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Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
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Translators: Ahmed Ali ● Amatul Rahman Omar ● Daryabadi ● Faridul Haque ● Hamid S. Aziz ● Maulana Mohammad Ali ● Pickthall ● Sarwar ● Shakir ● Yusuf Ali
Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Name
The name of this Surah has not been taken from
any verse but it has been called Al-Anbiyaa because it contains a continuous
account of many Anbiyaa (Prophets). Nevertheless, it is a symbolic name and not
a title.
Period of Revelation
Both the subject
matter and the style of the Surah indicate that it was sent down in the third
stage of the life of the Holy Prophet at Makkah.(Sea Introduction to Chapter
VI).
Subject and Topics
This Surah discusses the
conflict between the Holy Prophet and the chiefs of Makkah, which was rampant at
the time of its Revelation and answers those objections and doubts which were
being put forward concerning his Prophethood and the Doctrines of Tauhid and the
Hereafter. The chiefs of Makkah have also been rebuked for their machinations
against the Holy Prophet and warned of the evil consequences of their wicked
activities. They have been admonished to give up their indifference and
heedlessness that they were showing about the Message. At the end of the Surah,
they have been told that the person whom they considered to be a "distress and
affliction" had in reality come to them as a blessing.
Main Themes
In vv. 1-47, the following themes have been discussed in particular :
The objection of the disbelievers that a human being could not be a
Messenger and therefore they could not accept Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a
Prophet, has been refuted.
They have been taken to task for raising
multifarious and contradictory objections against the Holy Prophet and the
Qur'an.
Their wrong conception of life has been proved to be false
because it was responsible for their indifferent and heedless attitude towards
the Message of the Holy Prophet. They believed that life was merely a sport and
pastime and had no purpose behind or before it and there was no accountability
or reward or punishment.
The main cause of the conflict between the
disbelievers and the Holy Prophet was their insistence on the doctrine of shirk
and antagonism to the Doctrine of Tauhid. So the doctrine of skirk has been
refuted and the Doctrine of Tauhid reinforced by weighty and impressive though
brief arguments.
Arguments and admonitions have been used to remove
another misunderstanding of theirs. They presumed that Muhammad (peace be upon
him) was a false prophet and his warnings of a scourge from God were empty
threats, just because no scourge was visiting them in spite of their persistent
rejection of the Prophet.
In vv. 48-91, instances have been cited from
the important events of the life stories of the Prophets to show that all the
Prophets, who were sent by God, were human beings and had all the
characteristics of a man except those which were exclusive to Prophethood. They
had no share in Godhead and they had to implore Allah to fulfill each and every
necessity of theirs.
Along with these two other things have also been
mentioned:
All the Prophets had to pass through distress and affliction;
their opponents did their worst to thwart their mission, but in spite of it they
came out successful by the extraordinary succor from Allah.
All the
Prophets had one and the same "way of life', the same as was being presented by
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him), and that was the only Right Way of Life
and all other ways invented and introduced by mischievous people were utterly
wrong.
In vv. 92-106, it has been declared that only those who follow the
Right Way, will come out successful in the final judgment of God and those who
discard it shall meet with the worst consequences.
In vv. 107-112, the
people have been told that it is a great favor of Allah that He has sent His
Messenger to inform them beforehand of this Reality and that those, who consider
his coming to be an affliction instead of a blessing, are foolish people.
1"The time....near": the time of Resurrection. This is to warn the people
that the time of Resurrection when they will have to appear before their Lord to
render their accounts is not far. This was because the coming of the Holy
Prophet was a sign and a clear evidence of the fact that mankind had entered the
last stage of its history. The Holy Prophet himself explained it by holding out
two of his adjoining fingers and said, "I have been sent at a time which joins
to the time of Resurrection just as these two fingers adjoin" . By this he meant
to say, "No other Prophet is coming between me and the Resurrection. Therefore
mend your ways now, for after me no guide is coming with good news and warning."
2That is, "They do not pay heed to any warning nor reflect on their end nor
listen to the admonition of the Messenger."
3"New Revelation": A new
Surah of the Qur'an.
4The words of the original Text may also be
interpreted as: "They do not take life seriously but treat it as a sport and a
joke".
5This may also be translated as: "What, are you then being
ensnared by his magic?"
The disbelievers, who were the chiefs of Makkah,
whispered to one another to this effect: "Anyhow this man cannot be a Prophet
because he is a human being like us and eats and drinks and has wife and
children like us. We see nothing unusual about him that might distinguish him
from us and make him worthy of the office of Prophethood. We, however, admit
that there is some magic in his talk and personality. That is why any one who
listens to him or goes near Him is charmed. Therefore, the best thing for you is
not to listen to him at all, nor go near him, for listening to him or going near
him will only be involving yourselves intentionally in his snare."
The
reason why they accused the Holy Prophet of practicing magic was that even his
antagonists were "charmed" by his personality. when they met him. Muhammad bin
Ishaq (d. 152 A.H.) says, "Once `Utbah bin Rabi`ah, the father-in-law of Abu
Sufyan, said to the chiefs that he wanted to see Muhammad and give him counsel.
They said, `We have full confidence in you; you may go and have a talk with
him.' Accordingly, he went to the Holy Prophet and said, `Dear nephew, you know
that you were held in great honor here before this and you belong to a noble
family. Why have you then brought this affliction to your people? You have
caused discard among them: you consider your people to be fools: you speak ill
of their religion and deities, and you declare their deceased forefathers to be
disbelievers. My dear nephew, if your object is to become a rich man, we can
give you so much wealth that you will become the richest man among us: if you
are seeking a high rank, we will make you our chief, even our king, if you so
like. But if you are suffering from a mental illness which makes you see
illusions, we will have you treated by the best physicians.' He went on talking
in this strain and the Holy Prophet remained silent. When he had a long talk,
the Holy Prophet said, `Abul Walid, have you had your say or do you want to say
anything more?' He replied that he had said what he had to say. Then the Holy
Prophet said, `Now listen to me'. And he began to recite Surah Ha Mim Sajdah
(Chapter XLI) after Bismillah and Utbah listened to him as if he had been
charmed. When the Holy Prophet came to v. 38, he fell down in prostration. Then
raising his head, he said, 'O Abul Walid, I have said whatever I had to say, and
you have heard it. Now I have nothing more to say'. After this `Utbah walked
back towards the chiefs who perceived him to be a changed man, and remarked, `By
God ! his face shows that he is not the same man that he was when he went from
here.' When he came to them, they asked, `What has been the result of your
mission'? He answered, `By God, today I have heard a thing the like of which I
had never heard before. By Allah! It is not poetry nor sorcery nor divination. O
people of Quraish, I advise you to leave him to himself. From what I have heard
from him, I conclude that his Message is going to bring about a great revolution
here. If the Arabs overcome him, you will stand absolved from the charge of
murdering your own brother, and if he over-powers the Arabs, his sovereignty
will be your own sovereignty and his honor your own honor.' The people answered,
`By God! you, too, O Abul Walid, have been charmed by him'. To this he replied,
`I have expressed my opinion. Now it is for you to accept or reject it'." (Ibn
Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 313-314). Baihaqi, in his narration of the above event,
makes this addition: "When the Holy Prophet recited v. 13: `If they turn away
from your Message, say to them, I have warned you of the coming of a thunderbolt
like the thunderbolt that visited the `Ad and the Thamud', `Utbah placed his
hand on the mouth of the Holy Prophet, saying, `For God's sake, have mercy on
your own people'."
In this connection, ibn Ishaq has cited another event.
Once a man from the clan of Arash came to Makkah with some camels and Abu Jahl
bought them. When he demanded their price, he put him off by lame excuses. At
last the man came to the Sanctuary of the Ka`bah and began to bewail publicly
the dishonesty of Abu Jahl. The Holy Prophet was also sitting in a corner of the
Sanctuary. The chiefs of the Quraish said to the man, "We cannot help you in any
way in this matter; look, there is a man sitting: go to him and he will get you
your money." Accordingly the Arashi went towards the Holy Prophet and the chiefs
began to whisper jokingly, "Today there will be great fun!" When the man
expressed his complaint before the Holy Prophet, he at once stood up and
accompanied him to the house of Abu Jahl, followed by an informer of the chiefs.
The Holy Prophet knocked at Abu Jahl's door, who asked from inside, "Who is
there"? He answered, "Muhammad". Hearing this, he at once came out and the Holy
Prophet said to him, "Pay this man his dues." Accordingly, Abu Jahl went in
without uttering a word, brought the price of the camels and paid the man. At
this the informer ran back to the Quraish and told them the whole story and
said, "By God, today I have seen something which I had never seen before. When
Abu Jahl came out, Muhammad asked him to pay the dues, and he obeyed him as if
he were spell bound." (Ibn Hisham, Vol. II, pp. 29-30).
It was this
"charm" of the personality, character and words of the Holy Prophet which these
people considered to be the effects of "charm" and warned the people not to go
near him for fear of his "magic."
6This was the answer of the Prophet to
their false propaganda and whispering campaign. Instead of giving a `tit for
tat' answer, he said, "My Lord will deal with you for He hears everything and
knows everything."
7The background of this verse is this: "When the
message of the Holy Prophet started gaining adherents, the chiefs of Makkah
decided among themselves to start a propaganda campaign to counteract it. For
this purpose they decided that every visitor to Makkah for pilgrimage should be
approached and his mind so poisoned against the Holy Prophet that he dces not
even go near and listen to him. Though this campaign continued throughout the
year, in the pilgrimage season specially a large number of men were deputed to
go to the tents of the pilgrims to warn them to beware of the Holy Prophet.
Different sorts of things were said against the Holy Prophet during these talks.
Sometimes it was said that he was a sorcerer, or that he had fabricated the
Qur'an himself but attributed it to Allah. Some would say that his `Revelations'
were the words of an insane person and a bundle of incoherent ideas. Others
would say that these were ordinary poetic ideas which were being dubbed as the
words of Allah. All they wanted to do was to poison the minds of the visitors
irrespective of the correctness of their own versions. They had no considered
and definite opinion in the matter.
This false propaganda, however, had
just the opposite effect. The name of the Holy Prophet became known throughout
the length and breadth of the country through the nefarious activities of the
chiefs of Makkah. A positive kind of approach from the Muslims would not have
achieved the same publicity in years as was achieved so rapidly through this
negative campaign of the Quraish. It set everybody thinking: "After all, who is
this man against whom such a campaign of vilification has been started?" The
serious type among them rather came to the conclusion that they must hear the
Holy Prophet himself and said to themselves: "After all we are not children who
can be easily enticed away".
For instance, Ibn Ishaq has related in
detail the story of Tufail-bin-'Amr Dausi in his own words: "I was a poet of the
clan of Daus. Once I went to Makkah and was, on my arrival there, surrounded by
some people of the Quraish who told me all sorts of things against the Holy
Prophet. So I grew suspicious and tried to avoid him as far as possible. The
very next day, when I went to visit the Sanctuary, I saw him saying his prayer.
By chance, I heard a few sentences and felt that what he was reciting were
excellent words. I said to myself, `I am a poet and a sensible young man and no
child who cannot discriminate between the right and the wrong. Why should I not
therefore meet him and inquire what he is reciting?' Accordingly, 1 followed him
to his house and said, `The people had so mch poisoned me against you that I had
actually put cotton into my ears lest I should hear. your voice, but what I have
heard today from you by chance was so appealing that I feel urged to inquire
into your Message rather in detail. At this the Holy Prophet recited a passage
of the Qur'an, as a result of which I embraced Islam there and then. On my
return home I induced my father and wife to become Muslims, which they did, and
then invited the people of my clan to embrace Islam with the result that till
the Battle of the Trench as many as eighty families from my clan had entered the
fold of Islam." (Ibn Hisham, Vol. II, pp. 22-24).
According to another
tradition cited by Ibn Ishaq, the chiefs of the Quraish confessed in their
private meetings that all their charges against the Holy Prophet were false.
According to him, addressing a meeting, Nadr bin Harith once said, "You cannot
overcome Muhammad by the methods you are adopting against him. When he was a
young man you regarded him as your best-mannered person and looked upon him as
your most truthful and honest man. Now that he has attained advanced age, you
say, He is a sorcerer: he is a sooth-sayer: he is a poet: he is insane.' By God,
he is not a sorcerer, for we very well know what kind of people the sorcerers
are and what kind of tricks they resort to. By God, he is not a soothsayer, for
we are fully aware of the guess-works of the sooth-sayers. By God, he is not a
poet for we know what poetry is and can judge that his words cannot be
classified under poetry in any sense. By God, he is not insane, for we all know
what nonsensical things the insane people utter. Therefore, O chiefs of the
Quraish, let us think of some other plan to defeat him". After this, he himself
proposed that stories from Persia like dose of Rustam and Asfandyar should be
given publicity to divert the people's attention from the Qur'an. Accordingly,
they put this scheme into practice and Nadr himself began to relate such stories
before the people. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. l, pp. 320-321).
8This contains a
concise answer to the demand for a sign to the effect
(1) You ask for
Signs like the ones which were shown by the former Messengers but you forget
that those obdurate people did not believe in spite of the Signs shown to them.
(2) While demanding a Sign, you fail to realize that the people, who
disbelieved even after seeing a Sign, were inevitably destroyed.
(3) It
is indeed a favor of Allah that He is not showing the Sign as demanded by you.
Therefore, the best course for you would be to believe without seeing a Sign.
Otherwise, you will meet the same doom that the former communities met, when
they did not believe even after seeing the Signs.
9This is the answer to
their objection: "This man is no more than a human being like yourselves", and
therefore, cannot be a Messenger of God. They have been told that the former
Prophets, too, whom you also recognize as Prophets, were human beings and were
blessed with Revelations from Allah.
10That is, "You may have it
testified by the Jews, who are the enemies of Islam like you, and are teaching
you the ways to oppose it, that all the Messengers including Prophet Moses were
human beings."
11History not only tells us that the former Messengers
were human beings but it also contains a lesson that they all received Allah's
succor as promised by Him and their enemies were completely destroyed. Therefore
you should seriously consider the goal for which you are heading.
12This
is a comprehensive answer to the various objections which were being raised in
desperation by the disbelievers of Makkah against the Qur'an and the Holy
Prophet, as if to say:"What is there in this Book that you cannot understand?
Why don't you consider it in the right spirit? There is nothing contradictory in
it: it discusses you and your own problems and affairs of life; it describes
your own nature, origin and end; it discriminates between good and evil and
presents high moral qualities which your own consciences endorse and confirm.
Why don't you, then, use your minds to understand this simple and easy thing?"
13That is, “When they realized that Allah's scourge was actually coming”
14This is a very meaningful sentence. It may mean:
(1) "Examine this
scourge minutely so that if someone asks you about it, you may be able to give
an accurate account of it."
(2) "Hold your grand meetings as usual:
perhaps your servants may come with folded hands before you to receive orders."
(3) "Hold your councils as before, perhaps people may still come to ask for
your wise counsels."
15This was to refute their entire conception of life
which was based on the assumption that man was free to do whatever he liked, and
there was none to call him to account or take him to task: that there was no
life in the Hereafter where one's good deeds would be rewarded and evil deeds
punished. In other words, this meant that the whole universe had been created
without any serious purpose and therefore there was no need to pay any heed to
the Message of the Prophet.
16That is, "This world has been created with
a definite purpose and not as a plaything; for, if he had wanted to enjoy a
sport, We would have done so without creating a sentient, rational and
responsible creature like you. Far be it from Us to put man to trial and
conflict for the sake of mere fun."
17That is, "The object for which this
world has been created is to stage a conflict between the Truth and falsehood.
And you yourselves know that in this conflict falsehood has always been defeated
and destroyed: You should, therefore, consider this reality seriously, for, if
you build the system of your life on the false presumption that it is mere fun,
you will meet with the same consequences as the former people did, who presumed
that the world was a mere show and pastime. Therefore you should reconsider your
whole attitude towards the Message which has come to you. Instead of making fun
of it and scoffing at the Messenger, you should take a warning from the fate of
the former peoples."
18From here begins the discourse on the confirmation
of Tauhid and the refutation of shirk for these were the actual bases of the
conflict between the Holy Prophet and the disbelievers of Makkah. The line of
argument is this: The whole system of the universe is a clear proof that there
is One Allah Who is its Creator, Sovereign, Ruler, and Lord and it is a
falsehood that there are many gods who are partners in His Kingdom and
Sovereignty, or that there is a Supreme God Who has under Him some minor gods to
conduct the affairs of His Kingdom. This proof is also based on the preceding
verses in which it has been stated that the universe has not been created as a
pastime or a plaything, but for a serious purpose and that there has always been
a conflict between the Truth and falsehood, and falsehood has always been
defeated and destroyed.
19That is, the angels whom the mushriks of
Arabia believed to be the children of God and worshiped them as partners in
Godhead.
20That is, "They are engaged in His service day and night
without grumbling or ever feeling wearied."
21This question has been
posed to bring home to the disbelievers that when they themselves believed that
there is no being other than Allah who can give life to inanimate matter, why do
they then acknowledge other deities besides Allah?
22This concise
sentence contains two arguments:
(1) The obviously simple argument is
that no institution, no household, not to speak of the vast universe containing
multitudes of countless distant stars, can function smoothly and properly, if it
has two masters.
(2) The deeper argument is that the system of the whole
universe, including that of the earth, is functioning according to a universal
law. It could not work so even for a moment, if there had been no proper
proportion, balance, harmony and coordination between the different powers and
countless things. This is a clear proof that there is a universal and
all-powerful law and system which binds and forces these powers and things to
co-operate and coordinate between themselves with a perfect proportion and
harmony and this could not have happened if there had been different independent
rulers. The existence of such a system is itself a clear proof that there must
be One All-Powerful Manager and Administrator governing and ruling the whole
universe. For further details, please see E. N. 47 of Bani Isra'il (XVII).
23That is, "The Sovereign of the whole universe."
24The first two
were rational arguments and this is a historical one. This means that the study
of all the former Scriptures shows that the Creator of the universe is One Allah
and He alone is worthy of service and worship, while "Your religion is neither
supported by rational arguments nor by historical evidence."
25It is
their lack of the knowledge of the Reality which has created this indifference
towards the Message of the Prophet, and the same has made them heedless of the
Message.
26"Offspring" here refers to the angels as is clear from v. 28.
The disbelievers of Arabia believed that the angels were the daughters of God.
27These two verses refute the two reasons for which the mushriks had made
the angels their deities:
(1) They took them for the offspring of Allah.
(2) They thought that if they worshiped the angels, they would be so pleased
that they would intercede with Allah on their behalf. (See X:18; XXXIX:3).
In this connection, it should also be noted that the Qur'an refutes the
doctrine of intercession of the mushriks, saying, that their so-called
intercessors are not qualified to intercede for anyone. This is so' because they
have no knowledge of the hidden things, whereas Allah knows all that is hidden
from or open to them. Therefore, the angels or Prophets or saints shall be
allowed intercession only with the prior permission of Allah. As Allah alone has
the power to hear or accept intercession, none else is entitled to divine
worship or rights. For further details, please sec Ta Ha (XX): E. N.'s 85-86.
28From the wording of the Text, it appears that at first the whole universe
was a single mass of matter; then it was split into different parts and the
earth and the other heavenly bodies were formed. For fuller details, please see
Ha Mim (XLI):E.N.'s 13-15
29From the wording of the Text, it appears that
Allah made water the cause and origin of life. See also An-Nur (XXIV): 45.
30For explanation, see E. N. 12 of An-Nahl (XVI).
31"Open paths" are
the passes between high mountains and the valleys and ravines made by the rivers
in the mountainous regions and other natural ways that connect different regions
on the earth.
32This is a very meaningful sentence. It may mean that the
people may find paths for traveling on the earth, and it may also mean that the
wisdom that underlies the skill and the system of their creation may guide them
to the Reality.
33For explanation, see Al-Hijr (XV): E. N's 8 and 10-12.
34That is, "Those signs which are in the sky"
35The use of the words
kullun (all) and yasbahun (float) in the plural (for more than two) indicates
that not only the sun and the moon but all the heavenly bodies are floating in
their own separate orbits and none of them is fixed or stationary. These verses
(30-33) are capable of being interpreted in the modern scientific terms in
accordance with the present day conceptions of Physics, Biology and Astronomy.
Here it should also be noted that vv. 19-23 refute shirk while vv. 30-33
present positive proofs of Tauhid. They imply that the creation and regular
functioning of the universe clearly show that it is the work of One All-Powerful
Creator, and no sensible person can say that it has been created as a there
pastime for the sake of fun. When the fact is this and you see proofs of the
Doctrine of Tauhid all around yourself, in the earth and heavens, why do you
reject the Message of the Prophet and demand other Signs from him?”
36From here the same theme of the conflict between the Holy Prophet and the
disbelievers, that was interrupted by vv. 19-33, has been resumed.
37This
is a brief answer to all those warnings and curses with which the Holy Prophet
was being threatened and the conspiracies which the Quraish were hatching
against him day and night. On the one hand, the women of the Quraish cursed him
because according to them he had ruined their home life by enticing away their
kith and kits; while on the other, the chiefs of the Quraish threatened hits
with horrible consequences for the propagation of Islam. After the emigration to
Habash especially, which almost affected every home of Makkah, these curses and
threats increased all the more. This verse is meant to comfort and console the
Holy Prophet as well so that he should continue his mission without any fear of
their threats.
38That is, Allah is always putting human beings to test
and trial both through adversity and affluence. This is to judge whether
prosperity makes them proud, cruel and slaves of their lusts or they become
grateful to Allah. On the other hand, He inflicts adversity upon them in order
to see whether they remain within the prescribed and lawful limits or become
low-spirited and down-hearted. A sensible person therefore should not be deluded
by prosperity and adversity, but should keep their trial element in view and try
to pass through it gracefully.
39It should be noted that this sentence
contains only the reason why they scoffed at him, but does not refer to the
expression of "scoff" itself. Obviously, the disbelievers must have been using
some other words or expressions of derision to avenge themselves on the Holy
Prophet for his rejecting their self-made deities.
40This is to rebuke
the disbelieves, as if to say, "You cherish so much love of your self-made idols
and false gods that you cannot tolerate anything against them; so much so that
you scoff at the Messenger of Allah, but, as for you, you are not ashamed that
you are stung to the quick when you hear the name of the Merciful and discard
His mention with disdain."
41This is not the literal translation of the
Text; its purport according to the Arabic usage is: "Man is a hasty and
impatient creature by his very nature." The same thing has been stated in
XVII:11: "Man is very hasty and impatient."
42From the succeeding
sentences it is obvious that "Signs" here stands for the things that have been
mentioned therein-the "threat" of the scourge of Allah, Resurrection and Hell.
They made fun of these, as if to say: "This man threatens us with the scourge of
Allah and the torment of the Day of Resurrection if we deny him and that we
shall become fuel of Hell; but nothing of the sort has befallen us. We are as
strong as ever and nothing seems to be happening".
43That is to say, "Who
is there to protect and save you from the scourge of Allah if you are suddenly
visited by it any time during the night or day?"
44In other words it
means: "These people have been deluded by Our favor and Our provisions. They
think they are enjoying prosperity and good life as their personal right and
there is none to take it away from them. They have forgotten that there is God
above them Who is able to make or mar their fortune".
45In this
connection, see Ar-Ra`d (XIII): 41 and E. N. 60 thereof. Here it bears an
additional meaning also: "Do they not see that an All-Powerful Being is showing
His Signs every now and then everywhere on the earth in the form of famines,
epidemics, floods, earthquakes and other calamities; millions of people are
killed, habitations and harvests are destroyed and other damages are caused,
which frustrate all human designs?"
46It means: "When they know that all
the resources and provisions of life are in Our hands and that We can increase
or decrease them as We will, have they the power and strength to defend
themselves against Our punishment? Can they not see from these "Signs" that
their power, prosperity and luxury are not everlasting and that there is an
All-Powerful Allah to seize and punish them?"
47That is, "The same
scourge which they are demanding to be hastened and of which they are making
fun."
48See also vv. 8-9 and E.N.'s 8-9 of Al-A'araf (Vll). It is
difficult for us to understand the exact nature of the "Balance". Anyhow it is
clear that the "Balance" will weigh accurately all the human moral deeds instead
of material things, and will help judge whether a man is virtuous or wicked and
how much. The Qur'an has used this word to make mankind understand that every
deed, good or bad, will be weighed and judged according to merit.
49From
here begin the stories of the Prophets. If we consider these stories in the
context in which they occur, it becomes plain that these have been related to
impress the following themes:
(1) All the former Prophets were human
beings: therefore there is nothing strange or unusual that a human being like
Muhammad has been sent as a Messenger (Allah's peace be upon him).
(2)
The Mission and teachings of this Prophet are the same as of those who were sent
before him.
(3) All the Prophets had been granted a privileged position
by Allah, Who blessed them with special favors. For instance, though they were
made to suffer from hardships and persecutions for years, ultimately Allah heard
their prayers and helped them in miraculous ways against their enemies and
persecutors.
(4) In spite of Allah's special favors on them they were no
more than His humble servants and human beings and had no share whatever in
Godhead; so much so that sometimes they committed errors of judgment, fell ill,
were put to trials and even committed faults, for which they were called to
account by Allah.
50All the three words have been used in praise of the
Torah: (1) A Criterion which distinguished the Truth from falsehood. (2) A Light
which showed the Right Way of life, and (3) An Admonition, which reminded the
erring descendants of Adam to remember the lesson they had forgotten.
51Though it was sent for the good of all human beings, only the pious people,
having these characteristics, could benefit from it.
52The Hour of
"Resurrection".
53The Arabic word (rushd) is very comprehensive and means
righteousness as well.
"We had blessed Abraham with discretion;" "The
discretion he showed in discriminating between the right and the wrong etc. was
not of his own acquirement but had been bestowed on him by Us." AI-Anbiyaa'
"We knew him well": "We knew that he was worthy of Prophethood; therefore We
appointed him as such". According to VI:124: " .... Allah knows best whom to
entrust with His Mission ...."It contains a subtle answer to the objection
raised by the chiefs of the Quraish: "Why has Allah appointed this man (the Holy
Prophet) to the office of Prophethood, when he is in no way superior to us?"
This objection has been answered, as if to say, "The same objection might even
have been raised against Prophet Abraham by his people, but We knew his
capabilities. Therefore We selected him for Prophethood."
In this
connection, please also see II: 124141, 258-260; VI: 74-84; IX: 114; XI: 69-76;
XIV: 35-41; XV: 51-58 and XVI: 120-122 and the E.N's thereof.
54Before
proceeding further it should be kept in mind that the incident from the history
of Prophet Abraham has been cited here to refute the erroneous creeds of the
Quraish. This was meant to hit them hard for they were the descendants of
Prophet Abraham and were proud of their relationship with him. It was he who had
built the Ka`abah which had become the center of the whole of Arabia and they,
being its keepers, were its most important clan. Therefore, they could not
remain indifferent to this answer.
55The literal translation will be:
"Are you presenting the Truth before us, or just playing with us?" They were so
sure of the truth of their creed that they could never imagine that anyone could
be serious in declaring it to be false.
56That is, "If you do not
understand this by argument, I will present a practical proof that these idols
are helpless and have no powers. Therefore, it is wrong to make them your
deities."
57This was that practical proof. In the absence of the priests
and attendants, Prophet Abraham entered their central Temple and broke all the
idols to pieces.
58The pronoun in the original Text may be translated
into "it" or "him". In the former case, it will refer to the chief idol and in
the latter to Prophet Abraham. In the first case, it will imply a subtle sarcasm
in order to make them realize that their creed of idol-worship was foolish, for
obviously the chief idol could not break the minor idols. In the second case, it
will refer to Prophet Abraham, who thought that they might turn to him about the
"incident" and he might get an opportunity to have a frank talk with them about
their absurd creed.
59This was exactly what Prophet Abraham expected to
happen. He wished that the matter should not remain confined to the priests and
the attendants but the common people also should be present there to witness
that their deities were helpless and their priests were deluding them about
their powers. The priests committed the same folly as was later committed by
Pharaoh when he arranged an encounter between Prophet Moses and the magicians in
the open in front of the multitudes of the common people, and the former got an
opportunity to show publicly the miracle of the staff which shattered the
illusory, magical tricks of the magicians.
60The very sentence, "You may
ask them, if they can speak", is a clear proof that it was not a lie when
Prophet Abraham said, "All this has been done by their chief." What he intended
by this was to make them realize and confess that their idols were helpless
because they could do nothing to protect themselves, and could not even speak.
It is clear that when a person poses an unreal question for the sake of argument
in order to bring home the fact that the position taken by the other party is
untenable, it cannot be considered as a lie; firstly, because the speaker
himself never intended it to be a lie, and secondly, because the addressees also
knew that it was not a lie.
The foregoing remarks have been necessitated
because of a "tradition" that Prophet Abraham told three "lies" in his life, of
which one is the above mentioned event. The second "lie" is contained in XXXVII:
89: "I am indisposed", and the third "lie" is not contained in the Qur'an but in
the Bible that he declared his wife to be his sister. (Gen. 12:12,13, 18;19). It
is a pity that this "tradition" has given rise to two divergent opinions. The
orthodox traditionalists actually believe that Prophet Abraham told these lies
just because an "authentic tradition" says so. They do not consider that it is
far better to discard the "tradition" according to which a Prophet is accused of
being a "liar". On the other hand, those who are against the Traditions, discard
all of them just because this solitary tradition, which has been reported as
authentic by Bukhari and Muslim, is unreliable on the very face of it. Obviously
it needs no elaborate arguments to prove that all the traditions cannot be
discarded just because one or a few of them are unreliable. As regards the
upholders of the first opinion, they have gone to the other extreme and think
that a tradition can be discarded in spite of the authenticity of its reporters
for cogent reasons. They do this without reference to the contents of the
tradition itself. But if the text of the tradition itself clearly shows that
such a thing could not have been said by the Holy Prophet, there is no reason to
insist that it should be accepted as authentic merely because its reporters are
authentic.
This, tradition is unreliable for other reasons also. As has
already been shown, the first "lie" is no lie at all. As regards the second
"lie", ("I am indisposed"); it cannot be considered as a lie unless it is proved
beyond doubt that Prophet Abraham was perfectly healthy at that time, and the
text does not testify this. As regards the third "lie", the event stated in the
Bible in chapter 12 of Genesis is absurd on the face of it. When Prophet Abraham
went to Egypt with his wife Sarah, he was, according to the Bible itself, 75
years old and his wife was 65. Therefore the very age of Sarah is a clear proof
that she could not be a "fair woman to look upon" to force Prophet Abraham to
pose that she was his sister in order to save his life. The tradition under
discussion, which accuses Prophet Abraham to be guilty of telling a lie, has
accordingly no basis at all and cannot be taken as reliable in spite of its
authentic reporters.
61Literally the original Text means: "They were
turned down upon their heads." Some commentators have interpreted it to mean:
"They hung down their heads with shame". But this does not fit in the context
and the wording of the Text. The right interpretation would be: "When they
considered the answer of Prophet Abraham, they realized that they themselves
were in the wrong, because they had set up helpless idols as deities, which
could not even speak a word as to who had broken them. But soon after this, they
were overpowered by obduracy and ignorance which perverted their minds and they
again relapsed into crookedness."
62Though this is one of those miracles
which have been clearly stated in the Qur'an, there are people who try to
"prove" that there was no such miracle at all. According to this passage (vv.
68-70), Prophet Abraham was actually threatened to be burnt alive and he was
accordingly thrown into the burning fire; but Allah ordered the fire to become
cool and harmless for him. In the face of the clear words of the Qur'an, these
people deny this miracle because according to them it is impossible even for
Allah to go beyond the routine of the physical laws. They say that miracles
cannot appeal to the rationalists of the modern age, and therefore these should
be interpreted in accordance with physical laws. They forget that according to
the Qur'an, Allah is able to do everything, and He does extraordinary and
unusual things which cannot be explained by "science". Therefore they should
accept the Qur'an as it is or discard it, but they should not twist it to suit
their so-called rationalism.
63According to the Bible, Prophet Abraham
had two brothers, Nahor and Haran; Prophet Lot was the son of Haran (Gen.
11:26), and he was the only person to believe in Prophet Abraham. (XXIX: 26).
64The "blessed land" refers to Syria and Palestine, which contains both
material and spiritual blessings. It is one of the most fertile regions in the
world; moreover, it was blessed for two thousand years with more Prophets than
any other region of the world.
65That is, "We made his son a Prophet and
his grandson too".
66This important event of the life of Prophet Abraham
has found no mention whatever in the Bible. In fact nothing about his life in
`Iraq -his conflict with Nimrod, his father and the community at large, his
efforts to eradicate idolatry, the incident of his being cast into the fire,
which ultimately led to his forced exile from the country-is mentioned anywhere
in the Bible. The Bible merely mentions his migration, and that too, in a manner
as if a family was migrating from one country to another in search of
livelihood. There is another interesting difference between the Qur'an and the
Bible. According to the Qur'an, the father of Abraham, who was a mushrik, was
foremost in tyrannizing over his son, but the Bible gives a different account,
which is as follows:
"Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat
Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father
Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor
took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's
wife, Milcah the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of
Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took Abram 'his son,
and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son
Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into
the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and settled there. And the days of
Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran." (Gen.
11:27-32).
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I
will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And 1 will bless them
that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 12: 1-3).
The Talmud, however, gives
quite a few details about the life of Prophet Abraham about the period of his
stay in `Iraq, which are generally the same as given in the Qur'an, but there is
a glaring discrepancy in some of the important events. In fact, one can clearly
feel that the account given in the Talmud is full of heterogeneous and
hypothetical things while the one given in the Qur'an is most clear and contains
nothing unworthy of Prophet Abraham. We reproduce below the account as given in
the Talmud so that the reader may know the difference between the Quranic and
Jewish versions. This will also remove the misunderstanding of those who think
that the Qur'an has borrowed stories from the Bible or Jewish literature.
According to the Talmud, "The wise men saw a large star in the sky on the
night Abram was born and they advised Nimrod to kill the child born in the house
of Terah. The King decided to kill the child but Terah hid his child and had a
servant's son killed in exchange. Terah thereupon hid his wife and child in a
cave where they lived for ten years. In the 11th year Abram was taken by Terah
to Noah, where he lived under the guidance of Noah and his son Shem for 39
years. During the same period Abram married his niece Sarai, who was 42 years
his junior. (The Bible does not mention that Sarai was the niece of Abram;
moreover, the difference in their ages is mentioned as ten years). (Gen. 11: 29,
17: 17).
The Talmud then says, "Abram left Noah at the age of 50 and came
back to his father. Here he found that his father was an idolatry and had twelve
idols in the house according to the twelve months of the year. He tried to
preach to his father against idolatry but when the latter did not listen to him,
Abram one day broke all the idols in the house. Seeing this Terah went straight
to Nimrod and complained that the son who was born in his house 50 years ago had
misbehaved and broken the idols. He wanted the King's verdict on this. Nimrod
sununoned Abram for interrogation, but the replies given by Abram were straight,
terse and clear. Nimrod sent him to jail and then referred the matter to the
Council for a decision. The Council decided that Abram should be burnt to death.
A fire was accordingly prepared and Abram was cast into it. His brother and
father-in-law Haran was also similarly cast into the fire. Haran was punished
because Nimrod enquired of Terah as to why he had another child killed in place
of Abram when he wanted to kill Abram on the day of his birth. Terah replied
that this was done at the instigation of Haran. Nimrod accordingly let off Terah
but threw Haran into the fire along with Abram. Haran was burnt to death
instantly but people saw that Abram was walking unhurt through the flames. When
Nimrod was informed of it, he witnessed it with his own eyes and cried out: `O
man of the God of Heaven, come out of the fire and stand before me'. Thereupon,
Abram came out and Nimrod became one of his .believers and gave him many costly
presents. After this, according to the Talmud, Abram stayed in `Iraq for two
more years when Nimrod saw a dreadful dream and the astrologers told him that
the destruction of his empire .would come through Abram and that he should,
therefore, put him to death. Nimrod sent people to kill Abram but Abram came to
know of the plot before-hand through Eleazar, a slave presented to him by Nimrod
himself. Abram accordingly fled and took refuge with Noah where Terah also met
him off and on secretly. The father and the son at last decided to leave the
country and Noah and his son Shem also approved of their plan. Accordingly,
Terah along with his son Abram and his grandson Lot and his grand-daughter and
son's wife Sarai, left U: and went to Haran." (H. Polano: The Talmud Selections,
London, pp. 30-42).
Can a reasonable person after reading this account of
the Talmud ever imagine that this could be a source book for the story as given
in the Qur'an?
67The original Arabic word hukm is very comprehensive. It
means judgment, wisdom and discretion, and authority from Allah. `Ilm stands for
the revealed knowledge of the Truth. Thus, "We bestowed hukm and `ilm on Lot":
"We appointed Lot as a Prophet". (For the story of Lot, see VII: 80-84; Xl:
7083; XV: 57-74 and the E.N.'s there of).
68This refers to Prophet Noah's
prayer which he at last made after having tried his utmost to reform his people:
"Lord, help me for I have been overpowered". (LIV: 10), and "Lord, do not leave
even a single disbeliever on the earth." (LXXIX 26).
69"Great calamity"
may either refer to living a miserable life among the wicked people, or to the
Flood. (For the story of Prophet Noah, see VII: 59-64; X: 72-74; X1: 25-48, and
XVII: 3 and the E.N.'s thereof).
70There is no mention of this event in
the Bible nor in the Jewish literature. According to the Muslim commentators, it
happened like this: The goats of one person entered into the field of another
person at night. The latter brought his complaint to Prophet David who decided
that the strayed goats should be given to the owner of the field. Prophet
Solomon, however, differed with this and opined that the goats should remain
with the owner of the field up to the time that the former tilled and prepared
the field as before. In regard to this Allah says, "We led Solomon to the right
decision". As regards the legal aspect of the matter we cannot say with
certainty what is the Islamic law in such a case nor is there any Tradition of
the Holy Prophet to explain or support it. That is why the jurists have differed
about it.
It should, however, be noted that in this context, the incident
has been cited to show that the Prophets were after all human beings in spite of
their God given powers and abilities. In this case, Prophet David committed an
error of judgment because he was not guided by Allah as was Prophet Solomon,
though both of them were Prophets. In the succeeding passage the wonderful
powers of both have been mentioned to show that they were God-given and did not
snake anyone a god.
Incidentally, we learn froth this verse that if two
judges give different decisions about one and the same case, both of them will
be regarded as righteous, though the decision of only one of them will be
correct, provided that both are duly qualified for sitting in judgment on the
case. The Holy Prophet has stated the same principle more elaborately. In a
Tradition of Bukhari, he is reported by 'Amar bin 'As to have said, "If a judge
does his very best to arrive at the right decision, he will get a double reward
in case of a right judgment and a single reward if his judgment is wrong."
According to another Tradition, cited by Abu Da'ud and Ibn Majah, on the
authority of Buraidah, he is reported to have said, "Judges are of three kinds
and only one of them will go to Paradise: the one who recognizes the Truth and
decides according to it. On the other hand, the one who recognizes the Truth but
gives his decision against it, will go to Hell, and he too, who sits in judgment
on a case without the necessary knowledge (and competence). "
71From the
wording of the Text, it is clear that "the mountains and the birds" were not
subjected to Prophet David but were joined with him in glorifying Allah. This is
also supported by XXXVIII:I9: "We had subdued the mountains by Our Command so
that they praised Us with him (David) in the morning and evening, and the birds
too, which gathered together and repeated Our praise with him". And, according
to XXXIV: 10: "We commanded the mountains to repeat Our praise with him and also
the birds to do the same. " We are of the opinion that it means this: "When
Prophet David sang hymns of Allah's praise and glory, in his rich and sweet
voice, the mountains echoed back his melodies and the birds gathered round him
and the whole scene became charming." Our interpretation is supported by this
Tradition:
"Once when Hadrat Abu Musa Ash`ari, who had an extremely sweet
voice, was reciting the Holy Qur'an, the Holy Prophet, who was passing by, stood
and listened to him for a long time. When he finished the recital, the Holy
Prophet remarked: 'This man has been granted a portion of the melody of David'."
72According to XXXIV: 10-11, it was like this: "....And We made the iron
soft for him (and commanded him): `Make coats of mail complete in every way, and
arrange the plates properly...."'. This shows that Allah had made Prophet David
an expert in the use of iron, and had especially taught him the art of an
armorer for defense purposes. This fact is confirmed by archaeological and
historical researches, for according to these the iron-age in the world started
between 1200 and 1000 BC and this was precisely the period of Prophet David. At
tirst the Hittites in Syria and Asia Minor, who flourished between 2000 and 1200
BC, discovered a method of melting and molding iron, but they guarded it as a
close secret from the world, and it could not be put to common use. Later on,
the Philistines came to know of it, but they too guarded it as a secret. The
incessant defeats suffered by the Israelites at the hands of the Hittites and
the Philistines before King Saul, were due mainly to the use of chariots of iron
in their wars by the latter. (Joshua, 17:16; Judges, 1: 19, 4: 2-3). In 1020 BC
when Saul became ruler over the Israelites by Allah's Command, he subdued the
Canaanites and recaptured most of Palestine. After him Prophet David (1004-965
BC) not only annexed the whole of Palestine and Jordan to the Israeli kingdom
but a major portion of Syria as well. This was the time when the secret of armor
making closely guarded by the Hittites and the Philistines, became well known
and cheaper articles of daily use began to be made. The recent archaeological
excavations conducted in Edom, to the south of Palestine, which is rich in iron
ore, have brought to light furnaces for melting and molding iron. The furnace
excavated near Ezion-geber, a port on the Gulf of `Aqabah, in the time of
Prophet Solomon, seems to have been built on the principles which are used in
the modern blast furnaces. It is therefore natural that Prophet David must have
first of all utilized this discovery for war purposes, because a little earlier
the hostile Canaanites around his kingdom had made life really difficult for his
people. The Bible also says that Prophet David was an expert in the art of
melting and using iron for war purposes. (See Joshua, 17: 16; Judges, 1:19 and
4: 2-3).
73For further details about Prophet David, please see II:251 and
XVII: 55 and the E.N.'s thereof.
74This is also explained in XXXIV: 12:
"And for Solomon We had subjected the wind which covered a month's journey in
the morning and a month's journey in the evening", and in XXXVIII: 36: "So We
subjected the wind to him. It blew softly at his bidding whither-soever he
wanted it to blow." Thus it is clear that the wind was so subjected to Prophet
Solomon that the voyages to places at one month's sea journey could be performed
conveniently, because a favorable wind was always blowing for his ships to and
from those places.
It is confirmed by the Bible that Prophet Solomon had
developed sea trade on a large scale. ( I Kings, 10: 22). On the one side, his
trade ships sailed from Ezion-geber, through the Red Sea, towards Yaman and
other southern and eastern lands, and on the other, his naval fleet called Thar-shish,
sailed on the Mediterranean to the western countries. The great furnace which he
had built at Ezion-geber for melting and molding ores extracted from the copper
and iron mines in the `Arabah in Edom, has been confirmed by modem
archaeological researches as well. This molten iron and copper was used in
building ships besides being put to other uses. The Qur'an refers to this when
it says: "....and We made a fountain of molten copper to flow for him
(Solomon)...." (XXXIV:12).
As ,regards the subjection of the wind, it may
mean that Allah, by His special favor, had so arranged that the wind-and sea
voyages in those days depended entirely on wind-was always favorable for Prophet
Solomon's fleet. But if we take the literal meaning of v. 81: "it sped at his
bidding", there will be no harm, for Allah is able to give such powers to any of
His servants He pleases.
75The subjection of "satans" has been explained
in XXXIV:12-13. Incidentally, these verses of the Qur'an clearly show that the
satans and jinns who worked for Prophet Solomon belonged to quite a different
genus from human beings. Therefore, it is wrong to pervert the Qur'an to prove
that "they were human beings" as some modernist commentators have tried to do.
It is obvious from the wording of the Qur'an and the context in which the story
of the jinns has been related, that they were not human beings. Had they been so
this would have been no special favor to Solomon, because human beings had
already built the gigantic monuments like the pyramids of Egypt.
76There
is a wide divergence of opinion concerning the personality, period and
nationality of Prophet Job. Some commentators opine that he was an Israelite,
while others think that he was an Egyptian or an Arab who lived before Prophet
Moses, or during the time of Prophets David and Solomon. As all these
conjectures are based on the Book of Job, which is self-contradictory and
against the Qur'an, nothing can be said about him with certainty, but in the
light of the Book of Isaiah (8th century BC) and the Book of Ezekiel (6th
century BC), which are more trustworthy works, he lived in the 9th century BC or
even earlier. As regards his nationality, the context in which his name occurs
in IV: 163 and VI: 84, it may be assumed that he was an Israelite. According to
a saying of Hadrat Wahb bin Munabbih, he might have been from the offspring of
Esau, a son of Prophet Isaac.
77The words of the prayer are note-worthy.
Prophet Job mentions his distress but does not say anything more to his Lord
except: "Thou art most Merciful" This is a great proof of his fortitude, noble
and contented nature.
78How his disease was cured has been explained in
XXXVIII: 42: "Stamp the ground with your foot: here is cool water for you to
wash with and to drink." From this it appears that no sooner did he stamp the
ground than a spring gushed forth. He took bath and drank the water and was
cured of his disease. The nature of the treatment hints that he was suffering
from a skin disease. This is confirmed by the Bible as well. "Satan smote Job
with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. "- (Job, 2:7).
79It will be worth-while to compare the high character of Prophet Job as
given in the Qur'an with that in the Book of Job in the Bible. The Qur'an
presents him as a veritable picture of patience and fortitude and an-excellent
model for the worshippers of Allah, but his general picture presented in the
Book of Job is that of a man who is full of grievance against God: "Let the day
perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man
child conceived .... Let them curse (the night) that curse the day, .....Because
it shut not the doors of my mother's womb, nor did sorrow from mine eyes. Why
died I not from the womb?^ (Chapter 3)..... "Oh that my grief were thoroughly
weighed, and my calamity laid in the balance together.....the arrows of the
Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of
God do set themselves in array against me." (Chapter 6).... "I have sinned; what
shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark
against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? And why dost thou not pardon my
transgressions, and take away my iniquity? (Chapter 7: 20-21).
His three
friends try to console him and counsel patience, but in vain. He says, "My soul
is weary of my life....l will speak in the bitterness of my soul" (10:1).... "I
have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all." (16: .... "So
these three men ceased to answer Job ..... Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu....
against Job.... because he justified himself rather than God." (32:1-3), but he
also failed to console him....Then the Lord himself came down and condemned the
three friends and Elihu and rebuked Job and then forgave him, accepted him and
blessed him." (Chapters 41, 42). It should be noted that in the first two
chapters of this Book, Prophet Job is presented as a perfect and upright man who
feared God, but in the following chapters he becomes an embodiment of grievance
against God, as though the estimate of Satan about him was correct and that of
God incorrect. Thus this Book itself is a clear evidence that it is neither the
Word of God nor of Prophet lob but had been written afterwards by some literary
man and incorporated in the Bible as a scripture.
80For explanation, see
Surah Maryam (XIX): E. N. 33.
81Zul-Kifl is not the name but the title of
a righteous man, which literally means 'a man of luck'. Here it does not refer
to worldly prosperity but to his high character and ranks in the Hereafter. He
has also been mentioned by this title in XXXVIII: 48. There are different
opinions about his identity and nationality: some have regarded him as Zacharias
(but this is not correct because Zacharias has been mentioned separately in v.
89); others say he was Elias, or Joshua, son of Nun, or Elisha, but this again
is incorrect, because in Surah Sad (XXXVIII: '49) Elisha and Zul-Kifl have been
mentioned as separate personalities; some others say that he was Prophet Job's
son, named Bishr, who succeeded him as Prophet.
Allamah Alusi says, "The
Jews claim that he was Ezekiel who was appointed to Prophethood during the
captivity (597 BC) of the Israelites and he performed his mission in a
habitation by the side of the Chebar canal."
These conflicting opinions
indeed confirm nothing. The modern commentators, however, are inclined to
believe that he was Ezekiel, though there is no convincing argument about it.
This opinion is sound because his description in this verse "that he was a
patient and righteous man and was blessed by God" is fully confirmed by the Book
of Ezekiel. He was one of those people who had been taken prisoner by
Nebuchadnezzer at the downfall of Jerusalem, who settled the Israeli exiles at
Tel-abib by the river Chebar in Iraq. Here, in 594 BC, Ezekiel was raised to
Prophethood when he was hardly 30, and he continued preaching the message of God
to the exiled Israelites as well as to the iniquitous people and rulers of
Jerusalem for full 22 years. In the 9th year of his mission, his wife whom he
called "the desire of his eyes" died, but when the people came to mourn her
death, he warned them of the wrath of God and the impending disaster. (Chapter
24: I5-21). The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel in the Bible is one of those
scriptures which appear to be genuine and divinely' inspired.
82That is,
Jonah. Literally Zun-Nun means “the man of the fish." He was called so because
he was devoured by a fish by the Command of Allah. (Also See XXXV11:142 and X:98
and its E.N.'s 98-100).
83Prophet Jonah left his people before he
received Allah's Command for migration.
84He presumed that he should
leave, the place which was going to be visited by the scourge of Allah. This was
not by itself an offence but it was an offence for a Prophet to leave the place
of his Mission without the permission of Allah.
85"....darkness": the
darkness in the belly of the fish and the darkness of the sea over and above
it."
86"Made his wife fit": "We cured his wife of sterility." As "Thou
alone art the best Inheritor", I shall have no grief even if Thou dost not give
the any child. (For further details, please see III:37-41 and XIX: 2-14 and the
E.N.'s thereof).
87It will be worth while to reiterate the reasons why
the stories of the Prophets have been cited in this surah.
(1) The story
of Prophet Zacharias has been cited to impress on the minds that all the
Prophets were human beings and servants of Allah and had no tinge of Godhead in
them. They had no power to bestow children upon others because they themselves
had to pray to Allah for children for themselves.
(2) The story of
Prophet Jonah has been cited to show that even a great Prophet like him did not
go unnoticed when he committed an error in regard to Allah's Message. But when
he repented, Allah, by His grace, delivered him alive from the belly of the
fish.
(3) The mention of Prophet Job has been made to show that even
Prophets were put to hard trials and afflictions and even they had to beg Allah
to restore them to health, not to speak of curing others of diseases.
Along with these, the other important thing which is meant to be impressed is
that all the Prophets believed in the doctrine of Tauhid. That is why they
begged and prayed to One Allah alone to fulfill their needs and requirements.
Though they met with trials, Allah helped them and granted their prayers in
supernatural and miraculous ways.
88That is, "Mary (Allah's peace be upon
her)".
89It should be noted that the incident of the birth of Prophet
Jesus was not different from that of Prophet Adam, because the wording of the
Arabic Text in the two cases is almost identical: (See XXXVIII: 71-72). Besides
this in verse 91 , almost similar words have beets used in regard to the birth
of Jesus Christ. (See also IV: l71 and LXVI:12). Allah Himself has stated that
the birth of Prophet Jesus was just like the birth of Prophet Adam: "In the
sight of Allah, the case of the birth of Jesus is like that of Adam, whom He
created out of dust and said, 'Be', and he was." (III: 59).In the light of these
verses, we may conclude that Allah uses words like: "We breathed into him or her
of Our spirit" for miraculous births. (For fuller details please see IV: E.N's
212-213).
90That is, "The mother and the son were not partners of God nor
had any share whatever in Godhead, but were a Sign from among the Signs of God."
(See XIX: E.N. 21 also).
91In this verse, the addressees are the whole of
mankind. It means: "O mankind, in reality all of you belonged to one community
and had one and the same religion and all the Prophets brought one and the same
Creed which was this: `Allah alone is the Lord of all mankind: therefore they
should worship Him alone. "' But afterwards the people corrupted this Creed and
invented and adopted the things they liked and mixed their own theories, whims
and practices in it. This brought into being countless communities and
religions. Thus it is absolutely wrong to say that a particular Prophet was the
founder of a particular religion and another of another, and so on. The very
fact that different religions came into being at different periods of tithe,
does not prove that the Prophets created these differences. It is obvious that
the Prophets of God could not found different religions nor could they teach
their followers to worship any beings other than Allah.
92The Arabic Text
of v. 95 may be interpreted in three ways:
(I) The community which is
once destroyed by the scourge of Allah can never have a second or new life.
(2) After its destruction, its people are not given a second chance for
their test: then they shall be presented in the Court of Allah for final
judgment.
(3) When a community transgresses the last limits in its
wickedness, injustices and disobedience, and Allah ordains to destroy it,no
other chance of repentance is given to it because it becomes incapable of
turning back to right guidance.
93For the details about Gog and Magog,
see E.N.'s 62 and 69 of Surah A1-Kahf (XVIII). They will be let loose in the
sense that they will swoop down on the regions of the earth like a beast of prey
which is set free from its cage suddenly. "The time of the fulfillment of the
true promise" will come on the eve of Resurrection and the appearance of Gog and
Magog will be a sign of it. In a Tradition related in Muslim, by Huzaifah bin
Asid Ghifari, the Holy Prophet said, "Resurrection will not take place until ten
signs appear:
(1) The smoke. (2) Dajjal. (3) Daabat-ul-Ard. (4) rising of
the sun from the west. (5) coming down of Jesus, son of Mary. (6) sudden attack
of Gog and Magog. (7-9) three land slides-one in the east, the second in the
west and the third in Arabia. (10) the flare up of a great fire from Yaman which
will drive the people to the Plain of Resurrection. In another Tradition the
Holy Prophet stated that after the swoop of Gog and Magog, Resurrection will. be
so near that it may take place at any moment just as a pregnant woman might
deliver the child at any moment, in the day or night, after her term has
expired. But the reference to the appearance of Gog and Magog in the Qur'an and
Hadith does not indicate that they will swoop on mankind jointly; it may be that
they will clash against each other near the time of Resurrection and their
mutual conflict might result in a universal catastrophe and destruction.
94"We were heedless of this" contains a kind of excuse in it, as if to say,
"The Prophets warned us of the Day of Resurrection but we were wrongdoers and
paid no heed to their warning".
95We learn from traditions that `Abdullah
bin Azza'ara raised an objection in this connection, saying, "According to this
not only our deities but Prophets Jesus and `Uzair and the Angels also will
become fuel for Hell because they are also worshiped." The Holy Prophet replied,
"Yes, everyone who would approve of his own worship instead of Allah's will go
to Hell along with those who worshiped him." He meant to say, "There is no
reason why Prophets Jesus and `Uzair and the Angels should go to Hell because
they never approved that they should be worshiped instead of Allah, and were not
responsible for this, on the other hand, they taught people to worship Allah
alone". Of course, those who tried to become deities and became partners in the
shirk of others will certainly go to Hell along with their worshipers. Likewise
those, who induced others to take deities other than Allah, will go to Hell.
Satan comes under this category for he induces others to make deities. Thus it
is Satan who is made the real deity whom they obey and commit shirk Besides
this, idols of stone and wood and other accessories of shirk will also be thrown
into Hell along with the mushriks so that the latter should see that their
deities were becoming a cause of the intensity of their torture of fire instead
of becoming their intercessors.
96The Arabic word (zafir) means `hard
breathing' because of excessive heat, hard work and weariness.
97These
will be the people who practiced virtue and righteousness in this world. Allah
has already promised that they will be kept safe from the torture and will be
granted salvation.
98That is, "The time of mustering and going before
Allah will be very dreadful for the common people but the righteous people will
have full peace of mind because everything will be happening according to their
expectations. Their faith and the righteous deeds they did in the world, will
help console them by the grace of Allah and, instead of grief and sorrow, they
will be filled with the hope that they are going to get their promised rewards."
99The interpretation of this verse has given rise to a great
misunderstanding. Some people have tried to interpret it in a way, which is
entirely opposed to the ideology of the Qur'an. They interpret it to mean: "The
inheritance of the kingdom and the resources of the earth are given to the
righteous people alone in this worldly life, and upon them alone Allah showers
His favours and blessings." Then they apply this formula conversely and conclude
that the gift of this inheritance of the earth is the sole criterion between the
"righteous" and the "unrighteous" men. The righteous is the one who inherits the
sovereignty of the earth and the unrighteous the one who is deprived of this
inheritance. But when they apply their formula in the historical perspective,
they find that most of those nations which have inherited the earth in the past
and are inheriting it today, have been and are mostly disbelieving, mushriks,
atheists and immoral, and that these are not the characteristics of the
righteous people when judged by the criterion put forward by the Qur'an. From
Nimrod and Pharaoh to the present day communist despots, who have been
inheriting the earth, were and are unbelievers and the enemies of God and
therefore could not be considered righteous, according to the Quranic formula.
Faced with this situation, they start arguing that there must be some error in
the conception of the "righteous" which should be such as would fit all the
inheritors of the earth whether they were Caliphs like Abu Bakr Siddiq and `Umar
Faruq or Chingez and Halaku. This research leads them to the Darwinian theory of
the survival of the fittest and they assume fitness to be a synonym of
"righteousness".
According to this new conception or definition of
"righteousness", the proposition would plainly mean: "Any person, or a group of
persons, who is capable of conquering and subduing countries by military force
and has the ability to exploit the resources of the earth successfully is a
`righteous servant of Allah' and his achievement is a criterion and message of
righteousness and worship for other human beings to follow. Consequently, if
they fail to achieve the inheritance of the earth, they will neither be regarded
among the righteous nor among the servants of Allah". As a result of this
interpretation of the verse, and this conception of "righteousness" and
"service", they were confronted with the interpretation of some basic and
fundamental articles of the Islamic Faith. For instance, according to the
Qur'an, no deed, howsoever good, could be regarded as righteous without belief
in Allah, the Hereafter, the Prophets and the Books. Moreover, the invitation of
the Prophet to accept the moral and legal systems of Islam would become
meaningless. Then these people could not reconcile their interpretation with the
teachings of the Qur'an that obedience to the Holy Prophet and the Commandments
of Allah was absolutely essential for a righteous tnan and that the lack of this
would make a person a disbeliever and a transgressor who deserved the wrath of
Allah. If they had faced this problem boldly and honestly, they would have
realized that their interpretation was wrong, but instead of this, they very
impudently changed the universally accepted conception of Faith, Islam, Tauhid,
Prophethood and the Hereafter in order to make these basic articles of the Faith
fit in with their interpretation of this verse. Thus, they turned all the
teachings of the Qur'an upside down and tampered with its meaning without the
least hesitation. Now let us consider their interpretation and point out its
errors:
(1) Their interpretation contradicts the teachings of the Qur'an
as a whole, for according to these virtue, piety and goodness do not comprise
material progress and ability to rule over the land. Moreover, if the Quranic
word "Salih" (virtuous, good) is regarded as synonymous with "Sahib Salahiyyat"
(i.e. possessor of fitness and competence), this one verse will clash with the
whole of the Qur'an.
(2) They isolate this verse from its context and
ascribe to it whatever meaning they like; otherwise, they would have seen that
the "inheritance" referred to in the context is the promise to the Believers
which is to be fulfilled in the Hereafter, and thus has nothing to do with
inheritance in this world.
If this verse is interpreted in the context in
which it occurs, it becomes very plain from the preceding verses that this
promise to the righteous people holds good for the life in the Hereafter. This
thing has been made more explicit in XXXIX: 73-74. According to this passage
(which is definitely about life in the Hereafter), when the pious people will
enter into Paradise, they will say: "God be praised, Who has fulfilled His
promise and made us heirs to the land."
Now let us consider this matter
in the light of the Psalms (whether the Book of Psalms in the Bible is genuine
or tampered with, because the real Psalms of Prophet David are nowhere
available) to which this verse refers. According to 37:9-29: "....evildoers
shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the
earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt
diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit
the ' earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace....and their
inheritance shall be for ever....The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell
therein for ever." Thus the Psalms also confirm word for word verse 105. It is
obvious that "(They shall) dwell therein for ever" refers to the life in the
Hereafter.
As regards the inheritance of the earth in this worldly life,
Allah gives it as a heritage to those of His servants whom He pleases (VII:128),
irrespective of whether they are believers or disbelievers, righteous or wicked,
not as a reward but for their trial. "....Your Lord will make you rulers on the
earth, and then He will see how you conduct yourselves." (VII:129). The heritage
of the earth in this worldly life is neither permanent nor everlasting. It is
merely bestowed as a trial for different communities. On the other hand, the
heritage of the "land" referred to in v. 105 is permanent and for ever and,
according to the Qur'an, it will be bestowed on the basis of this formula: "The
land belongs to Allah and He will make only His righteous servants heirs to it
not for their test but as a permanent reward for the righteous attitude they
adopted in this worldly life."
100This verse (107) can also be translated
as: "We have sent you only as a blessing for the people of the world". In both
cases it will mean that the appointment of the Holy Prophet is indeed a blessing
and mercy of Allah to the whole world. This is because he aroused the neglectful
world froth its heedlessness and gave it the knowledge of the criterion between
truth and falsehood, and warned it very clearly of both the ways of salvation
and. ruin. This fact has been stated here 'to tell the disbelievers of Makkah
that they were quite wrong in their estimate of the Holy Prophet that he was an
affliction and distress for them because they said, "This man has sown seeds of
discard among our clans and separated near relatives from each other." They have
been told here, "O foolish people, you are wrong to presume that he is an
affliction for you; but he is in reality a blessing and mercy of Allah for you."
101That is, "I do not know the time and the form of the punishment of Allah
for your rejection of the Message. It tray come at any time in any shape."
102This refers to their secret schemes, plots and their whispering campaign
which have been mentioned in v. 3. There, too, the Prophet had said, "My Lord
has the knowledge of everything that is said in the heavens or the earth for He
is All-Hearing, All-Knowing". (v. 4). This was to warn them that they would be
taken to task for these things, too.
103This was a "trial" because the
delay in the "punishment" was deluding them into believing "All the things put
forward by the Prophet are false: had he been a true Prophet of Allah we would
have been punished long before this for our disbelief." They did not realize
that the reason for the delay was that Allah willed to give them respite for
mending their ways.