Ruku 213 ع

7:89.

Commentary:

This verse contains a subtle reference to a deep-rooted desire of the opponents of God’s Messengers in all times. They ardently wish the Prophets to incline towards them a little and abstain from a wholesale denunciation of their beliefs that there may thus come about something like a compromise between the two parties. This desire of disbelievers has also been expressed in 68:10. But the Prophets always flatly refuse to agree to any such compromise and adhere unflinchingly to their principles, without deviating an hair’s breadth from them. It is after disbelievers see that the Prophets accept no compromise that they launch a campaign of bitter persecution against them and thus either seek to force them back into their faith or compel them to leave their country, which includes extirpation by any other means. This is how disbelievers have treated God’s Prophets throughout the ages—the same offer of compromise on their part, the same disdainful rejection of this offer by the Prophets and the same campaign of bitter persecution launched against the latter by their opponents.

In the words, We will surely destroy the wrongdoers, God has, as it were, turned the tables upon disbelievers. They had threatened the Prophets with expulsion from "our land" if they did not recant their faith. To this threat God replies by saying that, as the land is His and not theirs, so if it comes to dispossessing the wrongdoers, it will be they that will be destroyed. The verse thus implies a prophecy of the ultimate destruction of the enemies of the Holy Prophet and of his triumphant return to Mecca.

21:106.

Important Words:

مقامی (My tribunal) is derived from قام which means, he stood up or he stood still. مقام means, the place of stationing; a place of continuance; stay, residence or abode; social standing, rank; God’s Judgement Seat or Tribunal (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradat). See also 55:47.

Commentary:

The Quran has used both the singular and the plural number of the first personal pronoun with reference to the Supreme Being. Where the Power and Majesty of God are meant to be expressed, the plural number is used; and where His Self-Sufficiency and Independence are intended to be emphasized or where the Power and Majesty of God are not meant to be stressed, the singular number is used. Or, as some Muslim divines have stated, where God intends to bring about a result through the agency of angels, the plural number is used; but where a work is to be performed through some special Divinedecree, the singular person is resorted to. The present verse combines both.

The words, This is for him who fears to stand before My Tribunal and fears My warning, make it clear that the promises of victory and success are meant for those only who properly appreciate and realize the Majesty of God and His Power and who believe that God is the Master of the Day of Judgement and who fear lest their sins should bring upon them the punishment of God. Such a belief is a necessary condition for the fulfilment of the promises of God’s help. This shows that mere nominal acceptance of Islam is no surety for success and victory.

Commentary:

The expression, And they prayed for victory, may apply both to the Prophets and their opponents. The praying of the Prophets for God’s help and victory, after they had been vouchsafed definite Divine promises that they would succeed, in no way reflects on Divine promises or on the Prophets’ belief in the Divine origin of those promises. In fact, the Divine promise given to a Prophet about the final triumph of his cause does not mean that he should give up making necessary efforts for the success and triumph of his mission or soliciting Divine assistance. On the contrary, it becomes all the more incumbent on a Divine Messenger to do his best lest, through some lapse on the part of some of his followers or a weakening of his own efforts, the final victory may be delayed. That Muslims are enjoined to pray for the assistance of God even after definite and positive Divine promises of victory are given to them is clear from the Quran (3:195). Nor are these two things contradictory to each other. The Holy Prophet was given a clear promise of his triumphant return to Mecca (28:86), yet he continued to pray and work hard for the fulfilment of this Divine promise.

If, however, the words, they prayed for victory, be applied to disbelievers, they would mean that they sought by all means to win victory over the Prophets, but it was foolish on their part to do so, for those who oppose the Prophets of God never meet with success. Their prayers are doomed "to come to naught."

69:37; 78:25, 26.

Important Words:

صدید (boiling water) is derived from صد. They say صدہ which means, he hindered or prevented him. اصدالجرح means, the wound contained or generated matter, such as is termed صدید; or it ran with such matter. صدید means, thin water of a wound mixed with blood before the matter becomes thick; or matter or pus, like water in which is a mixture of red and white; or matter or pus mixed with blood in a wound; what flows from the skins of the inmates of Hell or what flows from their insides and is mixed with matter and blood; hot water boiled until it thickens (Lane).

Commentary:

Hot water (صدید) is possibly meant to be used as a sort of cure for some spiritual diseases in the life to come, as it is sometimes used as a cure for certain physical diseases in this life. The verse hints that, in spite of the fact that disbelievers have in their possession all the necessary means to attain their object, they will not be able to make use of them, just as hot water cannot be used for the purpose of drinking and quenching thirst.

The verse may also mean that in the life to come, the internal animal passions of disbelievers will assume the visible form of water mixed with pus and blood flowing from wounds, for the words ماء صدید also mean pus and blood mixed with water. In this case the expression ماء صدید will be taken to have been used to refer to that form of medical treatment in which diseases are treated by serums, vaccines and bacteriophages from the very germs of the diseases from which the patients suffer. Thus the expression ماء صدید may imply that the inmates of Hell will be cured of their spiritual diseases by means of the serum prepared from purulent matter of their own sins and iniquities.

The verse may also mean that the sins and the hidden impurities of the inmates of Hell will be laid before them and will thus be made to appear hateful in their eyes, as is done in psycho-analysis.

20:75; 87:14.

Commentary:

The words, And death shall come to him from every quarter, mean that just as angels shall enter unto the inmates of Paradise through every gate (13:24), similarly death shall come to the inmates of Hell from every quarter. The coming of death from every quarter means that the many sins and crimes of disbelievers will assume different forms of death for them, but they will not actually suffer death because man is not meant to undergo death in the next world but to attain peace and bliss. It is worthy of note here that whereas "peace" has been represented in 13:24, 25 as coming from "every gate," which signifies its coming from outside, "death" is here spoken of as coming from "every quarter," which signifies its springing from within. This is so because peace comes from God, but death and destruction are the outcome of man’s own actions, for he himself is the author of his spiritual death.

The words, and besides that there shall be for him a severe chastisement, point out that punishments in various forms shall continue to come upon evildoers one after the other, in the form of remorse, grief, estrangement from God, etc., and that Divine punishment shall not be transitory but shall long continue.

24:40.

2:265.

Commentary:

The words, کفروا بربھم (disbelieve in their Lord) do not mean that they deny the existence of God, for even the idolaters of Mecca believed in the existence of God. They only mean the denial of the favours or powers of God. There are people even among the so-called educated classes who believe in God but do not believe that He ever interferes in the affairs of the world. The actions of such people are wholly devoted to the furtherance of their material ends. They have no thought for God and do nothing to please Him. It is of the actions of such people that the verse says that they are null and void so far as the reward of the next world is concerned. They are like ashes upon which a furious gale blows, widely scattering them.

The words "their works" may also mean the efforts which disbelievers made in opposition to the Prophets of God, for such works invariably produce no result and come to nothing. Instead of attaining the object for which they are performed, they bring ruin and destruction in their wake, as punishment from God.

The verse should not, however, be understood to mean that no works of disbelievers will produce any result for, in conformity with the physical laws of nature, every deed done in a right way must produce its natural result. What, therefore, the verse means to say is that the works of disbelievers would fail to achieve the real object of life, which is God’s pleasure, because all their efforts are devoted to the achievement of the good of this world. On the other hand the Faithful, while reaping the fruits of their actions as a natural and inevitable result, will also win God’s pleasure, because all their works are for the sake of God.

6:74; 16:4; 29:45; 39:6.

4:134; 6:134; 35:17.

Commentary:

The verse embodies a severe warning for disbelievers to the effect that by opposing the Prophets they are seeking to frustrate God’s great purpose, which the world has been created to serve. Their very existence seems to belie and contradict that supreme object. Hence they cannot be allowed to succeed in their designs. They should not, therefore, delude themselves with the false notion that they are irreplaceable. Not only will they meet with destruction, but God has actually prepared "a new creation" in the form of the followers of His Prophet who will take their place and prove worthy successors of an unworthy generation.

35:18.

Commentary:

The verse is intended to remove a very common misconception. While, on the one hand, once a people have fallen low, they lose all hope of regeneration and despair of their future, on the other, those who happen once to achieve greatness and prosperity begin to look upon themselves as incapable of ever falling low. This notion, however, is belied by the hard facts of history as well as our common observation and experience. Nations that had sunk deep into the morass of seemingly irretrievable degradation and were considered as past redemption have risen to great heights of material and spiritual glory, while peoples who have scaled the summits of power and glory and considered themselves beyond the reach of decay and decadence have sometimes fallen into the deepest pit of degradation. The verse means that it is not difficult for God to bring ruin to the powerful and prosperous enemies of His Prophets and make the latter’s weak and down-trodden followers inherit the earth.

6:129; 7:39, 40; 28:64; 33:68,69; 34:32, 33; 40:48, 49.

Important Words:

برزوا (they shall appear) is derived from برز which means, he came out in the open country; he appeared before men after being hidden. ابرزالکتاب means, he made the book public; he published it. بارز العدو means, he came out (of his camp etc.) and fought the enemy. تبرز means, he went into the open country to answer the call of nature (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, They shall all appear before Allah, embody a great truth about the decline and Fall of nations. It is not so much the actual weaknesses and misdeeds of a people that bring about their downfall as the exposure of their weaknesses. With their weaknesses having become exposed, their prestige and reputation, which more than their achievements are the mainstay of their success, suffer a mortal blow, lowering them in the estimation of rival communities and bringing in their wake decline and decadence. The words quoted above thus mean that God will lift the veil from the iniquities of the sinful and will expose them to public view, because from Him nothing is hidden.

The verse also sheds some light on another important principle about the rise and fall of nations. A people who are destined to perish give way to despair and become readily resigned to their low state, as hinted at in the words, it is now equal for us whether we show impatience or remain patient: there is no way of escape for us. On the contrary, a people for whom a bright future waits continue to make ceaseless efforts to improve their condition till all signs of decline and degeneration disappear and their feet are set firmly on the road to success and prosperity.