سِيرُ

16:37; 30:43; 40:83.

Commentary:

In this verse the disbelievers are warned that they will not be allowed to arrest or retard the progress of the Holy Prophet’s noble cause; on the contrary, by opposing him they will only bring ruin upon themselves. The lesson is writ large on the pages of history that denial of truth has always led disbelievers to destruction and desolation. In the next verse the Holy Prophet is consoled and comforted that he should not feel distressed because of the plots and conspiracies of his enemies, as their evil designs can do him no harm and will only recoil on their own heads.

10:5; 30:28.

Commentary:

The theme of the preceding verse has further been developed in this verse and the disbelievers are told just to have a glance over the histories of the nations that lived in the past and see that when God intended to create a new order and a new nation, He raised a new Prophet, and when his people rejected him they were destroyed and another people took their place. The Holy Prophet’s rejecters are thus warned that if they did not take a lesson from the fate of the rejecters of former Prophets they will also come to history of all religions that rejection of the Divine Message always has landed the disbelievers into ruin.

The expressions سیروا فی الارض (travel in the land) and أولم یسیروا فی الارض (have they not travelled in the land) have been used at several places in the Quran (6:12; 12:110; 30:10; 35:45; 40:83), and almost everywhere they have been followed by a sentence which points to the terrible fate which the rejecters of the Divine Message had met. This shows that in the present case also where this expression has been followed by the words "then see how He originated the creation, then will Allah create the latter creation," it points to the destruction of one people and the creation of another in their place. Thus the verse does not refer to the Resurrection after death. It only draws attention to the phenomenon of the rise and decline of nations and their rise after their decline.

7:39; 13:31; 41:26; 46:19.

6:12; 12:110; 27:70.

Important Words:

سنن (dispensations) is the plural of سنة which is derived from سن. They say سنه i.e. he whetted or sharpened it (knife, appetite, etc.). سن العقده means, he undid the knot. سن الامر means, he made known or manifested the matter or the affair or the case. سن الشیء means, he shaped or formed or fashioned the thing. سن الطریقه means, he followed or pursued the way or course. سن علیھم سنة means, he established or instituted or prescribed for them a law or custom or mode of conduct. سنة means, (1) face or form; (2) way or course or rule of conduct; (3) way of acting instituted or pursued by a people and followed by others after them; (4) character or conduct or nature or disposition; (5) law or religious law or dispensation (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

The clause, there have been many dispensations before you, means that there have gone before you men who followed different ways and possessed diverse characters; or there have passed before you many dispensations and many nations following different systems or laws. So you should journey in the earth and see what class of men were saved and who perished and what the end of those who persisted in evil was.

12:110; 22:47; 35:45; 47:11.

4:41; 9:70; 10:45; 18:50; 29:32.

Important Words:

أثاروا (tilled) is derived from ثار which means, it was or became raised or stirred up; it spread; it rose. ثار الماء means, the water flowed forth with force; it gushed forth. أثارہ means, he raised or roused him or it. أثار الارض means, he tilled the ground or land; he cultivated it by ploughing and sowing. أثار الفتنة بینھم means, he excited mischief amongst them (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse indicates that there had lived in the past people who had attained to a very high stage of civilization and culture; particularly they had made great progress in the art of architecture, mining and cultivation. Recent researches in archaeology have borne testimony to this fact. The Quran had referred to this fact fourteen hundred years ago.

3:138; 22:47; 27:70.

Commentary:

When the disbelievers were told, in reply to their demand for the coming of an angel, that disbelievers saw angels only when they came with punishment from God, the disbelievers arrogantly said, "Let them come with it then". The verse tells them that such foolhardy demands were made by their predecessors also; so let them go about in the land and see what was the end of such people.

16:37; 27:70; 40:83.

Commentary:

The verse warns disbelievers that their rejection of the Holy Prophet would lead them to ruin. The fact that the rejection and persecution of Divine Messengers has always resulted in the destruction of the rejecters is writ large on the pages of history.

16:44; 21:8.

Commentary:

It is clear from this verse that only men, not women, can become Prophets. In fact, men and women have their specific spheres of work, the office of prophethood being outside the sphere of women. All other spiritual favours and blessings, however, are as open to women as to men.

The verse also warns disbelievers that their present pomp and power should not deceive them into thinking that they will indefinitely continue to enjoy these things. The time was fast approaching when their power and glory would depart and the people would see the truth and accept Islam. Their days would end in adversity and degradation, unlike those of the believers, whose condition would continue to improve, though sincere believers always enjoy perfect peace of mind even in adversity.

Commentary:

The words "the towns which we had blessed" refer to the towns of Palestine, the seat of Solomon’s government with which the Sabaeans carried on prosperous trade.

قری ظاھرة meaning towns situated so near to each other as to be easily visible; well known or prominent towns; towns situated on high ground, the verse shows that the route from Yemen to Palestine and Syria was very frequented, safe and prosperous and was densely populated and the towns in the way were situated so close to each other as to be easily visible.

10:48; 13:8; 35:25.

7:31.

3:138; 6:12.

Commentary:

This verse supplies several answers to the objection of disbelievers mentioned in the previous verse. The first answer is that God had raised Prophets among different peoples at different times and every one of these Prophets had taught the Unity of God. If the contention of disbelievers that polytheism was permitted and countenanced by God had any basis in fact then one or other of these Prophets should have subscribed to this doctrine. But all the Prophets most vehemently denounced polytheism in every shape and form.

The second answer is implied in the words, We did raise among every people a Messenger, which mean that if God had chosen to employ force in the matter of faith, then there was no need for so many Prophets to come to convey to man the will of God. One Prophet would have sufficed through whom God would have guided to the right path those whom He desired. The long succession of Prophets who appeared among different peoples at different times to exhort them to live righteous lives constitutes a strong proof that man is created a free agent.

The third answer is contained in the injunction "shun the Evil One". If it were true that good and evil had been predetermined by God and man is only the victim of determinism, there is no sense in such an injunction, and in sending so many Prophets, for in that case every man’s course would have been predetermined. The fourth answer consists in the fact that at the appearance of every Prophet a certain number of people who before his advent are polytheists renounce their wrong doctrines and become believers in the Unity of God. In the event of man’s actions having been predetermined, he could not possibly effect a change in his beliefs or actions. The fact that on the occasion of the advent of every Prophet a certain number of disbelievers join the ranks of believers is positive proof of the fact that man has been endowed with freewill and that he is the master of his own destiny.

Divine visitations that have invariably overtaken disbelievers in all ages constitute yet another very cogent proof that man has been created free and is not the object or victim of a predetermined fate because there is no sense or justification in punishment overtaking a person who is not free to act as he likes.

12:110; 22:47; 30:10; 40:22; 47:11.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that if disbelievers have any doubt that their rejection of and opposition to the Holy Prophet will not be punished, then let them "travel in the earth and see how evil was the end of those who were before them," and who rejected God’s Prophets in their own time. Let them remember that it is God’s unalterable decree that all their plans and plots to bring the Holy Prophet to naught will end in failure and the cause of Islam will triumph over disbelief.