كَفَّ

30:40.

Important Words:

یمحق (abolish) is derived from محق which means, he abolished or annulled or obliterated a thing; he annihilated it; he rendered a thing deficient and deprived it of its blessing of increase (Aqrab).

یربی (will cause to increase) is from the same root as ربا (interest) for which see 2:276.

Commentary:

The verse hints not only that Allah is abolishing interest and declaring it to be unlawful but that a time is coming when interest will he blotted out from the world and charity and alms will take its place. This promise was first fulfilled by the ascendancy of Islam in the East and the West, and now that the Promised Messiah, with whose advent the second and universal rise of Islam has been prophesied, has appeared, the promise will again be fulfilled by the re-ascendancy of Islam in the four corners of the world.

The words, Allah will abolish interest and will cause charity to increase, also contain the secret of world prosperity. If nations desire to prosper, they should stop the giving and taking of interest and practise charity instead. It is of interest to note that the word یربی (will cause to increase) is from the same root as ربا (interest). The clause thus beautifully hints that whereas the world looks upon the taking of interest as a means of increase, the real means thereof lies in charity. The words also mean that God, in His dealings with men, will deal kindly by those who spend their wealth in charity so that they will eventually prosper and thrive, while those who lend or borrow money at interest will be punished by God.

Important Words:

کفلھا (made him her guardian) is derived from کفل. They say کفله i.e. he was or became responsible for him; he became his guardian. کفل خالدا زیدا means, he made Zaid the guardian of Khalid; he gave Khalid in the guardianship of Zaid (Aqrab).

زکریا (Zachariah or Zacharias) was the name of an Israelite holy person whom the Quran presents as a Prophet (6:86-90) but of whom the Bible speaks only as a priest (Luke 1:5). The person presented as a Prophet by the Bible is Zechariah (Zech. 1:1; mark the difference in spelling) of whom the Quran, however, makes no mention. زکریا of the Quran was the father of Yahya (John) who was a cousin of Jesus.

المحراب (chamber) is derived from حرب for which see 2:280. محرابmeans, a room in the uppermost story of a house; a chamber to which one ascends by stairs; the chief sitting place in a room or a house; the place or niche where the Imam stands while leading the Prayers in a mosque; a mosque or a place of worship (Aqrab & Lane). محراب (chamber of Prayer or the place of the Imam in a mosque) is probably so called because it is a place where one fights the forces of evil or where one gets divorced from the affairs and concerns of the world, the word حرب meaning fighting as well as being despoiled or deprived of all possessions (Mufradat).

Commentary:

Many fantastic stories have been woven round Mary’s reply to Zachariah’s question as to whence she got the gifts he found lying about her. The gifts were evidently brought by worshippers visiting the place and there was also nothing extraordinary in her reply that the gifts were from Allah, for every good thing that comes to man is really from God, He being the final agency. In fact, from a girl of Mary’s religious upbringing any other reply would rather have been surprising. The accounts of Mary having been provided with heavenly fruits by angels are, therefore, nothing but the figment of the commentators’ own minds and find no support whatsoever from the Quran or the sayings of the Holy Prophet. The pious reply of the child, however, made a deep impression on the mind of Zachariah and awakened in the depths of his soul the latent and natural desire of possessing a similarly virtuous child of his own.

The words, Surely Allah gives to whomsoever He pleases without measure, are most probably the words of God and not those of Mary. But if they are Mary’s words, they make her reply all the more impressive and Zachariah’s earnest prayer, referred to in the following verse, all the more justified.

5:111.

Commentary:

The verse is considered by some commentators to refer to an incident which took place when the Holy Prophet was returning from Tabuk. It is said that on this occasion six hypocrites lay in ambush to kill him, but God saved him by disclosing the plot to him. The verse may, however, not necessarily be applied to any particular incident. It may be taken to refer generally to the protection which God vouchsafed to Muslims from the aggressive attacks of their enemies. By "a people" is here primarily meant the disbelievers of Mecca, who spared no pains to extirpate Islam and the Muslims, but the word is also general in its application.

5:45, 48.

Commentary:

As the law mentioned in this verse is clearly stated to have belonged to the Torah, though it is not to be found in the Bible as we now have it, the words, And whoso waives the right thereto, constitute clear evidence of the fact that the teaching about forgiveness of which Christians boast so much was no monopoly of the Gospels. It was contained in the Torah also, though at the same time there can be no denying the fact that the teachings of Moses lay extra stress on retaliation, as do those of Jesus on forgiveness and non-resistance.

7:97.

Important Words:

النعیم (bliss) is derived from نعم. They say نعم عیشه i.e. his life was or became plentiful and easy; or it was or became good or pleasant. نعمة (na‘mat) means, ease and plenty; pleasantness and softness of life; enjoyment of a life of ease; comfort and affluence; tenderness, bloom, or freshness. نعمة (ni‘mat) means, a benefit; favour; boon; blessing; bounty; grace or what God bestows on man. نعیم means, grace of God; ease and plenty; welfare; well-being; delight and pleasure; blessing (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse makes it absolutely clear that in order to get salvation and enter Heaven, it is necessary that the People of the Book should believe in the Holy Prophet and the Quran and that their believing in past Prophets and past Books is not sufficient. In this connection see also 2:63.

The expression, gardens of bliss, denotes a perfect state of spiritual pleasure as well as an abode of bliss. It may be noted here that while qualifying the word جنة (garden or Heaven) the Quran uses four distinct expressions:

(1) جنات النعیم i.e. gardens of bliss, as in the present verse; (2) جنات الماوی i.e. gardens of refuge, as in 32:20; (3) جنات عدن i.e. gardens of eternity, as in 9:72; and (4) جنات الفردوس i.e. gardens of Paradise, as in 18:108. These names represent different aspects as well as different grades and sections of Heaven.

2:226.

Commentary:

The verb عقد (‘aqqada) is the intensive form of عقد (‘aqada) for which see 5:2. It conveys the idea of greater deliberation and solemnity. Hence the expression بما عقدتم الایمان (oaths which you take in earnest) would really mean, oaths which you swear solemnly and deliberately.

The use of the word اوسط (average) means both 'middle', (i.e. average) and 'best' (see 2:144) and is thus meant to imply that an oath may be regarded as expiated if ten poor men are fed with food the expiator ordinarily provides for his family, but that it is better to feed them with the best food with which he feeds his own family.

The pronoun ھم (their) in کسوتھم (their clothing) may refer either to families or to poor persons. In the former case, the sentence would read, "the clothing (of ten poor men) with the average (or the best) kind of clothing which you provide for your families". In the latter case, it would simply mean, "the clothing of ten poor men".

The verse should not be taken as describing three different ways by which a person can expiate a broken oath. The different ways are intended to represent three progressive stages of expiation, the third alternative being better than the second, and the second better than the first.

The injunction to expiate oaths does not mean that they may be broken with impunity and then expiated. The prescription of penalties is merely meant to meet a possible eventuality. But oaths contrary to Islamic Law are no oaths. They must be broken. Then there are oaths that pertain to the rights of individuals. These cannot be expiated even by adopting any of the above-mentioned three courses. If, for instance, a man promises on oath to give to a person certain sum of money, and then breaks his oath, and makes the prescribed expiation, the expiation will not absolve him from his obligation to make the promised payment. He must pay the man the promised sum, notwithstanding the expiation. The expiation will only atone for the sin he committed against God by breaking his oath.

5:2, 97.

Important Words:

انتقام (retribution) is derived from نقم. They say نقم الیه i.e. he exacted vengeance upon him; he punished him. انتقمت منهmeans, I took vengeance on him; I inflicted penal retribution on him or I punished him. انتقام thus means, vengeance, punishment or penal retribution (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:5 and 5:60.

Commentary:

If a man kills game, when he is in the state of احرام (pilgrimage), he should give as compensation a like animal to be taken to Mecca for sacrifice. For instance, if the game killed by him is a deer, he should offer a goat. If the like of the game killed cannot be found, then an animal costing approximately as much as the game killed should be offered, or failing that, the pilgrim should spend the estimated price of the game in feeding the poor, which is two مد per head according to some theologians and one صاع according to others, a مد being roughly two handfuls of corn while a صاع is four times as much as a مد. If, however, the pilgrim is unable to do even that, he should fast for as many days as the number of the poor he could feed with the estimated price of the game killed. The fasting and the feeding of the poor, as the case may be, should preferably be done at Mecca.

35:14; 40:21.

40:51.

Commentary:

The Quranic expression له دعوة الحق rendered in the text as, Unto Him is the true prayer, may be translated in several ways (1) God alone is worthy of worship; (2) it is praying to God alone that can be useful or beneficial for man; (3) the voice of God alone rises in support of truth i.e. the teaching which is really true and useful for man and is free from defects and untruths can come from God alone; (4) the Voice of God alone must prevail i.e. no one can frustrate God’s purpose and stand in His way; for the word حق (true) also means, that which prevails and becomes established.

The words, except as he is answered who stretches forth his two hands toward water that it may reach his mouth, but it reaches it not, embody a great principle. Just as he who ascribes lower status to a higher thing remains deprived of its higher benefits, similarly, he who ascribes higher status to a lower thing deprives himself of its true benefits. The man who looks upon a spurious coin as a genuine one will practically suffer as much as he who unwittingly treats a genuine coin as a spurious one. Idolaters think that their gods will answer their prayers and come to their help, but they can never do so.

In like manner, those who ascribe divine powers to things created by God deprive themselves of even their limited uses. How can those who look upon fire and water as gods think of bringing them under their control? And how can those who look upon Prophets as gods derive from them the real good which they could derive from them by following them as heavenly Messengers?

The verse thus says that the right way to succeed in life is to put all things in their proper places, to give God the status which is His due and to stars, rivers and mountains the position which they rightly possess. Whereas we should worship God, pray to Him and seek His blessings, we should subject created things to our service and derive those benefits from them which the Wise God has placed in them. That alone is the way of success and true happiness.

The words, the prayer of the disbelievers is but a thing wasted, mean that all prayers of disbelievers addressed to false deities will prove fruitless.

16:19.

Important Words:

لاتحصوھا (you will not be able to number them). تحصوا is derived from احصا which again is derived from حصا or حصی. They say حصی الرجل i.e. he cast a pebble or small stone at the man. احصا means, he numbered or counted it, or he collected it into an aggregate, or he reckoned or computed it; or he reached the last number of it by means of حصی (pebbles or small stones), because the Arabs used pebbles for counting; he registered or recorded its number; he comprehended it, or knew it altogether. احصی کل شیء بعلمه means, God has comprehended everything by His knowledge, nothing thereof escaping Him, small or great (Lane & Aqrab). The expression therefore signifies comprehending or, as it were, encircling a thing and knowing its full number. As against this تعدوا (you try to count) signifies simply counting a thing, whether you comprehend the whole number or not.

Commentary:

The words, you wanted of Him, refer to the demands of human nature which have all been freely met. God has made definite provision for the satisfaction of all the cravings and demands of human nature. For instance, if He has made eyes to see, He has provided for them light and beautiful sights; similarly, if He has made ears to hear, He has provided for them air and sweet, melodious voices.

The verb آتاکم (He gave you) may also be taken in the sense of "He will give you," for in Arabic the past tense is not unoften used for the future when it is meant to give the assurance that the promise made or thing stated is as good as fulfilled. In this sense the verse means to say that God would give Muslims all that they want—land, wealth and dominion, not to speak of spiritual favours. They will be given all sorts of facilities to propagate their Faith. Even the day and night, the sun and the moon (v. 34) will be made subservient to them. Then will God see whether they have made proper use of His favours and have glorified His name and preached His Message to the ends of the earth as they ought to do.

The verse does not mean that man cannot count all the favours of God, for this fact is too evident to need mention. What the verse refers to is the great favours which God was to bestow upon Muslims in future and which were to be too multifarious and multitudinous to be foreseen and counted now. All these favours were actually bestowed on Muslims. But, when they became (1) lax in Prayer and (2) lax in spending their wealth according to God’s commandment, the divine favours were withdrawn. The "good tree" (v. 25) has, however, again borne fruit through Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, and blessed are they who accept him, for theirs shall be the kingdom of Heaven and of earth.

68:20.

68:32.

Important Words:

یقلب کفیه (began to wring his hands). یقلب is formed from قلب (qallaba) which is derived from قلب (qalaba). قلبه means, he turned it over or upside down. فاصبح یقلب کفیه means, And he began to turn his hands upside-down or to do so repeatedly in grief or regret; or he became in a state or condition of repenting or grieving, for تقلیب الکفین is the action of a man who is repenting or grieving, and therefore metonymically denotes repentance or grief (Lane). See also 2:145 & 9:48.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that all the efforts and endeavours of Christian peoples to add to their material wealth and power will fail to produce any wholesome results. These efforts will end in smoke and their power and prestige will speedily decline. In the hour of their misery and desolation the western Christian nations will lament that they had expended so much labour and money on the illusory things of this life.

The words, it had all fallen down on its trellises, show that these people will be given to erecting lofty and imposing buildings and that the calamities which will befall them in quick succession will raze their prosperous and rich cities to the ground and their eleventh-hour repentance will avail them nothing. The verse incidentally shows that the word 'garden' used in these verses is not used literally because gardens do not fall down upon their trellises.