خَافُ

20:41; 26:15.

Commentary:

In this verse Moses alludes only to the mere fact of a man having been accidentally killed by him and not that he pleads guilty to the charge of deliberately killing him.

20:30-33; 26:14.

Important Words:

ردأ (helper) is infinitive noun from ردأ (rada’). They say ردأ الحائط i.e. he supported or propped the wall by means of a piece of timber or wood or buttress to prevent it from falling. ردأ means, he helped, aided or assisted him. ردء means, a buttress or the like by means of which a wall is strengthened and supported; a thing by means of which one is helped, aided or assisted; a helper or aider. They say فلان ردء فلان i.e. such a one is an aider to such a one (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse contains a strong and highly forceful appeal in favour of orphans. Those to whom the guardianship of orphans is entrusted are told to imagine just how they would feel if they knew that they were to die leaving behind little children and no one to take care of them. The implication is that they should treat their wards as kindly as they would like their own little children to be treated in case of their own death.

7:28; 16:101; 35:7.

Commentary:

The expression یخوف اولیاءہ rendered in the text as, Satan only frightens his friends, may mean: (1) Satan tries to make believers fear disbelievers, who are his friends; (2) he frightens disbelievers themselves, i.e. he becomes the cause of their fear, for the friends of Satan can never be brave. In the latter case the pronoun "them" in, so fear them not, would refer to the noun الناس (people) in 3:174 above.

2:229.

2:238; 4:33.

Important Words:

قوامون (guardians) is derived from قام i.e. he stood. They say قام علیه i.e. he tended or took care of it or him. قام بالیتم means, he maintained the orphan. قام علی المرأة means, he undertook the maintenance of the woman; he undertook or managed her affairs; he protected her, or became her guardian. قوم الشیء (qawwama) means, he set the thing right, or made it straight or even. قوام therefore means, one who manages affairs well; a ruler or governor; one in a position to issue orders (Lane & Aqrab).

قانتات (obedient) is the plural of قانتة being the active participle from قنت. They say قنت لله i.e. he was obedient to God. امرأة قنوت means, a woman humble, submissive and obedient to her husband (Lane). See also 2:117.

نشوز (disobedience) is the noun-infinitive from نشز i.e. he rose or raised himself. نشزت المرأة علی زوجھا means, the woman rose against, or was disobedient to her husband and exalted herself against him and resisted him and was an evil companion to him. نشز المرء علی زوجته means, the husband treated his wife unjustly and was unkind to her or forsook her or hated her and was an evil companion to her (Lane & Aqrab).

اھجروھن (leave them alone). ھجر means, he cut him off from friendly or loving communion or intercourse; he forsook or abandoned him; he "cut" him, i.e. he boycotted him and ceased to speak to him or to associate with him. ھجر الشیء means, he forsook, or abandoned the thing; he shunned or avoided it. ھجر زوجته means, he separated himself from his wife or kept away from her (Lane & Mufradat).

اضربوھن (chastise them) is derived from ضرب. They say ضربه i.e. he beat, struck, smote or hit him (with hand, stick, etc.); hence, he chastised him.

علیا (High) is derived from علا i.e. he or it was or became high, elevated, lofty or exalted. تعالی means, he was or became high, elevated, exalted or supremely exalted or extolled. علی means high, elevated or lofty in rank, condition or state. العلیwhich is one of the attributive names of God (e.g. 2:256) means, the High; the Most High; He above Whom is nothing. المتعالی is also an attributive name of God (e.g. 13:10) meaning, He Who is Great or Supremely Great, the High or the Most High; One Higher than every other high one. تعال means, come thou, as if said by a man in a high place when calling upon a man in a low place, but is also used generally (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse gives two reasons why man has been made the head of the family: (a) his superior mental and physical powers; (b) his being bread-earner and maintainer of the family. It is natural and fair that he who earns and supplies the money should have the final say in the disposal of affairs.

The word قانتات (obedient) spoken of wives may mean either obedient to God, or to husbands.

The expression, guard the secrets of their husbands, means that when the husbands are at home, they are obedient to them and guard their secrets; and when they are away, they not only guard their secrets but take care of their property and guard their own chastity.

The clause, leave them alone in their beds, may mean: (a) abstention from conjugal relations with them; (b) sleeping in separate beds; or (c) ceasing to talk to them. The use of the word "beds" also incidentally implies that the disobedient wives are to stay at home and are not to be allowed to leave or be turned out of their homes.

The measures mentioned in the verse are not to remain in force for an indefinite period, for wives are not to be left like a thing suspended (4:130). Four months, according to the Quran, is the utmost limit for abstention from conjugal relations, i.e. for practical separation (2:227).

If the husband deems the affair to be sufficiently grave, he will have to observe the conditions mentioned in 4:16.

Regarding "chastisement" mentioned as a last resort in the verse under comment a Companion reports the Holy Prophet to have said that if at all a Muslim has to beat his wife, the beating should not be such as to leave any mark on her body (Tirmidhi, ch. on Rida‘). According to Abu Dawud and Nasa’i, the Holy Prophet forbade the beating of women at all, but when ‘Umar complained that they had become refractory, he gave the permission with the aforementioned condition; but on complaint of ill-treatment of women by their husbands he indignantly said that the husbands who beat their wives were not the best among men (Kathir, iii). On another occasion the Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "The best among you is he who treats his wife best and I am the best of you in this respect" (Tirmidhi).

The Divine attributes of "High and Great" mentioned at the end of the verse are also intended to warn husbands that the chastisement of their wives, if at all resorted to should not be unjust or vindictive or highhanded; for if they are high and great above their wives, there is One Who is High and Great above all and He shall call husbands to account for any improper use of the qualified authority given to them over their wives.

Commentary:

The expression, I am not going to stretch out my hand against thee to kill thee, does not mean that Abel did not even desire to defend himself. These words only mean that if he were forced to stretch forth his hand towards his brother, it would not be with the intention of slaying him, but only in self-defence. The declaration was necessary, for there are cases in which both the slayer and the slain become equally guilty. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that not unoften "both the slayer and the slain go to Hell." This hadith obviously refers to such slain persons as engage in a fight with the intention of killing their opponents, but it so happens that the latter get the better of them and kill them. In such cases, the intention of both parties being equally criminal, both are guilty and both deserve to be cast into Hell. But Abel, who desired to live righteously and die righteously, would not stain his conduct even in a moment of extreme danger and wanted to take good care that he did not overstep the limits of the right of self-defence.

3:161; 5:12; 9:51.

Important Words:

علیھم (against them). The word علی as a particle has several meanings. Here it gives the meaning of "against" (Lane). The Quran says: ولھم علی ذنب i.e. and they have a crime or offence standing against me (26:15). In his Arabic Grammar, Wright says that the particle علی is sometimes used in "a hostile sense in which case it can be generally rendered as 'against' or 'upon', as in خرج علیه i.e. he went out against him or he rebelled against him."

Commentary:

The two "men" spoken of here are generally supposed to be Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh (Num. 14:6). But from the context Moses and Aaron appear more likely to be the two "men" here referred to.

The word رجل (man) is thus here expressive of manliness and courage. By using this word, the Quran means to say that of that big host of cowardly people there were only two men who were truly brave and courageous. That these two brave men were Moses and Aaron themselves may also be inferred from the fact that when these two "men" spoke to their people, and urged them to "enter" the land, the latter, in reply, addressed none other but Moses, saying, O Moses, we will never enter it so long as they remain in it (5:25), thus making it clear that it was Moses himself who had spoken to them the words contained in this verse. Again, when the people refused to obey Moses, he is reported to have prayed to God, saying, My Lord, I have power over none but myself and my brother, therefore make Thou a distinction between us and the rebellious people (5:26). Now, if the two "men" had been other than Moses and Aaron, they should have certainly been included in his prayer by Moses, because they had deserved it by boldly offering to enter the land in spite of resistance, exhorting others also to do so. But Moses prayed only for himself and his brother, which shows that the two men whom God praises as "men", (i.e. brave men) and of whom He speaks as His favoured ones were Moses and Aaron themselves. God does not name them but simply speaks of them as رجلان i.e. "two brave men" in order to praise their manliness and courage and at the same time to condemn by implication the cowardice of the other Israelites who were with them.

The expression, enter the gate advancing against them, possesses a spiritual connotation as well. For every person there is a "holy land", which is his goal and paradise. Allah has "ordained" this "holy land" for man (5:22) because he has been created for it. But the cowardly and the low-spirited are always afraid of entering it. They are too timorous to face "the rebellious ones", i.e. the evil ones and their own evil inclinations. They desire to enter Heaven without deserving it, without any exertion on their part, without facing and fighting their evil passions and without fighting those who stand in their way. They tremble and quail before the trials and tribulations that confront them. But here, too, God has created for every person "two men", i.e. two wise counsellors who encourage him and exhort him not to be afraid of difficulties and to follow undauntedly the path that leads to eternal happiness and everlasting bliss. These two counsellors are (1) human reason and (2) man’s pure and unsullied nature. These two go on telling man and urging him that he need only be up and doing and God will help him. He should boldly face trials and God will make everything easy for him, and he will come out of the struggle victorious and triumphant. Most men, however, wish that the power of their enemies should break of itself, but it cannot break without their using the weapon of self-sacrifice. "Forty years", as hinted in 5:27 below, is the time required by man to attain to perfect manhood. This is a sufficiently long time. If he does not mend his ways during this period and defies the dictates of reason and conscience, he is lost, and there is little hope for him. But if he makes up his mind boldly to meet the evil influences, he may be saved. He need only take heart and make bold to enter the struggle, and what appears to him to be a thick jungle of difficulties will turn out to be a garden, the seeming "Hell" assuming the form of a veritable "Heaven".

10:16; 39:14.

Commentary:

This verse is an expression of the supreme independence of God. The Holy Prophet is made to say, "O men, it is indeed strange that you should not fear the punishment of God while I, who am a Prophet of God, fear His punishment if I disobey Him." This is an emphatic way of exhorting men to avoid disobedience of God. The expression does not imply that the Holy Prophet is likely to disobey God or even that it is possible for him to do so. It is simply meant to convince disbelievers that God is above all and none can dare disobey Him with impunity.

Commentary:

This verse contains a very effective argument against polytheism. It purports to say that when a master and slave are not equal though they are both human beings, and when the master would not share his wealth and property with his slave, how then could God, the sole Creator and Controller of all things, be equal to idols of wood and stone and how could He be regarded as sharing the control of the universe with anybody. See also 21:23.

3:145.

Important Words:

اذلة (kind and humble) is derived from ذل i.e. he or it was or became low, base, paltry, humble or weak. ذلت الدابة means, the beast became easy, submissive and manageable. ذل الطریق means, the road became beaten and trodden and easy to be travelled. اذله means, he rendered him low, base, humble or weak. ذل (dhillun) or ذل (dhullun) means, submissiveness or manageableness; also gentleness and mercy. ذلیل which is the singular of اذلة means low, base, mean, paltry, humble or weak; easy and smooth; also gentle and merciful (Lane).

اعزة (hard and firm) is the plural of عزیز which is verbal adjective from عز meaning, he was or became mighty, potent, powerful or strong, or high and elevated; he magnified or exalted himself; he resisted or withstood; he was indomitable and invincible; it (a thing) was or became rare, scarce, hard to find; or he or it was or became dear, highly esteemed and greatly valued; or it became difficult and hard. عزیز of which the plural is اعزة means, mighty and powerful; high and elevated; resisting and invincible; hard and difficult rough in manners; rare or scarce or highly esteemed (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:130.

واسع (Bountiful) is derived from وسع i.e. it (place, vessel, etc.) was sufficient or sufficiently large or capacious or ample or abundant. السعة means, width or extent; ampleness or plentifulness; capacity or power. واسع means, possessing ample power or ability; powerful, bountiful; One Who gives to all; One Who encompasses all things (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse lays down an infallible sign of a true and living religion which is that the number of its followers is never allowed to fall or decrease permanently. If one individual goes out of its pale, God brings in a number to take his place. If the followers of a religion are found to be steadily and perpetually decreasing with no arrangement for recovery, that religion must be dead and truth must have departed from it.

The words اذلة علی المؤمنین (kind and humble toward believers) mean that true believers whom God will bring in place of apostates will be susceptible to the influence of brother believers, will be lenient in their dealings with them, will connive at their shortcomings, will be ready to forgive and forget their faults and will love and be kind to them. And the expression اعزة علی الکافرین (hard and firm toward disbelievers) means that they will not be afraid of disbelievers nor will they be susceptible to their baneful influence. In fact, the above are the two main characteristic qualities of a rising people who love God.

The words, They will strive in the cause of Allah, mean that, unlike the weak of faith who are ever ready to turn back from their religion and stumble at every trial, the newcomers will be zealous Muslims, eager to bring others into the fold of Islam.

We are further told in the verse that a true believer is never afraid of laying down his life in the cause of Allah. He does not fear the reproaches of fault-finders or scoffers. He fears neither the sword nor the censure of the enemy.