أَوْلَٰدِ

4:177.

Important Words:

ابویه (his parents) is really ابوینه, the letter ن being dropped owing to اضافة. The word ابوین is the genitive of ابوان which is the dual form of اب which is originally ابو meaning, father or grandfather or any male ancestor or paternal uncle. ابوانliterally meaning "two fathers" signifies "father and mother" (Lane).

ولد (child) is very general in its significance meaning: (1) a child, son, daughter or a young one; (2) children, sons, daughters, offspring or young ones. Thus the word is used both as singular and plural, feminine and masculine (Lane).

Commentary:

This and the succeeding verse combined with the last verse of the Surah give the Islamic law of inheritance in a nutshell.

Islam prescribes suitable shares for all near relatives in the property of a deceased person without distinction of sex or order of birth. Children, parents, husbands and wives are the principal heirs who, if alive, get suitable shares in all circumstances, other relations having a title only in special cases. A male has been given double the share of a female because he has been made responsible for the maintenance of the family (Ma‘ani, vol. ii, p. 32).

The Islamic law of inheritance is perfect and it safeguards against all evils that result from laws prescribed by, or in vogue in, other faiths and communities. It aims at a fair distribution of wealth and equal chances of progress for all. To give the property of a deceased parent to the firstborn son only or to exclude the female members from inheritance or to disinherit parents in the presence of children has proved a veritable curse for society in many ways—moral, social and economic. The Islamic law of inheritance, reinforced by the system of Zakah (prescribed alms) and by the injunction prohibiting the giving and taking of interest, provides a golden mean between capitalism and communism—the two evil extremes of the present-day economic system.

The verse begins by laying down a general rule as to the proportion of shares between sons and daughters. A son is to have as much as two daughters. So wherever there are both sons and daughters, this rule will come in force. When, however, there are only daughters and no son, the verse allots two-thirds of the legacy to the daughters if there are more than two of them, and one-half if there is only one. The share of daughters, in case there are two, is not expressly stated. But the use of the conjunction فا (but) in the clause, but if there be females only, numbering more than two, clearly points to the fact that the share of two females has been referred to in the preceding words "two females". Moreover, the share of two females can be gathered from what has already been said in the beginning of the verse about the ratio between the shares of the males and the females. According to that ratio, a son is to get as much as two daughters. Thus, if there be one son and one daughter, the son will have two-thirds. But as the share of one son has been made equal to that of "two daughters", the latter, in case there is no son, will have two-thirds, viz., the same share as has been expressly fixed for three daughters. Thus, the very construction of the verse shows that if there be two daughters and no son, they too, as in the case of three daughters, will get two-thirds. If it had not been the object of the Quran to point to the share of two daughters in the clause, it would have been something like this, "a male shall have twice as much as a female", and not as it is now.

The above meaning is corroborated by a saying of the Holy Prophet himself. It is related that when a Companion of the Holy Prophet named Sa‘d bin Rabi‘ah died in the Battle of Uhud, leaving two daughters and one widow, his brother took away the whole property, leaving nothing for the two daughters. Thereupon the widow of Sa‘d went to the Holy Prophet and said, "Here are the two daughters of Sa‘d. Their uncle has taken the whole of his property and has left nothing for them." The Holy Prophet told her to wait till God should decide the matter. Then this verse was revealed and the Prophet called upon Sa‘d’s brother to give two-thirds of Sa‘d’s property to his two daughters and one-eighth to their mother and keep the rest for himself (Tirmidhi & Dawud).

The verse speaks of three cases as regards the share of the parents: (1) If a person dies leaving one or more children, then each of his parents shall have one-sixth; (2) If a person dies issueless and his parents are the sole heirs (there being no wife or husband of the deceased person), then the mother will have one-third of the property and the remaining two-thirds will go to the father; (3) There is a third case, which is really an exception to the second case. A man dies without issue and his parents are his sole heirs, but he has brothers or sisters. Then, although his brother or sisters will not inherit from him, yet their presence will affect the share of the parents, for, in this case, the mother will have one-sixth (instead of one-third, as in the second case) and the remaining five-sixths will go to the father. The reason why the father is awarded a larger share in this case is that the father has also to support the brothers or sisters of the deceased. The subject of inheritance is continued in the succeeding verse.

Commentary:

The "associate-gods" here referred to are divines, soothsayers and others. The "killing of children" happened in three ways: (1) some of the Arabs killed their female children and preserved the male ones; (2) some took the vow that if they had a certain number of children, whether male or female, one of them would be slaughtered in the name of God or in the name of one of their deities; and (3) sometimes they sacrificed their children to avert a calamity.

The word کثیر (many) in the expression, to many of the idolaters, shows that all Arabs did not indulge in this practice, nor even most of them, but only a considerable number. But, whatever the number, the practice provides one more instance of how men go astray when they begin to make laws for themselves with the sole aid of reason.

The particle ل (that) in لیـردوھم (that they may ruin them) is here used to express عاقبة (the result) and not the cause or motive. Thus, the sentence would mean that the result of the action of the associate-gods was that men who followed them were spiritually ruined. When a man goes so far as even to sacrifice his son in obedience to another person’s bidding, then he is entirely under the latter’s control, and is thus completely ruined in respect of religion.

7:18.

4:121; 14:23.

Important Words:

استفزز (entice thou) is derived from فز which means, he was or became frightened. استفزmeans, it (fear) excited him to lightness, unsteady-ness; or it unsettled him; he incited or excited him to be promptly obedient and submissive to him; he deceived or beguiled him so as to cast him into destruction; he expelled him from his land; he slew him. The Quranic expression واستفزز من استطعت منھم بصوتک means, and excite thou to lightness and unsteadiness or unsettle thou whom thou canst with thy voice. And the expression وان کادوا لیستفزونک من الارض means, and verily they were near to unsettling thee from the land or, some say, they were near to frightening thee so as to excite thee to promptness of flight from the land (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse shows that man is by nature good. It is only when he falls a victim to satanic influences that he gives up the path of virtue for the ways of sin and iniquity. This Islamic conception of human nature is in striking contrast with that of Christianity according to which man is evil by nature and Jesus alone can redeem him from his original sin.

The verse describes the three kinds of devices that are adopted by the sons of darkness to entice men away from the right way: (1) They try to intimidate the poor and the weak by holding out threats of violence to them. This is the significance of the words, And entice…with thy voice. (2) They use more drastic measures against those who are not frightened away by verbal threats of violence by forming alliances against them and making a concerted attack upon them and persecuting and oppressing them in every way. This is the sense of the words, urge against them thy horsemen and footmen. (3) They seek to entice away the powerful and the more influential among the followers of a Prophet by offering to make them their leaders if only they give up his cause.

All these measures and stratagems have been adopted by the enemies of truth against the Prophets of God and their followers throughout the ages. But they have never succeeded in arresting or retarding the progress of truth.

6:33; 29:65; 47:37.

56:66.

Important Words:

الکفار (tillers) is the plural of کافر which is act. part. from کفر. They say کفر الشیء او کفرہ (kaffara), i.e. he concealed, hid or covered the thing. کفر نعمة اللّٰه او بنعمة اللّٰه means, he denied or did not acknowledge the favour of God, he denied and concealed it. The husbandman is called کافر because he concealed the seed under earth, and a disbeliever is so called because he conceals and denies the favour of God (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Life spent in forgetfulness of God and disregard of its higher values is, as described in the verse under comment, but a sport and a pastime, otherwise man’s life on earth is a most serious fact. It has a great mission and a noble object to fulfil. The verse implies that at the time when the great Promised Reformer to whom reference is impliedly made in the preceding verse would make his appearance, men would neglect the grim and noble purpose of their lives and would give themselves up, body and soul, to the pursuit of petty and paltry pleasures of life and there would be a mad craze and unhealthy competition among them, and vying with one another, for amassing wealth and material resources. But the end of all this competition and rivalry, says the verse, would be like the end of a blooming and blossoming crop over which a scorching wind has blown turning it into broken pieces of straw.

Commentary:

Whereas in the previous verses emphasis was laid on obedience to Allah and His Messenger, the present verse draws attention to the necessity of guarding against some of the things that militate against that obedience—our love for our near and dear ones. If we allow them to stand in the way of our loyalty to God and submission to Divine laws, they become our enemies whom we should specially guard against.