قَوْمًا

Commentary:

Certainly a people who at first believe in the truth of a Prophet and proclaim their belief openly and become witnesses of heavenly signs but afterwards reject that Prophet through fear of men or other worldly considerations lose all title to be again guided to the right path. The verse lays down a general principle that God lets a person go astray only when the latter knowingly allows disbelief and wickedness to get hold of him and does not try to improve his ways.

Important Words:

جبّارین (haughty and powerful) is the plural of جبار which is derived from جبر. They say جبرالعظم (jabaral-‘azma) or جبّرالعظم(jabbaral-‘azma), i.e. he set the bone; he reduced it from the fractured state. جبرالرجل (jabaral-rajula) or جبّرالرجل (jabbaral-rajula) means, he restored the man from the state of poverty and weakness to that of wealth and strength. جبرت الیتیم means, I put the affairs of the orphan into good order. جبّره means, he compelled and forced him against his will. جبّار means, one who magnifies himself and behaves proudly, haughtily and insolently; one who slays when in anger or one who slays unjustly; one who domineers over others by absolute force and power; one extravagant in acts of wrongdoing, disobedience and rebellion; one huge, tall and strong; a giant. When used about God, الجبّار means, One Who can force His creatures to obey His commands; the Supreme, the Unattainable, the High above His creatures; the Restorer of the poor and the weak to wealth and power; the Reformer of the people by raising them from a low state to a high one (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Compare this insolent and cowardly attitude of the companions of Moses to the willing and almost unbelievable sacrifices of the Companions of the Holy Prophet, who were ever eager to jump into the very jaws of death at the bidding of their Master.

45:17.

Commentary:

The giving of a Book by God generally occurs in two ways: Firstly, directly, as in the case of Moses and the Holy Prophet of Islam. Secondly, indirectly, as in the case of those Prophets to whom no new Book was revealed and who only followed a Book that had been revealed to a previous Prophet. Thus of the Torah we are told in the Quran, Surely, We sent down the Torah wherein was guidance and light. By it did the Prophets who were obedient to Us judge for the Jews(5:45). The above quoted verse proves that there appeared many Prophets among the Israelites to whom no new Book was revealed and who only followed the Torah. This statement of the Quran is also borne out by history, which tells us that there were many Prophets among the Israelites to whom no Book was revealed. Hence, when the verse under comment says: It is these to whom We gave the Book, it does not mean that a Book was given to every Prophet separately but only that every Prophet received knowledge of the Divine Book. Another consideration which lends support to the above conclusion is that the word "these" put in the beginning of the verse not only refers to the Prophets named in the foregoing verses, but also to some of their fathers and their children and their brethren (6:88), and it is evident that the latter did not receive any new Book.

There are also other verses of the Quran in which the expression, "We gave the Book" has been used in the sense of giving the Book indirectly. Among others the reader is referred to 2:122; 2:147; 29:48 & 45:17. It is of interest that in the last-mentioned verse, i.e. 45:17, not only the Book but all the three things mentioned in the verse under comment have been spoken of as having been given to the Children of Israel. The verse runs thus: And We gave the Children of Israel the Book, and sovereignty, and prophethood, and We provided them with good things, and exalted them over the people of the time (45:17).

In short, when on the one hand we learn not only from the Quran but also from history that there have been many Prophets who did not receive any new Book directly, and on the other hand, we see that the expression, "We gave the Book" has also been used in the Quran in the sense of giving a Book indirectly, the verse under comment cannot be interpreted to mean that every Prophet was given a Book directly from God. Muslim commentators are agreed in holding that every Prophet was not given a Book directly by God, and that in the case of those Prophets to whom no Book was given directly, the words, "We gave the Book", simply mean, "We gave them knowledge or understanding of the Book", or "We made them inherit the Book."

The word "people" in the latter portion of the verse refers to Muslims; and the pronoun "them" at the end refers to the Book, dominion and prophethood mentioned in the opening clause of the verse.

7:73; 26:120-121.

Important Words:

عمین (blind) or عمون is the plural of اعمی meaning a blind man. The word is derived from عمی meaning, he was or became blind in both eyes; or, figuratively, he was blind in respect of the mind; he erred and did not find the right way. اعمی means, blind in both eyes; blind in respect of the mind; erring (Lane).

Commentary:

In spite of all his arguments and appeals, the people rejected the Prophet Noah and began to treat him as a liar, for they were a "blind people" and could not see and understand the evidence and proofs of his truth. The Flood engulfed them all.

17:102; 43:49.

Important Words:

القمل (lice) is derived from قمل. They say قمل رأسه i.e. his head became infected with lice or the lice abounded in his head. قمل القوم means, the people multiplied and increased in number (like unto lice). قمل فلان means, such a one became corpulent and big-bellied. So القمل (al-qaml) means, lice, etc., that infect the head or body of a person as a result of uncleanliness and filth. القمل (al-qummal) means, small ants; small insects like flies or mosquitoes having small wings and infesting vegetation and animals and men; the word has also been taken to mean lice, etc. (Aqrab & Lisan).

مفصلات (clear) also mean, separate, distinct, etc.

Commentary:

This verse explains the two kinds of punishment mentioned in 7:131 above. Locusts and storms bring about famine, whereas lice and frogs and blood may cause disease resulting in loss of life.

The Bible mentions 10 signs, besides the signs of the rod and of the white hand:

(1) the turning of the water of the river into blood; (2) frogs; (3) lice; (4) swarms of flies; (5) the murrain of beasts; (6) the plague of boils and blains; (7) the plague of hail; (8) locusts; (9) the plague of darkness; and (10) the death of the firstborn (Exod. Chaps. 7–11). All these signs are included in the signs mentioned in the verse under comment. Thus the word طوفان (storm) comprises the plague of hail and the plague of darkness; جراد (locusts) expresses the plague of locusts; قمل (lice) comprises lice, the swarms of flies, the murrain of beasts and the death of the firstborn, because all these may be caused by infection carried through lice, flies, mosquitoes, etc. The sign of الدم (the blood) comprises the turning of the water of the river into blood as well as boils and blains. The sign of blood may also comprise the death of the firstborn. The turning of the water of the river into blood may also mean that the water of the river became vitiated so that it spoiled the blood of those who drank of it. That the river was actually turned into blood is negated by the Bible itself, for we read there that the water only became blood when it was sprinkled on the land (Exod.4:9). This only means that the water of the river became unfit for drinking purpose and it vitiated the blood of those who drank it. Similarly, the storms raised dust which in turn gave rise to lice. These signs seem to have been greatly exaggerated in the Bible.

Commentary:

This verse shows how necessary it is to preach the truth to others. We must not fail to tell our brethren what is good for them and what is not. The thought that those in whom we inculcate the doing of good will not benefit by our advice should not deter us from doing our duty. Our preaching may or may not produce any good result, but we will have done our duty and will not be held answerable before God for neglecting to do what we should have done. The verse mentions two possible results of preaching and both are equally meritorious: (1) either our preaching will take effect and the people preached to will become righteous, or (2) we will at least have done our duty to God.

Commentary:

The words, who plotted to turn out the Messenger, do not refer to the Meccans, but to those who, when the Holy Prophet went on an expedition to the Syrian border, plotted to bring about his downfall by making the different tribes of Arabia stand up as one man against him on his return (see notes on 9:3,4, above). The Meccans did not merely plot to turn out the Holy Prophet, but actually turned him out (see 47:14). Moreover, by the time these verses were revealed, the Meccans had embraced Islam and all hostilities between Muslims and Meccans had ceased.

The words, they were the first to commence hostilities against you, also refer not to the Meccans but to those infidels, whether open or secret, who lived in and about Medina. The words provide conclusive proof of the fact that, far from being the transgressor, Islam was transgressed against. It was the infidels who first began hostilities against it. They acted most treacherously and resorted to all sorts of foul means to annihilate it. It was only such men that Muslims had been commanded to fight. Christian critics of Islam will do well to compare the wars of Islam with the wars of their great Lawgiver, Moses, against a people who had never taken up arms against him and had done nothing to offend him. Yet these people were ruthlessly butchered and even their women and children were not spared (Deut. 20:16, 17). As compared with this, the Holy

Prophet took up arms only against those who first started hostilities, and even then he directed that their women and children and their religious devotees, as well as their churches, should be spared (Muslim, Tahawi & Dawud). Those, who regard the wars of Moses as holy, have certainly no reason to criticize the wars of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

Commentary:

The expression, it shall not be accepted from you, means that if the hypocrites offered to pay the Zakah or any other subscription, it should not be accepted from them in expiation of their non-participation in the expedition. The nature of the punishment meted out to the hypocrites is worthy of special notice. No fine was levied on them, nor were they imprisoned nor subjected to a punishment generally inflicted for offences of this nature. They were simply told that as, by disobeying the command of God and refusing to serve Islam at a time of great danger, they were doomed, Zakah, which was a means of purification and, therefore, of winning salvation, would not be accepted from them. This shows that the dealings of the Holy Prophet with the hypocrites were not dictated by any monetary or mundane considerations.

7:104.

Commentary:

A Prophet of God is rejected for two reasons. Either the people to whom he preaches his Message look upon his claim as too big, thinking that God cannot speak to a man; or, behaving arrogantly, they think it to be beneath their dignity to follow his lead. This happened with Moses. Some of those to whom he delivered his Message rejected his claim because they thought it impossible that God should have condescended to speak to a mortal; others thought it incompatible with their dignity to obey a man of no consequence like Moses.

The clause, they were a sinful people, may have two meanings: (1) They were already a sinful people and therefore they rejected Moses. Taken in this sense, the words furnish the reason why they behaved with arrogance and paid no heed to the truth. (2) They became sinful in consequence of their rejection of Moses. Both interpretations explain why people reject the truth. Evil is born of evil and also leads to it; and therefore those who lead a sinful life cannot accept the truth. Again, the goodness and godliness of a person sometimes make him proud and prompt him to reject the truth. The rejection of truth is therefore no light matter, and one should think a thousand times before one rejects a claimant to prophethood.