an gave the title of The People of the Book were also those about whom it said at several places that these people distort their Scriptures: يُحَرِّ‌فُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ (5:13). It also said that the Jews took Sayyidna 'Uzayr (علیہ السلام) as the son of God and the Christians did the same to Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ‌ ابْنُ اللَّـهِ وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَ‌ى الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّـهِ (9:30). When, despite what they were and what they did, the Holy Qur'an insisted on calling them The People of the Book, it becomes evident that - unless the Jews and Christians were to abandon Judaism and Christianity totally - they shall continue to be the people of the Book, no matter how involved in false beliefs of their religion and dark doings they may be.Imam al-Jassas (رح) reports in Ahkam al-Qur'an that during the Khilafah of Sayyidna ` Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, one of his governors wrote to him for advice. He said that there were some people in his area who recited the Torah and observed the Sabbath like the Jews but they did not believe in Qiyamah (the Last Day). He wanted to know how he was supposed to deal with such people. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ wrote back telling him that they will be taken as a sect of The People of the Book after all.Atheist Jews and Christians are not the People of the Book:These days a very large number of people in Europe (and else-where) who are listed in the Census records as Jews and Christians do not really believe in the existence of God and, for that matter, do not subscribe to any institutionalized religion. They do not accept the To-rah and Evangel as Scriptures, nor do they have faith in Sayyidna Musa and ` Isa (Moses and Jesus), may peace be upon them, as prophets or messengers of Allah. It is obvious that such people cannot be counted as included under the injunction governing the People of the Book simply because their names are listed as Jews and Christians in the Census records. When Sayyidna Ali ؓ said that the slaughter of some Christians of Arabia is not Halal, he gave a reason. He said that those people believe in nothing but drinking. His words as reported by Ibn al-Jauzi are being cited below:روی ابن الجوزی بسندہ عن علی ؓ قال لا تأکلوا من ذبایٔح نصاری بنی تغلب فانھم لم یتمسکوا من النصرانیۃ بشیٔ الاشربھم الخمر ورواہ الشافعی بسند صحیح عنہ (تفسیر مظھری ص 34 ، ج 3 مایٔدہ)'Do not eat from the animals slaughtered by the Christians belonging to Bani' Taghlib for they have taken nothing from the Christian faith except the drinking of wine (narrated by Al-Shafi` i with sound authority - al-Tafsir al-Mazhari, p. 34, v. 3, al-Ma'idah)Sayyidna Ali ؓ prohibited the slaughter of the Christians of Bani Taghlib because, according to his information, they were libertines, not Christians. However, the majority of Sahabah and Tabi'in found out that these people too were like common Christians and had never rejected their Faith. Therefore, they ruled that the slaughter of these people was also lawful. Al-Qurtubl says in his commentary:The majority of the Muslim jurists are of the opinion that the Dhabiha of Christians is lawful, whether from Bani Taghlib or from some other tribe or group. Similarly, the Dhabiha of every Jew is also lawful. (Tafsir al-Qurtubi)In short, Christians about whom there is confirmed and certain in-formation that they do not believe in the very existence of God or do not accept Sayyidna Musa and ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as prophets, will not be included under the injunction governing the People of the Book.What does the 'food' of the People of the Book mean?Literally, طعام 'Ta’ am' means what is eaten which, in the Arabic lexicon, includes all kinds of eatables. But, the majority of the scholars of the Muslim Ummah hold that Ta` am' at this particular place refers to the meat of the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book because there is no distinction between the People of the Book and other disbelievers in eatables other than meat. Dry eatables like wheat, chick peas, rice and fruit are open commodities and are lawful when received from a disbeliever of any shade. Nobody differs about that. As for food which goes through human handling, the cautious practice is to avoid it since the purity (Taharah) of utensils and hands used by the disbelievers is not reliable. It is better not to use it without the urgency of need. But, this is a situation in which the probability of impurity is the same among idolaters and the People of the Book.To sum up, it can be said that the only possible legal difference in the 'food' of the People of the Book and other disbelievers is in the meat they slaughter. Therefore, in the present verse, it is a consensus of the Ummah that the 'food of the People of the Book' means their properly slaughtered animal. In his famous Tafsir, al-Qurtubl writes:والطعام اسم لما یؤکل والذبایٔح منہ و ھو ھھنا خاص بالذبایٔح عند کثیر من اھل العلم بالتأویل واما ماحرم من طعامھم فلیس بداخل فی عموم الخطاب۔ (قرطبی 77، ج 6)The word, 'Ta'am' is used for whatever is eaten, included within which are slaughtered animals as well - and here it has been used for slaughtered animals particularly. According to the view of the majority of exegetes of the Qur'an, whatever is unlawful from the 'food' of the People of the Book is not included in this generality of address (Qurtubi p. 77, v. 6).Later, al-Qurtubi gives a detailed comment as follows:لا خلاف بین العلماء ان مالا یحتاج الی ذبح کالطعام الذی لا محاولۃ فیۃ کالفاکھۃ والبر، جایٔزا کلہ اذ لا یضر فیہ تملک احد والطعام الذی فقع فیہ المحاولۃ علی ضربین احدھما مافی محاولۃ لھا بالدین کخبزۃ الدقیق وعصرہ الزیت۔ فھذا ان تجنب من الذمی فعلی وجہ التقذر۔ والضرب الثانی التذکیۃ التی ذکرنا انھا ھی اللتی تحتاج الی الدین والنیۃ۔ فلما کان القیاس ان لا تجوز ذبایٔحھم کما نقول انّھم لاصلاۃ لھم ولا عبادہ مقبولۃ رخص اللہ تعالیٰ فی ذبایٔحھم علی ھذہ الأمۃ اخرجھا النص عن القیاس علی ماذکرنا من قول ابن عباس۔ (قرطبی سورة مایٔدہ ص 77 ۔ ج 6 )There is no difference of view among scholars that it is lawful to eat what requires no slaughter such as fruit and wheat for its being owned (by a non-Muslim) does not bring any damage to the eatable. However, 'food' which requires effort has two kinds: First of these is the one in which one makes or produces something which has nothing to do with religion, such as, making bread from dough or pressing oil from olives - in this case, if a Muslim were to abstain from the outcome of the effort of a disbelieving citizen of an Islamic state (Dhimmi (, that would be an abstention simply based on temperamental distaste. The second kind needs the purifying process of slaughtering an animal properly which, in turn, requires Faith and Intention. In that case, the normal assumption would have required that the act of slaughter performed by a disbeliever should have not been acceptable very much like his acts of worship and prayer. But, Allah Almighty made their slaughtered animals specially lawful for the Muslim Community. This situation has been excepted by the express provision of the Holy Qur'an from the general rule, as mentioned by Ibn ` Abbas رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما (Qurtubi - Surah al-Ma'idah, p. 77, v. 6)The gist is that the 'food' of the People of the Book as it appears in this verse, means - with the agreement of scholars of Tafsir - food the lawfulness of which depends upon religion and belief: that is, the Dhabihah (the slaughter). Therefore, special treatment was meted out to the People of the Book in the case of this form of 'food' - because they too claim to believe in Books and Prophets sent by Allah, though their textual alterations invalidated their claim with the result that they got involved in disbelief and in ascribing partners to Allah. This was contrary to the position of disbelieving idolators who did not even claim to believe in any Scripture or Prophet or Messenger and the books or persons they believe in are neither books sent by Allah nor prophets or messengers as proved by any Word of Allah.The Wisdom behind the Lawfulness of the slaughter of the People of the BookThe third question about the present verse is why the slaughter of the Jews and the Christians, as well as marrying their women, is made lawful for the Muslims, while all other non-Muslims have no such privilege. According to most of the Sahabah, Tabi` in and other exegetes of the Holy Qur'an, the answer to this question is very simple. Although the Jews and Christians had distorted their original religion by making many alterations therein, yet their faith regarding these two aspects matched with the Islamic injunctions. That is, they consider it necessary to invoke the name of Allah on their slaughter as an article of faith and take an animal to be impure and unlawful as carrion without that due process.Similar is the case in marriage - the list of the women of prohibited degree (marriage with whom is not lawful) is the same in their religion as in Islam. Also, the way it is necessary in Islam that marriage be pronounced openly, and in the presence of two witnesses, so it is with them - even in their present religion, the same injunctions continue.The great commentator, Ibn Kathir has reported this very position taken by most hahabah and Tabi'in. His words are as follows:(وطعام اھل الکتاب) قال ابن عباس ؓ وابو امامۃ ومجاھد و سعید بن جبیروعکرمہ وعطاء والحسن ومکحول وابراھیم النخفی وألسدی ومقاتل بن حیان یعنی ذبایٔحھم حلال للمسلمین لانھم یعتقدون تحریم الذبح لغیر اللہ ولا یذکرون علی ذبایٔحھم الا اسم اللہ وان اعتقدوا فیہ تعالیٰ ماھو منزہ عنہ تعالیٰ و تقدیس۔ (ابن کثیر مایٔدہ ص 19 ج 3)Ibn ` Abbas, Abu Ummah, Mujahid, Said ibn Jubayr, ` Ikrimah, Hasan, Makhhul, Ibrahim al-Nakh'ii, Suddi and Mugatil ibn Haan have explained the food of the People of the Book' as their 'Dhaba'ih' (properly slaughtered animals). These are lawful for Muslims because they consider slaughtering animals for anyone other than Allah as unlawful and do not in-voke any name other than that of Allah on animals they slaughter - even if they believe in things about Almighty Allah from which the great Creator is free and far above (Ibn Kathir, Surah al-Ma'idah, p. 19, v. 3).This statement of Ibn Kathir tells us two things: One, that all Companions and their Successors mentioned above take the 'food of the People of the Book' to mean their properly slaughtered animals (Dhaba'ih) and that there is a consensus of the Ummah that they are lawful. And the second point made clear here is that the reason why the Dhaba'ih of the People of the Book are lawful in the view of these revered authorities is that the issue of Dhabihah with the Jews and Christians still stays valid in accordance with the Shari` ah of Islam despite the many alterations in their religion - as they too take an animal slaughtered in the name of someone other than Allah as unlawful and that they deem it necessary to invoke the name of Allah upon the animal being slaughtered. However, it is a different matter that they fell into the polytheistic belief in Trinity whereby they started equating Allah and Mash son of Maryam as one and the same. The Holy Qur'an alludes to this in the following words:لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ‌ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَCertainly, gone infidel are those who say, "God is the Masih son of Maryam (Jesus son of Mary).The outcome is that all verses of the Qur'an concerning Dhabihah - which appear in Surah al-Baqarah and Surah al-An` am, and in which the animal slaughtered in a name other than that of Allah, as well as the animal upon which the name of Allah was not invoked - declare both being equally unlawful. All these verses have permanent legal effect and must be acted upon for all times to come. The verse of Surah al-Ma'idah which declares the food of the People of the Book as lawful is also no different from the injunctions appearing in these verses because the very reason of making the food of the People of the Book lawful is no other than that their present religion also maintains that an animal slaughtered by invoking the name of someone other than Allah upon it, and the animal upon which the name of Allah was not invoked, are both unlawful. Even today, the current copies of the Torah and the Evangel do have injunctions of slaughter and marriage almost similar to those of the Qur'an and Islam, details of which will appear a little later.However, the possibility is there that some ignorant people act in a manner which goes against this injunction of their own religion - very similar to many ignorance-based customs which have found currency among uninformed sections of Muslim masses as well: but, these can-not be called the religion of Islam. Noticing this behaviour of the ignorant masses among the Christians of that time, the revered Tabi` in (the successors to the Companions) took the position that Allah, when He made the food of the People of the Book lawful, already knew what they did with their slaughtering of animals. Some would invoke the name of Masih or ` Uzayr upon it while others would invoke no name at all. So, we see that the verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, which declares the 'food' of the People of the Book as lawful, acts as a particularizer or a sort of abrogator of the verses of the Surahs al-Baqarah and al-An'-am on the subject of the slaughter of animals, verses in which the slaughtering of animals in a name other than that of Allah or slaughtering them without invoking the name of Allah has been declared unlawful.According to the view of great ` Ulama', the respected Tabi` in, who declared that an un-named slaughter of an animal, or of one upon whom a name other than that of Allah was invoked were lawful, also knew that the original religion of the People of the Book was not different from what Islam enjoined and it was only the ignorant section of their masses which made such errors. Despite this, these revered elders did not exclude the ignorant masses of the People of the Book from the general rule governing the People of the Book. They upheld, in matters relating to the slaughter of animals and to marriage, the same injunction which governed their forefathers and the followers of the original religion, that is, the slaughter of animals by them and the marriage with their women was permissible.In Al-Ahkam al-Qur'an, Ibn al-Arabi says that he asked his teacher, Abu al-Fath al-Maqdisi about the Christians of his time who slaughtered an animal invoking a name other than that of Allah upon it - for example, they invoked the name of Masih or 'Uzayr at the time of slaughter - how could their Dhabihah become lawful, he wondered.The reply given by Al-Maqdisi was:ھم من ابایٔھم وقد جعلھم اللہ تعالیٰ تبعالمن کان قبلھم مع علمہ بحالھم (احکام ابن العربی ص 229، جلد اول)The injunction that governs them is like that of their forefathers. This condition (of the People of the Book) was already within the knowledge of Almighty Allah, but, He has made them subordinate to their forefathers. (Ahkam, Ibn al-` Arabi, p.229, v. 1)In recapitulation, it can be said that in the sight of the learned elders of the Muslim Community who have permitted the consumption of animals slaughtered by the People of the Book - those upon which the name of Allah was not invoked, rather, invoked thereupon was a name other than that of Allah - it was clear that these things are an integral part of the real faith of the People of the Book and are equally unlawful there. But, these learned elders allowed the erring masses also to be governed by the injunction which applies to the original People of the Book. It was for this reason that they allowed the animals slaughtered by the People of the Book to be taken as lawful. On the other side, the majority of the Sahabah, Tabi` in and Mujtahid Imams noticed that the animals slaughtered by the misled masses among the People of the Book, whether in a name other than that of Allah or without the name of Allah, were after all against the Islamic injunction but, in addition to that, the practice was against the current faith of the Christians themselves. Therefore, what they do should not affect the standing injunctions. So, they gave the verdict that the animals slaughtered by such people are not included under 'the food of the People of the Book' and, as such, there is no reason to support its lawfulness. Also, the act of going by the saying that their own wrong doing had caused particularization or abrogation in the verses of the Qur'an is not correct in any manner whatsoever.Therefore, all leading authorities in Tafsir - Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir, Abu Hayyan and others - are unanimous in holding that there was no abrogation (Naskh) in the verses of Surah al-Baqarah and Surah al. An'-am. This is also the favoured position of the majority of Sahabah and Ta

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَٱغْسِلُوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْمَرَافِقِ وَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِرُءُوسِكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ إِلَى ٱلْكَعْبَيْنِ وَإِن كُنتُمْ جُنُبًا فَٱطَّهَّرُوا۟ وَإِن كُنتُم مَّرْضَىٰٓ أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ أَوْ جَآءَ أَحَدٌ مِّنكُم مِّنَ ٱلْغَآئِطِ أَوْ لَٰمَسْتُمُ ٱلنِّسَآءَ فَلَمْ تَجِدُوا۟ مَآءً فَتَيَمَّمُوا۟ صَعِيدًا طَيِّبًا فَٱمْسَحُوا۟ بِوُجُوهِكُمْ وَأَيْدِيكُم مِّنْهُ مَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيَجْعَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّنْ حَرَجٍ وَلَٰكِن يُرِيدُ لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ وَلِيُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

<p>Some injunctions of the Shariah concerning the conduct of worldly life, choices in marriage and food appeared in the previous verses. This verse mentions some injunctions relating to ` Ibadat, acts of worship like Salah, Wudu, Mash مسح ، Tayammum, Ghusl and Taharah</p>

Some injunctions of the Shariah concerning the conduct of worldly life, choices in marriage and food appeared in the previous verses. This verse mentions some injunctions relating to ` Ibadat, acts of worship like Salah, Wudu, Mash مسح ، Tayammum, Ghusl and Taharah

وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَٰقَهُ ٱلَّذِى وَاثَقَكُم بِهِۦٓ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌۢ بِذَاتِ ٱلصُّدُورِ

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَآءَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَـَٔانُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا۟ ٱعْدِلُوا۟ هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

<p>Commentary</p><p>The subject of the first of the three verses given above has appeared earlier in Surah al-Nis-a' in almost the same words. The only difference is that the arrangement of words there (4:135) was: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ while, here (5:8), it has been said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ (be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice). A delicate reason for the alternation in words appearing earlier and later in these two verses has been given by Abu Ha-an in his Tafsir Al-Bahr al-Muhit a gist of which is given below.</p><p>There are usually two causes which hold people back from doing justice and then make them do the unjust and the oppressive. The first one is taking the side of your own self, or that of your friends and relatives. Enmity with someone is the other cause. The verse in Su-rah al-Nis-a' is addressing itself to the first subject while this verse of Surah al-Ma'idah is oriented to the other.</p><p>Therefore, the words which follow this sentence in Surah Al-Nisa' وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَ‌بِي that is, 'even though against yourselves or the parents, and the kinsfolk ...' After the sentence of Surah al-Ma'idah cited above, the words which follow in this verse are: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا that is, And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice ...' So, the essential message of this verse of Surah al-Nisa' is: When it comes to doing justice, let nothing affect you, neither your own self, nor your parents, nor your relatives. If the demand of justice happens to be against them, stay with nothing but justice. The essence of this verse from Surah al-Ma'idah is that hostility against an enemy should not affect your sense of justice to the limit that you start working against the demands of justice to harm your enemy.</p><p>This is the reason why, by placing 'al-qist' (justice) first in the verse of the Surah al-Nisa', it was said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ... be upholders of justice, witnesses for Allah ... ) and, by placing 'lillah' (for Allah) first in the verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, it was said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ... be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice ) - though, both these modes serve the same purpose end-wise. It is obvious that a person who stands for justice will stand for none but Allah, and one who stands for none but Allah will do nothing but justice. But, when it comes to protecting personal interest or favouring friends and relatives, one may be tempted to justify the thought that the act of caring for relationships here is also for Allah. Therefore, by bringing in the word, 'al-qist' (justice) first at that point, the message given was that the concession which is contrary to justice cannot be for Allah. And in Surah al-Ma'idah, where the purpose was to enjoin justice with enemies, the word 'lillah' (for Allah) was brought in first, which took away the chances of sentimental attachments overpowering human nature. The point is, when you stand for Allah, the inevitable outcome should be an equal justice with enemies as well.</p><p>In short, both these verses of Surah Al-Nisa' and Surah al-Ma'idah carry two elements of guidance. The first commands full adherence to justice whether dealing with friends or foes. No weakness should be shown on account of any relationship, friendly or hostile. The second instruction given in these two verses is that no one should avoid recording true evidence and stating what is the truth in honesty with Allah, so that the decision makers face no difficulty in arriving at the true, sound and just decision.</p><p>The Holy Qur'an has stressed upon this subject in several verses with various angles telling people not to drag their feet and be tardy in appearing as true witnesses. Verse 2:283 from Surah Al-Baqarah carries a very clear command: وَلَا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَ ۚ وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ (And do not conceal the testimony. And whoever conceals it, his heart is, surely, a sinner) which proves that to give a true evidence is an obligation and its concealment, a grave sin.</p><p>But, the Holy Qur'an has also kept in sight the impediments to the fulfillment of such duty. The central obstacle is that a witness is made to appear in the courts repeatedly where he is subjected to absurd cross-examinations aimed at breaking the witness and invalidating his testimony. The result is that anyone marked to be a witness is actually marked out for trouble. Kept away from what he does for living, he becomes a target of all sorts of inconveniences just for nothing. Therefore, when the Holy Qur'an says that the giving of true evidence is necessary (Wajib), it also says: وَلَا يُضَارَّ‌ كَاتِبٌ وَلَا شَهِيدٌ ( And neither scribe nor witness should be made to suffer - 2:282 ).</p><p>A carefully investigated view of the courts and cases today will re-veal that spot witnesses and true witnesses are almost extinct. Any sensible person who happens to see something unusual taking place somewhere would instinctively run away from there lest he gets grabbed as a witness. The police fills out its case report with made-up witnesses the result of which could hardly be any different than what is being observed day in and day out. Not even five, or ten percent cases can be decided on the basis of truth and justice. Courts too can-not do anything about it. The kind of witnesses they receive are the only basis on which they have to arrive at their conclusions and decide cases.</p><p>But, no one seems to notice the initial error being made in this matter. If witnesses are treated nicely and they are not harassed time and again, good people would not hesitate to come forward to register their testimony as required under the teachings of the Qur'an. But, what is happening here is that the first investigation of a case is handled by the police and it is, by itself, enough to drive a witness crazy by his repeated appearances at the station. Once a witness, he would never be a witness again, not even on his dead body. Then the case goes to the court, if it does. And if it does, there comes the problem of dates, one after the other, they keep coming, next and next. But, the witness becomes the victim who has to undergo the punishment of a crime he never committed when he comes to record his pres-ence on every such new date. This long-hauled rule of procedure, a sick vestige of the British colonist, has corrupted our courts and judicial departments. One naturally tends to compare it with the form of simple and speedy justice provided in modern-day Hijaz and elsewhere in which the number of pending cases cannot become so large, nor would they prolong so continuously, nor does it cause any harassment to witnesses while fulfilling their religious duty.</p><p>To sum up, the blessings of an Islamic legal system can be seen even today by simply restructuring the law of evidence, and its attending rule of procedure, in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an which require the knowers of truth to testify and which also command that they should not be put to any inconvenience and that they should be free to go within the shortest possible time after recording their testimony.</p><p>Some forms of testimony</p><p>Finally, at this point, it is important to know that the sense of witness and testimony in current usage has become limited to testifying before a judge or Committee hearing suits and disputes. But, in the terminology of the Qur'an and Sunnah, the word 'Shahadah' (testimony) has a much broader sense. For instance, the medical certificate given to a sick person which states that he is unable to report on duty, or that he should be retired on medical grounds, is also a testimony. If the statement made in it was contrary to the actual condition of the sick person, it will turn into a false evidence and become a grave sin.</p><p>Similarly, checking student papers and marking them out during tests and examinations is also an act of testifying. If any increase or decrease in the marks allotted in them was done knowingly or carelessly, that too shall be a false evidence, which is unlawful, and a grave sin.</p><p>Certificates and testimonials awarded to successfully graduating students bear a witness that the awardee has the capability of doing what his or her documents say. But, should it be that the person concerned is, in fact, not so capable, then, everyone who has signed on that certificate or testimonial stands charged with the crime of false attestation.</p><p>Correspondingly, casting a vote in favour of a candidate seeking election to assemblies, councils and public bodies is also a testimony in which the voter bears witness that, in his or her knowledge and estimation, the particular candidate is worthy of becoming a representative or spokesperson of the country and its people, both in terms of his ability and merits and in terms of his honesty and trustworthiness as well.</p><p>Now, figure out how many of our representatives are there about whom this 'evidence' would prove to be true and correct? But, there is little that can be said about our electorate which seems to take this exercise of voting as some game where one either wins or loses. That, to them, is all there is to it. Yet, the right of vote is sold for money, or cast under pressure, or thrown away for fickle friends and shady promises. Leave others alone, even educated and observing Muslims fail to realize while voting for undeserving people that they were inviting the curse and punishment of Allah by putting their false evidence on record.</p><p>There is yet another way of looking at the casting of votes to elect representatives in accordance with the Holy Qur'an. This is called 'Shafa` ah' (recommendation or Sifarish). It means that the voter approves of the candidate of his choice and recommends that he should be elected as a representative. The injunction of the Holy Qur'an relevant to this situation has appeared earlier in the words given below:</p><p>مَّن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا</p><p>Whoever makes a good recommendation, there shall be for him a share from it (in the Hereafter). And whoever makes a bad recommendation, there shall be for him a share from it - (4:85).</p><p>It means that anyone who makes a good, true and justified recommendation, then, he too will get a share from the good deed of the per-son he has recommended. And a person who makes a bad recommendation, that is, favours someone undeserving and bad to succeed through his recommendation, then, he too shall get a share from the bad deeds of the person he has recommended. Thus, when a candidate like this will, during his tenure of office, go on doing what is wrong and impermissible, it is obvious that the curse of his evil doings will fall on the voter as well.</p><p>The vote has a third status in the sight of the Shari` ah of Islam - that of advocacy (Wakalah). This is, as if, the voter makes the candidate his representative and agent on his or her behalf. But, had this agency been connected with one of his personal rights and the gain or loss from it would have affected his person alone, then, he would have been responsible for it personally. However, that situation does not prevail here, because this agency concerns rights which the entire nation shares with him. Therefore, should a person contribute to the success of an undeserving candidate by voting for him as his representative, then, the sin of bulldozing the rights of the entire nation rests on his shoulders.</p><p>To recapitulate, our vote has a three-pronged status: Shahadah (evidence), Shafa` ah (Recommendation) and Wakalah (Advocacy or representation in common rights). Under all three conditions, voting for a good and deserving person brings great reward the fruits of which are bound to reach the voter. Similarly, voting for someone undeserving and uncouth is false evidence, unjustified recommendation and impermissible advocacy all in one, so, the evil fruits of his thoughtless voting shall stand recorded in the voter's log of deeds.</p><p>Therefore, it is the duty of every Muslim, man and woman, that he or she must fully investigate into the background of the candidate being voted for well before the vote is cast. Let them make sure that the candidate is deserving, capable and honest - and not otherwise. Negligence, apathy and heedlessness are poor reasons to go about committing such grave crimes. If done for no reason, it is absurdity at its worst.</p>

CommentaryThe subject of the first of the three verses given above has appeared earlier in Surah al-Nis-a' in almost the same words. The only difference is that the arrangement of words there (4:135) was: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ while, here (5:8), it has been said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ (be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice). A delicate reason for the alternation in words appearing earlier and later in these two verses has been given by Abu Ha-an in his Tafsir Al-Bahr al-Muhit a gist of which is given below.There are usually two causes which hold people back from doing justice and then make them do the unjust and the oppressive. The first one is taking the side of your own self, or that of your friends and relatives. Enmity with someone is the other cause. The verse in Su-rah al-Nis-a' is addressing itself to the first subject while this verse of Surah al-Ma'idah is oriented to the other.Therefore, the words which follow this sentence in Surah Al-Nisa' وَلَوْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَ‌بِي that is, 'even though against yourselves or the parents, and the kinsfolk ...' After the sentence of Surah al-Ma'idah cited above, the words which follow in this verse are: وَلَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَىٰ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا that is, And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice ...' So, the essential message of this verse of Surah al-Nisa' is: When it comes to doing justice, let nothing affect you, neither your own self, nor your parents, nor your relatives. If the demand of justice happens to be against them, stay with nothing but justice. The essence of this verse from Surah al-Ma'idah is that hostility against an enemy should not affect your sense of justice to the limit that you start working against the demands of justice to harm your enemy.This is the reason why, by placing 'al-qist' (justice) first in the verse of the Surah al-Nisa', it was said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَاءَ لِلَّـهِ... be upholders of justice, witnesses for Allah ... ) and, by placing 'lillah' (for Allah) first in the verse of Surah al-Ma'idah, it was said: كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّـهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ... be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice ) - though, both these modes serve the same purpose end-wise. It is obvious that a person who stands for justice will stand for none but Allah, and one who stands for none but Allah will do nothing but justice. But, when it comes to protecting personal interest or favouring friends and relatives, one may be tempted to justify the thought that the act of caring for relationships here is also for Allah. Therefore, by bringing in the word, 'al-qist' (justice) first at that point, the message given was that the concession which is contrary to justice cannot be for Allah. And in Surah al-Ma'idah, where the purpose was to enjoin justice with enemies, the word 'lillah' (for Allah) was brought in first, which took away the chances of sentimental attachments overpowering human nature. The point is, when you stand for Allah, the inevitable outcome should be an equal justice with enemies as well.In short, both these verses of Surah Al-Nisa' and Surah al-Ma'idah carry two elements of guidance. The first commands full adherence to justice whether dealing with friends or foes. No weakness should be shown on account of any relationship, friendly or hostile. The second instruction given in these two verses is that no one should avoid recording true evidence and stating what is the truth in honesty with Allah, so that the decision makers face no difficulty in arriving at the true, sound and just decision.The Holy Qur'an has stressed upon this subject in several verses with various angles telling people not to drag their feet and be tardy in appearing as true witnesses. Verse 2:283 from Surah Al-Baqarah carries a very clear command: وَلَا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَ ۚ وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ (And do not conceal the testimony. And whoever conceals it, his heart is, surely, a sinner) which proves that to give a true evidence is an obligation and its concealment, a grave sin.But, the Holy Qur'an has also kept in sight the impediments to the fulfillment of such duty. The central obstacle is that a witness is made to appear in the courts repeatedly where he is subjected to absurd cross-examinations aimed at breaking the witness and invalidating his testimony. The result is that anyone marked to be a witness is actually marked out for trouble. Kept away from what he does for living, he becomes a target of all sorts of inconveniences just for nothing. Therefore, when the Holy Qur'an says that the giving of true evidence is necessary (Wajib), it also says: وَلَا يُضَارَّ‌ كَاتِبٌ وَلَا شَهِيدٌ ( And neither scribe nor witness should be made to suffer - 2:282 ).A carefully investigated view of the courts and cases today will re-veal that spot witnesses and true witnesses are almost extinct. Any sensible person who happens to see something unusual taking place somewhere would instinctively run away from there lest he gets grabbed as a witness. The police fills out its case report with made-up witnesses the result of which could hardly be any different than what is being observed day in and day out. Not even five, or ten percent cases can be decided on the basis of truth and justice. Courts too can-not do anything about it. The kind of witnesses they receive are the only basis on which they have to arrive at their conclusions and decide cases.But, no one seems to notice the initial error being made in this matter. If witnesses are treated nicely and they are not harassed time and again, good people would not hesitate to come forward to register their testimony as required under the teachings of the Qur'an. But, what is happening here is that the first investigation of a case is handled by the police and it is, by itself, enough to drive a witness crazy by his repeated appearances at the station. Once a witness, he would never be a witness again, not even on his dead body. Then the case goes to the court, if it does. And if it does, there comes the problem of dates, one after the other, they keep coming, next and next. But, the witness becomes the victim who has to undergo the punishment of a crime he never committed when he comes to record his pres-ence on every such new date. This long-hauled rule of procedure, a sick vestige of the British colonist, has corrupted our courts and judicial departments. One naturally tends to compare it with the form of simple and speedy justice provided in modern-day Hijaz and elsewhere in which the number of pending cases cannot become so large, nor would they prolong so continuously, nor does it cause any harassment to witnesses while fulfilling their religious duty.To sum up, the blessings of an Islamic legal system can be seen even today by simply restructuring the law of evidence, and its attending rule of procedure, in accordance with the teachings of the Qur'an which require the knowers of truth to testify and which also command that they should not be put to any inconvenience and that they should be free to go within the shortest possible time after recording their testimony.Some forms of testimonyFinally, at this point, it is important to know that the sense of witness and testimony in current usage has become limited to testifying before a judge or Committee hearing suits and disputes. But, in the terminology of the Qur'an and Sunnah, the word 'Shahadah' (testimony) has a much broader sense. For instance, the medical certificate given to a sick person which states that he is unable to report on duty, or that he should be retired on medical grounds, is also a testimony. If the statement made in it was contrary to the actual condition of the sick person, it will turn into a false evidence and become a grave sin.Similarly, checking student papers and marking them out during tests and examinations is also an act of testifying. If any increase or decrease in the marks allotted in them was done knowingly or carelessly, that too shall be a false evidence, which is unlawful, and a grave sin.Certificates and testimonials awarded to successfully graduating students bear a witness that the awardee has the capability of doing what his or her documents say. But, should it be that the person concerned is, in fact, not so capable, then, everyone who has signed on that certificate or testimonial stands charged with the crime of false attestation.Correspondingly, casting a vote in favour of a candidate seeking election to assemblies, councils and public bodies is also a testimony in which the voter bears witness that, in his or her knowledge and estimation, the particular candidate is worthy of becoming a representative or spokesperson of the country and its people, both in terms of his ability and merits and in terms of his honesty and trustworthiness as well.Now, figure out how many of our representatives are there about whom this 'evidence' would prove to be true and correct? But, there is little that can be said about our electorate which seems to take this exercise of voting as some game where one either wins or loses. That, to them, is all there is to it. Yet, the right of vote is sold for money, or cast under pressure, or thrown away for fickle friends and shady promises. Leave others alone, even educated and observing Muslims fail to realize while voting for undeserving people that they were inviting the curse and punishment of Allah by putting their false evidence on record.There is yet another way of looking at the casting of votes to elect representatives in accordance with the Holy Qur'an. This is called 'Shafa` ah' (recommendation or Sifarish). It means that the voter approves of the candidate of his choice and recommends that he should be elected as a representative. The injunction of the Holy Qur'an relevant to this situation has appeared earlier in the words given below:مَّن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَاWhoever makes a good recommendation, there shall be for him a share from it (in the Hereafter). And whoever makes a bad recommendation, there shall be for him a share from it - (4:85).It means that anyone who makes a good, true and justified recommendation, then, he too will get a share from the good deed of the per-son he has recommended. And a person who makes a bad recommendation, that is, favours someone undeserving and bad to succeed through his recommendation, then, he too shall get a share from the bad deeds of the person he has recommended. Thus, when a candidate like this will, during his tenure of office, go on doing what is wrong and impermissible, it is obvious that the curse of his evil doings will fall on the voter as well.The vote has a third status in the sight of the Shari` ah of Islam - that of advocacy (Wakalah). This is, as if, the voter makes the candidate his representative and agent on his or her behalf. But, had this agency been connected with one of his personal rights and the gain or loss from it would have affected his person alone, then, he would have been responsible for it personally. However, that situation does not prevail here, because this agency concerns rights which the entire nation shares with him. Therefore, should a person contribute to the success of an undeserving candidate by voting for him as his representative, then, the sin of bulldozing the rights of the entire nation rests on his shoulders.To recapitulate, our vote has a three-pronged status: Shahadah (evidence), Shafa` ah (Recommendation) and Wakalah (Advocacy or representation in common rights). Under all three conditions, voting for a good and deserving person brings great reward the fruits of which are bound to reach the voter. Similarly, voting for someone undeserving and uncouth is false evidence, unjustified recommendation and impermissible advocacy all in one, so, the evil fruits of his thoughtless voting shall stand recorded in the voter's log of deeds.Therefore, it is the duty of every Muslim, man and woman, that he or she must fully investigate into the background of the candidate being voted for well before the vote is cast. Let them make sure that the candidate is deserving, capable and honest - and not otherwise. Negligence, apathy and heedlessness are poor reasons to go about committing such grave crimes. If done for no reason, it is absurdity at its worst.

وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَكَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَآ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْجَحِيمِ

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ هَمَّ قَوْمٌ أَن يَبْسُطُوٓا۟ إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فَكَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذَ ٱللَّهُ مِيثَٰقَ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ وَبَعَثْنَا مِنْهُمُ ٱثْنَىْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا وَقَالَ ٱللَّهُ إِنِّى مَعَكُمْ لَئِنْ أَقَمْتُمُ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَيْتُمُ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَءَامَنتُم بِرُسُلِى وَعَزَّرْتُمُوهُمْ وَأَقْرَضْتُمُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا لَّأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّكُمْ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ فَمَن كَفَرَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ سَوَآءَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ

<p>Commentary</p><p>In the seventh verse of Surah al-Ma'idah which appeared earlier Allah Almighty has asked Muslims to remember the pledge taken from them to which they professed belief and obedience:</p><p>وَاذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَاقَهُ الَّذِي وَاثَقَكُم بِهِ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ</p><p>And remember Allah's favour upon you and His Covenant that He has taken from you when you said, "We have listened and obeyed." And fear Allah ... (5:7)</p><p>This pledge is the pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger and the pledge of practical adherence to the Shari` ah of Islam. This is technically known as the Kalimah or the statement of creed and which is:</p><p>لا إلہ إلا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ</p><p>(La ilaa il-lal-la-hu Muhammadur-Rasu-lul-lah:</p><p>"There is no god worthy of worship but Allah Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."</p><p>Every Muslim who says this Kalimah is bound by this pledge. In the verse which follows (5:8), some important articles of the pledge, that is, particular religious injunctions have been described. These enjoin equity and justice for friend and foe alike and teach justice and tolerance - not revenge - for enemies once overpowered. This pledge is, in itself, a great blessing of Allah, therefore, it has been made to begin with:</p><p>(And remember Allah's favour upon you ...).</p><p>By beginning the present verse (5:11) with the same sentence : اذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (And remember Allah's favour upon you), the objective is to tell Muslims that as long as they remained faithful to their pledge, Al-mighty Allah blessed them with power and excellence in the present world and with high ranks for the Hereafter, shielding them all along against their enemies, in war and in peace.</p><p>This verse particularly mentions how enemies conspired to destroy Muslims and kill their Prophet on so many occasions, but Almighty Allah foiled all their plans and put them to disgrace - 'some people planned to lay their hands on you, and He kept their hands away from you.'</p><p>Speaking generally, there are innumerable events on the annals of the history of Islam when the plans made by disbelievers were seen rolling in dust by Divine grace. But, there are some special events as well which our learned commentators have pinpointed as the substantiation of this verse - for example, in the Musnad of ` Abd al-Razzaq, a report from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ عنہ says:</p><p>In a Jihad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Companions رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہم stopped to rest at one stage. The noble Companions scattered out to rest at various spots. The Holy Prophet ﷺ stopped by a tree, all by himself. He hung his weapons on a branch of the tree. A villager from among the enemies pounced on this occasion, dashed in and took possession of the sword of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Then, taking it out from the sheath, he threatened him by saying: مَن یَّمنَعکَ مِنِّی (That is, 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?' ).</p><p>Undaunted, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Allah (the Mighty, the Exalted) '. The villager repeated what he had said earlier, that is, 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?' Once again, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said with the same composure: 'Allah</p><p>After two or three exchanges in this manner, it was the awe of some unseen power which forced the challenger to put the sword back in its sheath. At that point, the Holy Prophet ﷺ called the Companions ؓ in and narrated what had transpired. The villager was still sitting by his side. He said nothing to him. (Ibn Kathir).</p><p>As part of an explanation of this verse, reports from some Companions ؓ say that there was an occasion when Ka'b ibn Ashraf, a Jew, had invited the Holy Prophet ﷺ to his house with the intention of killing him. Allah Almighty told him about this evil intention which foiled his conspiracy (Ibn Kathir). Also reported from Mujahid, ` Ikrimah and others is that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once went to Yahud ibn Nudayr to talk about a matter of concern. He asked him to sit under a wall, engaged him in a conversation while secretly he appointed ` Amr ibn Jahsh to scale the wall from behind and throw down a rock from the top of the wall over him. Allah Almighty let His Messenger, may he remain blessed and protected forever, know about their hostile intention and he immediately rose and moved away from there (Ibn Kathir).</p><p>There is no contradiction about these events. All of them can be taken to be substantiating the present verse where, after mentioning the unseen protection provided to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and to Muslims in general, it was said: وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَعَلَى اللَّـهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (And fear Allah. And in Allah the believers should place their trust).</p><p>First of all, what is being said here is that this blessing from Allah is not restricted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ rather, the real cause of this Divine support and protection is the quality of Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (Trust in Him). Any nation, or individual who lives by these two virtues, in any time and in any place, will have the support and protection from Almighty Allah in the same manner. How well this was put in two lines by poet Iqbal:</p><p>فِضأے بَدَر پیدا کر فرشتے تیری نصرت کو</p><p>اُتَرسکتے ہیں گَردُوں سے قطار اندر قطار اب بھی</p><p>Create the atmosphere of Badr, for your help the angels could descend from the heavens, file after file, even now!</p><p>It is also possible to refer this sentence back to the set of previous verses where Muslims have been commanded to treat their worst enemies with courtesy and justice. If so, the sentence would indicate that the teaching of courtesy and tolerance in the case of such avowed enemies may amount to making a political error which may put them back on their feet. Therefore, in this sentence, Muslims were warned that this tolerance and courtesy will bring absolutely no harm to them only if they continue being the kind of people who fear Allah and trust in Him. In fact, instead of giving the enemies the courage and opportunity to renew their hostility against them, this behaviour of theirs will become the cause of bringing them closer to Islam into the Muslim area of influence. Besides, Taqwa or the fear of Allah is the only factor which can compel a person to abide by a pledge both physically and spiritually. Wherever this quality of Taqwa remains missing, pledges get readily broken as commonly witnessed these days. So, the earlier verse (5:8) which mentions a pledge, also directed to وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ , (Fear Allah) towards the end. The same assertion was repeated here. Finally, this whole verse gives a clear hint that a Muslim victory with Divine support does not simply depend upon outward logistics and hardware, instead of that, the secret of their real power lies in Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (trust in Him).</p><p>After the present verse has mentioned the pledge taken from Muslims and rewards it would bring when fulfilled, the second verse brings into focus another side of the issue. It clarifies that this taking of pledges is not something special to Muslims. Similar pledges were also taken earlier, from other communities as well. But, they failed to fulfill them. Therefore, various punishments were sent upon them. It is said in the verse that Almighty Allah had taken a pledge from the Bani Isra'il (The Children of Israel). The pledge was taken in a particular form. The people from Bani Isra'il were divided over twelve tribes. One chief from each such tribe was chosen to represent them. Every chief from each of the twelve tribes declared on his behalf and on be-half of his whole tribe that they would adhere to this Divine Covenant. Thus, these twelve chiefs took that responsibility on behalf of the en-tire people of Bani Isra'il which entailed that they would themselves adhere to this pledge as well as make their tribe do so.</p><p>Worth noting at this point is the cardinal principle of Islam in matters of honour, merit, office and recognition which, in the words of the Persian poet, Jami, is:</p><p>بندہ عشق شدی ترک نسب کن جامی</p><p>کہ دریں راہ فلاں بن فلاں چین نیست</p><p>You have become a servant in love, forget about your lineage, 0 Jami!</p><p>For, on this highway, so and so the son of so and so means nothing.</p><p>The Holy Prophet ﷺ had declared this in full clarity when delivering his historic Address on the occasion of his Last Hajj by saying that Islam does not recognize any dividing line between Arabs and non-Arabs, black or white, high caste or low caste. Whoever enters Islam becomes a brother to all Muslims. The distinctions of status, lineage, colour, country and language were the idols and icons of the Days of Ignorance - Islam has broken them all. But, it does not mean that one should not consider family background when harnessed to establish order and efficiency in administrative matters.</p><p>It is but natural that people of a tribe or family are more likely to trust a known member of their group as compared to others. Such a person is expected to understand and accommodate the feelings of his group much better because he knows their psychological reflexes in de-tail. When a pledge was taken from the twelve tribes of Bani Isra'il, it was based on this very strategy whereby one chief from each of the tribes was made responsible for its compliance.</p><p>The same consideration of administrative expediency and a peaceful resolution of possible conflict was made when the Bani Isra'il were highly agitated about a shortage of water. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) prayed to Allah and as commanded by Him he struck his staff against a rock. Then, Almighty Allah made twelve streams flow from this rock for each of the twelve tribes. Allah Almighty has mentioned this great favour in the Holy Qur'an (surah al-A` raf, 7:160) in the following words: وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمُ اثْنَتَيْ عَشْرَ‌ةَ أَسْبَاطًا أُمَمًا (And We divided them into twelve tribes, as separate communities) and: فانبَجَسَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَ‌ةَ عَيْنًا (So, twelve springs gushed forth from it [ one for each tribe ]). As for this figure of twelve, it is rather unusual and lends to popular interpretations.</p><p>When the Ansar of Madinah came to invite the Holy Prophet ﷺ to their city, he took a pledge from them in the form of Bay'at. In this pledge also, the twelve chiefs of the tribes of Ansar, acting on behalf of their tribes, gave their hands in the blessed hands of the Holy Prophet ﷺ giving a solemn pledge of adherence popularly known as Bay'at (or Bay'ah in its pausal form).</p><p>Three of these chiefs were from the tribe of 'Aws and nine from the tribe of Khazraj (Ibn Kathir).</p><p>According to another narration from Sayyidna Jabir ibn Samurah appearing in al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that people and their needs shall stay covered until such time that twelve Khulafa' (ruling authorities) will be leading them. After having reported this narration, Ibn Kathir has commented that no word from this hadith proves that these twelve Imams or Khulafa' would rule one after the other, continuously. On the contrary, they could also appear spaced out from each other with breaks in between. Thus, there were four Khulafa' - Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ ، Sayy idna ` Umar al-Faruq ؓ ، Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ and Sayyidna Ali al-Murtada ؓ - succeeding in that order. After the passage of sometime in between, Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz was accepted by the consensus of the Ummah as the fifth righteous Khallfah' of Islam.</p><p>Now, returning back to the pledge taken from the Bani Isra'il, it will be recalled that Allah had made the twelve chiefs from their twelve tribes responsible for them and to them He said: اِنِّی مَعَکُم (I am with you). It means if they fulfilled the pledge themselves and re-solved to make others do the same, Divine support shall be with them. After that, the verse enumerates some articles of this pledge, then refers to the breach of trust committed by the Bani Isra'il and the subsequent punishment that descended upon them.</p><p>Thus, the sentence: ' اِنِّی مَعَکُم (I am with you) which appears before mentioning the articles of the pledge is there to tell two things. Firstly, if they stood by the pledge, Divine support will be with them which they would witness on every step they take. Secondly, they must realize that Allah is with them everywhere, all the time. He is watching over this pledge. Nothing that they intend, think, plan and do will remain outside the reach of His knowledge. He sees and hears what they conceal and He is also aware of their intentions and plans. They cannot escape His grip by breaking the pledge. Then come the articles of the pledge, the first being 'the establishment of Surah' followed by 'the paying of Zakah properly.' This tells us that the people of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) were also obligated with the duties of Salah and Zakah much before Islam. Other Qur'anic hints and authentic reports prove that these duties were not peculiar to Bani Isra'il alone. In fact, they have been enjoined by every prophet and every Shari’ ah.</p><p>The third article of the pledge is that they should believe in all prophets and messengers sent by Allah and help them achieve their objective of spreading true guidance. Since many messengers were to come to the Bani Isra'il, they were the ones particularly charged to do this. Though, the status of basic Iman or faith comes ahead of actual acts such as Salah and Zakah, yet, in this pledge, what was to be actually done was what was placed first. Prophets and messengers who were to come, would be coming later. Since the matter of believing in them and helping them in their mission was to happen later, that part was placed later in the text.</p><p>The fourth article of the pledge is: أَقْرَ‌ضْتُمُ اللَّـهَ قَرْ‌ضًا حَسَنًا (…and advance to Allah a goodly loan ...). "Qardan Hasana" (a goodly loan) means that it should be with absolute sincerity without any worldly expediency behind it. When spending in the way of Allah, one should spend what one holds dear - never trying to get away by giving out of the spare, the extra and the worthless. Spending in the way of Allah has been expressed as 'the giving of loan' because the return of a loan is taken as due legally, customarily and morally. So, one should spend in the way of Allah believing that it will be returned definitely.</p><p>Since the obligatory Zakah has already been mentioned at its place, the introduction of Qard Hasan here indicates that it is referring to Sadaqat and Khayrat (charities) other than Zakah. It also tells us that Muslims are not done with all financial responsibilities by simply paying off the Zakah due on them. There are other financial rights to be fulfilled, such as, making a Masjid where needed. When governments do not initiate or support religious education for children and adults, the responsibility of establishing and running institutions devoted to imparting religious education rests on none but Muslims themselves. The difference between the two is that Zakah is Fard Ayn (absolute obligation on every individual) while the kind of charities mentioned above are Fard Kifayah (an obligation of sufficiency as explained below).</p><p>Fard Kifayah means: should some individuals or a group from the Muslim community take care of such needs, other Muslims are released from the burden of responsibility; and, should no one come forward to do so, everyone becomes a sinner. How terrible are the cir-cumstances in which schools for religious education are operating in our time is known and braved by only those who have made it a mission of their lives to keep serving their Faith through these institutions of religious learning. As for paying Zakah, Muslims know that it is an obligation on them. It is strange that, despite this knowledge, there are very few who pay their Zakah - and there are still fewer who take the trouble of paying the full Zakah due on them after a full accounting. And even those who rarely pay out the full amount of Zakah due on them, think that they have done all they were supposed to do and that there is nothing more due on them. Go to them about some urgent need of a Masjid and they will come up with Zakah money. The same thing happens with religious institutions - they too hardly get any financial support other than Zakah. Although, these are duties, other than Zakah, which Muslims have to fulfill - this has been made clear in this verse of the Qur'an and in many other verses similar to it.</p><p>Towards the end of the verse, after enumerating the articles of the pledge, it was also clarified that the fulfillment of the pledge on their part will be amply rewarded, even their past sins will be forgiven and they will have the eternal comfort and security of Paradise. But, finally they were given to understand that should any of them elect to ig. nore such clear statements and go on to the limits of rejection and rebellion, they should know that they have left the straight path only to their self-appointed ruin.</p>

CommentaryIn the seventh verse of Surah al-Ma'idah which appeared earlier Allah Almighty has asked Muslims to remember the pledge taken from them to which they professed belief and obedience:وَاذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَاقَهُ الَّذِي وَاثَقَكُم بِهِ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَAnd remember Allah's favour upon you and His Covenant that He has taken from you when you said, "We have listened and obeyed." And fear Allah ... (5:7)This pledge is the pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger and the pledge of practical adherence to the Shari` ah of Islam. This is technically known as the Kalimah or the statement of creed and which is:لا إلہ إلا اللہ محمد رسول اللہ(La ilaa il-lal-la-hu Muhammadur-Rasu-lul-lah:"There is no god worthy of worship but Allah Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."Every Muslim who says this Kalimah is bound by this pledge. In the verse which follows (5:8), some important articles of the pledge, that is, particular religious injunctions have been described. These enjoin equity and justice for friend and foe alike and teach justice and tolerance - not revenge - for enemies once overpowered. This pledge is, in itself, a great blessing of Allah, therefore, it has been made to begin with:(And remember Allah's favour upon you ...).By beginning the present verse (5:11) with the same sentence : اذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ (And remember Allah's favour upon you), the objective is to tell Muslims that as long as they remained faithful to their pledge, Al-mighty Allah blessed them with power and excellence in the present world and with high ranks for the Hereafter, shielding them all along against their enemies, in war and in peace.This verse particularly mentions how enemies conspired to destroy Muslims and kill their Prophet on so many occasions, but Almighty Allah foiled all their plans and put them to disgrace - 'some people planned to lay their hands on you, and He kept their hands away from you.'Speaking generally, there are innumerable events on the annals of the history of Islam when the plans made by disbelievers were seen rolling in dust by Divine grace. But, there are some special events as well which our learned commentators have pinpointed as the substantiation of this verse - for example, in the Musnad of ` Abd al-Razzaq, a report from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ عنہ says:In a Jihad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and his Companions رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہم stopped to rest at one stage. The noble Companions scattered out to rest at various spots. The Holy Prophet ﷺ stopped by a tree, all by himself. He hung his weapons on a branch of the tree. A villager from among the enemies pounced on this occasion, dashed in and took possession of the sword of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Then, taking it out from the sheath, he threatened him by saying: مَن یَّمنَعکَ مِنِّی (That is, 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?' ).Undaunted, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Allah (the Mighty, the Exalted) '. The villager repeated what he had said earlier, that is, 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?' Once again, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said with the same composure: 'AllahAfter two or three exchanges in this manner, it was the awe of some unseen power which forced the challenger to put the sword back in its sheath. At that point, the Holy Prophet ﷺ called the Companions ؓ in and narrated what had transpired. The villager was still sitting by his side. He said nothing to him. (Ibn Kathir).As part of an explanation of this verse, reports from some Companions ؓ say that there was an occasion when Ka'b ibn Ashraf, a Jew, had invited the Holy Prophet ﷺ to his house with the intention of killing him. Allah Almighty told him about this evil intention which foiled his conspiracy (Ibn Kathir). Also reported from Mujahid, ` Ikrimah and others is that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once went to Yahud ibn Nudayr to talk about a matter of concern. He asked him to sit under a wall, engaged him in a conversation while secretly he appointed ` Amr ibn Jahsh to scale the wall from behind and throw down a rock from the top of the wall over him. Allah Almighty let His Messenger, may he remain blessed and protected forever, know about their hostile intention and he immediately rose and moved away from there (Ibn Kathir).There is no contradiction about these events. All of them can be taken to be substantiating the present verse where, after mentioning the unseen protection provided to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and to Muslims in general, it was said: وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَعَلَى اللَّـهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ (And fear Allah. And in Allah the believers should place their trust).First of all, what is being said here is that this blessing from Allah is not restricted to the Holy Prophet ﷺ rather, the real cause of this Divine support and protection is the quality of Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (Trust in Him). Any nation, or individual who lives by these two virtues, in any time and in any place, will have the support and protection from Almighty Allah in the same manner. How well this was put in two lines by poet Iqbal:فِضأے بَدَر پیدا کر فرشتے تیری نصرت کواُتَرسکتے ہیں گَردُوں سے قطار اندر قطار اب بھیCreate the atmosphere of Badr, for your help the angels could descend from the heavens, file after file, even now!It is also possible to refer this sentence back to the set of previous verses where Muslims have been commanded to treat their worst enemies with courtesy and justice. If so, the sentence would indicate that the teaching of courtesy and tolerance in the case of such avowed enemies may amount to making a political error which may put them back on their feet. Therefore, in this sentence, Muslims were warned that this tolerance and courtesy will bring absolutely no harm to them only if they continue being the kind of people who fear Allah and trust in Him. In fact, instead of giving the enemies the courage and opportunity to renew their hostility against them, this behaviour of theirs will become the cause of bringing them closer to Islam into the Muslim area of influence. Besides, Taqwa or the fear of Allah is the only factor which can compel a person to abide by a pledge both physically and spiritually. Wherever this quality of Taqwa remains missing, pledges get readily broken as commonly witnessed these days. So, the earlier verse (5:8) which mentions a pledge, also directed to وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ , (Fear Allah) towards the end. The same assertion was repeated here. Finally, this whole verse gives a clear hint that a Muslim victory with Divine support does not simply depend upon outward logistics and hardware, instead of that, the secret of their real power lies in Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (trust in Him).After the present verse has mentioned the pledge taken from Muslims and rewards it would bring when fulfilled, the second verse brings into focus another side of the issue. It clarifies that this taking of pledges is not something special to Muslims. Similar pledges were also taken earlier, from other communities as well. But, they failed to fulfill them. Therefore, various punishments were sent upon them. It is said in the verse that Almighty Allah had taken a pledge from the Bani Isra'il (The Children of Israel). The pledge was taken in a particular form. The people from Bani Isra'il were divided over twelve tribes. One chief from each such tribe was chosen to represent them. Every chief from each of the twelve tribes declared on his behalf and on be-half of his whole tribe that they would adhere to this Divine Covenant. Thus, these twelve chiefs took that responsibility on behalf of the en-tire people of Bani Isra'il which entailed that they would themselves adhere to this pledge as well as make their tribe do so.Worth noting at this point is the cardinal principle of Islam in matters of honour, merit, office and recognition which, in the words of the Persian poet, Jami, is:بندہ عشق شدی ترک نسب کن جامیکہ دریں راہ فلاں بن فلاں چین نیستYou have become a servant in love, forget about your lineage, 0 Jami!For, on this highway, so and so the son of so and so means nothing.The Holy Prophet ﷺ had declared this in full clarity when delivering his historic Address on the occasion of his Last Hajj by saying that Islam does not recognize any dividing line between Arabs and non-Arabs, black or white, high caste or low caste. Whoever enters Islam becomes a brother to all Muslims. The distinctions of status, lineage, colour, country and language were the idols and icons of the Days of Ignorance - Islam has broken them all. But, it does not mean that one should not consider family background when harnessed to establish order and efficiency in administrative matters.It is but natural that people of a tribe or family are more likely to trust a known member of their group as compared to others. Such a person is expected to understand and accommodate the feelings of his group much better because he knows their psychological reflexes in de-tail. When a pledge was taken from the twelve tribes of Bani Isra'il, it was based on this very strategy whereby one chief from each of the tribes was made responsible for its compliance.The same consideration of administrative expediency and a peaceful resolution of possible conflict was made when the Bani Isra'il were highly agitated about a shortage of water. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) prayed to Allah and as commanded by Him he struck his staff against a rock. Then, Almighty Allah made twelve streams flow from this rock for each of the twelve tribes. Allah Almighty has mentioned this great favour in the Holy Qur'an (surah al-A` raf, 7:160) in the following words: وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمُ اثْنَتَيْ عَشْرَ‌ةَ أَسْبَاطًا أُمَمًا (And We divided them into twelve tribes, as separate communities) and: فانبَجَسَتْ مِنْهُ اثْنَتَا عَشْرَ‌ةَ عَيْنًا (So, twelve springs gushed forth from it [ one for each tribe ]). As for this figure of twelve, it is rather unusual and lends to popular interpretations.When the Ansar of Madinah came to invite the Holy Prophet ﷺ to their city, he took a pledge from them in the form of Bay'at. In this pledge also, the twelve chiefs of the tribes of Ansar, acting on behalf of their tribes, gave their hands in the blessed hands of the Holy Prophet ﷺ giving a solemn pledge of adherence popularly known as Bay'at (or Bay'ah in its pausal form).Three of these chiefs were from the tribe of 'Aws and nine from the tribe of Khazraj (Ibn Kathir).According to another narration from Sayyidna Jabir ibn Samurah appearing in al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that people and their needs shall stay covered until such time that twelve Khulafa' (ruling authorities) will be leading them. After having reported this narration, Ibn Kathir has commented that no word from this hadith proves that these twelve Imams or Khulafa' would rule one after the other, continuously. On the contrary, they could also appear spaced out from each other with breaks in between. Thus, there were four Khulafa' - Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ ، Sayy idna ` Umar al-Faruq ؓ ، Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ and Sayyidna Ali al-Murtada ؓ - succeeding in that order. After the passage of sometime in between, Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abdul-` Aziz was accepted by the consensus of the Ummah as the fifth righteous Khallfah' of Islam.Now, returning back to the pledge taken from the Bani Isra'il, it will be recalled that Allah had made the twelve chiefs from their twelve tribes responsible for them and to them He said: اِنِّی مَعَکُم (I am with you). It means if they fulfilled the pledge themselves and re-solved to make others do the same, Divine support shall be with them. After that, the verse enumerates some articles of this pledge, then refers to the breach of trust committed by the Bani Isra'il and the subsequent punishment that descended upon them.Thus, the sentence: ' اِنِّی مَعَکُم (I am with you) which appears before mentioning the articles of the pledge is there to tell two things. Firstly, if they stood by the pledge, Divine support will be with them which they would witness on every step they take. Secondly, they must realize that Allah is with them everywhere, all the time. He is watching over this pledge. Nothing that they intend, think, plan and do will remain outside the reach of His knowledge. He sees and hears what they conceal and He is also aware of their intentions and plans. They cannot escape His grip by breaking the pledge. Then come the articles of the pledge, the first being 'the establishment of Surah' followed by 'the paying of Zakah properly.' This tells us that the people of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) were also obligated with the duties of Salah and Zakah much before Islam. Other Qur'anic hints and authentic reports prove that these duties were not peculiar to Bani Isra'il alone. In fact, they have been enjoined by every prophet and every Shari’ ah.The third article of the pledge is that they should believe in all prophets and messengers sent by Allah and help them achieve their objective of spreading true guidance. Since many messengers were to come to the Bani Isra'il, they were the ones particularly charged to do this. Though, the status of basic Iman or faith comes ahead of actual acts such as Salah and Zakah, yet, in this pledge, what was to be actually done was what was placed first. Prophets and messengers who were to come, would be coming later. Since the matter of believing in them and helping them in their mission was to happen later, that part was placed later in the text.The fourth article of the pledge is: أَقْرَ‌ضْتُمُ اللَّـهَ قَرْ‌ضًا حَسَنًا (…and advance to Allah a goodly loan ...). "Qardan Hasana" (a goodly loan) means that it should be with absolute sincerity without any worldly expediency behind it. When spending in the way of Allah, one should spend what one holds dear - never trying to get away by giving out of the spare, the extra and the worthless. Spending in the way of Allah has been expressed as 'the giving of loan' because the return of a loan is taken as due legally, customarily and morally. So, one should spend in the way of Allah believing that it will be returned definitely.Since the obligatory Zakah has already been mentioned at its place, the introduction of Qard Hasan here indicates that it is referring to Sadaqat and Khayrat (charities) other than Zakah. It also tells us that Muslims are not done with all financial responsibilities by simply paying off the Zakah due on them. There are other financial rights to be fulfilled, such as, making a Masjid where needed. When governments do not initiate or support religious education for children and adults, the responsibility of establishing and running institutions devoted to imparting religious education rests on none but Muslims themselves. The difference between the two is that Zakah is Fard Ayn (absolute obligation on every individual) while the kind of charities mentioned above are Fard Kifayah (an obligation of sufficiency as explained below).Fard Kifayah means: should some individuals or a group from the Muslim community take care of such needs, other Muslims are released from the burden of responsibility; and, should no one come forward to do so, everyone becomes a sinner. How terrible are the cir-cumstances in which schools for religious education are operating in our time is known and braved by only those who have made it a mission of their lives to keep serving their Faith through these institutions of religious learning. As for paying Zakah, Muslims know that it is an obligation on them. It is strange that, despite this knowledge, there are very few who pay their Zakah - and there are still fewer who take the trouble of paying the full Zakah due on them after a full accounting. And even those who rarely pay out the full amount of Zakah due on them, think that they have done all they were supposed to do and that there is nothing more due on them. Go to them about some urgent need of a Masjid and they will come up with Zakah money. The same thing happens with religious institutions - they too hardly get any financial support other than Zakah. Although, these are duties, other than Zakah, which Muslims have to fulfill - this has been made clear in this verse of the Qur'an and in many other verses similar to it.Towards the end of the verse, after enumerating the articles of the pledge, it was also clarified that the fulfillment of the pledge on their part will be amply rewarded, even their past sins will be forgiven and they will have the eternal comfort and security of Paradise. But, finally they were given to understand that should any of them elect to ig. nore such clear statements and go on to the limits of rejection and rebellion, they should know that they have left the straight path only to their self-appointed ruin.

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَٰقَهُمْ لَعَنَّٰهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَٰسِيَةً يُحَرِّفُونَ ٱلْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِۦ وَنَسُوا۟ حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىٰ خَآئِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ فَٱعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَٱصْفَحْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ

<p>Commentary</p><p>The first verse is telling us that Bani Isra'il were heedless to clear instructions given to them. Then, they broke the pledge for which they were punished. There were two kinds of punishment which visited Bani Isra'il because of their misdeeds and contumacy:</p><p>1. Manifest and perceptible, like the hail of stones and rocks or the overturning of land mass, which find mention in several verses of the Qur'an.</p><p>2. Intellectual and spiritual, as if their very minds and hearts were transformed in punishment for their contumacy which made them incapable of thinking and feeling and they went on sinking deeper in the curse of their sins.</p><p>The verse opens with the words: فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً. It means that it was because of their contravention of the solemn pledge that Allah made them far-removed from His mercy (that is, from its effects, which is the reality of 'La` nah' or curse - Hadrat Thanavi) and made their hearts hardened against any penetration of truth. This removal from mercy and the hardening of hearts has been likened to "Ra-'n " (stain or rust) by the Holy Qur'an in Surah al-Mutaffifin: كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَ‌انَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ. It means that the reason why they reject open verses of the Qur'an and all too manifest signs is that the stain of sins has settled down on their hearts. In a hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` said: When someone commits a sin for the first time, a black dot gets stamped on the heart. He feels the pinch of this evil presence all the time. It is like a black stain on a white cloth which is a constant sore of the eye. Now, if he gets chastened, repents and resolves not to do it again, that dot is erased; and should he become care-free and start a spree of other sins, a black dot for each subsequent sin will keep adding up, so much so, that the clean slate of his heart will turn jet black with these dots of stain. At that stage, the state of his heart will be-come very much like a pot placed upside down in which nothing goes in but to come out instantly. Therefore, nothing good settles down in his heart for he has fallen into a state of moral inertia - to him nothing good is good and no evil is evil. Rather, the opposite becomes his more likely approach - he starts taking defect as merit, vice as virtue and sin as reward. Thus armed with his crooked thinking, he goes on riding high in his rebellion and contumacy. This is a cash and spot punishment of his sin which he gets right here in this mortal world.</p><p>Some respected elders have said: اِن من جزاء الحسنۃ الحسنۃ بعدھا وان من جزاء السیٔۃ السیٔۃ بعدھا ، that is, the cash reward of a good deed is that one gets the Taufiq (the ability given by Allah) of doing another good deed. Similarly, the cash reward of a sin is that one's heart starts being attracted by other sins soon after the first. Thus, obedience and disobedience both have a pull of their own - one good invites another good and one evil attracts other evils and sins.</p><p>Referring back to the breach of trust committed by the Bani Isra'il, it can be said that the cash punishment due against it was that they were removed from Divine mercy - which is the greatest medium of salvation. And their hearts became so hardened that they stooped to the level of 'moving words away from their places' which means that they alter the Word of God - in words or meanings or recitation - all of which have been described in the Holy Qur'an and the books of Alhadith, some of which have been acknowledged by European Christians as well (Tafsir Usmni).</p><p>The result of the intellectual and spiritual punishment mentioned above was that they forgot to take advantage of the good counsel given to them: فَنَسُوا حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُ‌وا بِهِ. Then, this punishment stuck glued to them: وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىٰ خَائِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۖ that is, the Prophet of Islam would keep knowing about one or the other breaches, deceptions and treacheries committed by them. The exception is indicated in: إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ (but a few) which refers to people like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Sal-am and others who were followers of the faith of the People of the Book before they became true Muslims.</p><p>Upto this point, the description of the misconduct of the Ban' Isra'il was obviously demanding enough that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should hold them in contempt and never allow them to come to him. Therefore, in the last sentence of this verse, the instruction given to the Holy Prophet ﷺ was فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (So for-give them and forego. Indeed, Allah loves the good-in-deed). It means that, despite their peculiar condition being what it is, it is better that the Prophet of Islam abstains from doing what is otherwise quite natural. In other words, he should not treat them with contempt or hatred because after knowing what they are - hardhearted and cold - the chances that any good counsel would affect them are very remote. Granted. But, toleration and civility of morals are wonder virtues which could probe out some sense and sensibility from out of such in-sensate people. Even if this effort to drive some sense into them fails, something worth doing still remains - keeping one's own matters and morals correct is, after all, quite necessary. Allah Almighty likes what is done with good grace - and it will definitely bring Muslims closer to Him.</p>

CommentaryThe first verse is telling us that Bani Isra'il were heedless to clear instructions given to them. Then, they broke the pledge for which they were punished. There were two kinds of punishment which visited Bani Isra'il because of their misdeeds and contumacy:1. Manifest and perceptible, like the hail of stones and rocks or the overturning of land mass, which find mention in several verses of the Qur'an.2. Intellectual and spiritual, as if their very minds and hearts were transformed in punishment for their contumacy which made them incapable of thinking and feeling and they went on sinking deeper in the curse of their sins.The verse opens with the words: فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً. It means that it was because of their contravention of the solemn pledge that Allah made them far-removed from His mercy (that is, from its effects, which is the reality of 'La` nah' or curse - Hadrat Thanavi) and made their hearts hardened against any penetration of truth. This removal from mercy and the hardening of hearts has been likened to "Ra-'n " (stain or rust) by the Holy Qur'an in Surah al-Mutaffifin: كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَ‌انَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ. It means that the reason why they reject open verses of the Qur'an and all too manifest signs is that the stain of sins has settled down on their hearts. In a hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` said: When someone commits a sin for the first time, a black dot gets stamped on the heart. He feels the pinch of this evil presence all the time. It is like a black stain on a white cloth which is a constant sore of the eye. Now, if he gets chastened, repents and resolves not to do it again, that dot is erased; and should he become care-free and start a spree of other sins, a black dot for each subsequent sin will keep adding up, so much so, that the clean slate of his heart will turn jet black with these dots of stain. At that stage, the state of his heart will be-come very much like a pot placed upside down in which nothing goes in but to come out instantly. Therefore, nothing good settles down in his heart for he has fallen into a state of moral inertia - to him nothing good is good and no evil is evil. Rather, the opposite becomes his more likely approach - he starts taking defect as merit, vice as virtue and sin as reward. Thus armed with his crooked thinking, he goes on riding high in his rebellion and contumacy. This is a cash and spot punishment of his sin which he gets right here in this mortal world.Some respected elders have said: اِن من جزاء الحسنۃ الحسنۃ بعدھا وان من جزاء السیٔۃ السیٔۃ بعدھا ، that is, the cash reward of a good deed is that one gets the Taufiq (the ability given by Allah) of doing another good deed. Similarly, the cash reward of a sin is that one's heart starts being attracted by other sins soon after the first. Thus, obedience and disobedience both have a pull of their own - one good invites another good and one evil attracts other evils and sins.Referring back to the breach of trust committed by the Bani Isra'il, it can be said that the cash punishment due against it was that they were removed from Divine mercy - which is the greatest medium of salvation. And their hearts became so hardened that they stooped to the level of 'moving words away from their places' which means that they alter the Word of God - in words or meanings or recitation - all of which have been described in the Holy Qur'an and the books of Alhadith, some of which have been acknowledged by European Christians as well (Tafsir Usmni).The result of the intellectual and spiritual punishment mentioned above was that they forgot to take advantage of the good counsel given to them: فَنَسُوا حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُ‌وا بِهِ. Then, this punishment stuck glued to them: وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىٰ خَائِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۖ that is, the Prophet of Islam would keep knowing about one or the other breaches, deceptions and treacheries committed by them. The exception is indicated in: إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ (but a few) which refers to people like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Sal-am and others who were followers of the faith of the People of the Book before they became true Muslims.Upto this point, the description of the misconduct of the Ban' Isra'il was obviously demanding enough that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should hold them in contempt and never allow them to come to him. Therefore, in the last sentence of this verse, the instruction given to the Holy Prophet ﷺ was فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (So for-give them and forego. Indeed, Allah loves the good-in-deed). It means that, despite their peculiar condition being what it is, it is better that the Prophet of Islam abstains from doing what is otherwise quite natural. In other words, he should not treat them with contempt or hatred because after knowing what they are - hardhearted and cold - the chances that any good counsel would affect them are very remote. Granted. But, toleration and civility of morals are wonder virtues which could probe out some sense and sensibility from out of such in-sensate people. Even if this effort to drive some sense into them fails, something worth doing still remains - keeping one's own matters and morals correct is, after all, quite necessary. Allah Almighty likes what is done with good grace - and it will definitely bring Muslims closer to Him.

وَمِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا نَصَٰرَىٰٓ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَٰقَهُمْ فَنَسُوا۟ حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَأَغْرَيْنَا بَيْنَهُمُ ٱلْعَدَاوَةَ وَٱلْبَغْضَآءَ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَسَوْفَ يُنَبِّئُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَصْنَعُونَ

<p>From the first verse, 5:13, which dealt with the breach of trust by Jews and their punishment for it, we now move to the next verse, 5:14, which refers to Christians: وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَ‌ىٰ. In this verse, the punishment described for Christians is mutual dissension. Being for their breach of trust, this wi11 continue right upto the Last Day.</p><p>Looking at the contemporary scene, one may have doubts about Christians who seem to be united. The answer is that the present statement covers genuine Christians, observing and abiding. As for those who have moved away from their own religion turning into non-conformist, secular or atheistic individuals or groups, they are, for all practical purposes, out of the list of Christians - even though, they may count them as Christians among the nationalities of a country. If, among such people, that religious dissension and mutual hostility does not exist, it would not be contrary to this verse - because the conflict was based on religion, once the religion is not there, conflict too would not be there. As said earlier, this verse describes people who profess and practice the religion of Christianity - and their division is well-known.</p><p>Given below is a brief reference from Taysir in the marginal notes of commentator, al-Baydawi which reports that there were three sects among Christians originally:</p><p>1. Fisturyah (Nestorians) who took Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as the son of God.</p><p>2. Ya'qubiyah (Jacobites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) himself as one with God.</p><p>3. Malka'iyah (Malkites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as one of the Trinity.</p><p>And it goes without saying that in the presence of such major divisions in matters of belief, mutual malice is inevitable.</p>

From the first verse, 5:13, which dealt with the breach of trust by Jews and their punishment for it, we now move to the next verse, 5:14, which refers to Christians: وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَ‌ىٰ. In this verse, the punishment described for Christians is mutual dissension. Being for their breach of trust, this wi11 continue right upto the Last Day.Looking at the contemporary scene, one may have doubts about Christians who seem to be united. The answer is that the present statement covers genuine Christians, observing and abiding. As for those who have moved away from their own religion turning into non-conformist, secular or atheistic individuals or groups, they are, for all practical purposes, out of the list of Christians - even though, they may count them as Christians among the nationalities of a country. If, among such people, that religious dissension and mutual hostility does not exist, it would not be contrary to this verse - because the conflict was based on religion, once the religion is not there, conflict too would not be there. As said earlier, this verse describes people who profess and practice the religion of Christianity - and their division is well-known.Given below is a brief reference from Taysir in the marginal notes of commentator, al-Baydawi which reports that there were three sects among Christians originally:1. Fisturyah (Nestorians) who took Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as the son of God.2. Ya'qubiyah (Jacobites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) himself as one with God.3. Malka'iyah (Malkites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as one of the Trinity.And it goes without saying that in the presence of such major divisions in matters of belief, mutual malice is inevitable.

يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ قَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا كُنتُمْ تُخْفُونَ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَيَعْفُوا۟ عَن كَثِيرٍ قَدْ جَآءَكُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ نُورٌ وَكِتَٰبٌ مُّبِينٌ

<p>Commentary</p><p>Refuted here in this verse is only one saying of the Christians - which is the belief of a sect among them - that Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) is God. But, the argument employed in the refutation virtually covers the false beliefs of all sects against the inalienable principle of Tauhid, that is the Oneness of Allah. This may be a belief in a son of God or a belief in one of the three Gods - the argument refutes all of them.</p><p>That Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and his blessed mother have been mentioned here jointly could be because of two wise considerations. Firstly, it is the humility of Sayyidna Masih before Allah Ta` ala that he could never think of saving himself against the will of Allah, or his mother whose care and service a good son considers dearer than his own life. Secondly, by doing so, the view of the sect which takes Sayyidah Maryam as one of the three Gods also stands refuted.</p><p>Also noteworthy at this point is the mention of the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidah Maryam, peace be upon both of them, as a supposition - although, the death of Sayyidah Maryam was no supposition at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an; it had already occured, in fact. The reason for this may either be the superimposition (Taghlib) of the desired subject, that is, since the real intent here was to describe the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as a supposition, the mention of his blessed mother was also made as a corollary of the same subject, even though, her death had already occurred - or, it can also be said that the expression means: The way We have made death take away Sayyidah Maryam, it lies within Our power to make it overtake Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and the rest of the creation as well. And the statement: يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ (He creates what He wills - 5:17), is there to refute this particular base which Christians use to deify Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) because they reason out that his birth came to pass, against all rules of nature operative in this world, without a father and from the mother alone - had he too been a human being, he would have been born through a mother and father both, very much in accordance with the natural law.</p><p>This one sentence answers the reasoning by saying that Allah has the most perfect and the most comprehensive power to create what He wills and how He wills. The same doubt has been removed in the verse: إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّـهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ (Surely, the case of ` Isa, in the sight of Allah, is like the case of Adam - 3:59) where it has been established that the creation of Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as separate from the habitual law of nature cannot become an argument in favour of his being taken as God.</p><p>The reason lies in pondering that Allah Ta` ala did create Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) without a father and mother both. He has the power, all power, over everything. He is the Creator and the Master and the most worthy of worship. No one else can be associated with His Divinity as a partner or sharer.</p>

CommentaryRefuted here in this verse is only one saying of the Christians - which is the belief of a sect among them - that Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) is God. But, the argument employed in the refutation virtually covers the false beliefs of all sects against the inalienable principle of Tauhid, that is the Oneness of Allah. This may be a belief in a son of God or a belief in one of the three Gods - the argument refutes all of them.That Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and his blessed mother have been mentioned here jointly could be because of two wise considerations. Firstly, it is the humility of Sayyidna Masih before Allah Ta` ala that he could never think of saving himself against the will of Allah, or his mother whose care and service a good son considers dearer than his own life. Secondly, by doing so, the view of the sect which takes Sayyidah Maryam as one of the three Gods also stands refuted.Also noteworthy at this point is the mention of the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidah Maryam, peace be upon both of them, as a supposition - although, the death of Sayyidah Maryam was no supposition at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an; it had already occured, in fact. The reason for this may either be the superimposition (Taghlib) of the desired subject, that is, since the real intent here was to describe the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as a supposition, the mention of his blessed mother was also made as a corollary of the same subject, even though, her death had already occurred - or, it can also be said that the expression means: The way We have made death take away Sayyidah Maryam, it lies within Our power to make it overtake Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and the rest of the creation as well. And the statement: يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ (He creates what He wills - 5:17), is there to refute this particular base which Christians use to deify Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) because they reason out that his birth came to pass, against all rules of nature operative in this world, without a father and from the mother alone - had he too been a human being, he would have been born through a mother and father both, very much in accordance with the natural law.This one sentence answers the reasoning by saying that Allah has the most perfect and the most comprehensive power to create what He wills and how He wills. The same doubt has been removed in the verse: إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّـهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ (Surely, the case of ` Isa, in the sight of Allah, is like the case of Adam - 3:59) where it has been established that the creation of Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as separate from the habitual law of nature cannot become an argument in favour of his being taken as God.The reason lies in pondering that Allah Ta` ala did create Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) without a father and mother both. He has the power, all power, over everything. He is the Creator and the Master and the most worthy of worship. No one else can be associated with His Divinity as a partner or sharer.

يَهْدِى بِهِ ٱللَّهُ مَنِ ٱتَّبَعَ رِضْوَٰنَهُۥ سُبُلَ ٱلسَّلَٰمِ وَيُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ بِإِذْنِهِۦ وَيَهْدِيهِمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

لَّقَدْ كَفَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا إِنْ أَرَادَ أَن يُهْلِكَ ٱلْمَسِيحَ ٱبْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَأُمَّهُۥ وَمَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

وَقَالَتِ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰ نَحْنُ أَبْنَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّٰٓؤُهُۥ قُلْ فَلِمَ يُعَذِّبُكُم بِذُنُوبِكُم بَلْ أَنتُم بَشَرٌ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَإِلَيْهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ قَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُمْ عَلَىٰ فَتْرَةٍ مِّنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ مَا جَآءَنَا مِنۢ بَشِيرٍ وَلَا نَذِيرٍ فَقَدْ جَآءَكُم بَشِيرٌ وَنَذِيرٌ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

<p>Commentary</p><p>The word, "fatrah" in: عَلَىٰ فَتْرَ‌ةٍ مِّنَ الرُّ‌سُلِ (after a gap between Messengers) literally means to slacken, to become dormant or to suspend or to terminate an activity. Leading authorities in Tafsir have given this very meaning of fatrah in this verse. It signifies the suspension of the coming of prophets for a certain interval of time which is the period of time in between Sayyidna ` Isa and the Last of the Prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ .</p><p>Verification of the Gap</p><p>According to Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ there is a period of one thousand and seven hundred years between Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہم السلام) . During this whole period, prophets kept coming with their missions without any gap. To Bani Isra'il alone, one thousand prophets were sent during this period - not included in which are prophets who appeared among peoples other than Bani Isra'il. Then comes the period of only five hundred years between the birth of Sayyidna (علیہ السلام) and the appearance of the Holy Prophet ﷺ as the Last Prophet. During this period, the usual chain of prophets remained discontinued. Therefore, this period is known as Fatrah or Gap. Before this, a longer period has never remained unvisited by prophets. (Qurtubi, with some explanation from the author)</p><p>There are other reports regarding the period of time between Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہم السلام) ، and that which is between Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and the Last Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ . The period of time indicated in these reports is either more, or less, but that does not affect the real purpose.</p><p>Imam a1-Bukhari (رح) reports on the authority of Sayyidna Salman al-Farisi ؓ عنہ that there was a period of six hundred years between the time of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and the Last among Prophets ﷺ .</p><p>During this entire period, no prophet was sent as confirmed by a Hadith in Mishkat, appearing there with reference to the Sahibs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, which reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: اَنا اَولَی النَّاس بِعِیسٰی that is, ` Among people, I am the closest to ` Isa.' He explained the meaning of his remark later in the Hadith when he said: لیسَ بَیننَا نَبِیُّ that is, ` No prophet was sent between the two of us.'</p><p>As for the three messengers mentioned in Surah Ya Sin (36), they were messengers sent by Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) who have been' called messengers (bearers of a message) in the literal sense.</p><p>About the appearance of Khalid ibn Sinan al-` Arabi during this gap as reported by some chroniclers, Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani says with reference to Shihab that his being a prophet is correct, but the period in which he came was earlier than Sayyidna ` Isa, (علیہ السلام) not after him.</p><p>Rulings concerning the Gap</p><p>Obviously, the verse seems to indicate the fate of the group of people who were not visited by any messenger or prophet or their deputies, nor did they have the religious laws of past prophets preserved with them; such people will be considered excusable and will deserve no punishment on the condition that such people should have not committed Shirk, the grave sin of ascribing partners in the Divinity of Allah. Therefore, Muslim jurists differ about rulings which apply to the people of Fatrah (gap), particularly about whether or not they will be forgiven.</p><p>The majority tilts towards the hope that they will be forgiven if they had kept adhering to the religion which had survived with them as originating from Sayyidna Musa or Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہم السلام) irrespective of its authenticity - again, subject to the condition that they had not been hostile to the principle of Tauhid, the Oneness of Allah, and had nothing to do with the practice of Shirk. The reason is that the Principle of Tauhid needs no reported proof. Any human being who ponders over it could himself reason it out.</p><p>A Question and its Answer</p><p>A question may arise here that the Jews and Christians, the people of the Book, who are being addressed in this verse did have the Torah and the Evangel and their sages and scholars with them even if no messengers reached them during this gap. How then could they come up with the excuse on the Day of Judgment that they had received no guidance? The answer is that by the time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the original Torah and the Evangel had gone extinct. There were alterations in texts and additions of false narratives. Thus, the availability of non-original scriptures were no better than its extinction. The likelihood of an original manuscript surviving at some unknown place with someone would not be contrary to the assertion made. In fact, some scholars including Ibn Taymiyyah have written that the original copies of the Torah and Evangile were present at some places.</p><p>The Unique Perfection of the Last among Prophets ﷺ</p><p>When, by addressing the people of the Book in this verse, it was said that ` Our Messenger, Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ has come after a long gap,' there emerges a subtle hint towards the need that people who have been honoured with his presence among them should consider this as a matchless blessing and a supreme asset because the line of prophets had remained suspended since a long time and it has been opened for them once again.</p><p>Yet another indication given here is towards the fact that the world has been blessed with his presence in an age and at a place which lacked the light of knowledge and faith. The creation of God had lost its link with God only to be immersed in the worship of self-made idols. In the backdrop of a time such as this, the mission of reviving a people so lost was no easy task. This time was the notorious Jahiliyyah, commonly identified as the Age of Ignorance, and the people from it who were entrusted with the Prophet of Islam were spoiled, self-centered and uncompromising. Yet, such was the bliss of his company and so bracing was the light of his mission that this very set of people became, in a very short time, role models and teachers for the whole world in all departments of life - in knowledge, deed, morals, dealings, social living, to name only a few. This, then, becomes a widely witnessed and authentically verified proof that he was a Prophet and Messenger of Allah and that his prophetic teachings were the most effective and the most surpassing among those coming from all past prophets. Imagine the mission of a physician who treats a hopeless patient and does it at a place which lacks medical instruments, and medicines too, yet he succeeds in his effort to treat the patient to the limit that this patient, not simply that he rises from his death-bed to be-come a healthy person, but that he goes way ahead and himself turns into an expert physician and healer as well - if so, who can doubt the perfection of the master healer!</p><p>With this in view, we can see that following the long gap when disbelief in and disobedience to God reigned supreme everywhere, his teaching and training spread out the kind of universal light which re-mains unparalleled by any age previous to it. In short, out of all miracles, this one miracle alone could compel human beings to have faith in him.</p>

CommentaryThe word, "fatrah" in: عَلَىٰ فَتْرَ‌ةٍ مِّنَ الرُّ‌سُلِ (after a gap between Messengers) literally means to slacken, to become dormant or to suspend or to terminate an activity. Leading authorities in Tafsir have given this very meaning of fatrah in this verse. It signifies the suspension of the coming of prophets for a certain interval of time which is the period of time in between Sayyidna ` Isa and the Last of the Prophets, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ .Verification of the GapAccording to Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ there is a period of one thousand and seven hundred years between Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہم السلام) . During this whole period, prophets kept coming with their missions without any gap. To Bani Isra'il alone, one thousand prophets were sent during this period - not included in which are prophets who appeared among peoples other than Bani Isra'il. Then comes the period of only five hundred years between the birth of Sayyidna (علیہ السلام) and the appearance of the Holy Prophet ﷺ as the Last Prophet. During this period, the usual chain of prophets remained discontinued. Therefore, this period is known as Fatrah or Gap. Before this, a longer period has never remained unvisited by prophets. (Qurtubi, with some explanation from the author)There are other reports regarding the period of time between Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہم السلام) ، and that which is between Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and the Last Prophet, Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ . The period of time indicated in these reports is either more, or less, but that does not affect the real purpose.Imam a1-Bukhari (رح) reports on the authority of Sayyidna Salman al-Farisi ؓ عنہ that there was a period of six hundred years between the time of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and the Last among Prophets ﷺ .During this entire period, no prophet was sent as confirmed by a Hadith in Mishkat, appearing there with reference to the Sahibs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, which reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: اَنا اَولَی النَّاس بِعِیسٰی that is, ` Among people, I am the closest to ` Isa.' He explained the meaning of his remark later in the Hadith when he said: لیسَ بَیننَا نَبِیُّ that is, ` No prophet was sent between the two of us.'As for the three messengers mentioned in Surah Ya Sin (36), they were messengers sent by Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) who have been' called messengers (bearers of a message) in the literal sense.About the appearance of Khalid ibn Sinan al-` Arabi during this gap as reported by some chroniclers, Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani says with reference to Shihab that his being a prophet is correct, but the period in which he came was earlier than Sayyidna ` Isa, (علیہ السلام) not after him.Rulings concerning the GapObviously, the verse seems to indicate the fate of the group of people who were not visited by any messenger or prophet or their deputies, nor did they have the religious laws of past prophets preserved with them; such people will be considered excusable and will deserve no punishment on the condition that such people should have not committed Shirk, the grave sin of ascribing partners in the Divinity of Allah. Therefore, Muslim jurists differ about rulings which apply to the people of Fatrah (gap), particularly about whether or not they will be forgiven.The majority tilts towards the hope that they will be forgiven if they had kept adhering to the religion which had survived with them as originating from Sayyidna Musa or Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہم السلام) irrespective of its authenticity - again, subject to the condition that they had not been hostile to the principle of Tauhid, the Oneness of Allah, and had nothing to do with the practice of Shirk. The reason is that the Principle of Tauhid needs no reported proof. Any human being who ponders over it could himself reason it out.A Question and its AnswerA question may arise here that the Jews and Christians, the people of the Book, who are being addressed in this verse did have the Torah and the Evangel and their sages and scholars with them even if no messengers reached them during this gap. How then could they come up with the excuse on the Day of Judgment that they had received no guidance? The answer is that by the time of the Holy Prophet ﷺ the original Torah and the Evangel had gone extinct. There were alterations in texts and additions of false narratives. Thus, the availability of non-original scriptures were no better than its extinction. The likelihood of an original manuscript surviving at some unknown place with someone would not be contrary to the assertion made. In fact, some scholars including Ibn Taymiyyah have written that the original copies of the Torah and Evangile were present at some places.The Unique Perfection of the Last among Prophets ﷺWhen, by addressing the people of the Book in this verse, it was said that ` Our Messenger, Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ has come after a long gap,' there emerges a subtle hint towards the need that people who have been honoured with his presence among them should consider this as a matchless blessing and a supreme asset because the line of prophets had remained suspended since a long time and it has been opened for them once again.Yet another indication given here is towards the fact that the world has been blessed with his presence in an age and at a place which lacked the light of knowledge and faith. The creation of God had lost its link with God only to be immersed in the worship of self-made idols. In the backdrop of a time such as this, the mission of reviving a people so lost was no easy task. This time was the notorious Jahiliyyah, commonly identified as the Age of Ignorance, and the people from it who were entrusted with the Prophet of Islam were spoiled, self-centered and uncompromising. Yet, such was the bliss of his company and so bracing was the light of his mission that this very set of people became, in a very short time, role models and teachers for the whole world in all departments of life - in knowledge, deed, morals, dealings, social living, to name only a few. This, then, becomes a widely witnessed and authentically verified proof that he was a Prophet and Messenger of Allah and that his prophetic teachings were the most effective and the most surpassing among those coming from all past prophets. Imagine the mission of a physician who treats a hopeless patient and does it at a place which lacks medical instruments, and medicines too, yet he succeeds in his effort to treat the patient to the limit that this patient, not simply that he rises from his death-bed to be-come a healthy person, but that he goes way ahead and himself turns into an expert physician and healer as well - if so, who can doubt the perfection of the master healer!With this in view, we can see that following the long gap when disbelief in and disobedience to God reigned supreme everywhere, his teaching and training spread out the kind of universal light which re-mains unparalleled by any age previous to it. In short, out of all miracles, this one miracle alone could compel human beings to have faith in him.

وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ نِعْمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنۢبِيَآءَ وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَءَاتَىٰكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

<p>Commentary</p><p>Previous to the verses cited above, a pledge was mentioned in which the Bani Isra'il were bound to obey Allah and His Messenger. Mentioned along with it was their customary breach of trust, and its punishment. Taken up in the verses appearing above there is a particular event which shows such a breach.</p><p>That event goes back to the time when Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the sea and Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his people, the Bani Isra'il, once delivered from the slavery of the Pharaoh, became the masters of Egypt. Then, to bless them with His added reward, and to let them repossess their ancestral land of Syria, Allah Ta` ala commanded them through Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) that they should enter the Holy Land, that is, Syria, with the intention of Jihad. And along-with it, they were given the good news that victory will be all theirs in this Jihad - as Allah had made that holy land their destiny and they were bound to have it. But, the Bani Isra'il had their peculiar traits of character. They saw the blessings of Allah with their own eyes, they saw the spectacle of the drowning of Pharaoh and the conquest of Egypt, yet they failed, once again, to stand by the solemn pledges they had given and elected to sit out the Jihad of Syria squarely against this Divine command. The punishment they received for it was in the form of a forty-year confinement to a limited area where, strangely enough, there were no walls or fences around them, nor were they in chains. Instead, they were free to move in an open area and actually travelled every day, right from the morning through the evening, with the intention of returning to Egypt, their homeland. But, when came the evening, they would find themselves exactly at the spot from where they had started in the morning. During this period, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) left this mortal world and these people kept wandering in the wilderness of Tih. It was after that, that Allah Ta` ala sent other prophets for their guidance.</p><p>Thus, after the passage of full forty years, those who survived from among them resolved to take up the Jihad of Syria and Baytul-Maqdis under the leadership of the prophet of their time and the promise of Allah that the Holy Land had been destined for them was thus ful-filled. This is a summary of the event referred to in the verses cited above. Let us now see its details in the words of the Qur'an.</p><p>When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) received the instruction to call his people to Jihad in order to conquer Baytul-Maqdis and Syria, he acted very much in accordance with his prophetic wisdom so crucial in giving good counsel. Therefore, before announcing the Divine command to his people, he reminded them of the many blessings bestowed upon them upto that time. He said:</p><p>اذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنبِيَاءَ وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَآتَاكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِي</p><p>O my people, remember the blessings of Allah upon you when He made prophets from among you, made you kings and gave you what He did not give to anyone in the worlds.</p><p>Recounted here are three blessings. The first of these is a spiritual blessing, that is, many prophets were sent to them continuously, a spiritual honour which can hardly be matched. It has been reported in Tafsir Mazhari that no other community has had such a large number of prophets as compared to Bani Isra'il.</p><p>Hadith authority, Ibn Abi Hatim, reports on the basis of a narration from A'mash that in only one single period, the last period of the people of Bani Isra'il which extends from Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام to Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) one thousand prophets were sent to Ban' Isra'il. The second blessing mentioned in the verse quoted immediately above is a material blessing, that is, they were made masters and wielders of power. The hint given here is that the people of Bani' Isra'il who were the oppressed slaves of the Pharaoh and his people for many ages saw how Allah Ta` ala destroyed their enemies and how they themselves were made masters and kings. Noteworthy here is the statement about prophets where it was said: جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنبِيَاءَ (He made prophets from among you) which carries the sense that the whole people were not prophets, and this is the truth as prophets are only a few while the large body of people follows them. But, when it comes to the subject of temporal power on countries and states, said there was: وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا (and made you kings) the outward sense of which is that they (all) were made kings. The Arabic word, ` muluk' used in the text is the plural of Malik which means a king in common usage. Obviously, when a whole people cannot be all prophets, no people of a country can be all kings.</p><p>What happens is that authority in a country rests in the hands of an individual or some individuals while the rest of the people are subordinate to them. But, here the words of the Qur'an are attributing king-ship to all of them.</p><p>One reason for this is what has been stated by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) with reference to some righteous elders in his Tafsir Bayan al-Qur'an, that is, the sovereignty of the ` king' of a country is customarily attributed to his entire people, for example, during the middle centuries of Islam, the government was called as that of Ummaiyyids and ` Abbasids. Similarly, the rule of Ghaznavis and Ghauris, then, that of Mughals, and after that, the rule of the British in India was attributed to all individuals of entire people of that country. Therefore, a whole people having a ruler are known (by proxy) to be rulers of that country.</p><p>It was according to this usage that the Qur'an has attributed king-ship to the whole people of Bani Isra'il. In this, there may be a hint that an Islamic state is really run by a government of the people. It is the people who have the right to elect their Amir (Imam, leader or ruler) and it is once again, the right of the people who can, by their collective will, remove the holder of that office. Therefore, when seen outwardly, a ruler rules as one individual, but, in reality, that rule is that of the people.</p><p>The second reason as reported from some elders by Ibn Kathir, Mazhari and others is that the sense of ` malik' is more general than that of a king. In common usage, this word is also applied to a person who is well-to-do, has a home, owns property and employs help. In the light of this sense, that was a time when every individual from the Bani Isra'il was like a king of his castle. That explains the attribution of kingship to the entire Bani Isra'il.</p><p>The third blessing mentioned in this verse is a combination of both, the spiritual and the material. It was said: وَآتَاكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ that is, they were given the kind of blessings which were not given to any-one else in all the worlds. Included under these blessings is spiritual distinction highlighted by the station of prophethood and, along with it, the more obvious temporal power, authority, domain and wealth too. However, a question may arise here regarding the belief that the Muslim Ummah, the large body of believers in the Last among Prophets ﷺ is the most distinct among all Communities as supported by the textual authority of the Holy Qur'an, such as: كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ‌ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِ‌جَتْ لِلنَّاسِ (You are the best Ummah raised for mankind - 3:110) and: جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا (And in the same way, We made you a moderate Ummah - 2:143) prove it, as do the many narrations from the Prophet's living Traditions. The answer is that the people of the world being mentioned in this verse are the people who were living in the particular</p><p>period of Bani Isra'il which was marked by the presence of Sayyidna Musa among them. That was the time when no one in all the worlds was as blessed as were the Bani Isra'il. That any other community in times to come could be blessed more than them should not be considered contrary to this.</p>

CommentaryPrevious to the verses cited above, a pledge was mentioned in which the Bani Isra'il were bound to obey Allah and His Messenger. Mentioned along with it was their customary breach of trust, and its punishment. Taken up in the verses appearing above there is a particular event which shows such a breach.That event goes back to the time when Pharaoh and his army were drowned in the sea and Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his people, the Bani Isra'il, once delivered from the slavery of the Pharaoh, became the masters of Egypt. Then, to bless them with His added reward, and to let them repossess their ancestral land of Syria, Allah Ta` ala commanded them through Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) that they should enter the Holy Land, that is, Syria, with the intention of Jihad. And along-with it, they were given the good news that victory will be all theirs in this Jihad - as Allah had made that holy land their destiny and they were bound to have it. But, the Bani Isra'il had their peculiar traits of character. They saw the blessings of Allah with their own eyes, they saw the spectacle of the drowning of Pharaoh and the conquest of Egypt, yet they failed, once again, to stand by the solemn pledges they had given and elected to sit out the Jihad of Syria squarely against this Divine command. The punishment they received for it was in the form of a forty-year confinement to a limited area where, strangely enough, there were no walls or fences around them, nor were they in chains. Instead, they were free to move in an open area and actually travelled every day, right from the morning through the evening, with the intention of returning to Egypt, their homeland. But, when came the evening, they would find themselves exactly at the spot from where they had started in the morning. During this period, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) left this mortal world and these people kept wandering in the wilderness of Tih. It was after that, that Allah Ta` ala sent other prophets for their guidance.Thus, after the passage of full forty years, those who survived from among them resolved to take up the Jihad of Syria and Baytul-Maqdis under the leadership of the prophet of their time and the promise of Allah that the Holy Land had been destined for them was thus ful-filled. This is a summary of the event referred to in the verses cited above. Let us now see its details in the words of the Qur'an.When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) received the instruction to call his people to Jihad in order to conquer Baytul-Maqdis and Syria, he acted very much in accordance with his prophetic wisdom so crucial in giving good counsel. Therefore, before announcing the Divine command to his people, he reminded them of the many blessings bestowed upon them upto that time. He said:اذْكُرُ‌وا نِعْمَةَ اللَّـهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنبِيَاءَ وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَآتَاكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِيO my people, remember the blessings of Allah upon you when He made prophets from among you, made you kings and gave you what He did not give to anyone in the worlds.Recounted here are three blessings. The first of these is a spiritual blessing, that is, many prophets were sent to them continuously, a spiritual honour which can hardly be matched. It has been reported in Tafsir Mazhari that no other community has had such a large number of prophets as compared to Bani Isra'il.Hadith authority, Ibn Abi Hatim, reports on the basis of a narration from A'mash that in only one single period, the last period of the people of Bani Isra'il which extends from Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام to Sayyidna 'Isa (علیہ السلام) one thousand prophets were sent to Ban' Isra'il. The second blessing mentioned in the verse quoted immediately above is a material blessing, that is, they were made masters and wielders of power. The hint given here is that the people of Bani' Isra'il who were the oppressed slaves of the Pharaoh and his people for many ages saw how Allah Ta` ala destroyed their enemies and how they themselves were made masters and kings. Noteworthy here is the statement about prophets where it was said: جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنبِيَاءَ (He made prophets from among you) which carries the sense that the whole people were not prophets, and this is the truth as prophets are only a few while the large body of people follows them. But, when it comes to the subject of temporal power on countries and states, said there was: وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا (and made you kings) the outward sense of which is that they (all) were made kings. The Arabic word, ` muluk' used in the text is the plural of Malik which means a king in common usage. Obviously, when a whole people cannot be all prophets, no people of a country can be all kings.What happens is that authority in a country rests in the hands of an individual or some individuals while the rest of the people are subordinate to them. But, here the words of the Qur'an are attributing king-ship to all of them.One reason for this is what has been stated by Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi (رح) with reference to some righteous elders in his Tafsir Bayan al-Qur'an, that is, the sovereignty of the ` king' of a country is customarily attributed to his entire people, for example, during the middle centuries of Islam, the government was called as that of Ummaiyyids and ` Abbasids. Similarly, the rule of Ghaznavis and Ghauris, then, that of Mughals, and after that, the rule of the British in India was attributed to all individuals of entire people of that country. Therefore, a whole people having a ruler are known (by proxy) to be rulers of that country.It was according to this usage that the Qur'an has attributed king-ship to the whole people of Bani Isra'il. In this, there may be a hint that an Islamic state is really run by a government of the people. It is the people who have the right to elect their Amir (Imam, leader or ruler) and it is once again, the right of the people who can, by their collective will, remove the holder of that office. Therefore, when seen outwardly, a ruler rules as one individual, but, in reality, that rule is that of the people.The second reason as reported from some elders by Ibn Kathir, Mazhari and others is that the sense of ` malik' is more general than that of a king. In common usage, this word is also applied to a person who is well-to-do, has a home, owns property and employs help. In the light of this sense, that was a time when every individual from the Bani Isra'il was like a king of his castle. That explains the attribution of kingship to the entire Bani Isra'il.The third blessing mentioned in this verse is a combination of both, the spiritual and the material. It was said: وَآتَاكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ that is, they were given the kind of blessings which were not given to any-one else in all the worlds. Included under these blessings is spiritual distinction highlighted by the station of prophethood and, along with it, the more obvious temporal power, authority, domain and wealth too. However, a question may arise here regarding the belief that the Muslim Ummah, the large body of believers in the Last among Prophets ﷺ is the most distinct among all Communities as supported by the textual authority of the Holy Qur'an, such as: كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ‌ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِ‌جَتْ لِلنَّاسِ (You are the best Ummah raised for mankind - 3:110) and: جَعَلْنَاكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا (And in the same way, We made you a moderate Ummah - 2:143) prove it, as do the many narrations from the Prophet's living Traditions. The answer is that the people of the world being mentioned in this verse are the people who were living in the particularperiod of Bani Isra'il which was marked by the presence of Sayyidna Musa among them. That was the time when no one in all the worlds was as blessed as were the Bani Isra'il. That any other community in times to come could be blessed more than them should not be considered contrary to this.

يَٰقَوْمِ ٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْأَرْضَ ٱلْمُقَدَّسَةَ ٱلَّتِى كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَرْتَدُّوا۟ عَلَىٰٓ أَدْبَارِكُمْ فَتَنقَلِبُوا۟ خَٰسِرِينَ

<p>The saying of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in the first verse (20) was his introductory remark to the Divine command which appears in the following verse (21) in the words: يَا قَوْمِ ادْخُلُوا الْأَرْ‌ضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ (0 my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ...).</p><p>Which land is the Holy Land?</p><p>Apparently, commentators differ about it. Some say that it means Baytul-Maqdis (Jerusalem). Some identify the city of Quds and Eliah as fitting the description of the Holy Land. Still others point out to the city of Ariha which was located between the Jordan river and Baytul-Maqdis and was reported to be one of the oldest cities of the world. In fact, it is still there. Unusual statements portraying its grandeur and vastness have been reported historically. Some narrations say that the city-was divided over one thousand wards or counties and every such section had some one thousand public gardens each. Then, there are other narrations which indicate that the Holy Land means Damascus and Palestine, or Jordan, according to some others. And Sayyidna Qatadah has said that the entire land of Syria is the Holy Land. Sayyidna Ka'b al-Ahbar has said that he has seen in the Book of Allah (perhaps, the Torah) that the country of Syria is a special treasure of Allah on this entire earth and there are in it Allah's very special and very dear servants. This land has been called ` holy' because it has been home to the blessed prophets of Allah. According to some narrations, on a day when Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) climbed a mountain in Lebanon, Allah Ta` ala said: 0 Ibrahim, look from here and as far as you will see, that land We have made the Holy Land. All narrations cited here have been taken from Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Tafsir Mazhari and the truth of the matter is that there is not much of a contradiction in these sayings. According to later narrations, the whole country of Syria is the Holy Land - it is just that some narrators have described a certain part of the country of Syria while some others have identified the whole of it.</p>

The saying of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in the first verse (20) was his introductory remark to the Divine command which appears in the following verse (21) in the words: يَا قَوْمِ ادْخُلُوا الْأَرْ‌ضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ (0 my people, enter the Holy Land which Allah has destined for you ...).Which land is the Holy Land?Apparently, commentators differ about it. Some say that it means Baytul-Maqdis (Jerusalem). Some identify the city of Quds and Eliah as fitting the description of the Holy Land. Still others point out to the city of Ariha which was located between the Jordan river and Baytul-Maqdis and was reported to be one of the oldest cities of the world. In fact, it is still there. Unusual statements portraying its grandeur and vastness have been reported historically. Some narrations say that the city-was divided over one thousand wards or counties and every such section had some one thousand public gardens each. Then, there are other narrations which indicate that the Holy Land means Damascus and Palestine, or Jordan, according to some others. And Sayyidna Qatadah has said that the entire land of Syria is the Holy Land. Sayyidna Ka'b al-Ahbar has said that he has seen in the Book of Allah (perhaps, the Torah) that the country of Syria is a special treasure of Allah on this entire earth and there are in it Allah's very special and very dear servants. This land has been called ` holy' because it has been home to the blessed prophets of Allah. According to some narrations, on a day when Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) climbed a mountain in Lebanon, Allah Ta` ala said: 0 Ibrahim, look from here and as far as you will see, that land We have made the Holy Land. All narrations cited here have been taken from Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Tafsir Mazhari and the truth of the matter is that there is not much of a contradiction in these sayings. According to later narrations, the whole country of Syria is the Holy Land - it is just that some narrators have described a certain part of the country of Syria while some others have identified the whole of it.

قَالُوا۟ يَٰمُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِينَ وَإِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا حَتَّىٰ يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَا فَإِن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَا فَإِنَّا دَٰخِلُونَ

<p>Looking at verse 22 which begins with the words: قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ (They said, 0 Musa ...), it will be recalled that, in the verse previous to it (21), Allah Ta` ala had commanded the Bani Isra'il through Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) that they should wage a Jihad against the Amalkites and conquer Syria given along with it was the good news that the land of Syria has been destined for them, therefore, their victory is certain.</p><p>The present verse (22) tells us that, despite the Divine command and assurance, the Bani Isra'il, because of their well-known contumacy and crookedness, just did not obey that command as well. Instead of doing that, they said: ` 0 Musa, there is a nation of tyrants over there, and we shall never go in there until they get out of it. If they do get out of it, then, we are ready to go in.'</p><p>The actual event as reported from the masters of Tafsir (Exegesis), Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas, ` Ikrimah, ibn Abi Talhah and others ؓ is that it was a time when the Amalkites ruled Syria and Baytul-Maqdis. They were an offshoot of the people of ` Ad, unusually big in height and size and very ferocious in looks and behavior. They were the people Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his community were asked to fight against and go on to conquer Baytul-Maqdis.</p><p>To carry out the Divine command, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) marched towards Syria in the company of his people, the Bani Isra'il. Baytul-Maqdis was their first destination. After crossing the Jordan river, when they reached Ariha, the oldest city of the world, they made a stopover. We have already read about the appointment of twelve chiefs to administer the affairs of Bani' Isra'il in the previous verses of the Holy Qur'an. The same chiefs were asked to go on an advance fact-finding mission into enemy territory. Their duty was to gather intelligence on local conditions, the battle front and about the people who control Baytul-Maqdis and against whom they have to wage the Jihad. When these chiefs reached Baytul-Maqdis, they were stopped by an Amalkite man right outside the gate of the city. He, all alone, put them under arrest and took them to his king reporting to him that these people had come to fight them. The king went into consultation with his courtiers. Their decision was that all of them should either be killed or punished in some other way. Finally, they agreed upon the proposal that they should be allowed to go free so that they could return to their people and become walking eye witnesses of the great power and grandeur of the Amalkites against which they would never dare to think of marching.</p><p>At this point in most books of Tafsir, reported there are tall tales from Isra'ilite narrations which give the name of the person who accosted these chiefs as ` Awj ibn ` Unuq. His extra-ordinary height and size and his power and strength has been described there with such exaggeration that a sensible person would find it too thick even to just pass it onwards.</p><p>Tafsir authority, Ibn Kathir has said: Tales reported in such Isra'ilite narrations can neither be accepted by reason nor do they have any justification in the Shari` ah. In fact, all this is a bundle of lies and imputations. The truth of the matter is no more than that there are the people called the Amalkites. Since they are the remnants of the people of ` Ad whose awesome height and size has been mentioned by the Holy Qur'an itself, so, their huge size and unusual strength were proverbial. One of their men proved strong enough to arrest and take away twelve men from the people of Bani Isra'il.</p><p>However, freed by the Amalkites, the twelve chiefs of Bani Isr-a'il returned to their people at Ariha. They told Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) about these unusual people and how unbelievable was their power and grandeur. Whatever they said to him left his heart unmoved because Allah Ta` ala had already given him the good news of victory over them through revelation.</p><p>So, despite having heard about the power of his enemy, he stood like a rock making preparations for the Jihad initiative. But, he had realized the danger that, should the Bani Isra'il come to hear about this unusual strength of their adversary, they would cringe and back out. Therefore, he instructed those twelve chiefs not to talk about the Amalkites before their people, in fact, he asked them to keep this as a guarded secret. But, what actually happened was that everyone from among them passed on the information to their respective friends privately. There were only two of them, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, who strictly followed the instructions of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and did not disclose the secret to anyone.</p><p>When ten out of the twelve chiefs let the secret out, it was only natural that the secret became public knowledge. Hit by the news of conditions prevailing in the enemy country, they were all upset. Wailing and protesting, they said: It would have been much better if we too had been drowned in the Nile like the people of the Pharaoh! Now those who saved us there have brought us here to be killed at the hands of those tyrants! It was under these conditions that the Bani Isra'il said the following words:</p><p>إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِ‌ينَ وَإِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا حَتَّىٰ يَخْرُ‌جُوا مِنْهَا فَإِن يَخْرُ‌جُوا مِنْهَا</p><p>They said, "0 Musa, there is a nation of tyrants over there and we shall never go in there until they get out of it. If they do get out of it, we are ready to go in."</p><p>It appears in the next verse (23) that two persons, God-fearing and blessed by Allah, hearing the remarks made by the Bani Isra'il, gave them some good counsel by saying: Why are you so scared of death much before it has come? Just take a few steps. The gate of the city of Baytul-Maqdis is not far. Take heart and make your move. Only this much of your action, we believe, will become the cause of your victory. Once you enter the gate of Baytul-Maqdis, you will overcome your enemy who would run in defeat. These two persons mentioned in this verse are, according to most commentators, the same two of the twelve chiefs who had faithfully acted upon the advice given by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had abstained from telling the Bani Isra'il every-thing about the Amalkites - that is, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'gina.</p>

Looking at verse 22 which begins with the words: قَالُوا يَا مُوسَىٰ (They said, 0 Musa ...), it will be recalled that, in the verse previous to it (21), Allah Ta` ala had commanded the Bani Isra'il through Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) that they should wage a Jihad against the Amalkites and conquer Syria given along with it was the good news that the land of Syria has been destined for them, therefore, their victory is certain.The present verse (22) tells us that, despite the Divine command and assurance, the Bani Isra'il, because of their well-known contumacy and crookedness, just did not obey that command as well. Instead of doing that, they said: ` 0 Musa, there is a nation of tyrants over there, and we shall never go in there until they get out of it. If they do get out of it, then, we are ready to go in.'The actual event as reported from the masters of Tafsir (Exegesis), Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas, ` Ikrimah, ibn Abi Talhah and others ؓ is that it was a time when the Amalkites ruled Syria and Baytul-Maqdis. They were an offshoot of the people of ` Ad, unusually big in height and size and very ferocious in looks and behavior. They were the people Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his community were asked to fight against and go on to conquer Baytul-Maqdis.To carry out the Divine command, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) marched towards Syria in the company of his people, the Bani Isra'il. Baytul-Maqdis was their first destination. After crossing the Jordan river, when they reached Ariha, the oldest city of the world, they made a stopover. We have already read about the appointment of twelve chiefs to administer the affairs of Bani' Isra'il in the previous verses of the Holy Qur'an. The same chiefs were asked to go on an advance fact-finding mission into enemy territory. Their duty was to gather intelligence on local conditions, the battle front and about the people who control Baytul-Maqdis and against whom they have to wage the Jihad. When these chiefs reached Baytul-Maqdis, they were stopped by an Amalkite man right outside the gate of the city. He, all alone, put them under arrest and took them to his king reporting to him that these people had come to fight them. The king went into consultation with his courtiers. Their decision was that all of them should either be killed or punished in some other way. Finally, they agreed upon the proposal that they should be allowed to go free so that they could return to their people and become walking eye witnesses of the great power and grandeur of the Amalkites against which they would never dare to think of marching.At this point in most books of Tafsir, reported there are tall tales from Isra'ilite narrations which give the name of the person who accosted these chiefs as ` Awj ibn ` Unuq. His extra-ordinary height and size and his power and strength has been described there with such exaggeration that a sensible person would find it too thick even to just pass it onwards.Tafsir authority, Ibn Kathir has said: Tales reported in such Isra'ilite narrations can neither be accepted by reason nor do they have any justification in the Shari` ah. In fact, all this is a bundle of lies and imputations. The truth of the matter is no more than that there are the people called the Amalkites. Since they are the remnants of the people of ` Ad whose awesome height and size has been mentioned by the Holy Qur'an itself, so, their huge size and unusual strength were proverbial. One of their men proved strong enough to arrest and take away twelve men from the people of Bani Isra'il.However, freed by the Amalkites, the twelve chiefs of Bani Isr-a'il returned to their people at Ariha. They told Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) about these unusual people and how unbelievable was their power and grandeur. Whatever they said to him left his heart unmoved because Allah Ta` ala had already given him the good news of victory over them through revelation.So, despite having heard about the power of his enemy, he stood like a rock making preparations for the Jihad initiative. But, he had realized the danger that, should the Bani Isra'il come to hear about this unusual strength of their adversary, they would cringe and back out. Therefore, he instructed those twelve chiefs not to talk about the Amalkites before their people, in fact, he asked them to keep this as a guarded secret. But, what actually happened was that everyone from among them passed on the information to their respective friends privately. There were only two of them, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, who strictly followed the instructions of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and did not disclose the secret to anyone.When ten out of the twelve chiefs let the secret out, it was only natural that the secret became public knowledge. Hit by the news of conditions prevailing in the enemy country, they were all upset. Wailing and protesting, they said: It would have been much better if we too had been drowned in the Nile like the people of the Pharaoh! Now those who saved us there have brought us here to be killed at the hands of those tyrants! It was under these conditions that the Bani Isra'il said the following words:إِنَّ فِيهَا قَوْمًا جَبَّارِ‌ينَ وَإِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَا حَتَّىٰ يَخْرُ‌جُوا مِنْهَا فَإِن يَخْرُ‌جُوا مِنْهَاThey said, "0 Musa, there is a nation of tyrants over there and we shall never go in there until they get out of it. If they do get out of it, we are ready to go in."It appears in the next verse (23) that two persons, God-fearing and blessed by Allah, hearing the remarks made by the Bani Isra'il, gave them some good counsel by saying: Why are you so scared of death much before it has come? Just take a few steps. The gate of the city of Baytul-Maqdis is not far. Take heart and make your move. Only this much of your action, we believe, will become the cause of your victory. Once you enter the gate of Baytul-Maqdis, you will overcome your enemy who would run in defeat. These two persons mentioned in this verse are, according to most commentators, the same two of the twelve chiefs who had faithfully acted upon the advice given by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had abstained from telling the Bani Isra'il every-thing about the Amalkites - that is, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'gina.

قَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ أَنْعَمَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ٱدْخُلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْبَابَ فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمُوهُ فَإِنَّكُمْ غَٰلِبُونَ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَتَوَكَّلُوٓا۟ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

<p>At this place, the Holy Qur'an has particularly mentioned two attributes of these two elders: (1) الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ , that is, 'those who fear.' Not said here is as to who it is that they fear. The hint thus given is that there is only one Being in this whole world who deserves to be feared, that is, Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu, because He is the Absolute Master of this entire universe. No one can, without His will and permission, bring the least benefit to anyone, nor cause any harm - and when only one Being is deserving of being feared, and that is already determined, then, there remains no need to redetermine it.</p><p>The second attribute of these two elders pointed to by the Holy Qur'an is: (2): أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ، that is, 'Allah had blessed them.' The hint given here is that whoever has any excellence in him anywhere, that is nothing but the blessing and favour of Allah Ta` ala - otherwise, these twelve chiefs were all blessed with similar outward gifts of hands, feet, eyes and ears with reason and sense on the inside, along with the fortunate company of Sayyidna Musa They had all the strengths on their side, yet they all slipped except these two who stood firm on their commitment. This tells us that real guidance does not depend upon one's strength of inward and outward faculties or his effort or deed. Instead, it is a reward from Allah Ta` ala. However, to become de-serving of this reward, effort and deed are, no doubt, a condition.</p><p>The standard rule of conduct we learn from here is that a person whom Allah Ta` ala has blessed with reason, intelligence and smartness should not wax proud over these personal strengths while conducting the business of his life. The best course for him is to seek good guidance in all matters of his life from Allah alone.</p><p>In short, these two elders advised their people that they should not feel nervous about the apparent power of the Amalkites. If they would place their trust in Allah, just walk upto the gate of Baytul-Maqdis, victory shall be theirs. As for the decisive statement of these elders that once they reach the city gate, they will overcome and the enemy will run away defeated, it could have been based on a close assessment of the Amalkites, that they were, no doubt, unusually huge in built and strength, but were also weak at heart as a result of which, once they hear about the surprise attack, they would be unable to stay there.-And it is also possible that their total faith in the Divine decree which they had heard from Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) as a glad tiding was the basis on which they said so.</p>

At this place, the Holy Qur'an has particularly mentioned two attributes of these two elders: (1) الَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ , that is, 'those who fear.' Not said here is as to who it is that they fear. The hint thus given is that there is only one Being in this whole world who deserves to be feared, that is, Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu, because He is the Absolute Master of this entire universe. No one can, without His will and permission, bring the least benefit to anyone, nor cause any harm - and when only one Being is deserving of being feared, and that is already determined, then, there remains no need to redetermine it.The second attribute of these two elders pointed to by the Holy Qur'an is: (2): أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ، that is, 'Allah had blessed them.' The hint given here is that whoever has any excellence in him anywhere, that is nothing but the blessing and favour of Allah Ta` ala - otherwise, these twelve chiefs were all blessed with similar outward gifts of hands, feet, eyes and ears with reason and sense on the inside, along with the fortunate company of Sayyidna Musa They had all the strengths on their side, yet they all slipped except these two who stood firm on their commitment. This tells us that real guidance does not depend upon one's strength of inward and outward faculties or his effort or deed. Instead, it is a reward from Allah Ta` ala. However, to become de-serving of this reward, effort and deed are, no doubt, a condition.The standard rule of conduct we learn from here is that a person whom Allah Ta` ala has blessed with reason, intelligence and smartness should not wax proud over these personal strengths while conducting the business of his life. The best course for him is to seek good guidance in all matters of his life from Allah alone.In short, these two elders advised their people that they should not feel nervous about the apparent power of the Amalkites. If they would place their trust in Allah, just walk upto the gate of Baytul-Maqdis, victory shall be theirs. As for the decisive statement of these elders that once they reach the city gate, they will overcome and the enemy will run away defeated, it could have been based on a close assessment of the Amalkites, that they were, no doubt, unusually huge in built and strength, but were also weak at heart as a result of which, once they hear about the surprise attack, they would be unable to stay there.-And it is also possible that their total faith in the Divine decree which they had heard from Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) as a glad tiding was the basis on which they said so.

قَالُوا۟ يَٰمُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّا لَن نَّدْخُلَهَآ أَبَدًا مَّا دَامُوا۟ فِيهَا فَٱذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَبُّكَ فَقَٰتِلَآ إِنَّا هَٰهُنَا قَٰعِدُونَ

<p>But the Bani Isra'il who had not listened to their own prophet Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) would have hardly listened to these elders. They gave them the same response, even in a manner which was more uncouth and grotesque. They said: فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَ‌بُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Had this remark of the Bani Isra'il been by way of mockery, it would have been open blasphemy (Kufr). After that, the fact of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) living with them and praying for them in the wilderness of Tih which finds mention in the next verse would have not been possible.</p><p>Therefore, the sense of this statement given by leading commentators is: 'You go and fight them. Your Lord will help you. As for us, we cannot help you.' Given this sense, their statement cannot be taken as blasphemy, though the response given by them remains grotesque and hurtful. This is why this statement of the Bani Isra'il became proverbial.</p><p>Let us recollect a related episode from the early period of Islam. This is the Battle of Badr. An army contingent of a thousand strong young men starts marching against Muslims, who are hungry and almost unarmed. Seeing this happen, the Holy Prophet ﷺ started praying before his Lord. Then, a Sahabi, Sayyidna Miqdad ibn al-Aswad ؓ stepped forward and said: 'Ya Rasul Allah , we swear by Allah we shall never say what was said to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) by his people, that is فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَ‌بُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Instead of that, we shall defend you from your right and left and from the front and rear. Please feel free of any concern and go ahead with your battle plan.'</p><p>When he heard this, the Holy Prophet I ﷺ was very pleased, and his Companions ؓ too were fired with a renewed zeal for Jihad. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما always used to say: 'I really envy this feat of Miqdad ibn al-Aswad. I wish I too had this good fortune.'</p><p>In gist, the people of Sayyidna ibn Musa (علیہ السلام) ، bygiving him a flat response at such a crucial time, broke all pledges they had made.</p>

But the Bani Isra'il who had not listened to their own prophet Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) would have hardly listened to these elders. They gave them the same response, even in a manner which was more uncouth and grotesque. They said: فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَ‌بُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Had this remark of the Bani Isra'il been by way of mockery, it would have been open blasphemy (Kufr). After that, the fact of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) living with them and praying for them in the wilderness of Tih which finds mention in the next verse would have not been possible.Therefore, the sense of this statement given by leading commentators is: 'You go and fight them. Your Lord will help you. As for us, we cannot help you.' Given this sense, their statement cannot be taken as blasphemy, though the response given by them remains grotesque and hurtful. This is why this statement of the Bani Isra'il became proverbial.Let us recollect a related episode from the early period of Islam. This is the Battle of Badr. An army contingent of a thousand strong young men starts marching against Muslims, who are hungry and almost unarmed. Seeing this happen, the Holy Prophet ﷺ started praying before his Lord. Then, a Sahabi, Sayyidna Miqdad ibn al-Aswad ؓ stepped forward and said: 'Ya Rasul Allah , we swear by Allah we shall never say what was said to Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) by his people, that is فَاذْهَبْ أَنتَ وَرَ‌بُّكَ فَقَاتِلَا إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Instead of that, we shall defend you from your right and left and from the front and rear. Please feel free of any concern and go ahead with your battle plan.'When he heard this, the Holy Prophet I ﷺ was very pleased, and his Companions ؓ too were fired with a renewed zeal for Jihad. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہما always used to say: 'I really envy this feat of Miqdad ibn al-Aswad. I wish I too had this good fortune.'In gist, the people of Sayyidna ibn Musa (علیہ السلام) ، bygiving him a flat response at such a crucial time, broke all pledges they had made.

قَالَ رَبِّ إِنِّى لَآ أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِى وَأَخِى فَٱفْرُقْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ

<p>The Determination of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) against the Treachery of his People</p><p>The prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ; قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي "0 My Lord, I have no control except over myself" should be seen in the perspective of the events in the life of the people of Bani Isra'il, the favours of Allah bestowed upon them and the conduct of their prophet, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in their case. An impartial observer would not fail to notice that the people of Bani Isra'il had been suffering from all sorts of pain and disgrace as slaves and serfs of the Pharaohs for centuries. It was the teaching of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his barakah by virtue of which Allah Ta` ala blessed them with unprecedented stations. With their own eyes, they saw so many manifestations of the most perfect power of Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu . The Pharaoh and the people of Pharaoh were defeated on their own grounds, in the Court confrontation summoned by them at the hands of Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna Harun, peace be upon both of them. The magicians they had trusted were the magicians who placed their trust in Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and elected to stay by his side. Then, there was the Pharaoh, the one who claimed to be God, and along with him, there were so many members of his family who lived in luxury in the royal palace. And then, their eyes saw how the great subduing power of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted, made all of them vacate all palaces and mansions they lived in and leave behind all they once owned, all simultaneously, in a single sweep of time. And how He drowned the Pharaoh in the sea with Bani Isra` il looking on the spectacle and how did He make the miracle of Bani Isra` il themselves cross the river. And finally, how was the wealth, over which the Pharaoh waxed proud by saying: أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ‌ وَهَـٰذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ‌ تَجْرِ‌ي مِن تَحْتِي (Is it not that this land of Egypt is for me and these are rivers which flow from beneath me?) given out by Allah Ta` ala, the entire country and the entire wealth, without any fighting or killing, to the Bani Isra'il</p><p>These were great happenings. These people were direct witnesses to the manifestations of Allah's supreme power to subdue. No less was the good done to them by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) who first delivered them from heedlessness and ignorance and then freed them from the slavery of the Pharaoh facing unbearable hardships in that process. After all that, when these very people were commanded to mount a Jihad on Syria, of course with assurances of Divine help and promises of rewards, they betrayed their mean nature and said: (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Let the greatest possible reformer in the world stop for a while, cross his hand over his heart and think what effect such low attitudes demonstrated by the people he was working for would have produced on him. But, here we are talking about a highly determined Rasul of Allah who stands there as an immovable model of steadfastness, despite all odds, and pursuing his goal relentlessly.</p><p>Now that he was made helpless by repeated breaches of trust committed by his people, he turns to his Lord and to Him he says only this much: إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي (I have no control except over myself and my brother). And the problem was how could he now carry out the Jihad expedition against the Amalkites? Also worth noticing is the fact that there were at least two chiefs of the Bani Isra'il, Yasha' ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, who had proved themselves to have been faithful followers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had made consistent efforts with him to give good counsel to their people and bring them to the right path. Still at this time, he made no mention of them as well. He simply talked about himself and his brother, Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) . It had no other cause but the same treachery and disobedience of the people of Bani Isra'il. Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) being a prophet was the only one Divinely protected there. That he would stand firm by the truth in word and deed was certain. As for the two chiefs, they were not so protected and infallible. So, being in pain and anger, he mentioned only those he was certain would stand firm on truth - 'I have no control except over myself and my brother.'</p><p>The prayer that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) made after that was: فَافْرُ‌قْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (So, make a separation between us and the sinning people). The substance of this prayer, according to an explanation given by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ was that 'the punishment these people deserved should be given to them; and whatever we are found to be deserving of should be awarded to us.'</p><p>The manner in which Allah Ta` ala answered this prayer was: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً ۛ يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (This [ land ] is prohibited to them for forty years. They shall be wandering around the earth). It means that the land of Syria was forbidden for them for forty years. They shall' not go there, even if they wanted to. And not simply that they would be unable to go to the land of Syria, they would also be unable to return back to their homeland of Egypt, if they thought of going there. Instead of that, they shall be detained in this wilderness.</p><p>For punishments that come from Allah Almighty who needs the police and their handcuffs or the high and strong walls and iron-gates of prisons? When He intends to detain anyone, He needs none of these formal arrangements. He can put one under arrest even on grounds open from all sides. The reason is obvious. The whole universe is at His command. It was created by Him and from Him it takes its orders. When the universe is served with Divine orders to put someone under arrest, the air and the atmosphere and the earth and the space become the jailor for the condemned.</p><p>So, this open land area located between Egypt and Baytul-Maqdis is comparatively small. Its measurement, according to the Tafsir of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) is thirty Farsakh in length and nine Farsakh in width. If one Farsakh is taken to be equal to three miles, it comes to be a total area of ninety miles in length and twenty seven miles in width. And according to some narrations, the whole area is thirty by eighteen miles. Thus, Allah Ta` ala detained a whole people whose total number, according to the statement of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) was six hundred thousand, restricting them within this small open ground in a manner that they kept struggling for full forty years to somehow get out of this open land area and return back to Egypt, or go forward and reach Baytul-Maqdis. But, what actually happened was that by the time came evening after a whole day's journey, they discovered that they have been as if moving in a circle having returned to the same spot from where they had started in the morning.</p><p>Authentic scholars of Tafsir say that the punishment Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu gives to a people is in proportion to their evil deed. Since these disobedient people had uttered the words: إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (we are sitting right here), Allah Ta` ala had them detained right there for forty years in punishment. Historical accounts in this matter differ. Some say that during these forty years, the present generation which had disobeyed was totally destroyed. Their next generation survived and it was this generation which, after having been delivered from this forty year detention, entered Baytul-Maqdis; or, there were some people from the earlier generation who were still surviving. However, there was that promise of the Holy Qur'an: كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ (that is, Allah has destined the Holy Land of Syria for the Bani Isra'il). That promise had to be fulfilled, that the Bani Isra'il should take it over and rule the land. But, the people of Bani Isra'il present during that time elected to ignore this Divine award for which they were duly punished: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً that is, they were deprived of victory over the Holy Land for forty years. Then, it was at the hands of their next generation, that this country was conquered, and the promise of Allah Ta` ala stood fulfilled.</p><p>In this wilderness of Tih, Sayyidna Musa and Harun were with their people for whom this wilderness was nothing but detention and punishment, while, for these two blessed souls, it was the fountain head of Divine blessings. This is why this period of forty years during which the Bani Isra'il were condemned was still full of many silver linings. Such was the barakah of the presence of Sayyidna Musa and Harun (علیہما السلام) among them, that Allah Ta` ala showered on them blessings of many kinds. When they became helpless against the scorching sun over their heads in an open field, Allah Ta` ala, answering the prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) stretched out a canopy of clouds over their heads. Wherever they went, these clouds would follow them with their shade. When they complained of thirst and the shortage of water, Allah Ta` ala gave Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) a special stone which went with him wherever he went, and when they needed water, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) would strike it with his staff and twelve streams would gush forth from it. When they were hit by hunger, the heavenly food of Mann and Salva was sent to them. And when they complained about the darkness during nights, Allah Ta` ala provided for them a tower of light under the light of which they did what they had to do.</p><p>To sum up, this wilderness of Tih was not full of condemned people only. In fact, there were two dear prophets of Allah Ta` ala and with them two favoured elders, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, as well. It was for their sake that, even during this period of detention and punishment, blessings kept coming to them. And since Allah Ta` ala is the Most Merciful of all those merciful, it is possible that these once disobedient people from the Bani Isra'il, after having witnessed the happenings around them, may have repented from their sins and may be it was in return for their act of repentance that they were being blessed with these rewards.</p><p>According to authentic narrations, it was during this period of forty years that Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) died. Then, after a year or six month, came the death of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) After them, Allah Ta` ala appointed the revered elder, Yusha` ibn Nun as a prophet and gave him the mission of guiding the Bani Isra'il. When the period of forty years of detention was over, the remaining people of Bani Isra'il got together under the leadership of Sayyidna Yusha` ibn Nun and marched towards Baytul-Maqdis on this mission of Jihad. True to the promise of Allah Ta` ala, they conquered Syria and the wealth of the land they inherited was unimaginable.</p><p>That it has been said: لَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِين (so do not grieve for the sinning people) at the end of verse 26 has a basis, for the blessed prophets, may peace be upon them all, are endowed with a natural disposition which makes it impossible for them to bear by the pain and hardship of their people. Even if they are punished, the prophets too are affected emotionally. Therefore, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has been comforted here that he should not grieve over the punishment given to those people.</p>

The Determination of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) against the Treachery of his PeopleThe prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ; قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي "0 My Lord, I have no control except over myself" should be seen in the perspective of the events in the life of the people of Bani Isra'il, the favours of Allah bestowed upon them and the conduct of their prophet, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) in their case. An impartial observer would not fail to notice that the people of Bani Isra'il had been suffering from all sorts of pain and disgrace as slaves and serfs of the Pharaohs for centuries. It was the teaching of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and his barakah by virtue of which Allah Ta` ala blessed them with unprecedented stations. With their own eyes, they saw so many manifestations of the most perfect power of Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu . The Pharaoh and the people of Pharaoh were defeated on their own grounds, in the Court confrontation summoned by them at the hands of Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna Harun, peace be upon both of them. The magicians they had trusted were the magicians who placed their trust in Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and elected to stay by his side. Then, there was the Pharaoh, the one who claimed to be God, and along with him, there were so many members of his family who lived in luxury in the royal palace. And then, their eyes saw how the great subduing power of Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted, made all of them vacate all palaces and mansions they lived in and leave behind all they once owned, all simultaneously, in a single sweep of time. And how He drowned the Pharaoh in the sea with Bani Isra` il looking on the spectacle and how did He make the miracle of Bani Isra` il themselves cross the river. And finally, how was the wealth, over which the Pharaoh waxed proud by saying: أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ‌ وَهَـٰذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ‌ تَجْرِ‌ي مِن تَحْتِي (Is it not that this land of Egypt is for me and these are rivers which flow from beneath me?) given out by Allah Ta` ala, the entire country and the entire wealth, without any fighting or killing, to the Bani Isra'ilThese were great happenings. These people were direct witnesses to the manifestations of Allah's supreme power to subdue. No less was the good done to them by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) who first delivered them from heedlessness and ignorance and then freed them from the slavery of the Pharaoh facing unbearable hardships in that process. After all that, when these very people were commanded to mount a Jihad on Syria, of course with assurances of Divine help and promises of rewards, they betrayed their mean nature and said: (So go, you and your Lord, and fight. As for us, we are sitting right here). Let the greatest possible reformer in the world stop for a while, cross his hand over his heart and think what effect such low attitudes demonstrated by the people he was working for would have produced on him. But, here we are talking about a highly determined Rasul of Allah who stands there as an immovable model of steadfastness, despite all odds, and pursuing his goal relentlessly.Now that he was made helpless by repeated breaches of trust committed by his people, he turns to his Lord and to Him he says only this much: إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ إِلَّا نَفْسِي وَأَخِي (I have no control except over myself and my brother). And the problem was how could he now carry out the Jihad expedition against the Amalkites? Also worth noticing is the fact that there were at least two chiefs of the Bani Isra'il, Yasha' ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, who had proved themselves to have been faithful followers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and had made consistent efforts with him to give good counsel to their people and bring them to the right path. Still at this time, he made no mention of them as well. He simply talked about himself and his brother, Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) . It had no other cause but the same treachery and disobedience of the people of Bani Isra'il. Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) being a prophet was the only one Divinely protected there. That he would stand firm by the truth in word and deed was certain. As for the two chiefs, they were not so protected and infallible. So, being in pain and anger, he mentioned only those he was certain would stand firm on truth - 'I have no control except over myself and my brother.'The prayer that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) made after that was: فَافْرُ‌قْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ (So, make a separation between us and the sinning people). The substance of this prayer, according to an explanation given by Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ was that 'the punishment these people deserved should be given to them; and whatever we are found to be deserving of should be awarded to us.'The manner in which Allah Ta` ala answered this prayer was: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً ۛ يَتِيهُونَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (This [ land ] is prohibited to them for forty years. They shall be wandering around the earth). It means that the land of Syria was forbidden for them for forty years. They shall' not go there, even if they wanted to. And not simply that they would be unable to go to the land of Syria, they would also be unable to return back to their homeland of Egypt, if they thought of going there. Instead of that, they shall be detained in this wilderness.For punishments that come from Allah Almighty who needs the police and their handcuffs or the high and strong walls and iron-gates of prisons? When He intends to detain anyone, He needs none of these formal arrangements. He can put one under arrest even on grounds open from all sides. The reason is obvious. The whole universe is at His command. It was created by Him and from Him it takes its orders. When the universe is served with Divine orders to put someone under arrest, the air and the atmosphere and the earth and the space become the jailor for the condemned.So, this open land area located between Egypt and Baytul-Maqdis is comparatively small. Its measurement, according to the Tafsir of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) is thirty Farsakh in length and nine Farsakh in width. If one Farsakh is taken to be equal to three miles, it comes to be a total area of ninety miles in length and twenty seven miles in width. And according to some narrations, the whole area is thirty by eighteen miles. Thus, Allah Ta` ala detained a whole people whose total number, according to the statement of Sayyidna Muqatil (رح) was six hundred thousand, restricting them within this small open ground in a manner that they kept struggling for full forty years to somehow get out of this open land area and return back to Egypt, or go forward and reach Baytul-Maqdis. But, what actually happened was that by the time came evening after a whole day's journey, they discovered that they have been as if moving in a circle having returned to the same spot from where they had started in the morning.Authentic scholars of Tafsir say that the punishment Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu gives to a people is in proportion to their evil deed. Since these disobedient people had uttered the words: إِنَّا هَاهُنَا قَاعِدُونَ (we are sitting right here), Allah Ta` ala had them detained right there for forty years in punishment. Historical accounts in this matter differ. Some say that during these forty years, the present generation which had disobeyed was totally destroyed. Their next generation survived and it was this generation which, after having been delivered from this forty year detention, entered Baytul-Maqdis; or, there were some people from the earlier generation who were still surviving. However, there was that promise of the Holy Qur'an: كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ لَكُمْ (that is, Allah has destined the Holy Land of Syria for the Bani Isra'il). That promise had to be fulfilled, that the Bani Isra'il should take it over and rule the land. But, the people of Bani Isra'il present during that time elected to ignore this Divine award for which they were duly punished: مُحَرَّ‌مَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْ‌بَعِينَ سَنَةً that is, they were deprived of victory over the Holy Land for forty years. Then, it was at the hands of their next generation, that this country was conquered, and the promise of Allah Ta` ala stood fulfilled.In this wilderness of Tih, Sayyidna Musa and Harun were with their people for whom this wilderness was nothing but detention and punishment, while, for these two blessed souls, it was the fountain head of Divine blessings. This is why this period of forty years during which the Bani Isra'il were condemned was still full of many silver linings. Such was the barakah of the presence of Sayyidna Musa and Harun (علیہما السلام) among them, that Allah Ta` ala showered on them blessings of many kinds. When they became helpless against the scorching sun over their heads in an open field, Allah Ta` ala, answering the prayer of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) stretched out a canopy of clouds over their heads. Wherever they went, these clouds would follow them with their shade. When they complained of thirst and the shortage of water, Allah Ta` ala gave Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) a special stone which went with him wherever he went, and when they needed water, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) would strike it with his staff and twelve streams would gush forth from it. When they were hit by hunger, the heavenly food of Mann and Salva was sent to them. And when they complained about the darkness during nights, Allah Ta` ala provided for them a tower of light under the light of which they did what they had to do.To sum up, this wilderness of Tih was not full of condemned people only. In fact, there were two dear prophets of Allah Ta` ala and with them two favoured elders, Yusha` ibn Nun and Kalib ibn Yu'qina, as well. It was for their sake that, even during this period of detention and punishment, blessings kept coming to them. And since Allah Ta` ala is the Most Merciful of all those merciful, it is possible that these once disobedient people from the Bani Isra'il, after having witnessed the happenings around them, may have repented from their sins and may be it was in return for their act of repentance that they were being blessed with these rewards.According to authentic narrations, it was during this period of forty years that Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) died. Then, after a year or six month, came the death of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) After them, Allah Ta` ala appointed the revered elder, Yusha` ibn Nun as a prophet and gave him the mission of guiding the Bani Isra'il. When the period of forty years of detention was over, the remaining people of Bani Isra'il got together under the leadership of Sayyidna Yusha` ibn Nun and marched towards Baytul-Maqdis on this mission of Jihad. True to the promise of Allah Ta` ala, they conquered Syria and the wealth of the land they inherited was unimaginable.That it has been said: لَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِين (so do not grieve for the sinning people) at the end of verse 26 has a basis, for the blessed prophets, may peace be upon them all, are endowed with a natural disposition which makes it impossible for them to bear by the pain and hardship of their people. Even if they are punished, the prophets too are affected emotionally. Therefore, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) has been comforted here that he should not grieve over the punishment given to those people.

قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً يَتِيهُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَٰسِقِينَ

وَٱتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ٱبْنَىْ ءَادَمَ بِٱلْحَقِّ إِذْ قَرَّبَا قُرْبَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ ٱلْءَاخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

<p>Commentary</p><p>The Story of Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain)</p><p>In these verses, Allah Ta` a1a has instructed the Holy Prophet ﷺ that he should relate the story of the two sons of Adam truthfully to the people of the Book, or to the whole Ummah.</p><p>People who are blessed with insight into the Holy Qur'an know that it is no book of folklore, fiction or history where the purpose is to relate an event from the beginning to the end. But, events of the past and accounts of earlier peoples carry many lessons and wise counsels within their fold. That is the real essence of history. Then, in them, there are such conditions and circumstances as form the basis of different religious injunctions. In view of these very beneficial considerations, the Qur'an employs a methodology of its own throughout the text. It would, when the occasion warrants, narrate an event. Most of-ten, it would not narrate the whole event in one sequence and at one place. In fact, preference is given to narrating a particular segment from it which bears some element of purpose and is relevant at the given place.</p><p>This story of the two sons of Adam (علیہ السلام) is being narrated here in the same style. It has many lessons and good counsels for the present and future generations; and under them, mention has been made of many religious injunctions.</p><p>We shall proceed by explaining the words used in the text of the Qur'an following which you will have an idea of the main story, and after that we shall be talking about injunctions and rulings contained therein.</p><p>In the previous verses, mentioned there was the command of Jihad given to the Bani Isra'il and how cowardly and evasive they turned out to be in response. Set in contrast, the present story condemns unjust killing and the destruction it brings in its wake. The purpose is to bring the people to adhere to moderation and balance in this matter, for the way it is an error to cringe and back out from fighting and killing to uphold the truth and put an end to falsehood, similarly, starting to kill and fight unjustly amounts to a stock destruction of one's material and spiritual life both in the present world and in the Hereafter.</p><p>As for the expression: ابْنَيْ آدَمَ (ibniy Adama: the two sons of Adam) appearing in the first verse (27), it can be said that, for that matter, every human being, man and woman, is from the progeny of Adam (علیہ السلام) and everyone can be identified as being from among the children of Adam. But, according to the judgment of the majority of authentic scholars of Tafsir, the expression: ابْنَيْ آدَمَ at this place means the two real sons of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) that is, Habil and Qabil. It was to relate their story that it was said: وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ بِالْحَقِّ (and recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam truthfully).</p><p>While Reporting Historical Accounts, Caution and Truth are Mandatory</p><p>Here, by adding the word: بِالْحَقِّ (bil-haqq: truthfully), stress has been placed on an important principle to be observed while reporting historical narratives. Great caution is mandatory in this matter. These narratives should have nothing false in them, nothing contrary to the truth, nothing dubious or deceptive, nor should there be any change, increase or decrease, of any kind, in the narration of the original event. (Ibn Kathir)</p><p>This is not the only place where the Holy Qur'an has identified this principle. There are other places too where similar instructions appear that it be observed. In Surah 'Al ` Imran, it was said: إِنَّ هَـٰذَا لَهُوَ الْقَصَصُ الْحَقُّ (This is indeed the true narration - 3:62). In Surah Al-Kahf, it was said: نَّحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نَبَأَهُم بِالْحَقِّ (We narrate to you their story with truth - 18:13). An d in Surah Maryam, it was said: ذَٰلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ ۚ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ (That was ` Isa son of Maryam - a Word of Truth ... -19:34). At all these places, by including the key word of Al-Haqq or The Truth with historical narrations, the importance of observing truth in reporting events has been made mandatory. The large number of disorders in this world generated through reporting of events usually issue forth from lack of caution in handling it as it should be handled. A little change of word or mode could distort the reality of the event. The religious codes and laws of past communities were lost through this trap door of negligence and lack of caution leaving their religious books to become collections of stories devoid of reliable authority. So, by adding a single word: بِالْحَقِّ (truthfully) at this place in the verse, a clear signal was given towards this important objective.</p><p>In addition to what has been said above, through this very word, the addressees of the Holy Qur'an are also being chastened and guided to the fact that their noble prophet, on him be the peace and blessing of Allah, who is a total Ummiyy (untaught by any human being), yet he is describing the events which took place thousands of years ago, absolutely true and correct. When so, how else could it be explained but that it was divinely revealed to a Divinely ordained prophet?</p><p>After this introduction, the event relating to these two sons of Adam was put in the following words by the Holy Qur'an: اِذْ قَرَّ‌بَا قُرْ‌بَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الْآخَرِ‌ that is, both of them offered their sacrifices for Allah Ta` ala, but it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other.</p><p>The word: قربان (Qurban ), in terms of Arabic lexical usage, refers to whatever is made the medium of nearness to someone; and in Islamic legal terminology, it means the Dhabihah or sacrifice which is offered to seek nearness to Allah Ta` ala.</p><p>The event of offering this sacrifice which has been reported on the basis of sound and strong chains of authorities and which has been declared by Commentator Ibn Kathir as the unanimously agreed upon position of all earlier and later ` Ulama is given below.</p><p>When Sayyidna Adam and Hawwa' (علیہما السلام) came to live in the world and started having children, it so happened that they had twins from every pregnancy, one of the two being a boy, while the other, a girl. That was a time when, among the children of Adam (علیہ السلام) there was no one other than brothers and sisters - and brothers and sisters cannot be married to one another. So, Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu, in terms of the need of the time, had promulgated a special provision in the religious law given to Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) that, as for a boy and girl born out of one pregnancy, they shall be regarded as real brothers and sisters among themselves and marriage between them shall be considered forbidden. But, for a boy born in the second pregnancy, a girl born in the first one shall not be legally taken as a real sister and marriage between them would be permissible.</p><p>But, what happened was that the girl born with the first boy, Qabil, was beautiful while the girl born with the second boy, Habil, was ugly. When came the time of marriage, the ugly girl born with Habil fell to the lot of Qabil according to rules. This enraged Qabil. He turned hostile to Habil and started resisting that the girl born with him should be the one given in marriage to him. Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) ، in view of the legal rule of procedure, did not accept the demand. However, to remove the division between Habil and Qabil, he proposed that they should both offer their respective sacrifice for Allah. Whoever. has his sacrifice accepted will be the one to have that girl. The reason is that Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) was certain that the sacrifice to be accepted will be the sacrifice of the one who has the right to marry her, that is, the sacrifice of Habil.</p><p>In those days, an open sign of a sacrifice being accepted was that a fire would come from the sky and eat up the sacrifice; and the sacrifice which was not eaten up by the fire was the sign of its remaining unacceptable.</p><p>Now, the situation was that Habil was the owner of a flock of sheep and goats. He offered the sacrifice of a good spring lamb. Qabil was a farmer. He offered some grains as his sacrifice. As customary with them, a fire did come from the sky and ate up the sacrifice offered by Habil - and the sacrifice offered by Qabil remained lying where it was, untouched. Thereupon, hit by failure and disgrace, Qabil was further enraged. Unable to restrain it, he told his brother openly: لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ (I will kill you).</p><p>Habil did not respond to his angry remark with counter anger on the spot. He rather said something which was peaceful and principled. It even had an element of sympathetic concern for him: لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ (Allah accepts only from the God-fearing) that is, if you had been God-fearing, practicing Taqwa and piety, your sacrifice too would have been accepted. Since you did not do so, the sacrifice was not accepted. Why blame me for it?</p><p>Also mentioned within this statement is the cure for the envy (hasad) of the envier (hasid), that is, when the envier sees that Allah Ta` ala has given someone a particular blessing which has not been given to him, then, he should take his deprivation as a result of his own practical shortcomings and sins and think of repenting from them and correcting his or her behaviour - not that one starts wishing and worrying about ways through which the other person could be made to lose the blessing he has - because this would not bring him any gain, in fact, it will become the cause of some loss to him, for acceptability with Allah depends on Taqwa (fear of Allah). (Mazhari)</p><p>Acceptability of Deeds Depends on Ikhlas (Sincerity) and Taqwa (Fear of Allah)</p><p>There appears in this dialogue between Habil and Qabil a sentence which has the status of an important principle: The acceptability of one's deeds and acts of worship depends on Taqwa. The deed of a person who has no Taqwa in him is not accepted. For this reason, the learned among the righteous elders (salaf) have said that this verse is a shot in the arms of those who are devoted to acts of worship and do deeds in the hope of finding the pleasure of Allah. And this was the reason why Sayyidna ` Amir ibn ` Abdullah was crying at the time of his death. People around him asked: 'As for you, you have been busy doing your ` Ibadat (acts of worship) and good deeds throughout your life, why, then, would you weep?' He said, 'You are saying this and ringing in my ears is this saying of Allah Ta` ala: إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّـهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ (Allah accepts only from the God-fearing). I just do not know if any ` Ibadah of mine will be accepted, or not.'</p><p>Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said: 'If I become certain that Allah Ta` ala has accepted some deed of mine, then, I would not surrender this blessing even if the whole world were to turn into solid gold and pass into my possession, in fact, I would take it to be nothing as compared to that blessing.'</p><p>Similarly, said Sayyidna Abu Ad-Darda' 'If it stands settled that one Salah of mine has found acceptance with Allah Ta` ala, then, that is far more than a whole world full of blessings for me.'</p><p>Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abd al-` Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him, gave the following good counsel to a person in a letter he wrote to him.</p><p>"I tell you to hold on to Taqwa without which no deed is accepted; and mercy is not shown to anyone except those who observe Taqwa; and without it there is no Divine reward on anything. There are many who preach it but there are very few who practice it."</p><p>And Sayyidna al-Murtada ؓ said: 'Even the smallest deed done with Taqwa is not small. And how a deed which has been accepted can be called small? (Ibn Kathir)</p>

CommentaryThe Story of Habil (Abel) and Qabil (Cain)In these verses, Allah Ta` a1a has instructed the Holy Prophet ﷺ that he should relate the story of the two sons of Adam truthfully to the people of the Book, or to the whole Ummah.People who are blessed with insight into the Holy Qur'an know that it is no book of folklore, fiction or history where the purpose is to relate an event from the beginning to the end. But, events of the past and accounts of earlier peoples carry many lessons and wise counsels within their fold. That is the real essence of history. Then, in them, there are such conditions and circumstances as form the basis of different religious injunctions. In view of these very beneficial considerations, the Qur'an employs a methodology of its own throughout the text. It would, when the occasion warrants, narrate an event. Most of-ten, it would not narrate the whole event in one sequence and at one place. In fact, preference is given to narrating a particular segment from it which bears some element of purpose and is relevant at the given place.This story of the two sons of Adam (علیہ السلام) is being narrated here in the same style. It has many lessons and good counsels for the present and future generations; and under them, mention has been made of many religious injunctions.We shall proceed by explaining the words used in the text of the Qur'an following which you will have an idea of the main story, and after that we shall be talking about injunctions and rulings contained therein.In the previous verses, mentioned there was the command of Jihad given to the Bani Isra'il and how cowardly and evasive they turned out to be in response. Set in contrast, the present story condemns unjust killing and the destruction it brings in its wake. The purpose is to bring the people to adhere to moderation and balance in this matter, for the way it is an error to cringe and back out from fighting and killing to uphold the truth and put an end to falsehood, similarly, starting to kill and fight unjustly amounts to a stock destruction of one's material and spiritual life both in the present world and in the Hereafter.As for the expression: ابْنَيْ آدَمَ (ibniy Adama: the two sons of Adam) appearing in the first verse (27), it can be said that, for that matter, every human being, man and woman, is from the progeny of Adam (علیہ السلام) and everyone can be identified as being from among the children of Adam. But, according to the judgment of the majority of authentic scholars of Tafsir, the expression: ابْنَيْ آدَمَ at this place means the two real sons of Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) that is, Habil and Qabil. It was to relate their story that it was said: وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ بِالْحَقِّ (and recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam truthfully).While Reporting Historical Accounts, Caution and Truth are MandatoryHere, by adding the word: بِالْحَقِّ (bil-haqq: truthfully), stress has been placed on an important principle to be observed while reporting historical narratives. Great caution is mandatory in this matter. These narratives should have nothing false in them, nothing contrary to the truth, nothing dubious or deceptive, nor should there be any change, increase or decrease, of any kind, in the narration of the original event. (Ibn Kathir)This is not the only place where the Holy Qur'an has identified this principle. There are other places too where similar instructions appear that it be observed. In Surah 'Al ` Imran, it was said: إِنَّ هَـٰذَا لَهُوَ الْقَصَصُ الْحَقُّ (This is indeed the true narration - 3:62). In Surah Al-Kahf, it was said: نَّحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نَبَأَهُم بِالْحَقِّ (We narrate to you their story with truth - 18:13). An d in Surah Maryam, it was said: ذَٰلِكَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْ‌يَمَ ۚ قَوْلَ الْحَقِّ (That was ` Isa son of Maryam - a Word of Truth ... -19:34). At all these places, by including the key word of Al-Haqq or The Truth with historical narrations, the importance of observing truth in reporting events has been made mandatory. The large number of disorders in this world generated through reporting of events usually issue forth from lack of caution in handling it as it should be handled. A little change of word or mode could distort the reality of the event. The religious codes and laws of past communities were lost through this trap door of negligence and lack of caution leaving their religious books to become collections of stories devoid of reliable authority. So, by adding a single word: بِالْحَقِّ (truthfully) at this place in the verse, a clear signal was given towards this important objective.In addition to what has been said above, through this very word, the addressees of the Holy Qur'an are also being chastened and guided to the fact that their noble prophet, on him be the peace and blessing of Allah, who is a total Ummiyy (untaught by any human being), yet he is describing the events which took place thousands of years ago, absolutely true and correct. When so, how else could it be explained but that it was divinely revealed to a Divinely ordained prophet?After this introduction, the event relating to these two sons of Adam was put in the following words by the Holy Qur'an: اِذْ قَرَّ‌بَا قُرْ‌بَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الْآخَرِ‌ that is, both of them offered their sacrifices for Allah Ta` ala, but it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other.The word: قربان (Qurban ), in terms of Arabic lexical usage, refers to whatever is made the medium of nearness to someone; and in Islamic legal terminology, it means the Dhabihah or sacrifice which is offered to seek nearness to Allah Ta` ala.The event of offering this sacrifice which has been reported on the basis of sound and strong chains of authorities and which has been declared by Commentator Ibn Kathir as the unanimously agreed upon position of all earlier and later ` Ulama is given below.When Sayyidna Adam and Hawwa' (علیہما السلام) came to live in the world and started having children, it so happened that they had twins from every pregnancy, one of the two being a boy, while the other, a girl. That was a time when, among the children of Adam (علیہ السلام) there was no one other than brothers and sisters - and brothers and sisters cannot be married to one another. So, Allah Jalla Sha'nuhu, in terms of the need of the time, had promulgated a special provision in the religious law given to Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) that, as for a boy and girl born out of one pregnancy, they shall be regarded as real brothers and sisters among themselves and marriage between them shall be considered forbidden. But, for a boy born in the second pregnancy, a girl born in the first one shall not be legally taken as a real sister and marriage between them would be permissible.But, what happened was that the girl born with the first boy, Qabil, was beautiful while the girl born with the second boy, Habil, was ugly. When came the time of marriage, the ugly girl born with Habil fell to the lot of Qabil according to rules. This enraged Qabil. He turned hostile to Habil and started resisting that the girl born with him should be the one given in marriage to him. Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) ، in view of the legal rule of procedure, did not accept the demand. However, to remove the division between Habil and Qabil, he proposed that they should both offer their respective sacrifice for Allah. Whoever. has his sacrifice accepted will be the one to have that girl. The reason is that Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) was certain that the sacrifice to be accepted will be the sacrifice of the one who has the right to marry her, that is, the sacrifice of Habil.In those days, an open sign of a sacrifice being accepted was that a fire would come from the sky and eat up the sacrifice; and the sacrifice which was not eaten up by the fire was the sign of its remaining unacceptable.Now, the situation was that Habil was the owner of a flock of sheep and goats. He offered the sacrifice of a good spring lamb. Qabil was a farmer. He offered some grains as his sacrifice. As customary with them, a fire did come from the sky and ate up the sacrifice offered by Habil - and the sacrifice offered by Qabil remained lying where it was, untouched. Thereupon, hit by failure and disgrace, Qabil was further enraged. Unable to restrain it, he told his brother openly: لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ (I will kill you).Habil did not respond to his angry remark with counter anger on the spot. He rather said something which was peaceful and principled. It even had an element of sympathetic concern for him: لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ (Allah accepts only from the God-fearing) that is, if you had been God-fearing, practicing Taqwa and piety, your sacrifice too would have been accepted. Since you did not do so, the sacrifice was not accepted. Why blame me for it?Also mentioned within this statement is the cure for the envy (hasad) of the envier (hasid), that is, when the envier sees that Allah Ta` ala has given someone a particular blessing which has not been given to him, then, he should take his deprivation as a result of his own practical shortcomings and sins and think of repenting from them and correcting his or her behaviour - not that one starts wishing and worrying about ways through which the other person could be made to lose the blessing he has - because this would not bring him any gain, in fact, it will become the cause of some loss to him, for acceptability with Allah depends on Taqwa (fear of Allah). (Mazhari)Acceptability of Deeds Depends on Ikhlas (Sincerity) and Taqwa (Fear of Allah)There appears in this dialogue between Habil and Qabil a sentence which has the status of an important principle: The acceptability of one's deeds and acts of worship depends on Taqwa. The deed of a person who has no Taqwa in him is not accepted. For this reason, the learned among the righteous elders (salaf) have said that this verse is a shot in the arms of those who are devoted to acts of worship and do deeds in the hope of finding the pleasure of Allah. And this was the reason why Sayyidna ` Amir ibn ` Abdullah was crying at the time of his death. People around him asked: 'As for you, you have been busy doing your ` Ibadat (acts of worship) and good deeds throughout your life, why, then, would you weep?' He said, 'You are saying this and ringing in my ears is this saying of Allah Ta` ala: إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّـهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ (Allah accepts only from the God-fearing). I just do not know if any ` Ibadah of mine will be accepted, or not.'Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Masud ؓ said: 'If I become certain that Allah Ta` ala has accepted some deed of mine, then, I would not surrender this blessing even if the whole world were to turn into solid gold and pass into my possession, in fact, I would take it to be nothing as compared to that blessing.'Similarly, said Sayyidna Abu Ad-Darda' 'If it stands settled that one Salah of mine has found acceptance with Allah Ta` ala, then, that is far more than a whole world full of blessings for me.'Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abd al-` Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him, gave the following good counsel to a person in a letter he wrote to him."I tell you to hold on to Taqwa without which no deed is accepted; and mercy is not shown to anyone except those who observe Taqwa; and without it there is no Divine reward on anything. There are many who preach it but there are very few who practice it."And Sayyidna al-Murtada ؓ said: 'Even the smallest deed done with Taqwa is not small. And how a deed which has been accepted can be called small? (Ibn Kathir)

لَئِنۢ بَسَطتَ إِلَىَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقْتُلَنِى مَآ أَنَا۠ بِبَاسِطٍ يَدِىَ إِلَيْكَ لِأَقْتُلَكَ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

إِنِّىٓ أُرِيدُ أَن تَبُوٓأَ بِإِثْمِى وَإِثْمِكَ فَتَكُونَ مِنْ أَصْحَٰبِ ٱلنَّارِ وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ

فَطَوَّعَتْ لَهُۥ نَفْسُهُۥ قَتْلَ أَخِيهِ فَقَتَلَهُۥ فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ

فَبَعَثَ ٱللَّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُۥ كَيْفَ يُوَٰرِى سَوْءَةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَٰوَيْلَتَىٰٓ أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَٰذَا ٱلْغُرَابِ فَأُوَٰرِىَ سَوْءَةَ أَخِى فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ ٱلنَّٰدِمِينَ

مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِىٓ إِسْرَٰٓءِيلَ أَنَّهُۥ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَآ أَحْيَا ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ