قَبۡلِ

Important Words:

یعفو (should remit) is derived from عفا meaning: (1) he gave more than what was due; or (2) he relinquished his right or remitted it in whole or in part (Taj). See also 2:220.

Commentary:

If the divorce occurs after the dowry has been fixed but before the husband has gone in unto his wife, the husband shall pay half of the fixed dowry. The clause, he in whose hand is the tie of marriage, may signify either the husband or the guardian of the divorced woman, because whereas after marriage the tie of marriage is in the hands of the husband, before marriage the guardian of the woman also holds it in his hands. In the former case, the word یعفو would mean that the husband should try to give more than half the dowry, or if he has already paid the whole dowry, he should try not to demand its return. If, however, the clause, he in whose hand is the tie of marriage, be considered to apply to the guardian of the divorced woman, the word یعفو would mean that he should try to remit or relinquish her right, i.e. he should, so far as possible, strive to give up, even that which he is entitled to receive on behalf of the divorced woman. But God certainly prefers that the husband should make a greater show of generosity.

This is how each party is exhorted to vie with the other in acting generously toward the other, the husband by paying more than what is obligatory on him, and the wife or her guardian by relinquishing what is due to her. If people truly inculcated such a spirit of sacrifice, the earth would indeed become a heaven.

The expression, And that you should remit is nearer to righteousness, applies to the husband particularly; but it may, in its broader significance, apply to all__husbands, wives and guardians.

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.

Important Words:

کل (all) is a very common Arabic word used to express two senses: (1) all members of a group; (2) all parts of an individual thing. The word may generally be rendered as, all; whole; each; every one, etc. It is also sometimes used in the sense of "the majority of", and rarely even in the sense of "some" or "part of" (Aqrab & Taj)

Commentary:

The preceding verses emphasize the importance of complete submission to the will of God. The highest good cannot be attained without the sacrifice of most beloved things, including personal and national sentiments. The present verse cites an apt illustration. Whereas God had allowed "all food" to the Jews, the Israelites forbade themselves parts thereof on the ground that Jacob, for personal and medical considerations, abstained from partaking of them. But as the word Israel, primarily the name of Jacob, is also used about his children and descendants and has been so used in the Bible, it may also be taken in this sense in the second clause of the present verse.

By saying, All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, the Quran also refutes an objection of the People of the Book, which served as an obstacle in the way of their accepting Islam. There were certain kinds of food which the Jews abstained from eating but which were allowed by Islam. One such thing was the sciatic nerve, to which reference is made in Gen. 32:32. Jacob suffered from sciatica, and, therefore, for medical reasons he forbade himself the use of the sciatic nerve as food. This was a personal matter but the Children of Israel followed his example blindly and made it a rule of conduct to abstain from the eating of the sinew. It was not forbidden by Law, the abstention being purely voluntary.

Moreover, the incident which led to the abandonment of the sciatic nerve as food by Israel and later by the Israelites took place long before the Torah was revealed. The Torah itself does not forbid it but merely mentions it as a practice of the Jews who had, therefore, no right to object to its use by the Muslims. The objection, if valid, also held good against Abraham and many other Prophets. Besides, there are some foods which were used by Abraham and his descendants but were later forbidden by the Torah. The camel is an instance of this kind. Hence, the verse purports to say that if certain foods used by the patriarchs are allowed to other peoples, the Jews have no right to object.

It may be pointed out here that there is a difference of meaning between کل طعام (kullu-ta‘amin) and کل الطعام (kullut-ta‘ami) as used in the present verse. The former means, every kind of food, while the latter means, all food, i.e. the whole food. It appears that the Jews objected that the Muslims ate the whole meat, not excepting even the nerve.

Important Words:

تنظرون (looking for) is derived fromنظر which ordinarily means, he saw or he looked. نظرہ or نظر الیه means, he looked at, or he looked towards, him in order to see him; or he extended or stretched his sight towards him whether he saw him or not. نظرہ also means, he waited for him or it. داری تنظر دارہ means, my house faces his house (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The word موت (death) here stands for war, for the result of war is death. War was death particularly for the Muslims, who were extremely weak, both in equipment and numbers compared with their powerful enemy. In Zurqani، we read that when, before the Battle of Uhud, the Holy Prophet proposed to fight the enemy from inside Medina, some of his Companions, particularly those who had not taken part in the Battle of Badr, said, "We had longed for this day. So go out with us to our enemies, so that they may not think that we have played the coward" (Zurqani, i. 22). It is to this longing of the Muslims that reference is made in the words, you used to wish for this death. This longing meant that the Muslims wished to achieve something in the way of God, but God here reprimands them by saying that now they have seen that they could do nothing by themselves. This is why Islam teaches that one should never desire encounter with the enemy; but that if and when the occasion actually comes, one should be brave and steadfast. The Holy Prophet says: "Do not desire encounter with the enemy; rather ask for peace and security from Allah. But when you meet the enemy, then be steadfast and patient and know that Paradise lies under the shadow of the swords, i.e. if you die fighting in the cause of God, He will surely grant you bliss and happiness in the life to come (Muslim, ch. on Jihad).

The pronoun in the words, seen it, refers to fighting. It signifies that you have now seen fighting and have, as a result of that, realized that without the help of God you possess no power to fight the enemy and can achieve nothing. The closing words, while you were actually looking for it, are intended to cheer up the spirits of believers. The reverse only brought about the very thing they were looking for.

10:89.

2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.

Important Words:

وجوھا (leaders) is the plural of وجه which gives a number of meanings: face; the outward appearance of a person or thing; the front or the side that confronts the eyes of the looker; the first part of a thing; the leader or chief of a people; motive or intention, etc. (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse contains two prophecies concerning the Jews: (1) God will destroy their leaders, and they will be vanquished and "turned on their backs", i.e. banished from and turned out of their country; (2) God will curse them as He had cursed the people who profaned the Sabbath. The words embodying the two prophecies are joined together by the conjunction او(or) not to express doubt but to show that either of the two punishments was to befall the Jews; or that some of them were to be visited with one kind of punishment and others with another. The expression: We will turn them on their backs, does not mean, as some commentators have thought, "We will physically disfigure them and put their faces on their backs." This meaning, besides being against Arabic idiom, is entirely uncorroborated by history. If the word وجوہ is taken in the sense of "faces", then the whole sentence will be taken in a figurative sense, signifying total transformation or ruin.

The verse also makes it clear that when speaking of the profaners of the Sabbath as having been turned into apes (2:66; 5:61; 7:164-169), the verses referred to do not mean that they were actually and physically transformed into apes; for, as the present verse shows, the same prophecy was made concerning the Jews who opposed the Holy Prophet and they were never actually transformed into apes.

4:18.

Commentary:

This and the preceding verse refer, not to ordinary dacoits and robbers, as is wrongly assumed by some, but to rebels and those miscreants who make aggressive war upon the Muslim State, as is clear from the words, who wage war against Allah and His Messenger. This inference finds further support from the fact that the present verse promises amnesty to offenders if they repent. But obviously those who commit heinous offences against individuals or against society, such as dacoits, robbers and thieves, cannot, in ordinary circumstances, be pardoned by the State even if they repent. They must suffer the penalty of their wicked deeds as prescribed by the Law. Surely, repentance may secure for them pardon from God, but the powers of the State are limited in this respect. Political offenders, however, may be forgiven if they repent and desist from further acts of rebellion and other offences against the State.

10:106; 30:31.

Important Words:

یصدعون (will split up) is derived from صدع (sada‘a). صدعه means, he clove, split or slit it. تصدع القوم means, the people became separated or dispersed. یصدعون means, they will become separated or split up (Lane & Aqrab).

10:14, 15.

Commentary:

It appears from the Bible that, like the followers of other Prophets of God, the followers of Moses were made to bear additional burdens of which they complained to Moses (Exod. 5:21). To that complaint a reference is made in this verse.

The word "land" mentioned in the verse refer not to Egypt but to the Holy Land which had been promised to the Israelites and which they inherited in accordance with the promise. The word may also mean "the earth" generally.

Though primarily the address in the words, that He may then see how you act, is to the Israelites of the time of Moses, the words possess a much wider application. They apply with equal force to succeeding generations as well.

It is noteworthy that similar words have been used with regard to Muslims also (10:15) and, like the Israelites, they have been told that God would make them successors in the land and would bestow upon them Khilafat and dominion, and then He would see whether they acted righteously in the earth. This resemblance also shows that Muslim dispensation is a counterpart of the Mosaic dispensation and that a time was to come when Muslims also were to become corrupt like the Jews. It is to this tragic fact that a reference has been made in the prayer, "Make us not of those upon whom Thy wrath has descended" (see note on 1:7).

2:237.

Commentary:

The words "and send them away in a handsome manner" signify (1) that no reproach or disgrace should be considered to be attached to divorce; (2) that the divorced woman should ordinarily be paid more than her part of the stipulated dower, and (3) that after divorce her freedom to act as she likes with regard to herself should not be interfered with.

Commentary:

The words, This is of the tidings of the unseen, are intended to hint that the Quranic accounts of the various Prophets are not meant as mere stories of the ancient peoples. They are given in the Quran because they contain a prophetic allusion to the analogous events that were to occur in the life of the Holy Prophet himself. This is what is implied in the words "the tidings of the unseen". The concluding words of the verse, i.e. "the end is for the God-fearing," lend further support to this inference. These accounts also serve to warn Muslims that they too will have to pass through the experiences of the followers of former Prophets and they warn disbelievers that they too shall meet a fate similar to that of the rejecters of past Prophets.

The words, So be thou patient, mean that just as the people of Noah were destroyed, so will a section of the Holy Prophet’s people be destroyed; and then of their seed and of the seed of their companions God will raise a people who will bear the standard of piety and righteousness in every age.

The story of the Deluge with some variations is to be found in the traditions and literature of various countries (see Enc. Rel. & Eth. Enc. Bib. & Enc. Brit. under Deluge). The importance which is attached to it and the widespread credence it commands points to its being an historical event of very great importance. It cannot be denied that a great flood did take place sometime in the remote past, that it was of an extraordinary nature and that it affected many nations of the earth. Its description as given in the Quran, however, shows that there was nothing unnatural about it.

The catastrophe seems to have taken place somewhere at the dawn of human civilization. The Holy Prophet of Islam spoke of Noah as the first Messenger of God, i.e. the first organizer of a religious community (Bukhari, ch. on Anbiya’).The Bible also represents him as such (Gen. 6:8). Hindu traditions, too, corroborate this fact, for they speak of Manu (who is the same as Noah), the Hindu hero of the Deluge, as the first man (Enc. Brit. under Manu). But they add that seven others were saved with him, which points to the fact that he was not the first man absolutely but only the first man of the first cycle of human civilization. These statements made in the Scriptures of three great religions of the world leave no doubt about the fact that Noah laid the foundations of human civilization and culture. In fact, with the progress and advance of a people in civilization, their numbers also begin to grow with a corresponding decrease taking place in the numbers of less civilized communities living with them in the same land. It is a well-known historical fact that whenever a people, comparatively more advanced in culture and civilization, have come to settle in a country, they have either blotted out of existence the less civilized inhabitants of the land or have greatly weakened them. Thus it appears that when the descendants of Noah and those of his companions, who were the founders of human civilization, spread to other lands, because they were more powerful than the people already living there, they either exterminated them or absorbed them by breaking their power. In this way they must have introduced into all the countries they subjugated their own traditions and customs; and consequently the tradition about the Deluge which naturally impressed the subjugated people must also have come to be introduced into other lands. With the lapse of time, however, the immigrants ceased to have any connection with their original home and the catastrophe consequently came to be regarded as a local occurrence, with the result that local names of persons and places came to be substituted for the original names.

In short, the Deluge was not a universal visitation, nor should the traditions of different lands be taken to point to separate floods. It was confined to one land, but owing to the immigration of the descendants of Noah and his companions to other lands, the story spread far and wide and finally the Flood came to be regarded as a local occurrence in every country.

As for the place where the Deluge occurred see note on al-Judi in v. 45.

2:275; 13:23; 16:76.

2:255; 43:68.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that if believers desire the "good tree" (v. 25) to yield its fruit soon, they should faithfully observe the Divine commandment regarding the saying of Prayers and the spending of a part of their property in the cause of God, both secretly and openly.

Commentary:

Whereas the preceding verse holds out to sinners the message of hope and good cheer, the verse under comment warns them that they will themselves have to work out their destiny by submitting to Divine laws. God’s mercy comes only to those who obey His laws.

Commentary:

This verse continues the theme of the preceding one. Man has first to make himself deserving of Divine mercy by following the best Teaching that has been revealed—the Quran—and only then to demand it. It is honest endeavour that is demanded of men and the rest is made up by God’s mercy.

23:117.

Commentary:

The words O my Lord, increase me in knowledge show the great importance that the Quran attaches to the acquirement of knowledge. Even the Holy Prophet to whom was vouchsafed knowledge about the generations that have passed away and about those that are yet to be born أوتیت علم الاولین و الآخرین)), is taught to pray that his knowledge may be increased. He is further reported to have said, "Seek knowledge though it may be found in a country as far away as China" (Saghir vol. 1). Elsewhere in the Quran knowledge has been styled as "God’s great grace" (2:270 & 4:114).

The verse also implies that all knowledge is of two kinds: (a) that which is vouchsafed to man through revelation and which has found its perfect manifestation in the Quran which is the last and most perfect Divine teaching; (b) that which man acquires by his own effort and labour. It is this second kind of knowledge for the acquisition of which man is enjoined in the present verse to make ceaseless effort.

The verse also implies that the Quran will come to be increasingly read and followed.

28:48.

Important Words:

مراة (times) is the plural of مرة which is infinitive noun from مر which means, he or it passed. مر الدھر means, the time passed. مرة means, a time; one time; one action; a single action or act; turn; also an occasion. فعلته مرة means, I did it once (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The subject of "purdah," as stated under v. 32 above has been referred to at four different places in the Quran. Whereas 24:32 deals with "purdah" primarily within four walls of the house, v. 33:60 discusses "purdah" outside the house and on thoroughfares while vv. 33:33-34 speak of a restricted kind of "purdah", particularly enjoined on the Holy Prophet’s wives and by implication on all Muslim women, and by inference point to the fact that the principal centre of a woman’s activities is her home. The present verse, however, refers to another kind of "purdah," viz. that domestic servants and minor children too should not enter the private apartments of their masters or parents at three particular hours mentioned here without getting prior permission.

39:55.

Commentary:

After having described in the preceding verses the pitiable condition of disbelievers when they would be brought as criminals before the Judgement Seat of God, in the present verse they are warned not to treat lightly the Divine Message, but follow the Prophet and abide by God’s commandments before the awful day arrives.

35:41.

Important Words:

أثارة (vestige) is the inf. noun from أثر and means, a remain or relic of a thing; a trace; sign or mark; vestige or track; a footprint; impression or mark made by the foot of a man upon the ground (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

With this verse begins a systematic refutation and condemnation of شرک i.e. idolatry. It means to say that only that Being can command adoration and is fit to be worshipped Who as the Architect and Creator of the universe controls our destinies. But the false gods of idolaters not only have not created anything but are themselves created. They do not even possess any power to harm or benefit themselves, nor have they any power over death, life or Resurrection (25:4). Then what title or right have they to man’s worship of them? The verse further says that in reality no authority except that of a revealed Scripture can form the basis for determining whether a certain belief is right or wrong. The words "Or some vestige of knowledge in your support" signify that human science and reason as well lend no support to idolatrous beliefs or practices. Thus this little verse embodies three very strong and cogent arguments to repudiate and demolish polytheistic and idolatrous doctrines.

Commentary:

The drastic punishment mentioned in these verses indicates the extreme seriousness of the crime of calling one’s wife "mother." The relationship with "mother" is too sacred to be trifled with. The expression لتؤمنوا باللّٰه و رسوله means, you may learn to obey the commandments of Allah and his Messenger.

Commentary:

کتاب (Book) may signify divine law or knowledge. It may also signify the Quran. According to the first meaning, the verse would signify that everything is subject to a certain law of nature. According to the second it may mean that the causes and cures of misery befalling nations and individuals have been mentioned in the Quran, the words فی الارضsignifying people in general, and فی أنفسکم meaning the Muslims as a whole or every individual.

4:96; 9:20.

Commentary:

Man will have to leave behind in this world all his material possessions which in truth belong to God.

الفتح (the Victory) may refer to the Fall of Mecca, soon after which the whole of Arabia submitted to the Holy Prophet, or it may refer to the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah which laid the foundation of the subsequent rapid spread of Islam and of the vast and very quick expansion of the political power of Muslims.

Commentary:

The words "they go back on what they have said," may signify that after calling their wives "mothers" they seek to re-establish conjugal relations with them. Or the words may mean that after having once called their wives "mothers" they repeat what they have said. According to this meaning, it is deliberate repetition of the obnoxious words and not their casual or inadvertent utterance that renders the utterer liable to the punishment prescribed in this and the following verse.

2:196; 9:34.

14:45.

Commentary:

The verse exhorts believers to make the best of their opportunities to serve the cause of truth with all the gifts that God had bestowed upon them, before death comes upon them i.e. before they lose the opportunity or the power to serve.

11:26; 23:24.

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet represented in himself all the Divine Messengers that had gone before him. The account given in this Surah of the Prophet Noah applies with equal effect to the conditions and circumstances through which the Holy Prophet had to pass. It is in this light that the meaning of the Surah should be read and appreciated.