يَأْمُرُ

Important Words:

ھزوا (a jest) means: (1) jest; (2) the object or butt of a joke (Lisan). See also 2:14.

Commentary:

Here begins an account of another Israelite wrong which was allied to their worship of the calf. Though the calf mentioned in 2:52 was destroyed, yet veneration for the cow lingered in their hearts. The verse, along with those that follow, will be explained under verse 72 below.

2:64; 4:155; 7:172.

Important Words:

اشربوا (were permeated with) is derived from شرب meaning, he drank. اشرب means, he was made to drink. The expression,اشرب فی قلبه حب فلان means, the love of such and such a person permeated his heart (Aqrab). The word is so used because love is like alcohol that intoxicates one who partakes of it. The clause, اشربوا فی قلوبھم العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the calf) must really be read as اشربوا فی قلوبھم حب العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the love of the calf), the word حب (love) being understood before the word عجل (calf).

Commentary:

For an explanation of the expression, raised high above you the Mount, see under 2:64.

The words, they said, We hear and we disobey, signify that they practically refused to obey God. They did not necessarily use these exact words; for the word, as pointed out under 2:31, sometimes conveys the sense not of actual speech but of practical conduct.

Reference to calf-worship in verse 93 is not a mere reiteration of what has been already said in verse 55; the incident has been mentioned here as an illustration of what has been said about the Jews in the previous verse. Their attention is drawn to their conduct in the days of Moses. When Moses was absent from them for a short time only, they took the image of a calf for their idol, although they had witnessed how God had helped Moses and had shown mighty Signs at his hands; and that at a time when they had given a solemn promise not to worship anything besides God. In spite of that promise, they showed active opposition to the commandments of God by their deeds.

In the concluding portion of the verse, it is pointed out that the Jews professed to believe in what was revealed to them by God, but their belief was of a strange character for in spite of it, they persisted in their opposition to the Prophets. If this was believing, then their faith was only leading them astray.

2:269; 24:22.

Important Words:

سوء (evil) is the noun-infinitive from ساء meaning, he or it became bad or evil. ساء الامر فلانا means, the thing was disagreeable to such a one and made him sorrowful. سوء means: (1) evil, bad or wicked; (2) mischief and corruption; (3) anything that makes a person sad and sorrowful (Aqrab & Mufradat).

فحشاء (foul) is derived from فحش i.e. it became excessive or immoderate; or it became manifestly or excessively bad, evil or unseemly. Thus فحشاء means: (1) anything manifestly or excessively bad, evil, etc.; (2) anything forbidden by God; (3) foul talk or saying; and (4) illegal intercourse or fornication (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse speaks of the subtle ways by which Satan misleads man. He first prompts him to do deeds which do not appear to be manifestly wicked and the influence of which is confined to the person of the doer alone. Then, step by step, he makes the deluded person a hardened sinner, causing him to lose all sense of modesty, till finally the man goes so far as to make innovations in religion for which he possesses neither knowledge nor authority. As Satan’s promptings are never based on knowledge, so the natural consequence is that those who follow him begin to attribute to God things without having the least authority for so doing. Their theories are based on ignorance and not on knowledge. In fact, all knowledge is based on close observation, and close observation cannot be had, unless one enjoys nearness of a thing. So it is futile to expect true knowledge of God from those who are away from Him.

See 2:170; 24:22.

Important Words:

فقر (poverty). The verb فقر (faqara) means, he dug into the ground; he bored a hole into a pearl, etc.; he cut into and penetrated a thing. فقر (faqura) means, he became poor and needy. فقر (faqira) means, he had a complaint of his vertebrae. الفقر signifies, poverty; want or need; care and anxiety or disquietude of mind. فقیر of which the plural is فقراء is one who is poor and needy; also one having a complaint of the vertebrae, arising from fracture or disease (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The most handy weapon for Satan is to suggest to the people that if they spend their wealth in charity, they will become poor. But this is a most foolish suggestion; for, if people obey Satan, the result will be فقر i.e. national interests will suffer and the country will definitely decline in prosperity; and if the country declines, individuals cannot remain unaffected. Again, if we do not help our less fortunate countrymen, they will be tempted to resort to فحشاء i.e. foul and unfair means, and the community will become degraded in the eyes of others.

Two pairs of words occur in this verse and their order deserves notice. According to their significance, فضل (bounty) corresponds to فقر (poverty) and مغفرة (forgiveness or the covering of shortcomings) corresponds to فحشاء (foul or infamous conduct). Now, following the above significance of the words, the word فضل ought to have preceded the word مغفرة. But this order has not been observed in the verse, the reason being that whereas the first result of accepting Satan’s suggestion, as mentioned in the present verse, is فقر and then comes فحشاء, the first and immediate consequence of one’s spending one’s wealth in charity is مغفرة and فضل comes afterwards.

Another reason for this order is that Satan cares more for wealth than good name; hence in his case فقر precedes فحشاء. But the righteous care more for God’s forgiveness than for worldly prosperity, hence in their case the precedence of the former to the latter.

Forgiveness from Allah as promised here, signifies that not only will men deal kindly and magnanimously with those who spend their wealth in charity, but God also will deal kindly with them. If a man helps the poor, people generally connive at his faults. Similarly, God will pardon his sins and forgive his shortcomings. Nay, He will do more. He will bestow grace and bounty on him, i.e. He will make him prosper and thrive as a result of his charity. The verse also hints that if, in spite of the evil suggestions of Satan, we spend our wealth for the good of humanity, not only shall we prosper individually but also rise as a nation.

Finally God is واسع (Bountiful), hence His bounty will have no limit. He is also علیم (All-Knowing), hence He will help righteous men in ways beyond their wildest imagination.

See 2:62.

Important Words:

یقتلون (seek to kill). See 2:62.

بشرھم (announce to them). See 2:26.

Commentary:

Disbelievers are here warned that if they do not accept the Signs of God and persist in rejecting and fighting His Messengers and are not prepared to accept the arbitrament of divine revelation and of reason, they cannot escape Divine punishment. No Prophet of God, whatever circumstances faced him, ever failed in his mission. No amount of persecution or attempts to murder the Prophets ever succeeded in arresting or retarding the progress of their faith. The history of religion provides a standing testimony to this fact; and the Holy Prophet of Islam—the Greatest of all Prophets—was not going to be an exception.

The expression فبشرھم بعذاب الیم translated as "announce to them a painful punishment" literally means, "give them the glad tidings of a painful punishment". The word بشر (give glad tidings) has been used with a twofold purpose; (1) to signify that the promised punishment is extraordinarily great, the word بشارة literally meaning a news that changes the colour of the skin of the listener; (2) to point to the fact that the disbelievers have been deprived of a great blessing. They were invited to God’s favour which was truly glad tidings but, having rejected it, they incurred His wrath and brought punishment on their heads.

Commentary:

It is an act of great infidelity to regard angels and Prophets as Lords, and to put them in the place of Almighty God. A true Prophet can never be guilty of such an offence. It is the height of unreason to believe that a person whose very mission is to turn infidels into believers and who does not hesitate to defy the whole world for the achievement of this noble end should first make men the devotees of God and then seek to turn them into his own adorers.

3:111, 115; 7:158; 9:71; 31:18.

Commentary:

The word خیر (goodness) here signifies Islam, because goodness in general is included in the word معروف (equity) used immediately after it. In fact, the true Faith (Islam) is the only goodness in the true sense of the word. The verse purports to say that as by making you enter the fold of Islam God has delivered you from a pit of fire, you should also try to deliver others from the fire of disbelief.

The words, And let there be among you a body of men who should invite to goodness, do not mean that the duty of preaching is only confined to a few. What is meant is that, whereas all should try to preach and propagate the truth of Islam, there should be a party of men among Muslims who should be wholly and solely devoted to this work.

As for the method of preaching, the Quran says elsewhere, Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation and argue with them (the disbelievers) in a way that is best (16:126). And the Holy Prophet is reported to have said, "If anyone of you sees anything evil, let him remove it with his hand. If he cannot do it with his hand, then let him forbid it with his tongue. If he cannot do even that, then let him at least detest it in his mind, and that is the weakest kind of faith" (Muslim).

The verse also suggests a way by following which Muslims can maintain their unity. So long as a Muslim people have their attention concentrated on the preaching of Islam and doing good, they will live in peace among themselves, for disunion is mostly born of idleness and a false sense of security.

Each and every individual Muslim is not enjoined here to devote himself wholly to the preaching of Islam; for if it were so, Muslims could not earn their livelihood nor take part in other healthy pursuits of life. So, though all must contribute their quota, only a section of the community is required to devote itself exclusively to the work of preaching.

3:105, 111; 9:71.

21:91; 23:62; 35:33.

3:181; 17:30; 25:68.

Commentary:

Some persons are so niggardly that, far from spending their wealth for the benefit of others, they do not spend it even upon themselves, lest people should come to know of it. These, as it were, conceal Allah’s bounty. They are not only deprived of the rewards and good results of charity but also become guilty of concealing God’s bounty which He has bestowed upon them for the good of mankind. Elsewhere the Quran says: Acknowledge the bounty of thy Lord in word and deed (93:12).

8:28.

Important Words:

امانات (trusts) is the plural of امانة which is derived from امن. They say امنه i.e. he trusted in him; he entrusted him with power and authority, control or a charge; he gave him a charge over a thing or person. امانة means, trustiness or faithfulness or fidelity; a thing committed to the care or trust of a person; a trust or deposit; a duty or task allotted to a person; the commandment of God given to His servants; a man’s family or household (Lane). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that a position or office of authority is also an امانة or a trust (Muslim, ch. on Imarat).

Commentary:

As in the previous verses authority and dominion were promised to Muslims, the Quran in the present verse proceeds to bid them entrust authority to such persons as possess the necessary qualifications to rule. Authority or power to rule has been here described as a "trust" of the people in order to point out that, truly speaking, it belongs to the people and is not the birth right of any particular individual or dynasty.

The verse also draws the attention of the Muslim people to their heavy responsibility in respect of the very important matter of electing their Chief or Khalifah. They are warned that if in electing a Khalifah or a Chief they allowed considerations of personal liking or nepotism to prevail against the interests of the State or the community or those of religion and displayed lack of conscientiousness, they would be called to account like one false to his trust. The verse also condemns dynastic or hereditary rule and institutes instead a representative form of government. The Khalifah or the ruler is to be elected; and in electing him, the people are bidden to vote for one best fitted for the office. The Khalifah or the ruler in his turn is bidden to be fair and just in his administration fair to individuals, fair to communities and fair to the State as a whole.

The words, that you judge with justice, apply both to the head of the Muslim State and to all those persons who are entrusted with the work of administration. They are all enjoined to use their authority equitably and well.

The addition of the Divine attributes of "All-Hearing and All-Seeing" at the end of the verse is meant to remind Muslims that if at any time they find it difficult to carry out His commandment, then instead of violating it, they should pray to God and He will hear their prayer and will see to it that they get their rights. (See General Introduction for the detailed discussion of the institution of Khilafat).