كَٰفِرُونَ

6:125.

Commentary:

It is customary with disbelievers in the time of every Prophet that they demand from him signs and miracles which had been shown by a previous Prophet, while the disbelievers of that very Prophet had also rejected him in spite of the fact that he had shown the same miracles which disbelievers in the time of the later Prophet demanded. The verse exposes the absurdity of this worn out demand of disbelievers and purports to say that they demand from the Holy Prophet the same teachings which were given to Moses while the spiritual needs and requirements of the Holy Prophet’s time are different from those of Moses and, therefore, their demand is foolish. Yet when they are told that prophecies which were made by Moses have been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet and that the teachings of the Quran in many respects support and corroborate the teachings of Torah, they say that both the Quran and the Torah are two pieces of magic that support each other.

13:27; 29:63; 34:37.

Important Words:

ویکان (Ah).ویک is a compound expression made up of وی and ک and is used for surprise and reproach, وی meaning woe and ک being a letter of address. They say ویک i.e. woe to thee. Some say ویک is ویلک (thy perdition), ل having been omitted. ویک being an expression of surprise or reproach means, oh; ah. وی لزید also means, well done Zaid, bravo Zaid (Aqrab).

2:196; 14:32; 47:39; 57:11; 63:11.

14:32; 43:68.

aSee 2:49.

Important Words:

بیع (buying and selling) is derived from باع i.e. he sold; or he bought; or he bartered (Aqrab).

خلة (friendship) is derived from خل. They say خل الشیء i.e. he pierced the thing and made a hole through it. خل فی دعائه means, he was very particular in his prayer. خل الیه means, he was in need of his help and support. خاله means, he made friends with him and took him as brother. خلة is, therefore, that friendship or love which penetrates the heart and takes root in it. خلیل is one whose friendship and love is very deep and sincere; a most loving and bosom friend (Aqrab). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "If I had taken anyone as my خلیل I would have taken Abu Bakr as such, but my خلیل is God" (Bukhari, ch. on Manaqibun-Nabi).

شفاعة (intercession). See note on 2:49.

Commentary:

Though, as the preceding verses point out, the final victory of the Holy Prophet of Islam was sure, yet the path before Muslims was not strewn with roses. They had to make great sacrifices in order to reach the goal. It is to this fact that the verse under comment points. It makes particular reference to financial sacrifices.

The words, wherein there shall be no buying and selling, do not mean that there will be no trade and commerce on the Day of Judgement, but that on that great day nobody will be able to buy salvation, which will depend only on one’s good works coupled with God’s grace. The only buying or selling that will be of avail to men on the Day of Judgement will be that which they shall have made in their present life (9:111).

The words, nor friendship, signify that there will be no occasion for forming new friendships on that day. Those, however, who will have taken God as their friend in their life on this earth will certainly benefit by that friendship. It is to this fact that the Quran refers when it says: Friends on that day shall be foes to one another, except the God-fearing(43:68). The righteous have God as their friend, and He will continue to be their friend on the Day of Judgement!

For شفاعة (intercession), see note on 2:49.

11:18.

Commentary:

The expression "to whom We have given true knowledge of the Book," may refer to (1) the "People of the Book" as shown in the text, or (2) to the Arabs in whose tongue the Quran had been revealed, or (3) to Muslims who believe in the Quran as the revealed Book of God. The words "of these people" may refer either to the Meccans or to the People of the Book, preferably to the former.

7:186.

10:46; 29:24; 32:11.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that if disbelievers had reflected over the great powers and faculties with which man has been endowed and had reflected also over the very limited duration of their worldly existence they would have realized that man’s life on this earth is not the be-all and end-all of his creation and that there is a fuller and better life beyond the grave where man’s spiritual progress will know no end and that the present life is only a preparation for the life hereafter. See also v. 12 below.

Commentary:

Those who seek to take a middle course, as explained in the previous verse, are "veritable disbelievers" in the sight of God and shall be awarded "a humiliating punishment."

6:92; 7:155.

2:42.

5:46, 48.

Important Words:

ربانیون (godly people). See 3:80.

احبار (learned men) is the plural of حبر. They say حبره i.e. he made it beautiful; or he made him happy; or he treated him with honour. حبر (hibr) or حبر (habr) means, a learned man of the Jews; or any learned man; a good or righteous man (Lane & Aqrab).

استحفظوا (were required to preserve) is in the passive voice being formed from حفظ. They say حفظه i.e. he kept it or preserved it or guarded it or protected it; or he prevented it from perishing or becoming lost. استحفظه (in the active voice) means, he asked him to keep or guard or preserve it from perishing or becoming lost; or he asked him to be careful of, or attentive to, it; or he placed it with him to preserve or guard or take care of it; or he entrusted him with it or gave it to him in trust (Lane).

Commentary:

In this verse the Quran brings home to the Jews the charge mentioned in the previous verse. When even the Prophets of God who followed Moses were required to judge according to the Torah, who are they to refuse to refer their disputes to it?

The words, Therefore fear not men but fear Me, and barter not My Signs for a paltry price, mean that the referring by the Jews of their disputes to the Holy Prophet meant that they no longer looked upon the Torah as the revealed Word of God, and also that they had complete faith in the honesty, truthfulness and justice of the Holy Prophet. If such was the case, and there were also clear prophecies in their Scriptures bearing witness to his truth, then their refusal to believe in him showed that they feared men more than they feared God. Moreover, the rejection of the Holy Prophet meant not only the rejection of those prophecies but of Moses himself, who brought the Book which contains those prophecies.

It is also clear from this verse that it is not necessary for every Prophet to bring a new Law and not to be the follower of another Prophet or Book. The Prophets that appeared among the Jews after Moses, including Jesus, brought no new Law but followed Moses and acted upon the Law that was revealed to him. Says the verse, By it did the Prophets, who were obedient to Us, judge for the Jews. The Prophets who judged the Jews by the Torah were obviously subject to the Law of the Torah and had no Law of their own.

18:106; 29:24; 30:17.

Commentary:

The argument has been put forward again and again in the Quran that if God can create and develop from mere earth a wonderful creation, He can also give man a new life after he is dead.

7:87; 11:20; 14:4; 16:89.

Commentary:

This verse defines and qualifies the "wrongdoers" mentioned in the preceding verse. The expression, and seek to make it crooked, means that the wrongdoers desire to corrupt true religion. They are not only themselves wicked, but also try to make others so, and even seek to corrupt the religion sent for their good. They also disbelieve in the Hereafter.

Commentary:

The words, Verily, we do disbelieve in that in which you believe, in popular parlance signify a typical form of arrogant but veiled threat generally held out by rich and powerful people to the weaker and poorer section of society. The words may be interpreted as: "How dare you, weak and poor as you are, accept a teaching which we, your betters and superiors, have thought fit to reject?"