وَدُّ

10:27, 28; 39:61; 80:39-43.

Important Words:

تبیض (shall be white) is derived from باض. They say باض فلانا i.e. he exceeded him in whiteness. ابیض means, he or it turned white. بیاض signifies whiteness, and ابیض means white (Aqrab). The expression ابیض وجھه means, his face became white, meaning, his face became expressive of joy, i.e. he became joyful (Lane).

تسود (will turn black) is derived from ساد. They say ساد فلانا i.e. he exceeded him in blackness. اسود means, he or it turned black. سواد means, blackness, and اسود means, black (Aqrab). اسود وجھه means, his face became black, meaning, his face became expressive of grief or sorrow (Lane). Whiteness is sometimes used to denote a good and happy condition; while blackness is a token of a bad condition and failure (Aqrab under بیاض).

Commentary:

The Quran itself explains "whiteness" and "blackness" as emb-lematic of "happiness" and "sorrow", respectively (see 3:108 and 16:59 and also compare 75:23 and 80:39, 40). Similarly, when a person does a deed for which he is praised, the Arabs say of him ابیض وجه فلان i.e. the face of such a one has become white or قد بیض الله وجه فلان i.e. God has made the face of such a one white. On the contrary, if a person does a deed for which he is reproached, it is said of him اسود وجھه i.e. his face has become black, or سود الله وجھه i.e. Allah has blackened his face. Thus, the words یوم تبیض وجوہ و تسود وجوہ (lit. when some faces shall turn white and some faces shall turn black) mean, when some will be praised for their deeds, and some will be reproached; or they mean, when some will rejoice and some will grieve.

The present verse speaks of discord and disagreement mentioned in the preceding verse as disbelief; for the ultimate end of such disagreement and dissension is nothing but disbelief.

62:9.

Commentary:

The reason why Jews were more attached to the world than pagans is that the latter did not believe in any retribution after death and, therefore, though they loved this world as the only place for enjoying honour and happiness and entertained no hope about the next, yet with no fear of punishment after death, they were less cringingly attached to the present life than the Jews, who believed in Resurrection after death and feared in their hearts that their actions would make them liable to punishment before God.

3:75.

Commentary:

The People of the Book and the pagan tribes of Arabia grudged the favours which were being bestowed by God on Muslims. In reply to this, God says that He, being the Lord and Master of the entire Universe, could not forever bind Himself to one people but chose for His bounty whomsoever He pleased from among His creation. But now when He has chosen the Muslims, He is not confining His favours to one people only. The mission of the Holy Prophet being for all mankind, the call to come and receive God’s favours is universal and hence no people need now show envy or grudge. With the advent of Islam the era of الفضل العظیم i.e. "exceeding (viz. universal) bounty" had dawned.

Important Words:

ذریة (offspring) is derived from ذر or ذرأ. The verb ذر means, he sprinkled or scattered. They say ذرالحب فی الارض i.e. he scattered the seed in the soil. ذرالنبات means the vegetation sprouted forth from the ground. Similarly ذرأ means, he increased a thing, etc.; or He (God) created. ذرة of which the plural is ذر means, small ant; motes or dust particles that float about in the air. ذریة means, children, offspring or progeny; human or other race descended from a common ancestor (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

By means of the similitude contained in this verse, a believer is reminded that if he spends his property for show or follows up his charity with taunts and injury, all that he has spent will be wasted, and on the Day of Judgement he will find nothing good in store for him. His case will be as wretched as that of an old man with little children and large property which, as the result of an accident, is suddenly destroyed, leaving him not only without means of sustenance for himself but also without provision for his children. When a man cannot bear to see himself and his little children go unprovided for in this life, which is after all a very short period, how can he bear that his work for the cause of Allah—a provision for his everlasting life in the next world—should be undone by his own action?

18:50.

Important Words:

رؤوف (Most Compassionate) is one of the attributes of God. It is derived from رأف meaning, he pitied him or had compassion on him; he pitied or compassionated him tenderly or in the utmost degree (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

For the meaning of the clause, And Allah cautions you against His punishment, see 3:29 above.

3:29; 4:140, 145.

9:47.

Important Words:

بطانة (intimate friends) is derived from بطن i.e. it was or became hidden. بطانة means a lining; an inner vest; a close and intimate friend or friends; a friend or friends to whom one reveals one’s secrets (Aqrab).

خبالا (corruption) is derived from خبل. They say خبله i.e. he made him or it corrupt or evil. خبله الحزن means, the grief affected and vitiated his reason. خبل الرجل عن کذا means, he confined the man and prevented him from it. خبالا means, corruption or bad condition whether of body or reason or actions; loss or deterioration; ruin or destruction; fatal poison (Aqrab).

عنتم (in trouble) is derived from عنت. They say عنت الشیء i.e. the thing became bad or corrupt. عنت فلان means, misfortune befell him and he got into trouble. عنت زید means Zaid met with a calamity and was ruined. عنت العظم means, the bone became weak and broke after it was in a good condition. عنت الرجل means, the man committed a sin (Aqrab). See also 2:221.

Commentary:

The words لایالونکم خبالا rendered as, they will not fail to corrupt you, may also mean: (1) they have no scruple in ruining you; (2) they leave no stone unturned to spoil your work; (3) they will do what they can to corrupt your religion; (4) they are always busy injuring you.

The words ودوا ما عنتم (they love to see you in trouble) may, in the light of the meanings given under Important Words above, mean: (1) they love to see you fall into calamity and misfortune; (2) they love to see you perish; (3) they love to see you become weak and broken; (4) they love to see you become sinful.

Obviously, this verse refers to avoiding such non-Muslims only as are at war with Muslims or such as seek to injure Islam in any other way. It does not require Muslims to have absolutely no relations with any non-Muslim. Elsewhere, the Quran says:

Allah forbids you not respecting those who have not fought against you on account of your religion and who have not driven you out from your homes, that you be kind to them and deal equitably with them. Surely Allah loves those who are equitable (60:9).

78:41.

Important Words:

حدیثا (anything) is derived from حدث meaning, it came into existence, not having been before. حدث (haddatha) means, he talked or related or narrated, etc.حدیث means, a piece of information; an announcement; news or tidings; an account; a narration or story; a tradition; a thing or matter that is talked of or narrated or transmitted; any talk or discourse that one hears. The word also means, new or recent or brought into existence newly (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The expression, will wish that the earth were made level with them, shows that the words 'earth and heaven' as mentioned in the Quran, do not always signify the physical earth and heaven but may represent one’s existing moral and spiritual condition. On the day when men will stand before God, the earth will have ceased to exist for them.

2:110; 4:45; 14:14.

Commentary:

The word کفر (disbelief) as used in this verse stands for hypocrisy, as a hypocrite is none but a disbeliever at heart. The hypocrites belonging to the Bedouin tribes of the desert, referred to in the preceding verse, claimed to be believers but rendered no help to Islam. Believers are enjoined to have nothing to do with them.

The words, until they migrate in the way of Allah, show that the hypocrites referred to in this verse did not belong to the town of Medina but to outside territory. They attached no value to faith and through cowardice wished that all should become like themselves, making friends with the enemies of Islam and mixing with them as they liked. The Quran forbids Muslims to take such people as friends, or to seek help from them, unless they migrate in the way of God and sever all connection with the enemy.

As the word قتل is also used in the sense of boycotting (see 2:62), the words اقتلوھم (kill them) may also mean boycott them, i.e. have nothing to do with them; treat them in the same manner in which you treat those with whom they have made common cause. This meaning finds support in the fact that the expression اقتلوھم (kill them) is followed by the words, take no friend nor helper from among them.

Important Words:

الشوکة (sting) is derived from شاك. They say شاکنی الشوك i.e. the thorn hurt or wounded me or it pierced my body. الشوکة is both the noun-infinitive from شاك and the singular of الشوك (thorns, spines, etc.). الشوکة means, thorn; sting; point of a spear, etc.; any weapon or weapons; sharpness of weapons; strength or might or vehemence thereof in war and fighting (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The "two parties" mentioned in the verse refer to (1) the Meccan army that had come forth to fight the Muslims, and (2) the Meccan caravan that was returning from the north and proceeding home. The former, besides being much larger in number, was heavily armed and very well-equipped; while the caravan was only lightly armed. Both belonged to Mecca and were equally hostile to Islam.

The verse signifies that as Allah had already made a promise to the Holy Prophet that He would give victory to Muslims over one of the two Meccan parties, viz. the caravan or the army, so against all hope He granted them victory in fulfilment of His promise. This shows that while yet at Medina, the Holy Prophet had been informed by God of the possible attack by the Meccan army, for without this Allah could not refer to "one of the two parties," but that the Holy Prophet kept the matter secret. The words, thy Lord Who rightfully brought thee forth from thy house, while a party of the believers were averse (8:6 above), also show that at Medina the Holy Prophet had undoubtedly received Divine revelation informing him of the coming attack by the enemy and that it was God Who had ordered the Holy Prophet to come forth. The above-quoted words also hint that the Holy Prophet kept this information secret, revealing it to only a few of his chosen comrades.

The words غیر ذات الشوکة (without sting) imply that the Muslims wanted to meet the party that was without sting, (i.e. the caravan) which they could easily overcome but that God desired to bring about an encounter with the army which could not be easily conquered, and His object in doing so was to establish the truth by His words and to cut off the root of the disbelievers, so that the prophecies with regard to the destruction of the enemy might be fulfilled that day, and their fulfilment against all hope might become the means of establishing the truth of Islam. For a more detailed account of the Battle of Badr see notes on 3:14 & 8:42-45.

Important Words:

ربما (often) is composed of two parts, رب and ما, the former being used both in the accented and non-accented form i.e. as rubba and ruba. ربما is used both in the sense of "sometimes" and "often" as the context may indicate, though the former is more frequent. Similarly, the word may either refer to the past or to the future (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

According to the different meanings of ربما the verse under comment may mean: "It has often or sometimes happened (or it will often or sometimes happen) that disbelievers have desired (or will desire) that they had been Muslims." In the present verse the word has been used in the sense of "often."

The verse applies to disbelievers in two ways. Firstly, it means that when believers attain success, disbelievers will wish they had been Muslims so that they too had shared in it. Secondly, it refers to the good and beneficial teachings of Islam and means that when disbelievers see how greatly Muslims had benefited by the teachings of the Quran, they will feel a desire that they too had been Muslims that they might have similarly benefited by the Quranic teachings. It is on record that such a desire was actually expressed by some disbelievers in the time of the Holy Prophet.

Even among present-day non-Muslims there are some who entertain such a desire, for they are often confronted with problems for which their own religions provide no true solution and they have perforce to adopt the remedies and measures prescribed by the Quran in order to meet them. For instance, when a Christian people have to pass laws permitting divorce for reasons other than adultery, or when they have to enact laws intended to put an end to the evil of drinking alcohol, they must feel how good it would have been if their own religion had given them the same teachings regarding these matters as Islam had done. In India, too, Hindus are adopting some of the social laws of Islam. This adoption of the Islamic laws by non-Muslims constitutes an irrefutable testimony to the truth of the statement made in the verse under comment.

It is also worthy of note that the Quran uses the word یود (wish) and not یقول (say), thus hinting that though disbelievers might not confess to such a desire, yet in their heart of hearts they not unoften wish that their religion had also laid down institutions like those of Islam. The use of the word ربما (often or sometimes) also indicates that owing to their biased mentality disbelievers would not feel such a desire with regard to all the teachings of Islam but only with regard to some of them.