قُرَى

6:132; 11:118; 20:135; 26:209.

Commentary:

Two laws have been enunciated in this verse: (1) No people are punished until God has first raised among them a Messenger who warns them of the impending punishment and exhorts them to repent and give up their evil ways. (2) No people are punished unless they have given themselves up to sin and iniquity and have completely closed the doors of repentance upon themselves.

The unusual frequency and universality of natural calamities in the form of famines, wars, earthquakes and epidemics during the last five or six decades call for the appearance of a Divine Messenger in the present time. That Divine Messenger appeared in the fullness of time in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement.

6:156; 21:51; 38:30.

42:8.

23:10; 70:24.

Important Words:

مبارك (full of blessings) is derived from برك . They say برك الجمل i.e. the camel kneeled and lay down on his chest with his legs folded. برك also means, he or it was or became firm, steady or steadfast. برك علی فلان (barraka) means, he prayed that such a one might be blessed. بارك علیه means, he kept or applied himself constantly to it. بارك الله علیك or بارك الله فیك means, may God bless thee and make thee prosperous, or may He continue to shower blessings on thee. تبارك الله means, blessed is God; or hallowed is He; or far removed is He from every imperfection; or highly exalted is He. برکة (barakat) means, a blessing; any good bestowed by God, particularly that which continues and goes on increasing. It also means, increase, abundance or plenty. برکة (birkah) means, a tank dug in the ground; a lake or pond; a place where water remains and collects. مبارك means, blessed; gifted with blessing; abounding in good (Lane).

ام (mother), apart from its primary meaning, also signifies: source, origin, foundation or basis; support or cause of subsistence; the main or chief part of a thing; anything to which other things are collected together or joined; place of collection or comprehension or combination of a thing. The word is also applied to inanimate things, as the Arabs say ام الشجرة i.e. the mother of the tree; or ام النجوم i.e. the Milky Way, viz. the place where the stars are collected together in a great multitude. ام القری signifies, the mother of the towns; the metropolis; Mecca, because, being the Qiblah it is the gathering-place of men, or because of all towns it possesses the greatest dignity. In fact, every city is the ام of the smaller towns around it (Lane). Mecca is called ام القری also because it is the source of spiritual food for mankind.

Commentary:

This verse further explains the rational argument contained in the words, you have been taught that which neither you nor your fathers knew (see note on the preceding verse), and makes it clear that it is the Quran that the words quoted above refer to. The present verse mentions four features of the Quran: (1) it has been sent by God; (2) it is full of blessings as the word مبارك indicates, i.e. it is a Book in which, like a برکة (a place where water collects), are collected all the blessings of God; (3) it fulfils that which preceded it, i.e. it fulfils the prophecies contained in the previous Scriptures; and (4) it has been revealed so that the Holy Prophet may warn thereby the Mother of towns and those around her. The place where a Prophet of God appears is called "the mother of towns," for it is out of it that men drink spiritual milk, even as a child sucks milk from the breast of its mother. The words, those around her, are intended to include the whole earth. The earth being round, all parts of it lie around the place where the Holy Prophet made his appearance, i.e. Mecca. Thus, this verse also proves the universal mission of the Holy Prophet.

The words, those who believe in the Hereafter believe therein, signify that a true believer in the life to come cannot but believe in the Quranic teaching. In fact, he who has real faith in the life to come will always be anxious to find out the truth in order to ensure his salvation, and he who earnestly seeks after truth will necessarily be led to believe in the Quran, for as the Quran says: those who strive in Our cause—We will surely guide them in Our ways (29:70). Thus, belief in the Quran is really a criterion of true faith in the Day of Resurrection. Again, when a man comes to have faith in the Quran, he will naturally try to mould his actions according to its teachings and will be constant in his Prayers.

11:118; 20:135; 26:209; 28:60.

Commentary:

The word القری (towns) refers to all those cities, towns and villages to which a Prophet of God is sent. As the Holy Prophet was raised for all mankind, the word would, in his case, apply to the whole world.

The expression بظلم (unjustly) also means, "by reason of their iniquity." The verse would then be translated: "That is because thy Lord would not destroy the towns on account of their iniquity, while their people were unwarned."

The verse gives an important law of God—that He never sends general calamities upon cities on account of their iniquities, unless He first warns them of the impending punishment by sending a warner.

If God had destroyed cities without first raising a Messenger, the people might have excused themselves by saying that, being unwarned, they were following their own reason. After receiving a warner, however, they have no excuse left to them. The world has been visited with widespread calamities in the present age, and in accordance with the law enunciated in the verse under comment, there must have appeared a warner in this age too. There has indeed come a great warner in the person of Ahmad of Qadian, the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, who has warned the world of impending disasters and called it to repentance. Let the God-fearing ponder over it.

The verse also shows that the calamities here referred to are not calamities which overtake individuals only, but general calamities which smite whole peoples and nations, as has been the case in the present age.

2:104; 5:66.

Commentary:

In this verse the words, the people of those towns, refer to all the different peoples mentioned in the foregoing verses. The verse is thus intended to sum up the given narration with a view to introducing the case of the people of the Holy Prophet’s time.

The words لفتحنا الخ rendered as, We would have surely opened for them blessings from heaven and earth, may signify: "We would have taught them wisdom or granted them knowledge from heaven as well as from earth". By earthly wisdom or knowledge is meant that wisdom or knowledge which a person acquires from personal observation or from his fellowmen; but the wisdom or knowledge from Heaven is that wisdom or knowledge which comes directly from God. The word "blessings" may also be taken in the physical sense. In this case blessings from heaven would mean, for example, timely rains, extraordinary success, the removal of diseases, etc., while blessings from the earth would signify, for example, abundant produce of land, peace and order, etc.

7:5.

Commentary:

In this and the following verse the words اھل القری (people of these towns) refer to the people of the time of the Holy Prophet to whom the Quran now turns as a fitting sequel to the story of bygone peoples who were destroyed by God for rejecting their Prophets. The verse thus purports to warn the people of Mecca and other towns of Arabia that their turn is fast approaching and that the punishment of God may overtake them at any moment of negligence.

7:5.

Commentary:

Whereas the preceding verse mentioned the time of night and sleep, the present one refers to the time of forenoon and play—both times of extreme negligence and forgetfulness.

3:185; 5:33.

Commentary:

The word القری (the towns) again refers here to ancient towns fallen into ruin. The Quran reverts to their mention in order to emphasize the seriousness of a Prophet’s rejection and to introduce the narration of yet another by-gone people, the rejecters of Moses.

By using the words, some of whose news, the verse makes it clear that the Quran has not given the entire history of by-gone peoples but only the relevant parts of it. Nevertheless, no book of history contains more reliable information about the peoples of ‘Ad and Thamud than does the Quran, and students of history have admitted that what the Quran tells us is the only authentic and reliable knowledge that we possess about these ancient peoples, and all other stories current about them may be only so many myths. As regards Lot, later Jewish writers have admitted that he was a Prophet of God, as the Quran represents him to be, though the Bible does not seem to accord him this rank.

The verse hints that as the Holy Prophet represents in his person all the Prophets that have gone before him, therefore his rejecters will be visited with all the various forms of punishment that befell the rejecters of former Prophets.

The opponents of God’s Prophets are in the habit of rejecting their claims on the basis of mere hearsay and make-believe. The result of such a hasty rejection is that the hearts of the rejecters become sealed and they become deprived of the power to understand the arguments and signs which God shows to establish the truth of His Messengers. The verse thus throws light on how the hearts or minds of disbelievers are sealed. They are sealed only when disbelievers refuse to make use of their God-given power of reasoning and understanding.

20:100.

Important Words:

قری (cities) is the plural of قریة and means, (1) the people of the towns; or (2) the towns themselves (Aqrab).

حصید (mown down like the harvest) is derived from حصد. They say حصد الزرع i.e. he reaped or cut the harvest with a scythe. حصد القوم بالسیف means, he mowed down the people with the sword. The proverb من زرع الشر حصد الندامة means, he who sows evil reaps remorse. حصید means, reaped seed-produce; mown down with the sword like reaped seed-produce; an harvest that is cut or mown down; also the lower part of the harvest which remains after the latter is cut down (Lane & Aqrab). See also 6:142.

Commentary:

In the first mentioned sense of the word قری the word قائم (standing) would mean that the progeny of these peoples lived after them and thus, as it were, continued to stand; and in the latter sense it would mean that the remains of some of these towns are still to be found while others have become totally extinct. Similarly, in this sense the word حصید (mown down like the harvest) would mean "a people who have become totally or nearly extinct." If, however, the word قری is taken in the sense of "towns," the word حصید would signify, "towns whose traces have become wholly or nearly extinct."

The verse means that the remains of some of the towns mentioned are still extant, while others have become wholly or nearly obliterated. Consequently, if the ruins of some of the towns mentioned in this Surah cannot be found, the truth of the Quranic narratives cannot be called into question, because the Quran itself uses the word حصید (mown down) with regard to them. If, however, in some future time, archaeologists succeed in discovering the ruins of some towns now extinct, the Quranic account would still be beyond doubt, for the word حصید (mown down) is also used with regard to a harvest that has been cut down with a scythe, the lower part of which still remains visible. See also 10:25.

54:43; 85:13.

Commentary:

This verse gives the reason why all the foregoing events—the destruction of the people of Noah down to Moses have been related. The reason is that when the punishment of God overtakes a people, they are simply annihilated. The enemies of the Holy Prophet are told by implication that they should take warning from the fate of the opponents of former Prophets.

The word ظالمة (doing wrong) is used here in the sense of مشرکة (those who associate gods with God). The word ظلم (wrong) has been used in the sense of شرك (idol-worship) at several places in the Quran. What is meant to be conveyed here is that the punishment which overtakes a people when they become idolaters and lose faith in the Unity of God is most destructive and generally extirpatory, while the ruin which comes upon a people from natural causes is gradual.

6:132; 20:135; 26:209; 28:60.

Commentary:

The verse clearly shows that it is unjust to punish any people unless they make themselves deserving of it by their misdeeds. It is a pity that in spite of the fact that various kinds of afflictions and miseries have fallen upon present-day Muslims, they persist in thinking that they are following the right path. This, in other words, means that they look upon God as unjust and themselves as righteous. The important lesson that we learn from this verse is that as punishment comes only when people become corrupt, therefore when people see signs of an impending punishment they should take a warning from it and should at once set about eschewing evil practices and reforming themselves.

As the word مصلحون (righteous) also means "making peace among themselves", the verse also shows that the way to avert Divine punishment is that people should make peace among themselves and there should be unity and concord among them. In fact, decline and degradation overtake a people only when they are rent by dissensions and discord and fall victim to various kinds of moral and spiritual maladies.