مِّنْهَا

Important Words:

ادارک (has reached its end) is derived from درک. They say درک المطر (darraka) i.e. the rain dropped with close consecutiveness. أدرکه means, he attained, reached or overtook him. تدارکو or ادارکوا means, they attained, reached, overtook one another so as the last of them met with the first of them. بل ادارک علمھم فی الاخرة means, their knowledge with regard to the meeting of the Hereafter has reached its end i.e. they have become devoid of knowledge about it. See also 7:39.

Commentary:

No amount of human knowledge and intelligence alone can satisfy the craving of the human soul after God, or can prove beyond doubt the existence of God and life after death, the two most fundamental of all religious beliefs, because their full comprehension is beyond human ken. It is divine knowledge acquired through Divine revelation that can and does actually engender certainty in human mind about these two basic religious problems. Man’s knowledge can, at best, lead to the conclusion that there must be a Divine Being and a life after death but it is Divine revelation alone that can change this "must be" into a certain "is."

4:41; 6:161; 28:85.

Commentary:

Those who believed in the Holy Prophet and did righteous deeds had a good reward and became immune from all fear and apprehension about the future. And the burning of heart, as says the next verse, was the lot of the disbelievers and evildoers. These verses may also apply to the condition of believers and disbelievers in the life after death.

4:124; 6:161; 17:8; 41:47; 99:8-9.

Commentary:

The verse points to the divine law of compensation which in this life works in this way that whereas for good works God gives a reward many times greater than what the doer has earned, He punishes a bad deed with a punishment which is less than what the guilty person has incurred or at the most with a punishment proportionate to the evil deed which he has committed.

3:106; 6:160; 8:47.

2:232.

8:64.

Important Words:

حبل (rope). They say حبله i.e. he bound or tied him with a rope or cord. حبل الصید means, he caught the game with a snare or net. حبلت المرأة means, the woman became pregnant. حبل means, a rope or cord or anything with which a thing is tied or made fast; a bond or cause of union or link of connection, such as a bond of love or friendship; mutual connection by such a bond; a covenant or compact; an obligation by which one becomes responsible for the safety of a person or thing; a promise or assurance of security or safety; an artery, vein or nerve (Lane). It also means alliance and protection (Aqrab).

Commentary:

Another cause of the spiritual degradation of the Israelites was that they did not remain united but split up into sections, finding fault with one another. The verse warns Muslims against that danger. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "The Book of God is the rope of Allah which has been extended from the heavens to the earth" (Jarir, iv. 30). Broadly speaking, there are three things which may be taken to have been here meant by the rope of God, by holding fast to which Muslims may remain united and be safe against disunion and disruption: (1) the Quran; (2) the Messenger of God; (3) the Successors to the Messenger of God.

The similitude may have reference to sea life. Ropes are thrown to save the life of a drowning man. When a man falls into the sea or when a boat is wrecked by a storm, people in the boat or those standing on the shore throw out ropes to those who are struggling for their lives in the sea. The similitude is thus incidentally a refutation of the objection that the Quran restricts its similitudes to such objects only as were known to the desert dwellers of Arabia.

It may be noted here that whenever the Quran speaks of the open or secret hostility of the enemies of Islam, it exhorts Muslims to be strong of faith; for it is at such times that one is likely to waver and show weakness in resolution. Thus, after referring to the hostility of the People of the Book (3:100, 101) the Quran exhorts Muslims: (1) to fear God as He should be feared (3:103); (2) to be constant in obedience to God (3:103); and (3) to hold fast to the rope of God and preserve themselves from disunion (3:104).

The words, remember the favour of Allah, signify that as one can properly appreciate a boon of God only when one experiences the disadvantages that result from its absence, so the Quran reminds Muslims of the discord and enmity that existed between them before they became united in Islam.

The words, He united your hearts in love, show that according to Islam it is no great virtue to bear no malice or hatred to others. Nor does Islam inculcate a life of seclusion and detachment. What it requires is positive love for, and active sympathy with, fellow beings. One who is devoid of this is really devoid of true faith.

Important Words:

For the significance of the words شفیع and شفاعة see under 2:49.

Commentary:

Read in the light of the context the words, Whoso makes a righteous intercession…may mean that a person who persuades others to fight in the cause of God shall have an ample reward, while he who dissuades them from fighting shall suffer punishment for doing so. The verse also signifies that people should not look upon the subject of intercession or recommendation lightly; for the person who intercedes on behalf of, or recommends, another is answerable for his act. If the intercession or recommendation is right and just, he will have a suitable reward; otherwise he will share and be responsible for the evil consequence thereof.

Taking the word شفاعة in the sense of connection, the verse may also be rendered as, "whoso forms a good connection shall have a share thereof and whoso forms a bad connection shall have a like portion thereof," thus emphasizing the importance of forming a good connection whether with God or with His Prophets or with other people. Whereas a good connection may be the cause of rise and progress, a bad one may result in downfall and ruin. For a full discussion of the subject of شفاعة (intercession) see detailed note under 2:49.

It is noteworthy that in connection with "righteous intercession", the word used is نصیب (share or fixed share) whereas in connection with "evil intercession" the word used is کفل (like portion). This is to point out that, whereas the punishment of an evil intercession will only be the like thereof, the good reward of a righteous intercession will have no such restriction but will be as large as God has fixed it, i.e. ten times greater.

Commentary:

The words, from every distress, signify that Allah may deliver you not only from the afflictions from which you pray to be rescued, but also from other troubles for the removal of which you do not pray.

This and the preceding verse give the third reason why none beside God is in a position to send down punishment. We are told that none but God hears the prayers of men and delivers them from the afflictions which befall them. Now the Being Who hears prayers and removes afflictions should also be the Being Who can send down punishment; for if there be two different beings, then there is sure to be opposition and conflict between them.

8:25.

6:109; 10:13; 27:5.

Commentary:

In the foregoing verses it was pointed out that man-made teachings are always defective. Now, the Quran proceeds to show that man-made teachings cannot stand against Divine teachings.

The verse purports to put the question: "If there is a teaching which is really from God, will it not be better than that devised by man?" Now, this is a question which every man, even a disbeliever, will have to reply in the affirmative. Indeed, human reason cannot have the boldness to deny it. The question has thus been put to make disbelievers conscious of a great truth.

The expression, he is in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth, refers to the man who devises laws with the aid of reason alone— reason that is fettered by numberless limitations to which man is subject. The laws made by men are always subject to change owing to their intrinsic defectiveness. A law is made today but it has to be changed tomorrow on account of the defects which by experience are found in it. Then the new law is again changed for the same reason, and this process goes on indefinitely and sometimes even a sort of a circle comes into being. Thus the case of such men as devise their laws with the aid of human reason alone is like one who is in darkness from which he will never come out.

The words, made to seem fair, imply that Satan and his associates adorn the evil doings of men. In the beginning it is Satan who misleads men by inciting them to evil. But when a man goes on doing evil deeds, his evil deeds gradually begin to appear good to him. This is the law of God meant as a punishment. It is to this later adornment of deeds under the law of God that the Quran refers in 6:109 above.

Important Words:

وطرا (want) has no verb. It means, a want, a need, an object of want or need; or that which one proposes to accomplish or of which one is desirous. They say قضی منه وطرہ i.e. he accomplished or obtained his want from him (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

As the verse deals with an incident of very great historical importance, it demands and deserves a somewhat detailed explanation. Zaid bin Harith, to whom the words "on whom Allah had bestowed favours and on whom thou also had bestowed favours" refer, belonged to the tribe of Kalb. In his childhood he was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Mecca where he was bought by Khadijah’s brother and given over to her. On her marriage with the Holy Prophet Khadijah presented Zaid to him who at once emancipated him. Zaid was so much attached to the Prophet that when later his father and uncle begged of the Holy Prophet to let him go with them as the grief of his separation from home had almost killed his mother, the Prophet readily gave his permission. But Zaid himself flatly refused to part company with the Holy Prophet, exclaiming that he was dearer to him than his father and mother. The Prophet was so deeply touched by Zaid’s fidelity and love for him that he at once declared him (Zaid) to be his son and henceforward Zaid came to be known as the Prophet’s son. Zaid remained throughout his life a most beloved and faithful disciple of the Holy Prophet and sealed his fidelity to Islam and the Prophet with his blood on the battlefield of Mu’tah.

Zainab was the daughter of the Holy Prophet’s aunt, hence a full-blooded Arab, intensely proud of her ancestry and exalted social status. Islam had envisaged and given to the world a civilization and culture in which there were to be no class divisions, no hereditary nobility, no vested interests. All men were to be free and equal in the sight of God. The Holy Prophet wanted to start with his own family the carrying into actual effect of this noble ideal of Islam. He wished to marry Zainab to Zaid, who in spite of having been liberated by the Prophet and called his son, unfortunately still carried the stigma of slavery in the minds of some people. It was exactly this stigma of slavery, this invidious distinction between 'free' and 'slave' which the Holy Prophet sought to remove by Zainab’s marriage to Zaid. In deference to the Holy Prophet’s wish Zainab agreed to the proposal. The purpose of the Holy Prophet was achieved. The marriage levelled to the ground all class distinctions and divisions. It was a practical demonstration of Islam’s noble ideal. The marriage, however, ended in failure, not so much due to a difference in the social status of Zainab and Zaid as to the incompatibility of their dispositions and temperaments and also due to a feeling of inferiority from which Zaid suffered. The failure of the marriage naturally grieved the Holy Prophet. But it also served a very useful purpose. In pursuance of Divine command, as mentioned in the latter part of the verse under comment, the Prophet himself married Zainab, thus cutting at the very root of another obnoxious and deep-seated Arab custom, viz. that it was a sacrilege to marry the wife of one’s adopted son. The custom of adoption was abolished and with it went also this foolish notion. Thus Zainab’s marriage with Zaid served one very noble object and its failure another highly useful purpose.

The words "fear Allah" signify that Zaid wanted to divorce Zainab, and as divorce according to Islam is very hateful in the sight of God, the Holy Prophet exhorted him not to do so.

The clause, "And then…thou shouldst fear Him," may apply to both Zaid and the Holy Prophet. Applying to Zaid it would mean that Zaid did not like that the cause of his separation from Zainab should come to light, perhaps because as the words "fear Allah," indicate the fault lay more with him than with Zainab. As, however, applying to the Holy Prophet, the words would signify that as the marriage between Zaid and Zainab was arranged at his instance and wish, he naturally did not like its breaking. The clause also shows that the Prophet feared that the break-down of the marriage which was arranged by him and which had been entered into in deference to his special wish, but which resulted in an ostensible failure of the experiment in Islamic brotherhood, would cause some mental confusion and uneasiness among people whose faith was weak. This was the anxiety that lay heavy on the Prophet’s heart. The words, "thou didst fear men," seem to point to this fear of his. But, as mentioned above, God had His own purpose in the failure of this marriage. He wanted to show that there was nothing in this failure to be afraid of. On the contrary, it was a blessing in disguise and was intended to serve a great purpose and therefore the Prophet’s fear was unfounded.

Christian and other hostile Critics of Islam pretend to find in the Holy Prophet’s marriage to Zainab a basis for mean attacks on him. It is stated that the Prophet, having by chance seen Zainab, became enamoured of her beauty and Zaid, having come to know of his desire to marry her, sought divorce from her. The fact that the Holy Prophet’s most inveterate enemies, before whose eyes the whole affair had actually taken place, dared not attribute the base motives ascribed to him by these critics after so many centuries, completely knocks the bottom from under this base and totally unfounded charge. Zainab was the Prophet’s own cousin and being so closely related to him he must have seen her many times, for "Purdah" had not as yet been enjoined. Besides, it was in deference to his own persistently expressed wish that Zainab had reluctantly agreed to marry Zaid. It is on record that she and her brother had desired before her marriage with Zaid that she should be taken in marriage by the Holy Prophet himself. What wasit that prevented the Holy Prophet from marrying her when she was a virgin and when she herself ardently desired to get married to him? The whole story evidently seems to be a figment of the "fertile" imagination of the Holy Prophet’s hostile critics and it is an insult to human intellect to give the least credence to it. But while there are some Christian critics like Muir and Margoliouth who find fault with the Holy Prophet for having married Zainab, there are others better informed and more honest like the good and noble Rev. Bosworth Smith who found nothing in this marriage to cavil at. The Rev, gentleman says:

"It should be remembered, however, that most of Mohammed’s marriages may be explained, at least, as much by his pity for the forlorn condition of the persons concerned, as by other motives. They were almost all of them widows who were not remarkable either for their beauty or their wealth, but quite the reverse. May not this fact, and his undoubted faithfulness to Khadijah till her dying day, and till he himself was fifty years of age, give us additional ground to hope that calumny or misconception has been at work in the story of Zainab" - ("Mohammed and Mohammedanism").

35:36.

11:109; 18:109.

Commentary:

The words, Fatigue shall not touch them there, embody the indirect hint that Heaven shall be a place of constant and continuous work. In spite of this, however, believers will feel none of the fatigue which is the inevitable result of work in this world, and so in Heaven there will also be no waste or decay, which are the inevitable result of fatigue.

The Quran repudiates the popular idea that in Heaven believers will have no work to do. On the contrary, it says that believers will be constantly engaged in work tending to the glorification of God. They will be there servants of God par excellence and a true servant does not sit idle but is constantly engaged in the service of his Master. Only the struggle against one’s evil passions will cease in Heaven, for the obvious reason that there shall be no evil passions there (52:24), and one will continuously enjoy the work he is engaged in. Heaven will certainly not be like a poor-house in which there will be no work and where they will get their food gratuitously. According to the Quranic conception, Heaven is a place of constant work and worship and not an idlers’ paradise.

For the words, nor shall they be ejected therefrom, see under 11:109.

Commentary:

This verse continues the theme of the preceding one and purports to say that there will be two schools of religious thought among Christian nations. One school will altogether deny life after death and Resurrection. The exponents of this school will regard present life as the be-all and end-all of man’s creation, and Resurrection and Paradise as only other names for national renaissance and prosperity. The other school will literally believe in Resurrection and the next life but they will also hold the belief that because Jesus had atoned for all their sins they will get salvation while non-Christians will be consigned to eternal perdition.

27:8; 28:30.

Important Words:

آنست (I perceived) is derived from انس (anisa). They say انس به i.e. he became familiar with him. آنسه (anasa-hu) means, he perceived it; he saw him or it and looked at him or it; he heard it, namely a sound; he felt it; he was sensible of it; he knew it; he had certain knowledge of it; he was acquainted with آنست منه الرشد means, I knew him to be characterised by maturity of intelligence and rectitude of actions and good management of affairs (Lane & Aqrab).

قبس (brand). They say قبس منه ناراً he took fire from him. قبس النار means, he lighted or kindled the fire. قبس means fire, or live coal; a brand or a firebrand; a piece of fire which one takes upon the end of a stick (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Opinions differ as to what it was that Moses actually saw. In fact it was a vision that he had seen. The language of metaphor which has been used in this account of Moses also lends support to the view that he had only seen a vision and that he himself was conscious of the fact that he had seen no fire of wood or coal. If he had actually seen a material fire of wood, Moses would have used the words "I perceive the fire" and not the words "I perceive a fire", as he did.

Visions, however, are of two kinds: (a) those that concern only an individual. In such visions the Divine manifestation which is called ولایت (manifestation shown to God’s beloved other than the Prophets) in the spiritual terminology remains confined to the concerned individual. (b) Visions in which جلوهٔ نبوت (manifestation shown to the Prophets) is shown, the Divine manifestation extends also to the Prophet’s people.

By the words, "perhaps I may bring you a brand therefrom or find guidance at the fire", Moses meant to say that if it were جلوۂ نبوت that he had seen, then he would be given a new Shari‘ah for his people but if it were only جلوۂ ولایت he would receive some guidance for his own spiritual advancement.

It may be of interest to note that fire is of three kinds; (a) that which has light and also burns; (b) that which has no light but it burns; and (c) that which has light but does not burn. The fire which Moses had seen seemed to belong to the last category.

The word "tarry" implies that Moses wanted privacy for communion with God, therefore he asked his family to remain behind.

According to the Quran the incident to which reference has been made in this verse took place after Moses had completed his ten years of service with Shu‘aib in Midian and was actually on his way to Egypt with his wife and not as the Bible says that it occurred before he left for Egypt and was staying with Shu‘aib and that when one day he led the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, to the back side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, "the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Exod. 3:1-3). Consideration of all the relevant facts of geography contradicts this Biblical account as the Lord appeared to Moses on mount Horeb which is in the desert of Sinai hundreds of miles away from Midian; and Moses after having had this experience could not possibly have gone back to Jethro, with the flock to apprise him of it the same evening as the Biblical account implies. Thus the Quranic account, is more in accordance with reason and facts of geography than the Biblical account. According to it the incident occurred after Moses had left Midian for good.

Important Words:

یرکضون (they began to flee) is derived from رکض which means, he moved his leg or foot; رکضه means, he repelled him. رکض الفرس means, he spurred or goaded the horse to run. رکض منه means, he fled from it (Aqrab & Lane).

20:11; 28:30.

Important Words:

تصطلون (warm yourselves) is derived from اصطلی which is the same as صلی. They say صلی النار i.e. he was or became burned by the fire or he endured the heat of the fire. اصطلی means, he warmed or burned himself by the fire (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It was not actual fire that Moses had seen. Had it been so he would have used the expression انی آنست النار i.e. I have perceived the fire, instead of انی آنست ناراً i.e. I have perceived a fire. In fact it was a vision that Moses had seen, fire symbolizing the love of God. It is worthy of note that most of the major incidents connected with Moses that have been mentioned in the Quran, were not incidents which actually took place in the material and physical world but were visions which symbolized great landmarks in his spiritual development and prophetic mission. Besides the vision about the rod (7:118) and that concerning the breaking of the mountain into pieces (7:144) there are other important instances of such visions in the Quran, the verse under comment affording one such instance. See also 20:11.

20:11; 27:8.

Important Words:

جذوة (burning brand) is derived from جذا. They say جذا علی الشیء i.e. he stood firmly upon a thing. جذوة means, a brand or firebrand; a thick piece of firewood not flaming; a piece of fire; a live coal. They say فلان جذوة شر i.e. such a one is a kindler or a piece of mischief (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Seclusion and solitude are very essential for meditation and communion with the Divine Being. Moses sought separation from his family, in fact from all worldly contacts and connections, in order that he might be blessed with communion with God.

Commentary:

All Prophets and Divine Messengers have always been held up to scorn and scoffed and mocked at. Their beginning is so humble and their circumstances so poor that their prophecies about the great and bright future of their followers appear only to be wild talk to their people, exciting laughter and inviting jokes and jeers from them.

52:23; 55:53; 77:43.