نُهُ

2:175.

Important Words:

یلعنھم (curses them). For the meaning of لعن see note on 2:89.

Commentary:

The present verse has been taken to apply either to Muslims or Jews. In the former case the verse would be taken as a warning to Muslims that they should ever be careful to preach the truth of Islam and should in no circumstances hide or neglect it but should ever be ready to proclaim it, however bitter the opposition. Failing this, they will not only not attain the nearness of God but will be cast away from Him. If applied to Jews, and that indeed is the right application, the connection with the preceding verse may be easily seen in the reference to As-Safa and Al-Marwah in that verse. It was at these places that Abraham left his wife Hagar, and his son, Ishmael, under God’s command and it was here that, while building the Ka‘bah, Abraham and Ishmael prayed to God for the appearance of a great Prophet among their progeny. The Quran thus refers here to the Jews who were concealing the prophecies contained in their Scriptures about the Holy Prophet. The Jews are warned that if they concealed the clear prophecies given to them about the Arabian Prophet, in spite of the fact that they have now been reminded of them through the Quran, God would cast them away, depriving them of His mercy and condemning them to punishment in Hell. They are further warned that as God is the Lord of the entire universe, His curse will not come alone but everything which is subservient to Him will then begin to curse them—angels, men, the elements, laws of nature and all.

2:276, 277; 3:131; 30:40.

9:34.

Commentary:

The Jews were forbidden to lend money on interest to other Jews, but they were permitted to take interest from non-Jews (Exod. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; Deut. 23:19, 20). But they broke the Law and began to exact interest even from Jews (Neh. 5:7). Later they promised Nehemiah to give up taking interest from Jews (Neh. 5:12). But they again broke their word; and so, in accordance with the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezek. 18:13), they suffered national death and were scattered over the earth to suffer persecution at the hands of their enemies.

Commentary:

The words, has now become clear to them, signify that even the enemies of God’s Prophets have in their minds a certain consciousness of the truth of the Divine Messengers; but owing to their bigotry, they try to suppress such thoughts and do not make them known to anyone. On the Day of Judgement, however, these latent thoughts which they tried to conceal would become apparent, and the truthfulness of the Prophets, of which they had dim consciousness, would become manifest.

The word "liars" at the end of the verse implies that, although disbelievers would desire to be sent back to this world so that they might believe in the Prophets and not reject them, yet if they were actually sent back to it, and the same circumstances in which they lived before were created again, even then they would again act as they had acted before rejecting the Prophets as they had rejected them before.

21:48; 23:103; 101:9-10.

Important Words:

موازینه (whose scales). موازین is the plural of میزان which is derived from وزن. They say وزن الشیء i.e. he weighed the thing, or he determined or estimated the weight of the thing. وزن الشعر means, he composed verses according to the fixed measure. وزن الشیء (with different vowel point at the central root letter) means, the thing became heavy and weighty. وزن which is noun-infinitive means, the act of weighing; or the weight of a thing; or weightiness. وزن الرجل means, he was a person of weighty opinion. میزان means, a weighing instrument; a balance; a pair of scales; the weight of a thing; the measure of a verse (Lane & Aqrab)

Commentary:

The verse does not mean that pairs of scale will actually be set up and human actions and deeds weighed like material things. The language used is figurative. Material things are indeed weighed in scales made of metal or wood, but the weighing of things which are not material means determining their real value or worth or importance.

The verse also throws interesting side-light on the fact that on the Day of Reckoning it is only good works that will carry weight. In the following verse, the Quran makes the point further clear by saying, those whose scales are light, (i.e. those who have no good works to their credit or who have only evil works which carry no weight), it is they who shall have ruined their souls.

23:104; 101:9-10.

Commentary:

The words, whose scales are light, mean, those whose good deeds are few and evil deeds many. The word ظلم (rendered as being unjust to) literally means, to put a thing in the wrong place, and is here used to signify that the disbelievers did not treat the signs of God in the manner in which they should have been treated. They were meant to instil fear of God and humility in the minds of the people; but, on the contrary, disbelievers became all the more arrogant and insolent and received the signs of God with mockery and derision.

2:66; 4:14, 155

7:169.

Important Words:

شرعا (appearing on the surface) is the plural of شارع which is active participle from شرع. They say شرع فی الامر i.e. he entered upon or began or commenced the affair. شرع المنزل means, the dwelling had its door opening upon a thoroughfare, or the door of the house opened on the road. شرع الشیء means, he raised or elevated the thing much. شارع of which the plural is شرع(shurra‘un) means, entering into water or entering into an affair; appearing on the surface of water; situated on a main road; having its door opening on a road; a main road or thoroughfare; a legislator or announcer of the law. حیتان شرع means, fishes raising their heads above water; or fishes directing themselves from the deep water to the bank; or fishes appearing upon the surface of the water (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The قریة (town) referred to in this verse is said to be Aila (Elath) on the Red Sea. It was situated on the N. E. arm of the Red Sea, in the Atlantic Gulf (which has derived its name from the place itself) and is mentioned as one of the last stages of the Israelites during their wanderings. It is mentioned also in 1 Kings 9:26 and 2 Chron. 8:17. In Solomon’s time the city came into the possession of the Israelites but afterward it was probably taken from them. Later Uzziah reconquered it, but under Ahaz it was again lost (Enc. Bib. and Jew. Enc.).

As no fish were caught on the Sabbath day, they had instinctively come to know the time when they were safe and, therefore, this instinctive feeling of security made them appear on the surface or approach near the coast in great numbers on the Sabbath day. This fact proved too strong a temptation for the Jews, and they began to make arrangements to catch them on the Sabbath day. The cause of evasion was not far to seek. The Israelites had the fish caught by the non-Israelite people and then purchased them from the latter and in this way sought to evade the commandment, although it was forbidden to them even to make purchases on that day. It was to stop this mean practice that Nehemiah stationed his servants at the gates of Jerusalem to see that no loads were brought in on the Sabbath day (Neh. 13:19).

2:66; 5:61.

Commentary:

The expression, Be ye apes despised, explains the "severe punishment" mentioned in the previous verse. See also 2:66.

Commentary:

The verse may be rendered in two ways: (1) wicked men cause their comrades to increase in error and they continue to aid and abet one another in their evil practices; or (2) wicked men strive to entice the pious into error. According to the latter rendering, the pronoun "them" in the words, make them continue in error, will refer to pious and righteous Muslims. By implication Muslims are exhorted in this verse to be always on their guard against the evil suggestions and evil machinations of wicked and mischievous men.

33:13.

9:51; 12:68; 14:12; 33:4; 65:4.

Commentary:

The words, the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease, here refer to those men in the Meccan army who had embraced Islam in Mecca, but who, being weak, remained with disbelievers out of fear, and had now come forth with the Meccan army in order to fight the Muslims. There were four or five such men who, when they saw the small band of Muslims arrayed in battle-order against a well-equipped army of Meccan warriors, thought it foolhardy on the part of the former to take their stand against the overwhelming odds and made the remark mentioned in the verse. To this remark, the verse gives the reply that the small band of Muslims faced the heavy odds not because their religion had deluded them but because they had put their trust in God Who was both Mighty and Wise and Who had promised to help them. The last words of the verse are thus also intended to reprimand the weak-hearted Muslims of Mecca and to remind them that their hypocritical policy resulted from the fact that they had no trust in the power and might of God.

Commentary:

The verse is general in its application, but the persons particularly referred to were seven poor Muslims who were extremely desirous of going to jihad but did not possess the means and the wherewithal to fulfil the wish of their hearts. These men came to the Holy Prophet, begging him to provide them with conveyance so that they might go forth with him. On being told by the Holy Prophet that he was unable to grant their request, they were sorely grieved and went away with their eyes full of tears. It is said that after they had gone, the Holy Prophet was offered three camels by ‘Uthman and four by other Muslims and these he gave to the seven men. The Quran mentions this incident in order to contrast the faith and sincerity of these poor Muslims with the insincerity of those who proffered lame and false excuses and asked to be allowed to stay behind, although they possessed all the means to go. It also appears from this verse that all those who remained behind at Medina were not hypocrites but that among them there were also true and sincere Muslims who could not go because they did not possess the means to do so.