حَسَنَۃِ

4:41; 27:90; 28:85.

Commentary:

The verse beautifully illustrates how the mercy of God transcends and predominates over His wrath or punishment. A good deed is like a good seed that brings forth a produce ten times its number and even more, (2:262; 4:41; 10:27-28; also Tirmidhi, ch. on, Fasting), whereas an evil deed is counted as only one deed. The verse also throws light on the fact that where there are to be rewards and punishments, there must be a law and a system. There can be no rewarding or punishing without a law.

22:48; 29:54-55.

41:44; 53:33.

Important Words:

المثلات (exemplary punishments) is the plural of المثلة which is derived from مثل. They say مثل فلان فلانا i.e. he became like such a one. مثل بفلان means, he punished such a one in an exemplary manner. مثلة means, calamity; punishment serving as a warning to others; punishment which visited past generations and which served as a warning for others (Aqrab).

العقاب (condign punishment) is derived from عاقب which is derived from عقب (‘aqaba). They say عقبه i.e. he struck his heel; he came after him (as though at his heels). عاقبه means, he did a thing with him alternately, each taking his turn; he punished him as denoting consequence or retribution. عقب (‘aqib) means, the heel or the hinder part of the human foot. العقاب means, requital or punishment that is awarded as a result of some offence or sin (Lane & Aqrab). Hence in the text it has rightly been rendered as "condign punishment."

Commentary:

The verse refers to an evil practice of disbelievers. When they are told that if they do not remove their shackles and do not avail themselves of the guidance of God and if they persist in their wicked ways, they will become like a piece of dry wood, which is thrown into the fire, they hasten to demand where that fire is. So, instead of soliciting God’s mercy these unfortunate people invoke His punishment. The advent of every Prophet of God is attended by both God’s mercy and His punishment but wicked people invariably demand the latter.

The words, verily, thy Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind despite their wrongdoing, set forth the great truth that the purpose of God in sending Prophets is not to destroy men, but to save them. This is why He continues to forgive them, despite their persistence in wrongdoing. But this repeated forgiveness does not mean that the wicked will never be punished. If they do not give up their evil ways, they will not escape God’s punishment. They will indeed be given every opportunity to reform themselves; but if they persistently refuse to do so, Divine punishment will finally descend on them.

The words, thy Lord is strict in condign punishment, do not mean that God makes use of severity in inflicting punishment but that the punishment inflicted by God is severer and more painful than that inflicted by men.

2:4; 8:4; 14:32; 27:4.

41:35.

Important Words:

وجه (favour). See 2:113, 116 & 6:53.

عقبی الدار (reward of the final abode). عقبی is derived from عقب for which see v. 7. عقبی means, end; the last or latter part or state; consequence, result or issue; recompense or requital or reward; that which is given in exchange for something (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse gives four more signs of the men endowed with understanding referred to in v. 20: (1) They observe صبر i.e. they abstain from sin, are steadfast in virtue and do not give way to impatience and wailing, which, as explained under 2:156, is the meaning of this word. They do all this with a view to winning the favour and pleasure of God, and not in the pursuit of any selfish or sectional interest, or from natural weakness i.e. their patience is not born of cowardice, but is due to a desire to please God even when they have the power to take revenge. (2) They observe Prayers regularly and with all the necessary conditions, which means that their connection with God does not lack permanence and constancy. (3) They spend out of what God has given them openly and in secret to meet the needs of the poor and the destitute. (4) They repel evil with good, which means that they do good deeds so that others may imitate their example and forsake evil. They are not content with the mere preaching of good, but themselves set a good example and thus seek to undermine evil. An alternative meaning is that they preach the doing of good, and in this way make evil die and disappear.

The words, repel evil with good, also mean that men of understanding do "good" deeds with the object of removing "evil" i.e. they neither insist on retaliation regardless of the nature of the offence or the suitability of the punishment nor do they persist in unqualified forgiveness but follow the course best suited for the eradication of evil. They resort to retaliation if it serves the purpose and to forgiveness if forgiveness is calculated to bring about the desired result. In short, they cut at the very root of "evil" by whatever method is "good" in the circumstances. The words repel evil with good, may also mean that they do not meet "evil" with "evil," but always observe justice and never forsake the path of equity and justice in dealing with evil.

The word عقبی (reward) is generally used in a good sense. The word الدار (the abode) refers to the next world; for it is the next world that is the real abode of man, the present world being only a temporary place of residence. Hence the expression لھم عقبی الدار means, "they shall have a good end in the life to come."

41:35.

6:118.

Important Words:

The word حکمة translated as wisdom in the text among other things means, (1) knowledge or science; (2) equity or justice; (3) forbearance or clemency; (4) firmness; (5) any saying or discourse conforming or agreeable to truth and in accordance with the exigencies of the occasion; (6) gift of prophecy; and (7) what prevents or restrains from ignorant behaviour (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The word may be used in all these senses in the verse under comment. Taking it in the sense of "knowledge" or "science", the verse would mean that Muslims should invite others to Islam by arguments based on knowledge and reason and should not confine themselves merely to making appeals to sentiments and emotions. Using it in the sense of "equity" or "justice", the injunction embodied would be that, when arguing with the followers of other Faiths, Muslim preachers and missionaries should not bring forward such objections against those Faiths as can be advanced against Islam itself for such a course is not only inconsistent with justice, but is also unsound. If حکمة be understood to mean "forbearance" or "clemency", the verse would mean that Muslims should explain the beauties of their religion with patience. Taking the word in the sense of "a saying or discourse conforming or agreeable to the truth, and in accordance with the exigencies of the occasion", the verse would mean, that while inviting other people to Islam Muslims should not say anything which is not true and is not in accordance with facts, for if they resorted to falsehood while preaching truth they would be ruining their own souls in order to save those of others. Moreover, their discourse should be conformable to the exigencies of the occasion and should not wound other people’s susceptibilities. Taking the word in the sense of "gift of prophecy", the verse would mean that Muslims should invite men to Islam by using arguments contained in the Quran and not arguments which are the creation of their own fancy. Lastly, taking the word in the sense of "what restrains from ignorant behaviour" the verse would mean that the talk of Muslims should not be beyond the comprehension of those to whom the appeal is made. They should say things which may help to resolve the doubts of others and not display or demonstrate their own talents and learning.

The words, "goodly exhortation" mean "a discourse which softens the hearts of the hearers and makes a deep impression on them." Thus the Quran exhorts its followers not to content themselves with mere cold and dry reasoning but to reinforce and support philosophical dissertations with an appeal to sentiments. This appeal, however, should be "goodly exhortation" i.e. it should be based on pure truth and there should be no prevarication or tampering with facts.

The words, and argue with them in a way that is best, mean that while arguing we should make the most solid and unassailable argument we possess as the pivot round which all other arguments should revolve and which they should support.

The expression, Thy Lord best knows those who have strayed from...who are rightly-guided, contains a word of encouragement and good cheer for the Muslim evangelist. He is told that if in spite of his best efforts he finds that his preaching has not had the desired effect, he should not get discouraged and think that his preaching was defective, but should continue his noble work without slackening, leaving the result to God, because He alone knows who is deserving and destined to be guided to the right path.

As Islam was to spread abroad and was to be preached to the people who claimed to possess revealed Scriptures, Muslims have been told in this verse that a much more difficult task lay ahead of them. While dealing with idolaters it was easy enough to refute idolatry, but with respect to the "People of the Book" the excellence and superiority of Islamic teachings will have to be proved regarding details and auxiliary matters also. Hence the admonition given above.

27:47.

Commentary:

Such has always been the way of disbelievers that instead of benefiting by the respite that is granted to them, they become all the more arrogant, and misconstruing the delay as an argument against their Prophet, demand the speedy coming of the threatened Divine punishment.

4:41; 6:161; 28:85.

Commentary:

Those who believed in the Holy Prophet and did righteous deeds had a good reward and became immune from all fear and apprehension about the future. And the burning of heart, as says the next verse, was the lot of the disbelievers and evildoers. These verses may also apply to the condition of believers and disbelievers in the life after death.

13:23; 23:97; 41:35.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that such persons from among the "People of the Book" as believe in the Quran will have double reward for the belief both in the Torah and the Quran and also for suffering patiently for the cause of truth and for their perseverance and steadfastness under trials and tribulations.

4:124; 6:161; 17:8; 41:47; 99:8-9.

Commentary:

The verse points to the divine law of compensation which in this life works in this way that whereas for good works God gives a reward many times greater than what the doer has earned, He punishes a bad deed with a punishment which is less than what the guilty person has incurred or at the most with a punishment proportionate to the evil deed which he has committed.