فَوْقَ

3:194; 4:16; 7:127; 8:51; 10:47, 105; 12:102; 13:41; 16:29, 33; 22:6; 39:43; 40:68, 78; 47:28.

4:159; 7:177; 19:57.

5:49; 6:165; 11:24; 31:16; 39:8.

Important Words:

متوفیك (cause thee to die) is derived from وفی i.e. he fulfilled or performed; or he was faithful, etc. توفی الله زیدا means, قبض روحه i.e. God took away the soul of Zaid, namely, He caused him to die. When God is the subject and a human being the object, توفی has no other meaning than that of taking away the soul, whether in sleep or death (see note on 2:235). So متوفیك means, I will cause thee to die. Ibn ‘Abbas, a cousin of the Holy Prophet and a scholar of great eminence, has tran-slated متوفیك as ممیتك i.e. I will cause thee to die (Bukhari). Similarly, Zamakhshari, an Arab linguist of great repute, says: "The expression متوفیك means, I protect thee from being killed by the people and will grant thee full lease of life ordained for thee, and will cause thee to die a natural death, not by being killed" (Kashshaf). In fact, all Arabic lexicographers are agreed on the point that the word توفی as used in the aforesaid manner, can bear no other interpretation. Not a single instance from the whole of Arabic literature can be shown of this expression having been used in any other sense. Outstanding scholars and commentators like (1) Ibn ‘Abbas, (2) Imam Malik, (3) Imam Bukhari, (4) Imam ibn Hazm, (5) Imam Ibn Qayyim, (6) Qatadah, (7) Wahab, and others are of the same view (see 1. Bukhari, ch. on Tafsir; 2. Bukhari, ch. on Bad‘ul-Khalq; 3. Bihar; 4. Al-Muhalla, Cairo, i. 23; 5. Ma‘ad, p. 19; 6. Manthur ii.7. Kathir). According to Fathul-Bayan, those commentators who have tried to put other meanings into the word توفی as used in the aforesaid manner, have done so on account of their belief that Jesus has been taken up to heaven alive; otherwise, the word possesses no other meaning but that of taking away the soul or causing to die. The expression has been used at no less than 25 different places in the Quran and in no less than 23 of them the meaning is to take away the soul at the time of death. Only at two places the meaning is to take the soul away at the time of sleep; but here the qualifying word "sleep" or "night" has been added (6:61; 39:43).

رافعك (will exalt thee). رافع is the active participle from رفع. They say رفعه i.e. he raised him or it; he elevated him or it; he lifted it; he uplifted it; he exalted or honoured him; he took it up, etc. Thus رفع is the antonym of وضع i.e. he put it down; he debased it. The Holy Prophet says:

ان الله یرفع بھذا القرآن اقوا ما و یضع اقواما

i.e. Allah will, by means of this Quran, exalt some peoples and humble others (Majah).

Again he says:

من تواضع لله رفعه الله الی السماء السابعة

i.e. he who truly humbles himself for the sake of God, God would lift him to the seventh heaven, i.e. would exalt him to the highest spiritual station (‘Ummal, ii. 25). The Quran has described the Day of Resurrection as خافضة رافعة meaning, it shall debase some and exalt others (56:4). In the Quran we also have فی بیوت اذن الله ان ترفع i.e. in houses with regard to which Allah has commanded that they be exalted (24:37). Again: العمل صالح یرفعه i.e. the righteous work of a man exalts him (35:11). Even in our daily Prayers we pray: اللھم ارفعنی i.e. O God, exalt me. In fact, when the رفع of a man is spoken of as being to or towards God, the meaning is invariably his spiritual elevation, because God being not material or confined to a place, no physical elevation to Him is possible. Jesus himself has denied the possibility of his rising physically to heaven. Says he: "And no man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13).

Commentary:

This verse has been linked up with the preceding one with the word اذ (when), thus indicating that it provides what is known as ظرف for the concluding clause of that verse, i.e. Allah is the Best of planners. The present verse thus relates to the occasion when Jesus was being made a victim of the evil machinations of his enemies who were plotting to have him crucified and thereby prove him to have come to an accursed end (Deut. 21:22, 23). "Nay", says God to Jesus as stated in the verse under comment, "thine enemy shall not be permitted to kill thee on the cross and thereby prove thee to be low and debased spiritually. On the contrary, I will cause thee to die a natural death and will exalt thee in My presence…" This is the only possible meaning of the verse in conformity with the context. Unfor-tunately, however, the verse is one of those which have heavily suffered from misinterpretation. Meanings have been sought to be put upon its words which they are simply incapable of bearing. It is now an admitted fact that, through the free intermixture of Muslims and Christians and the conversion en masse of hundreds of thousands of Christians to Islam, the belief that Jesus had risen up to heaven alive found widespread credence among Muslims, the misunderstanding of the prophecy about the second advent of Jesus lending support to it.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Jesus is dead, and not alive in heaven. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, "Had Moses and Jesus been now living, they would have found themselves bound to follow me" (Kathir). He even fixed the age of Jesus as 120 (‘Ummal). The Quran, in as many as 30 verses, has completely demolished the absurd belief of the physical ascension of Jesus and his supposed life in heaven. The arrangement of words in the verse under comment also leaves no doubt about the death of Jesus. Four distinct promises have been made to Jesus in the verse: (1) his being saved from death on the cross and dying thereafter a natural death; (2) his exaltation in God’s presence; (3) his exoneration from the false charges of his enemies, and (4) the domination of his followers over his rejecters. The last three promises have already been fulfilled; but what of the first? It is idle to speak of تقدیم and تاخیر (i.e. the first-mentioned promise to be read after the others) without any justifying reason. It is idle also to claim that متوفیك here means, "I will cause thee to sleep". The Quranic idiom spurns the idea. Indeed such a meaning makes the verse almost ridiculous.

The verse beautifully describes in four brief words the frustration of the plans of the Jews referred to in the preceding verse. They had planned (1) to bring about the death of Jesus by crucifixion; and (2) to be thus able to say that because he was a false prophet, he died an accursed death on the cross (Deut. 21:22, 23). They also sought (3) to bring false charges against him, especially the heinous charge of an illegitimate birth; and (4) to be thus able to compass the destruction of his entire movement. They were completely foiled in all these designs. Jesus died, not on the cross, but a natural death, respected and revered by devoted followers. He was cleared of the false charges imputed to him and has ever been regarded as one of the sacred band of God’s great Prophets. Last of all, his followers have for centuries held his rejecters, the Jews, under their heels.

The words, those who follow thee, originally referred to the Christians and the words, those who disbelieve, to the Jews. Later, however, when Islam made its appearance, the words those who follow thee, naturally came to include Muslims, who believe in the divine mission of Jesus; and history tells us that Muslims and Christians have both dominated the Jews whenever and wherever they have come in contact with them.

The prophecy about giving dominance to the believers in Jesus over his rejecters was, however, to be fulfilled in its completest form at the time of his second advent which has now taken place in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, whose message is for all the nations of the world. The clause, those who disbelieve, would, therefore, now apply to all those from among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others who reject the Second Messiah who has come in fulfilment of the prophecies of both Jesus and the Holy Prophetof Islam. No wonder then that the words: "O Jesus, I will cause thee to die (a natural death)…and will place those who follow thee above those who disbelieve" also formed part of the revelation vouchsafed to Ahmad (Izalah’-i-Auham, p. 192).

4:177.

Important Words:

ابویه (his parents) is really ابوینه, the letter ن being dropped owing to اضافة. The word ابوین is the genitive of ابوان which is the dual form of اب which is originally ابو meaning, father or grandfather or any male ancestor or paternal uncle. ابوانliterally meaning "two fathers" signifies "father and mother" (Lane).

ولد (child) is very general in its significance meaning: (1) a child, son, daughter or a young one; (2) children, sons, daughters, offspring or young ones. Thus the word is used both as singular and plural, feminine and masculine (Lane).

Commentary:

This and the succeeding verse combined with the last verse of the Surah give the Islamic law of inheritance in a nutshell.

Islam prescribes suitable shares for all near relatives in the property of a deceased person without distinction of sex or order of birth. Children, parents, husbands and wives are the principal heirs who, if alive, get suitable shares in all circumstances, other relations having a title only in special cases. A male has been given double the share of a female because he has been made responsible for the maintenance of the family (Ma‘ani, vol. ii, p. 32).

The Islamic law of inheritance is perfect and it safeguards against all evils that result from laws prescribed by, or in vogue in, other faiths and communities. It aims at a fair distribution of wealth and equal chances of progress for all. To give the property of a deceased parent to the firstborn son only or to exclude the female members from inheritance or to disinherit parents in the presence of children has proved a veritable curse for society in many ways—moral, social and economic. The Islamic law of inheritance, reinforced by the system of Zakah (prescribed alms) and by the injunction prohibiting the giving and taking of interest, provides a golden mean between capitalism and communism—the two evil extremes of the present-day economic system.

The verse begins by laying down a general rule as to the proportion of shares between sons and daughters. A son is to have as much as two daughters. So wherever there are both sons and daughters, this rule will come in force. When, however, there are only daughters and no son, the verse allots two-thirds of the legacy to the daughters if there are more than two of them, and one-half if there is only one. The share of daughters, in case there are two, is not expressly stated. But the use of the conjunction فا (but) in the clause, but if there be females only, numbering more than two, clearly points to the fact that the share of two females has been referred to in the preceding words "two females". Moreover, the share of two females can be gathered from what has already been said in the beginning of the verse about the ratio between the shares of the males and the females. According to that ratio, a son is to get as much as two daughters. Thus, if there be one son and one daughter, the son will have two-thirds. But as the share of one son has been made equal to that of "two daughters", the latter, in case there is no son, will have two-thirds, viz., the same share as has been expressly fixed for three daughters. Thus, the very construction of the verse shows that if there be two daughters and no son, they too, as in the case of three daughters, will get two-thirds. If it had not been the object of the Quran to point to the share of two daughters in the clause, it would have been something like this, "a male shall have twice as much as a female", and not as it is now.

The above meaning is corroborated by a saying of the Holy Prophet himself. It is related that when a Companion of the Holy Prophet named Sa‘d bin Rabi‘ah died in the Battle of Uhud, leaving two daughters and one widow, his brother took away the whole property, leaving nothing for the two daughters. Thereupon the widow of Sa‘d went to the Holy Prophet and said, "Here are the two daughters of Sa‘d. Their uncle has taken the whole of his property and has left nothing for them." The Holy Prophet told her to wait till God should decide the matter. Then this verse was revealed and the Prophet called upon Sa‘d’s brother to give two-thirds of Sa‘d’s property to his two daughters and one-eighth to their mother and keep the rest for himself (Tirmidhi & Dawud).

The verse speaks of three cases as regards the share of the parents: (1) If a person dies leaving one or more children, then each of his parents shall have one-sixth; (2) If a person dies issueless and his parents are the sole heirs (there being no wife or husband of the deceased person), then the mother will have one-third of the property and the remaining two-thirds will go to the father; (3) There is a third case, which is really an exception to the second case. A man dies without issue and his parents are his sole heirs, but he has brothers or sisters. Then, although his brother or sisters will not inherit from him, yet their presence will affect the share of the parents, for, in this case, the mother will have one-sixth (instead of one-third, as in the second case) and the remaining five-sixths will go to the father. The reason why the father is awarded a larger share in this case is that the father has also to support the brothers or sisters of the deceased. The subject of inheritance is continued in the succeeding verse.

6:62.

Important Words:

قاھر (Supreme) is derived from قھر. They say قھرہ i.e. he overcame, conquered or subjected him; or he became superior in power or force to him. It also means, he oppressed him; or he forced or compelled him. So قاھر means, one who overcomes, conquers or subdues. القاھر and القھار are attributes of God, meaning, the Subduer of His creatures by His sovereign authority and power, and the Disposer of them as He pleases (Lane).

Commentary:

The attribute القاھر (Supreme) does not imply any injustice on the part of God. All things being His servants, He does not subdue anything which does not belong to Him and is not His creation. This refutes those, who allege that matter and soul are co-existent with God and are not His creation. If they were not the creation of God, He had no right to subdue or rule over them. Hence, those who allege that matter and soul are not the creation of God, attribute to Him an act of injustice; for in that case we would have to assume that God has subdued such things as are not His creation.

6:19; 13:17.

13:12; 82:11.

Commentary:

This verse provides another reason why God alone is entitled to punish. He is قاھر (Supreme), i.e. Powerful and Mighty over all, therefore He can punish any of His creatures whenever He thinks it proper. The powerful are never in a hurry to punish, for they know that they can punish whenever they will. Again, it is God Himself Who guards His creatures and supports them, and it is through His grace that they enjoy security. So destruction can befall them only when He withdraws His grace, and He does so when He thinks it proper.

The words, they fail not, signify that when God finally issues a decree, nothing can delay it or set it aside.

5:49; 11:8; 67:3.

Commentary:

This Surah began with a reference to "darkness" and "light", and in its concluding verse also reference has been made to the same subject, though in different words. The verse purports to say that the people of darkness and the people of light will get their respective rewards at the hands of God. The words, quick in punishment, refer to the punishment of those who are in darkness, while the words, Most Forgiving, Merciful, refer to the good reward of those who are endowed with light. The words, that He may try you by that which He has given you, are intended to point to the great purpose for which "darkness" and "light" have been created, the expression, given you, hinting that both light and darkness have been created for the ultimate good of man. Indeed if there had been no darkness, there would have been no progress. See also 6:2.

Important Words:

فوق (upper part) is derived from فاق. They say فاقھم i.e. he was or became above them. So فوق means, the location or place that is above or over a person or a thing. They say فوقه رأسه i.e. his upper part is his head (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse shows that the angels are, as it were, intermediaries between God and men. It is through them that God’sassistance comes to men.

The verse also hints that there are some angels whose function is to strengthen the hearts of good men and make them firm, while there are others who are deputed to cast terror into the hearts of wicked men. So God bade the former class of angels to strengthen the hearts of the believers and told them that He would cast terror into the hearts of the disbelievers through the other class of angels.

God instructed the believers to strike the disbelievers at "the upper parts of their necks" because the upper part of the neck, i.e. that which is just below the head, is considered to be the best point for dealing an effective blow with the sword. This order related to such of the enemy as deserved to be killed and without killing whom the Muslims could not defend themselves. The striking on the “finger-tips” was meant to incapacitate the enemy and make them unfit for fighting. This order thus related to those of the enemy who, so far as possible, were to be spared with the infliction of minimum injury. Both these orders were faithfully carried out, for although the Muslims were very weak at Badr, they were able to kill seventy of the disbelievers, mostly leaders, and take as many prisoners, while the enemy could kill only fourteen of them.

Commentary:

The expression معه (with him) does not necessarily mean that the two youths were sent to prison with Joseph at the same time. It only means that they were kept in the same prison with him.

The dreams of the butler and the baker are given in detail in Genesis (chap. 40), but their substance is the same as given in the Quran. The fact that they asked Joseph the interpretation of their dreams shows that he was held in very high esteem in the prison for his piety; for it is only from highly spiritual and pious persons that men ask the interpretation of their dreams. His two fellow-prisoners pay a further tribute to Joseph’s piety in the words, we see thee to be of the righteous.

7:46; 11:20; 14:4.

Commentary:

The verse mentions two classes of disbelievers; (1) those who are themselves misguided and (2) those who mislead others also. The latter class of disbelievers will have double punishment in the next life. The irony of it lies in the fact that the clever people who deceived their simple-minded followers into believing that they would be responsible for their salvation will find their own punishment to be double the punishment of their credulous followers for whose salvation they proudly said they would be responsible.

Important Words:

لجی (vast and deep) is relative noun from (lujjun) which is derived from لج (lajja) which means, he persisted in wrangling. لج فی امر means, he persisted or persevered in the affair, or he persisted obstinately in an affair, even if it became manifest that it was wrong; or he persisted in contention. لججت السفینة means, the boat entered the لجة i.e. the main sea, or the fathomless deep, or the great expanse of sea of which the limits could not be seen. بحر لجی means, a vast and deep sea (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In vv. 38-39 above an appreciative reference was made to a class of men—the lovers of divine light and the righteous servants of God. The present and the immediately preceding verse speak of another class of people—the sons of darkness. People of one class accept the divine light and walk in it with the result that they are doubly blessed, both in this world and in the next. Their enviable condition is described in the simile, "light upon light." The other class of people reject the divine light, choose to grope in the darkness of doubts and misgivings and hanker after the illusory and transient pleasures and profits of this world and end by incurring God’s displeasure. All their works prove futile and deceptive like a mirage. They love darkness, follow darkness and live in darkness and thus their unenviable condition has been very aptly and graphically described in the words, "their deeds are like thick darkness in a vast and deep sea, covered by a wave, over which is a wave, above which are clouds—layers of darkness, one upon another."

Commentary:

The verse answers the objection of disbelievers that God should have selected some "great man" for the great responsibility of conveying His Message to mankind. It purports to say that what they call greatness carries no weight in the sight of God. Material wealth, power and influence are trash compared to the great spiritual wealth which the Holy Prophet possesses. Difference in wealth, power and status among men is in agreement with the Creator’s own plan. But for this difference, human society would have gone to pieces. Apart from this, these things have no intrinsic worth; they only tend to turn men away from God. The verse also administers a severe rebuke to disbelievers asking them: Since when have they arrogated to themselves the role of being the distributors of God’s grace and mercy, or the privilege of deciding who is deserving of it and who not?

22:20; 55:45; 56:43.

Commentary:

The reference in the verse is to the oath taken by the believers at the hands of the Holy Prophet under a tree at Hudaibiyyah when a rumour reached him that ‘Uthman, his special envoy, had been killed by the Meccans. The believers were asked to declare on solemn oath that they would stand by the Holy Prophet at all costs and would fight under his banner to the bitter end.

Commentary:

The verse lays great stress on observing an attitude of utmost respectfulness towards the Holy Prophet. The Muslims should not talk loudly in his presence or address him aloud. This is not only bad manners but is calculated to do moral injury to one so rude as not to show respect due to the Leader.