رَّٰزِقِينَ

Commentary:

This verse shows that Jesus approved of the wish of his disciples and, therefore, while praying, he included himself among them.

The words, that it may be to us a festival, to the first of us and to the last of us, embody a great prophecy. There were to be two periods of prosperity and progress for the Christian peoples, as the word عید (festival) literally meaning "a day which returns", shows. The first was to be in the time immediately after Jesus, while the second was to be in the latter days; and the period between these two was to be marked by decay and decline. And this is exactly what is more clearly referred to in the words, to the first of us and to the last of us. Christian peoples were granted worldly goods in abundance in the early ages, i.e. before the rise of Islam, and now in the latter days, i.e. after the decline of Islam, they have had material prosperity and grandeur in such measure as has no parallel in the history of any other religion. But with the advent of the like of Jesus in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, in Islam, the sun is indeed nearing its setting on "the last of the Christians", who can now save themselves only by identifying themselves with him who had come in the spirit and power of their Master.

Commentary:

The subject matter of v. 37 is here repeated to emphasize the fact that disbelievers should not be misled by the present poverty and weakness of Muslims, as the latter are destined to inherit the kingdom of the earth because they have believed in the Message of God Who is the Owner and Controller of all the sources of wealth.

3:196; 8:75; 9:20-22; 16:42.

Commentary:

In v. 57 above God had referred to the reward of believers in general. In this and the next verse the Quran particularly mentions the reward of those believers who left their hearths and homes, their belongings and their dear and near ones for the sake of God. To these "living" martyrs, the verse holds out a promise that they will be specially rewarded for their sacrifices. In fact those who leave their homes and all that is dear to them for the sake of God and spend their lives in serving His cause and then die in harness deserve to be classed with "the martyrs", for their sacrifice is as great as that of the actual martyrs, only, God in His infallible wisdom, spares their lives. This is the significance of the words, "or die". In fact there are two categories of martyrs—"the dead martyrs" and "the living martyrs". The "dead" martyrs are actually slain in the cause of God while the "living" martyrs live a life of perpetual sacrifice for His sake and then die a natural death. The verse under comment places both these classes of "martyrs" in the same category. Those who are slain, or those who die a natural death, serving the cause of God, will have the same reward—a goodly provision and a place with which they will be well-pleased.

Incidentally, the verse shows that it was revealed after the Hijrah, because it was after the Hijrah that fighting in self-defence was permitted and some of the Muslims were killed in the fighting. In fact, some parts of the Surah were revealed at Mecca and others at Medina. The Surah may thus be said to have been revealed both at Mecca and Medina.

52:41; 68:47.

Important Words:

خرجا (reward) is derived from خرج which means, he came or went out or departed. خرج means, disbursement or expenditure; what goes out or is expended of a man’s property; a poll-tax, recompense or reward. خراج means, a tax or tribute that is taken from the property of people; a tax upon land; an impost; a poll-tax; reward or recompense; the taste of fruit (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Could there be any better evidence of the Holy Prophet’s sincerity of motives and honesty of purpose and of his complete disregard for any recompense or reward for his selfless service than the answer he gave to his kind and loving uncle Abu Talib when, on being pressed by the Quraishite leaders, Abu Talib asked the Holy Prophet to make a compromise with the idolaters and give up preaching against idol-worship? The never-to-be-forgotten answer which the Holy Prophet gave to his uncle was:

"If they were to place the sun on my right hand and the moon on my left and ask me to give up preaching against idolatry, I will never do so till my mission is fulfilled or I perish in the attempt" (Tabari, vol. 3).

Commentary:

It is apparent from v. 3, that the Surah, particularly deals with the time of the Promised Messiah whose advent has been referred to as the advent of the Holy Prophet himself. The verse under comment shows that in the Messiah’s time trade and commerce will engross people’s attention and they will have little time to give to God Whom they will consign to complete oblivion. To add to man’s forgetfulness of God, there will be all sorts of amusements, sports and pastimes to divert his attention from God. Muslims have been admonished in the verse not to neglect their spiritual well-being in the pursuit of material gains and sensuous pleasures.