صّٰدِقِیۡنَ

33:36.

51:18, 19.

Important Words:

الاسحار (latter part of the night) is the plural of السحر i.e. the time before dawn. الاسحار is in the plural number but has been translated as singular for the sake of convenience. السحر also means, the side or end of a thing (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The qualities or attributes of a true believer mentioned in this verse represent four stages of spiritual progress: (1) When a man embraces true Faith, he is very often subjected to persecution; therefore, the first stage through which he has to pass is that of patience and steadfastness; (2) When persecution comes to an end and a believer is free to act as he pleases, he carries into practice the teachings which he was unable fully to act upon before. Thus the second stage relates to "living truthfully", i.e. living up to one’s conviction. (3) When, as a result of faithfully carrying out the commandments of their Faith, true believers attain to power, even then humility does not take leave of them. They remain as "humble" in spirit as ever. (4) Nay, their sense of service still increases. They "spend" whatever Allah has given them for the welfare of humanity. But, as the concluding words of the verse point out, all this time they continue praying to God in the stillness of the night to forgive any falling short, on their part, of the high ideal of the service of humanity.

A true Muslim is expected to display all these qualities. He must show an unflinching patience and steadfastness under the severest trials and must live up to his conviction and carry into actual practice the noble ideals of his religion. Again, he must spend what God has given him of wealth, knowledge, influence, etc., in the service of humanity and must at the same time never be remiss in the discharge of the duties he owes to God. He should not only pray during the fixed hours of the day but should also pass parts of his nights in prayer and worship of the Lord. Special stress is laid in the Quran on the Prayer in the latter part of the night (17:80; 73:3-7). The word الاسحار (lit. latter parts of nights) has been used in the plural number to hint that a true believer should not be satisfied with praying in the latter part of the night only once or twice but should make it a habit to rise regularly for the Tahajjud Prayers.

9:100; 58:23; 98:9.

Commentary:

The words, This is a day, refer to the Day of Judgement, which shows that the question mentioned in 5:117 above will be put to Jesus on the Day of Judgement, i.e. after he will have paid his supposed second visit to the earth, as is alleged by those who believe in his ascension to, and descent from, heaven.

The word "truthful" used in the verse hints that as the followers of Jesus did not prove truthful, they could not hope to benefit from Divine mercy. The word really refers to Muslims, who were true to the teachings of their Prophet. They believed as he taught them to believe, and acted as he taught them to act, and were true to their God. The word may also refer to the followers of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, who was raised as the مثیل, or likeness, of Jesus. God, as it were, says, "We sent two Messiahs, the followers of the one drifted away from his teachings and began to look upon him as God, but the followers of the other Messiah were true to his teachings. So this day only the truth of the truthful shall profit them."

10:79; 11:63,88.

Commentary:

Being unable to meet the arguments of Hud, disbelievers took a new line and declared that they would rather die than give up the faith of their fathers. That it was the threatened punishment of God that they challenged Hud to bring upon them is clear from the reply which he gave them and which is contained in the words: Indeed there have already fallen on you punishment and wrath from your Lord, occurring in the following verse.

26:32.

3:103; 5:36; 39:11; 57:29.

Commentary:

This verse directly following the verses that speak of hypocrites and those weak of faith, lays down one of the most important rules of conduct that contribute to the building up of a person’s moral character and to his spiritual growth and development. This consists (1) in one’s own effort to perfect his righteousness by developing the fear of God and

(2) in seeking the company of the truthful and sticking to it. As a matter of fact, to keep company with the righteous and the truthful is highly essential. It serves to remove moral and spiritual rust from one’s heart, and exercises a very wholesome influence on it. It leads a believer to the fountain of purity and righteousness. It provides a moral and spiritual environment for man. That was one of the advantages enjoyed by those who accompanied the Holy Prophet to Tabuk.

46:23.

Commentary:

As in the previous verses Noah had hinted at the future prosperity of his followers and it was evident that they could prosper only if their opponents perished and thus cleared the way for their prosperity, therefore Noah’s enemies realized that the prophecy of the future prosperity of believers implied a prophecy about their own destruction. So they asked him to give up all other discussions and let them know when their threatened destruction would come to pass.

Commentary:

See note on the preceding verse.

12:32.

Important Words:

ماخطبکن (what was the matter with you) خطب (khatbun) is the noun-infinitive from خطب (khataba). They say خطب القوم i.e. he addressed the people and delivered to them an exhortation or admonition. خطب المرأة means, he asked or demanded the woman in marriage. خطب means, a thing, an affair, or a business, small or great, that one seeks or desires to do or that may be a subject of discourse; a great thing or affair; or the cause or occasion of a thing or an event; or an affliction or calamity. They say ماخطبك i.e. what is the thing or affair or business that thou seekest or desirest to do; or, what is the cause of thy coming? (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse shows that the King had become so convinced of the righteousness of Joseph that, on hearing of the accusation against him, he at once believed it to be false. This is why the women, judging from the way in which the King questioned them, realized that he looked upon Joseph as a righteous man, and so they confessed the truth. But by so doing they only bore witness to the innocence of Joseph, without in any way accusing Potiphar’s wife. The latter, however, fearing lest after exonerating Joseph of all blame the women might proceed to testify to her misconduct, hastened to confess her guilt, although she had not yet been questioned by the King. She did this to escape the greater shame of being condemned out of the mouth of others and perhaps also to win some credit for speaking the truth without being questioned.

6:9; 11:13; 25:8.

Commentary:

In the previous Surahs and also in the beginning of the present Surah it has been claimed that the victory of Islam will be brought about through Divine revelation vouchsafed to the Holy Prophet. In answer to this claim, disbelievers dubbed the Holy Prophet a madman, tauntingly saying that, as he claimed that his revelations were brought to him by angels, the latter ought to have been visible to other men also. Since nobody ever saw these angels it was evident that he suffered from hallucinations and that his mind was affected.

Commentary:

As suspicion between husband and wife is likely to cast a severe strain on the whole family relations, a special regulation has been laid down in the verse under comment to meet such an unhappy situation if it ever happens to arise. If a husband accuses his wife of adultery he has to declare on oath four times that his allegation is true.