Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Name
The name, An-Nahl, of this Surah has been taken
from v. 68. This is merely to distinguish it from other Surahs.
Period of Revelation
The following internal evidence shows that
this Surah was revealed during the last Makkan stage of Prophethood:
v.
41 clearly shows that persecution had forced some Muslims to emigrate to Habash
before the revelation of this Surah.
It is evident from v. 106 that at
that time the persecution of the Muslims was at its height. Therefore a problem
had arisen in regard to the utterance of a blasphemous word, without actual
disbelief, under unbearable conditions. The problem was that if one did so how
he should be treated.
vv. 112-114 clearly refer to the end of seven year
famine that had struck Makkah some years after the appointment of the Holy
Prophet as Allah's Messenger.
There is a reference to v. 116 of this
Surah in VI: 145, and v. 118 of this Surah contains a reference to VI: 146. This
is a proof that both these Surahs (VI and XVI) were sent down in the same
period.
The general style of the Surah also supports the view that this
was revealed during the last stage at Makkah.
Central Theme
All the topics of the Surah revolve round different aspects of the Message,
ie., refutation of shirk, proof of Tauhid, and warning of the consequences of
the rejection of and opposition and antagonism to the Message.
Topics of Discussion
The very first verse gives direct and
strict warning to those who were rejecting the Message outright, as if to say,
"Allah's decision has already been made concerning your rejection of the
Message. Why are you then clamoring for hastening it? Why don't you make use of
the respite that is being given to you!" And this was exactly what the
disbelievers of Makkah needed at the time of the revelation of this Surah. For
they challenged the Holy Prophet over and over again: "Why don't you bring that
scourge with which you have been threatening us! For we have not only rejected
your Message but have been openly opposing it for a long time." Such a challenge
had become a by-word with them, which they frequently repeated as a clear proof
that Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) was not a true Prophet.
Immediately after this warning they have been admonished to give up shirk, for
this false creed was the main obstacle in the way of the Message. Then the
following topics come over and over again, one after the other:
Very
convincing proofs of Tauhid and refutation of shirk have been based on the plain
signs in the universe and in man's own self.
The objections of the
disbelievers have been answered, their arguments refuted, their doubts removed
and their false pretexts exposed.
Warnings have given of the consequences
of persistence in false ways and antagonism to the Message.
The moral
changes which the Message of the Holy Prophet aims to bring practically in human
life have been presented briefly in an appealing manner. The mushriks have been
told that belief in Allah, which they also professed, demanded that it should
not be confined merely to lip service, but this creed should take a definite
shape in moral and practical life.
The Holy Prophet and his companions
have been comforted and told about the attitude they should adopt in the face of
antagonism and persecution by the disbelievers.
1That is, "The time for final `Judgment' has come near." As regards the use
of the past tense in the original, this may be to show certainty of its
occurrence in the near future or to emphasize the fact that the rebellion and
the wrong deeds of the Quraish had become so unbearable that they warranted that
the time for decisive action had come.
Here question arises as to what
that "Judgment" was and how it came. We are of the opinion (and true knowledge
is with Allah alone) that that "Judgment" was Hijrat (the Migration) of the Holy
Prophet from Makkah. For a short time after this Revelation he was bidden to
emigrate from there. And according to the Qur'an, a Prophet is bidden to leave
his place only at that time when the rebellion and antagonism of his people
reaches the extreme limit. Then their doom is sealed, for after this Allah's
punishment comes on them either as a direct scourge from Him, or they are
destroyed by the Prophet and his followers. And this did take place actually. At
the occasion of the Migration, the people of Makkah regarded it as a victory for
themselves, but in fact it turned out to be a defeat for shirk and disbelief
which were totally uprooted within a decade or so after the Migration not only
from Makkah but from the rest of Arabia as well.
2In order to understand
the interconnection between the first and the second sentences, one should keep
in view the background. The challenge of the disbelievers to the Prophet, `to
hasten Divine Judgment',was really based on their assumption that their own
religion of shirk was true and the religion of Tauhid presented by Muhammad
(Allah's peace be on him) was false; otherwise, they argued, the Divine scourge
with which he threatened them would have come upon them long before because of
their disbelief and rebellion, if there had been the authority of Allah behind
it. That is why after the declaration of the "Judgment," their misunderstanding
about the cause of delay in the punishment was removed, as if to say, "You arc
absolutely wrong to assume that punishment has not been inflicted on you because
your creed of shirk is true, for Allah is fret from and far above shirk and has
no partner."
3This means "the Spirit of Prophethood with which a Prophet
is imbued in order to fulfill his Mission by word and deed. The Qur'an has
called this the Spirit in several places, for this has the same relation to the
Mission of a Prophet and his moral life, which the soul has to the physical
human life."
4As one of the things, which prompted the disbelievers to
challenge the Holy Prophet for scourge, was their presumption that he was not a
true Prophet, Allah told them categorically that he was a true Prophet, who had
been imbued with the "Spirit" which We Ourself had sent down on him.
"Allah sends down the Spirit on..... He chooses." This is the answer to the
objections which the chiefs of the Quraish used to raise against the Holy
Prophet: Had Allah wanted to send a Messenger to them, was there no one better
than Muhammad (Allah's peace be on him), son of `Abdullah, for this mission? Why
did He not choose one of the big chiefs of Makkah or Taif for the purpose? Such
absurd objections needed no other answer than this that is why such an answer
has been given in several places of the Qur'an as if to say "Allah knows best
how to do His work, and does not stand in need of any advice from you. He
chooses for His mission anyone whom He considers fit for it.
5This verse
declares the essence of the "Spirit" of Prophethood, which is this: Godhead
belongs to one Allah alone: so only He is worthy of fear. Therefore, there is no
other anchor that might make fast and hold together human moral system than His
fear. For it is the fear of His displeasure and His punishment, and the fear of
the consequences of His disobedience which alone can act as a strong deterrent
to restrain one from deviation. That is why mankind has been admonished: "Fear
Me."
6That is to say, "The whole system of the Earth and the heavens is a
witness to the truth of the doctrine of Tauhid and to the negation of shirk. You
may look at anything in the universe and consider the system from any point of
view you like, you will find proof of this fact that it is being run by one God
and not by many gods. Then how is it that you believe in shirk when there is no
proof whatsoever of this in the universe?
As a fitting sequence of this,
proofs of Tauhid and refutation of shirk have been given from Man himself and
from other signs in the universe, and it has also been shown that Prophethood is
based on Truth.
7This has two meanings and both are meant here.
(1) Though Allah created man from an insignificant sperm-drop, he is capable of
arguing and giving reasons in support of his claim.
(2) Man who has such
an insignificant origin, has become so vain that he does not hesitate to dispute
even with his Creator.
If considered in its first sense, it is a chain in
the series of arguments given in many succeeding verses to prove the truth of
the Message of the Holy Prophet. (Please refer to E.N. 15). If taken in the
second sense, it is meant to warn man that he should not forget the
insignificant origin of his existence while engaged in his rebellious arguments
against his Creator. If he remembered the different stages of his humiliating
birth and growth, he would consider many times before he assumed a haughty and
rebellious attitude towards his Creator.
8That is, "There are many
agencies which are working for the good of man but he is quite unaware of such
servants and the services rendered by them."
9This contains an argument
for Prophethood along with a proof of Tauhid and of Allah's Compassion and
Providence. The argument is this:
There are many divergent ways of
thought and action open for man to choose from. Obviously all these divergent
ways cannot be straight ways, because there can be only one straight way;
therefore, there can be only one right theory of life which is based on that
way, and only one right way of life which is based on that right theory . Thus
it is clear that the choice of the right way of life is man's most important and
basic need, for its wrong choice would inevitably lead to his ruin. This is
because all other things fulfill his animal needs only, but this is the greatest
necessity of his life as a human being and without its fulfillment his life
would be an utter failure.
Now, it cannot be expected that Allah Who made
so many provisions, and on such a large scale, for the fulfillment of the animal
life of man, did not make any arrangement for the fulfillment of this real and
greatest necessity of man. Just as He has provided for all the necessities of
his life, so He has also provided for this greatest need of his through
Prophethood. If Prophethood is denied then it should be pointed out in what way
Allah has fulfilled this basic need of man. Experience of centuries has shown
that mankind has always blundered whenever it. has chosen a way of life by
itself. This is because Man's wisdom and intelligence are limited, and he cannot
depend on these for the choice of the right way of life. Above all, one cannot
say that Allah has made no arrangement for this basic need of man, for this will
be the greatest misconception of Allah that He may make most elaborate
arrangements for man's animal life but should leave him in the lurch to search
out a way for himself for the fulfillment of this most important and basic need.
10Here a question arises: "Why didn't Allah will to guide all the people
aright inherently when He had taken upon Himself to show the Right Way ?" It is
true that Allah could have imbued Man, like other creatures, with the inborn
instinct and enabled him to choose the Right Way without conscious thought,
experience or teaching. But this would have been against His will which was to
create a being, having will and power and freedom to follow the Right Way or the
wrong way, whichever he chose for himself. This is why he has been endowed with
different means of knowledge and powers of conscious thought, deliberation and
will, and has been empowered with the authority to make use of all powers in him
and all things around him. Moreover, He has placed in him and all around him
such factors as might lead him to guidance or deviation. All these things would
have become meaningless, had he been created righteous by birth, and he could
never have attained the heights of progress, which can be achieved only by the
right use of freedom. That is why Allah has chosen Prophethood for Man's
guidance, and left him free to follow or reject a Prophet. This is a test by
means of which Allah judges whether Man accepts the guidance that is presented
to him in a rational way."
11That is, "try to get your sustenance in
lawful ways."
12This shows that the real function of mountains is to
regulate the motion and speed of the Earth. We have come to this conclusion, for
the Qur'an has made this benefit of mountains very prominent in many places.
Therefore, their other benefits should be regarded as incidental.
13Natural ways are those routes which are formed along the banks of streams,
ravines and rivers. Though the importance of these ways is great even in the
plains, one feels their sore need, especially in the mountainous regions.
14This is a Sign of Allah that He has broken the monotony of land by placing
conspicuous landmarks on it to distinguish different regions from one another.
These have many benefits and one of these is to help guide travelers and
navigators to their destinations. One also realizes the importance and value of
these landmarks, when one is traveling through a sandy desert where there are
hardly any objects to guide on the way, and one is liable to lose the way any
time. One feels the lack of landmarks much more in the sea voyage. It is in the
deserts and the seas that people realize the true significance of "......by
stars, too, they arc directed aright to their destinations."
This verse
contains arguments for Tauhid. Providence, and Compassion of Allah, and also a
proof of Prophethood. For the mind is instinctively turned towards this
question: Can it be possible that Allah who has made so elaborate arrangements
for man's guidance to fulfill his physical needs has neglected to provide for
his moral and spiritual needs?" It cannot be so, for it is obvious that even the
greatest loss of some physical necessity due to the adoption of a wrong way is
nothing as compared with the loss of spiritual and moral values due to deviation
froth the Right Way. It would be nothing less than having doubt in Allah's
Compassion and Providence to think that He, Who had made so elaborate provision
for man's guidance on land and sea by creating mountains, rivers, stars and
other objects, would have neglected to make provision for his moral and
spiritual guidance; any, it stands to reason, that He must have provided
prominent beacons of light to guide Man to that Right Way of life which is
indispensable to his true success.
15In vv. 4-16, some Signs have been
mentioned in succession in order to focus people's attention on the Creation of
man himself and of the Earth and the. heavens. They will thus find that
everything supports the truth of the doctrines taught by the Holy Prophet. A
critical study of all these Signs shows that these must have been designed and
created by an All-Wise Being, and One Being alone, and there could not have been
any partner or associate to help Him. Let us consider this theme from the point
of view of Man, the central figure in the Creation. This wonderful being who is
able to speak with his tongue and is capable of arguing his case with it, has
been created from an insignificant sperm - drop. Then many animals have been
created to satisfy the necessities of his life. They provide food, clothing and
conveyance for him and help satisfy his aesthetic taste as well. Then there is a
remarkable system of rain water from the sky to produce corn crops, fruits and
verdure, etc., on the earth to fulfill man's needs. Then there is the creation
of regular days and nights and seasons, which are closely connected with all
kinds of production of the earth, and also with Man's general well being. Then
there are oceans, which help fulfill many of his physical and aesthetic demands
and provide water ways for traffic. Likewise mountains have been created to
provide man with many benefits. Then there are landmarks on the earth and stars
in the heavens to guide travelers and navigators to the destinations. In short,
there are innumerable Signs in the Earth and the heavens which are closely
interconnected and are also indispensable to man's welfare, nay, to his very
existence. All these arc clear proofs that only One Being has designed the whole
universe and created it in accordance with that design. It is He Who is all the
time creating new things to fit in that scheme, and working this wonderful
universe that spreads from the Earth to boundless heavens. Who can then claim,
except a foolish or obdurate person, that all this has come into existence by a
mere accident? Or, who can say that these different aspects, which are working
under a perfect system and are intimately connected with one another and are
well balanced, have been created by different gods and are under the control of
different guardians?
16That is, "If you, people of Makkah, acknowledge
(and they acknowledged this just as other mushriks did) that Allah alone is the
Creator of all of you and everything, and no one of the partners, you have set
up with Him, has created anything in the universe, how is it, then, that you
ascribe to the created, a status equal to or like that of the Creator in the
system of universe created by Him? How can it be possible that the powers and
the rights of the created should be equal to the powers and the rights of the
Creator in the universe created by Himself? How can it be believed that the
Creator and the created possess the same qualities and characteristics, or can
have such relationship as of father and son?"
17Here the connection of
Allah's attributes, "Forgiving and Compassionate" , with the preceding verse is
so obvious that it has been left unmentioned. It is this: "Though Allah goes on
showering countless blessings upon people, they behave in an ungrateful,
faithless and rebellious manner towards Him. He does not punish them
immediately, but gives them respite, for He is Forgiving and Compassionate" .
This is true of both individuals and communities. There are people, who deny
even the existence of God, yet He goes on bestowing His favors on them for years
on end. There are others who set up partners with Him in his attributes, powers
and rights, and show their gratitude to others than Him for His blessings, yet
He does not withhold His favors from them; there are still others who profess to
acknowledge Him as their Creator and Benefactor, yet rebel against Him and are
disobedient to Him and consider freedom from Him w be their birth right, but in
spite of all this He continues to shower His countless blessings on them as long
as they live.
18A grave misunderstanding might arise as to why Allah's
blessings should continue to be showered even on those who deny Him and set up
partners with Him and are disobedient to Him. The foolish people are liable to
conclude from this that He does not withhold His favors from such people because
He has no knowledge of their wicked deeds, The Qur'an declares: "......Even
though He has full knowledge of all the deeds of the people, whether these are
done secretly or openly, He does not discontinue His blessings on the sinners,
for He is Forgiving, Compassionate and Merciful. Therefore, O foolish people! ,
get rid of this misunderstanding, and reform yourselves."
19The words
employed here to refute man-made deifies clearly indicate that these deities
were deceased prophets, saints, martyrs and pious and other extraordinary beings
buried in their graves and not angels, jinns, devils or idols. For the angels
and devils are alive: therefore, the words, "They are dead, not living" cannot
apply to them, and it is out of the question to say about idols of stone or wood
that "They do not know at all when they shall again be raised to life" in the
Hereafter. As regards the objection to this version that there were no such
deities in Arabia, this is based on the lack of knowledge of the history of the
pre-Islamic period. It is well known that there was a large number of Jews and
Christians living among many clans of Arabia, who used to invoke and worship
their Prophets, saints, etc. It is also a fact that many gods of the mushriks of
Arabia were human beings, whose idols they had set up for worship after their
death. According to a Tradition cited in Bukhari on the authority of Ibn '
Abbas, "Wadd, Sua`, Yaghuth, Ya`uq, and Nasr were pious human beings, whom the
succeeding generations had made gods." In another Tradition, related by Hadrat 'A'ishah,
Asaf and Na'ilah were human beings. There are also traditions to the same effect
about Lat, Munat and 'Uzza. So much so that according to some traditions of the
mushriks, Lat and `Uzza were the beloved ones of Allah who used to pass His
winter with Lat and summer with `Uzza. But "Allah is absolutely free from such
(absurd) things they attribute to Him."
20That is, "Those who do not
believe in the life in the Hereafter, have become so irresponsible, care-free
and intoxicated with the life of this world, that they feel no hesitation or
pang in denying any reality, and they put no value on or attach no worth to
truth. That -is why, they are not prepared to impose any moral restraint on
themselves and feel no need to investigate as to whether the way, they are
following, is right or wrong.
21In the preceding verse (23) those puffed
up people, who were rejecting the Message were warned that Allah had full
knowledge of all their "deeds." Now from v. 24 the Qur'an takes up those "deeds"
one by one and deals with the arguments they presented against the Messenger,
the objections they raised and the lame excuses they invented for their
rejection, and reproaches and admonishes them.
22One of their cunning
devices was to create doubts about the Qur'an. Whenever outsiders came to visit
Makkah, they would naturally make inquiries about the Qur'an, which the Holy
Prophet declared, was being sent down to him by Allah. The disbelievers would
answer that it contained merely fairy-tales of the ancients. They would say such
things in order to create doubts in the minds of the inquirers so that they
should not take any interest in the Message of the Holy Prophet.
23There
is a gap between this answer and the preceding question which has been left for
the reader to fill. When Allah will ask, "Now where are My partners?" there will
be dead silence in the Plain where the whole of mankind shall have to gather on
the occasion of Resurrection. The disbelievers and the mushriks will be
dumb-founded for they will be at a loss to find an answer to this. Then those
who had been given knowledge will make the assertion, "Today, there is
............"
24This is Allah's addition to the previous assertion, and
not its continuation. Those commentators who have wrongly considered this as
continuation of the preceding sentence, are unable to offer any satisfactory
explanation for their opinion.
25That is, "When the angels take
possession of their souls at the time of death....."
26This verse (28)
and verse 32, and several other verses in the Qur'an, clearly and definitely
assert that immediately after death, souls suffer torment or enjoy peace in the
world of Barzakh. The Traditions use the word "qabar" (grave) metaphorically for
this existence of the souls. This is the world in which souls enter immediately
after death and will remain therein up to the Day of Resurrection. Yet the
disbelievers of the Traditions declare that after death souls will remain in a
dormant state up to the time of Resurrection, and will neither feel any pain nor
joy, nor will be conscious of anything at all. Obviously, this is a wrong
opinion, for according to v. 28, just after death when the disbelievers will be
conscious of the fact that they had been leading an evil life, they will try to
make the angels believe that they had not done any evil deed. The angels will
rebuke them at this "boldness" and will tell them that they shall have to go
into Hell. On the other hand, according to verse 32, just after their death, the
pious believers are welcomed by the angels and given the good news that they
will enter into Paradise. Besides these verses, there is the mention of a
dialogue between the angels and those Muslims, who did not migrate to Al-Madinah,
after their souls were seized by the angels in IV: 97. Above all, according to
XL: 45-46, the people of Pharaoh have been encircled by a torment and are
exposed before the Fire of Hell every morning and every evening. This will go on
up to the Day of Resurrection when they shall be sentenced to eternal torment.
In fact, both the Qur'an and the Traditions present the same kind of picture
of the condition of the soul after death up to Resurrection. Death causes merely
the separation of the soul from the body but does not annihilate it. The soul
lives with the same personality that was formed by the different experiences and
the mental exercises and moral activities it had in its worldly life in
co-operation with the body. This nature of the consciousness, feelings,
observations and experiences of the soul, during the waiting period, is similar
to that, in a dream. Just as a criminal sentenced to death suffers from mental
torture on the eve of his crucifixion, in the same way the angels take to task
the guilty as in a dream, torture it and take it to the horrible Hell in order
to make it fore-taste the impending torture. In contrast to this, the pure soul
is welcomed by the angels and is given the good news of entry into paradise and
is made to enjoy its pleasant breeze and smell, and to feel happy like the
faithful servant who is invited to the headquarters to receive his reward. But
this "life" in the world of Barzakh will suddenly come to an end on the second
blowing of the Trumpet of Resurrection. When the guilty souls will again enter
into their former bodies and muster in the Plain, they will cry in horror, "Oh!
woe to us! who has roused us from our sleeping places ?" But the true Believers
will say with perfect peace of mind, "This is exactly what the Beneficent had
predicted, and the Messengers had told the truth." (XXXVI: 52).
This has
been further elucidated in Chapter XXX.
As the guilty ones will be under
the delusion that they had been lying in their death-bed for an hour or so and
had been roused from given Knowledge and Faith, will say. "According to the
Record of Allah, you have remained after death till this Day of Resurrection and
this is the same Day of Resurrection, but you did not know this." (XXX: 55-56).
27In contrast to the disbelievers (v. 24), the righteous people spoke highly
of the Holy Prophet and of the teachings of the Qur'an to the people coming from
the suburbs of Makkah. Unlike the former they did not delude the people nor
created misunderstandings in the minds. They were full of praise for them and
told the truth about the Holy Prophet.
28This is the best blessing of
Paradise. The dweller will get there whatever he will desire and wish and there
will be nothing at all to offend him. This is the blessing that has never been
attained even by the richest and the most powerful people in this world. On the
contrary, every dweller of Paradise will enjoy this blessing to his fill because
he will always have everything to his desire and liking, and will have each and
every wish and desire fulfilled.
29This is to admonish the unbelievers to
this effect: "Why are they still hesitating to accept the Message which is very
simple and clear ? We have tried every method to present each aspect of the
Truth clearly with arguments and brought witnesses thereof from the whole system
of the universe, and have left no room for any man of understanding to stick to
shirk. Now what they are waiting for is nothing more than this that the angel of
death should come before them: and then they will accept the Message at the last
moment of their lives. Or, do they wait for the scourge of God to overtake them
and make them accept the Message?"
30In order to understand the
significance of this argument the reader should keep in view vv. 148-150 and
E.N.'s 124-126 of Chapter VI, for this has been cited and answered there.
31That is, "Your argument" is not a new one but the same old one which had
always been offered by erroneous people who went before you. Today you arc, like
them, excusing yourselves for your deviation and evil conduct, saying that it is
the will of God. You know that this is a lame excuse that has been invented to
delude yourselves, and to escape from admonition."
This answer also
contains a subtle retort to the objection of the disbelievers that the Qur'an
consisted merely of old stories of the ancients (v. 24). They meant to imply
that the Prophet had nothing new to offer. So he was repeating the same old
stories that had been repeated over and over again since the time of Prophet
Noah. The retort is this: "If the Holy Prophet was not presenting anything new
but was reciting the old stories of the ancients, you yourselves are not putting
forward any new excuse in defense of your evil deeds, but the same old excuse
that was put forward by the people who went before you."
32That is, "You
are not justified in excusing yourselves for these sins, saying that it is the
will of God for We sent Messengers to every ummat, who told the people in plain
words that they should worship Us and none else, and should not follow and obey
taghut. Besides this, We have already warned you that We do not approve of your
deviations. Why should you then put forward this excuse for your deviations ? Do
you mean to say that We ought to have sent such Messengers as would have forced
you to follow the Right Way instead of bringing you to it by preaching?" (Please
refer to E.N. 80 of Al-A am VI for the distinction between God's "will" and
God's "approval. ")
33That is, Whenever a Messenger came to a people,
they were divided into two groups:
(1) Those who accepted the Message
(and that, too, could not have been possible except with the will of Allah. )
(2) Those who rejected it and stuck to their deviation. (For fuller
explanation, please consult E.N. 28 of Al-An am VI.
34That is, "You can
see for yourselves the lesson of human history. It is this that the people, who
rejected the Message, incurred the scourge of Allah like Pharaoh and the people
of Pharaoh, while Prophet Moses received the blessings of Allah."
35In v.
39 those two things have been stated which rationally and morally require that
there must be Resurrection and Life-after-death, that is: (1) to reveal what the
reality was, and (2) to reward or punish people in accordance with the right or
wrong stand they took about it in this world. It is common knowledge that since
the creation of Man on the Earth there have been many differences regarding the
Reality which have been sowing dissension between families, nations and races.
These have also led to the formation of many different societies, cultures and
creeds on different theories. In every age millions of the torch-bearers of each
of these theories have been putting at stake their all-life, property, honor-to
propagate and defend their favorite theory. Nay, there has always been such a
bitter conflict between them that each group tried to annihilate the other, who,
in his turn, stuck to it to the last. This being the case, common sense demands
that such far-reaching and serious differences should be cleared some time or
other, so as to decide with certainty what was right and what was wrong, who was
in the right and who was in the wrong. Obviously, it is not possible to lift the
curtain from the Reality in this world so as to reveal things in their true
perspective. This is because the system on which this world has been created
does not allow this. Therefore, there should be another world to fulfill this
demand of common sense.
This is not the demand of common sense alone but
also of the moral sense, which requires that the partners in this conflict
should be rewarded or punished according to right or wrong, just or unjust part
they played in it. For, some of these committed cruelties on the others, who had
to make sacrifices for their cause. Then each one should also bear the
responsibility for formulating and practicing a moral or immoral philosophy
which influenced millions and billions of others for better or worse. Moral
sense demands that there should be a time for the moral consequences to take
their due course. As this is not possible in this world there should be another
world for the purpose.
36This is the answer to those who imagined that it
was the most difficult thing to raise the dead, and that, too, to raise together
at once all the people who had died at any time. They have been told that it is
an easy thing for Allah, Who has the power to bring into existence anything He
desires, merely by His command, "Be," for He does not stand in need of any
provisions, any means and any favorable environment for this. His mere Command
produces necessary provisions, means and environment. This world was brought
into existence by His mere Command, "Be," and likewise the Next world will at
once come into existence by His single Command.
37This is to comfort the
Muslim emigrants from Makkah to Habash, who were forced to leave their homes
because of the unbearable persecution they suffered at the hands of the
disbelievers. The change of the scene from the disbelievers to the emigrants to
Habash contains a subtle warning to the disbelievers that they should not remain
under any delusion that they would get off scot-free from punishment for their
cruel behavior towards those Muslims, so as to say, "O cruel people! there shall
be Resurrection to reward the oppressed Believers and to punish you for your
persecution of them."
38This is the answer to the objection of the
mushriks of Makkah (which has not been cited here j that they could not believe
that Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him), was a Prophet of God, because he
was a human being like them. They have been told that the same objection had
been raised against all the Prophets who came before him.
39"....people
who possess Admonition" are the scholars of the people of the Books and others,
who, though not scholars in the strict sense had sufficient knowledge of the
teachings of the revealed Books and were acquainted with the stories of the
former Prophets.
40In this connection, it is worthwhile to note that this
duty of making plain and explaining the teachings of the Book' was to be
performed by Prophet not only by word of mouth but also practically. It was
required that he should organize, under his own guidance, a Muslim Community and
establish it in accordance with the principles of the Book. This duty of the
Holy Prophet has been stated here especially to show the wisdom of sending a man
as a Messenger, for, otherwise the Book could have been sent through the angels
or could have been printed and sent directly to each man. But in this way; that
purpose for which Allah in His Wisdom and Bounty and Providence designed to send
the Book could not have been served. For, that purpose demanded that the Book
should be Brought by a perfect man, who should present it piece by piece,
explain its meaning, remove the difficulties and doubts, answer objections, etc.
, and above all, he should show towards those who rejected and opposed it that
kind of attitude which is worthy of the bearer of this Book. On the other hand,
he should guide those who believed in it in every aspect of life and set before
them his own excellent pattern of life. Then he should train them individually
and collectively on the principles of the Book; so as to make them a model
society for the rest of mankind.
Let us now consider this verse (43) from
another point of view. Just as it cuts at the root of the argumentation of those
who rejected the Creed that a human Prophet could bring the Book, in the same
way, it repudiates the view of those who plead that the Book should be accepted
without any exposition of it from the Prophet. This latter view is contradictory
to this verse, whatever be the position taken by its exponents. They might
either be of the opinion that (a) the Prophet did not give any explanation of
the Book he presented or that (b) the only acceptable thing is the Book and not
any "Exposition" thereof by the Prophet, or that (c) now the Book alone suffices
us, for its "Exposition" by the Prophet has lost its utility or that (d) now the
Book alone is authentic for the "Exposition" by the Prophet has ceased to exist,
or if it does exists, it cannot be relied upon.
If they take the position
(a), it will mean that the Prophet did not fulfill the purpose for which he was
chosen to be the bearer of the Book: otherwise Allah could send it through an
angel or directly to each person.
If they take the position (b) or (c),
(God forbid) they will be accusing Allah of doing a useless thing by sending His
Book through a Prophet, when He could have printed copies of the Qur'an and sent
those directly to the people.
In case, they take the position (d), they,
in fact, repudiate both the Qur'an and its "Exposition by the Holy Prophet. Then
the only rational course left for them would be to accept the view of those who
believe in the necessity of a new Prophet and a new revelation; whereas Allah
Himself considers the "Exposition" of the Book by the Prophet as an essential
thing, and puts it forward as an argument for the necessity of a Prophet. Now if
the view of the rejectors of Tradition that the Explanation of the Holy Prophet
has disappeared from the world is to be accepted, then two conclusions are
inevitable; First, the Prophethood of Muhammad (May Allah's peace be upon him)
as a pattern for us has ceased to exist, and the only relation we have with him
is the same that we have with the other former Prophets, e.g. Hud, Salih,
Shu`aib, etc. (May Allah's peace be upon them). That is, we have only to testify
that they were Prophets but we have no obligation to follow their patterns, for
we have none with us. This position obviously leads to the need of a new
Prophet, for it automatically refutes the doctrine of the Finality of
Prophethood. The second inevitable conclusion will be that a new Book is needed
because in that case the Qur'an alone could not, according to its author,
suffice. Thus in the face of this verse, there is no argument left to prove that
the Qur'an is self-sufficient to explain itself, for it itself says that there
is no need of a Prophet to explain it. Thus it is absolutely necessary that a
new Book must be sent down. May Allah destroy such people ! In their enthusiasm
to repudiate Tradition, they are really cutting at the very root of Islam
itself.
41The argument is this: The fact that everything-a man, an
animal, a tree or a mountain-casts its shadow, is a clear proof of its material
nature, and everything which is made of matter, is a creation of Allah and is
subject to a universal law. In this case the law is that every material thing
casts its shadow, which is symbolical of its servitude, and it cannot have any
share whatsoever in Godhead.
42That is, "Not only all things on the earth
alone but also all things in the heavens, including all those whom people have
been regarding as gods and goddesses. and considering to be closely related to
Allah arc subservient to God, and have no share whatsoever in His Godhead."
Incidentally, it implies the existence of living creatures not only on the
earth but in the planets, too.
43Negation of two gods by itself negates
the existence of more than two gods.
44In other words it means that the
whole system of the universe exists on its obedience to Him.
45That is,
"When it is so, will you then make the fear of any other than God the basis of
the system of your life?"
46That is, "The fact, that you run to Allah for
help in your distress and not to anyone else, is a clear proof of the Oneness of
Allah, which has been embedded in your own hearts. At the time of your
affliction, your true nature, which had been suppressed by the gods you had
forged, involuntarily comes to the surface and invokes Allah, for it knows no
other god or lord or master, having any real power. (For further details please
refer to E.N.'s 29 and 41 of Chapter VI).
47That is, "At the time of
showing gratitude to Allah for removing his affliction, he begins to make
offerings also to some god, goddess or saint to show that Allah's kindness to
him was due to the intercession of his patron, for he imagines that otherwise
Allah would not have removed his distress.
48They assign shares to those
patrons about whom they have no authentic knowledge that God has made them His
partners and allotted some duties of Godhead to them and made them governors of
some territories in His Kingdom.
49That is, "They set apart a portion of
their incomes and land products to make offerings of this to their patron."
50This refers to a tradition of the ancient Arabs. They regarded their
goddesses and angels as daughters of God.
51That is, "sons."
52This attitude of contempt towards daughters has been mentioned to bring home
to them the height of their folly, ignorance and impudence in regard to God.
This is why they did not hesitate to assign daughters to Allah, though they
themselves felt that to have daughters was a matter of disgrace for theta.
Besides this, it shows that they had a very low estimation of Allah, which had
resulted from their ways of shirk. So they felt nothing wrong in ascribing such
foolish and absurd things to Allah Who is above such things.
53That is,
"This Book has afforded them an excellent opportunity to resolve their
differences which have been caused by the superstitious creeds of their
forefathers, and which have divided, them into warring factions. They can then
unite on the permanent basis of the Truth presented by the Qur'an, but those
foolish people preferring their former condition even after the coming of this
blessing, shall meet with disgrace and torment. On the other hand, only those,
who believe in this Book, will find the Right Way and blessed with mercy and
favors from Allah.”
53aThat is, " Had you listened to the Message of the
Prophet, and observed those Signs carefully, you would have cried from the core
of your heart, 'These Signs support his Message' . Year after year you witness
these Signs. There is the land, all barren before you, without any sign of
life-no blade of grass, no bud or flower, and no insect. Then comes rain. All of
a sudden, the same land is covered with life. There crop upon numerous kinds of
insects of which no vestige had been left. You witness this process of life and
death, and death and life, repeated year after year. Yet you doubt this when the
Prophet tells you that Allah will again bring to life all human beings after
their death. This is because you see these Signs as animals do, who do not see
the wisdom of the Creator underlying this phenomenon; otherwise you would have
discovered that these signs support the Message of the Prophet."
54"....between filth and blood......":This refers to the most wonderful process
of the formation of pure milk in the bellies of the she-cattle, for, the fodder
they eat turns into blood, filth and pure milk, which is altogether different
from the first two in its nature, color and usefulness. Some she-cattle produce
milk in such abundance that after suckling their young-ones a large quantity of
it is left to make excellent human food.
55Incidentally it implies that
the juice of the fruits of date-palms and vines contains two things. One is that
which is pure and wholesome food for man and the other is that which turns into
alcohol after it becomes rotten. But it has been left to the choice of man to
obtain pure healthy food from this providence or to drink it as intoxicant wine
to excite him and make him lose his self-control. This also contains a hint as
to the prohibition of wine.
56The lexical meaning of the Arabic word ('wahi
) is secret inspiration which is felt only by the one who inspires and the other
who is inspired with. The Qur'an has used this word both for the instinctive
inspiration by Allah to His creation in general and for the Revelation towards
His Prophets in particular. Allah sends His "wahi " to the heavens with His
Command and they begin functioning in accordance with it (XL: 12). He will send
this to the Earth with His Command and it will relate the story of all that had
happened on and in it. (XCIX: 4-S). He sends wahi to the bee and inspires it
with faculties to perform the whole of its wonderful work instinctively (v. 68).
The same is true of the bird that learns to fly, the fish that learns to swim,
the newly born child that learns to suck milk, etc., etc. Then, it is also wahi
with which Allah inspires a human being with a spontaneous idea (XXVIII: 7). The
same is the case with all the great discoveries, inventions, works of literature
and art, etc. , which would not have been possible without the benefit of wahi.
As a matter of fact, every human being at one time or the other feels its mental
or spiritual influence in the form of an idea or thought or plan or dream, which
is confirmed by a subsequent experience to be the right guidance from the unseen
wahi.
Then there is the wahi (Revelation) which is the privilege of the
Prophets. This form of wahi has its own special features and is quite distinct
from all' its other forms. The Prophet, who is inspired with it, is fully
conscious and has his firm conviction that it is being sent down from Allah.
Such a Revelation contains doctrines of creed, commandments, laws, regulations
and instructions for the guidance of mankind.
57" . . . . follow the
ways made smooth by thy Lord" : ". . . . . work in accordance with the methods
which have been taught to thee by Allah's wahi for the smooth running of hive
life" . It is Allah's wahi (instinctive inspiration) that has taught the bees
how to build their wonderful factory with separate combs to rear brood, combs to
turn nectar into honey, combs to store food, in short, separate combs to fulfill
every aspect of hive life. It is wahi that has taught the bees how to organize
themselves into a co-operative society for collective effort to run the
"factory" with the queen and thousands of workers to perform a variety of
specific tasks. All these things have been made so smooth for them by wahi that
the bees never feel the necessity of ever thinking about it. They have been
running smoothly their factory with their collective effort for thousands of
years with perfect accuracy.
58Though honey is a wholesome food with a
sweet taste and has medicinal power as well, its latter quality has been
mentioned only because the former is too obvious. It is used as a medicine to
cure several diseases because it contains the juice and glucose of flowers and
fruits in the best form. Besides this, it is also used in preparing and
preserving other medicines because it does not rot. It also preserves other
things from decay. That is why it has been used for centuries as a substitute
for alcohol. And if the bee-hive is built at a place, which abounds in certain
medicinal herbs, its honey does not remain mere honey, but becomes also the
essence of that herb. It is expected that if bees are used methodically for
extracting essence from herbs, etc. , that essence will prove to be much better
than the one obtained in the laboratories.
59This passage (vv. 48-69)
contains proofs of Tauhid and Life-after death. These were necessitated, for the
disbelievers and .he mushriks were bitterly opposed to the Holy Prophet mainly
because of these two doctrines. The acceptance of the first doctrine demolished
the whole system of life based on shirk or atheism because to acknowledge Allah
to be the sole Providence, the Helper and the protector left no room for the
worship of any god or goddess. The proof of Tauhid is based on the observance of
the structure of the cattle, the bees, the date-palms and vine-yards and their
usefulness to mankind. Naturally the question arises: Who has designed these in
the manner and for the purpose they have been created? The only obvious answer
is that it is the All-Wise and All-Beneficent Allah Who has designed all these
things for the benefit of mankind to produce such varieties of food that are so
wholesome and so tasty. The Prophet, therefore, rightly demanded, "When you
yourselves admit, and you cannot but admit, that it is Allah alone Who has
provided milk, honey, dates, grapes and the like, He and none but He is worthy
of your worship, praise, gratitude and allegiance. Why do you then insist on
making offerings to your self-made gods and goddesses?"
The second
doctrine to which the disbelievers took strong objection was that there is
surely the Life-after-death. They were against this doctrine for its acceptance
changed the whole moral system and they were not prepared to change their
immoral ways. Their objection was based on the presumption that it was
impossible to bring to life anyone after death.
They have been asked to
observe that the barren land, which once had been covered with vegetable life,
was again covered with it after rainfall and they have been watching such
repetition of life year after year. That Allah, Who could so easily bring to
life the dead vegetable, could do the same and bring to life all the dead
without any difficulty at all.
60It is to emphasize this: Allah not only
provides you with the necessities and good things of life (as stated in the
preceding verses), but also has full power over your life and death. None else
has any power to give lift or cause death.
61This fact has been mentioned
to bring home to the disbelievers and the mushriks that knowledge, which gives
superiority to man over all creatures on this Earth, has been given by Allah, as
if to say, "You yourselves have seen that when a man, who once possessed much
knowledge, becomes very old, he is reduced to a mere lump of flesh. Then that
man who once taught knowledge to others loses all his senses and cannot look
even after his own self."
62It will be worthwhile to give deep thought to
the meanings of this verse, for some modern commentators of the Qur'an have
founded strange economic theories and systems on it. Their interpretation is an
instance of perverting the meaning of the Qur'an by isolating verses from their
context and treating it as a separate whole in order to formulate a new
philosophy and law of Islamic Economics. In their opinion the verse implies
this: Those people to whom Allah has given more provisions than others, should
share these equally with their servants and slaves: otherwise they shall be
guilty of ingratitude to Allah in regard to the wealth with which He had blessed
them. This commentary on the verse is obviously wrong and far-fetched because in
the context it occurs there is no mention at all of any law of economics. The
whole passage in which this verse occurs deals with the refutation of shirk and
proof of Tauhid. The same themes are continued in the subsequent verses. There
seems to be no reason why an economic law should have been inserted here, which
would have been absolutely irrelevant, to say the least. On the contrary, when
the verse is considered in its context, it becomes quite obvious that it is no
more than the statement of a fact to prove the same theme that is contained in
this passage. It argues like this: "When you yourselves do not make your
servants and slaves equal partners in your wealth-which in fact is given to you
by Allah-how is it that you join other gods with God in your gratitude to Him
for the favors with which He has blessed you. You know that these gods have no
powers to bestow anything on anyone, and, therefore, have no right in your
worship of Allah, for they are after all His slaves and servants."
This
interpretation of the verse under discussion is corroborated by XXX: 28: "Allah
sets forth to you an instance from your own selves: Do your slaves share with
you the wealth We have bestowed on you so that you and they become equals in
this? And do you fear them as you fear one another? Thus We make clear Our Signs
to those who use their common sense." A comparison of the two verses makes it
quite clear that these have been cited to bring home to the mushriks that they
themselves do not associate their slaves with themselves in their wealth and
status, but they have the impudence and folly to set up His own creature as
partner with God.
It appears that the erroneous interpretation has been
strengthened by the succeeding sentence: "What! do they then deny to acknowledge
Allah's favor? As this sentence immediately follows the similitude of the rich
people and their slaves, they conclude that it will be ingratitude on the part
of those, who possess more wealth not to share it equally with those who have
less. As a matter of fact, everyone who has studied the Qur'an critically knows
that ingratitude to Allah is to show gratitude to others than Allah for His
blessings. This interpretation is so patently wrong that those who are
well-versed in the teachings of the Qur'an can have no misconception about it.
And such verses as these can mislead only those who have a cursory knowledge of
the Qur'an.
Now that the significance of the ingratitude towards Allah's
blessing has become plain, the meaning of the verse will be quite clear, and it
is this: "When the Mushriks understand the implication of the difference between
the master and his slave and observe this distinction in their own lives, why do
they then persist in ignoring the immense difference between the Creator and His
creatures and set up the latter as His partners and pay homage of gratitude to
them for the blessings bestowed on them by Allah.
63" .... they believe
in falsehood ......": they have this false and baseless belief that there are
certain gods and goddesses, jinns and saints, dead and alive, who possess the
power to make or mar their fates, fulfill their desires and answer their
prayers, give them children, cure their diseases and help them win law suits.
64" .... they deny Allah's favors" by associating others with Allah in
offering gratitude to Him for His favors, though they did not have any proof or
authority that their false gods had played any part in regard to those favors.
The Qur'an considers such an association to be the denial of Allah's favors. It
puts forward the fundamental principle: It is the denial of the favor of the
real benefactor to offer gratitude for his favor to anyone who has not done that
favor, or to presume without any proof or reason that the real benefactor has
nor granted that favor of his own accord but because of the mediation or regard
or recommendation or intercession of this or that person.
Even a little
thinking will show that both of the above-mentioned fundamental things are
absolutely just and rational. Let us suppose, for the sake of illustration, that
A, out of sympathy, helps B, a needy person, but at that very moment B stands up
in A's presence, and offers gratitude for that kind act to another person who
had no share at all in it. A being a generous person may not take any notice of
B's absurd response, and may even continue to help him as before, but he cannot
help having a very low opinion of B character and considering him to be an
ungrateful wretch. Then on inquiry reveals that he was grateful to the other
person for A had done that kindness to B because of him. Naturally A will take
it ill, for he knows that B's assumption is absolutely wrong: nay, he will take
this as an insult to himself because it meant that B has a very low opinion of
him that he is not a generous and kind-hearted man but merely does such deeds to
please his friends. It means that A helps a needy person only if he brings
recommendation of his friends; otherwise none can expect any goodness from him.
65"Make no comparisons with Allah" : You should not compare Allah with
others nor consider Him to be unapproachable like worldly kings and rulers, to
whom none can have access without the mediation and intercession of their
courtiers and servants. As Allah is not surrounded by angels, saints, favorites,
etc., everyone can have direct access to Him without mediation by anyone.
66In the preceding verse, the mushriks were told not to make comparisons
between Allah and His creatures, for there is nothing like Him. As the bases of
their comparison were wrong, their conclusions were also misleading. In this
verse appropriate similitudes have been cited and right comparisons have been
made to lead them to Reality.
67Between the last question and "May God be
praised! " there is a gap which is to be filled with the help of the latter.
When the question was posed, obviously the mushriks could not say that the two
men were equal. So some of them would have admitted that they were not equal,
while the others would have kept quiet for fear that in case of admission, they
would have to abide by its logical conclusion, that is, the admission of
refutation of the doctrine of shirk. Therefore, the words, "May God be praised
!" have been put in the mouth of the Prophet in answer to both kinds of the
response to the question. In the first case, it would mean: "May God be praised!
you have admitted at least so much" . In the second case, it would mean: "May
God be praised! you have kept quiet in spite of all your obduracy and have not
had the audacity to say that both were equal."
68"...most people do not
understand (this simple thing)" that while they feel and carefully observe the
distinction between those who have powers and those who are powerless, they
neither feel nor observe the clear distinction between the Creator and His
creation. That is why they associate the creatures with the Creator in His
Attributes and Powers and show the kind of allegiance to them as is the
exclusive right of the Creator. The pity is that in their everyday life, they
would beg for sane thing from the master of the house and not from the servants
but in contrast to this, they would beg for their needs from the servants of
Allah and not from Him.
69In the first similitude, distinction between
Allah and false gods has been made clear in regard to the possession of powers
and the lack of these. In the second one, the emphasis is on the use of those
powers. Allah is not only All Powerful, but also hears all the prayers and
fulfills all the needs, while the slave is utterly powerless. He does not and
cannot hear prayers, nor can make a response to them nor has the power to do
anything at all. He is totally dependent on the Master and quite incapable of
doing anything by himself. On the other hand, the Master is All-Powerful and
All-Wise. He enjoins justice on the world: whatever He does is right and
accurate. Ask them, "Is it then a point of wisdom to regard such Master and such
a slave as equal?"
70The subsequent sentence shows that this is the
answer w a question which was frequently put to the Holy Prophet by the
disbelievers of Makkah. The question which has not been cited was this: If the
Resurrection you so often talk of is really coming, let us know the date of its
coming.
71That is, "Don't be under the delusion that the Resurrection
will come gradually and take a long time: you will neither be able to sec it
coming at a distance nor guard against it and make preparations to meet it. For
it will come suddenly without any previous notice, in the twinkling of an eye or
even take less time than this. Therefore, now is the time to consider this
matter seriously and to decide about your attitude towards it. You should not
depend upon this false hope that there is still a long time in the coming of the
Resurrection and you will set matters right with Allah when you will see it
coming."
It may be pointed out that the Resurrection has been mentioned
here during the discussion on Tauhid in order to warn the people that the choice
between the doctrines of Tauhid and shirk is not merely a theoretical question.
For that choice determines different courses of life for which they will be
called to account on the Day of Resurrection. They have also been warned that it
will come all of a sudden at some unknown time. Therefore, they should be very
careful to make that choice which will determine their success or failure on
that Day.
72This is to remind them that when they were born they were
more helpless and ignorant than the young-one of an animal, but Allah gave them
ears to hear, eyes to see and minds to think and reflect. These have enabled
them to acquire every kind of information and knowledge to carry on their
worldly affairs efficiently. So much so that these sensory faculties are the
only means which help man attain so much progress as to rule over everything on
the earth.
73That is, "You should be grateful to that Allah Who has
bestowed upon you such blessings as these. It will be ingratitude on your part
if you hear everything with your ears except the Word of God, and see everything
with your eyes except the Signs of Allah and consider seriously about all the
matters except your Benefactor Who has blessed you with these favors.
74Houses: tents of skin which are in common use in Arabia.
75That is,
"When you want to start on a journey, you can easily fold your tents and carry
them, and when you want to make a short halt, you can easily unfold them and
pitch them for shelter and rest."
76The Qur'an has not mentioned
protection from cold for either of the two reasons: (1) Because the use of
garments in the summer season is a symbol of cultural perfection and obviously
there is no need to mention the lower stages of culture. Or (2) the use of
garments in hot countries has specially been mentioned because the main use of
garments there is for protection from the hot pestilential furious wind.
Therefore, one has to cover one's head, neck, ears, and the whole of ones body
to protect it from the hot wind which would otherwise scorch one to death.
77That is, "Armour."
78"He perfects His blessings on you": Allah
makes provision for the minutest needs and necessities of every aspect of human
life. For example, let us take the instance of the protection of the human body
from external influences. We find that Allah has made such elaborate
arrangements as require a complete book to relate them. These arrangements reach
their perfection in the case of clothing and housing arrangement. Or, if we
consider the food requirements we realize that it is of many varieties which
fulfill every need. More than this: the means Allah has provided for food
requirements of man are so numerous that the list of the varieties and the names
of different kinds of food require a big volume. This is the perfection of the
blessing of food. Likewise, one would see perfection of the blessings of Allah
in the fulfillment of each and every human need and necessity.
79Here the
denial of the blessings of Allah refers to practical denial by the disbelievers
of Makkah. For they did not deny that all these blessings were from Allah but
along with this they believed that their saints and gods also had contributed
towards them. This is why they associated their intercessors in their gratitude
to Allah for these blessings. Nay, they were even more grateful to them than to
Allah. Allah regards this association as denial of His blessings, ingratitude
and forgetfulness of His favors.
80The witness will be the Prophet of
that community or his follower who invited that community to Tauhid and
God-worship and warned it of the consequences of shirk and superstitious rites
and customs and cautioned it against the accountability on the Day of
Resurrection. He will bear witness of the fact that he had conveyed the true
Message to those people, and that they committed evils deliberately and not in
ignorance.
81This does not mean that the criminals will not be given any
opportunity to clear themselves but it means that their crimes will be proved to
the hilt by means of irrefutable evidence which will leave no room for excuses.
82That is, "They will not be given the opportunity to beg pardon of
their Lord for their crimes. For that will be the time of judgment as the time
of begging pardon would have ended long before this." The Qur'an and the
Traditions are explicit on this point that the place for penitence is this world
and not the Next World. Even in this world the opportunity is lost as soon as
signs of death begin to appear, for the penitence at that time will be of no
avail when a person knows that the time of his death has come. Respite for deeds
expires as soon as one enters into the boundary of death, and the only thing
that remains after that is the award of reward and punishment.
83It does
not mean that they would deny the fact that the mushriks used to invoke their
help. They will call them liars in the sense that they had made them deities
without their knowledge, information and permission, as if to say, "We never
told you to leave Allah aside and pray to us for help. As a matter of fact, we
never approved of this, nay, we were utterly unaware of this that you were
invoking us. It was an utter lie that you considered us to be able to hear your
prayers, answer them and help you out of your difficulties. As you yourselves
were responsible for this shirk, why arc you involving us in its consequences?"
84That is, "All those things on which they had relied will prove to be
false, for they will not find anyone to hear their supplication nor anyone to
remove their hardships. Nay, there will be none who will come forward and say,
"These. are my dependents: so no action should be taken against them."
85Double torment: one for their own disbelief and the other for hindering others
from the Way of Allah.
86The Qur'an makes manifest everything on which
depends guidance or deviation, success or failure: whose knowledge is essential
for following the Right Way: which clearly distinguishes Truth from false hood.
In this connection one should guard against that meaning of this sentence
and the like in the Qur'an according to which some people interpret "everything"
to mean "the knowledge of all sciences, arts, etc.," and in order to prove the
correctness of their interpretation, they have to pervert the real meaning of
the Qur'an.
87This Book is a guidance for those who surrender to it as a
Divine Book and follow it in every aspect of life. Then it will bring Allah's
blessings upon them, and will give them the good news that they will come out
successful in the Court of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Or. the contrary, those
people who reject it shall not only be deprived of guidance and blessing but
will also find it as a testimony against themselves on the Day of Resurrection
when Allah's Messenger will stand up to testify against them. This Book will
prove to be a strong argument against them, for Allah's Messenger will say that
he had conveyed its Message which made manifest the distinction between Truth
and falsehood.
88In this brief sentence Allah has enjoined three most
important things on which alone depends the establishment of a sound and healthy
society:
The first of these is justice which has two aspects.
To
make such arrangements as may enable everyone to get one's due rights without
stint. Justice does not, however, mean equal distribution of rights, for that
would be absolutely unnatural. In fact, justice means equitable dispensation of
rights which in certain cases may mean equality. For example, all citizens
should have equal rights of citizenship but in other cases equality in rights
would be injustice. For instance, equality in social status and rights between
parents and their children will obviously be wrong. Likewise those who render
services of superior and inferior types cannot be equal in regard to wages and
salaries. What Allah enjoins is that the full rights of everyone should be
honestly rendered whether those be moral, social, economic legal or political in
accordance with what one justly deserves.
The second thing enjoined is "ihsan"
which has no equivalent in English. This means to be good, generous,
sympathetic, tolerant, forgiving, polite, cooperative, selfless, etc. In
collective life this is even more important than justice; for justice is the
foundation of a sound society but ihsan is its perfection. On the one hand,
justice protects society from bitterness and violation of rights: on the other,
ihsan makes it sweet and joyful and worth living. It is obvious that no society
can flourish if every individual insists on exacting his pound of flesh. At best
such a society might be free from conflict but there cannot be love, gratitude,
generosity, sacrifice, sincerity, sympathy and such humane qualities as produce
sweetness in life and develop high values.
The third thing which has been
enjoined is good treatment towards one's relatives which in fact is a specific
form of ihsan. It means that one should not only treat one's relatives well,
share their sorrows and pleasures and help them within lawful limits but should
also share one's wealth with them according to one's means and the need of each
relative. This enjoins on everyone who possesses ample means to acknowledge the
share of one's deserving relatives along with the rights of one's own person and
family. The Divine Law holds every well-to-do person in a family to be
responsible for fulfilling the needs of all his needy kith and kin. The Law
considers it a great evil that one person should enjoy the pleasures of life
while his own kith and kin are starving. As it considers the family to be an
important part of society, it lays down that the first right of needy
individuals is on its well-to-do members and then on the others. Likewise it is
the first duty of the well-to-do members of the family to fulfill the needs of
their own near relatives and then those of others. The Holy Prophet has
emphasized this fact in many Traditions, according to which a person owes rights
to his parents, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, other
relatives, etc., in accordance with the nearness of their relationships. On the
basis of this fundamental principle, Caliph Umar made it obligatory on the first
cousins of an orphan to support him. In the case of another orphan he declared
that if he had no first cousins he would have made it obligatory on distant
cousins to support him. Just imagine the happy condition of the society every
unit of which supports its every needy individual in this way-most surely that
society will become high and pure economically, socially, and morally.
89In contrast to the above-mentioned three virtues, Allah prohibits three vices
which ruin individuals and the society as a whole:
(1) The Arabic word
fahsha applies to all those things that are immodest, immoral or obscene or
nasty or dirty or vulgar, not fit to be seen or heard, because they offend
against recognized standards of propriety or good taste, e.g., adultery,
fornication, homo-sexuality, nakedness, nudity, theft, robbery, drinking,
gambling, begging, abusive language and the like. Likewise it is indecent to
indulge in giving publicity to any of these evils and to spread them, e.g.,
false propaganda, calumny, publicity of crimes, indecent stories, dramas, films,
naked pictures, public appearance of womenfolk with indecent make-ups, free
mixing of sexes, dancing and the like.
(2) Munkar applies to all those
evils which have always been universally regarded as evils and have been
forbidden by all divine systems of law.
(3) Baghy applies to those vices
that transgress the proper limits of decency and violate the rights of others,
whether those of the Creator or His Creation.
90In this verse, Allah has
enjoined three kinds of Covenants which have been mentioned in the order of
their importance. The first of these Covenants is the one between man and his
Allah which is the most important of all. The second in importance is the
Covenant between one man or one group of men and another man or another group of
men, which is taken with Allah as a witness or in which the name of God has been
used. The third Covenant is that which has been made without using Allah's name.
Though this is third in importance, its fulfillment is as important as that of
the first two and the violation of any of these has been prohibited.
91In this connection it should be noted that Allah has rebuked the people for
the worst form of violation of treaties which has been creating the greatest
disorder in the world. It is a pity that even "big" people consider it to be a
virtue to violate treaties in order to gain advantages for their people in
political, economic and religious conflicts. At one time the leader of one
nation enters into a treaty with another nation for the interest of his own
people but at another time the same leader publicly breaks the very same treaty
for the interest of his people, or secretly violates it. It is an irony that
such violations are made even by those people who are honest in their private
lives. Moreover, it is regrettable that their own people do not protest against
them; nay, they eulogize them for such shameful feats of diplomacy. Therefore,
Allah warns that every such treaty is a test of the character of those who enter
into it, and of their nations. They might gain some apparent advantage for their
people in this way, but they will not escape their consequences on the Day of
Judgment.
92This is to warn that decision about differences and disputes
that lead to conflict, will be made on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, these
should not be made an excuse to break agreements and treaties. Even if one is
wholly in the right and the opponent is wholly in the wrong, it is not right for
the former to break treaties or make false propaganda or employ other deceitful
methods to defeat the other. If one does so, it will go against him on that Day
because righteousness demands that one should not only be right in one's
theories and aims but should also use right methods and employ right means. This
warning has especially been given to those religious groups and sects who always
suffer from this misunderstanding that they have a right to defeat their
opponents because they are on the side of God and their opponents are rebels
against Allah: therefore, there is no obligation on them to stick to their
treaties with their opponents. This was what the Arab Jews practiced, declaring,
"There is no moral obligation on us in regard to the pagan Arabs, and we are
rightly entitled to practice dishonesty and deceit that might be of advantage to
us and harmful to the disbelievers."
93This further supports the previous
warning. It means that it would be wrong for any champion of Allah's religion to
arrogate to himself the use of every sort of method and means irrespective of
whether they are right or wrong to propagate his own religion (considering it to
be Allah's Religion) and try to destroy opposite religions. For this would be
utterly against the will of Allah: if Allah had willed that there should be no
religious differences, He could have deprived mankind of the freedom of choice.
In that case, there would have been no need for Allah to get help of any such
up-holder of His Religion, who uses disgraceful means for this purpose. Allah
could have created all mankind to be inherent believers and obedient servants by
depriving them of the power and option of disbelief and sin. Then there would
have been none who could have dared to deviate from belief and obedience.
94This is to show that Allah Himself has given man the power and freedom to
follow any out of the many ways. That is why Allah makes arrangements for the
guidance of the one who intends to follow the right way, and lets go astray the
one who desires to deviate.
95That is, "Someone,who might have been
convinced of Islam, seeing your dishonest conduct should become disgusted and
hold back from joining the Believers." For he might argue like this:"As these
Muslims are not much different from the disbelievers in their morals and
dealings, there is no reason why I should join them."
96That is, "The
Covenant that you may make in the name of Allah as a representative of His
religion."
97It does not mean that they should barter away Allah's
Covenant for some big gain. What it implies is that any worldly gain howsoever
great, is insignificant as compared with the worth of Allah's Covenant.
Therefore, it will be a losing bargain to barter that away for any worldly gain,
which is after all paltry.
98Those who practice fortitude are the people
who will always stand Finn in the struggle between right and truth on one side
and greed and lust on the other. They bear every loss for the sake of
righteousness and spurn away every gain that they might obtain by adopting
unlawful means. They patiently wait for the rewards of their good deeds in the
Hereafter.
99This verse removes the wrong notions of both the Muslims and
the disbelievers who are of the opinion that those who adopt a just honest and
pious attitude, are most surely losers in this world, though they might be
gainers in the Hereafter. Allah removes this misunderstanding, as if to say,
"This presumption of yours is wrong. The righteous attitude not only leads to a
happy life in the Hereafter, but it also guarantees, by Allah's grace, a pure
and happy life even in this world. " And this is a fact: those people who are
sincerely righteous, honest, pure and fair in their dealings. Enjoy a much
better life in this world, for they enjoy that confidence and real honor and
respect because of their spotless character, which is not enjoyed by those who
lack these virtues. They obtain such pure and outstanding successes as are
denied to those who employ dirty and disgusting ways to win success. Above all,
they enjoy, even though they might be living in huts, that peace of mind and
satisfaction of conscience which is denied to the wicked dwellers of mansions
and palaces.
100That is, "Their rank in the Hereafter shall be determined
according to their best deeds". In other words, "If a person has done both small
and great virtues," he will be awarded that high rank which he would merit
according to his greatest virtues.
101This does not mean that one should
merely repeat the Arabic words: (I seek Allah's refuge against the accursed
Satan). It means that one should have a sincere desire and do one's utmost to
guard against Satan's evil suggestions when one is reciting the Holy Qur'an and
should not allow wrong and irrelevant doubts and suspicions to enter one's
heart. One should try to sec everything contained in the Qur'an in its true
light, and refrain from mixing it up with one's self-invented theories or ideas
foreign to the Qur'an so as to construe its meaning against the will of Allah.
Moreover, one should feel that the most sinister and avowed design of Satan is
that the reader should not obtain any guidance from the Quran. This is why Satan
tries his utmost to delude the reader and pervert him from getting guidance from
it, and mislead him into wrong ways of thinking. Therefore, the reader should be
fully on his guard against Satan and seek Allah's refuge for help so that Satan
should not be able to deprive him of the benefits froth this source of guidance,
for one who fails to get guidance from this source, will never be able to get
guidance from any where else. Above all, the one who seeks to obtain deviation
from this Book, is so entangled in deviation that he can never get out of this
vicious circle.
The context in which this verse occurs here is to serve
as an introduction to the answers to the questions which the mushriks of Makkah
were raising against the Qur'an. They have been warned that they could
appreciate the blessing of the Qur'an only if they would try to see it in its
true light by seeking Allah's protection against Satan's misleading suggestions,
and not by raising objections against it. Otherwise Satan does not let a man
understand the Qur'an and its teachings.
102This may also mean, "To send
down one Commandment to elaborate upon the other, for the Commandments were sent
down piecemeal in the Qur'an". For instance, the Commandments about
"prohibition" and fornication were sent down gradually one after the other
during several years. But We hesitate to accept this interpretation because An-Nahl
is a Makki Surah and to the best of our information there is no instance to show
that Commandments were sent down piecemeal at Makkah. Therefore, we prefer the
other interpretation. The Qur'an has added details of one theme and explained
the same with different kinds of illustrations at different places. Likewise it
has related a story in different words at different places and presented its
different aspects and details at other places. It has put forward one argument
at one place to prove a theme and another at another place to prove the same
theme. It has related one theme concisely at one place and in detail at the
other. That is what the disbelievers of Makkah put forward as proof that
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) forged the Qur'an himself. They argued like
this: "Had the Qur'an been the Word of Allah it would have related in full one
thing at one place, for Allah's knowledge is not defective that He should have
to think out gradually the details of a theme and to give different versions to
explain the same thing. In contrast to this, the knowledge of a human being is
defective. A man has to think out gradually as has been done in the case of the
Qur'an which is a clear proof that you have forged it yourself."
103The
Holy Spirit': `fibril'. Instead of using the name of the Angel who brought
Revelation, his title has been deliberately mentioned to warn the disbelievers
that the 'Holy Spirit' who brought Revelation, is free from human frailties. He
is neither dishonest that he should add something to or take away something from
the Message he brought, nor is he a liar and forger that he should invent and
state something in the name of Allah. Nor does he suffer from any human lust
that he should practice a deceit. He is wholly pure and holy and conveys the
Word of Allah intact.
104That is, "The fact that Allah sends down His
Message piecemeal does not mean that Allah's knowledge and wisdom are defective
as you consider because of your folly. Allah sends His Revelations gradually
because human intelligence and capacity to grasp are limited and defective which
do not let him understand the whole theme at one and the same time and make it
firm in his mind. Therefore, Allah in His wisdom conveyed His Revelation
piecemeal through the Holy Spirit. He sends a theme gradually and gives its
details by and by and uses different methods and .ways to make it plain to human
beings so that they might grasp it according to their abilities and capabilities
and become firm in their faith and knowledge.
105The second practical
wisdom of sending down the Qur'an piecemeal was that those Believers, who
obediently followed it, should get necessary instructions for the propagation of
Islam and the solution of other problems of life at the time when they were
actually needed. It is obvious that if those instructions had been sent down
before time and at one and the same time they would not have been useful.
106The third practical wisdom of not sending down the Qur'an as a whole at
one and the same time was to give good tidings and encouragement to the obedient
servants who were suffering from persecution and encountering great obstacles
because they needed it over and over again. That is why they were assured of
ultimate success time and again to fill them with hope to carry on their
mission.
107In this connection, traditions mention the names of several
persons, one of whom (Jabar), according to the disbelievers of Makkah taught the
Holy Prophet; however, one thing particularly noteworthy about all these persons
is that they were non-Arab slaves. Whosoever he might be, the fact that he used
to recite the Torah and the Gospel and had an acquaintance with the Holy
Prophet, gave an opportunity to the disbelievers for spreading this false report
that it was the particular slave who was the real author of the Holy Qur'an, but
Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) presented it as the Word of God. This not
only shows that his opponents were very impudent in spreading false accusations
against the Holy Prophet but also that, in general, people are not just in
judging the worth of their contemporaries. They were ill-treating like this that
great personality who has had no parallel in history. Nevertheless, these people
who had become blind in their opposition, preferred to attribute the authorship
of the matchless Arabic Qur'an to a non-Arab slave who had a smattering of the
Torah and the Gospel. Instead of accepting the claim of the Holy Prophet, who
was an embodiment of truth, they attributed its authorship to an insignificant
foreign slave.
108This verse can also be rendered like this: "A Prophet
does not forge any false thing but those, who do not believe in the Revelations
of Allah, invent falsehoods."
109This verse deals with the case of those
Muslims who were being persecuted with cruelty and were being-subjected to
unbearable torments to force them to give up their Faith. They are being told
that if at any time they are forced to utter words of disbelief to save their
lives, when in fact in their hearts they are secure against disbelief, they will
be pardoned. On the other hand, if they accepted unbelief from the core of their
hearts, they shall not escape the torment of Allah even if they succeed in
saving their lives.
It does not, however, mean that one should utter
words of disbelief to save one's life. This is merely a permission but not the
ideal thing for a Believer. According to this permission if one utters such a
thing, he shall not be taken to account. In fact, the ideal for a Believer is to
utter words of truth in any case whether his body is cut into pieces. There are
instances which show that during the period of the Holy Prophet some acted upon
the ideal while others took advantage of the permission. There was Khabbab bin
Art (May Allah be pleased with him) who was made to lie on embers of fire until
the fire was extinguished by the melting of his fat, but he remained firm in his
Faith. Then there was Bilal Habashi (May Allah be pleased with him) who was made
to put on an armor and stand in the scorching heat. Then he was dragged on the
burning sand but he went on saying, "Allah is one." There was another Believer,
Habib Gin Zaid bin `Asim, whose limbs were cut one by one by the order of
Musailimah, the Liar. Each time his limb was severed it was demanded of him that
he should acknowledge the Liar as a prophet but each time he refused to bear
witness to his claim of prophethood until he breathed his last. On the other
hand, there was the instance of Ammar bin Yasir (May Allah be pleased with him)
whose parents were mercilessly butchered before his eyes. After this he himself
was put to such unbearable torture that, in order to save his life, he had to
utter the same words of unbelief that were demanded of him. Afterwards when he
came crying to the Holy Prophet, he said, "O Messenger of Allah, they did not
let me go until I spoke evil of you and praised their deities" . The Holy
Prophet asked him, "How do you feel about this, in your heart?" He replied
humbly, "My heart is fully convinced of the Faith." At this the Holy Prophet
replied, "If they put you to the same torture again, you may utter the same
words" .
110These words apply to those people who gave up their Faith,
when they felt that they could not bear hardships of the Right Way and so they
again joined their unbelieving, mushrik people.
111They were those
Believers who migrated to Habashah.
112That habitation has not been
specified here nor have the commentators definitely pointed out which that
habitation was. However, there is a saying of Ibn `Abbas (which seems to be
correct) that the place referred to is Makkah itself. In that case, "hunger and
fear" will mean the famine which prevailed over the people of Makkah for several
years during the Prophethood of Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him).
113This shows that the above mentioned famine had come to an end at the time of
the revelation of this Surah.
114Here the observation of the lawful and
the unlawful has been made the test of worship of Allah. Those who claim to be
the servants of Allah will eat what is lawful and pure and show gratitude to Him
and will scrupulously refrain from what is forbidden and impure.
115Please refer also to II: 173, V: 3 and VI: 145.
116This verse clearly
shows that none but Allah has the right to declare a thing to be lawful or
unlawful. Or, in other words, the right of making laws exclusively rests with
Allah. Therefore, any person, who will dare to decide about the lawful and the
unlawful, will transgress his powers. Of course, a person, who acknowledges the
Divine law as the final authority, may deduce from it whether a certain thing or
action is lawful or unlawful.
The arrogation of the right of determining
the lawful and the unlawful has been declared to be a falsehood on Allah for two
reasons: (1) Such a person, so to say, claims that what he declares to be lawful
or unlawful disregarding the authority of the Divine Book, has been made lawful
or unlawful by God or (2) he means to claim that Allah has given up the
authority of making lawful and unlawful and has thus left man free to make his
own laws for the conduct of life. It is obvious that each of these claims will
be a "falsehood" and a false imputation to Allah.
117In this paragraph
(vv. 118-124), answers to the objections raised by the disbelievers of Makkah
concerning the Commandments contained in vv. 114-117 have been given. Their
first objection was: "Besides the above-mentioned unlawful things, there are
other unlawful things in the Jewish Law which have been made lawful by you. If
that law was from Allah and yours is also from Allah why do they then contradict
each other?" Their second objection was: "You have abrogated the sanctity of the
Sabbath of the Israelites. Have you done this of your own accord or by Allah's
Command? In the latter case then will be an obvious contradiction in the two
laws. Or has Allah Himself given two contradictory Commandments?"
118This refers to: "And We prohibited all animals with claws to those people who
had adopted Judaism...." (VI: 146). In this verse (117) Allah has stated that
certain things were made unlawful because of the disobedience of the Jews.
Here a question arises: Which of the two Surahs, Al-An`am or An-Nahl, was
first revealed? This is because in verse 118, a reference has been made to verse
146 of Al-An`am and in verse 119 of Al-An`am, "And why should you not eat that
thing over which Allah's name has been mentioned, when He has already given you
a detail of those things that have been declared to be unlawful for you except m
case of extremity....?", a reference has been made to verse 115 of AnNahl. This
is because these are the only two Makki Surahs in which details of unlawful
things have been given. As regards the question, we are of the opinion that An-NahI
was revealed earlier than AI-An`am, for verse 119 of the latter contains a
reference to verse 115 of the former. It appears that after the revelation of
Surah AI-An`am, the disbelievers raised objections in regard to these verses of
An-Nahl. So they were referred to verse 146 of AI-An`am in which a few things
were made unlawful, especially for the Jews. As this answer concerned An-Nahl,
so verse 118, though it was revealed after the revelation of Al-An`am, was
inserted as a parenthetical clause in An-Nahl.
119"Abraham was a
community in himself" for at that time he was the only Muslim in the whole world
who was upholding the banner of Islam, while the rest of the world was upholding
the banner of unbelief. As that servant of Allah performed the Mission which is
ordinarily carried out by a whole community, he was not one person but an
institution in himself.
120This is the complete answer to the first
objection (E.N. 117) raised by the disbelievers. This has two parts:
(1)
There is no contradiction in the Divine Law as you seem to presume on the
apparent variance in the Jewish and the Islamic Law. As a matter of fact a few
things had been made unlawful especially for the Jews as punishment to them
because of their disobedience; therefore, there was no reason why others should
be deprived of those good things.
(2) Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be
upon him) was commanded to follow the way of Abraham and not the way of the
Jews, and they themselves knew than these things were not unlawful in the law of
Abraham. For instance, the Jews did not eat the flesh of camel but this was
lawful according to Abraham. Likewise, ostrich, hare, duck, etc., were unlawful
in the Jewish law, but they were lawful according to Abraham. Incidentally the
disbelievers of Makkah have been warned that neither they nor the Jews had any
relationship with Prophet Abraham for he was not a mushrik while both of them
were practicing shirk. Prophet Muhammad and his followers were the only true
followers of Prophet Abraham (Allah's peace be upon them) for there was no tinge
of shirk in their creed or in their practice.
121This is the answer to
their second objection. Obviously, there was no need to state that the
restrictions about the Sabbath applied only to the Jews and had nothing to do
with the law of Prophet Abraham, because they themselves knew it. The
restrictions were imposed upon the Jews because of their mischiefs and
violations of the law. In order to understand fully the significance of this
reference one is requested to read those passages of the Bible in which
Commandments about the Sabbath have been stated, e.g., Exodus 20: 8-11, 23:
12-13,31: 1-17, 35: 23, and Numbers 15: 32-36. Besides this, one should also be
acquainted with the impudent violations of the Sabbath. See Jeremiah: 17: 21-27
and Ezekiel. 10: 18-24.
122This instruction is very important for those
who are engaged in the propagation of Islam. They should always keep in view two
things- "wisdom" and "excellent admonition". "Wisdom" implies that one should
use discretion in the work of propagation and should not do this blindly like
foolish people. Wisdom demands that one should keep in view the intelligence,
capability and circumstances of the addressees and convey the Message in
accordance with the requirements of the occasion. Moreover, one should refrain
from applying one and the same method to each and every person or group but
should first diagnose the real disease of the addressee and then cure it by
appealing to his head and heart.
"Excellent admonition" implies two
things: (1) One should not be content with convincing the addressee with
arguments alone but should also appeal to his feelings. Likewise one should not
confine oneself merely to arguments in condemning evils and deviations but
should try to convince the other of their repugnance that lies embedded in the
human nature. One should also warn of the worst consequences of those evils.
Besides, one should not only try to convince the addressee rationally of the
soundness and excellence of guidance and righteous deeds but should also create
in him interest and love for them. (2) Admonition should be administered in such
a manner as to show sincere concern for and the welfare of the addressee.
Nothing should be said or done to create the impression that the admonisher is
looking down upon him and taking pleasure in his own feeling of superiority. On
the contrary, he should feel that the admonisher is filled with the strong
desire for his reform and welfare.
123"Best manner" implies that one
should have a sweet tongue, show noble character and give reasonable and
appealing arguments, and refrain from indulging in polemics, argumentation and
controversies. The one who discusses things with people in the best manner, does
not resort to accusations, crooked arguments, taunts, nor makes fun of the
opponent in order to defeat him and to win applause for his own superiority in
argument. For these things will produce obduracy and obstinacy. In contrast to
this, he will try to convince the other in a simple and humble way, and when he
feels that the other person has come down to crooked arguments, he will leave
him alone lest the other should go further and further astray in his deviation.
124"Allah is with those who fear Him" because they scrupulously refrain from
evil ways and always adopt the righteous attitude, for they know that their
actions and deeds are not determined by the evils others do to them but by their
own sense of righteousness; so they return good for evil."