يَمْلِكُ

5:73, 74.

See 3:190.

Important Words:

یھلك (bring to naught) is derived from اھلك which is the causative form of ھلك which means, he or it perished or came to naught; or he or it came to an end and became non-existent. اھلكه means, he caused him or it to perish, or he destroyed him or it, or he brought him or it to naught (Lane). اھلكه also means, he punished him (Mufradat). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: اذاقال الرجل ھلك الناس فھواھلکھم i.e. "When a man says, such and such people have perished (viz. they have become morally and spiritually ruined and their state is past recovery), it is he himself who causes them to perish by saying so, for he makes them despair of recovery and of salvation" (Muslim, ch. on Birr Was-Silah). The word is used in this sense also elsewhere in the Quran (67:29; 8:43).

Commentary:

The expression یھلك (bring to naught) is used here not simply in the sense of destroying but in that of destroying by punishment. It is indeed a jealous and indignant God that speaks in this verse. He condemns Christians in a tone of strong indignation and vehement reproach at their preposterous claims about the Godhead of Jesus; and as Jesus and his mother, Mary, have become the means and object of this highly sinful doctrine, the verse fittingly refers to the divine power of punishing them also if God should so desire. It will be noted that a section of Christians looks upon Mary also as Divine and superhuman.

The words, those that are in the earth, obviously refer to those who deify Jesus. God’s purpose in using such strong language is to expose the monstrosity of the doctrine that Jesus was God or the Son of God. Elsewhere also in the Quran strong language has been used about those who hold such blasphemous beliefs and they are threatened with exemplary punishment (19:89-92).

The words, what is between them, corroborate and add force and strength to the argument given in the earlier part of the verse at the same time hinting at the final dissolution of Christian empires as a result of the most blasphemous doctrine of the divinity of Jesus. See also 3:27.

What the Christians say is, "The Messiah, son of Mary, is God," and not "God is none but the Messiah" as the verse puts it. The assertion has been inverted in order to bring home to Christians their great error; for, to say that "The Messiah is God" is really tantamount to saying that "God is none but the Messiah," But Christians, being too conscious of the weaknesses of their Messiah, dare not accept the latter proposition, which thus goes to prove the hollowness of their claim that the Messiah, son of Mary, is God.

6:72; 10:107; 21:67; 22:13.

Commentary:

Jesus, who is looked upon as God, had no power to do either harm or good to any person. He could not, rather cannot, hear prayers nor does he know the needs of men that he may satisfy them; for it is Allah alone Who is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

27:65; 34:25; 35:4.

3:28; 6:96.

See 10:4.

Commentary:

This verse explains in a beautiful manner the relation between Divine revelation and human reason. It says that all physical or spiritual sustenance is provided by heaven and earth acting in concert. Neither of them can do it singly. For example, if heaven should continue to send down rain but the earth should lack the necessary power and capacity for bringing forth vegetation, the rain would produce nothing. On the other hand, if no rain falls, then the fertility of the soil alone will not suffice to produce vegetation. Exactly in the same way human reason, which is like soil, cannot produce spiritual vegetation, which serves as spiritual food for man, unless the water of Divine revelation comes to its aid from heaven. It is, therefore, vain to hope that man can attain to God by the help of reason alone, without the aid of Divine revelation.

The verse proceeds to say that it is foolish to think that God should have given eyes and ears to men but should have failed to provide for them the task they were meant to perform. That task is provided through Divine guidance. Similarly, the verse draws our attention to the process of life and death in this world. Oftentimes the living come out of the dead and things which to all outward appearance are dead begin to show signs of life and vice versa. Is it not then possible that there should sometimes gush forth a fountain of life from a dead heart? When such a possibility exists, why should not God grant respite to the sinful so that such of them as possess the germs of life may revive?

The verse continues the argument in the words, And who governs all affairs?, meaning that it is inconceivable that a being who is entrusted with the conduct of an affair should himself seek to destroy it. No wise man can ever think of undoing his own handiwork. How then can God wish to destroy the universe which is the means for the manifestation of His powers and attributes? He would much rather save it than destroy it. This is why He is slow in punishing.

There exists an extremely beautiful and intelligent order in this verse. It begins with a reference to sustenance, which is the means of the preservation of life. Then it speaks of the organs of sight and hearing, which are the means of acquiring wisdom and knowledge. After that the verse speaks of the system of life and death, pointing to man’s power of action which naturally comes into operation after the acquirement of wisdom and understanding. Last of all, it speaks of the government or management of affairs which is needed when one begins to exercise the power of action, for تدبیرmeans, conducting an affair in an ordered and regulated manner and maintaining proper balance between different acts. In short, all the four means which are needed for the achievement of the purpose of man’s existence have been mentioned here in their natural order. Now can there be a being so unreasonable as to first create life and endow man with feelings and the necessary capabilities for work and also provide a well-regulated order in his actions, and then, having endowed him with all these gifts, leave him alone and give him no instructions to employ these great gifts for the attainment of a particular object? A man with even a grain of sense can see that such a thing is impossible. And it is equally impossible that, after having done all this, God should be hasty in bringing about destruction or awarding punishment.

Sometimes even Christian commentators of the Quran feel constrained to admire the beauty and force of its teachings. Commenting on this and the following few verses, the Rev. E.M. Wherry says: "This passage contains very cogent reasoning against idolaters. These teachings account for much of the success of Islam as a missionary religion." It is a pity, however, that even in the face of such admissions some Christian writers should have the hardihood to ascribe the success of Islam to the sword and the so-called "temptations" which Islam is alleged to have offered to its followers.

23:87.

25:4.

11:25; 35:20.

Commentary:

The words, who have no power for good or harm even for themselves, spoken about false deities point to a strange coincidence. Generally, the lives of all those persons who later came to be worshipped as deities were full of hardship and privation. Jesus, Imam Husain, Rama, etc., all led very hard lives. This fact seems to entail a strong warning to their misguided worshippers that they could expect no benefit or help from those who could not even protect themselves from harm or danger.

In the words, Can the blind and the seeing be equal?, disbelievers are told that they, being spiritually and morally blind, should not be deceived by their power and their numbers against the Holy Prophet, as even an army of blind men is powerless against one person who has eyes. The Prophet and his followers possess sight, while disbelievers are blind.

The powerlessness of the disbelievers is further brought home to them in the simile of light and darkness referred to in the words, can darkness be equal to light? Disbelievers are told that as darkness possesses no independent existence, being only the negation of light, it must flee before light. So disbelievers cannot stand against the Holy Prophet. In the last part of the verse disbelievers are challenged to produce anything which they think has been created by their false deities.

The Quran has used two different words to express the Unity of God, viz. (1) احد and (2) واحد. Whereas the former denotes the absolute Unity of God without relation to any other being, the latter means only "the first" or "the starting point" and requires a second and a third to follow it. The Divine attribute of واحد (One) is thus intended to show that God is the real "source" from which all creation springs. Although none of His creatures is similar to Him in perfection and He is Independent of all, yet everything does point to Him, just as a second or a third thing necessarily points to the first. The attribute واحد (One) has therefore been used here as an evidence of the truth of the previous statement, viz. Allah alone is the Creator of all things. As against this, where the Quran seeks to refute the doctrine of the son-ship of those who have been falsely given that status, it uses the word احد i.e. He Who has ever been One and alone and has begotten no child (112:2).

The addition of the attribute of "Most Supreme" to "One" signifies that God does not need the help or assistance of any being for the control and governance of the universe He has brought into existence, because He is not only the source of all things but is also Supreme and Powerful over them. Hence it is useless and absurd for disbelievers to worship their false deities.

10:19; 22:72; 29:18.

Commentary:

This verse exposes the stupidity of the course followed by polytheists. It purports to say that while they cannot bear to see their property going into the possession of anyone save their own natural descendants, in the case of God they attribute His powers and authority to persons upon whom He has bestowed no such privilege. This course is all the more unjust because the property which they call their own is really not theirs but is entrusted to them by God. If in spite of the fact that they are not the real owners of the property which is in their possession, they consider themselves competent to bequeath it to anyone they like, why should it not be in the power of God to make anyone He likes to be the recipient of His revealed Law?

The verse also points out that polytheistic beliefs tend to mar man’s material and spiritual progress. A polytheist attributes those powers to false gods which they do not possess and thus his attention is turned away from that Being Who is the source of all power and Who can bestow great favours upon him. It is thus that the intellectual progress and mental advancement of those communities and individuals who hold polytheistic beliefs becomes retarded and impeded while those who believe in the Oneness of God continue to make some progress even in the period of their decline and decay.

22:74; 25:4; 34:23.

Commentary

In this verse idolaters are told that they can judge the truth or falsity of their faith from the prophecies that foretell their destruction and the eventual triumph of Islam. Let them pray to their gods to save them if they can from the threatened Divine punishment. Far from saving their votaries from Divine punishment, these gods do not possess the power even to postpone or defer it for a single day. While idolaters are admonished that idolatry is at the root of all their misfortunes Muslims are warned that idolatry will bring about their downfall also. It is worthy of note that one of the major causes of the decline, downfall and destruction of the Abbasid Empire of Baghdad was that Muslim nobles freely married Turkish and Iranian idolatrous women. This led to the growth and spread of idolatrous beliefs among Muslims. Ibn Muqanna‘ and Hasan bin Sabbah were the product of the idolatrous ideas and practices that were rampant in those days among Muslims.

2:49; 20:110; 21:29; 34:24; 39:45; 43:87; 53:27; 74:49.

Important Words:

الشفاعة (intercession) is derived fromشفع which means, he provided a thing, which was alone with another, or he joined up a single thing with another, so as to make it one of a pair or couple. According to Imam Raghib الشفع signifies the adjoining of a thing to its like; thus the word has the significance of likeness or similarity also. Thus الشفاعة has come to mean interceding or praying for a person on the ground that he is connected with the intercessor or is like or similar to him (Aqrab, Lane & Mufradat).

Commentary:

الشفاعة (intercession) is governed by the following four conditions:

1. He who intercedes has a special connection with the person (or Being) with whom he wishes to intercede and enjoys his special favour, for without such connection he dare not intercede nor can intercession be fruitful.

2. The person for whom intercession is to be made must have a true and real connection with the intercessor, for none would think of interceding for a person unless the latter is specially connected with him.

3. The person in whose favour intercession is sought must generally deserve the description of a good person and must be one who has made an honest effort to win the pleasure of God (21:29). If he ever happens to fall into sin, it is in a moment of weakness. A wicked man cannot enjoy true and real connection with a holy person.

4. Intercession can only be made with God’s express permission (2:256; 10:4).

For a detailed note on الشفاعة see 2:49.

It may be noted that of all prophets and messengers of God the Holy Prophet alone will be granted permission to intercede on the Last Day.

Commentary:

The calf is denounced and condemned as a deity because it does not speak to its votaries. Of what use is that god who does not answer the prayer of his worshippers (21:66-67)? He is as dead as a log of wood. The difference between a living and a lifeless god is that the One speaks to His votaries and hears their supplications while the other does not. The God of Islam has not ceased to speak to His true worshippers. He still speaks to them as He spoke to Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all) and will continue to do so till the end of time.

17:57; 18:16; 21:25.

7:192; 16:21.

Commentary:

Everything has to pass through three stages of development. The verse under comment mentions all these stages. The first stage is characterized by the absence of life. It is described as موت or the stage of lifelessness. The second stage is described as حیاة or حیاة بالقوة i.e. potential life, when a thing is endowed with the attribute and power of growth; and the third stage is reached when its powers come into actual play. This stage is known as حیاة بالفعل or نشور i.e. actual life. God, the Creator of all life possesses complete and undisputed control over all these stages.

10:19; 16:72; 22:72.

Important Words:

تخلقون أفکا (you forge lies). تخلقون is formed from خلق. They say خلقه i.e. he measured it, or he determined its measure, or proportion, he designed, or fashioned, or planned it; he made it according to a certain measure, or design; He (God) created it; He originated it; he forged a story or lie; he fabricated a saying. An Arab would say حدثنا فلان بأحادیث الخلق i.e. such a one related to us fictitious stories (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:50 & 26:138.