فَهُوَ

20:132; 26:206-208.

Commentary:

The present verse continues and further develops the theme of its predecessor. It purports to say, "let not those who are given only a temporary enjoyment of the good things of this life deceive themselves into the false notion that the good things will last forever. In their very nature they are temporary but the fact that those who have been provided with material amenities and comforts have defied and flouted God’s Message and rejected His Messenger has lessened their tenure all the more and in addition the disbelievers will be punished in this world and the next."

2:204.

Important Words:

یطیقونه (are able to fast only with great difficulty) is derived from طاق. They say طاق الشیء or اطاق الشیء meaning, he was able or fit to do it; or he had the strength and power to do it (Aqrab). But the word طاقة is not used of strength generally but of such strength only as, so to speak, lies on the border, i.e. just the strength with which a thing may be done and no more—a strength required to do a thing only with difficulty and trouble (Mufradat & Lane). This is why the word طاقة is never used to express the power of God for which words like قدرة and قوة are used; for whereas the latter two words express the sense of vastness of power, the former expresses only that of its narrowness. The Quran uses the word طاقةonly twice and at both these places it uses it in a negative sentence, i.e. لاطاقة لنا viz. "we do not even possess the requisite strength to do that" (2:250 & 287). Thus the correct rendering of the clause علی الذین یطیقونه would be, "for those who are able to fast but can fast only with great difficulty." طوقه (Tawwaqahu) which is from the same root means, he put a collar or a neck-ring round his neck, i.e. he imposed on him a thing that was difficult, troublesome or inconvenient. طاقه also means, a single strand which after combining with others goes to make a rope (Lane), i.e. the weak part of a rope which cannot stand tension alone.

فدیة (an expiation) is derived from فدی. They say فدی الرجل meaning, the man secured his release from captivity, etc. by paying his ransom. Thus فدیة means, such payment as is made for obtaining release of a person; or such expenditure as is made in expiation of some sin or shortcoming, etc. (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse again refrains from giving the actual commandment regarding fasting but prepares further ground by pointing out that the fasting about to be prescribed is not meant for all days but only for a limited number of days. Again, the commandment to come is not meant to be observed in all circumstances; for those suffering from disease or those on a journey will be exempt from it. In fact, Islam is a practical religion. It does not give any commandment which is impossible of compliance. Hence, while referring to its injunctions about fasting, the Quran makes it clear that whosoever is ill or is on a journey should not fast but should redeem the omission by fasting an equal number of days at some other time when the sickness is gone or the journey is over.

The pronoun الذین (those) in the clause, those who are able, refers to believers in general, the words الذین یطیقونه meaning, those who are able to fast but can fast only with great difficulty. This interpretation is supported by another reading of the verse in which the word یطوقونه (yutawwaqunahu) has been substituted for یطیقونه (yutiqunahu) (Jarir), the former word meaning, those to whom fasting is like a tight collar, i.e. those who are not actually sick but whose physical condition or general health is such that they are unable to fast without running the risk of injuring their health. Such people, who include old men and raw youths and weakly persons and pregnant women and mothers giving suck to their children, may not fast but should make amends for their non-observance of each day’s fast by feeding a poor man according to their standard of food. Another reading of the word یطیقونه is یطیقون (yutayyaqunahu) (Jarir) meaning, they can do it only with great difficulty, which also bears out the above meaning. Thus the verse mentions three classes of believers to whom concession is allowed with respect to fasting: (1) the sick; (2) those on a journey; and (3) those neither on a journey nor actually sick but otherwise too weak to fast except with real risk to their health.

Some commentators do not recognize the last-mentioned class as being separate from, and independent of, the first two, but take it as being an exception from them. In this case the verse would mean that such of the sick and of those on a journey as can afford to feed poor men should also do so, besides fasting the same number of days after the sickness or the state of journey is over.

9:60, 103, 104.

4:32; 8:30; 29:8; 64:10; 66:9.

Important Words:

یکفر (will remove) is derived from کفر (kaffara) which again is derived from کفر (kafara) for which see 2:7. They say کفر عنه سیئته i.e. (1) He (God) covered or removed, or did away with his sin; (2) He expiated his sin; (3) He effaced or obliterated his sin (Lane).

Commentary:

Islam has most wisely recommended both forms of giving alms, i.e. open and secret. By giving alms openly, a man sets a good example to others and many begin to imitate him. Secret alms-giving is in many cases better, because in this way one refrains from exposing the poverty of his brethren and there is also little occasion for pride in secret giving. It should be noted that the word خیر (better) occurring in the verse is qualified by the words "for You", while the word نعما (well and good) is not so qualified, which points to the fact that whereas secret giving to the poor is better for the giver, open giving may often be conducive to more good for the Community in general.

Again, the particle من (many) in the clause, "many of your sins" may, according to Arabic idiom, either be redundant and used merely for the sake of emphasis, or used in the sense of "many" or "some"; or it denotes ابتداءالغایة i.e. the commencement of the limit. Following these different senses and also keeping in view the different meanings of the word یکفر (will remove), the clause ویکفر عنکم من سیآتکم may be rendered in four different ways: (1) He (God) will certainly remove from you your sins. (2) He will remove from you many or some of your sins. (3) He will expiate many or some of your sins for you. (4) He will certainly obliterate, or efface from you, your sins.

In the first and the fourth rendering, the particle من has been treated as redundant, used for the sake of emphasis only, and therefore it has been omitted in the translation and the word "certainly" has been added. But if we take the word من in the sense of "many" or "some", the meaning of the sentence will be as given in the second and the third rendering.

In the case of the second rendering, the idea is that if we practise charity, those of our sins which are committed against the rights of God will be pardoned, but not those which are committed against the rights of men for which other acts of virtue have been recommended. In the case of the third rendering, the idea is that on the basis of charity practised in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran, God will so arrange that sins committed by the giver of charity, against the rights of men, will be pardoned by the very men who are sinned against.

But as it is possible that even after a man has been pardoned, his sins may continue to rankle in his own mind, so God has promised to show a further favour to those who practise charity according to the teachings of Islam. This promise is implied in the word یکفر (efface and obliterate) which is intended to hint that God will make them forget their sins and thus obliterate and efface from their minds all traces of the sins committed by them. This idea has been expressed in the last rendering. Thus a single small sentence has been so worded as to cover all the possible forms of forgiveness, from its lowest phase to its highest manifestation.

10:108.

Commentary:

It is his own actions that are the cause of all harm that befalls a man. The words, if Allah touch thee with affliction, therefore, do not mean that God is the cause of affliction. They are meant to convey the idea that God being the first cause of all things, everything that happens in the universe is in a way attributable to Him. The expression is also intended to hint that it is God alone Who can remove man’s afflictions.

Happiness indeed comes from God, Who is the real source of all good. This is why, when speaking of happiness coming to man, the Quran uses the expression, He has power to do all that He wills.

Commentary:

This verse emphatically declares that polytheists have no argument whatsoever to support and substantiate their polytheistic beliefs. Human nature, reason and common sense all revolt against idolatry and polytheism.

5:45, 48.

Commentary:

As the law mentioned in this verse is clearly stated to have belonged to the Torah, though it is not to be found in the Bible as we now have it, the words, And whoso waives the right thereto, constitute clear evidence of the fact that the teaching about forgiveness of which Christians boast so much was no monopoly of the Gospels. It was contained in the Torah also, though at the same time there can be no denying the fact that the teachings of Moses lay extra stress on retaliation, as do those of Jesus on forgiveness and non-resistance.

16:57.

Commentary:

Note the point and the force in the words, He has produced. By using these words, the Quran exposes the folly of disbelievers who are presumptuous enough to divide the produce of the earth and cattle between their deities and God, as if they were the owners; while the fact is that God is the owner of all these things and it is He Who has brought them into existence. They are God’s things, and it is strange that disbelievers should presume to divide God’s things according to their own choice, setting apart only a portion for God, the True Owner, and allotting the rest to their false deities.

Disbelievers gave two kinds of alms; firstly, in the name of God, and secondly, in the name of their deities. If the portion which they set apart for their deities was spent for other purposes, then the portion which they had reserved for God was also given away as charity in the name of their deities, but if the portion set apart for God was spent for other ends, then the portion set aside for the deities was not transferred to God. That is what is meant by the words, that which is for their idols reaches not Allah, while that which is for Allah reaches their idols. This is another instance of how men blunder, making laws with the sole aid of reason.

The expression, as they imagine, signifies that God does not accept a charity which false gods are made to share with Him. Disbelievers suppose that they have set apart a portion for God, but that is not really the portion of God, for the jealous God disdainfully rejects such allotment.

17:98; 18:18.

Commentary:

See 2:27.

32:29.

Important Words:

تستفتحوا (if you sought a judgement) is derived from استفتح which again is derived from فتح which means, he opened or he unlocked. فتح الحاکم بین الناس means, the judge or magistrate judged between the people. استفتح means, he asked or sought or demanded victory; or he asked or sought or demanded judgement (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse is addressed to the disbelievers who demanded the sign of victory or God’s judgement from the Holy Prophet. They said, "If you are a true Messenger of God, why does He not help you and grant you victory?" They are here told that God’s judgement in the form of victory has indeed come and that if they now desist from fighting, it will be well for them; but if they return to war, God will show them further signs of victory and they shall be defeated and brought low in spite of their great superiority in numbers and resources, for Allah is with the believers.

9:2.

4:139.

Important Words:

اذان (proclamation) is derived from اذن which means, he gave ear or listened; he permitted or allowed; he knew or he became informed, etc. آذن means, he informed, or notified or announced. اذان means, notification, announcement or call.

بری (clear) see 9:1 above. But whereas in that verse the word signifies absolution from obligations and from fulfilment of promises made by Islam, in the present verse it simply signifies being clear of a person or a thing, i.e. having nothing to do with him or it (Lane).

Commentary:

The declaration, contained in this verse and the one that follows, is different from that embodied in 9:1 & 2 above, for whereas vv. 9:1 & 2 relate to absolution from the fulfilment of promises made to idolaters, the present verse pertains to the severance of connections with them. This severance, however, should not be taken to mean that the verse declares Islam to be free from all treaty obligations; for, as the following verse makes it clear, treaties are to be respected in all cases and must not be violated.

It is related that on his return from Tabuk in the ninth year of the Hijrah, the Holy Prophet sent Abu Bakr to Mecca to announce, on the occasion of the Greater Pilgrimage, that henceforward no one would be allowed to perform the circuit of the Ka‘bah naked or unclothed. Immediately afterwards the first portion of this Surah was revealed. Upon this the Holy Prophet sent ‘Ali to Mecca, and he, as his cousin and representative, after reciting the opening verses of this Surah, made a proclamation containing the following two announcements before the pilgrims who had gathered at Mecca from all parts of Arabia:

1. No idolater shall approach the House of God after this year.

2. Treaties and engagements, made by the Holy Prophet with idolatrous tribes, shall stand and be faithfully respected till the end of their term. The idolaters of Arabia and the hypocrites of Medina had, by their plots and conspiracies against Muslims and by their persistent treacherous conduct, lost all claim to the clemency of the Holy Prophet. When he was absent on the expedition to Tabuk, they spread the false rumour that the whole Muslim army had been captured and the Prophet was dead. Moreover, Abu ‘Amir, a mischievous Arab leader, had gone to Syria to bring a Christian army to attack Muslims and in Arabia itself secret preparations had begun for a general rising. But for the timely return of the Holy Prophet, these plots would have resulted in great disturbance and heavy loss of life. When, on his return, the Holy Prophet learnt of the great mischief, set on foot in his absence and the plots hatched to deal a death-blow to Islam, he, with a view to preventing a recrudescence of such mischief ordered that henceforth no idolater could stay in the Hijaz with the exception of those with whom he had entered into a treaty, and these, too, were allowed to stay only till the expiry of the term of their treaty. The order was justified not only by the persistently treacherous conduct of the idolaters, but also by other political and cultural considerations which demanded its promulgation. The Hijaz had now become the religious as well as the political centre of Islam, and its interests demanded that it should be purged of all foreign and harmful elements likely to endanger its integrity and prove dangerous to the nascent Muslim community which had been brought into being to carry the message of the new Faith to the four corners of the earth.

Commentary:

It was so devised by God that Joseph’s brothers in a fit of excitement themselves suggested that he in whose sack the measuring cup might be found should be detained to explain his conduct. If they had said instead that he who was proved to be the thief should be kept as a prisoner, Joseph would have had no ground to detain his brother, for he knew that he was not a thief. But the words which escaped the lips of his brothers were that Joseph might detain him in whose sack the measuring cup was found. Thus Joseph was able to keep back his brother without the latter being accused of theft.

Important Words:

ابیضت (became white) is derived from بیض which again is derived from باض. They say باضه i.e. he surpassed him in whiteness. بیض means, he whitened a thing or made it white. بیض السقاء means, he filled the skin with water or milk; or, contrarily, he emptied it. ابیض means, it was or became white. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن is used regarding a person who is stricken with grief and means, the world became dark for him or his eyes became white with grief. (Lane & Bihar).

Commentary:

In view of the meaning of the word ابیضت given under Important Words the verse cannot mean that Jacob became blind on account of excessive weeping. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن only means that his eyes became white because of grief; or (according to one meaning of the word) his eyes became filled with tears on account of grief. The interpretation of these words that Jacob’s eyes became blind is evidently wrong for the following reasons: (1) Arabic idiom does not bear it out, for the becoming white of eyes never means their becoming blind. (2) The Quran represents Jacob as displaying extraordinary patience, hinted at in his words when told that Joseph had been devoured by a wolf and also when Benjamin and Judah failed to return to him (vv. 19 & 84). Now, it is a strange sort of patience if he became blind on account of weeping for his sons. (3) It does not at all become a Prophet of God that he should go on bewailing and weeping for any worldly thing, however great, till he becomes blind. (4) The present verse itself tells us that Jacob was کـظیم i.e. he had succeeded in repressing his grief. This shows that he neither wept excessively nor became blind on account of it. (5) The expression ابیضت عیناه is used in Arabic only to express a person’s great grief and sorrow, and is never used about a person’s becoming blind through weeping and wailing.

Commentary:

The subject matter of v. 37 is here repeated to emphasize the fact that disbelievers should not be misled by the present poverty and weakness of Muslims, as the latter are destined to inherit the kingdom of the earth because they have believed in the Message of God Who is the Owner and Controller of all the sources of wealth.

38:87; 42:24; 52:41; 68:47.

Commentary:

This verse answers the objection raised in (v. 8) viz. that, by his claim to prophethood, the Holy Prophet seeks to impose his leadership upon his people. It tells disbelievers that in calling men to God the Prophet is actuated by no selfish motives. He calls God to bear witness to the honesty and sincerity of his purpose. Besides this his whole life constitutes an unanswerable testimony to it.

6:43; 22:53.

6:44; 8:49.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that the disbelievers of Mecca like disbelievers of former Prophets have been lulled by Satan into a false sense of security. Like their predecessors and prototypes, they labour under the delusion that they would not have to answer for their wrongdoings. They feel themselves to be secure while a terrible punishment is about to overtake them.

2:275; 13:23.

Commentary:

The previous verse pointed out that when God uses an endearing term for some of His beloved servants, it connotes something quite different from such an expression when used by idolaters. The present verse presents the Holy Prophet as one whom God loves, and gives the reason of God’s love for him. It deals with this subject in a parable. It likens disbelievers to a person who has lost his freedom and is the slave of his own lust and, being in the possession of another, has lost all freedom of will and action. Can such a person in any way be like him who, being free from all sorts of superstitious beliefs and evil practices, spends his great God-given powers in the service of His creatures? Evidently the latter person is by far superior to the former in every respect and deserves in a far greater degree to be blessed with Divinerevelation. The implied reference is to the Holy Prophet.

The words, secretly and openly, may be understood in three senses: (1) The Holy Prophet served mankind secretly i.e. by praying for them at night and openly i.e. by tangible acts of service. His whole life was, as it were, a continuous and uninterrupted act of selfless service. (2) He served mankind day and night i.e. he served mankind with might and main at all hours of the day and night. (3) His service, though generally unrecognized by those whom he served, did sometimes receive approbation and recognition from them. The verse means to say that all the great natural powers of the Holy Prophet were fully and completely employed in the service of humanity and in this service he gave no thought to his own comfort and it made no difference to him whether or not his service was acknowledged.

The verse also suggests that there are some good deeds which remain unknown to men in this life and hence go without recognition. Such good deeds demand that there should be a "day" when they may be recognized and suitably rewarded.

20:125.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that those who do not make proper use of their spiritual eyes in this world would remain deprived of spiritual sight in the life to come. The Quran speaks of those who do not ponder over the Signs of God and do not benefit by them as "blind." Such men will remain blind in the next life also, i.e. they would not be able to see God with their spiritual eyes. The verse does not refer to any physical blindness because the human soul will shed its physical tabernacle here and men will rise on the Judgement Day free from all physical maladies and ailments. See also 6:106.

7:179; 18:18; 39:37-38.

6:129; 19:69.

Commentary:

In this verse believers are assured that they should not feel discouraged at the obstinacy and waywardness of disbelievers because those who are the inveterate enemies of the truth today may become its devoted votaries tomorrow. The decision as to who deserves to be guided in the end and who will forever remain wedded to disbelief rests entirely in God’s own hands. One thing, however, is certain: truth shall ultimately prevail. So there is no cause for believers to be disheartened at the opposition shown by disbelievers.

The words "on their faces" have also been used in 54:49 where we have, On the day when they will be dragged into the Fire on their faces. So the words in the verse under comment may also mean that disbelievers "shall be dragged on their faces" into the fire i.e. they shall be humbled, disgraced and severely punished. Some sayings of the Holy Prophet also throw light on the meaning of the words, "on their faces." He is reported to have said, ان الذی امشھم علی ارجلھم قادر علی ان یمشیھم علی وجوھھم i.e. He Who has made men walk on their feet can also make them move along on their faces (Bukhari, Kitabur-Riqaq). Another hadith says that on the Day of Resurrection men will be raised in three different forms. Some will be raised as riding, others on foot, and yet others on their faces. Another hadith speaks of the people of the last category as being dragged on their faces (Ma‘ani, vol. 15). It appears that people of the first category will be the Prophets, those of the second the Faithful, while those belonging to the third category will be the disbelievers. In fact, an action done in this world will assume a corresponding form in the next. As the aim and object of disbelievers in this world is the attainment of paltry material gains and they, as it were, instead of looking up to God, look down to earth, so in this verse they are represented as moving along with their faces turned downward in the next life.

The Arabic expression مرالقوم علی وجوھھم means, the people went on hurrying. Taken in this sense the words علی وجوھھم mean, when disbelievers are raised on the Day of Resurrection, they will be hurrying along which would indicate the perturbed state of their minds (14:44). The word وجه also means, an object, intention or motive. In this sense of the word, the expression "on their faces," would mean that God would raise them according to their intentions and motives and the objects they pursued in this life. As in the present life, they turned their backs to God, so in the life to come they would be kept far removed from Him. And as they did not employ their natural powers to find out the truth in this life, so they would be deprived of these powers in the next and would be raised deaf, dumb and blind.

The words "it abates" do not mean that the fire of Hell will become extinguished or its intensity would lessen. They only mean that when on account of burning in the Fire for a sufficiently long time, the disbelievers’ sense of feeling became dull, God would again sharpen it and they would once more begin to feel the burning of Hellfire as keenly as before. See also 4:57.

7:179; 17:98; 39:37-38.

Important Words:

تزاور (move away) is in reality تتزاور which is derived from تزاور (tazawara) which again is derived from زار. They say زارہi.e. he visited him. ازورعنه (izwarra) or تزاورعنه (tazawara) means, he declined or turned aside from it (Lane & Aqrab).

تقرض (turn away) is derived from قرض . They say قرضه i.e. he cut it. قرضت الوادی means, I passed through or across the valley.قرض المکان means, he turned aside or away from the place. The Quranic expression واذا غربت تقرضھم ذات الشمال means, when it set to leave them behind on the left; to pass by and beyond them leaving them on its left; to turn aside or away from them on the left (Lane & Aqrab).

فجوة (spacious hollow) is derived from فجا. They say فجا الباب i.e. he opened the door. فجا رجلیه means, he parted his legs wide or straddled to make water. فجوة means, an opening or intervening space or an intermediate wide space between two things; a wide tract or a wide or depressed tract of land; the court or yard of a house; the part between the two sides of the solid hoof (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse describes the position of the Cave. It appears that the people referred to above lived in very high regions in the north, and the Cave was so situated that it faced north-west, for the sun passes a place which has its face to the north from right to left.

The word فجوة (spacious hollow) shows that the Cave covered a vast area. The catacombs at Rome which still exist confirm this view. They enclose a vast area, which has been estimated variously as extending over as many as 870 miles. It also appeals that the catacombs admitted very little light. The Cave was made in such a way as to serve as a hiding place. St. Jerome who visited the catacombs in the 4th century says, "It is all so dark that the language of the Prophet (Ps. 55.15) seems to be fulfilled, 'let them go down quick into Hell'. Only occasionally is light let in to mitigate the horror of the gloom, and then not so much through a window as through a hole" (Enc. Brit., 11th edition, vol. 5, p. 491).

By pointing to the position of the Cave which faced northward, God intended to warn Muslims that they had an enemy in northern regions about whom they should particularly be on their guard. Muslims disregarded this timely warning and fell easy victims to the machinations of their enemy. Instead of presenting a united front they fell out among themselves and facilitated his task. The intrigues of the Abbasids of Baghdad and their unseemly approaches to the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople for help on the one hand and the intrigues of the Moors in Spain with the Vatican on the other, led to their progressive decline and ultimate destruction. The solidarity of Islam suffered a fatal blow from these internal dissensions.

6:126.

Commentary:

Whereas in the preceding verse reference was made to Divine revelation, in the present verse we are told that now that the Quran has been revealed those whose hearts God has opened for the acceptance of truth have accepted it but those who have chosen to grope in the darkness of disbelief have rejected it. These two classes of men cannot be equal. The verse further says that truth carries with it a strong conviction. The teaching of Islam has such depth and vastness that it makes the hearts of believers to expand and overflow with Divine knowledge and love. It certainly opens up new and endless vistas of thought, knowledge and truth.

5:3.

5:2; 6:146.

Commentary:

The words, "whoso honours the sacred things of Allah, it will be good for him with his Lord," signify that a Muslim should not treat lightly or with disrespect such things as God has sanctified or held sacred. The words cover all those things and persons that God has honoured.

In the last sentence of the verse lying and idol worship have been condemned as equally heinous. Of all abominations, falsehood, perhaps, plays the greatest part in the moral degradation of a man, second only to idol worship.

The verse also points to the great truth that without fully subscribing to the belief in Divine Unity it is impossible to get rid of mental confusion and bewilderment and to enjoy real peace of mind. An idolater falls an easy victim to unfounded superstitious fears.

Commentary:

As against the powerlessness of the idols, Abraham, from this verse, begins to recount the great powers and attributes of God.

Commentary:

In this verse Abraham attributes all malady and ailment to himself and all remedy and cure to God. The verse is quite in keeping with another verse of the Quran (4:80) wherein it is stated that whatever good comes to a man is from God and whatever misfortune befalls him is from his own self. In fact, every misfortune that befalls a man is the result of the contravention by him of a particular law of nature, so he himself is responsible for it. On the other hand, God being the Fountainhead of all grace, all good should be regarded as emanating from Him.

20:101, 102; 72:18.

Commentary:

The verse means that if differences between husband and wife are due to the poverty of the husband, God will provide for him from sources he never could imagine, provided he fears Allah and honestly wishes to tide over the difficult situation.

88:10; 101:8.