فَهُمْ

2:172; 6:40; 7:180; 8:23; 10:43; 11:25; 17:98; 21:46; 27:81; 30:53, 54; 43:41.

Important Words:

صم (deaf persons) which is the plural of اصم (a deaf man) is derived from صم. They say صم القارورة i.e. he put a stopper into the mouth of the bottle. صم means, his ear became closed up, or he became deaf, or he had a heaviness of hearing. اصمmeans, one who has a stoppage of the ear and heaviness of hearing. رجل اصم also means, a man whom one does not hope to win over and who will not be turned back from the object of his desire. The word also signifies one who persists in his evil course (Aqrab).

بكم (dumb persons) which is the plural of ابكم (a dumb man) is derived from بكم (bakima), i.e. he became dumb. بكم(bakuma) means, he kept silent intentionally. ابكم means, one who is dumb either by natural conformation or from inability to express himself; or, one not having ability to find words, though possessing the faculty of speech (Taj).

عمی (blind persons) which is the plural of اعمی (a blind person) is derived from عمی i.e. he became totally blind. اعمی means, one physically blind of both eyes; or one blind in respect of mental vision (Aqrab). See also 2:16.

Commentary:

The verse aptly describes the mental condition of the class of hypocrites mentioned in the previous verse. The first cause of their going astray was that they had turned a deaf ear to the admonitions of the Prophet. Secondly, they did not give straightforward expression to their doubts to have them dispelled. Exaggerated pride and self-esteem prevented them from asking questions. Lastly, they had become insensitive to the progress Islam was making and the change it had effected in its followers. As they made no use of their ears, their tongues and their eyes, they are spoken of as deaf, dumb and blind.

The words, they will not return, point to an important truth. Man is born with a pure nature—the nature of Islam—and it is only by his evil deeds that he corrupts himself. So the words, they will not return, allude to the fact that these men have strayed away from their original good nature, and though God is calling them back to the pristine purity of their nature, they will not return.

25:18; 67:9.

Commentary:

The main subject dealt with in the Surah is life after death and by implication the great spiritual revolution that was to be brought about by the Holy Prophet. The appeal of the Holy Prophet to the Quraish naturally split his people into two camps—the Faithful and the disbelievers. The present and the next few verses deal with the rejecters of the Prophet’s message and the fate that was in store for them. Life after death is another subject dealt with in these verses.

Commentary:

The expression "they will be speechless" means, "they will not be able to put in a defence for their misdeeds." The charge against them being quite true and clear will be incapable of being defended and so the sentence of punishment will be passed against them.

Important Words:

عمیت (will become obscure) is formed from عمی which means, he was or became blind; he was or became spiritually blind; he failed to see a thing; he was or became stupid or ignorant. They say عمی علیه الامر i.e. the affair became obscure or confused to him. عمیت الاخبار عن فلان means, news or information became hidden to such a one (Aqrab & Lane).

انباء (excuses) is the plural of نبأ which means, important news; information; message; excuse (Lane, Aqrab & Kulliyyat). See also 6:6.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that at the time of reckoning the disbelievers will be in utter confusion and despair and will be completely at a loss how to defend themselves. The untenability of all false pleas and excuses will become manifest to them, and they will not be allowed to consult each other for the sake of preparing their defence.

See 2:19.

Important Words:

ینعق (shouts) is derived from نعق which means, he cried aloud. They say نعق الراعی بغنمه i.e. the shepherd shouted to his flock.نعق المؤذن means, the (Mu’adhdhin) raised his voice to call people to Prayer (Aqrab).

دعاء (call). دعاه means, he called a person by addressing him (Aqrab).

نداء (cry) means: (1) a loud voice or cry; (2) a general call without any specific person being addressed (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

In this verse the Holy Prophet has been likened to a herdsman who shouts to his flock but they hear nothing except the sound, being unable to understand the meaning of the words uttered by him. Similarly, the people whom the Prophet addresses are like a herd of animals unable to follow and understand his call. The words of the verse fully expressed would read somewhat like this: مثل الذین کفروا کمثل اصحاب الذی ینعق i.e. "The case of those who disbelieve is like that of a people surrounding one who shouts, etc." The Holy Prophet conveyed the Divine Message to disbelievers. They heard his voice but made no effort to grasp the meaning of his message. His words fell, as it were, on deaf ears, with the result that the spiritual faculties of the disbelievers became wholly vitiated and they stooped low to the level of animals and beasts (7:180; 25:45).

4:177.

Important Words:

کلالة (one who has neither parent nor child) is derived from کل i.e. he was or became fatigued, tired or wearied and could proceed no further; he was or became one having no child and no parent, the latter meaning being based on the former, as a person having no child or parent becomes, as it were, too fatigued for the racial march. کلالة is (1) a person who leaves behind neither father nor child, male or female; or (2) a person who leaves behind neither father nor son. According to Ibn ‘Abbas, کلالة is a person who leaves no son irrespective of the fact whether his father is living or not. This would thus be the third meaning of کلالة (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradat).

Commentary:

The first part of this verse determines the share of the husband and the wife in inheritance and needs no comment. The latter part deals with the case of a Kalalah, i.e. one who leaves neither parent nor child and whose property is inherited by his or her brother and sister. Now, if there is only one brother and one sister, each of them will get one-sixth. But if they are more than that, they will be sharers in one-third.

It should, however, be noted that in this respect brothers and sisters fall under three heads; firstly, real brothers or sisters, offspring of the same parents (such brothers or sisters are technically known as اعیانی a‘yani); secondly, brothers and sisters on the side of the father only (these are technically known as علاتی ‘allati); thirdly, brothers and sisters on the side of the mother only, their father being not the same as that of the deceased (such brothers and sisters being technically called اخیافی akhyafi). It is to the last-mentioned class that the commandment given in the present verse pertains; the law with regard to the first two classes of brothers and sisters being given in the last verse of this Surah.

The reader will further note that the shares allotted to the brothers and sisters of the last-mentioned class are smaller than those allotted to the brothers and sisters of the first two classes, the reason being that the brothers and sisters of this class are on the side of the mother only, while the brothers and the sisters of the other two classes are the children of the same father as the deceased.

It is also noteworthy that in the property of a person who dies as a Kalalah, as mentioned in the present verse, both brothers and sisters have equal shares, the usual ratio of two to one not being observed in their case.

The words, "without prejudice to the debt", are important. They mean that the payment of debts should not suffer by the payment of bequests. In other words, debts are to be paid prior to the payment of bequests. It was in compliance with this Quranic injunction that the Holy Prophet used to have the debts paid before the payment of bequests. The rights of other people must be safeguarded before any bequest made by the deceased is complied with. So strict was the Holy Prophet in these matters that he refused to perform the funeral service of the man whose debts were likely to remain unpaid.

It may incidentally be noted here that heirs are divided into two main groups:

1. ذووالفرائض (Dhawul-Fara’id), i.e. persons to whom Islam allots a fixed and definite share (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 2/3, 1/3 or 1/6), or in the estate of a deceased person.

2. عصبات (‘Asabat), i.e. the heirs who receive the residue after the Dhawul-Fara’id have received their allotted shares.

It is, however, not necessary that a member of the first group should always remain a Dhul-Faridah. In certain cases, he may be both a Dhul-Faridah (sharer) and an ‘Asaba (residuary) and in other cases he may be simply an ‘Asaba.

The Dhawul-Fara’id (sharers) are 12 in number, four males and eight females. The males are: 1. father, 2. paternal grandfather, 3. husband and 4. half-brother on the maternal side. The females are: (1) daughter, (2) son’s daughter, (3) mother, (4) wife, (5) full sister, (6) half-sister on paternal side, (7) half-sister on maternal side, and (8) grandmother whether paternal or maternal.

The ‘Asabat (residuaries) are of four kinds: (1) ascendants of the deceased, i.e. father, paternal grandfather, etc. (2) descendants of the deceased, i.e. son, son’s son, etc. (3) descendants of the father of the deceased, i.e. full brother, brother’s son, etc. (4) descendants of the grandfather, i.e. full paternal uncle, paternal uncle’s son, etc.

4:176; 13:30; 14:24; 22:57; 42:23; 68:35.

Important Words:

یحبرون (they will be honoured and made happy) is formed from حبر. They say حبر الشیء i.e. he made the thing beautiful or adorned it or embellished it and made it plain. أحبرت الارض means, the herbage of the earth grew large. حبرہ means, he or it made him happy, joyful or glad; it affected him with happiness that made his face shine; he treated him with honour or with extraordinary honour (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

How through Islam the Arabs rose from the lowest depths of degradation to the highest pinnacles of spiritual and material glory and eminence is writ large on the face of history.

6:55; 7:157.

3:10; 4:88; 45:27.

Important Words:

خسروا انفسھم (who ruin their souls). خسروا is derived from خسر which means, he lost; he suffered a loss; he went astray; he became lost; he perished (Lane). From the above it is clear that the word خسر is really intransitive. The transitive use of the word in the verse is merely apparent. In fact when the Quran says خسروا انفسھم it does not mean, they made their souls suffer, but, that they suffered with regard to themselves, i.e. they themselves suffered. The correct transitive form of the word is خسر (khasara), i.e. he caused to perish, and not خسر (khasira), i.e. he suffered or he was lost, which the Quran has used. This peculiar use of the word is intended to intensify the meaning. Thus, the words الذین خسروا انفسھم would really read الذین خسروا و خسروا انفسھم i.e. those who suffered a loss and caused their souls to perish. For the sake of convenience, however, the expression has been rendered in the text as, those who ruin their souls. For a somewhat similar expression, i.e. سفه نفسهsee Lisan where that expression has been fully dealt with.

Commentary:

Here God first puts a question, and then Himself answers it. This form has also been employed elsewhere in the Quran. It is meant to bring out the disbelievers’ extreme weakness of faith and make them realize it.

All that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah; so the enemies of Faith also belong to God. No one would like to destroy that which belongs to him, much less would God like to do so, for He is Merciful and has made mercy binding on Himself. So He is giving the enemies of the Holy Prophet time to repent. He is putting off punishment so that they may turn to Him and repent of their sins. Hence, instead of demanding punishment, let them ask forgiveness and benefit by His mercy.

It should be noted that disbelief alone does not bring punishment upon men in this life. So far as simple disbelief is concerned, the case of the believers and the disbelievers will be decided on the Day of Judgement when all will be assembled together and God’s judgement will be pronounced. It is only the extreme wickedness of men and their active opposition to the Prophets of God that hastens punishment for them in this life. So the verse exhorts disbelievers not to demand punishment, but rather to repent, so that God may have mercy on them.

2:147.

Commentary:

This verse describes the second way by which God bears testimony to the truth of the Holy Prophet, i.e. through the previous Scriptures. The previous Books contain prophecies which clearly apply to the Holy Prophet and definitely point him out as the Promised One, and it is by means of these prophecies that God bears witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet. It may be asked, if the People of the Book recognize the Holy Prophet as having come in fulfilment of the prophecies contained in their scriptures, why do they not accept him? This question the Quran answers in the words, But those who ruin their souls will not believe, meaning that the People of the Book will not believe because their souls are lost and they have no sense of honesty and faith left in them.

The words, Those to whom We gave the Book recognize him as they recognize their sons, are based on a very deep spiritual truth. A Prophet, or for that matter any object of faith, is not recognized in the beginning, as one recognizes the sun or the moon. He is recognized only as a father recognizes his son with great probability but not with dead certainty. Faith must always begin in the region of the unseen.

Commentary:

The verse refers to another absurd custom of the Arabs. The Divine attributes "Wise" and "All-Knowing" have been mentioned here to point out that the people got entangled in these foolish beliefs and practices because they turned away from the Wise and Knowing God and followed false deities and their foolish devotees.

20:129; 32:27.

10:75; 16:109; 45:24.

Commentary:

The veiled threat in the preceding verse is openly made in the present one. The enemies of Islam should either take lesson from the sad end of those gone before them and give up offering opposition to it or be prepared for a similar doom. The word یسمعون (understand) here signifies not listening but understanding (Lane).

8:23; 98:7.

Commentary:

This verse explains 6:39, which says that the animals that move on the earth and the birds that fly in the air are better than the disbelievers; for, whereas animals and birds do not understand, because they lack the power of understanding, the disbelievers possess the power to understand and yet they fail to do so. See also 8:23.

9:81, 93.

6:26; 63:4.

Important Words:

خوالف (womenfolk) is the plural of both خالف and خالفة which are active participles from the verb خلف which means, he remained or came after. خالف means, one who remains behind or after others, particularly in case of war, the word خالفةbeing its feminine gender. So خوالف means, those who remain behind during war; or the women (or children) remaining behind in houses or tents. The word also signifies, bad or corrupt persons (Lane). See also 7:70 & 170.

Commentary:

For the meaning of the words, their hearts are sealed, see 2:8 & 4:156.

9:79, 87.

6:26; 9:87; 63:4.

Important Words:

For an explanation of the words, Set seal upon their hearts, see 2:8 & 4:156.

34:28; 46:5.

Commentary:

As the Arabs, who were the first addressees of the Message of the Quran, were steeped in worst form of idolatry, God has exposed the futility of their polytheistic beliefs again and again in the Quran. In the present verse the idolaters are asked, why do they worship other gods beside Allah when these false gods have neither created any earthly thing nor have they made any contribution to the creation of the celestial bodies? They are further asked whether they have a revealed Book which gives them the authority to preach and promulgate their false beliefs. They should at least possess some reason or authority for their idolatrous beliefs and practices.

24:23; 30:29.

Commentary:

This verse contains another very important argument in favour of Divine revelation. The object and purpose of Divineguidance, it says, is not only to bring about reformation in religious beliefs and doctrines but also to maintain a just balance in the distribution of material wealth and political rights and power. It is a divine law that in every age some individuals or nations, by their superior intellect and harder work, come to acquire ascendancy and control over other individuals or nations. This is neither unfair nor unjust so long as proper opportunities are not denied to the less fortunate peoples also to make proper use of their talents and intelligence for earning the good things of life. But the "haves" have always set their face against all attempts by the "have-nots" to better their material condition and to have a share in the power and privileges the "haves" enjoy. The only way to save the world from the tyranny of those in possession of power and privilege and to open the doors of progress and advancement to real merit and talent and thereby to rehabilitate justice and equality among mankind is that God should send His Messengers. Their advent heralds a new era and the dispossessed and the "have-nots" have their rights restored to them.

So when people become separated from the era of a Prophet by a long time and vested interests grow and become entrenched and power and privileges flow from father to son and common people are denied all share in the government and even so-called religious leaders come to trade upon the superstitious fears of their followers and monopolize all religious authority and common men are not even considered competent to be consulted on religious or secular matters, God raises a Prophet who wages a relentless war against this tyranny and untruth and the so-called leaders who held the reins of power in their hands on the plea of supposed superior abilities are dethroned and man begins to breathe in an atmosphere of true freedom.

Briefly but very beautifully the verse has laid down the Islamic law with regard to private ownership. Whereas on the one hand Islam has recognized the right of private ownership by emphasizing the word their in the expression, "of their worldly gifts", it has, by using the words "will restore" (برادی) also accepted the principle of the collective ownership of all things by all human beings as such, because only that thing is "restored" to another person which belongs to him. In fact, Islam has accepted the principle of dual ownership of everything—the right of possession of a property by the person who earns it and the right in the possession of that property of all human beings as human beings. Moreover, by its institution of Zakah, the prohibition about hoarding wealth and taking and giving of interest, Islam has sought to prevent the accumulation of wealth in a few hands and thus by its free circulation has kept the avenues of progress equally open for all men. Islam, in reality, neither believes in the right of unrestricted private ownership nor in complete and unreserved possession of wealth and the means of its production by the State. It adopts the middle course.

Ordinarily, the words "whom their right hands possess" mean slaves, and in the Quran these words have generally been used in this sense; but they possess a much wider significance and include all persons under one’s control such as private servants, subordinates, labourers, ryots etc.

Commentary:

The verse embodies an appeal to the good sense and reasonableness of the opponents of the Holy Prophet. It tells them that his whole life lies like an open book before them. They are quite familiar with all its different phases. It is spotless. For years they have known him as an honest man, a model of virtue and uprightness and yet they dare ascribe falsehood to him. See also 10:17.

21:3.

Important Words:

ذکرھم (their admonition). ذکر means, remembrance or presence of a thing in the mind; admonition, exhortation, reminder; a book containing an exposition of religion; mentioning or relating a thing; praise or glorification of God; praying and supplicating to Him; dispraise or evil speech; praise or eulogy of another; eminence, nobility, honour (Aqrab & Lane). See also 12:105; 15:7; 16:45, etc.

Commentary:

The word الحق meaning "the Truth" here may refer to God or the Quran. As referring to the Quran the verse would mean that the law of nature will continue to work in the Holy Prophet’s favour and the caravan of truth will march on much against the wishes of disbelievers. The Quran is intended to bring its addressees honour and eminence but by refusing to accept it they are digging their grave with their own hands.

Commentary:

After mentioning the fact that the Holy Prophet has been raised to impart spiritual life to a dead people, the Surah proceeds to give in the present and next few verses the reasons for a new revelation. When God has provided, the verses purport to say, all necessary things to meet man’s physical needs and requirements, it does not stand to reason that He should have neglected to make similar provision for his moral and spiritual needs. These verses refer to some of the things which man needs and uses most in his daily life.

38:19-20.

Important Words:

یوزعون (formed into separate groups) is derived from وزع. They say وزع فلانا او بفلان i.e. he hindered or led or drove such a one and restrained him, and he incited or urged him with such a one. وزع الجیش means, he stopped the first part of the army so that their last part may join them. They say رأیته یزع الجیش i.e. I saw that he was arranging the soldiers in proper order and placing them in rows. وزع المال بینھم (wazza’a) means, he distributed the property among them. أوزع اللّٰه فلانا means, God inspired such a one. الاوزاع means, parties; companies (Aqrab). Thus according to the different significations of the root word, the Quranic expression فھم یوزعون would mean, they were formed into separate groups or classes; (2) they were hindered from cruel and tyrannous acts; (3) they marched like an ordered and disciplined army; and (4) their first part was stopped so that their last part might join them. These words show that Solomon had a well-trained and disciplined army which had several separate and distinct departments.

طیر (birds) is the plural of طائر which is active participle from طار which means, it flew or moved in the air by means of wings. طیر besides meaning "birds" may also apply to swift animals such as horses, etc. طیار (tayyar) which is an intensive form of طائر signifies a sharp-spirited and quick-footed horse that runs so fast that it seems to be flying (Lane). See also 3:50; 7:132 & 17:14.

جن (jinn) is derived from جن (janna). جنه means, it concealed, veiled, covered or protected him. جن means, the darkness of night or its intense darkness; such beings as keep aloof from the people as if remaining concealed, i.e. big people (Lane). Jinn in the present verse may represent mountain or wild people who had not till then been subjugated.

Commentary:

The verse under comment should be read along with 21:83; 34:13 & 38:38. It seems to refer to the military personnel of Solomon’s army. The three words جن (jinn), انس (men) and طیر (birds) may represent three departments of his army. In the present verse and in 34:13, the word جن (jinn) has been used to represent a particular section of the army while in 21:83 & 38:38, the word شیاطین has been used to represent the same class. It seems that Solomon had subdued and subjugated some wild tribes, this approximately being the sense of both the words جن and شیاطین who formed an integral part of his army and did sundry other difficult tasks for him.

The word طیر denoting swift-footed horses may represent Solomon’s cavalry. This meaning of the word finds corroboration in 38:32-34 where Solomon has been stated to possess great love for horses. Thus whereas جن (jinn) and انس(men) represented two sections of Solomon’s infantry, طیر (birds) stood for his cavalry. But if طیر may be taken to mean 'birds' then it would signify birds which Solomon employed for carrying messages. Thus they also formed a very useful and necessary adjunct to his army.

But these three words may also have been used in a metaphorical sense signifying respectively "big men," "ordinary men" and "highly spiritual men." In this sense of the words the verse would mean that while on military expeditions Solomon had all these three classes of men with him because they all had their usefulness.

8:49; 16:64; 35:9.

Commentary:

The Sabaeans worshipped the sun and the stars, a creed which in all likelihood had been imported into Yemen from Iraq with which the people of Yemen were in close contact by way of the sea and the Persian Gulf. The Sabaeans should not be confounded with Sabians who have been mentioned in 2:63, 5:70 & 22:18 and have been variously described as (1) a star-worshipping people living in Iraq; (2) a people believing in a faith which was a sort of patchwork of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism; (3) a people who lived near Mosul in Iraq and believed in the Unity of God but possessed no known shari‘ah and (4) a people who lived round about Iraq and professed beliefs in all Divine Prophets.

28:47; 32:4.

Commentary:

The Arabs were the immediate addressees of the Holy Prophet and among them no Divine Messenger had appeared for a long time. But in His infallible wisdom God selected them for preaching to mankind the last Divine Message. The Quran has incontestibly laid claim to being that Message. The following verses of the Quran speak of its finality and universality: "Say, O mankind, truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah" (7:159); "And We have sent thee not but as a mercy for all peoples" (21:108); "Blessed is He Who has sent down the Discrimin-ation to His servant, that he may be a Warner to all the worlds" (25:2); "And We have not sent thee but as a Bearer of good news and as a Warner to all mankind" (34:29).

Commentary:

The barriers referred to in the verse may be the barriers of usages, prejudices, and pride of disbelievers. They could not look forward to the great and bright future which lay before them if they accepted Islam, and they did not look back to the histories of past peoples who rejected the truth and were seized with Divine punishment. The result of the barriers placed before and behind them was that they themselves became totally devoid of all spiritual light.

16:23; 17:11; 34:9.

Commentary:

Elsewhere in the Quran we have: "Satan made all that they did seem fair to them" (6:44) and "And when Satan made their deeds seem fair to them" (8:49). It is clear from these two verses that it is Satan who makes evil and mischievous deeds of evildoers look beautiful in their eyes. But in the verse under comment it is stated that God makes the deeds of disbelievers appear beautiful to them. Thus there seems to be a contradiction between the present verse and vv. 6:44; 8:49. But in reality there is no contradiction because it is a law that if a person pursues an evil course, thinking that he is not accountable for what he does he begins to justify his conduct as good and proper and so it begins to appear to him in that light. This, in fact, is the consequence of his own conduct but inasmuch as it comes about in accordance with a divine law, it is attributed to God, because it is God Who has ordained that disbelief in the Hereafter should result in evil deeds appearing beautiful in the eyes of disbelievers; otherwise God only commends good and righteous deeds and has made disbelief, transgression and disobedience hateful and repugnant (49:8).

43:24.

Important Words:

For یھرعون (hurried on) see 11:79.

Commentary:

Men are generally slaves to old usages, traditions and customs. Time-worn ideas and prejudices die hard. Perhaps the greatest obstacle in the way of acceptance of truth by the people, as repeatedly mentioned in the Quran, is their strong disinclination to accept new ideas. Man is by nature slow to change. This seems to be the significance of this verse.

5:20; 25:27; 35:25; 48:9.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that the most distinctive feature of this most perspicuous of all Divine Books is that it gives a message of hope and good cheer to those who accept and follow it and warns disbelievers that they would meet with a sad fate, if they persisted in disbelief.

27:84.

Important Words:

یوزعون (will be divided into groups) is formed from وزع. They say وزع فلانا i.e. he urged, goaded or incited such a one. وزع الـجیشmeans, he kept back those in the army who were in front so that those who were behind should come up to them. An Arab would say: رأیته یزع الـجیش i.e. I saw him forming the army into groups and stationing them in lines for fighting (Aqrab).

Important Words:

مریج (state of confusion) is derived from مرج (maraja) which means, he mixed a thing with another thing or two things together. مرج الامر (marija) means, the affair became corrupt, spoiled, disordered or in a confused or disordered state. مرج الناسmeans, the people became confused so that they could not extricate themselves from their perplexity (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse means that though disbelievers always reject the Divine Message, their rejection or denial does not rest on sure ground. They are always in a confused state of mind. They do not know what they should make of the Message. They call it poetry, sorcery, the day-dreaming of an ambitious visionary, the confused vapourings of an unhinged mind, or the forgery of an impostor (21:6). But the Holy Prophet and his followers stand on the bedrock of certainty and sure knowledge.

68:48.

3:91; 4:138; 16:107.

Commentary:

The hypocrites, the verse purports to say, appear to have lost all reason and understanding since they labour under the misconception that by their wiles and glib talk they can deceive Allah and His Prophet.