وَإِنَّا

Important Words:

جبّارین (haughty and powerful) is the plural of جبار which is derived from جبر. They say جبرالعظم (jabaral-‘azma) or جبّرالعظم(jabbaral-‘azma), i.e. he set the bone; he reduced it from the fractured state. جبرالرجل (jabaral-rajula) or جبّرالرجل (jabbaral-rajula) means, he restored the man from the state of poverty and weakness to that of wealth and strength. جبرت الیتیم means, I put the affairs of the orphan into good order. جبّره means, he compelled and forced him against his will. جبّار means, one who magnifies himself and behaves proudly, haughtily and insolently; one who slays when in anger or one who slays unjustly; one who domineers over others by absolute force and power; one extravagant in acts of wrongdoing, disobedience and rebellion; one huge, tall and strong; a giant. When used about God, الجبّار means, One Who can force His creatures to obey His commands; the Supreme, the Unattainable, the High above His creatures; the Restorer of the poor and the weak to wealth and power; the Reformer of the people by raising them from a low state to a high one (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Compare this insolent and cowardly attitude of the companions of Moses to the willing and almost unbelievable sacrifices of the Companions of the Holy Prophet, who were ever eager to jump into the very jaws of death at the bidding of their Master.

16:119.

Commentary:

The reader is referred to the Bible (Lev. 3:17) where it is said, "Ye eat neither fat nor blood." Again, in Lev. 7:23 it is said "Ye shall eat no manner of fat of ox or of sheep or of goat." In the Talmud, exception is made of the fat that sticks to the ribs. Similarly, the Jews regard as lawful any fat that cannot be separated from the intestines and the flesh (Enc. Bib., cols. 1544-45). This corroborates the Quran which says, and of the oxen and the sheep and goats did We forbid them their fats, save that which their backs bear or the intestines, or that which is mixed with a bone.

It is declared in the previous verse that the only things forbidden in Islam are (1) carrion, (2) blood poured forth, (3) flesh of swine, and (4) the slaughtered animal on which the name of anyone other than God is pronounced. The Jews might, however, say that there are other things beside the above which are also forbidden them by God. The Quran, therefore, adds that it is true that there are other foods which are forbidden to Jews, but they have not been included in the prohibited things here enumerated; for, these things had been forbidden them not because they were unclean but as a punishment for their transgression. So the declaration of the previous verse still remains true.

41:16.

Commentary:

By ascribing folly to Hud, his people meant that he laboured under a misunderstanding as regards his mission. The word سفاھة (foolishness) is used to express almost the same idea as is expressed by the word ضلالة (error) used in 7:61 above. It appears from this verse that the enemies of Hud brought two charges against him viz. of being in error and of lying.

2:50; 7:142; 14:7; 28:5.

Important Words:

قاھرون (dominant). For the full meaning of this word see 6:19.

Commentary:

It was the chiefs themselves who had counselled Pharaoh to give respite to Moses and his brother (7:112); but now the same chiefs blamed him for the delay he had allowed Moses and Aaron in accordance with their own advice. This is how a deterioration takes place in the morals of those who meet with disgrace and humiliation.

Pharaoh himself was worshipped as a god by his people (28:39) and he in turn worshipped other deities. Hence, the chief men accused Moses and Aaron of having denounced the worship of Pharaoh and his gods.

The verb نقتل (we will ruthlessly slay) is in the intensified form and expresses the sense of ruthlessness and a slow and gradual process.

This expression is thus intended to signify the hardship and privations which Pharaoh inflicted on the Israelites and by means of which he sought to bring about their gradual but sure and ruthless destruction. The Quran, therefore, cannot be accused of anachronism on the ground that Pharaoh did not slay the children of the Israelites after Moses went to him as a Messenger of God, for it is an authentic fact of history that both before and after Moses went to Pharaoh with his message, the latter had put into execution schemes against the Israelites with a view to bringing about their gradual but inevitable ruin. This is the reason why the Israelites said to Moses and Aaron, "Ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us" (Exod. 5:21). Reference to this is to be found in 7:130. Moreover, the verse does not say that Pharaoh actually caused the Israelite children to be slain on this occasion. It only mentions a threat and not an accomplished fact.

7:89.

Important Words:

رھطك (thy tribe). رھط means, a man’s people or tribe consisting of his nearer relations or near kinsfolk; a number of men less than ten among whom there is no woman; or a number from three to ten or from seven to ten. کان فی المدینة تسعة رھط means, there were in the city nine men (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, So be not in doubt concerning that which these people worship, have two meanings:

(1) Do not wonder at their worshipping gods other than Allah, i.e. do not think that it is impossible for these people to worship any other being beside God, for a man is apt to commit such folly in respect of beliefs which he inherits from his forefathers and to which he does not give his personal consideration. Taking the words in this sense, they will be understood to have been addressed to the people of the age and will be taken as speaking of the time when shirk (idol-worship) will have disappeared from the world and belief in the Unity of God will have prevailed everywhere. Thus the words contain a prophecy that a time will come when belief in the Unity of God will become so paramount that it will become difficult to believe that people were ever given to idolatry.

(2) Or the verse may be taken to be addressed to every reader of the Quran, who is told here not to think that those people who are associating gods with Allah will escape punishment, for they are following in the footsteps of their predecessors and when the latter were punished for their guilt, there is no reason why their successors should escape punishment. In this case the clause would read somewhat like this: "Be not in doubt concerning (the punishment of) that which these people worship."

Commentary:

This verse points to another difference with the Biblical version; for, whereas in this verse we are told that the brothers of Joseph asked their father to send him with them, the Bible tells us that Jacob himself sent Joseph to his brothers (Gen. 37:13, 14). But the Bible seems to contradict itself in this respect for in Gen. 37:4 we are told that Joseph was hated by his brothers because Jacob loved him more than he loved them and that Jacob was aware of this hatred. How could Jacob, knowing that his brothers hated him, send Joseph to them?

Moreover, Joseph appears to be only eleven or twelve years old at the time when this incident took place, because it is only for a boy of this tender age that the language used by Joseph’s brothers about him can be used. The Bible, however, places Joseph’s age at that time at seventeen or eighteen, which is evidently wrong.

Important Words:

یرتع (he may enjoy himself) is derived from رتع which means, he (a beast) pastured at pleasure, eating and drinking plentifully and pleasantly; he (a man) enjoyed himself, going about cheerfully (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, we shall surely keep guard over him, also show that Joseph at that time was a mere lad of eleven or twelve years of age who required to be looked after and not a grown-up young man of seventeen who could easily take care of himself. See also the preceding verse.

Commentary:

The expression سنراودعنه اباه literally means, we will endeavour to turn his father from him by blandishment or artifice or we will endeavour to beguile his father (Lane). One sin leads to another. They committed one sin by their evil treatment of Joseph. Now they stoop to another. They declare insolently—and that to none other than Joseph himself—that they will beguile his (Benjamin’s) father. First, they speak of the Prophet Jacob not as our father, but as his (Benjamin’s) father and, secondly, they express their intention of making a fool of him.

Commentary:

Mark the audacity of Joseph’s brothers revealed in the words, we will surely be able to take care of him. The former spirit of boastfulness still seems to cling to them.

Commentary:

In the verse قریة (city) is in reality اھل قریة (people of the city) and عیر (caravan) is اصحاب العیر (members of the caravan). The words اھلand اصحاب have been omitted to lend emphasis to the statement. The construction "inquire of the caravan" would signify "if you inquire of any member of the caravan he would testify to the truth of our statement."

9:70; 40:32; 50:13-15.

Important Words:

نبأ (tidings) is the noun-infinitive, from نبأ (naba’a). They say انباہ ایاہ i.e. he informed him of it. نبأ means, information or a piece of information; an announcement; news or tidings; an account; a narrative or story; an announcement of great utility, from which results either great knowledge or predominance of opinion; news which fills the heart of a person with horror and makes it tremble (Lane, Aqrab & Kulliyat).

ایدیھم (their hands). ایدی is the plural of ید which among other things means, the arm from the shoulder-joint to the extremities of the fingers; palm of the hand; honour; dignity; power; predominance or mastery; good or favour done to a person (Aqrab & Lane). See also 5:65; 9:29.

Commentary:

The words, and those after them. None knows them now save Allah, clearly indicate that Prophets were also raised among nations other than the progeny of Abraham, for, as the verse makes clear, the tribes of ‘Ad and Thamud were followed by some about whom None knows now save Allah, whereas the Prophets that appeared among the progeny of Abraham have been mentioned both in the Quran and the Bible. So the words, None knows them now save Allah, evidently refer to Prophets other than those that appeared among the descendants of Abraham. The words signify that the Prophets referred to have not been mentioned in any of the revealed Books which have remained partially or wholly intact.

The words, they turned their hands to their mouths, have been taken by some commentators to mean that disbelievers turned their hands to their own mouths in amazement at the high-sounding claims of the Prophets. To express wonder in this way is really a form of derision. In this sense the expression would mean that disbelievers treated the Prophets of God with contempt. The words may, however, also mean that disbelievers put their hands on their mouths in a way so as to wish the Prophets to be silent and cease talking about their claims. It is a general practice that when a person desires another person to keep silent, he sometimes puts his hand or occasionally one of his fingers on his own mouth as a sign for the other person to keep silent.

Taking the word ید in the sense of favour or gift, the expression would mean that disbelievers threw the favours of the Prophet in their faces, telling them to keep their teachings to themselves as they (the disbelievers) did not want them. The words that follow support this meaning.

36:70; 65:11.

Commentary:

This verse furnishes a powerful proof of the truth of the Quran and of its Divine origin. In fact, the promise about the preservation of the Quran made in this verse has been so remarkably fulfilled that even if there had been no other proof of the truth of Islam, this alone would have sufficed to establish its Divine origin.

Verse 8 contains the demand mockingly made by disbelievers that if the Quran were really as grand a Book as it was claimed to be, it ought to have descended under the guardianship of angels. This ridicule of disbelievers has been answered in the present verse, which emphatically says that the Quran is indeed a sublime Book and that God Himself has undertaken to act as its Guardian and that He will always protect it against every kind of corruption and interference. And in order that this promise about the protection of the Quran may gain still more force, particles expressive of special emphasis, such as انا (verily We) and نحن (Ourself) and again انا followed by ل (most surely) have been used in this verse. Thus the claim has been made in the most emphatic and forceful language.

The statement that God Himself is the Guardian of the Quran does not mean that angels do not guard it. They also do so, for when the master himself is guarding a thing, the servants must also be necessarily engaged in that service. By saying, most surely We will be its Guardian, God, however, points to the fact that there are certain peculiarities of the Quran which it is beyond the power of angels to guard and, therefore, God Himself has undertaken to do that work.

This Surah was revealed at Mecca. According to Ibn Hisham, it was revealed in the fourth year of the Holy Prophet’s ministry. Sprenger, Rodwell and Nöldeke all agree that it belongs to the Meccan period. Now it is a well-known fact that during the Meccan period, the life of the Holy Prophet and his followers was extremely precarious. They did not even know how to save themselves or where to hide themselves. For no less than three years the Prophet and his few helpless followers were virtually imprisoned in the Shi‘b (valley) of Abu Talib from where they could not venture out. They were under a ban. Is it not then astonishing that when the very lives of Muslims were in peril and the enemy was so strong that he could easily crush the new Faith, disbelievers were challenged to do all that lay in their power to destroy the Quran, and were told that God would frustrate all their designs because He Himself was its Guardian? The challenge was open and unequivocal and the enemy strong and ruthless. But what was the result? The Prophet and his Companions not only remained safe and sound but thrived and prospered and the number of converts continued to swell and the Quran remained safe against all corruption and has ever continued to enjoy perfect security. This distinctive feature of the Quran has not been shared by any other book revealed to any other Prophet.

Sir William Muir, the well-known critic of Islam, says about the Quran: "We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Quran is the genuine and unaltered composition of Mohammad himself." Again, "There is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess the text which Mohammad himself gave forth and used." Again, "To compare (as the Muslims are fond of doing) their pure text with the various readings of our Scriptures, is to compare things between which there is no analogy." (Introduction to "The Life of Mahomet"). Prof. Nöldeke, the great German Orientalist writes as follows: "Slight clerical errors there may have been, but the Quran of Othman contains none but genuine elements, though sometimes in very strange order. Efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed." (Enc. Brit.). Professor Nicholson, says in his "Literary History of the Arabs": "Here (in the Quran) we have materials of unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development of Islam—such mater-ials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient religion."

The importance of this security of the Quranic text is further enhanced when we compare it with other revealed Scriptures. The Quran was revealed among an illiterate people, while most other Scriptures were revealed among peoples who were comparatively more literate and therefore better qualified to preserve the purity of their Scriptures. Yet they failed to do so, while the Quran, the most widely read of all revealed Scriptures, enjoys complete immunity from all sorts of corruption. This miraculous preservation of the Quranic text is no mere accident. It has been brought about by the special providence of God in accordance with an openly declared prophecy of the Quran.

The means adopted to safeguard the purity of the text of the Quran have been briefly referred to in verse 2 in the memorable words الکتاب (the Written Book) and قرآن مبین (the Illuminating Recital) signifying: (a) That every verse of the Quran was committed to writing as soon as it was revealed and this writing was most tenaciously preserved. (b) That it was committed to memory as soon as revealed by a number of Muslims. And this pious practice has increasingly continued so much so that in the past centuries hundreds of thousands of Muslims have had the entire Quran literally on the tips of their tongues. Add to this the fact that from the very beginning of Islam the recital of parts of the Quran in the five daily Prayers was made obligatory.

The following additional factors also very materially contributed to the preservation of the Quran:

(1) God has inspired the Muslims with an extraordinary love for the Quran. They enjoy the reading of the Book even if they do not understand the meaning of the text. This leads to its being preserved in their hearts.

(2) The rhythm of the Quran is so sweet and its language so charming and so easy to learn and the construction of its sentences so beautiful that it can be committed to memory with great ease.

(3) God so ordained that immediately after the Quranic revelation became complete, it spread far and wide, to the remotest corners of the world, among all nations and all peoples, so that it became practically impossible for anyone to tamper with its text.

(4) From the beginning the Quran formed for Muslims the basis of all the sciences and learning they acquired and developed with a view to serving it. Various branches of knowledge such as Grammar, Rhetoric, History, Philosophy and Logic were cultivated and developed by Muslims for the sake of a better understanding of their holy Book.

(5) God has preserved Arabic, the language of the Quran, as a living language, while the languages of all other revealed Books, which were not meant to last forever, have become practically dead.

Again, it is not only the text of the Quran that has been preserved intact by God. He has provided for the preservation of its spirit also. This has been done by raising divinely inspired Reformers among the Muslims from time to time. These Reformers, known in Islamic terminology as Mujaddids, receive revelations from God and interpret and explain the true meaning of the Quranic text. Such Reformers appeared among the followers of other religions also, but that was only for so long as such scriptures served as guides for their followers. After the advent of Islam, however, all other religious systems and their scriptures, which were intended only for specific periods and specific peoples, became abrogated and divinely inspired Reformers ceased to appear among them. Now, therefore, the Quran alone among all revealed Scriptures of the world holds the field as a living Book and hence divinely inspired Reformers now appear only among the followers of Islam. In our own time God has raised Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, to demon-strate the truth and excellence of the Quran in a manner unparalleled in the history of Islam. Ahmad’s present-ation of Islam is not like one praying for a hearing, as was the vogue among the apologetic school of Muslim writers, but as a victor challenging the protagonists of all other religious systems and the so-called Modernists and Higher Critics to find fault with any teaching of Islam; and also as a judge passing his judgement upon them. The appearance of such Reformers in itself constitutes proof of the living power of a religion and its Scripture inasmuch as they are really the fruit of their religion and their appearance proves its efficacy.

The question here arises, if the Scriptures revealed to the previous Prophets have not been preserved in their original purity, what guarantee is there to believe that the Quran would enjoy permanent security? In this connection it should be noted that the promise of protection made by God in this verse mentions the word الذکر (rendered in the text as "this Exhortation") and not the Quran or any other word; and herein lies the answer to the above question. For, to become deserving of the permanent protection of God it is essential that the Divine revelation should be الذکر of which the necessary attributes are: (1) that it should establish a close and permanent relationship between man and his Maker, inspiring in the former constant remembrance of God, the word ذکر meaning remembering; and (2) that it should elevate man to a state where God may also remember him or in other words favour him with His words and with heavenly help, the word ذکر also means eminence. The verse under comment thus purports to mean that God undertakes to protect any Scripture so long as it serves the above two purposes. But when, through changes in the conditions and circumstances of man, any Scripture ceases to perform these functions and God, in His infallible wisdom, deems it necessary to reveal another Scripture, He naturally ceases to extend His protection to earlier revelations. The question as to when any particular Scripture at any particular time ceases to serve the above-mentioned purposes has to be decided on facts. It is a fact beyond doubt that at the present time no religion other than Islam can claim that there is among its followers anyone who fulfils in his person the conditions mentioned above, viz. attainment of such nearness to God that God begins to speak to him and manifests His special powers for his sake. Such a claim can be made only by a follower of the Quran. As stated above Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, has made this claim in our own time and has proved by powerful heavenly signs that his claim is founded on fact and God is helping his cause wonderfully. It is, therefore, natural that Muslims should claim and believe that now the protection of God is a privilege enjoyed by the Quran alone.

As regards the future, our belief based upon promises made in the Quran is that whenever Muslims forget, or fall away from, the teachings of the Quran, God will, by raising heavenly Reformers, restore to them their faith in its pristine purity. The teachings of the Quran will thus remain effective for all time and will ever continue to enjoy Divine help and protection.

50:44.

19:41.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that when the Word of God is revealed, those who follow the guidance contained therein are given spiritual life, while those who reject it become spiritually dead.

The words, it is We Who are the sole Inheritor, mean that when all creatures have perished, God alone will live. So these perishable creatures cannot be the custodians of His word. Since they themselves are perishable, God cannot entrust to them the custody of His word.

Commentary:

As Abraham had previously questioned the messengers regarding the source of their message (v. 55), they now forestalled a repetition of a similar question by Lot and volunteered the statement that they had brought a definite Divine Message and by way of emphasis added the words, surely we are truthful.

18:41.

Important Words:

صعیدا (soil) is derived from صعد. They say صعد فی السلم i.e. he ascended the ladder. صارت الحدیقة صعیدا means, the orchard became a desert, i.e. land without trees or herbage. صعید means, high or elevated land or ground; land or ground without any trees; the surface of earth; wide or an ample place; a road; a grave. (Lane & Aqrab).

جرزا (barren) is derived from جرز. They say جرزہ i.e. he cut it or exterminated it. جرزہ الزمان means, time destroyed or extirpated him or it. The Arabs say جرز ما علی المائدة i.e. he ate all that was on the table and did not leave anything; he ate quickly. ارض جرز means, land in which there is no herbage or from which the water is cut off so that it is dried up and is without herbage; or land that produces no herbage (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse means to say that all the things of this world are transitory. Their acquirement is not the end and object of human life. On the contrary, they have been created to serve higher and more sublime purposes—to be used for the service of humanity. But Christian nations of the west, after having acquired wealth, power and dominion and after having made great discoveries and inventions, have not turned their scientific achievements to the service of mankind, but instead have employed them generally to add to human misery. As these scientific discoveries and inventions have not fulfilled the purpose of making human life more peaceful and beautiful, all the works of these peoples would be brought to naught and entirely obliterated. The expression, And We shall make all that is thereon a barren soil, does not mean that the whole world will be destroyed. It only refers to the destruction of the works of Christian nations to whom these verses particularly apply.

Since a similar expression viz. صعیدا زلقا (barren ground) used in v. 41 of this Surah in connection with the parable of "two gardens" clearly applies to the works of Western nations, as shown by the context, the expression صعیدا جرزا (barren soil) must also be taken as applying to them. The words صعیدا جرزا as shown under Important Words mean, a land without herbage or a land of which the herbage has been cut or eaten. Now, 'herbage' in Quranic terminology stands for the works of men, and according to this sense of the word, the verse would mean that all the progress that the western nations were to make and all their handiworks, their lofty and stately buildings, the beautiful scenery of their land and all their pomp, glory and grandeur would be destroyed. This means that a terrible visitation is in store for them.

4:125; 10:10; 16:98; 20:113.

Important Words:

کفران (disregard) is noun-infinitive fromکفر . They say کفر بنعمة اللّٰه i.e. he disregarded the favour of God with ingratitude and forgot it. کفران is contrary to شکر (gratitude). کفر بکذا means, he declared that he had absolutely no connection with such a one (Aqrab). See also 2:7,29.

Commentary:

The previous verse dealt with the rejecters of truth; this one deals with the believers.

15:23.

Commentary:

This verse gives the first illustration of how God supplies the physical and spiritual needs of man. All life, it says, depends on water which descends from heaven, in the form of rain, snow or hail. Similarly, spiritual water descends from heaven in the form of Divine revelation without which no spiritual life can exist. The verse purports to say that if men out of their perversity and ingratitude reject the Divine Message and the heavenly water which God has sent down, they will become deprived of it. The parallelism in the physical and spiritual life of man with which this Surah has opened, is further developed in the present and the next few verses.

The words, And surely it is We Who determine its taking away, refer to a well-known law of nature. The verse means to say that God sends down rain but rain-water does not stay in the earth permanently. It disappears by evaporation or flows into the sea through streams and rivers. The earth again becomes dry and then fresh rain is needed to make it fertile. The same is the case with Divine teaching. It powerfully influences the lives of men and brings about a great change in them for a certain period. Then it begins to be neglected, ignored and misinterpreted and so a fresh revelation is needed. This law of God came into operation with the life of man on this planet and it will remain in operation till the end of time.

The verse also embodies an implied reference to a prophecy of the Holy Prophet about his second advent in the person of the Promised Messiah and about the spread of irreligious and spiritual darkness in the centuries before the latter’s advent, when there was to remain nothing of Islam but its name and nothing of the Quran but its written words (Mishkat, Kitabul-‘Ilm) and belief would have gone up to the Pleiades (Bukhari, Kitabut-Tafsir).

40:78.

Commentary:

This verse confirms the fulfilment of the prophecy and the prayer embodied in vv. 94, 95 above. The expression لقادرون (are able to do) which points to the Almightiness of God emphasizes the fact that the prayer and prophecy of the Holy Prophet embodied in the preceding two verses shall certainly be fulfilled.

Important Words:

حاذرون (prepared and vigilant) is the plural of حاذر which is active participle from حذر which means, he was cautious, wary or vigilant; he was on his guard. حاذرون means, in a state of preparation; or fully equipped with arms; or cautious or vigilant: fearful (Lane & Aqrab).

Important Words:

لنبیتنه (We will surely attack him by night) is derived from بات. They say بات فی المکان i.e. he passed the night in the place.بیت الامر (bayyata) means, he performed the thing at night. بیت العدو means, he came upon the enemy suddenly, took him by surprise, attacked him by night or at night (Lane & Aqrab).

2:31; 21:21; 41:39.

2:171; 7:29.

21:54; 26:75.

Commentary:

The hackneyed plea of idolaters to support idol worship has always been that it was a time-honoured practice observed by their forefathers. In fact, old ideas and customs die hard. They have always proved a stumbling block in the way of disbelievers to accept the Divine Message. For the meaning of the word أمة see 6:39 and 16:121.

27:14.

Important Words:

أید (hands) is plural of ید which has a vast variety of meanings, some of which are: (1) benefit, bounty, favour; (2) power, might, influence; dignity, rank or status; (3) assistance, help, protection; (4) possessions, wealth; (5) host, army; etc. See also 38:46. بین یدیه means, before him, in his presence. مالک علیه ید means, you have no power or influence over him. سقط فی یدہmeans, he was smitten with remorse, he repented. ھذا فی یدی means, it is in my possession. بنیناھا بأید may mean, We have created it with power and might, or We have made the heaven as a manifestation of Our power and might (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse makes pointed reference to God’s marvellous handiwork—the universe, creation of which leads directly to the object of the creation of man, who is the aim and object of its creation and its acme and apex. In the creation of the heavens and the earth there is proof of many Divine attributes, the prominent being His Glory, Might and Majesty.