خَيْرُ

2:285; 5:19, 41; 35:14; 40:17; 48:15.

See under next verse.

8:31; 27:51.

Important Words:

مکروا (they planned) and مکر (he planned) are from the same root. مکر means, he plotted or planned secretly with a view to circumventing the other; he practised an evasion or a device or a machination; he exercised art or cunning or skill in the manage-ment or ordering of affairs with excellent consideration and del-iberation; he tried to do harm or mischief secretly. مکر الله (God planned) may also mean, God requited the machination of a person or a people (Lane). See also 2:16. مکر is of two kinds: (1) مکر محمود i.e. a good plan by which a good object is sought, and (2) مکر مذموم i.e. an evil plan by which an evil object is sought (Mufradat). In view of the above, the word مکر when used with regard to the enemies of Jesus would signify their wicked designs and evil machinations to destroy his mission and bring him to ruin; and when used with regard to God, it would signify the plan of God to frustrate the evil designs of the Jews and bring punishment on their heads.

Commentary:

The Jews had planned that Jesus should die an accursed death on the cross (Deut. 21:23), but God’s plan was that he should be saved from that death. The plan of the Jews was frustrated and God’s plan was suc-cessful, because Jesus did not die on the cross but came down alive, dying a natural death, full of years, in Kashmir, far away from the scene of his crucifixion.

8:41; 9:51; 22:79.

Commentary:

This verse shows that Jesus approved of the wish of his disciples and, therefore, while praying, he included himself among them.

The words, that it may be to us a festival, to the first of us and to the last of us, embody a great prophecy. There were to be two periods of prosperity and progress for the Christian peoples, as the word عید (festival) literally meaning "a day which returns", shows. The first was to be in the time immediately after Jesus, while the second was to be in the latter days; and the period between these two was to be marked by decay and decline. And this is exactly what is more clearly referred to in the words, to the first of us and to the last of us. Christian peoples were granted worldly goods in abundance in the early ages, i.e. before the rise of Islam, and now in the latter days, i.e. after the decline of Islam, they have had material prosperity and grandeur in such measure as has no parallel in the history of any other religion. But with the advent of the like of Jesus in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, in Islam, the sun is indeed nearing its setting on "the last of the Christians", who can now save themselves only by identifying themselves with him who had come in the spirit and power of their Master.

11:64; 12:109.

12:41, 68.

Commentary:

The verse calls upon the Holy Prophet to say to disbelievers what may be expressed as follows: "You are perversely sticking to your errors while I have clear evidence with me. You say, 'If we are in error, why does not God visit us with punishment?’ You must remember that it does not lie in my power to bring down punishment. It is God alone Who sends down punishment on whomsoever and at whatever time He wills and He is the Best of judges. He will justly decide the matter between you and me."

Commentary:

The verse refers to the last course that a Prophet adopts after the failure of all his efforts to make his people see the error of their ways and accept the truth. He leaves the whole matter in the hand of God and asks them to wait till God should show a decisive sign which would clearly distinguish between right and wrong.

2:256; 40:8.

Commentary:

The argument of the followers of Shu‘aib for not renouncing their religion is continued in this verse. There could be only two reasons, they said, for giving up their faith; firstly if they had been false and insincere in their profession of faith; secondly, if their religion itself had been false. But as neither of these two things was true, therefore, it was impossible for them to give up their faith. They further reinforce their argument by the words, Our Lord comprehends all things in His knowledge, meaning that when they are fully convinced of their religion being the religion of God and of God being always in the right, it is impossible for them to recant their faith. There is only one possibility of their doing so, i.e. that Allah, our Lord, should so will, viz. that some hidden weakness or sin of theirs may move God to cut them asunder like a diseased limb. But they have faith in their Lord and trust in Him Who has given them the opportunity and the power to accept the truth. He would not let them go astray because His permitting them to forsake the path of rectitude would be inconsistent with His attribute of being their رب or Lord.

The words, In Allah have we put our trust, are also intended to imply that, as the votaries of truth have perfect faith in God, so no amount of persecution can intimidate them into giving it up. They are encouraged and strengthened by constantly praying to God to protect them from the plots and machinations of their enemies.

13:28.

Commentary:

This verse shows that the tablets were not broken as alleged by the Bible; for if they were broken, how could the very tablets have been taken up again. The word نسخة (writing) explained above also hints that Moses did not receive any written tablets from God but that he himself wrote them under divine inspiration.

The word سفھاء (the foolish) is used here not in the general sense but in the specific sense of the foolish in the ways of God, i.e. "ignorant", for every act of disobedience is born of ignorance, even if it is committed intentionally. Those, who were clever enough to render Aaron helpless, could not be called fools in the ordinary sense of the word. They are called سفھاء (fools) because they did not possess the sense and intelligence to understand the Word of God.

The incident of the calf proved to be the first occasion when the transgressors among the Israelites became distinguished from true believers, and the prophecy, Soon shall I show you the abode of the transgressors (7:146), was fulfilled.

3:55; 27:51.

Important Words:

یثبتوك (imprison thee) is derived from اثبت which is derived from ثبت which means, it continued or subsisted or endured; or it remained fixed or stationary; or it was or became constant, fast or established. اثبته means, he made it to continue or subsist or endure; or he made it to remain fixed or stationary. They say اثبته جراحة i.e. wound rendered him unable to move. ضربوہ حتی اثبتوه means, they beat him so as to render him motionless. اثبته بوثاق means, he made him fast with a bond so that he could not move. So لیثبتوك (liyuthbituka) or لیثبتوك (liyuthabbituka), which is another reading of the word, means, that they might inflict upon thee a wound by reason of which thou shouldst not be able to rise or move about; or that they might confine thee to thy place, i.e. imprison thee and prevent thy moving about (Lane).

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet bore resemblance to all Prophets of God. At the Battle of Badr, God showed a miracle, similar to the miracle of Moses (see 8:18 above), while the present verse refers to a sign which was like the signs of Jonah and Jesus. At Mecca, the Quraish had a council-room called Darun-Nadwah. There they used to hold their consultations against the Holy Prophet. When they learnt that Islam had spread to Medina, where converts to the new Faith were fleeing for refuge, Abu Jahl and other leaders of the Quraish held a meeting at Darun-Nadwah in order to consider some decisive step to put an end to the new Movement. Various proposals were made at the meeting. One was that the Holy Prophet should be put under confinement, i.e. imprisoned; another was that he should be expelled from the city; yet another was that suitable men belonging to all the different tribes of the Quraish should be selected, and these should make a joint attack on the Holy Prophet and slay him. This last proposal was finally agreed upon, and the Holy Prophet’s house was surrounded one dark night with the object of attacking him as soon as he came forth. But, being apprised by God of the coming danger, the Holy Prophet had already made arrangements with Abu Bakr to flee from Mecca that very night. He, therefore, caused his nephew ‘Ali to lie in his bed and prepared himself to leave. Those who had laid siege to the house occasionally peeped into the house and, mistaking ‘Ali for the Holy Prophet, waited patiently for him outside. While thus waiting, it so happened that the watchers were overpowered by sleep, and the Holy Prophet, availing himself of the opportunity, departed from the house unnoticed. Abu Bakr was already waiting for him at some distance, and the two, bidding farewell to their beloved city, repaired, according to a pre-arranged plan, to a cave in a difficult mountain-top outside Mecca, where they took shelter. When the bloodthirsty Meccans knew of his escape, they quickly prepared to pursue him. They actually followed him, tracing his steps, till they reached the very cave where the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr were in hiding; but, as the report says, already a spider had spun its cobweb across the mouth of the cave. Thus confronted, it never occurred to them that the Holy Prophet had taken shelter in that out-of-the-way cave whose entrance looked as if it had not been used for a long time. They argued that the tracer who had brought them to the mouth of the cave was at fault and it so happened that none of them so much as glanced into the cave to make sure whether or not anybody was inside. Thus it was that God saved His beloved servant from the clutches of the ravenous wolves that so savagely pursued him. Being unable to find any further trace of him, they returned to Mecca. As, however, a heavy price was set on his head, and it was announced that whoever brought him, dead or alive, would have a reward of 100 camels, people pursued him in all directions; but here, too, God came to his help and none could lay hands on him. After remaining hidden in the cave for three days, the Holy Prophet and his devoted Companion resumed their flight to Medina and, avoiding the better-known tracks, hastened to their destination where the Muslim community of the Ansar and such of the Muhajirin as had already reached there accorded them a most cordial welcome.

Thus, the Quraish practically resorted to all the three plans that have been mentioned in the verse under comment: (1) they confined the Holy Prophet when they laid siege to his house at night; (2) they drove him from his native city; and (3) they attempted to carry out their resolution of Darun-Nadwah to put him to death. But God baffled every attempt of theirs, and he, who had fled from their town as a helpless fugitive, returned to them eight years later as an illustrious victor, at whose hands they cringingly sought, and readily obtained, pardon. They planned and plotted against him, as the verse says; but their plans and intrigues led to their own ruin. They drove him from their city, but his very flight led him to power and prosperity and proved the cause of their destruction. Sometime after the flight, a Meccan army proudly issued forth from Mecca and proceeded to Badr, a place near Medina, little dreaming that it was going to its own ruin. All this was arranged and decreed by God, Who is the best of planners. He so arranged that the army which had come forth with such pomp and display of power returned from Badr an utterly routed and disorderly rabble, leaving its proud leaders either dead on the battlefield or captives in the hands of those whom they hated and despised.

It should be noted that the word مکر (plan) used in this verse does not necessarily mean an evil plot. It is general in its significance, comprising both good and evil planning, according to the purpose for which it is contrived. The plots of the enemies of truth were, of course, evil; but God never has recourse to evil design. He planned things in such a way as to frustrate the evil designs of the enemy and make the cause of Islam triumph. The very fact that the Quran prefixes the word خیر (best) to the word ماکرین (planners) shows that the word has been used in a good sense with respect to God; for the word خیر (meaning good, better or best) is invariably prefixed to words which are used in a good sense. See also 3:55.

The present verse has been placed most fittingly between the verses relating to the Battle of Badr; for after speaking of that great battle, the Quran reminds the Holy Prophet and his Companions of the plots of the enemy against him and draws his attention to the wonderful way in which God had helped him at the time of his flight, frustrating the designs of the enemy and turning them to the advantage of Islam. He would do it again when needed and the Battle of Badr was another instance of the kind.

7:204.

Commentary:

This, the concluding verse of the present Surah, briefly refers to the subject with which it began. The Holy Prophet is here told that the decree of God is bound to come to pass, for God is not only حکیم (Wise) but also خیر الحاکمین (the Best of Judges). So the Prophet should continue preaching the word of God and bear the persecution of his enemies with patience and fortitude until the decree of God was fulfilled.

In the words, He is the Best of judges, the Quran hints at the fact that God’s decree is going to prove the best for His Prophet. Accordingly, we find that when that decree actually came to pass, the world was simply taken aback. Those who were thirsty for the Prophet’s blood, became his most devoted followers; and the entire country of Arabia like unto the people of Jonah believed in him, and tribesmen from all parts of the land hastened to pay homage to him as their lord and master.