Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Name
The Surah takes its name from verse 224 in which
the word Ash-Shu`araa' occurs.
Period of Revelation
The subject matter and the style show, and the traditions confirm, that it
was revealed during the middle Makkan period. According to Ibn Abbas, Surah Ta
Ha was revealed first, then Surah Al Waqiah, and then Surah Ash-Shu'araa.(Ruh-ul-Ma'ani,
Vol. xx, p. 64). About Surah Ta Ha it is well known that it had been revealed
before Hadrat Umar embraced Islam.
Subject Matter and Topics
The background of the Surah is that the disbelievers of Makkah were
persistently refusing, on one pretext or the other, to accept the message of
Islam given by the Holy Prophet. Sometimes they would say that he did not show
them any sign to convince them of his Prophethood; sometimes they would brand
him as a poet or a sorcerer and mock his message; and sometimes they would
ridicule his Mission, saying that his followers were either a few foolish youth,
or the poor people and slaves - whereas, they argued, if his Mission had really
some value for the people, the nobles and the elders would have accepted it
first. Thus, while on the one hand, the Holy Prophet was becoming wearied by his
efforts to show them rationally the errors of their creeds and prove the truth
of the Doctrines of Tauhid and the Hereafter, the disbelievers, on the other,
were never tired of adopting one kind of obduracy after the other. This state of
affairs was causing great anguish and grief to the Holy Prophet.
Such
were the conditions when this Surah was revealed. It begins with words of
consolation to the Holy Prophet, implying, "Why do you fret for their sake?If
these people have not believed in you, it is not because they have not seen any
Sign, but because they are obdurate. They will not listen to reason they want to
see a Sign which makes them bow their heads in humility. When this Sign is shown
in due course of time, they will themselves realize that what was being
presented to them was the Truth."
After this introduction, till verse
191, one and the same theme has been presented continuously, and it is said:
"The whole earth abounds in such Signs as can guide a seeker after truth to
Reality, but the stubborn and misguided people have never believed even after
seeing the Signs, whether these were the Signs of the natural phenomena or the
miracles of the Prophets. These wretched people have stubbornly adhered to their
erroneous creeds till the Divine scourge actually overtook them." It is to
illustrate this that the history of seven of the ancient tribes has been told,
who persisted in disbelief just like the disbelievers of Makkah. In this
connection, the following points have been stressed:
The Signs are of two
kinds:(a) Those which are scattered all over the earth, and by seeing which an
intelligent person can judge for himself whether what the Prophet is presenting
is the Truth or not and (b) those which were seen by Pharaoh and his people,
Noah's people, the Ad and the Thamud, Lot's people and the people of Aiykah. Now
it is for the disbelievers to decide which kind of the Signs they are eager to
see.
The mentality of the disbeliever has been the same throughout the
ages; their arguments and their objections, and their excuses and subterfuges
for not believing have been similar and ultimately the fates that they met have
also been the same. Likewise, the Prophets in every age presented the same
teachings, their personal character and their reasoning and arguments against
their opponents were the same, and they were all similarly blessed with mercy by
Allah Almighty. Both these patterns of behavior and conduct are found in
history, and the disbelievers could themselves see as to which respective
patterns they and the Holy Prophet belonged.
Allah is All Mighty, All
Powerful and All Merciful at the same time. History contains instances of His
Wrath as well as of His Mercy. Now, therefore, it is for the people to decide
whether they would like to deserve Allah's Mercy or His Wrath.
Lastly,
the discussion has been summed up, saying "O disbelievers, if at all you want to
see the Signs, why should you insist on seeing those horrible Signs that visited
the doomed communities of the past? Why don't you see the Qur'an which is being
presented in your own language? Why don't you see Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's
peace and mercy) and his Companions? Can the revelations of the Qur'an be the
work of a satan or a jinn? Does the recipient of the Qur'an appear to be a
sorcerer? Are Muhammad and his Companions no different from a poet and his
admirers? Why don't you give up disbelief and search your hearts for their
judgment? When in the heart of your hearts you yourselves believe that the
Revelations of the Qur'an have nothing in common with sorcery and poetry, then
you should know that you are being cruel and unjust, and will certainly meet the
doom meant for the cruel and unjust."
1That is, the verses being presented in this Surah are of that Book, which
presents and explains its subject-matter clearly and plainly so that every
reader and listener may easily understand what it invites to, what it enjoins
and what it forbids, and what it regards as true and what as false. To believe
or not to believe is a different matter; but no one can have the excuse that he
could not understand the teachings of the Book and its injunctions and
prohibitions.
"Al-Kitab-ul-Mubin" also has the meaning that the Qur'an
is, beyond any doubt, a Divine Book. Its language, its diction and themes, the
facts presented by it and the background of its revelations, all testify to the
fact that this is indeed the Book of the Master of all Creation. In this sense,
its every sentence is a Sign and a miracle. As such, any person who has common
sense has no need of any other Sign than the verses of this Book for believing
in the Prophethood of Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings).
Thisbrief introductory sentence, which covers both these meanings, has a
close connection with the subject-matter of this Surah. The disbelievers of
Makkah demanded a miracle from the Holy Prophet so as to be convinced that the
message he gave was really from Allah. In answer to that, it has been said that
if some one really wanted a Sign for believing in the Prophet, he should study
the verses of this Book. Then, the disbelievers accused the Holy Prophet of
being a sorcerer. This charge has been refuted by saying that the Qur'an has
nothing ambiguous or mysterious in it; but it plainly puts forward all its
teachings which cannot be the creation of a poet or a sorcerer's imagination.
2The words bakhi'un-nafsaka literally mean: "You would kill yourself." The
verse in fact describes the extreme anguish, anxiety and grief of the Holy
Prophet over the Makkan disbelievers' ways of deviation, moral degradation, and
obduracy and opposition to his message of reform. Sometimes it seemed as if his
grief and mental suffering for their sake would cause his death. This state of
the Holy Prophet has been referred to at other places in the Qur'an as well, for
instance in AI-Kahf: 6, thus: "Well, O Muhammad, it may be that you will consume
your life for their sake out of sorrow if they do not believe in this message.
And in Al-Fatir: 8, thus:" ....let not your life be consumed in grief for their
sake."
3That is, "It is not at all difficult for Allah to send down a
Sign which would make all the disbelievers yield and submit. If, however, He
does not send one, it does not mean that such a thing is beyond His powers, but
the reason is that . belief under compulsion is not acceptable to Him. Allah
wants that people should use their common-sense and recognize the Truth through
the verses of the Divine Book and the Signs which are scattered all over the
universe and are found even in their own selves. Then, when their hearts are
satisfied that the message of the Prophets contains the Truth, and the beliefs
and the creeds which are opposed to it, are false, they should willingly give up
falsehood and adopt the Truth. This voluntary belief, acceptance of the Truth
and rejection of falsehood, is what Allah demands from man. It is for this
reason that Allah has bestowed upon man choice and free will, and freedom to
follow any way, right or wrong, that he pleases. For the same reason He has
placed in his nature both the tendencies, towards good and towards evil, and
opened up before him both the ways, to piety and to sin. For the same purpose He
has given Satan the freedom and respite to mislead him and has made arrangements
of Prophethood, Revelation and invitation to goodness to guide him to the right
way, and has placed man on trial to see whether he adopts the way of belief and
obedience or of disbelief and sin. On the other hand, if Allah had adopted a
method of coercing people to believe and obey, it would have defeated the very
purpose of the trial and test. Then there was no need to send down the Signs for
the purpose, but He would have created man with a pure nature, without any
inclination for evil, disbelief and sin, and made him obedient by birth like the
angels. This has been referred at several places in the Qur'an, for instance in
Yunus: 99: ` Had your Lord willed all the dwellers of the earth would have
believed in Him;" and in Hud: 118: '"Your Lord could have made mankind one
community had He so willed, but now they will continue to follow different ways,
but only those on whom Allah has His mercy (escape wrong ways). It will be so
because He has created them for this (very freedom of choice and action)." For
further explanation, see E.N.'s 101,102 of Yunus and E.N. 116 of Hud.
4That is, the people who show lack of feeling and interest for every rational
attempt made to bring them to the right way, cannot be made to believe forcibly
by sending down Signs from heaven. They only deserve to be shown their evil end
after they have been duly warned and shown guidance, which they not Only treated
with indifference but rejected scornfully. This evil end can be shown to them in
several ways:
(1) The Truth which they have bitterly opposed and scoffed
at should prevail in the world in front of their very eyes in spite of their
antagonism. (2) They should be visited by a painful torment and eliminated from
the world. (3) Alter a few years of misguided life they should meet death and
see for themselves that what they had been following wholeheartedly throughout
their lives was nothing but falsehood and what the Prophets had been presenting
was the very Truth, which they had been scoffing at. Thus the evil end can take
place differently for different people as it happened in the past.
5That
is, the seeker after truth does not have to look far for a Sign. If only he sees
with open eyes the phenomena of vegetation around him, he will be able to judge
for himself whether the reality about the system of the world (i.e., Tauhid)
which was being presented by the Prophets is true, or the speculations of the
polytheists and atheists. From the variety and abundance of creation found on
the earth, the various elements and factors supporting it, the laws of nature
causing it to grow and flourish, and the accord and harmony existing between its
characteristics and the countless needs and demands of innumerable creatures,
only a fool will conclude that all this is happening automatically without the
wisdom, knowledge, power and design of an All-Mighty, All-Powerful Creator.
Obviously, many masters and gods could not have by any device arranged and
produced the perfect harmony and accord between the soil, the sun and the moon,
and the animal and plant life produced with their help and the needs of a great
variety of creatures living on the earth. A sensible person, unless he is
prejudiced and biased, cannot help feeling convinced that these are the clear
signs and proofs of the existence of One God, and there is no further need of a
miracle to convince him of the reality of Tauhid.
6That is, "He has the
power and ability to annihilate completely anyone whom He wills to punish, but
it is His mercy that He dces not hasten to punish the wrung-doer, but gives him
respite for years and centuries to allow him time to think, understand and mend
his ways, and is ever ready to forgive the sins of a lifetime if the sinner
offers repentance but once.
7After a brief introduction, historical
events have been presented beginning with the story of Prophet Moses and
Pharaoh, and attention has been drawn specifically to the following points:
(1) The conditions under which Prophet Moses had to work were much harsher
and more severe than those faced by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be
upon him). Prophet Moses belonged to a slave community very much suppressed by
Pharaoh and his people. In contrast to them, the Holy Prophet was a member of
the clan of Quraish and his family enjoyed an equal status with the other clans.
Then Prophet Muses had been bred and brought up in the house of Pharaoh and
after remaining a fugitive for ten years due to a charge of murder, he was
commanded to go before the same king from whom he had fled for life. The Holy
Prophet did not have to face any such situation. Then the empire of Pharaoh was
the most extensive and powerful empire of the time and the meagre power of the
Quraish had no comparison with it. In spite of that Pharaoh could not do any
harm to Prophet Moses and ultimately perished in the conflict. From this Allaln
wanted the Quraish to learn this lesson: "None can defeat the one who has Allah
to help him? When Pharaoh with all his might became helpless against Moses, how
can you, O poor Quraish, succeed against Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace
and blessings)'?
(2) There could not be clearer and more manifest Signs
(miracles) than those which were shown to Pharaoh through Moses. Then in an open
contest with the magicians before a gathering of hundreds of thousands of people
to meet the challenge of Pharaoh himself, it had been conclusively demonstrated
that what was presented by Moses, was not magic. The skillful magicians who were
themselves Egyptians and had been summoned by Pharaoh himself bore witness to
the fact that turning of Moses' staff into a serpent was a real change of
nature, which could only happen through a Divine miracle, and not by any trick
of magic. Then the magicians' believing in Moses immediately, even at the risk
of life, proved beyond any doubt that the Sign presented by Moses was a miracle
and not magic. Yet the disbelievers were not inclined to believe in the Prophet.
Now how can you, O Quraish, say that you will believe only when you are shown a
perceptible miracle and a physical Sign '? As a matter of fact, if a person is
free from prejudice, false sense of prestige and vested interest, and has an
open mind to appreciate the distinction between truth and falsehood, and is
prepared to give up falsehood for the truth, he does not stand in need of any
other signs than those found in this Book, in the life of the one presenting it
and in the vast universe around him. On the contrary, an obstinate person, who
is not interested in the truth, and who because of selfish motives is determined
not to recognize and accept any such truth as may clash with his interests, will
not be prepared to believe after seeing any sign whatever, even if the earth and
the heaven are turned upside down in front of his eyes .
(3) 'the tragic
end of such obstinacy as met by Pharaoh is not something for which other people
should become so impatient. Those who do not believe even after seeing with
their own eyes the Signs of Divine power have inevitably to meet a similar fate.
Therefore, instead of learning a lesson why do you insist on seeing such a
dreadful sign? For comparison, see AIA'raf: 103-137, Y'unus: 75-92, Bani Isra'il:
101-104, and Ta Ha: 9-79.
8The epithet of "the wicked people" describes
the extremely wicked character of the people of Pharaoh.
9That is, "O
Moses! Just see how these people are perpetrating crime and injustice presuming
that they are all-powerful in the land having no fear of God, Who will call them
to account in the Hereafter".
10The sentence, "My breast straitens",
shows that Prophet Moses was somewhat hesitant of going alone on such a
difficult mission, and also had the feeling that he was not eloquent in speech.
That is why he begged Allah to appoint Aaron too, as messenger to assist him
who, being more vigorous in speech, could support and strengthen him as and when
the need arose. It is just possible :hat in the beginning, the Prophet Moses
might have begged that Aaron be appointed to Prophet hood instead of him, but
later when he felt that Allah willed him to be appointed to that position, he
might have appealed that Aaron should at least be made his counselor and
assistant. We say this because here Prophet Moses is not praying for Aaron to be
made his counselor, but says, "Appoint Aaron to Prophet hood." On the other
hand, in Surah Ta Ha, he says, "Appoint for me a counselor from my family-(let
it be) my brother Aaron." Then in Surah Al Qasas, he says, "My brother Aaron is
more vigorous in speech than myself, so send him as an assistant with me to
confirm (and support) me." From this it appears that these two requests were
made later, but originally Prophet Moses had begged Allah to appoint Aaron to
Prophet hood instead of himself.
The Bible has a different story to tell.
According to it, Prophet Moses, fearing that he would be rejected by the people
of Pharaoh, and putting forward the excuse of his faltering speech, had declined
to accept his appointment to prophet hood on the pretext that he lacked vigor
and eloquence in speech : "O my, Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him
whom thou wilt send." (Exodus, 4: 13), Then Allah, of His own will, appointed
Aaron to be his assistant and persuaded them: to go together before Pharaoh.
(Exodus, 4: 1-13). For further details, see E.N. 19 of Ta Ha.
11The
allusion is to the incident of Prophet Moses giving a blow to an Egyptian, who
was fighting with an Israelite, and thus causing his death. Then as soon as
Moses came to know that the report had reached Pharaoh and his people and they
were planning to take revenge, he fled the country and took refuge in Midian.
(See Al-Qasas: 15-21) Now when after a period of almost ten years of hiding he
was suddenly called upon and commanded to go before Pharaoh, who had already a
charge of murder against him, with the message, Prophet Moses rightly felt
apprehensive that he would immediately be involved in the murder case even
before he was able to convey the message as commanded by Allah.
12Here by
"Signs" are meant the miracles of the staff and the shining hand, which were
liven to Moses. For details see Al-A`raf: 106-117, Ta Ha: .1723, An-Naml: 7-14,
and Al-Qasas: 31-32).
13The Mission of the Prophets Moses and Aaron was
twofold: First, to invite Pharaoh to the worship and obedience of Allah which
has been the foremost aim of the Mission of every Prophet, and secondly, to
liberate the Israelites from the bondage of Pharaoh, which was specifically
assigned to them. The Qur`an has mentioned sometimes only the first part of
their Mission (as in Surah An-Nazi`at) and sometimes only the second.
14This remark of Pharaoh shows that he was not the same Pharaoh who had brought
up Moses in his house, but his son. Had he been the same Pharaoh, he would have
said, "I brought you up." But, on the contrary. he says, "You were brought up
among ourselves." For a detailed discussion, see E.N.'s 85-93 of Al A'raf.
15The allusion is to the incident of murder committed by Moses accidentally.
16The word dalalat does not always mean "straying away", but it is also
used in the sense of ignorance, folly, error, forgetfulness, inadvertence, etc.
As mentioned in Surah Al-Qasas, Prophet Moses had only given a blow to the
Egyptian (Copt) when he saw him treating an Israelite cruelly. A blow does not
cause death, nor is it given with the intention of causing death. It was only an
accident that the Egyptian died. As such, it was not a case of deliberate murder
but of accidental murder. A murder was committed but not intentionally, nor was
any weapon used, which is usually employed for murder, or which can cause
murder.
17The word hukm means wisdom, knowledge or authority, which is
granted by Allah to a Prophet so that he may speak with confidence and power.
18That is, "If you had not been unjust and cruel to the Israelites. I
should not have been brought to your house for upbringing. It was only on
account of your barbarism that my mother put me in a basket and cast it into the
river. Had it not been so, I should have been happily brought up in my own
house. Therefore, it does not behoove you to remind me of your favor of bringing
me up in your house."
19Here the details that Prophet Moses went before
Pharaoh as the Messenger of the Lord of the universe and conveyed to him His
message, have been omitted, and only the conversation that took place between
them has been related.
20This question of Pharaoh concerned the assertion
of Moses that he had been sent by the Lord, Master and Ruler of all Creation
with the message that he should let the Israelites go with him. This was a
political message. It implied that the One, Whom Moses claimed to represent,
possessed authority and sovereign rights over all the people of the world
including Pharaoh and that he was not only encroaching upon his sphere of
sovereignty as Supreme Ruler, but was also sending him the Command that he
should hand over a section of his subjects to the representative appointed by
Him, so that he should take them out of his kingdom. That is why Pharaoh asked,
"Who is this Master and Ruler of all Creation who is sending such a command to
the king of Egypt through an ordinary subject of his kingdom?"
21That is,
"I have not been sent by any mortal king ruling in the world, but I come from
Him Who is the Owner of the heavens and the earth. If you believe that, there is
a Creator and Master and Ruler of this universe, it should not he difficult for
you to understand who is the Lord of all Creation."
22These words were
addressed to the chiefs of Pharaoh, whom he had asked, "Do you hear?" Prophet
Moses said: "I do not believe in the false gods who exist today, but did not
exist yesterday, or who existed yesterday but do not exist today. This Pharaoh,
whom you worship as your lord today, did not exist yesterday, and the Pharaohs
whom your elders worshiped yesterday, do not exist today; whereas I believe in
the sovereignty and authority of that Lord Who is both your Lord and Pharaoh's
Lord as much today as He was your elders' Lord before this."
23That is,
"You regard me as a mad person, but if you think you are wise people, you should
yourself decide as to who is the real lord: this wretched Pharaoh who is ruling
over a small piece of earth, or He Who is the Owner of the east and the west and
of everything bounded by the east and the west including the land of Egypt. I
believe in His sovereignty alone and have been sent to convey His message to a
creature of His."
24To understated and appreciate this conversation
fully, one should bear in mind the fact that as it is today, in the ancient
times too, the concept of "deity" was confined to its religious sense only. The
deity was meant to be worshiped and presented offerings and gifts, and because
of its "supernatural powers" and authority the people were to pray to it for
help and fulfillment of their desires. But a deity's being supreme legally and
politically also and his right to enjoin anything he pleased in the mundane
affairs and man's duty to submit to his commands as to superior law, has never
been recognized by the so-called worldly rulers. They have always claimed that
in the mundane affairs, they alone possess absolute authority and no deity has
any right to interfere in the polity and law prescribed by them. This very thing
has been the real cause of the conflict between the Prophets and their righteous
followers, on the one hand, and the worldly kingdoms and governments on the
other. The Prophets have been trying their utmost to make the worldly rulers
acknowledge the sovereign and absolute rights of the Lord of the Worlds, but
they in return have not only been claiming sovereign powers and rights for
themselves, but have been considering every such person as a criminal and rebel,
who has held someone else as a deity in the political and legal sphere. With
this background one can easily understand the real significance of Pharaoh's
words. Had it been a question of mere worship and offerings, he would have least
bothered that Moses, forsaking all gods, regarded only Allah, the Lord of all
Creation, as worthy of those rights. if Moses had invited him to serve Allah
alone, he would not have felt provoked and offended. At the most he would have
refused to give up the creed of his forefathers, or would have challenged Moses
to have a debate with his own religious scholars. But what caused him
provocation was that Prophet Moses was presenting himself as the representative
of the Lord of all Creation and was conveying to him a political command as if
he was a subordinate ruler and the representative of the superior authority was
demanding obedience from him to the command. In this sense, he was not prepared
to acknowledge any other political or legal authority, nor allow any of his
subjects to acknowledge anybody instead of himself as the supreme ruler. That is
why he challenged the teen "Lord, of all Creation", for the message sent by Him
clearly reflected sovereignty in the political and trot in the mere religious
sense. Then, when Prophet Moses explained over and over again what he meant by
the "Lord of all Creation", Pharaoh threatened that if he held any one other
than him as sovereign in the land of Egypt, he would be cast into prison.
25That is, "Will you still deny me and send me to prison, even if I present
a convincing Sign to prove that I am really the Messenger of God, Who is Lord of
all Creation , Lord of the heavens and the earth and Lord of the east and the
west?
26This reply of Pharaoh shows that he was not in any way different
from the common polytheists of the ancient and modern times. Like all other
polytheists he believed in Allah's being the highest Deity in the supernatural
sense. Who wielded greater power and authority than all other gods and
goddesses. That is why Prophet Moses said to him, "If you do not believe that I
have been appointed by Allah, I can present such clear Signs as will prove that
I have really been sent by Him", and that is why Pharaoh said, " I f you are
true in your claim, come out with your Sign", otherwise if he had any doubt
about the existence of Allah or His being Master of the universe, he would not
have asked for the Sign.
27Thub an means a serpent. At other places, the
Qur'an has used hayyatun (snake) and jaann (a small snake) to describe the snake
of the staff. The interpretation given by Imam Razi is that the snake of the
staff looked like a serpent from its big size and has been called jaann on
account of its swift movement which is characteristic of small snakes.
28Some commentators under the influence of the Israelite traditions have
translated baida' as white and have taken it to mean that the healthy hand when
drawn out of the armpit became white as if struck by leprosy. But commentators
like Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir, Zamakhshari, Razi, Abul Sa'ud `Imadi, Alusi and
others are agreed that baida' here means shining and bright. As soon as Prophet
Moses took out his hand from the armpit, it made the whole place bright as if by
the sun. For further explanation, see E.N. 13 of Ta Ha.
29The impact of
the two miracles can be judged from the fact that a moment before this Pharaoh
was calling Moses a mad man, because he had claimed to be a Prophet and had had
the boldness to openly demand release of the Israelites. He was also threatening
Moses that if he took somebody else as Lord instead of him, he would cast him
into the prison for life. But, after he had seen the Signs, he became so
terror-stricken that he felt his kingdom to be at stake, and in his contusion he
did not realize that he was talking meaninglessly to his servants in the court.
Two men from the oppressed community of the Israelites were standing before the
most powerful ruler of the time: they had no military force with them, they
belonged to a weak and lifeless community, and there was no sign of any
rebellion in any corner of the country, nor did they have the support of any
foreign power, yet as soon as the miracles of the snake of the staff and the
shining hand were shown, the tyrant desperately cried out: "These two men want
to seize power and deprive the ruling class of their sovereign rights!" His
apprehension that Moses would do so by force of his magic again reflected a
confused state of mind, for nowhere in the world has a political revolution been
ever brought about, nor a country taken, nor a war won merely by force of
tragic. There were many magicians in Egypt, who could perform masterly tricks of
tragic, but Pharaoh knew it well that they were nonentities because they
performed magic only for the sake of rewards.
30This sentence further
shows Pharaoh's perplexed state of mind. A moment before he was the deity of his
courtiers and, now, struck by awe, the deity is asking his servants as to what
he should do to meet the dangerous situation.
31As already mentioned in
Surah Ta Ha (v. 59), the day fixed for the purpose was the day of the national
festivities of the Egyptians so that large crowds of people coming to the
festivals from every part of the country should also witness the grand "contest
which was to be held in the broad daylight so that the spectators could see the
performances clearly.
32That is, besides proclamation heralds were sent
to urge the people to come and see the contest. It appears that the news of the
miracle shown by Prophet Moses before the packed court had reached the common
people also, and Pharaoh fearing that the people at large might be influenced,
wanted that they should come together in large numbers so that they could see
for themselves that turning a staff into a snake had nothing extraordinary in it
because such a trick could be performed by every common magician of their own
country as well.
33This sentence confirms the idea that those who had
witnessed the miracle of Moses in the royal court and those who had heard of it
reliably outside were losing faith in their ancestral religion, and now the
strength of their faith depended on this that their own magicians also should
give a performance similar to that of Moses. That is why Pharaoh and his chiefs
themselves regarded this contest as a decisive one, and their heralds were busy
moving about in the land, impressing on the people that if the magicians won the
day, they would yet be secured against the risk of being won over to Moses'
religion, otherwise there was every possibility of their creed's being exposed
and abandoned for ever.
34Such was the mentality of the supporters of the
polytheistic creed of the land, whose only ambition was to win rewards from the
king if they won the day.
35This was then the highest honor that the king
could confer on those who served the creed best Thus, at the very outset,
Pharaoh and his magicians manifested by their conduct the great moral
distinction that exists between a Prophet and a magician. On the one side, there
stood that embodiment of courage and confidence, who in spite of belonging to
the suppressed community of the Israelites and having remained to hiding for ten
long years on account of a charge of murder, had suddenly appeared in Pharaoh's
court to proclaim fearlessly that he had been sent by the Lord of all Creation
and demanded release of the Israelites.
He did not even feel the least
hesitation in starting a discussion face to face with Pharaoh not caring in' the
least for his threats. On the other side, there were the wretched magicians
wholly lacking in moral fiber, who had been summoned by Pharaoh himself to help
secure the ancestral religion, and yet they were begging for rewards in return
for the services. And when they are told that they will not only be given
rewards but will also be included among the royal courtiers, they feel greatly
overjoyed. These two types of characters clearly bring out the difference
between the grand personality of a Prophet and that of a mere magician. Unless a
man loses all sense of modesty and decency, he cannot have the audacity to call
a Prophet a magician.
36As soon as they cast down their cords and staffs,
these started moving like so many snakes- towards Moses. This has been described
in greater detail at other places in the Qur'an. According to Al-A`raf: 116:
"When they threw down their devices, they bewitched the eyes of the people and
terrified their hearts: for they had indeed produced a great magic." And
according to Ta Ha: 66, 67: "Suddenly it so appeared to Moses that their cords
and staffs were running about by the power of their magic, and Moses' heart was
filled with fear."
37This was not merely an acknowledgment of their
defeat at the hands of Moses as though he was a greater magician, but their
falling prostrate in submission to Allah, Lord of the universe, was an open
declaration before thousands of Egyptians that what Moses had brought about was
no magic at all, but a manifestation of the powers of Allah, Almighty.
38This only shows the extreme obstinacy and obduracy of Pharaoh, who even after
witnessing a clear miracle and the testimony of the magicians on it, was still
insisting that it was magic. But according to Al-A`raf: 123, Pharaoh said,
"Indeed it was a plot you conspired in the capital to deprive the rightful
owners of their power." Thus he tried to make the people believe that the
magicians had yielded to Moses not because of the miracle but due to a
conspiracy with Moses before they entered the contest, so that they might seize
political power and enjoy its fruits together.
39This horrible threat was
held out by Pharaoh to justify his thinking that the magicians had entered a
conspiracy with Moses. He thought that the magicians, in order to save their
lives, would confess the plot and thus the effect produced by their falling
prostrate and believing in Moses in front of thousands of spectators would be
gone.
40That is, "We have to return to our Lord in any case. If you kill
us now, we shall present ourselves before Him just today, and we have nothing to
worry in this. We rather expect that we shall be forgiven our sins and errors
because out of this entire gathering we were the first to believe as soon as
reality became known to us."
This reply of the magicians made two things
absolutely clear to the people who had been gathered together by Pharaoh heralds
First, that Pharaoh was a dishonest obdurate and deceitful person. When he
saw that Moses had come out successful in the contest which he himself had
arranged to be decisive, he concocted a plot and forced the magicians to confess
it by coercion and threats. Had there been any truth in it, the magicians would
not have readily offered to have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides
and get crucified. The fact that the magicians remained steadfast and firm in
their belief even in the face of such a horrible threat, proves that the
accusation of plotting a conspiracy against Pharaoh was baseless. The fact was
that the magicians being experts in their art had realized that what Moses had
displayed was no magic, but surely a manifestation of the powers of Allah, Lord
of the universe.
Secondly, thousands of the people who had gathered
together from all corners of the land had themselves witnessed the great moral
change that had occurred in the magicians as soon as they professed belief in
the Lord of the universe. The same magicians who had been summoned to strengthen
and secure the ancestral creed by means of their magic and who, a minute before,
were humbly begging Pharaoh for rewards had now become so bold and ennobled
spiritually that they would not take any notice of Pharaoh's powers and his
threats and were even prepared to face death and extreme physical torture for
the sake of their Faith. Thus psychologically there could not be a better
occasion to expose the polytheistic creed of the Egyptians in their own eyes and
help impress the truth of Moses' religion in the minds of the people.
41The mention of migration here does not mean that Prophet Moses and the
Israelites were immediately ordered to leave Egypt. The history of the
intervening period has been related in Al-A`raf: 127-135 and Yunus: 83-89, and a
part of it has been mentioned in Al-Mu`min: 23-46 and Az-Zukhruf: 46-56. Here
the story is being cut short and only the final phase of the conflict between
Pharaoh and Prophet Moses is given to show the tragic end of Pharaoh who had
remained obdurate even after witnessing clear Signs and the ultimate success of
Moses who had Divine support behind his message.
42The warning that "you
will be pursued" shows the wisdom of the instruction to set off during the
night. The idea was that before Pharaoh came out with his hosts to pursue them,
they should have gone far enough so as to be out of reach of him. It should be
borne in mind that the Israelites were not settled in one place in Egypt but
were scattered in cities and habitations all over the country and lived in large
numbers especially in the land between Memphis and Rameses called Goshen. (See
map in Vol . III, p. 31, on the Exodus of the Israelites). It appears that when
Prophet Moses was commanded to leave Egypt, he must have sent instructions to
the Israelite habitations telling the people to make necessary preparations' for
migration and he must have also fixed a night for them to leave their homes for
the exodus.
43All this shows that Pharaoh in fact was terror-stricken,
but was trying to hide his fear under cover of fearlessness. On the one hand, he
was mobilizing forces to face the situation; on the other, he wanted to show
that he was undaunted and undeterred, for a despotic ruler like Pharaoh could
have no danger from a suppressed and slave community which had been living in
disgrace for centuries. That is why his heralds made the people believe that the
Israelites were just a handful of people, who could do them no harm, but had to
be punished for the provocation they had caused. As for mobilization it was only
a precautionary measure which had been taken to meet any eventuality in time.
44The genera'. mobilization ordered by Pharaoh was aimed to crush the
Israelites completely, but God's device turned the tables on him and drew out
all his chiefs and courtiers from their dwelling places and drove them to the
place where they and their hosts were to be drowned all together. Had they not
pursued the Israelites, nothing would have happened save that a community would
have left the country quietly and they would have continued to enjoy life in
their fine dwellings as before. But they in fact had cleverly planned not to
allow the Israelites go away peacefully, but to attack the migrating caravans
suddenly to finish them completely. For this very purpose the princes and the
high chiefs and the nobles came out of their palaces and joined Pharaoh in the
campaign, but their cleverness did not avail them anything. Not only did the
Israelites succeed in escaping from Egypt, but also at the same time the elite
of Pharaoh's tyrannical kingdom perished in the sea.
45Some commentators
have interpreted this verse to mean that Allah made the Children of Israel to
inherit the gardens, water-springs, treasure-houses and fine dwellings vacated
and left behind by Pharaoh and his people. This would inevitably mean that after
the drowning of Pharaoh, the Israelites returned to Egypt and took possession of
the wealth and properties of Pharaoh's people. This interpretation, however, is
neither supported by history nor by other verses of the Qur'an. The relevant
verses of Surahs AI-Baqarah, AI-Ma'idah, AI-A`raf and Ta Ha confirm that after
the destruction of Pharaoh in the sea, the Israelites did not return to Egypt
but proceeded towards their destination (Palestine) and then, till the time of
Prophet David (973-1013 B.C.) all the major events of their history took place
in the lands which are now known as the Sinai Peninsula, northern Arabia,
Transjordan and Palestine. As such, in our opinion the verses mean this: On the
one hand, Allah deprived the people of Pharaoh of their wealth, possessions and
grandeur, and on the other, He bestowed the same on the Children of Israel in
Palestine, and not in Egypt. This same meaning is borne out by vv. 136-137 of
A1-A'raf: "Then We took Our vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea
because they had treated Our Signs as false and grown heedless of them. And
after them We gave as heritage to those who had been abased and kept low, the
eastern and the western parts of that land, which had been blessed bountifully
by Us." The epithet of "the blessed land" has generally been used for Palestine
in the Qur'an as in Surah Bani Isra'il: l, Al-Anbiya': 71-81, and Saba': 18.
46That is, "He will show me the way out of this calamity"
47Literally, tawd is a high mountain. It appears that as soon as Prophet Moses
struck the sea with his staff, it tore the sea asunder and the waters stood like
two mighty mountains on the sides and remained in that condition for so long
that, on the one hand, the Israelite caravans consisting of hundreds of
thousands of the migrants were able to pass through safely, and on the other,
Pharaoh and his hosts stepped in and reached the middle of the sea. In the
natural course, a phenomenon like this has never occurred that due to a
windstorm, however strong, the sea should have parted and stood like mighty
mountains on either side for such a long time. According to verse 77 of Ta Ha,
Prophet Moses was commanded by Allah "to make for them (the Israelites) a dry
path across the sea. " This shows that the smiting of the sea did not only
result in dividing the waters into two parts, which stood like mighty mountains
on either side, but it also created a dry path in between without any mud or
slush. In this connection, one should also consider verse 24 of Surah Dukhan,
which says that after Moses had crossed the sea along with his people, he was
commanded by Allah "to let the sea remain as it is because Pharaoh is to be
drowned in it." This implies that if after crossing the sea, Moses had again
struck it with his staff, the two sides would have rejoined, but he was
forbidden to do so. Obviously, this was a miracle, and the view of those who try
to interpret it as a natural phenomenon, is belied. For explanation, see E.N. 53
of Ta Ha.
48That is, Pharaoh and his army.
49That is, the Quraish
have this lesson to learn from this: "The obdurate people like Pharaoh, his
chiefs and followers had not believed even though they had been shown clear
miracles for years. They had been so blinded by obduracy that even on the
occasion of their drowning in the sea although they had seen the sea parting
asunder in front of their very eyes, the waters standing like high mountains on
either side, and the dry path in between for the Israelite caravans to pass, yet
they failed to understand that Moses had Divine succor and support with him
which they had come out to fight. At last when they came to their senses, it was
too late, because they had been overtaken by the wrath of Allah and the sea
waters had covered them completely. It was on this occasion that Pharaoh had
cried out "I have believed that there is no god but the real God in Whom the
Children of Israel have believed and I am of those who surrender." (Yunus: 90).
On the other hand, there is a Sign in this for the believers, too. They
should understand how Allah by His grace causes the Truth to prevail in the long
run and the falsehood to vanish even though the forces to evil may appear to be
dominant for the time being .
50This part of the life-history of Prophet
Abraham relates to the time when after his appointment to Prophethood, a
conflict had started between him and his people on the questions of shirk and
Tauhid. In this connection, the reader should also see Al-Baqarah: 258-260, Al-An`am:
75-83, Maryam: 41-50, Al-Anbiya': 51-70, As- Saffat: 83-113, and Al-Mumtahanah:
4-5.
The Qur'an has specially repeated this part of Prophet Abraham's
life story over and over again because the Arabs in general and the Quraish in
particular regarded themselves as his followers and professed his way and creed.
Besides them, the Christians and the Jews also claimed that Abraham was their
religious leader and guide. That is why the Qur'an admonishes them over and over
again that the creed brought by Abraham was Islam itself, which is now being
presented by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him), and which
they are opposing tooth and nail. Prophet Abraham was not a mushrik, but an
antagonist against shirk, and for the same reason he had to leave his home and
country and live as a migrant in Syria, Palestine and Hejaz. Thus he was neither
a Jew nor a Christian, because Judaism and Christianity appeared centuries after
him. This historical argument could neither be refuted by the mushriks, nor by
the Jews or the Christians, because the mushriks themselves admitted that
idol-worship in Arabia had started several centuries after Prophet Abraham, and
the Jews and the Christians also could not deny that Prophet Abraham had lived
long before the beginning of Judaism and Christianity. This obviously meant that
the special beliefs and customs which those people thought formed the basis of
their religion, were not part of the original religion taught by Prophet
Abraham. True religion was the one which had no tinge of those impurities, but
was based on those worship and obedience of One Allah alone. That is why the
Qur`an says:
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a
Muslim, sound in the Faith, and he was not of those who set up partners with
Allah. Surely only those people who follow Abraham are entitled to claim a
relationship with him. Now this Prophet and the believers are better entitled to
this relationship." (Al An'am: 67, 68).
51Obviously the object of this
question was to remind the people that the deities which they worshiped were
false and absolutely powerless. In Surah Al Anbiya' the same question has been
posed thus: "What are these images to which you are so devoted '?" (V. 52).
52Though everybody knew that they worshiped idols, their answer implied that
they were firm in faith and their hearts were satisfied with it, as if to say,
"We also know that these are idols of stone and wood, which we worship, but our
faith demands that we should serve and worship them devotedly."
53That
is, "We do not worship and serve them because they hear our prayers and
supplications, or that they can harm and benefit us, but because we have seen
our elders worshiping and serving them." Thus, they themselves admitted that the
only reason of their worshiping the idols was the blind imitation of their
forefathers. In other words, they meant this: "There is nothing new in what you
are telling us, We know that these are idols of stone and wood, which do not
hear anything, nor can harm or do good; but we cannot believe that our elders
who have been worshiping them since centuries, generation after generation, were
foolish people. They must have had some good reason for worshiping these
lifeless images, so we are doing the same as we have full faith in them."
54That is, "Is it enough to say that a religion is true only because it has
been held as such by their ancestors ? Should people, generation after
generation, go on following their ancestors in their footsteps blindly without
ever caring to see whether the deities they worship possess any divine attribute
or not, and whether they have any power to influence their destinies?
55That is "When I consider them, I see that if I worship them, I shall ruin
myself both in this world and in the Hereafter. As their worship is clearly
harmful, worshiping them is worshiping one's enemy." These words of Prophet
Abraham bear a close connection with verses 81, 82 of Surah Maryam, which say:
"These people have set up other gods than Allah so that they may become their
supporters. But they will have no supporter; all of them will not only disown
their worship but also become their opponents (on the Day of Judgment)."
It should be noted that Prophet Abraham did not say, "They are enemies to you",
but said, "They are enemies to me." In the first case, there was every chance
that the people would have felt offended and provoked, because it would have
been difficult for them to understand how their own gods could be their enemies.
As a matter of fact, Prophet Abraham appealed to the natural feeling of man that
he is his own well-wisher and cannot wish ill of himself deliberately. This
would inevitably have led the addressees to think whether what they were doing
was really for their good and was in no way harmful."
56That is, "Of all
the deities who are being worshiped in the world, there is only One Allah alone,
Lord of the universe, in whose worship I find any good for myself, and Whose
worship is the worship of one's own Cherisher and Supporter, and not of one's
enemy." Then Prophet Abraham briefly gives the arguments, which nobody could
refute, as to why Allah alone is worthy of man's worship and indirectly suggests
that his addressees (the idol-worshipers) had no rational basis for worshiping
deities other than Allah except in blind imitation of their forefathers.
57This is the first reason for which Allah, and One Allah alone, is worthy of
man's worship. The people also knew and believed that Allah alone was their
Creator without any partner. Not only they but all the polytheists of the world
also have always held the belief that even the deities they worshiped were the
creation of Allah, and except for the atheists none have ever denied that Allah
is the Creator of the whole universe. This argument of Prophet Abraham implied
that being a creature, he could only worship his Creator, Who was alone worthy
of his worship, and none else, because none besides Allah had any share in His
creation.
58The second reason for worshiping Allah and Allah alone is
that Allah had not become unconcerned with man after creating him and let him
alone to see other supporters for help, but had also taken the responsibility of
making arrangements for his guidance, protection and fulfillment of his needs.
The moment a human child is born, milk is produced for it in the breasts of its
mother, and some unseen power teaches it the way to suck it and take it down the
throat. From the first day of his life till his death, the Creator has provided
in the world around him all necessary means required for every stage of his life
for his development and guidance, sustenance and survival. He has also endowed
him with all those powers and abilities which are needed to use the means with
advantage and given him all necessary guidance for every sphere of life. Then
for the protection of human life against all sorts of disease, germs and
poisons, He has created such effective antidotes that they have not yet been
fully encompassed by human knowledge. If these natural arrangements had not been
made, even a thorn-prick would have proved fatal. When this all-pervading mercy
and providence of the Creator is supporting and sustaining man at all times in
every way, there could be no greater folly and ingratitude on the part of man
than this that he should bow down before others than Allah and seek their help
in need and trouble.
59The third reason for worshiping none but Allah is
that man's relation with his God is not merely confined to this worldly life,
which will end at death, but extends to life-after-death also. The same God Who
brought him into existence, recalls him and there is no power which can stop his
return froth the world. No remedy, no physician no god or goddess has ever been
able to catch the hand which takes man out of this world. Even all those men who
were made deities and worshiped, could not ward off their own deaths. Only Allah
judges and decides when a particular person is to be recalled from the world,
and whenever somebody is recalled by Him, he has to leave this world in any
case. Then it is Allah alone Who will decide as to when He should raise back to
life all those people who were born in this world and died and buried here, and
ask them to account for their worldly lives. Then also nobody will have the
power to stop resurrection of himself or others. Every human being will have to
rise on the Command of Allah and appear in His Court. Then Allah alone will be
the Judge on that Day, and nobody else will be a partner in his judgment in any
degree. To punish or to forgive will be entirely in Allah's hand. Nobody will
have the power to get somebody forgiven if Allah would want to punish him, and
punished if Allah would want to forgive him All those who are regarded as
intercessors in the world, will themselves be hoping for Allah's mercy and grace
for their forgiveness. In view of these facts anybody who worships others than
Allah, is in fact preparing for his own doom. There can be no greater misfortune
than this that man should turn away from Allah Who controls his life here as
well as in the Hereafter, and should turn for help and support to those who are
utterly powerless in this regard.
60Hukm here does not mean "Prophethood",
because at the time this prayer was made, Prophet Abraham had already been
appointed a Prophet. Even if this prayer was made before that, Prophethood is
not bestowed on request, but it is something which Allah Himself bestows on
those He wills. That is why, hukm has been translated wisdom, knowledge, right
understanding and power of judgment. The Holy Prophet is also reported to have
made a similar prayer
Arinal-ashyaa' Kama hiya: "O Allah, give us the
power to see and understand a thing as it really is and to form an opinion about
it according to its reality."
61"Join me with the righteous": "Give me a
righteous society to live in in this world and raise me along with the righteous
in the Hereafter." To be raised back to life with the righteous and to attain
one's salvation have one and the same meaning. Therefore, this should be the
prayer of every person who believes in the life-after-death and in reward and
punishment. Even in this world a pious man cherishes the desire that God should
save him from living a life in an immoral and wicked society and should join him
with the righteous people. A pious and righteous person will remain ill at ease
and restless until either his own society should become clean and pure morally,
or he leaves it to join another society which is practicing and following the
principles of truth and honesty.
62"Grant me true renown among
posterity": "Grant me the grace that posterity should remember me as a good and
pious man after my death and not as one of the unjust people, who were not only
wicked themselves, but who left nothing but wickedness behind them in the world.
Enable me to perform such high deeds that my life should become a source of
light for others for all times to come, and I should be counted among the
benefactors of humanity." This is not a prayer for worldly greatness and renown,
but for true greatness and renown, which can be achieved only as a result of
solid and valuable services. A person's achieving such true renown and glory has
two good aspects:
(1) The people of the world get a good example to
follow, as against bad examples, which inspires them with piety and encourages
them to follow the right way; and
(2) The righteous person will not only
get the rewards of works done by posterity who were guided aright by the good
example left and set by him, but in addition to his own good works, he will have
the evidence of the millions of people in his favor that he had left behind him
in the world fountains of guidance, which went on benefiting people, generation
after generation, till the Day of Resurrection.
63Some commentators have
interpreted this prayer of Prophet Abraham for his father's forgiveness to imply
that he had prayed to God to grant his father the favor to accept Islam because
forgiveness in any case is inter-linked with and dependent upon Faith. But this
interpretation is not borne out by the other verses of the Qur'an. The Qur'an
says that when Prophet Abraham left his home at the tyrannical treatment of his
father, he said, "I bid farewell to you; I shall pray to my Lord to forgive you
for He is very kind to me." (Maryam: 47) To fulfill this promise, he not only
prayed for the forgiveness of his father, but for both his parents: "Lord,
forgive me and my parents..." (Ibrahim: 41). But afterwards he himself realized
that an enemy of the Truth, even if he be the father of a believer, does not
deserve a prayer of forgiveness. Thus according to verse 114 of At Taubah: "The
prayer of Abraham for his father was only to fulfill a promise he had made to
him, but when he realized that he was an enemy of Allah, he disowned him."
64That is, "Do not put me to disgrace on the Day of Judgment by inflicting
punishment on my father in front of all mankind, when I myself shall be
witnessing his punishment helplessly."
65It cannot be said with certainty
whether vv. 88, 89 are a part of Prophet Abraham's prayer, or they are an
addition by Allah. In the first case, they will mean that Prophet Abraham while
praying for his father had a full realization of these facts. In the second
case, they will be a comment by Allah on Abraham's prayer, as if to say, "On the
Day of Judgment, only a sound heart, sound in faith and free from disobedience
and sin, will be of any avail to man and not wealth and children, for wealth and
children can be useful only if one possesses a sound heart. Wealth will be
useful if one would have spent it sincerely and faithfully for the sake of
Allah, otherwise even a millionaire will be a poor man there. Children also will
he of help only to the extent that a person might have educated them in Faith
and good conduct to the best of his ability; otherwise even if the son is a
Prophet, his father will not escape punishment, if he died in the state of
unbelief, because such a father will have no share in the goodness of his
children. "
66Verses 90-102 do not seem to be a part of Prophet Abraham's
speech, but they are Allah's words.
67That is, on the one hand, the
righteous people will be shown the countless blessings which they will enjoy in
Paradise by Allah's grace, and on the other, Hell will be set open with all its
dreads and horrors before the straying people, when they will still be in the
Plain of Resurrection.
68Kubkibu in the Text has two meanings: (1) They
will be hurled into Hell one upon the other; and (2) they will go on rolling
down into the depths of Hell.
69This is how the followers will treat
their religious leaders and guides, whom they served and revered like deities in
the world, whose words and patterns of behavior they took as authoritative and
before whom they presented all sorts of offerings in the world. In the Hereafter
when the people will find that their guides had misled them and caused their
ruin as well as their own, they will hold them responsible for it and will curse
them. The Qur'an has presented this horrible scene of the Hereafter at several
places so as to admonish the blind followers to see and judge carefully whether
their guides in this world were leading them on the right path or not. For
instance: "As each generation will be entering Hell, it will curse its preceding
generation till all generations shall be gathered together there; then each
succeeding generation will say regarding the preceding one, `O Lord, these were
the people who led us astray; therefore give them a double chastisement of the
Fire.' Allah will reply, `There is a double chastisement for every one but you
know it not'." (Al-A`raf: 38). "And the disbelievers will say, `Our Lord, bring
those jinns and men before us, who led us astray so that we may trample them
under our feet and put them to extreme disgrace'." (Ha Mim Sajdah: 29). "And
they will say, `Our Lord, we obeyed our chiefs and our great men and they misled
us from the right path; our Lord, give them a double chastisement and curse them
with a severe curse'." (Al-Ahzab: 67-68).
70That is, "Those whom we
regarded as our intercessors in the world and who, we believed, would take us
safely into Paradise, are utterly helpless today and of no avail to us."
71That is, "We have no sympathizer either who could feel for us and console
us." The Qur'an says that in the Hereafter only the believers will continue to
be friends; as for the disbelievers, they will turn enemies of one another even
though they had been sworn friends in the world. Each will hold the other as
responsible for the doom and try to get him maximum punishment. "Friends on that
Day will become enemies of one another except the righteous (who will continue
to be friends)." (Az-Zukhruf: 67).
72That Qur'an has given an answer to
this kind of longing and desire as well:".. evenif they be sent back to the
earthly life, they would do all that they had been forbidden to do." (Al-An`am:
28). As for the reasons why they will not be allowed to return to the world,
please see E.N.'s 90-92 of Al-Mu'minun above.
73There are two aspects of
the Sign in the story of Prophet Abraham: (I) On the one hand, the mushriks of
Arabia, especially the Quraish, claimed that they were the followers of Prophet
Abraham and were proud of being his descendants, but on the other, they were
involved in shirk against which Prophet Abraham had been engaged in a relentless
struggle throughout his life. Then these people were opposing and treating the
Prophet who was inviting them towards the religion brought by Prophet Abraham in
the like manner as Prophet Abraham himself had been opposed and treated by his
people. They have been reminded that Abraham was an enemy of shirk and an
upholder of Tauhid which they themselves admitted, and yet they persisted in
their obduracy to follow the creed of shirk. (2) The people of Abraham were
eliminated from the world: 'if any of them survived, it was the children of
Prophet Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac (thay Allah's peace be upon
them). Though the Qur'an does not mention the torment that descended on
Abraham's people after he had left them, it has included them among the
tormented tribes: "Has not the story reached them of those who had gone before
them: the people of Noah, the tribes of `Ad and Thamud, the people of Abraham,
and the inhabitants of Midian and of the overturned cities ?" (At Taubah: 70).
74For comparison, see AI-A`raf: 59-64, Yunus: 71-73, Hud: 25-48, Bani
Isra'il: 3, Al-Anbiya' 76-77, Al-Mu'minun:: 23-30, and Al-Furqan: 37. For the
details of the story of Prophet Noah, see AI-'Ankabut:15, As-Saffat: 75-82,
AIQamar: 9-15 and Surah Nuh itself.
75Though they had rejected only one
Messenger, it amounted to rejecting all the messengers because all of them had
brought one and the same message from Allah. This is an important fact which the
Qur'an has mentioned over and over again in different ways. Thus, even those
people who rejected just one Prophet have been regarded as unbelievers though
they believed in all other Prophets, for the simple reason that the believer in
the truth of one Messenger cannot deny the same truth in other cases unless he
does so on account of racial prejudice, imitation of elders, etc.
76The
initial address of Prophet Noah to his people, as mentioned at other places in
the Qur'an, was as follows: "O my people, worship Allah alone: you have no other
deity than Him. Are you not afraid (of Him)?" (Al-Mu'minun: 23); and "Worship
Allah and fear Him and obey me." (Nuh: 3). That is, "Are you not afraid of the
consequences of adopting an attitude of rebellion against Allah and worshiping
others than Him?
77It has two meanings: (1) "1 present before you
nothing but what Allah reveals to me;" and (2) "I am a Messenger whom you have
already known to be a trustworthy and honest and righteous man. When I have been
honest and true in my dealings with you, how can 1 be dishonest and
untrustworthy in conveying the Message of God'? Therefore, you should rest
assured that whatever I am presenting is the Truth. "
78That is, "When I
am a truthful and trustworthy Messenger, you are duty-bound to obey me alone as
against all other patrons, and carry out my commands and instructions, because I
represent the will of God: obedience to me is in fact obedience to God and
disobedience to me is disobedience to Him." In other words, the people are not
only required to accept a Messenger as a true Messenger sent by Allah, but it
inevitably implies that they have to obey him and follow his Law against all
other laws. To reject a Prophet, or to disobey him after accepting him as a
Prophet, is tantamount to rebellion against God, which inevitably leads to His
wrath. The words "fear Allah" are, therefore, a warning that every heater should
clearly understand the consequences of rejecting the message of a Messenger or
of disobeying his commands.
79This is the second of the two arguments of
Prophet Noah about the truth of his message, the first being that they had known
him as a trustworthy man during his earlier life, which he had lived among them.
This second argument implies this: "I do not have any selfish motive or personal
interest in conveying the message which I am propagating day and night in spite
of all sorts of opposition and antagonism from you. At least you should
understand this that 1 am sincere in my invitation, and am presenting honestly
only that which I believe to be the truth and in following which I see the true
success and well-being of humanity at large. I have no personal motive in this
that I should fabricate falsehood to fool the people."
These two
arguments are among the most important arguments which the Qur'an has advanced
repeatedly as proofs of the truthfulness of the Prophets, and which it presents
as criterion for judging Prophethood. A man who before Prophethood has lived a
life in a society and has always been found to be honest, truthful and
righteous, cannot be doubted even by a prejudiced person that he would suddenly
start fabricating falsehood in the name of Allah and making people believe that
he has been appointed a Prophet by Him, whereas he has been not. More important
than that: such a lie cannot be fabricated with a good intention unless somebody
has a selfish motive attached to this kind of fraud. And even when a person
indulges in this sort of fraud, he cannot hide it completely from the people.
The foul means and devices adopted by him to promote his "business" become known
and all the various selfish interests and gains become all too apparent.
Contrary to this, the personal life of a Prophet is full of moral excellencies:
it has no trace of the employment of foul means and devices. Not to speak of any
personal interest, he expends whatever he has for the cause of a mission which
to all appearances is fruitless. No person who possesses any common sense and
also has a sense of justice, can ever imagine that a sensible man who was
leading a perfectly peaceful life, would come out all of a sudden with a false
claim, when such a false claim does not do him any good, but on the contrary,
demands all his money, time and energy and earns him nothing in return but the
antagonism and hostility of the whole world. Sacrifice of personal interests is
the foremost proof of a man's sincerity; therefore, doubting the intentions and
sincerity of a person who has been sacrificing his personal interests for years
and years can only be the pastime of the one who himself is selfish and
insincere. 'Please also see E.N. 70 of AI-Mu'minun above.
80Repetition
of this sentence is not without reason. In the first case Iv. I U8), it implied
this: "You should fear Allah if you treat as false a true and trustworthy
Messenger from Him, whom you yourselves have been regarding as a true and
trustworthy man in the past." Here it means: "You should fear Allah if you doubt
the intention of a person who is working sincerely only for the reformation of
the people without any personal interest." This thing has been stressed because
the chiefs of Prophet Noah's people, in order to find fault with his message of
Truth, accused him of struggling merely for his personal superiority: "He merely
intends to obtain superiority over you." (Al-Mu'minun: 24)
81This answer
to Prophet Noah's message of Truth was given by the chiefs, elders and nobles of
his people as mentioned in Hud: 27: "In answer to this, those chiefs of his
people, who had rejected his message, said, 'We see that you are no more than a
mere man like ourselves, and we also see that only the meanest from among us
have become your followers without due consideration, and we find nothing in you
that might give you superiority over us'." This shows that those who believed in
Prophet Noah were mostly the poor people, and ordinary workmen, or some youth
who enjoyed no position in society. As for the influential and rich people, they
had become his bitter opponents, and were trying by every trick and allurement
to keep the common man behind them. One of the arguments they advanced against
Prophet Noah was this: "Had there been some weight and substance in Noah's
message, the rich people, scholars, religious divines, nobles and wise people of
the community should have accepted it, but none of them has believed in him; the
only people to follow him are the foolish people belonging to the lowest stratum
of society, who have no common-sense. Now how can the noble and high ranking
people like us join the company of the common people?"
Precisely the same
thing was being said by the unbelieving Quraish about the Holy Prophet and his
followers. Abu Sufyan in reply to the questions asked by Heraclius had said:
"Muhammad (Allah"s peace be upon him) has been followed by the poor and weak of
our people." What they seemed to be thinking was that Truth was that which was
considered as Truth by the chiefs and elders of the community, for only they had
the necessary common-sense and power of judgment. As for the common people,
their being common was a proof that they lacked sense and judgment. As such, if
a thing was accepted by them but rejected by the chiefs, it meant that the thing
itself was without worth and value. The disbelievers of Makkah even went
further. They argued that a Prophet could not be a common man: if God had to
appoint a Prophet, He would have appointed a great chief to be a Prophet: "They
say: why has not the Qur'an been sent down to a prominent man of our two cities
(Makkah and Ta'if)?" (Az-Zukhruf: 31).
82This is the first answer to
their objection, which was based on the assumption that the poor people
belonging to the working classes and lower social strata who performed humble
duties, did not possess any mental maturity and were without intelligence and
common sense. Therefore, their belief was without any rational basis, and so
unreliable, and their deeds were of no value at all. To this Prophet Noah
replies, "I have no means of judging the motives and assessing the worth of the
deeds of the people who accept my message and act accordingly. This is not my
concern but the responsibility of God".
83This is the second answer to
their objection, which implied that since those who were gathering around Noah
as believers, belonged to the lowest social strata, none of the nobles would
like to join them, as if to say, "O Noah, should we believe in you in order to
be counted among the low-ranking people like the slaves and servants and
workmen?" To this Prophet Noah answers, "How can I adopt this irrational
attitude that I should attend earnestly to those who do not like to listen to
me, but drive away those who have believed and followed me? I am simply, a
warner, who has declared openly that the way you are following is wrong and will
lead you to ruin, and the way that I am inviting to is the way of salvation far
all. Now it is up to you whether you heed my warning and adopt the right path,
or go on following blindly the way to your ruin. It does not behoove me that I
should start inquiring into the castes and ancestry and trades of the people who
have heeded my warning and adopted the right path. They might be "mean" in your
sight, but I cannot drive them away and wait to see when the "nobles" will' give
up the path of destruction and adopt the way of salvation and success instead."
Precisely the same thing was going on between the Holy Prophet and the
disbelievers of Makkah when these verses were revealed, and one can fully
understand why the dialogue between Prophet Noah and the chiefs of his people,
has been related here. The chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah thought exactly
the same way. They said how they could sit side by side with the slaves like
Bilal, 'Ammar and Suhaib and other men of the working class, as if to say,
"Unless these poor people are turned out, there can be no possibility that the
nobles may consider to become believers; it is impossible that the master and
the slave should stand shoulder to shoulder with each other." In answer to this
the Holy Prophet was commanded by Allah to tell the vain and arrogant
disbelievers plainly that the poor believers could not be driven out of Islam
just for their sake: "O Muhammad, you attend earnestly to him who has shown
indifference (to your message), whereas you have no responsibility if he does
not reform himself; and the one who comes to you earnestly, fearing Allah, to
him you pay no attention. Nay! this indeed is an Admonition, so let him who
wills, accept it." (`Abasa :5-12).
"And do not drive away those who
invoke their Lord morning and evening and are engaged in seeking His favor. You
are not in any way accountable for them, nor are they in any way accountable for
you: so, if you should drive them away, you shall be counted among the unjust.
As a matter of fact, in this way We have made some of them a means of test for
others, so that, seeing them, they should say, `Are these the people from among
us upon whom Allah has showered His blessings?' Yes: does not Allah know His
grateful servants better than they?" (AI-An'am: 52-53)
84The words in the
Text may have two meanings: (1) "You will be stoned to death"; and (2) "You will
be showered with abuses from all sides, and cursed and reviled wherever you go.
"
85That is, "They have rejected me completely and absolutely and now
there is no hope of their becoming believers." Here nobody should have the
misunderstanding that just after this conversation between Prophet Noah and the
chiefs of his people, and the rejection of his message by them, the Prophet
submitted a report to Allah that his people had rejected him and now He should
settle the accounts between them. The Qur'an has mentioned at different places
the details of the long struggle that went on for centuries between Prophet Noah
and his people, who persisted in unbelief. According to verse 14 of Surah Al
Ankabut, the struggle continued for 950 years: "He (Noah) remained among them
for a thousand years save fifty years." Prophet Noah during this long period
studied their collective behavior, generation after generation, and came to the
conclusion that they had no inclination to accept the Truth, and formed the
opinion that in their future generations also there was no hope of anybody
becoming a believer and adopting the righteous attitude: "My Lord, if You should
leave them, they will lead Your servants astray, and they will bear as children
none but sinners and disbelievers." (Nuh: 27). Allah Himself confirmed this
opinion of Noah, saying, "No more of your people will believe in you now than
those who have already believed. So do not grieve at their misdeeds." (Hud: 36)
86"Deliver me and the believers with me to safety": "You should not only
give Your judgment as to who is in the right and who is in the wrong, but
deliver Your Judgment in such a manner that the followers of the Truth are saved
and the followers of falsehood are completely annihilated from the earth.
87"Laden Ark", because the Ark became full with the believers and the pairs
of animals from every species. For further details, see Hud: 40.
88For
comparison, see Al-A'raf: 65-72, Hud: 50-60; and for further details of this
story, see Ha Mim Sajdah: 13-16, Al-Ahqaf: 21-26, Az-Zariyat: 4145, Al-Qamar
:18-22, Al-Haqqah: 4-8, and AI-Fajr: 6-8.
89In order to understand this
discourse of Prophet Hud fully, we should keep in mind the various details about
the people of `Ad which the Qur'an has given at different places: For instance,
it says:
(1) After the destruction of the people of Noah, the `Ad were
given power and prominence in the world: "Do not forget that after Noah's people
your Lord made you the successors." (Al-A`raf: 69).
(2) Physically they
were very robust and powerful people: " .... and made you very robust." (Al-A`raf:
69).
(3)They had no parallel as a nation in the world: "The like of which
was not created in the lands." (A1-Fajr: 8).
(4) They were civilized and
were well-known in the world for their great skill and art in erecting lofty
buildings with tall columns: "Have you not seen what your Lord did with `Ad lram,
of lofty columns?" (Al-Fajr: 6, 7).
(5) This material progress and
physical power had made them arrogant and vain: "As for `Ad, they deviated from
the right path and adopted an arrogant attitude in the land and said, `who is
mightier than we in power'?" (Ha Mim Sajdah: 15) .
(6) Their political
power was in the hands of a few tyrants before whom none could dare raise his
voice: "....and they followed and obeyed every tyrannous enemy of the Truth." (Hud:
59) .
(7) They were not disbelievers in the existence of Allah, but were
involved in shirk; they only denied that Allah alone should be worshiped and
none else: "They said (to Hud), `Have you come to us (with the demand) that we
should worship Allah alone and discard those whom our elders have been
worshiping?" (Al-A`raf: 70).
90That is, "You build grand buildings merely
to show off your wealth and power, whereas they have no use and purpose except
that they stand as monuments to your grandeur and glory. "
91That is,
,"Though you have built other buildings also for dwelling purposes, in order to
make them grand, beautiful and strong, you expend your wealth and mental and
physical abilities in a manner as if you were going to live for ever, and there
was no purpose of life except seeking of comfort and pleasure and nothing beyond
this worldly life which might deserve your attention."
In this
connection, one should bear in mind the fact that extravagance in architecture
is not a solitary vice in a people. This happens as a result of a people's
becoming affluent and then crazy for selfish gains and materialistic pursuits.
When a people reach such a stage, their whole social system becomes corrupted
and polluted. Prophet Hud's criticism of his people's extravagant and luxurious
architecture was not simply aimed at the high castles and monuments, but he was
actually criticizing their corrupt civilization and social system, whose glaring
symptoms could be seen everywhere in the land in the shape of castles and
monuments.
92That is,"In order to meet the demands of your ever rising
standards of life, you do not rest content with small living quarters but you
build castles and fortresses, and yet being unsatisfied you erect lofty edifices
unnecessarily just for ostentation. But as human beings you have become so
depraved that there is no mercy in your hearts for the weak, no justice for the
poor, and all people of lower social strata, living inside or around your land,
are being oppressed tyrannically and none is safe from your barbarities."
93This can have two meanings: (1) "Whatever we are doing is not new but has
been happening from the tune of our elders since centuries: they had the same
creed, the same way of life, the same morality and the same kind of dealings and
yet they remained unharmed and safe from every calamity. If there was any evil
in this way of life, we should have met the doom with which you are threatening
us." (2) "The things you are preaching have been preached and said before also
by religious maniacs and so-called moralists, but they could not change the ways
of the world. It has never happened that the world suffered a disaster only
because people refused to listen to preachers like you."
94According to
the Qur'an, the people of 'Ad were destroyed by a violent windstorm. When they
saw it advancing towards their valleys, they rejoiced with the hope that those
were dense clouds which would bring much rain for them, but in reality it was
Allah's scourge. The windstorm continued to rage for eight days and seven nights
and destroyed everything. The people were swept away like straw and everything
on which the hot, dry wind blew was left rotting. The storm did not abate until
the last man of the wicked tribe had met his doom. Only ruins of their
habitations remained to tell the tale of their terrible fate, and today even the
ruins have become extinct. The whole territory of Ahqaf has turned into dreadful
desert dunes. For details, see E.N. 25 of AI-Ahqaf.
95For comparison, see
Al-A'raf: 73-79, Hud: 61-68, AI-Hijr: 80-84, Bani Isra'il 59; and for further
details, see An-Naml . 45-53, Az-Zariyat: 43-45, AI-Qamar: 23-31, AI-Haqqah:
4-5, Al-Fajr: 9, and Ash-Shams: 11.
Thamud achieved power and glory after
the destruction of 'Ad and as far as progress in civilization is concerned, they
followed in the footsteps of their predecessors. In their case, too, the
standards of living went on rising higher and higher and the standards of
humanity continued to fall lower and lower, suffering one deterioration after
the other. On the one hand, they erected large edifices on the plains and hewed
beautiful houses out of the hills like those in the caves of Ellora and Ajanta
in India, and on the other, they became addicted to idol-worship and the land
was filled with tyranny and oppression. The worst men became leaders and rulers
in the land. As such, Prophet Salih's message of Truth only appealed to the weak
people belonging to the lower social strata and the people of the upper classes
refused to believe in him.
96According to the Qur'an, the people of
Prophet Salih themselves admitted that he was a man of great integrity and
extraordinary caliber: "They said, 'O Salih, till now you were such a person
among us of whom we had great expectations." (Hud: 62)
97That is, "Do you
consider that your life of indulgence and pleasure is everlasting, and you will
never be asked to account for Allah's favors to you and for your own misdeeds?"
98Hadim. heavy bunches of ripe, juicy and soft date-palm fruit hanging from
trees
99Just as the most prominent feature of the 'Ad civilization was
that they built large edifices with high pillars, so the most prominent feature
of the Thamud civilization for which they were known among the ancient peoples
was that they carved out dwellings in the hills. That is why in Surah Fajr, the
`Ad have been referred to as "(people) of the illars", and the Thamud as "those
who hewed rocks in the valley". These people also built castles on the plains,
the purpose and object of which was nothing but display of wealth and power and
architectural skill as there was no real necessity for them. These are, in fact,
the ways of the perverted people: the poor among them do not have proper
shelters, and the wealthy members not only have sufficient fine dwellings but
over and above those they raise monuments for ostentation and display.
Some of these Thamudic works exist even today, which I have seen in December,
1959. (See pictures. This place is situated between AI-Madinah and Tabuk, a few
miles to the north of Al-'Ula (Wad-il-Qura of the Holy Prophet's time) in Hejaz.
The local inhabitants call it AI-Hijr and Mada'in Salih even today. AI-'Ula is
still a green and fertile valley abounding in water springs and gardens, but AI-Hijr
appears to be an abandoned place. It has thin population, little greenery and a
few wells one of which is said to be the one at which Prophet Salih's shecamel
used to drink water. This well is now dry and located within a deserted military
post of the time of the Turks. When we entered this territory and approached
AI-'Ula, we found hills which seemed to have been shattered to pieces from top
to bottom as if by a violent earthquake. (See pictures on the opposite pages).
We saw the same kind of hills while travelling to the east, from AI-`Ula to
Khaibar, for about 50 miles, and towards the north inside Jordan, for about 30
to 40 miles. This indicated that an area, stretching well over 300 to 400 miles
in length and 100 miles in width, had been devastated by the terrible
earthquake.
A few of the Thamudic type monuments that we saw at AI-Hijr
were also found at Madyan along the Gulf of 'Aqabah and at Petra in Jordan. At
Petra specially the Thamudic and Nabataean works stand side by side, and their
styles and architectural designs are so different that anyone who examines them
will find that they were neither built in the same age nor by the same nation.
(See pictures for contrast). Doughty, the British orientalist, in his attempt to
prove the Qur'an as false, has claimed that the works found at Al-HIijr were not
carved out by Thamud but by the Nabataeans. I am of the view that the art of
carving houses out of the rocks started with the Thamud, and thousands of years
later, in the second and first centuries B.C., it was considerably developed by
the Nabataeans and it reached perfection in the works of the caves of Ellora,
which were carved out about 700 years after Petra.
100That is, "You
should give up obedience to your chiefs, guides and rulers under whose
leadership you are following an evil way of life. These people have transgressed
all bounds of morality: they cannot bring about any reforms and they will
corrupt every system of life that they adopt: The only way for you towards
success and well-being is that you should inculcate fear of God, give up
obedience to the misguides and obey me, because I am God's Messenger: you are
fully aware of my honesty and integrity: I have no personal interest and motive
for undertaking the work of reform. " This was in short the manifesto which
Prophet Salih presented before his people: it not only contained the religious
message but invitation to cultural, moral and political revolution as well.
101"Enchanted person": Mad and insane person who has lost reasoning power.
According to the ancient conceptions, madness was either due to the influence of
a jinn or magic. That is why a mad person was either called majnun (one under
the influence of a jinn) or one enchanted by magic.
102That is, "We
cannot believe you to be a Messenger from God because you are just like us and
we see no distinction in you. However, if you are true in your claim that God
has appointed you as His Messenger, you should present such a clear miracle as
should make us believe that you have really been sent by the Creator and Master
of the universe.
103From the context it appears that it was not a common
she-camel, but it was brought about in a supernatural manner because it was
presented in response to the demand for a miracle. Prophet Salih. could not have
produced before the people an ordinary she-camel as a proof of his Prophethood
because that would not have satisfied them. All other places in the Qur'an it
has been clearly referred to as a miracle. In Surah Al-A`raf and Hud it has been
said: "....here is Allah's she camel, a Sign for you." (VII: 73) In Surah Bani
Isra'il the same thing has been stated more emphatically: "And nothing has
hindered Us from sending Signs except that the former people refused to
acknowledge them as such. (For example) We sent the she-camel as an open Sign to
Thamud but they treated her with cruelty; whereas We send Signs only by way of
warning." (v. 59) Moreover, the challenge given to the wicked people of Thamud,
after presenting the she-camel before them, was such that it could only be given
after presenting a miracle.
104That is, "One day the she-camel will
drink water all alone at your wells and springs, and one day you and your
animals will take water, and this arrangement will not be violated in any way."
There could hardly be a greater challenge for the people of Arabia, for taking
of water had been the foremost cause of feuds and fights among them, which
mostly resulted in bloodshed, even loss of life. As such, the challenge given by
Prophet Salih was indeed a challenge to the whole nation, which could not be
acceptable unless the people were sure that the challenger had a great power at
his back. But Prophet Salih threw this challenge all by himself without any
worldly power behind him, and the whole nation not only received it quietly, but
also abided by it submissively for quite some days.
In Surahs Al-A`raf
and Hud there is an addition to this: "Here is Allah's she-camel, a Sign for
you. So let her graze at will in Allah's land, and do not touch her with an evil
intention." (XI: 64) That is, the challenge was not only this that the she-camel
would drink water all alone every alternate day, but, in addition, she would
freely move about and graze at will in their fields and gardens and palm groves
and pastures and was not to be touched with an evil intention.
105This
does not mean that as soon as they heard the challenge, they attacked the
she-camel at once and hamstrung her. Actually, when the she-camel became a
problem for the whole nation, the hearts of the people were filled with rage,
and they began to hold lengthy consultations as to how to get rid of her. At
last, a haughty chief undertook the task of putting an end to her, as mentioned
in Surah Ash-Shams thus: "When arose the most villainous of the people.. ." (v.
12) and in Surah Al-Qamarthus: "They appealed to their companion; so he took up
the responsibility and hamstrung (her)." (v. 29).
106As stated at other
places in the Qur'an, when the she-camel was killed, Prophet Salih declared:
"You have only three more days to enjoy yourselves in your houses." (Hud: 65)
When this time limit came to an end, a shocking explosion took place in the
night at about dawn, followed by a violent earthquake, which destroyed the whole
nation completely. In the morning their dead bodies lay scattered here and there
like dry pieces of bush trampled down by animals around an enclosure. Neither
their stony castles nor their rock-hewn caves could protect them against the
calamity. "We sent against them a single blast and they became as the trampled
twigs of the fence of a fold-builder." (Al-Qamar: 31). "Consequently a shocking
catastrophe overtook them and they lay lifeless in their dwellings" (Al-A'raf:
78). "At last a violent blast overtook them with the approach of the morning,
and all that they had achieved proved of no avail to them." (Al Hijr: 83, 84).
107For comparison, see Al-A'raf: 80-84, Hud: 7483. AI-Hijr: 57-77, AI-Anbiya':
71-75, An-Naml; 54-58, Al-'Ankabut: 28-35, As-Saffat: 133-138 and A I-Qamar:
33-39.
108This can have two meanings: (1) Of all the creatures you have
chosen males only for the purpose of gratifying your sex desires, whereas there
are plenty of women in the world; and (2) You alone are the people in the whole
world, who go to men to satisfy the sex desires; even the animals do not resort
to this. This second meaning has been explained in Surahs Al-A'raf and Al- 'Ankabut
thus: "Have you become so shameless that you commit such indecent acts as no one
committed before you in the world?" (Al-A'raf: 80).
109This can also have
two meanings: (1 ) "You leave your wives whom God has created for you to satisfy
your sex desire and adopt unnatural ways with the males for the purpose." (2)
"Even with respect to your wives you do not follow the natural way but adopt
unnatural ways for the gratification of your lust?" This they might have been
doing with the intention of family planning.
110That is, "This is not
the only vice in-you; your whole lives have become corrupted and perverted, as
stated in An-Naml: 54 thus : "Do you commit indecent acts openly and publicly?"
And 'in Al-'Ankabut: 29 thus: "Have you become so perverted that you gratify
your lust with the males, you rob travelers, and you commit wicked deeds
publicly in your assemblies?" For further details, see E.N. 39 of AI-Hijr.
111That is, "You know that whosoever has spoken against us, or protested
against our doings, or opposed us in any way, he has been turned out of our
habitations. If you also behave like that, you too will be treated likewise." It
has been stated in Surahs AI-A`raf and An-Naml that before giving this warning
to Prophet Lot, the wicked people had decided to "turn out these people of your
habitations for they pose to be very pious." (VII: 82)
112This may also
mean: "My Lord, deliver us from the evil consequences of their misdeeds," and
also this: "Protect the children of the believers from the evil effects of the
immoral acts of the wicked people."
113This refers to the Prophet Lot`s
wife as stated in verse 10 of Surah Tahrim about the wives of Prophets Noah and
Lot: "These two women were in the houses of Our two pious servants but they
acted treacherously towards them." That is, they did not believe, and sided with
the unbelievers instead of their righteous husbands. Therefore, when Allah
decreed to send a torment on the people of Lot, He commanded Lot to leave the
place along with his people but to leave his wife behind: "So depart from here
with the people of your household in the last hours of the night. And look here:
none of you should turn round to look behind; but your wife (who will not
accompany you) shall meet the same doom as they." (Hud: 81).
114This was
not a rain of water but a rain of stones. According to the details given at
other places in the Qur'an, when Prophet Lot had left the place along with the
people of his household in the last hours of the night, there occurred a
terrible explosion at dawn and a violent earthquake, which turned all their
habitations upside down and rained on them stones of baked clay as a result of a
volcanic eruption and a strong blast of wind.
Below we give a resume of
the Biblical account and of ancient Greek and Latin writings and modern
geological researches and archaeological observations about the torment and the
place where it occurred:
The, hundreds of ruins found in the waste and
uninhabited land lying to the south and east of the Dead Sea indicate that this
must have been a prosperous and thickly populated area in the past. The
archaeologists have estimated that the age of prosperity of this land lasted
between 2300 and 1900 B.C. According to historians, Prophet Abraham lived about
2000 B C. Thus the archaeological evidence confirms that this land was destroyed
in the time of Prophet Abraham and his nephew Prophet Lot.
The most
populous and fertile part .of the area was "the vale of Siddim" as mentioned in
the Bible: "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that
it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt" (Gen. 13 :10) The
present day scholars are of the opinion that that valley is now under the Dead
Sea and this opinion is supported by firm archaeological evidence. In the
ancient times, the Dead Sea did not so much extend to the south as it does
today. Opposite and to the west of the present Jordanian city of AI-Karak, there
is a small peninsula called AI-Lisan. This was the end of the sea in ancient
days. The area to the south of it, which is now under sea water (the shaded
portion in the map) was a fertile valley, "the vale of Siddim", in which were
situated Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, Zoar, the famous cities of the people
of Lot. In about 2000 B.C. this valley sank as a result of a violent earthquake
and was submerged in sea water. Even today this is the most shallow part of the
Sea. In the Roman period it was more so and was fordable from AI-Lisan to the
western coast. One can still see submerged jungles along the southern coast and
there might as well be submerged buildings.
According to the Bible and
the ancient Greek and Latin writings, the region abounded in pits of petroleum
and asphalt and at places inflammable gas also existed. It appears from the
geological observations that with the violent earthquake shocks, petroleum,
gases and asphalt were thrown up and ignited, and the whole region exploded like
a bomb. The Bible says that when Prophet Abraham got the news and went from
Hebron to see the affected valley, he saw that "the smoke of the country went up
as the smoke of a furnace." (Gen. 19: 28).
115The people of Aiykah have
been briefly mentioned in vv. 78-84 of Surah AI-Hijr. More about them here.
There is a difference of opinion among the commentators as to whether the
Midianites and the people of Aiykah were two different tribes or one and the
same people. One group holds that they were different tribes and gives the
argument that in Surah Al-A'raf Prophet Shu'aib has been "brother of the
Midianites" (v. RS), whereas here, with regard to the people of. Aiykah, he has
not been called so. The other group holds that they were one and the same people
on the ground that the moral discases and characteristics mentioned of the
Midianites in SurahS AI-A'raf-and Hud are the same as of the people of Aiykah
mentioned here. Then the message and admonition of Prophet Shu'aib to both the
tribes was the same, and the two tribes also met the same end.
Research
in this regard has shown that both the views are correct. The Midianites and the
people' of Aiykah were doubtless two different tribes but branches of the same
stock. The progeny of Prophet Abraham from his wife (or slave girl) Keturah, is
well known in Arabia and in the history of the Israelites as the children of
Keturah. Their most prominent branch was the one which became famous as the
Midianites, after their ancestor, Midian, son of Abraham. They had settled in
the territory between northern Arabia and southern Palestine, and along the
coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of 'Aqabah. Their capital city was Madyan,
which was situated, according to Abul Fida, on the western coast of the Gulf of
'Aqabah at five days' journey from Aiykah (present-day 'Aqabah). The rest of the
children of Keturah, among whom the Dedanites are comparatively better known,
settled in the territory between Taima and Tabuk and AI-'Ula in northern Arabia,
their main city being Tabuk, the Aiykah of the ancient tithes. (Yaqut in his
Mu'jam al-Buldan, under Aiykah, writes that this is the old name of Tabuk, and
the natives of Tabuk confirm this).
The reason why one and the same
Prophet was sent to the Midianites and the people of Aiykah was probably that
both the tribes were descendants of the same ancestors, spoke the same language
and had settled in the adjoining areas. It is just possible that they lived side
by side in the same areas and had marriage and other social relations between
them. Then, these two branches were traders by profession and had developed
similar evil practices and social and moral weaknesses. According to the early
books of the Bible, these people worshiped Baal-peor. When the Children of
Israel came out of Egypt and entered their territory, they also became infected
with the evils of idolatry and adultery. (Numbers, 25: 1-5, 31: 16-17). Then
those people had settled on the two main international trade routes, the one
joining Yaman with Syria and the other the Persian Gulf with Egypt. Due to their
advantageous position they had started big scale highway robbery and would not
let any caravan pass till it had paid heavy taxes. They had thus rendered these
trade routes highly unsafe. Their characteristic of highway robbery has been
mentioned in the Qur'an, for which they were admonished through Prophet Shu'aib,
thus: "And do not lie in ambush by every path (of life) as robbers in order to
frighten the people" (AI-A'raf: 86). These were the reasons why Allah sent to
both the tribes the same Prophet, who conveyed to them the same teachings and
message. For the details of the story of Prophet Shu'aib and the Midianites, see
A1-A'raf: 85-93, Hud: 8495, Al'Ankabut 36-37.
116That is, "It is not in
my power to bring down the torment; it is in Allah's power, and He is fully
aware of your misdeeds. He will send down the torment as and when He wills." In
this demand of the people of Aiykah and the answer of Prophet Shu'aib to them
there was an admonition for the Quraish as well. They also demanded from the
Holy Prophet to bring down the torment on them: "Or.... you cause the sky to
fall down on us in fragments, as you threaten us." (Bani Isra'il: 92). As such
the Quraish are being told that the people of Aiykah had also demanded a similar
thing from their Prophet, and the answer that they got from their Prophet is the
answer of Muhammad (Allah's peace be on him) to you.
117The details of
this torment are neither found in the Qur'an nor in any authentic Tradition.
What one can learn from the Text is this: As these people had demanded a torment
from the sky. Allah sent upon them a cloud which hung over them like a canopy
and kept hanging until they were completely destroyed by the torment of
continuous rain. The Qur'an clearly points out that the nature of the torment
sent upon the Midianites was different from that sent upon the people of Aiykah
The people of Aiykah, as mentioned here, were destroyed by the torment of the
Canopy, while the torment visiting the Midianites was in the form of a terrible
earthquake: "It so happened that a shocking catastrophe overtook them and they
remained lying prostrate in their dwellings." (Al-A'raf: 91). And: "A dreadful
shuck overtook them and they lay lifeless and prostrate in their homes." (Hud:
94). Therefore, it is wrong to regard the two torments as identical. Some
commentators have given a few explanations of "the torment of the Day of
Canopy", but we do not know the source of their information. Ibn Jarir has
quoted Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas as saying: "If somebody from among the
scholars gives you an explanation of the torment of the Day of Canopy, do not
consider it as correct."
118At the end of the historical account, the
same theme, with which the Surah began, is resumed. For reference, see vv. 1-9.
119That is, "This lucid Book whose verses are being recited to you, and
this 'Admonition' from which the people are turning away, is not the product of
the whims of a man; it has not been written and compiled by Muhammad (upon whom
be Allah's peace) himself, but it consists of the Revelations of the Lord of
this universe."
120That is, Angel Gabriel, as mentioned in Al-Baqarah:
97: "Say to them, `Whoever is the enemy to Gabriel, he should understand that he
has, by Allah's Command, revealed to your heart the Qur'an'." Here the object of
using the title of "the trustworthy Spirit" for Gabriel implies that the Qur`an
is not being sent down by Allah through some material agency, which is subject
to change and vacillation; but through a pure Spirit, having no tinge of
materialism, and. who is perfectly trustworthy. This Spirit conveys the Messages
of Allah precisely in the same form and with the same content as they are
entrusted to him: it is not possible for him to tamper with the Messages, or to
make his own additions to them in any way.
121This sentence may be
related to: "... the trustworthy Spirit has come down" and also to: ".... who
are (appointed by God) to warn. "In the first case, it will mean that the
trustworthy Spirit has brought it down in plain Arabic language, and in the
second case, it will mean that the Holy Prophet is included among those Prophets
who were appointed to warn the people in the Arabic language, i.e., Hud, Salih,
Ishmael and Shu'aib (Allah's peace be upon them). In both cases the object is
the same: the Divine Message has not been sent down in a dead or mysterious
language, or in a language of riddles and enigmas, but in such clear and lucid
Arabic, which can be understood easily by every Arab and every nonArab who has
learnt Arabic. As such, the people who are turning away from it, cannot have the
excuse that they could not understand the message of the Qur'an. The only reason
of their denial and aversion is that they are afflicted with the same disease
with which Pharaoh, the people of Abraham the people of Noah, the people of Lot,
the 'Ad and the Thamud, and the people of Aiykah were afflicted.
122That
is, this very Admonition and Divine Message and teachings are contained in the
former Scriptures also. The same message of submission to One God, the same
belief in the Hereafter and the same invitation to follow the Prophets has been
given in all those Books. AII the Books sent down by God condemn shirk and the
materialistic philosophy of life and invite people to accept the true and sound
philosophy of life, which is based on the concept of man's accountability before
God, and demands that man should give up his independence in deference to Divine
Commands brought and preached by the Prophets. None of these things is new,
which the Qur'an may be presenting for the first time, and none can blame the
Holy Prophet of saying something which had never been said before by the former
Prophets.
Among other arguments this verse also is quoted in support of
Imam Abu Hanifah's early opinion that if a person recites the translation of the
Qur'an in the prayer, his prayer will be in order and valid, whether he is able
to recite the Qur'an in Arabic or not. According to `Allama Abu Bakr al-Jassas,
the basis of this argument is: "Allah says that the Qur'an was contained in the
former Scriptures also; obviously this could not be in Arabic words, As such, if
translated and presented in another language, it will still be the Qur'an." (Ahkam-ul-Qur'an,
Vol. III, p. 429). But the weakness of this argument is obvious. The Qur'an, or
any other Divine Book, was never revealed in a manner that Allah inspired the
Prophet with its meaning and then he presented it before the people in his own
words. The fact is that every Book, in whatever language it came, was revealed
in Divine words and meanings together. As such, the teachings of the Qur'an were
contained in the former Scriptures in Divine words and not in human, and none of
their translations could be considered as the Divine Book or its representation.
As regards the Qur'an, it has been stated over and over again that it was
literally revealed in the Arabic language: "We have sent it down as Qur'an in
Arabic". (Yusuf: 2). "We have sent this Command in Arabic to you." (Ar-Ra'd:
37). "An Arabic Qur'an without any crookedness." (Az-Zumar: 28). Then just
before this verse, it has been said that the trustworthy Spirit has brought it
down in Arabic. Now how can it be said that the translation of the Qur'an made
into another language will also be the Qur'an and its words will represent the
words of Allah? It appears that later the Imam himself felt this weakness in the
argument and, according to authentic traditions, gave up his earlier opinion,
and adopted the opinion of Imams Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, who held that a person
who could not recite Arabic words, could recite the translation of the Qur'an in
his prayer till he was able to pronounce Arabic words. However, the prayer of a
person, who was able to recite the Qur'an in Arabic, would not be valid if he
recited its translation. The fact is that the two Imams had proposed, this
concession only for those non-Arab converts who were not able to offer their
prayer in Arabic immediately after embracing Islam. In this the basis of their
argument was not that the translation of the Qur'an was the Qur'an itself, but
that just as a person unable to perform Ruku' and Sajdah was allowed to offer
his prayer by making signs, so a person unable to pronounce Arabic words could
recite the translation. Then just as the prayer of a person who offered it by
making signs could not be valid as soon as the cause of inability was removed,
so the prayer of a person who recited the translation would not be valid as soon
as he became able to pronounce Arabic words. (For a detailed discussion, see Al-Mabsut
by Sarkhasi,Vol. I, p. 37; Fath ul-Qadir and Sharh Inaya 'alal-Hedaya, Vol. I.
pp. 190-201).
123That is, "The learned men of the Israelites know that
the teachings of the Qur'an are the same as of the former Scriptures. Though the
people of Makkah themselves are un-initiated in the knowledge of the Book, there
are many scholars among the Israelites living in the surrounding areas, who
fully understand that the Qur'an did not bring a novel "message", which was
being presented by Muhammad bin `Abdullah for the first time, but it was the
same message which had been brought and preached by Prophets of Allah one after
the other since thousands of years. Is it not then a convincing proof of the
fact that the Qur'an has been sent down by the same Lord of the universe, Who
sent down the former Books ?" '
According to Ibn Hisham's Life of the
Holy Prophet, a little before the revelation of these verses a deputation of 20
men, who had been influenced by the preaching of Hadrat Ja'far, came to Makkah
from Habash. They met the Holy Prophet in Masjid al-Haram and asked him in the
presence of the unbelieving Quraish what his teachings were. In response, the
Holy Prophet recited a few verses of the Qur'an, whereupon tears came down from
their eyes and they believed in him there and then to be a true Messenger of
Allah. When they took leave of the Holy Prophet, Abu Jahl met them along with a
few other men of the Quraish and rebuked them, saying, "Never has a more stupid
company come here before: O foolish men, you were sent here by your people with
a view to inquiring about this man, but no sooner did you meet him than you gave
up your own faith!" "those gentle people did not like to have a dispute with Abu
Jahl, so they left him, saying, "We have no wish to enter an argument with you:
you are responsible for your faith and we are for ours: we adopted something in
which we saw some good for ourselves." (Vol II, p. 32). This same incident has
been mentioned in Surah Qasas, thus:"Those to whom We had given the Book before
this, believe in the Qur'an and when it is recited to them, they say, 'We have
believed in it: this is the very Truth from our Lord: we were even before this
followers of Islam'. And when they heard vain and meaningless talk, they
refrained from entering an argument, saying, `For us are our deeds and for you
yours: peace be to you: we do not like the ways of the ignorant!"' (vv. 52-55).
124That is, "Now when a man from among themselves is reciting to them
this Divine Revelation in lucid Arabic, they say that he himself has composed
it, and therefore it cannot be from Allah. But if the same Revelation in
eloquent Arabic had been sent down by Allah to a non-Arab as a miracle, and he
had recited it before them in perfect Arabic accent, they would have invented
some other excuse for not believing in him. They would have said that he is
under the power and influence of a jinn, who speaks Arabic through a non-Arab."
As a matter of fact, a lover of the truth considers the thing presented before
him coolly and forms an opinion about it after due thought. But an obdurate
person who is unwilling to believe, pays no attention to it at all, but instead
seeks all sorts of excuses to reject it, and will, in any case, invent an excuse
for his denial. This obduracy of the unbelieving Quraish has been exposed over
and over again in the Qur'an, and they have been clearly told that even if a
miracle were shown to them, they would certainly have found an excuse to deny it
because they are not inclined to believe: "O Messenger, even if We had sent down
to you a Book written on paper, and even if they had touched it with their own
hands, the disbelievers would have said, `This is nothing but manifest
sorcery'." (Al-An`am: 7). "Even if We had opened a gate for them in heaven, and
they had begun to ascend through it, they would have said, `Our eyes have been
dazzled; nay, we have been bewitched'" (Al-Hijr: 1415).
125That is,
unlike the truth-loving people to whom the Qur'an brings peace of the mind and
heart, it passes like a hot iron rod through the hearts of the disbelievers,
which sets them ill at ease, and they, instead of pondering over its themes,
start looking for subterfuges to deny it.
126The kind of torment with
which the tribes and communities mentioned above were punished.
127That
is, "Until the criminals are actually overtaken by the torment, they do not
believe in the Prophet. Then they feel remorse and desire to be given some
respite when it is too late.
128There is a subtle gap between this and
the preceding sentence, which the reader himself can fill with a little
thinking. They were asking for the torment to be hastened because they were not
sure that it would ever come. They were confident that they would continue
living a life of ease and indulgence as they had been living till then. On
account of the same confidence they challenged the Holy Prophet, as if to say,
"If you are a Messenger of Allah, and we deserve to be chastised by Allah
because we have treated you as a liar, then you should hasten that torment on
us, with which you threaten us." At this it is being said, "Well, even if they
be right in their confidence, and the torment is not sent upon them immediately,
and they are allowed a long respite to enjoy life as they expect, the question
is: What will these few years of worldly pleasure and comfort avail them when
the inevitable scourge from Allah overtakes them suddenly as it overtook the 'Ad
and the Thamud, or the people of Lot and of Aiykah, or if they are visited by
death which nobody can escape?
129That is, "We could not be blamed for
any injustice when they did not heed the warning and admonition of the warners
and were destroyed. It would have been injustice if no effort had been made to
admonish them and guide them aright prior to their destruction."
130After
the positive aspect as stated in vv. 192-193, the negative aspect is being
stated that the Qur'an has not been brought down by satans as the enemies of the
Truth allege. The unbelieving Quraish in their campaign to spread lies and
slander against the Holy Prophet were facing a real difficulty. They did not
know how to account for the wonderful discourses which were being presented
before the people in the form of the Qur'an and which were moving their hearts
deeply. They could not stop the Qur'an from reaching the people. The only thing
they could do to counteract its effect and influence was to create doubts and
suspicions about it in their minds and hearts. Therefore, in their desperation
they charged that Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) was a sorcerer, who was
being inspired by the satans, and they considered this charge of theirs to be
the most effective because it could neither be easily verified nor refuted.
131That is, these revelations and themes do not at all suit the satans. Any
person who has a little common sense can well understand that the sublime
discourses being presented in the Qur'an cannot be inspired by the satans. Never
has it happened that the satans might have taught the people through the
sorcerers to worship God and fear Him, or forbidden them from shirk and
idol-worship, or warned them of the accountability of the Hereafter, or
prohibited them from tyranny and sexual and moral evils, and exhorted them
instead to act righteously and do good to others. Such works cannot behoove the
satans. Their only pastime can be to sow the seeds of discord among the people
and to arouse them to mischief and vice. The common observation is that people
visit the sorcerers to find out whether they will succeed in their love affairs
or not, what move would suit them in gambling, what trick and stratagem would be
helpful against the enemy, or who had stolen the camel of so and so. Apart from
such affairs and problems, the sorcerers and their patron-saints cannot be
expected to worry themselves about matters like reforming the people, teaching
them morals and cleansing their lives of vice and evil.
132That is, even
if the satans wanted they could not impart Truth and Goodness to the people like
a true teacher and reformer as the Qur'an does. Even if to deceive the people,
they came out under the guise of a benefactor, their work would not be tree from
blemishes, which would betray their ignorance and their hidden satanic nature.
Similarly the life and the teachings of a person who poses to be a religious
guide, under the influence and inspiration of satans, would inevitably reflect
the wickedness of intention and design. Thus the satans can neither inspire
others with piety and goodness, nor can those, who have any relation with the
satans, become pious and righteous themselves. Then in addition to its high and
noble teachings, the Qur'an is a lucid and eloquent Book, which contains the
knowledge of Reality. That is why it has over and over again put forward the
challenge that human beings and jinns would never be able to produce a book like
the Qur'an even if they collaborated with all their energies and capacities.
"Declare this: Even if human beings and jinns should cooperate with one another
to bring forth a book like the Qur'an, they will never be able to bring anything
like it, even though all of them help one another" (Bani Isra'il: 88).
"Tell them: if what you say be true, then produce one Surah like this, and you
may call to your assistance anyone you can other than Allah." (Yunus: 38).
133That is, "Not to speak of interfering with the revelation of the Qur'an,
the satans are not even given a chance to hear the Qur'an any moment from the
time Angel Gabriel receives it from Allah till he reveals it to the heart of the
Holy Prophet. They are so kept out of its hearing that they cannot get any hint
as to its words and contents so as to tell their friends that the Holy Prophet
was going to give such and such a message to his followers, or that his address
would contain such and such a thing that day. For further details see E. N.'s 8
to 12 of Al-Hijr, E.N.'s 5 to 7 of As -Saffat and Surah Jinn: 8-9-27.
134This does not mean that the Holy Prophet was going to be involved in shirk
from which he was to be admonished to desist. The object was to warn the
disbelievers and polytheists to the effect: "As the message of the Qur'an is
based on pure Truth revealed by the Almighty Ruler of the universe, and there is
no tinge of any satanic impurity in it, there could be no question of showing a
favor to somebody in regard to the Truth. Even if the Holy Messenger himself,
who is nearest to Allah and His most beloved servant, deviated a little from the
path of His obedience and invoked any other deity than Allah, he could not
escape the punishment." When it was so in the case of the Holy Prophet, who else
could have the hope that after committing shirk with regard to Allah, he would
be able to escape the punishment or help others to escape it.
135Just as
there could be no concession or favor for the person of the Prophet in a matter
concerning Allah's religion, so there could be no question of a favor being
shown to the Prophet's family or his nearest kinsfolk. Here the case of
everybody will be judged on merit, and nobody will be shown any favor on account
of his ancestry or relation with somebody else. The accountability of the
Hereafter and punishment for deviation and misdeeds are the same for everybody
and even the Prophet's nearest kinsfolk are no exception. Therefore, the Holy
Prophet was commanded to warn his relatives and kindred to attain the right
belief and to act righteously because they would not escape punishment only by
virtue of being his relations.
There are authentic Traditions to show
that after the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet first of all addressed
the sons and daughters of his grandfather. Calling each one of them by name, he
said: "O children of 'Abdul Muttalib, O 'Abbas, O Safiah, paternal aunt of
Allah's Messenger, O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad! You are warned to beware and
save yourselves from the torment of the Hell-Fire: I cannot protect you from
Allah's punishment; you may, however, demand whatever you like from my worldly
property." Then as was the custom in Arabia, to warn the people of an impending
calamity, he stood on top of Mount Safa one morning and called out: "O people of
Quraish, O children of Ka`b bin Luayy, O children of Murrah, O children of
Qasayy, O children of 'Abd Manaf, O children of 'Abd Shams, O children of Hashim,
O children of `Abdul Muttalib....", and in this way he called out each branch
and clan of the Quraish by name. When all the people had got together, he said,
"O People, if 1 tell you that on the other side of this hill, there is a huge
army ready to attack you, will you believe my word?" With one voice they replied
in the affirmative, saying that they had never heard a lie from him in the past.
Thereupon the Holy Prophet said, "Well, I warn you of the impending scourge of
Allah: save yourselves from His punishment: I cannot be of any help to you
against Him. On the Day of Resurrection, the righteous only will be nearest to
me. Let it not happen that others should corm forth with good deeds and you
should appear with the burden of sins on your heads. Then you will call me for
help, but I shall be constrained to turn my face away from you. Of course, here
in this world, I am bound to you by blood relations, and I shall treat you with
all possible politeness as a good relation should." (Several Traditions on this
subject have been reported in Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Tirmizi, Ibn Jarir
on the authority of Hadrat 'A'ishah, Hadrat Abu Hurairah, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin
'Abbas, Hadrat Zubair bin 'Amr and Hadrat Qabisah bin Makhariq).
The
matter was not simply this that on receipt of the Command to "warn your nearest
kinsfolk", the Holy Prophet called together all his relatives and complied with
it. In fact, the principle it meant to stress was that in the matter of religion
the Prophet and his relations enjoyed no special privilege of which the other
people might be deprived. What was harmful for one man, was harmful for
everybody. The Prophet was supposed to first protect himself from this and then
warn his nearest kinsfolk and the common people of its fatal consequences. On
the other hand, what was good and beneficial for one man, 'was good and
beneficial for all. As. such, the Prophet should first adopt it himself and then
exhort his relatives also to adopt it, so that everybody may see that the
Prophet dces not only preach his message to others but practices it himself also
sincerely. The Holy Prophet followed this principle throughout his life. On the
conquest of Makkah, when he entered the city, he declared: "Every kind of
interest payable from the people during the age of ignorance, is trampled under
my feet, and first of all, I remit the interest payable to my uncle `Abbas." (It
should be noted that before the prohibition of interest, Hadrat 'Abbas traded
money on interest, and a substantial amount of interest payable to him at that
time was outstanding against the people). Once the Holy Prophet ordered cutting
off of the hand of a Quraishite woman, named Fatimah, on the charge of theft.
Hadrat Usamah bin Zaid came to intercede for her, whereupon the Holy Prophet
said: "By God, even if Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, had committed the theft, I
would have ordered amputation of her hand, too."
136This can have two
meanings:
(1) "Treat those of your relatives with kindness, who have
believed in you and followed your teachings practically; as for those who have
not accepted your message, you may declare that you are not responsible for what
they do."
(2) "You should treat with kindness every such person, who
believes in and obeys you, and you should warn every unbeliever that you take no
responsibility for his actions."
This verse shows that at that tune there
were some people among the Quraish and the neighboring Arabs, who had believed
in the truth of the Holy Prophet's message; but they had not as yet started
obeying his teachings practically. They were still, as usual, living the same
life of unbelief among their people as were the other unbelievers. Allah set
apart such believers from those true believers who after belief had adopted
total obedience of the Holy Prophet. The Command "to treat with kindness" was
meant only for the latter group. As for those who had turned away from his
obedience, and who included both those who believed in the truth of his message
and those who rejected it, the Holy Prophet was instructed to disown them, and
tell them plainly that they themselves were responsible for their deeds, and
that after giving them the warning he was not at all responsible for what they
did.
137That is, "You should not care at all for any worldly power,
howsoever big and strong, but should continue to perform your mission with
complete trust in that Being Who is Mighty as well as Merciful. He is Mighty
and, therefore, anybody enjoying His support, cannot be overcome by any other
power; He is Merciful and, therefore, He will not let go waste the sacrifices
and efforts of the one who struggles for the sake of raising His Word in the
world.
138"Getting up" may mean getting up for the Prayers during the
night, or coming out for the purpose of performing the Prophetic Mission.
139This can have several meanings:
(1) Allah watches you when in the
congregational Prayers you stand and sit and perform Ruku' and Sajdah with your
followers behind you.
(2) He watches you when you get up in the night to
see what your Companions (whose mark of distinction is that "they prostrate
themselves in worship") are doing for their own well-being in the Hereafter.
(3) He is fully aware of how you and your Companions are endeavoring to
reform the people.
(4) He is fully aware of all your efforts to
revolutionize the lives of the people who "prostrate themselves in worship"; He
knows what sort of training you are giving them to reform them; how you have
purified their lives and transformed them into the best people.
These
characteristics of the Holy Prophet and his Companions have a special
significance in the context here. In the first place, the Holy Prophet deserves
Allah's Mercy and His Support for Allah, being All-Hearing and All-Knowing, is
fully aware of the struggle he is waging for His cause and of the efforts he is
making to reform his Companions. Secondly, when a person is living such a noble
life as Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) is actually living,
and the characteristics of his followers are those which Muhammad's Companions
have, only an idiot can have the boldness to say that he is inspired by the
satans, or that he is a poet. People are fully aware of the lives of the
sorcerers who are inspired by the satans and also of the poets and their
admirers living among them. Can anybody honestly say that there is no difference
whatever between the noble life being led by Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's
peace) and his Companions and the sort of life being led by the poets and the
sorcerers? Then, what is it if not sheer impudence that the former are openly
being branded as poets and sorcerers without any shame?
140This implies
the sorcerers, astrologers, fortune-tellers and conjurers who pose as knowers of
the unseen and tell the people their future, or as wise men who have control
over jinns and spirits and can make the destinies of the people through them.
141This may have two meanings: (1) The satans somehow get a little hint
of the truth and inspire their agents with it, mixing it with all kinds of
falsehood; and (2) the deceitful, unscrupulous sorcerers hear something from the
satans and then mixing it with falsehood, whisper it into the people's ears.
This has been explained in a Tradition which Bukhari has quoted on the authority
of Hadrat 'A'ishah. She says that when some people asked the Holy Prophet about
sorcerers, he replied that they were nothing. They said, "O Messenger of Allah,
they, sometimes, tell the right thing" The Holy Prophet answered, "That right
thing is overheard by the jinns who whisper it into their friend's ear, who
concocts a story by mixing a lot of falsehood in it."
142That is, the
people who follow and accompany the poets, are wholly different in, their
characteristics, habits and temper from those who follow and accompany Muhammad
(upon whom be Allah's peace). The difference between the two groups is so
obvious that one group can be easily distinguished from the other. On the one
side, there are the people who are characterized by the high seriousness,
civilized and gentle behavior, righteousness and fear of God, sense of
responsibility and a high regard for the rights of others; people who are fair
and just in their dealings, . who do not utter a word except in the cause of
goodness, who have a high and pure ideal before them, which they pursue with
single-minded devotion and for whose attainment they expend all their energies
and capabilities. On other side, there are the people whose only pastime is to
portray erotic scenes of love and wine-drinking, mocking and jesting, satirizing
and eulogizing, or to arouse feelings of hatred and enmity and vengeance against
others, or to describe charms of unchaste women to the brothel or of chaste
ladies in the houses, only for the sake of pleasing the people and winning their
applause. From the crowds who throng the poetic sessions and follow the "famous"
poets, one cannot help forming the impression that those people are free from
every moral restriction, who have no object in life except to gratify the lusts
of the flesh like animals, and who have no idea whatever of the higher and
nobler ideals and ends of life. The person who cannot see the obvious difference
between the two types is indeed blind. But if in spite of seeing and knowing the
difference, only for the purpose of suppressing the Truth, he says that Muhammad
(upon whom be Allah's peace) and his Companions are no different from the poets
and their followers, he is not only a liar but has also transgressed all bounds
of modesty and decency.
143That is, they follow no fixed pattern for
their thought and speech. but wander aimlessly in every valley. Every new
impulse makes them take up a new theme regardless as to whether it has any truth
in it or not. Under one momentary impulse they would start uttering wise things;
under another they would give expression to filthy and base feelings. If they
felt pleased with somebody, they would exaggerate his praises, and if they felt
offended by him, they would condemn him and run him down to hell. If they had a
selfish motive, attached with somebody, they would feel no hesitation in giving
preference to a miserly person over a generous person and to a cowardly person
over a gallant person. On the contrary, if they felt displeased with somebody,
they would not feel any shame in blotting his character and ridiculing him and
his ancestors. That is why, one can tied God-worship and atheism, materialism
and spiritualism, morality and immorality, piety and filthiness, seriousness and
jesting, eulogy and satire expressed side by side in the poetry of one and the
same poet. A person who is aware of these well known characteristics of the
poets cannot reconcile himself to charging the recipient of the Qur'an with
poetry, whose every discourse and word is clear and precise, whose objective is
clearly defined, and who has never in his life uttered a word deviating in any
way from the path of truth, righteousness and virtue.
At another place in
the Qur'an, it has been stated that poetry is not suited to the temperament of
the Holy Prophet: "We have not taught him poetry, nor does it suit him." (Ya
Sin: 69). And this fact was fully known to the people who had any personal
acquaintance with the Holy Prophet. Authentic Traditions show that he could not
recite a complete verse from memory. If ever during conversation he remembered
of a good verse of some poet, he would recite it without much care and regard
for its meter and order of words.
Once Hadrat `A'ishah was asked whether
the Holy Prophet ever made use of poetic verses in his discourses. She replied
that he hated poetic verses the most, though sometimes he would recite a verse
of a poet of Bani Quais, but in so doing he would unconsciously change the order
of its words. When Hadrat Abu Bakr corrected him, he would say, "Brother, I am
not a poet, nor composing poetry is my object. " Arabic poetry abounded in
themes of sex and love romances, wine drinking, tribal hatreds and feuds,
ancestry pride and vanity and made little or no mention of pure and noble
themes. It was so saturated with falsehood, exaggeration, false accusations,
undue praise , vanity, satiric invectives, jesting and polytheistic obscenities
that the Holy Prophet once remarked: "It is better that the interior of one of
you be filled with pus than with poetic verses" However, if there was something
good in a verse, he would appreciate it, and say, "Some verses are based on
wisdom." When he heard the verses of Umayyah bin Abi-Salt, he said, "His verse
is a believer but his heart a disbeliever." Once a Companion recited a hundred
or so good verses before him, and he went on urging him to recite more.
144This characteristic of the poets was just the antithesis of the Holy
Prophet's conduct and practice. Everybody knew that the Holy Prophet said what
he practiced and practiced what he said. The fact that there was complete
conformity between his word and deed, could not be denied by anybody. On the
contrary, everyone was well aware that the poets said one thing and practiced
just the opposite of it. For instance, they would express noble themes of
generosity, indifference to worldly wealth, contentment and self-respect in
their poetry, but, in practical life, they would turn out to be extremely stingy
and cowardly, avaricious and selfish. They would find fault with others on
trifles, but would themselves be involved in grave moral weaknesses.
145Here those poets have made an exception from the general reproach, who
possess the following four characteristics:
(1) They should be believers
in Allah, His Prophets, His Books and the Hereafter.
(2) They should be
pious in practical life and not sinners, nor free from moral restrictions to say
whatever they like.
(3) They should be remembering Allah much in their
day to day lives as well as in their literary work. It should not be so that
their personal lives reflect God-consciousness and piety, but their poetry is
replete with themes of debauchery and lusts of the flesh, or that their poetry
is full of serious themes of wisdom and God-consciousness, but their personal
lives are devoid of any trace of the remembrance of Allah. As a matter of fact,
both these states are equally despicable. A good poet is he who is God conscious
in his personal life and whose poetic talent and skills also are devoted to the
advancement of the way of life followed by the God-conscious, God-fearing and
God-worshiping people.
(4) They should not satirize others for personal
reasons, nor take vengeance on others on account of personal, racial and
national prejudices, but when they are required to support the truth, they
should use their literary powers like weapons of war against the unjust and
treacherous people. It does not behoove the believers to adopt a humble,
supplicating attitude against injustice and oppression. Traditions show that
when the unbelieving and mushrik poets raised a storm of false accusations
against Islam and the Holy Prophet and spread the poison of hatred against the
Muslims, the Holy Prophet urged and encouraged the poets of Islam to counter
attack them. Once he said to Ka`b bin Malik, "Satirize them, for, I swear by God
in Whose hand is my soul, your verse will be more effective and damaging for
them than the arrow. " Likewise he said to Hassan bin Thabit, "Deal with them
and Gabriel is with you". And, "Say and the Holy Spirit is with you." Once he
said, "The believer fights with the sword as well as with the tongue. "
146"The iniquitous people": The people who out of sheer obduracy calumniated the
Holy Prophet of being a sorcerer, poet and a mad and enchanted man, in order to
defeat Islam, and to confuse the other people and distract them from his message
and invitation.