ROOT ك ن ز

4:162.

4:161.

Commentary:

This verse sheds some light on the moral degradation of the Jewish and Christian religious leaders who were opposed to the Holy Prophet. Their moral depravity and spiritual degeneration was itself evidence of the truth of Islam, because when the leaders of a religion themselves become corrupt and depraved, reformation can come only through a heavenly Messenger. Jewish and Christian leaders opposed the Holy Prophet, but their own depravity testified to the fact that he had appeared at a time when his advent was urgently needed.

The words, those who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah—give to them the tidings of a painful punishment, give a graphic picture of Jews and Christians. They hoard up wealth and do not spend it in the cause of God, i.e. in propagating truth and helping the poor and needy. They are threatened with a painful punishment.

Important Words:

تکوی (branded) is formed from کوی. They say کواہ i.e. he cauterized him or it; he burnt his or its skin with a piece of iron or the like (Lane). کویت الدابة means, I cauterized or branded the beast with a piece of hot iron (Mufradat). کوت العقرب فلانا means, the scorpion stung such a one. الکی which is the noun-infinitive from کوی means, the act of cauterizing or branding with a piece of hot iron (whether for the purpose of putting a mark or for curing a disease). The Arabs say آخر الدواء الکی i.e. the last remedy (in certain diseases) is cauterizing (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The reward and punishment of the life to come will not be of a physical nature, but will be the spiritual representation of the actions of man in the present life. This is clear from the verse under comment, which states that only three parts of the body—the forehead, the side and the back—will be branded.

The expression is clearly figurative. When a rich man, out of miserliness or pride, refuses to help a beggar, the first sign that appears on his person is that his forehead contracts into a frown. Then he turns on his side, and finally he disdainfully shows his back to the man seeking his help. Fittingly, therefore, the forehead, the side and the back have been spoken of here as being branded, i.e. in the afterlife these parts will appear to be branded with a hot iron, as if bearing testimony against themselves.

The verse also signifies that even in the present life the hoarded treasures of Jews and Christians will become a source of grievous punishment for them. In this case, the threatened punishment might be taken to refer to devastating wars such as the present one, in which hot metal in various forms is destroying the western peoples. They receive it on their foreheads, sides and backs, i.e. whether facing the enemy or making a flank movement or turning their backs; and, curiously enough, Jews are as much hit by these wars as are Christians.

17:74.

17:94; 25:9.

13:8.

Important Words:

فلعلك (thou art now perhaps). The word لعل is used to denote either a state of hope or of fear, whether that state pertains to the speaker or to the addressee or to someone else. In the Quranic expression فلعلك تارك بعض مایوحی الیك (thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee) the word لعل has been used to signify that "the people imagine that thou art now perhaps going to abandon, etc." (Mufradat). See also 2:22.

کنز (treasure) is the noun-infinitive from کنز (kanaza). They say کنز المال i.e. he buried the property or treasure in the earth; he collected the property and treasured it, or he hoarded it or stored it in secret. کنز الرمح means, he stuck or fixed the spear in the ground. کنز التمر means, he stored or packed up the dates (in the receptacle). کنز (kanz) means, treasure; property buried in the earth; any property whereof the portion that should be given in alms is not given; property that is preserved in a receptacle; anything abundant and collected together; gold and silver; a treasure of knowledge or science; that in which property is preserved or that in which property is buried or hoarded in secret (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It is a peculiarity of Quranic diction that sometimes it omits to give the question and only gives the answer, the question being implied in the answer itself. The present verse constitutes an example of this style. In the previous verse believers were promised forgiveness and a great reward. Thereupon disbelievers asked the Holy Prophet in a jeering and ironical manner, "You say your followers will get a great reward and their sins will be forgiven. We know nothing about the forgiveness of their sins. But where is the promised reward of which we do not see the slightest sign? You do not have even the money which you need so badly, nor do the angels descend from heaven to help you." The Quran turns the tables upon the disbelievers and answers their irony, with an irony, saying, "How weighty indeed is the objection of these people and perhaps, o Prophet, from fear of being unable to answer it, you would hide a part of Our revelation which contains prophecies regarding the prosperity and triumph of Islam!" meaning that such a thing can never be.

The verse is capable of another interpretation also. In this case the word لعل would be taken to refer to the hope of disbelievers that the Holy Prophet may, out of fear of their objections, suppress part of the Divine revelation. The verse declares such hopes to be vain and futile, for the Holy Prophet was "only a warner," and the function and duty of a warner is only to issue the warning and deliver his message faithfully; he has no right to suppress any portion of the message. Again, by using the words "only a Warner" the verse also hints that the Holy Prophet did not claim to be God so that the treasures of the earth might be under his control; he was only a human being. If it be said here that believers who were promised "a great reward" (see the preceding verse) were also human beings like the Holy Prophet, it should be remembered that they were promised the reward not immediately but after they had established their title to it by displaying patience and steadfastness under trials and hardships for a considerable time. So disbelievers could demand from the Holy Prophet clear and palpable signs of the prosperity promised to him only when the promised time had come and not earlier. To come attended with power and glory in the very beginning is a sign of personal authority which belongs to God alone and not to any human being."

The words, Allah is Guardian over all things, are intended to point to the fact that all these promises will certainly come to pass. The Holy Prophet will assuredly get both مغفرة (lit. covering up) and a great reward, and the angels of God will undoubtedly descend to bring his work to completion and make null and void the machinations of his enemies. Not only will he himself be favoured with a great reward, but his followers and disciples also would become rulers and kings. Any fair-minded and impartial person can see that both these promises were literally fulfilled.

Some hostile critics of Islam have pretended to infer from this verse that the Holy Prophet was actually prepared to abandon a portion of the Quran out of fear of the objections of his opponents. But the context spurns this baseless interpretation. Can any reasonable person imagine that the demand for the descent of helping angels or for the possession of a treasure was such that, on account of it, the Holy Prophet should, in any way, have become prepared to suppress part of Divine revelation, or that he was unaware of the fact that he was only a warner whose duty was to deliver the Message, whatever it might be? Again, did he not know that God had clearly spoken to him saying He Himself was "Guardian over all things"? So the words, thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee, contain only a vain hope on the part of the disbelievers that the Prophet might give up part of his revelation; they do not at all find any intention or readiness on his part to do so. Do not these critics know that when at Mecca a deputation of the Quraish waited on the Holy Prophet and asked him to give up preaching against their idols and threatened to crush him and his tribe in case he refused to do so, the prompt answer he gave was that even if they put the sun on his right and the moon on his left he would not swerve a hair’s breadth from the teachings which God had given him? Could he, whom the threats or cajolery of the Quraish at a time when he was extremely weak could not induce to give up his preaching, have become so unnerved by these silly objections as to become ready to conceal a part of the DivineWord?

The verse that follows also gives the lie to such an inference, for it contains a challenge to the world to produce ten Surahs like any ten Surahs of the Quran. If there had been any doubt in the Prophet’s mind concerning any portion of the Quran, could that very portion possibly have been followed by a challenge like this? This challenge shows that he believed in the truth of every word of the Quran with a conviction firm as a rock.

Commentary:

As already pointed out جدار (the wall) represents the elders of the Jews i.e. Moses, Jesus (18:78) and Abraham of whom the Quran says, "and in the next he will surely be among the righteous" (2:131).

By کنز (treasure) is meant the treasure of divine knowledge which was vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus.

The verse purports to say that God preserved in the Quran the great treasure of spiritual knowledge which was vouchsafed to Moses and Jesus (98:4) and which was in danger of being lost because of the irreligiousness of the Jews and their engrossment in worldly affairs so that, when they awaken to a realization of truth, they may accept it.

The words, as a mercy from thy Lord, mean that the preservation by God of the imperishable part of the teachings of Moses and Jesus in the Quran was an act of mercy on His part because the Jews by their repeated rebellion and transgression had forfeited all title to Divine mercy. But despite their iniquities God had mercy on them and preserved their own treasures of spiritual knowledge in the Quran for their guidance.

The words, I did it not of my own accord, mean that the Holy Prophet had no hand in the preservation of this great treasure of divine knowledge. A reference to this fact has also been made in the words, "Nor does he speak of his own desire" (53:4).

After a perusal of the incidents mentioned in the preceding verses and their explanation it becomes abundantly clear that the Vision of Moses has been mentioned here to point to the following facts:

(a) That it was decreed and was in the fitness of things that the Holy Prophet should appear after Christians who constitute the second part of the Mosaic Dispensation had become corrupt.

(b) That because Islamic teaching was based on laws and principles which differed fundamentally from some principles of the Mosaic Law, true and real cooperation between Jews and Muslims was impossible, but salvation without subscribing to Islamic principles was also unthinkable.

(c) That Jews and Christians would refuse to accept the Holy Prophet and would follow their own separate course but they will have to give their allegiance to him in the long run.

(d) That, after a long and fatiguing journey and after having despaired of obtaining real peace and contentment of mind through their own unaided efforts, Jews and Christians would be compelled to take stock of their whole position with the result that they would realize that as their religion had long outlived its usefulness they should have given it up long before.

(e) That after the dawning of this realization upon them, the prophecies concerning them which have been preserved in the Quran will lead Jews and Christians to accept the Holy Prophet.

(f) That after having accepted Islam they will submit themselves to limitations and restrictions which it has imposed upon man to regulate his moral conduct, and that by subduing their unrestrained passions they will become resigned to Divine decree and thus will draw upon themselves God’s grace and will bathe in the sea of His Mercy.

In fact, the Isra’ of Moses constituted a beautiful prelude to the coming Islamic Dispensation which was to supplant the Mosaic Law.

11:13; 17:94.

17:48.

Commentary:

The objection which was begun in the preceding verse is continued in the verse under comment. "The Prophet," the disbelievers say, "should have possessed treasures of wealth which he should have distributed among his followers. He should also have had other accessories of greatness in the form of gardens and fountains. But he has none of these things. He seems to be a bewitched, or, at best a self-deceived man, a man who lives in a world of his own imagination, in a fool’s paradise."

29:40; 40:25.

Important Words:

کنوز (treasures of hoarded wealth) is the plural of کنز which is noun-inf. from کنز (kanaza). They say کنز المال i.e. he buried the property or treasure in the earth; he hoarded it, or stored, or he collected the property and treasured it. کنز therefore, means, treasure, property buried in the earth; property that is preserved in a receptacle; that receptacle in which property is buried or preserved or hoarded; treasure-boxes; anything abundant and collected together (Lane & Aqrab).

مفاتح (stores) is the plural of مفتح (maftah) which is derived from فتح. They say فتح الباب i.e. he opened the door. مفتح (maftah) means, a hoard; a treasure, a store or store room or magazine; buried property. مفتح (miftah) of which مفاتح also is the plural and مفتاح (plural مفاتیح) mean a key (Lane & Aqrab).

لتنوء (would have weighed down) is derived fromناء which means, he rose or rose with difficulty and effort under a load; he was oppressed by weight and fell down. ناء بحمله means, he rose with his burden with effort and difficulty. ناء به الحملmeans, the burden weighed him down (Aqrab).

Commentary:

It would appear that Korah was an Israelite who stood high in the favour of Pharaoh and held one of the principal offices of State under him. Very likely he was Pharaoh’s treasurer. When Pharaoh went on official tour the royal treasures were probably transported under Korah’s charge. In order to safeguard his position and to win further favours from Pharaoh, Korah seemed to have persecuted his own people and behaved haughtily and tyrannically towards them.

The name of Qarun (Korah) seems also to have been symbolically used here for men of material wealth. Abundance of riches has proved the undoing of many a man. Elated with riches and wealth and lulled into a false sense of security, wealthy people are prone to reject God’s Message and defy His Prophets. Korah as it appears from the Bible (Num. 16:1-35), was a believer in Moses. According to Rabbinical literature he was fabulously rich (Jew. Enc.) and in the pride of wealth revolted against Moses and Aaron and consequently perished with his 250 followers, the earth having swallowed them up.