مِّثْلَ

6:38; 20:134; 21:6; 43:54.

This verse refers to two very unreasonable demands of the People of the Book—Jews and Christians: (1) That God should speak to them directly and tell them that the Holy Prophet was His true Messenger; (2) That they should be shown Signs of their own devising.

In reply to the first demand, the Quran says that only ignorant people, unacquainted with the ways of God, make such a demand. This demand was made in the time of all the previous Prophets and was rejected as foolish. So it was unreasonable on their part to demand from the Holy Prophet something which their own Prophets had not complied with.

In reply to their demand for a Sign, they are told that signs are sufficient for the guidance of right-minded people have already been shown and they could, if they so desired, profit by them, but nothing could avail an obstinate and perverse person. The fact that a demand for a Sign was made from the Holy Prophet does not show that no Signs had been shown by him. Indeed, if such a demand be considered as proof of the absence of Signs, no Prophet could be proved to have shown any Sign; for a similar demand was made from every Prophet of God, notably Jesus (Matt. 12:38, 39).

It may be also noted here that whenever disbelievers are spoken of as demanding an آیة or Sign, the word means either a Sign of their own devising or a Sign in the form of divine punishment (see 21:6, 7; 6:38-51; 13:28-33; 20:134, 135; 29:51).

8:42, 43.

8:27.

Important Words:

عبرة (lesson) is the noun-infinitive from عبر. They say عبرہ i.e. he crossed it, or he passed over it from one side to the other. اعتبر means, he took warning; he took what he saw as an indication of what was concealed. عبرة therefore means: (1) an admonition or exhortation; (2) an admonition or exhortation by which one takes warning; (3) a thing by the state or condition of which one is admonished, reminded, directed or guided (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

This verse refers to the Battle of Badr in which 313 ill-equipped and ill-armed Muslims inflicted a crushing defeat on a well-equipped and well-armed Meccan force, 1,000 strong. This fulfilled two prophecies—one contained in an earlier revelation of the Quran and the other in the Bible. The Quranic revelation said: Do they say, ‘We are a victorious host?’Nay, the hosts will be routed and will show their backs… The day when they will be dragged into the Fire on their faces (and it will be said to them), ‘taste ye the touch of burning’ (54:45-49). And the Biblical prophecy said: "In the forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail; and the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it" (Isa. 21:13-17).

In accordance with this prophecy, about a year after the flight of the Holy Prophet from Mecca, the power of Kedar (the progenitor of the Meccan tribes) was broken at Badr and their glory departed. The Quranic prophecy was also literally fulfilled; for, after the Meccan host was routed at Badr, the ringleaders of the Quraish who fell in the battle were actually dragged along the ground and cast into a well for burial. It was on this occasion that, addressing their dead bodies the Holy Prophet said, "God has made true the promise He had made to us. Have you also found to be true that which was promised to you?" (Bukhari). The Quran describes the Day of Badr as the day of "Discrimination" (8:42), because on that day a great prophecy, accompanied by great results, was fulfilled in extremely unfavourable circumstances. The defeat of the infidels was as unexpected and complete as was the victory of the Muslims. Truly has the Battle of Badr been reckoned among the greatest battles in history. It virtually decided the fate of the Meccans and of the whole of Arabia. The power of the Quraish was broken forever and the new Faith rose high and powerful in the land; and all this came about exactly as it had been prophesied.

The clause, whom they saw to be twice as many as themselves, points out that the Meccan army appeared to the Muslims to be less than their actual strength, i.e. only twice instead of thrice the number of the Muslims, as was actually the case. This was quite in harmony with Divine will which designed that the encounter should take place and the few weak and ill-equipped Muslims, seeing the full strength of the enemy, should not become discouraged (8:45). What happened was that one-third of the Meccan army was behind a rising piece of land and the Muslims could see only two-thirds of them, i.e. 600 or twice as many as their own number. The Muslims were thus naturally heartened by seeing the Meccan army only twice their own number because they knew that in fulfilment of His promise (8:67-68) God would surely vouchsafe to them victory over an enemy double their number.

The words, actually with their eyes, have been added to point out that it was not in a vision or a dream that the Muslims saw the disbelievers to be less than their actual number but in a state of actual wakefulness, which naturally proved more heartening than would have been the case if they had seen them so only in a dream or vision, which very often has an interpretation other than what actually appears.

2:121.

2:77.

57:30.

Commentary:

The construction of this verse, though seemingly rather complicated, is designed to make it capable of different interpretations. We will give here those most apparent:

(1) The clause, And obey none but him who follows your religion, is a continuation of the concluding clause of the preceding verse. Thereafter comes a parenthetical clause beginning with the words, Say, surely the true guidance, and ending with the words, the like of that which has been given to you. Then comes again the speech of the Jews in the words, Or they would dispute with you before your Lord, the verse finally ending with the Divine commandment, Say, All bounty, etc. The style is peculiar to the Quran and is intended to produce a good psychological effect.

The words, that one be given the like of that which has been given to you, which Muslims are bidden to say are in fitting contrast to the words of the Jews quoted in the beginning of the verse, i.e. obey none but him who follows your religion. Jews make God a national deity, debarring all others from His favours, whereas Muslims believe in Him as the Lord of all, basing His right to greatness on the bestowal of His favours in whatever form and to whatever people they may come. Moreover, they believe that the fold of Islam, which is Allah’s universal guidance, is open to all peoples. The words of the Jews, Or they would dispute with you before your Lord, mean that if the Jews follow any dispensation other than their own, they would thereby prove their own guilt in the sight of God, for in that case they would be tacitly admitting that the door of God’s favours is open to others as well, and thus they would make themselves liable to punishment for rejecting Islam. The words, All bounty is in the hand of Allah, mean that the bestowing of the gift of prophethood upon a people is in the hand of God alone and He confers it on those who are deserving of it.

(2) According to another interpretation, only the words قل ان الھدی ھدی الله which in this case would be translated as "Say, the true guidance is the guidance of Allah," would be considered as being parenthetical and the following words, i.e. that one be given the like of that which has been given to you, etc. would be taken to form part of the speech of the Jews. In this case the clause would signify that the Jews say to one another that the guidance that has come to the House of Israel, or the favours that have been bestowed on them, can never be vouchsafed to any other people. They are the exclusive privilege of Israel.

(3) Yet another interpretation is obtained, if the speech of the Jews is taken to end with the words, obey none but him who follows your religion, the succeeding clauses being considered to be all Divine speech put in the mouth of believers. In this case the words فتقبلوه would be considered to be understood before the clause او یحاجوکم عند ربکم and the entire expression would mean, "so they should accept it, or they should dispute with you before your Lord", signifying that, as true guidance is the guidance contained in the Quran, so either the Jews should accept it or they and Muslims should place their case before God for decision, i.e. they should have a مباھله (Mubahalah), i.e. a prayer contest with them and pray to God to help the righteous and destroy the wicked as already explained in 3:62.

4:80.

Commentary:

The words, and you had inflicted the double of that, refer to the Battle of Badr, when 70 Meccans were killed and 70 taken captive. At Uhud, 70 Muslims were killed, none being taken prisoner. Thus the Muslims had inflicted a double loss on the Meccans.

The fact that no Muslim was taken prisoner at Uhud demonstrates their high sense of honour. They preferred death to dishonour. They would die fighting rather than lay down their arms. Some of them were found killed on the battlefield with as many as eighty wounds on their bodies. How could such men allow themselves to be taken prisoner by the enemy? It is most significant that in all the different battles that were fought by Muslims till the time of ‘Uthman—and they were many and hundreds of thousands of men took part in them—the number of Muslim prisoners did not exceed a few hundred.

The expression, It is from your own selves, seems to contradict the succeeding verse where it is said, And that which befell you on the day when two parties met was by Allah’s command, and also 4:79, 80 where it is said: And if some good befalls them, they say, ‘this is from Allah’ and if evil befall them, they say, ‘this is from thee’. Say, All is from Allah. What has happened to these people that they come not near understanding anything? Whatever of good comes to thee is from Allah, and whatever of evil befalls thee is from thyself. On deeper reflection, however, no conflict or contradiction is found to exist for the different statements, apparently contradictory, have been made from different viewpoints. As for the real cause of man’s actions, both the good and evil actions are said to emanate from him, because he is their doer; but as it is God Who, as the final Judge, brings about the results of man’s actions, whether good or bad, they can equally be said to proceed from Him. In this sense, both the good and evil results of man’s actions would be attributed to God. Again, as God has created all things for our good and it is through their misuse that we suffer, therefore the evil that befalls us can legitimately be said to proceed from our ownselves. But when that evil is removed by the right use of the things provided by God and good results ensues, then that good must be attributed to God, for it is He Who had endowed things with the properties by the right use of which we benefit. In this sense, good results will be attributed to God and evil ones to man. Thus all the three assertions, though apparently contradicting one another, prove to be true.

23:25.

26:112.

Important Words:

بادی الرأی (to all outward appearance) is made up of two Arabic words بادی and الرأی. The word بادی has two possible derivations. It may be derived from بدأ (bad’a) which means, he or it began or he or it came into existence. بدأ به means, he began with it; he made it to be the first. Or the word بادی may be derived from بدأ (of which the aorist is یبدو) which means, it appeared or it showed itself. According to these two different roots the word بادی would mean: (1) that which or he who is first or that which or he who begins; (2) that which or he who appears. And the word الرأی means sight or perception or opinion. So the compound expression بادی الرأی would mean: (1) at first thought or on the first opinion; (2) at the appearance of opinion or according to the appearance of opinion, which may mean either inconsiderately or insincerely (Lane, under بدا & بدأ).

Commentary:

The Arabic expression بادی الرأی (to all outward appearance) is capable of three interpretations according to the rules of Arabic grammar. First, it may be taken as referring to the words ونراك (and we see). In this case, the verse would mean that the followers of Noah appear to us to be the meanest of us at first thought or on the first opinion, i.e. so far as our opinion is concerned we consider them to be mean. If, however, there is any hidden good in them, it may be known to Noah only.

Secondly, the expression بادی الرأی may be taken to refer to the words اراذلنا (the meanest of us). In this case the verse would mean that the followers of Noah were apparently low and mean.

Thirdly, the expression بادی الرأی may be taken as qualifying the words اتبعك (have followed thee). In this case the verse would mean that those who have accepted Noah have done so only outwardly or without proper thinking i.e. their faith was either insincere or inconsiderate, being based on mere cursory thinking.

To sum up, the words اراذلنا بادی الرأی mean: (1) the followers of Noah are mean to all outward appearance; or (2) their faith in Noah is insincere; or (3) their faith is the result of only superficial thinking.

The words, We see in thee nothing but a man like ourselves, mean, "There is nothing extraordinary in your outward appearance to distinguish you from us. You are just a human being like any other mortal. When therefore, there is nothing extraordinary in your outward appearance, how should we know that inwardly you have been endowed with exceptional powers which have helped you to gain access to Divine presence, while we cannot ?"

This is the common objection raised by the opponents of the Prophets. The enemies of Noah purported to say that if he possessed some special inward power from God, that ought to have caused some difference in his outward appearance and as a result of it he should have acquired knowledge of some worldly sciences also, but they saw no evidence of this. How could they then believe that his internal powers were different from, and superior to, theirs. In support of this argument the opponents of Noah might possibly have shown to him pictures of their holy men having extraordinary exteriors, such as the Hindu saints are believed to possess, for instance, a number of heads and several hands. In olden days, men could not conceive that a Prophet was like ordinary mortals in appearance. So the enemies of Noah, arguing that the outward must correspond with the inward and that there must be harmony between the two, raised against him the objection that if he was really a true Prophet, his outward appearance must have been different from theirs. Silly though the argument is, it must have won endorsement from the contemporaries of Noah.

The enemies of Noah further reinforce their argument by saying that while he himself possessed no special powers, and was a mortal like themselves, his followers were even worse than him. What success could he achieve, they asked, with adher-ents who, to all outward appearance, were the meanest of the society? The enemies of Noah thus argued that neither his own personal qualities nor those of his followers gave him the appearance of "superiority" over them.

The words, we believe you to be liars, embody the result of the arguments brought forward by Noah’s opponents, which is that he was a liar, for he had asserted his truth and superiority without any basis or proof.

It is a pity that men test the claims of a heavenly Messenger by their self-devised standards and, when he does not satisfy those standards, they deceive themselves with the idea that they had weighed up his claims dispassionately and with an open mind and had found them to be false. Even in the present age when man has made great progress in knowledge, science and culture and has known many Prophets, he presumes to test the claims of God’s Messengers’ not by criteria laid down by Him but by his own false standards.

23:48.

Important Words:

یوم (day) of which the plural is ایام means, time absolutely; day from sunrise to sunset; present time; now, etc. (1:4). ایام العرب means, the contests and fights of the Arabs. ابن الایام means, a person who is well acquainted with the conditions and circumstances of the time. ایام الله means, the favours and punishments of God (Aqrab). See also 1:4 and 14:6.

احزاب (parties) is the plural of حزب which means, a party or company of men and here signifies the parties who opposed the Prophets of God in their respective times. "The day of the parties" signifies the day when they met their doom.

40:31-32.

Commentary:

The purport of the verse seems to be that when the vast and orderly universe, of which the earth forms but a small part, and the planets and satellites of which the universe is composed have been created for the service of man, it is inconceivable that man for whom everything was brought into existence, should have been created without a purpose. His life has a grim purpose and a great mission. He has been created to develop and manifest in himself, on human scale, Divine attributes in order to prove himself to be God’s vicegerent on earth. To help him to achieve this supreme and noble object, God sent His Messengers. These Divine Messengers came to all peoples in different periods of time. Invariably they were rejected by their peoples and the rejecters met with a sad fate. The Holy Prophet is asked to warn his own people that if they rejected and opposed him, they, too, will meet with no better fate. The verse under comment cites the examples of ‘Ad and Thamud who by rejecting their Prophets incurred God’s displeasure and punishment.

Commentary:

The verse means that the fact mentioned in the preceding verse is neither wishful thinking on the Holy Prophet’s part, nor is it a figment of his imagination, but is solid and hard truth as sure and true as "you speak". Or the verse may mean that the Quran is as undoubtedly God’s own revealed Word as "you speak."

Important Words:

ذنوب (lot) is derived from ذنب. They say ذنبه i.e. he followed his tail, not quitting his track. ذنوب means; a great bucket; a bucket full of water or nearly full of water (an empty bucket is called دلو); fate, lot, share or portion; requital. The word also signifies a day of prolonged evil (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse warns disbelievers that if they persisted in their evil course, they will meet with a fate similar to that of the opponents of former Prophets. Like them they will come to a sad end.