كَذِبَ

Commentary:

The words, We are not liable to blame in the matter of the unlearned, refer to a notion prevalent among Jews in the time of the Holy Prophet that it was no sin to rob the gentile Arabs of their possessions, because the latter followed a false religion. The Jews believed that they were at liberty to do as they liked concerning Muslims and would not be called to account for it. Possibly, they deduced this queer doctrine from the Jewish law of usury, which makes an invidious distinction between a Jew and a non-Jew regarding the giving and taking of interest (Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; Deut. 23:20, 21).

Another meaning of this verse is obtained if we take the words "trust", "treasure", "dinar", etc., in a figurative sense. The Bible contains not only prophecies about the Holy Prophet of Islam, but also clear injunctions to the People of the Book to accept him when he made his appearance. This was in the nature of a "trust" with them. But when the Promised Prophet appeared, they refused to surrender that trust, except a few of them who accepted Islam. These it is that are spoken of as returning the treasure they are trusted with, whereas those who not only rejected the Holy Prophet but even refused to admit that their scriptures contained any prophecies about him are likened to such as would not even return a "dinar" entrusted to them unless you keep standing over them, i.e. unless you force them in argument to admit the truth.

2:76; 4:47; 5:42.

Commentary:

The clause, who twist their tongues while reciting the Book, alludes to an evil practice of some Jews in the time of the Holy Prophet. They would recite a passage in Hebrew in such a manner as would deceive the hearers into believing that it was the Torah that was being recited. The word "Book" used thrice in this verse means "a passage in Hebrew" in the first place and "the Torah" in the last two. The passage is spoken of as "the Book" because the Jews tried to make it appear as such.

Commentary:

The word ذالك (this) refers to the statement made in the preceding verse. To say that such and such parts of food were disallowed by God whereas He had not forbidden them, or even without directly attributing any commandant to God persistently to abstain from partaking of a lawful food without just reason virtually amounted to forging a lie against God which only wrongdoers could resort to.

5:104; 10:70; 16:117.

Commentary:

It was tantamount to forging a lie on the part of the Jews to say that God would raise no more Prophets because they needed none. If the people had become corrupt, a Prophet was sure to appear, and he did appear in the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam.

6:137.

Important Words:

بحیره (Bahirah) is derived from بحر which means, he cut or slit lengthwise; he split or clave. Bahirah was a name given by the pagan Arabs to a camel (or a goat) which they let loose to feed, after slitting its ears. The word may be applied both to males and females, but in practice it was only the females that were thus let loose to pasture where they liked. They were dedicated to some god and their milk was not used nor their back. The description of Bahirah varied among different tribes.

سائبة (Sa’ibah) is derived from ساب which means, it or he went away at random or went wherever it or he liked. سائبة was a name given to a she-camel set free to go wherever she pleased. She was generally let loose as an offering to the gods when one recovered from a sickness or returned safe from a journey. Often a she-camel having given birth to 10 female young ones was let loose to pasture where she would, and she was not ridden nor was her milk drunk except by her young.

وصلیة (Wasilah) is derived from وصل which means, he connected or joined. وصیلة was the name given to a she-camel that was let loose in the name of a god after she had consecutively given birth to seven female young ones. If at the seventh birth, she bore a pair, male and female, each of the latter was also let loose.

حام (Ham) is derived from حمی. They say احمی الشیء i.e. he prohibited the thing; or he protected it; or defended it against encroachment, invasion or attack. حام which is really حامی therefore means a stallion camel that has his back prohibited or interdicted to be used for bearing a rider or carrying a burden; such camel was neither ridden nor shorn of his fur; he was left at liberty and was not debarred from pasturage or from water. The word is also used about a stallion camel whose offspring’s offspring has conceived (Lane).

Commentary:

After having said that minor matters and details should be left to man to legislate as he thinks proper, the Quran, in the present verse, fittingly draws our attention to the fact that such freedom and discretion cannot be allowed to man in fundamentals and things of importance, because in such matters unanimity is essential and divergence of opinion may prove immensely harmful. The verse under comment gives an illustration to show that human intellect cannot be trusted with the making of laws on fundamental matters, for, if left to itself, it is likely to make laws that would lead man to perdition. An instance of such laws is given in this verse. It is really Christians for whom the address in this verse is meant; but instead of drawing attention to the laws devised and invented by Christians, the Quran very wisely refers here to certain practices of the pagan Arabs, for one can more easily see a mote in another man’s eye than a beam in one’s own. The Arabs used to let loose the animals mentioned in the verse in honour of their idols. Besides being based on disbelief and superstition, the practice was also highly foolish. The animals thus let loose wrought great havoc wherever they went. They devastated field crops and gardens and killed children. The Quran refers to the letting of these animals as an example of man-made laws and warns Christians who question the wisdom and blessings of a revealed Law to learn a lesson from the degrading practices to which the pagan Arabs had fallen victim, because they had no revealed Law to guide them.

27:74; 40:62.

Important Words:

یوم القیامة (of the Day of Resurrection). In this expression the particle فی (of or about) is understood before the word یوم (Day).

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that no man can forge lies against God, if he has any faith left in Him. So matters like eatables should not be treated lightly. In fact, forging lies against God in such matters is, as the verse hints, a sign of loss of faith in the Day of Resurrection. People dismiss such matters as of no importance, because they have no faith in God-sent guidance and prefer their own conjectures to revealed teachings.

The verse may be interpreted as containing another argument of the fact that the religion of disbelievers is based on no sound reason. That argument lies in their denial of the Day of Resurrection. The verse points out that the very thought that on a certain day sinners will have to render an account of their deeds sends a shudder through them, and so they deny the very existence of such a day. But the denial of a thing cannot disprove its existence. It is foolish to deny the infliction of punishment on the basis of fear. Moreover, the Day of Resurrection is meant to serve as an incentive to spiritual progress, and not to frighten men. It is just like an examination, the object of which is not that students should fail but that they should work hard and make themselves deserving of promotion and prizes. But those who do not work hard must fail.

4:51; 16:117.

Commentary:

The verse reverts to the subject of the previous verse in a different form and says that disbelievers are foolish to think that they can ever come to a happy end by attributing to God abominable things which they dislike for themselves, and that just as they consigned God to oblivion in this life, so would He abandon them in the next life to burn in the fire of Hell.

Commentary:

The verse draws attention to the noble life of the Holy Prophet and adduces it as evidence of the fact that he could not possibly ascribe to God what he learnt from men. Only such persons, it says, as have no faith in God and are perverse can be guilty of such forgeries. But the Prophet is doing his best to establish God’s glory on earth and not only himself glorifies God but bids others do the same. Only a black-hearted man can accuse such a noble person of forgery.

6:145.

Commentary:

The opening sentence of the verse may have two interpretations: (a) "and say not on the basis of the falsehood which your tongues utter that this is lawful and this is unlawful"; (b) "and say not about the things which your tongues have falsely declared as lawful or unlawful that this is lawful and this is unlawful". The words "your tongues" mean, "the tongues of the chiefs of people", because it is the leaders who first utter lies; the common people only follow and imitate them.

The verse means to say that it is the exclusive prerogative of God to declare things lawful or unlawful and that if disbelievers do not desist from declaring things lawful or unlawful at will, they will end by forging lies against God. The words, those who forge a lie against Allah do not prosper, embody an infallible criterion by which the truth of a Prophet of God can be tested. A false claimant is a forger of lies against God and such a one can never succeed in his mission.