ٱلْحَسَنَةِ

27:47.

Commentary:

Such has always been the way of disbelievers that instead of benefiting by the respite that is granted to them, they become all the more arrogant, and misconstruing the delay as an argument against their Prophet, demand the speedy coming of the threatened Divine punishment.

22:48; 29:54-55.

41:44; 53:33.

Important Words:

المثلات (exemplary punishments) is the plural of المثلة which is derived from مثل. They say مثل فلان فلانا i.e. he became like such a one. مثل بفلان means, he punished such a one in an exemplary manner. مثلة means, calamity; punishment serving as a warning to others; punishment which visited past generations and which served as a warning for others (Aqrab).

العقاب (condign punishment) is derived from عاقب which is derived from عقب (‘aqaba). They say عقبه i.e. he struck his heel; he came after him (as though at his heels). عاقبه means, he did a thing with him alternately, each taking his turn; he punished him as denoting consequence or retribution. عقب (‘aqib) means, the heel or the hinder part of the human foot. العقاب means, requital or punishment that is awarded as a result of some offence or sin (Lane & Aqrab). Hence in the text it has rightly been rendered as "condign punishment."

Commentary:

The verse refers to an evil practice of disbelievers. When they are told that if they do not remove their shackles and do not avail themselves of the guidance of God and if they persist in their wicked ways, they will become like a piece of dry wood, which is thrown into the fire, they hasten to demand where that fire is. So, instead of soliciting God’s mercy these unfortunate people invoke His punishment. The advent of every Prophet of God is attended by both God’s mercy and His punishment but wicked people invariably demand the latter.

The words, verily, thy Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind despite their wrongdoing, set forth the great truth that the purpose of God in sending Prophets is not to destroy men, but to save them. This is why He continues to forgive them, despite their persistence in wrongdoing. But this repeated forgiveness does not mean that the wicked will never be punished. If they do not give up their evil ways, they will not escape God’s punishment. They will indeed be given every opportunity to reform themselves; but if they persistently refuse to do so, Divine punishment will finally descend on them.

The words, thy Lord is strict in condign punishment, do not mean that God makes use of severity in inflicting punishment but that the punishment inflicted by God is severer and more painful than that inflicted by men.

41:35.

6:118.

Important Words:

The word حکمة translated as wisdom in the text among other things means, (1) knowledge or science; (2) equity or justice; (3) forbearance or clemency; (4) firmness; (5) any saying or discourse conforming or agreeable to truth and in accordance with the exigencies of the occasion; (6) gift of prophecy; and (7) what prevents or restrains from ignorant behaviour (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The word may be used in all these senses in the verse under comment. Taking it in the sense of "knowledge" or "science", the verse would mean that Muslims should invite others to Islam by arguments based on knowledge and reason and should not confine themselves merely to making appeals to sentiments and emotions. Using it in the sense of "equity" or "justice", the injunction embodied would be that, when arguing with the followers of other Faiths, Muslim preachers and missionaries should not bring forward such objections against those Faiths as can be advanced against Islam itself for such a course is not only inconsistent with justice, but is also unsound. If حکمة be understood to mean "forbearance" or "clemency", the verse would mean that Muslims should explain the beauties of their religion with patience. Taking the word in the sense of "a saying or discourse conforming or agreeable to the truth, and in accordance with the exigencies of the occasion", the verse would mean, that while inviting other people to Islam Muslims should not say anything which is not true and is not in accordance with facts, for if they resorted to falsehood while preaching truth they would be ruining their own souls in order to save those of others. Moreover, their discourse should be conformable to the exigencies of the occasion and should not wound other people’s susceptibilities. Taking the word in the sense of "gift of prophecy", the verse would mean that Muslims should invite men to Islam by using arguments contained in the Quran and not arguments which are the creation of their own fancy. Lastly, taking the word in the sense of "what restrains from ignorant behaviour" the verse would mean that the talk of Muslims should not be beyond the comprehension of those to whom the appeal is made. They should say things which may help to resolve the doubts of others and not display or demonstrate their own talents and learning.

The words, "goodly exhortation" mean "a discourse which softens the hearts of the hearers and makes a deep impression on them." Thus the Quran exhorts its followers not to content themselves with mere cold and dry reasoning but to reinforce and support philosophical dissertations with an appeal to sentiments. This appeal, however, should be "goodly exhortation" i.e. it should be based on pure truth and there should be no prevarication or tampering with facts.

The words, and argue with them in a way that is best, mean that while arguing we should make the most solid and unassailable argument we possess as the pivot round which all other arguments should revolve and which they should support.

The expression, Thy Lord best knows those who have strayed from...who are rightly-guided, contains a word of encouragement and good cheer for the Muslim evangelist. He is told that if in spite of his best efforts he finds that his preaching has not had the desired effect, he should not get discouraged and think that his preaching was defective, but should continue his noble work without slackening, leaving the result to God, because He alone knows who is deserving and destined to be guided to the right path.

As Islam was to spread abroad and was to be preached to the people who claimed to possess revealed Scriptures, Muslims have been told in this verse that a much more difficult task lay ahead of them. While dealing with idolaters it was easy enough to refute idolatry, but with respect to the "People of the Book" the excellence and superiority of Islamic teachings will have to be proved regarding details and auxiliary matters also. Hence the admonition given above.