حَفِيظ

Important Words:

حفیظ (keeper) is derived from حفظ. They say حفظ الشیء i.e. he kept the thing or preserved it or guarded it or protected it or took care of it; he prevented it from becoming lost. حافظ or حفیظ (the latter having more intensive meaning) means, keeper, preserver or guardian. When used about God, the attributive name besides giving the above meanings, also means, the Preserver of all things; One Who preserves the good and evil works of His creatures (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, Whoso obeys the Messenger obeys Allah indeed, further explain the meaning of the expression, Say, All is from Allah, occurring in 4:79 above. The verse purports to say that obedience to the Prophet is really obedience to God, and if Muslims get into trouble by obeying the Prophet, it is all subject to God’s own will and must not be attributed to the Prophet and such trouble can never result in evil; God’s dealings with the Prophet come under His special providence, and, therefore, he who finds fault with him really finds fault with God.

39:42; 42:7; 88:23.

Commentary:

The Arabic words rendered as, if Allah had enforced His will, they would not have set up gods with God, do not, and indeed cannot, mean, as some may suppose, that the idolaters commit sins because God so wills. They only mean that God has made man a free agent in matters of faith and has not forced His will on him. If He had enforced His will and compelled man to believe and act rightly, man could not have gone against His will. But in His infinite wisdom, He has made man a free agent in this respect. The verse thus makes it clear that Allah does not compel any person to accept the truth but leaves it to his option. If He had thought of compelling the people, He would certainly have compelled them to follow the truth; but in the interests of man himself it has not pleased God to use compulsion.

The concluding words, We have not made thee a keeper over them, nor art thou over them a guardian, are also intended to echo the same truth, i.e. just as God does not compel man to accept the truth, the Holy Prophet also cannot compel anybody, for he is only a Messenger of God. The words حفیظ (keeper) and وکیل (guardian or disposer of affairs) are intended to signify that the Prophet is neither responsible for the actions of disbelievers nor is he the disposer of their affairs. For a fuller discussion of the words حفیظ and وکیل see 3:174 & 11:58.

7:204.

Commentary:

The word بصائر (proofs) also helps to explain the words, He reaches the eyes, occurring in the preceding verse and signifies that God reveals proofs by means of which man becomes able to know Him. By "proofs" is here meant the divine signs and evidences sent by God.

The words, whoever sees, mean, whoever makes use of his reason after proofs have been revealed to him by God. Similarly the words, whoever becomes blind, refer to such persons as shut their eyes to all truth and virtually make themselves blind.

The duty of the Holy Prophet described in the words, I am not a guardian over you, is only to convey what is revealed by God; it is not his responsibility to compel people to believe in God. Thus, the verse also provides a refutation of the baseless charge that Islam countenances compulsion in the propagation of religion.

7:69; 46:24.

4:134; 6:134.

Important Words:

حفیظ (Guardian) is derived from حفظ. They say حفظه i.e. he kept it, preserved it, guarded it or protected it; he prevented it from perishing or becoming lost. حفظ السر means, he kept the secret. حفظ یـمینه means, he kept or fulfilled his oath. حفظ القرآنmeans, he committed the Quran to memory or he retained the Quran in his memory. حافظ or حفیظ means, a keeper, preserver, watcher or guardian of a thing; one who is careful, mindful, attentive or considerate. الحفیظ is one of the attributive names of God and means the Preserver of all things; He from Whose preservation nothing is excluded (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The opponents of God’s Prophets, in their ignorance, often think that by rejecting the Message of a Prophet, they can do him any harm. But in no way can they harm a Divine Messenger. In fact, the rejection of a message can either harm the person who sends the message or the person to whom the message is sent. It cannot harm the bearer of the message. So the Prophet Hud says that he is only a Message-bearer, and therefore he would come to harm only if he failed to deliver his Message, but as he has faithfully delivered the Message he need fear no harm. Again, the rejection of the Message by the people can do no harm to God, Who is the Sender of the Message, for He is All-Powerful. So the only people who can come to grief by the rejection of the Message are those who reject it. If the people to whom it is originally addressed do not accept it, some other people will accept it and it will make them prosper. The Divine Message can never go in vain.

By the words, my Lord is Guardian over all things, Prophet Hud means to say that God will guard the teachings which He has sent through him. They also mean that the works of disbelievers are in the custody of God and they will have to render an account of them before Him.

Commentary:

The word بقیة (that which is left) is used to express goodness and perfection. The term بقیة القوم is applied to a person who is one of the best men of his people or community. See also 2:249. The word بقیة therefore, here signifies wealth earned by fair and honest means and in accordance with the laws of God. It may also mean God-given powers and capabilities.

By the words, I am not a keeper over you, Shu‘aib warns his people that they should not remain under the illusion that he would be able to save them from Divine punishment. The words embody the implication that such is the goodness of the Prophets of God that disbelievers, notwithstanding their hostility towards them, look upon them as a source of protection and blessing.

Commentary:

Most probably the King offered Joseph the post of Prime Minister, but Joseph preferred charge of the finance department. His choice seems to have been dictated by the desire to enjoy comparative freedom from the material cares and court intrigues which are incidental to premiership and also to give his single-minded attention to the successful running of the department with which the fulfilment of the King’s dream was so deeply concerned.

15:43; 16:100.

Commentary:

The verse clearly and positively removes all doubts or misgivings as to the extent of the authority and control of Satan over men. According to it Satan has definitely no authority over man. It is by his own wrong beliefs and evil deeds that man brings about his spiritual ruin.

6:108; 88:23.

Commentary:

The particle علی (over) being generally used in the sense of "against," the meaning of the expression الله حفیظ علیم would be that God is watching over the blasphemous beliefs of men and is keeping an account of them and will punish them if they did not repent.

17:84; 30:34; 39:9.

Commentary:

The verse refutes the disbelievers’ objection mentioned in the preceding verse, viz. that when they are dead and reduced to broken bones and particles of dust they would be raised again. It is the physical body, says the verse, that disintegrates and perishes. The soul is imperishable and will be given a new body to account for the deeds done in this world which are recorded in "a Book that preserves everything." The verse may also mean that even the particles of objects which the earth disintegrates are well preserved in God’s knowledge. It may also signify that as complete knowledge about all the details of a thing presupposes the power to create it, and God being the Possessor of full knowledge of human anatomy and the process of its disintegration could recreate it after it had perished.

The verse may also signify that just as the earth corrupts and swallows up dead bodies, it also possesses the means of nourishing living ones.