ذِكْرِ

2:129.

See 2:153.

4:135; 42:21.

Important Words:

فاذکروا (celebrate praises of) is derived from ذکر which means, (1) he talked of him by way of praising him; (2) he remembered him in his heart (Aqrab & Mufradat). See also 2:41, 153.

او (or) is a preposition, used to convey a number of meanings, the more important being: (1) or; (2) and; (3) nay; (4) unless; (5) until (Aqrab & Lane).

خلاق (share) means, an abundant share in what is good (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The clause, celebrate the praises of Allah as you celebrated the praises of your fathers, points to a practice of pagan Arabs who used to gather together at a certain place in Mina after the performance of the rites of Pilgrimage and glorify their forefathers by reciting poems in their praise. Muslims are here bidden to glorify God instead, and praise Him as they used to praise their forefathers, and, the words "even more than that" have been added to emphasize that God’s praises should transcend all, for the word او (or) also means, "nay". It is also possible that the word ك (as) in the expression کذکرکم (as you celebrated praises) has been used only to denote general similarity without reference to degree, and the word او (or) has been used in the sense of "and". In this case the verse would mean that though in the general manner of praise your celebration of God’s praises may resemble the praises with which you glorified your fathers, in degree it should excel it, being اشد (stronger, loftier and firmer).

Here is a good example of how the Quran, while retaining some old customs, improved upon and, spiritualised them to serve the ends of Islam.

The clause, when you have performed the acts of worship prescribed for you, celebrate the praises of Allah as you celebrated the praises of your fathers or even more than that, has yet another meaning. As the word ذکر also means 'remembering' and the word اب (father) includes mother as well (12:101), the clause may also signify that the rites of Pilgrimage, if performed in the right spirit, should fill the heart of man with such love for God as to make him always remember Him just as a child remembers his parents. This is why the Quran begins the word اذکروا with the conjunction ف meaning "so" or "then", hinting that the result of the performance of the rites of Pilgrimage should be that a pilgrim should ever after remember his Creator with the fondness displayed by a child for his parents. But this is only the first stage. With holier men God’s love should be even greater, as the verse hints in the words, or even more than that. Says the Holy Prophet, "The sign of true faith is that a believer’s love for God and His Apostle should be greater than his love for any other being or thing" (Bukhari).

The concluding clause, i.e. of men there are some who say, 'Our Lord, grant us (good things) in this world, and such a one shall have no share in the Hereafter, points to the fact that if the pilgrim confines himself to the celebration of the praises of his fathers and forgets his Creator, he would be like a person who spends all his efforts in the pursuit of this world, even his prayers being confined to search after worldly things. Such a person shall evidently have no claim to the good things of the Hereafter. It is also significant that in this clause the Quran does not use the word حسنة (good things) with the words فی الدنیا (in this world) thereby hinting that such men generally make no distinction between the good things of this world and the bad things thereof, their sole object being the things of this world, irrespective of whether they are good or bad.

As explained under Important Words, the word خلاق (share) occurring in the clause, such a one shall have no share in the Hereafter, really means, "an abundant share in what is good". So the verse would really mean not that such a person will get only a small share in the Hereafter but that, by remaining engrossed in the things of this world, he will deprive himself of a big share and will get no share at all. As the Quran has to condense vast subjects in a small space, it purposely uses words and constructions that take the smallest space but convey the vastest meaning.

Commentary:

After stating that the four things mentioned in the previous verse are all رجس (abomination) in one sense or another, the present verse confines itself to two of the four mentioned things—wine and games of hazard—and gives additional reasons against them. These reasons are, as stated in the verse, four in number and rest on political, social, spiritual and socio-religious grounds, this being hinted in the words "enmity and hatred and keeping back from the remembrance of Allah and from Prayer". The interrogation in the clause, But will you keep back?, embodies a strong admonition not to do the thing, the use of the interrogative form being the most effective form of exhortation. See also 2:220.

Commentary:

This beautiful verse embodies a great and extremely natural truth. The more the people of the world gain the paltry goods of this life, the greater becomes the hunger and the consequent burning of their heart. But as for those who seek God, the more they turn to Him, the greater is their peace of mind. This shows that search after God is the innermost yearning of human nature and the real goal of man’s life, and that when that goal is attained man begins to enjoy perfect peace of mind, for then he rests, as it were, in the very lap of the All-Knowing and All-Powerful God, Maker and Controller of the universe. Would the people of the world had realized this great secret of happiness!

6:53; 7:206.

Commentary:

This verse lends further support to the fact that the preceding verses embody some very important prophecies. In fact, we are here told that at the time of the predominance and ascendancy of Christian nations there will be living in the world a people who, as true representatives of Islam, will be engaged night and day in prayer and Divine worship. The so-called Muslims will, at that time—the time of Imam Mahdi—pin all their hopes about the future political glory and greatness of Islam on the employment of material means and will look down upon the poor and politically unimportant followers of the Imam Mahdi for concentrating on prayer and worship. The verse warns Muslims that on prayer and Divine worship alone will depend the eventual salvation and success of Islam.

The verse further mentions the following three main causes of the misfortunes and miseries of Muslims at that time: (a) they will be neglectful of prayer and Divine worship; (b) love of the world will be their overpowering passion; and (c) they will be wholly lost in the pursuit of material comforts and a life of luxury. But their deliverance will lie in a complete change of their outlook and the programme of their life.

21:43; 39:46.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that at that time worship of God will totally disappear from among the Christian peoples and love of Mammon will take the place of love of God in their hearts. They will completely forget their Creator and will attribute all their great achievements to their own skill and effort.

The words, and they could not even hear, mean that their hearts will become so much rusted and corroded that they will lose all attachment for the word of God and will refuse to listen to it.

The foregoing verses refer to the great material progress and widespread conquests of Gog and Magog—western Christian nations—and their utter disregard for God and religion. We have also been told that, elated with their political power and military glory, they will give themselves up to a life of pleasure and sin and as a result will bring the wrath of God upon themselves and their prosperity will give place to decline and degradation. Then in despair and despondency, as hinted at in Moses’ vision, they will turn to God and, having realized the error of their ways, will come back to the "junction of the two Seas" i.e. they will accept the Holy Prophet. The following prophecy of the Bible forms a befitting sequel to the account of Gog and Magog and indicates the time of their rise to power and greatness:

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea (Revelation 20:7-8).

By "the thousand years" are meant the thousand years of the Hijrah—Migration of the Holy Prophet to Medina in 622 A.D. The above passage along with chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel makes it quite clear that the rise of Gog and Magog was to have begun in the 17th century A.D. and to have reached its zenith in our own time.

The account of Dhul-Qarnain will remain incomplete unless the reason is given as to why it has been assigned such a prominent place in the Quran, when as a fact of history does not appear directly to concern us nor does its narration benefit us materially or spiritually. In fact, it is more for its spiritual than for its historical importance that the story of Dhul-Qarnain has been given so large a space in the Holy Book. The Quran is not a book of history. The stories of past Prophets and other historical incidents have not been mentioned in it to acquaint us with events which took place in the remote past. They are so many prophecies about future events. Some of these prophecies have already been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet while others await fulfilment in some future time. The account of Dhul-Qarnain, like other similar Quranic accounts, embodies a great prophecy which has been fulfilled in the person of Ahmad, the Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement. Ahmed was the Dhul-Qarnain of our age. Whereas the Quranic account of Dhul-Qarnain historically applies to the great Persian monarch Cyrus, spiritually it applies to Ahmad. Thus besides its historical value the story is pregnant with great spiritual import. It implies a great prophecy to the effect that, just as in the 6th century B.C. Cyrus saved Persia from the depredatory raids of Gog and Magog, by erecting a barrier of brick and stone in their way, another Dhul-Qarnain will save the soul and spirit of mankind, from the devastating moral assaults of Christian nations of the West who are the descendants of Gog and Magog. He will accomplish his great and noble task by the help of divine knowledge and the signs that God will show at his hands. The nature of the work entrusted to both these Dhul-Qarnains bears a striking likeness to each other, only the one was in the mundane sphere, the other in the spiritual. The Prophet Ahmad possessed many physical and spiritual resemblances with the great Cyrus. Like Cyrus, he was called the Messiah and like he, was of Persian origin. Cyrus was Dhul-Qarnain in the sense that he was the ruler of the double Medo-Persian Empire and Ahmad (1835--1908) was Dhul-Qarnain in the sense that he saw the beginning of two centuries of several eras (Qarn meaning a century).

For a further study of this most interesting subject the reader is referred to Barahin-e-Ahmadiyyah, Part v, pp. 91-93; also the Review of Religions, Qadian, vol. 17, No. 6.

27:10; 28:31.

Commentary:

The verse contains the first commandment that was given to Moses. It appears that the observance of Prayer is the most important commandment in religion.

The words for My remembrance may mean:

(a) for My remembering you i.e. as I have remembered you, therefore, you should also remember Me by way of thanks-giving;

(b) your Prayer should be for the sake of remembering Me;

(c) you should set up the institution of Prayer so that My remembrance may become established in the world.

28:36.

Important Words:

لا تنیا (slacken not) is derived from ونی which means, he was or became languid, remiss, weak, feeble or faint. ونی فیه means, he entered upon a thing languidly or weakly; توانی فی الامر he flagged or was remiss in the affair; ونی عنه, he passed from it and left it (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, and slacken not in remembering Me, show that prayer and constant remembrance of God are greatly helpful in attaining success. They constitute the spiritual means which one must employ along with physical and material means for the furtherance and success of one’s cause. They are as essential as the physical means.

God’s command to Moses and Aaron to adopt these means, although He had promised them His help, makes it abundantly clear that the promise of Divine help does not absolve one of the obligation to use those means which God has created for the attainment of a certain object. God wants us to use all legitimate means that lie in our power for the accomplishment of our object and leave the rest to Him.

18:102.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that a person who consigns God to oblivion in this life and leads a life which obstructs or impedes his spiritual development and growth and thus deprives himself of heavenly light will be born blind at the time of his second birth in the afterlife. This will be because his soul in this life which serves as a body for the much more spiritually developed soul in the next world had become blind on account of his having led a sinful and depraved life in this world. This is one meaning of the verse.

It may have another interpretation. معیشة (life) signifies the basis of human life and it is not only physical amenities and comforts on which human life depends but other innumerable things also contribute to its sustenance and to man’s social, moral and spiritual development. Of these things those people who reject Divine teaching remain deprived and thus they lead a difficult life, full of strains and stresses. Moreover, the sphere of action of the rejecters of Divine teaching is very narrow and limited because they have no grand and great goal before them, as it is belief in Divine attributes and the development by man of these attributes in his person that help to broaden his vision. This is why the Prophets of God and His Elect stand on a much higher moral plane than the votaries of philosophy.

25:42.

13:31.

Commentary:

The words, "Is this the one who makes an evil mention of your gods," are expressive of contempt and contumely for the Holy Prophet on the part of disbelievers. They think it presumptuous on the Prophet’s part to speak slightingly of their gods. To this contemptuous expression of disbelievers the Quran replies by saying that if they think that it is presumptuous on the part of the Holy Prophetto speak disparagingly of their false gods, what do they think of their own contemptuous rejection of the very mention of the Gracious God?

18:102; 21:3; 26:6.

Important Words:

یکلؤکم (can protect you) is derived from کلأ (kala’a). They say کلأ اللّٰه فلاناً i.e. God guarded such a one or kept him safe. The Arabs say اذھبوا فی کلأة اللّٰه i.e. go ye in the safe keeping of God. کلأ القوم means, he acted as a scout for the party. کلأ الدین means, the payment of thedebt was postponed or delayed (Lane & Aqrab).

The expression من الرحمان may mean: (a) against or from the Gracious God. The verse means, who can save you from the punishment of the Gracious God: or (b) the expression may mean, instead of the Gracious God i.e. who can save you instead of God if He does not save you.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that there are many calamities, catastrophes, diseases and afflictions that take their birth at night and there are others that are born in the daytime. Man is completely unaware of what misfortunes hang over his head. It is the Gracious God Who protects him from them and yet the ungrateful people deny and reject the Divine teachings that are sent down for their spiritual regeneration.

The clause "yet they turn away from the remembrance of God," signifies that when disbelievers are told that God has made every provision for their physical needs, they readily admit it. But when they are told that He has made similar provision for their spiritual needs they turn aside with disdain and refuse to admit that such a thing can happen.

Spiritually speaking the verse implies that whenever a spiritual sun or moon makes its appearance, calamities and miseries overtake men to establish the truth of the claim of the Divine Reformer because it is rejected and the Reformer himself is persecuted.