اِلٰہَ

Important Words:

اله (God) is derived from اله (alaha) which means, he worshipped. So اله means, a thing or person or being worshipped, whether true or false; a deity (Aqrab).

Commentary:

Jacob or Israel was the son of Isaac who was a son of Abraham. Thus Ishmael was the uncle of Jacob, and yet the children of Jacob here include Ishmael among their "fathers" which proves two things: firstly, that the word اب (father) is also used of uncle; and secondly, that up to the time of Jacob’s sons, Ishmael was held in due respect by the Israelites. Nay, the children of Israel mention the name of Ishmael even before that of their own grandfather, Isaac, and do not mention any other son of Abraham.

The words, were you present when death came to Jacob, signify that the principle of submission to the will of God is not an innovation introduced by Islam, but has been recognized by good and righteous people in all times and even Israel, the founder of the Jewish tribes, acted upon that principle, so much so, that the only thought that came to his mind when death approached him was to enjoin the same noble principle upon his children. Israel wished his sons to become pious Muslims; will not the Jews of the Holy Prophet’s day act upon that principle?

In corroboration of what the Quran says about Jacob’s will to his sons, Rodwell quotes the following from Midrash Rabbah: "At the time when our father Jacob quitted this world, he summoned his twelve sons and said to them, Hearken to your father Israel (Gen. 49:2). Have you any doubts in your hearts concerning the Holy One, blessed be He. They said, Hear, o Israel, our father, as there is no doubt in thy heart, so neither is there in ours. For the Lord is our God, and He is One" (Midr. Rabbah on Gen. par. 98, and on Deut. par. 2). Compare also Targ. Jer. on Deut. 6:4.

Commentary:

The words, "To Him belongs all praise in the beginning and the Hereafter," signify that it is not possible to begin a work unless God provides the means for it and that no work can become complete unless He has provided the means for its completion, and that it can produce no result without His help. The expression الا ولٰی و آلاخرة may also signify respectively the Mosaic and Islamic Dispensations.

2:256; 16:23; 22:35; 37:5; 59:23, 24; 112:2.

Commentary:

As all sin springs from feebleness of faith, this verse fittingly refers to the Unity of God, signifying that if people only believed in God’s Unity and refrained from setting up false gods, they would never digress from the right path. It must not, however, be understood that idol-worship consists in worshipping images only. Every man who loves anyone other than God as he ought to love Him, or fears anyone as he ought to fear Him, or trusts in anyone as he ought to trust in Him, is really guilty of idol-worship and must suffer the consequences thereof. In fact, the principal and primary object of religion, is to establish the Unity of God, and the Quran has dealt with this subject in a manner and to an extent which has no parallel in any other Book. Islam condemns both شرك جلی (manifest or visible idolatry) and شرك خفی (hidden or invisible idolatry) in the strongest of terms.

The verse may also signify that, with the advent of Islam, God, the Maker of heavens and earth, no longer remains the God of this or that people only, but becomes the God of all peoples and all mankind. The word الرحمن (the Gracious or the Provider for all peoples) occurring at the end of the verse also points to the same truth. In this sense the verse would be considered to be particularly connected with 2:159 above which speaks of the Safa and the Marwah as the special Signs of Allah, serving as pointers to the mission of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

10:107; 17:40; 26:214.

Important Words:

وجه means, face; the thing itself; direction; object and motive; deed or action to which a person directs his attention; the desired way (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In this verse the Holy Prophet is told that he will meet with strong opposition and severe persecution in the discharge of his great mission but no amount of trials and tribulations should discourage or dismay him and he should put his faith in Allah Who is at his back and to Whom all will return.

The expression کل شیء ھالک الا وجھه may mean: (1) Everything will perish save that to which He directs His attention. (2) Everything will perish save that by which His pleasure is sought. The verse signifies that only material things will perish and not the blessings or bounties of Paradise which are everlasting.

22:6; 23:13-15; 39:7; 40:65; 64:4.

Important Words:

یصور (fashions) is derived from صار. They say صار الشیء meaning: (1) he made the thing inclined; (2) he divided or cut the thing into parts or pieces. صورہ means, he formed or fashioned it; he gave it a shape. صورہ تصویرا means, he fashioned it and gave it a definite shape.الصورة means, the image or form or shape of a thing by which it is distinguished from other things (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

تصویر (fashioning) and خلق (creating) are two different things as is clear from 7:12 and 82:89. خلق which takes place before تصویر means creating a thing and giving it a general physical form, whereas تصویر signifies detailed formation and the endowing of a child with moral and spiritual faculties. Thus خلق and تصویر are interrelated like body and soul. Medical research has shown that there exists some subtle relationship between the physical features of a man and his morals. The clause, He it is Who fashions you in the wombs, would, therefore, mean that after God brings into existence a body in the womb, He endows it with faculties and capacities necessary to fulfil its destiny. So it is in the womb of his mother that the foundations of a man’s future are laid, and it is to this fact that the Holy Prophet referred when he said that when the formation of the child in the womb begins, the angels ask God whether they should write it down as lucky or ill-fated (Bukhari).

As the formation of the child takes place in the womb of the mother, naturally it is affected by its environment, i.e. the physical and moral condition of the mother. So Jesus, whose body, like that of other human beings, was formed in the womb of a woman, could not escape being affected by the limitations and failings inherent in woman. Now as the Bible holds woman to be morally inferior to man, for it was through Eve that Satan deceived Adam (Gen. 3:12, 13), Jesus could not but have partaken of the failings and weaknesses of his mother. Thus, the fatherless birth of Jesus proved, if anything, that Jesus was by nature more inclined to sin than other men. This is why, in his discussion with the Christians of Najran, the Holy Prophet pointedly referred to the birth of Jesus as an argument disproving his divinity. He is reported to have said to them: "Do you not know that it was a woman who conceived Jesus, just as a woman conceives a child, and then she was delivered of him just as a woman is delivered of a child" (Jarir, iii. 101).

The clause, there is no God but He, has been placed as a natural consequence of the preceding clause. When it is God Who fashions children in the wombs of their mothers, no child born of a woman could claim to be divine.

3:3; 20:112; 25:59.

See 2:49.

20:111.

Important Words:

الحی (the Living), of which the verb form is حیی i.e. he lived or he had life, is an attribute of God, signifying that God is the only Being Who is deathless and lives by Himself—He needs no support, He is eternal and everlasting (Mufradat & Lane). This is "life" in the truest sense of the word, and such life is enjoyed by God alone.

القیوم (Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining) is another attribute of God. The word is derived from قام i.e. he stood erect. القیوم means, the Being Who not only stands by Himself, requiring the support of none, but Who supports all others (Mufradat & Aqrab).

سنة (slumber) is the noun-infinitive from وسن i.e. sleep or slumber took hold of him. سنة means, heaviness of limbs and eyes preceding sleep; sleep or slumber itself; negligence or unguardedness (Aqrab)

کرسی (knowledge) is derived from کرس. They say کرس البناء i.e. he raised the walls of a house. کرسی means, a throne or a chair or a stool, in fact, anything used for sitting on; buttress of a wall; knowledge; dominion and power. Hence, الکراسیmeans, men of learning (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

This verse is known as آیة الکرسی (Ayatul-Kursi) and is considered to be one of the most important verses, beautifully describing the Unity of God and His great attributes. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that the Ayatul-Kursi is the loftiest verse in the Quran (Muslim). The verse supplies an answer to an implied question. Even if Muslims made the sacrifices required of them in 2:255, the task before them was so great that, based on worldly calculations, there appeared no hope of success for them. How then is the promised victory to come? The verse under comment provides a telling answer. The world was not without a Master. The destinies of its people were controlled by a Being Whose power was limitless, Whose knowledge knew no bounds, Who was ever vigilant, ever watchful, in Whose hands were the entire resources of the earth and the heavens. If such a Being willed the triumph of a party, who was there to thwart His way? The promised victory must come.

For a detailed treatment of the subject of intercession see note on 2:49. The reason why no one shall be allowed to intercede for any person except with the permission of God is that nobody knows what is in the minds of men and consequently none is in a position to intercede for another. God alone knows the secrets of men’s hearts and hence there can be no intercession except by His permission, for He alone knows who is deserving of it.

The clause, they encompass nothing of His knowledge, means that God’s knowledge is unlimited; while the knowledge of others, whoever they may be, is limited; even Prophets know no more than what is apparent of the spiritual condition of their followers.

The word کرسی (knowledge) may signify either knowledge or power; both give equally good meanings and are almost equally applicable. Allah’s knowledge is as extensive as His power. Knowledge and power are indeed the two great pillars on which the throne of God and, for that matter, the controlling power of everyone in authority rests.

See 2:256.

For the meaning of الحی and القیوم see 2:256.

Commentary:

The verse contains a strong refutation of the divinity of Jesus. This doctrine being one of the main topics dealt with in this chapter, the Surah fittingly opens with such attributes of God as cut at the very root of this doctrine. These attributes, i.e. (1) the Living or the Ever-Living, and (2) the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining, prove on the one hand that God, the possessor of these attributes, should need no partner or helper; and on the other that Jesus, who was subject to the law of birth and death, being thus neither ever-living nor self-subsisting and all-sustaining, could not be divine.

These attributes also prove the hollowness of the doctrine of Atonement which is a corollary of the above doctrine. Jesus, it is said, suffered death to atone for the sins of mankind. If that is so, he could not be God, for God is Ever-Living and cannot suffer death, permanent or temporary. It is futile to say that the death of Jesus meant only the separation of the god-Jesus from his physical habitat. The connection between the god-Jesus and his physical body was, according to Christian belief, in its very nature, a temporary one and was bound to break one day, even if Jesus had not died on the cross. So the mere breaking up of this connection could serve no useful purpose. It must be some other death which brought redemption to his sinful followers. That death, according to the Christians themselves, came upon Jesus when after his crucifixion he descended into Hades or Hell (Acts 2:31 and the Book of Common Prayer, Article on Religion, III). Thus, far from being immune from death, which is God’s exclusive prerogative, Jesus suffered death both in its literal and figurative sense. He not only died but descended into Hades. Again he not only suffered from grief and pain but also disgrace and humiliation.

Similarly, the attribute of القیوم (the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining) proves the falsity of the Christian doctrine. God, being Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining, should not only live by Himself without the support of any other being but all others should receive support from Him. But Jesus can never be proved to possess these attributes. Like other mortals, he was born of a woman, lived on food and drink, suffered pain and humiliation, asked others to pray for the alleviation of his sufferings, and finally, as the Christians say, died on the cross. The New Testament bears ample testimony to all these facts. But God being Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining is above all this.

5:9; 7:30.

Commentary:

The one central and indisputable fact in nature and the basic principle of every true religion is the Unity of God. The whole creation and the consummate order pervading it bear an undeniable testimony to this fundamental truth. The angels who are the bearers of the message of truth to the Prophets, the Messengers of God who propagate it in the world, and those good people who receive and imbibe true knowledge from God’s Messengers, all add their testimony to the testimony of God. Similarly, all are united in testifying to the falsehood of the idea of setting up gods with God, be it in the form of plurality, trinity, or duality of gods. All true testimony must point and does point to the Oneness of the Creator.

Commentary:

Taking the particle الی (till) in the sense of فی (in or on for which see Lane), the clause لیجمعنکم الی یوم القیامة may also be rendered as, "He will certainly assemble you on the Day of Resurrection" but the more correct rendering is that given in the text, i.e. He will certainly (continue to) assemble you till the Day of Resurrection. The difference in meaning is obvious. People are born and die and will go on doing so till the Last Day. Thus the process of assembling is always going on and will continue till the Day of Resurrection, when God will call all to account.