وَعْدَ

Commentary:

The word "promise" occurring in the verse refers to the general promise of victory and success repeatedly given to Muslims.

The clause, when you became lax, refers to the party of archers posted at the rear of the Muslim army at Uhud, and signifies that they could not resist the temptation of taking part in the actual fighting and in collecting the booty, and their failure to control that desire was an act of cowardice on their part. It is indeed the heart which is the seat of true bravery and courage. Says the Holy Prophet: "Strong is not he who overthrows his rival in a wrestling match, but strong is he who controls himself in times of anger" (Bukhari ch. on Adab). The word, order, in the clause, you disagreed among yourselves concerning the order, may refer either to the order of the Holy Prophet given to the party of archers not to leave their station without his permission or to the import of the order, i.e. whether the Holy Prophet really meant them to stay there even after the battle had been won, some saying that he did mean that and others alleging that he did not.

The words, you disobeyed, signify that they paid no heed to their leader, ‘Abdullah bin Jubair, who, in compliance with the order of the Prophet, directed them not to quit the place, in spite of the fact that victory was within sight. They could not control themselves and so brought misfortune for the Muslims.

The words, those who desired the present world etc., refer to the party that abandoned the place at which they had been stationed. The Arabic clause may also be rendered as meaning that some members of the party desired the nearer thing, i.e. taking part in fighting and collecting the booty, while others (viz. ‘Abdullah bin Jubair and those of his comrades who did not quit their post) desired what was farther off, i.e. they thought of the ultimate consequence of disobeying the command of the Holy Prophet. Some were short-sighted, while others were far-sighted.

The words, He turned you away from them, signify that God imposed the reverse in order to make this incident a lesson for the future.

See 2:26.

6:165; 11:5; 21:94; 39:8.

10:35; 27:65; 29:20; 30:12, 28.

Commentary:

The purpose for which man has been created is that he should attain nearness to God. It is to this fact that the words, The promise of Allah is true, refer; and we are told that at last all men will attain nearness to God and thus will be fulfilled the real object for which man has been created.

In the words, He originates the creation, then He reproduces it, the reproduction spoken of refers firstly, to the fact that, after death, man will be given a new life in which his actions in this life will be rewarded; and, secondly, that even in the present life one generation of men will succeed another so that the good deeds of a preceding generation may not be wasted and may benefit their successors.

The word صالحات (good) which, besides meaning good and righteous, also means proper and suitable to the occasion (see 2:26), points to a great secret of individual as well as national progress. It is not only good works that lead to the material and moral well-being of individuals and communities but deeds done at suitable occasions conforming to the exigencies of time and circumstances are also essential. The present-day degradation of Muslims supplies an apt through tragic illustration of the neglect of this hard truth. At a time when strong intellectual effort was needed, Muslim divines confined their attention to mere outward acts of religious devotion and neglected other activities which were equally essential for the advancement of the community. It was their duty to inspire Muslims with a passion for work, to make them active and energetic, to improve their standard of morality, to induce them to attain proficiency in modern sciences, and to teach them how to work in collaboration with others in matters of common interest. But they failed to do so, with the result that their religious devotions alone could not save them. It is mostly by صالحات i.e. good works done in conformity with the exigencies of occasion and circumstances, that nations rise and prosper. Muslims ignored this immutable divine law and came to grief.

For an explanation of حمیم (boiling water) see under 6:71.

2:285; 10:67; 31:27.

Commentary:

The verse points to a great truth. As all that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah it is vain and foolish to try to please Him or His Messengers by offering them bribes (see the preceding verse). The Prophets of God cannot be prevented from carrying out their mission for the sake of bribes. The Meccans, desiring to stop the preaching of the Holy Prophet against idolatry, offered him every kind of bribe; but the only reply which all those bribes and temptations elicited from him was to the effect that even if they placed the sun on his right and the moon on his left, he would not give up his mission (Hisham & Zurqani).

The fact is that as kings and potentates need the things of this world, therefore bribes and ransoms please them, but God Himself being the Creator of all things, ransoms have no value for Him except that one should offer the sacrifice of one’s own self, which finds ready acceptance with Him, for such sacrifice is a means of self-purification.

Commentary:

This verse beautifully illustrates how the Prophets maintain a highly respectful attitude to God even under very hard trials. Noah had, by an error of judgement, thought that all the members of his family would be saved from the flood, but when he saw that his son was going to be drowned, he made his supplication to God in a most respectful way, appealing to Him in the name of His promise about the safety of his family. He was, however, careful to add that if his son was drowned, he would not think that God’s promise was false but that he himself had misunderstood the Divine Words, for God’s promise was ever true and His judgement always just.

15:43; 16:100; 17:66.

Important Words:

مصرخکم (succour you) and مصرخی (succour me) are both derived from صرخ which means, he called or called out; or he cried or he cried out vehemently; he called or cried for aid or succour or, transitively, he succoured or aided someone. اصرخ also means, he succoured or aided; he came to the help of. مصرخ means, aiding or succouring; or an aider or succourer (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

By uttering the words, I cannot succour you, Satan disclaims the possession of any power to lead man astray. It is indeed true that Satan has no power over man. He is only an instrument for the manifestation of man’s weaknesses, just as angels are instruments for the manifestation of his good qualities. In reality man is led astray by his own baser self, for, as the verse puts it, Satan only calls and it is man who obeys. The function of Satan is merely to make evil suggestions, just as the function of angels is to make good suggestions. Angels cannot make a man good, nor can Satan make him bad. They only show the way, good or bad, and man does the rest.

It may appear paradoxical on Satan’s part to claim, as he has done in this verse, that he asserted the Unity of God and disclaimed association with Him. In a sense it is true, because he who is conscious of God’s glory and has actually witnessed it cannot be guilty of shirk (setting up equals to God). Shirk comes into being when man accepts Satan’s evil suggestions and disobeys God. Satan may thus be likened to arsenic. So long as arsenic does not enter the system of man in toxic quantity, it is a valuable drug, but when man makes a wrong use of it, it becomes a deadly poison. Similarly, before Satan enters the spiritual system of man he is but a test-question and nothing more. Indeed, Satan is only an agent deputed to expose human weaknesses and frailties.

But here arises a question. If Satan has no power over man, why will he be punished with Hellfire? This question is answered in 7:13, where Satan is represented as having been created of fire. How can a thing which is created of fire be said to be punished when cast into fire? A burning piece of coal is not tormented when thrown into a furnace. This is why perhaps some of the mystics in Islam have held the view that it is not Satan, but his manifestations and vicegerents that will be punished. Satan, they say, is but an agent meant to try the mettle of man and only performs his functions.

31:34; 35:6.

15:86; 20:16; 22:8.

Commentary:

In this verse we are told that these people who had remained aloof from the world for a long time will become known to the ends of the earth, and thus the truth of the prophecy about the rise to great power and dominion of Christian nations in the Latter Days will become established and then the promised hour of which these people were warned will come to pass.

In the words, We will surely build a place of worship over them, the Quran reverts again to the early history of the Dwellers of the Cave and mentions one of their distinctive marks which is that their successors, the Christian nations, will build churches in memory of their dead saints. Muslims or Jews have never erected mosques or synagogues to the memory of their departed saints. Christians are the only people who erect churches to perpetuate the memory of their dead saints; they even bury their dead in churchyards. It is worthy of note that many such churches have been found in the catacombs.

Commentary:

The verse embodies an effective answer to all the objections that were raised in v. 6 above, viz., (a) "these are but confused dreams," (b) "nay, he has forged it;" (c) nay, "he is a poet." The answer consists in the fact that every Prophet receives from God certain promises and prophecies about the ultimate success of his mission and the defeat and discomfiture of his enemies, and that these prophecies are literally fulfilled. The truth of this fact has been demonstrated throughout the ages in the time of every Prophet of God. The verse purports to say that if what the Holy Prophet claims to have received from God are mere confused dreams and not Divine revelations and if he is an impostor and a liar then how could the great prophecies about the triumph of his cause and the failure of his opponents made at a time when there appeared no likelihood of their being fulfilled, come to be true? Moreover, as a poet the Prophet could only compose elegant verse or could play with the emotions of men as poets generally do, but he could not bring about a wonderful change in the lives of his followers as he did and could not see into the future and make prophecies which in the teeth of the opposition of his powerful enemies and in spite of his own utter helplessness were fulfilled to the very letter. The answer seems to be as emphatic and effective as the objections are foolish and flimsy.

26:205; 27:72; 29:54-55;37:177; 51:15.

Commentary:

The reference in this verse is to a mighty event in the history of Islam. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that the first three centuries of Islam would be its best period after which falsehood would spread and a period of darkness would come and this period of darkness would extend to over a thousand years (Tirmidhi). This period is likened to one day in the present verse and in 32:6. In this period of moral and spiritual decadence of Muslims a people having blue eyes were to arise who were to spread all over the earth and at whose hands Islam was destined to receive a serious setback (20:103-104). This period of political decadence of Islam and moral degeneration of Muslims in which they faced defeat and discomfiture at the hands of western Christian nations having blue eyes, began after the expiry of the third century of Hijrah and lasted up to the dawn of the 14th century when the Promised Messiah made his appearance. It is to these western people that the reference has been made in the words "And they ask thee to hasten on the punishment." In their conceit and arrogance born of material glory and political power, the western peoples came to labour under the misconception that their progress and glory would last forever. So they are depicted in the verse under comment as challenging the Holy Prophet to hasten on the punishment which he said would overtake them. To their implied taunt and gibe, the verse makes a reply that God had already made a promise that these western nations would be granted respite for one thousand years after which a terrible tribulation would overtake them and all their greatness and glory would become a thing of the past. Divine punishment would descend on their houses and the very soil on which they would be living would be rendered bleak and barren. They are warned that the punishment would be so severe, overwhelming and enveloping that one day of it would appear to them as a thousand years. See also 18:9 & 32:6.