ٱتَّبَعَ

4:126.

5:93, 100; 13:41; 16:83.

Important Words:

امیین (the unlearned), see 2:79.

الذین اوتوا الکتاب (those who have been given the Book), i.e. the People of the Book. The two expressions, i.e. امیین and الذین اوتوا الکتاب comprise the whole of mankind. الذین اوتوا الکتاب are those people who possess and profess to follow a revealed scripture; and امیون are those who accept and follow no such Book.

Commentary:

If the People of the Book and those who follow no revealed Scripture were to submit to God, they would surely accept the Holy Prophet and be rightly guided, the former because clear prophecies are found in their Scriptures regarding him and the latter because of the combined testimony of nature, human conscience and common sense. Submission to God is the source of all true guidance. One stumbles and loses the right path only when one deviates from the course of submission, bowing to authorities other than God.

2:208, 266; 3:16; 5:3, 17; 9:72.

Commentary:

The words, who follows the pleasure of Allah, apply to the Holy Prophet and his true followers who, undaunted by the defection of the hypocrites at Uhud, which considerably weakened their ranks, proceeded to fight the enemies of Islam. The hypocrites, on the other hand, by their act of desertion, drew upon themselves the wrath of God. They turned away from the fire of war, but a much worse fire awaited them in Hell. They retreated from the battlefield in order to seek security, but their retreat proved to be the gate of Gehenna for them.

The expression کمن باء بسخط من الله rendered as, like him who draws on himself the wrath of Allah, may also be translated as "like him who turns (or returns) with the wrath of Allah". The latter rendering would help further to clarify the explanation given above.

2:132.

Important Words:

خلیل (special friend) is derived from خل. They say خل الشیء i.e. he bored a hole into the thing. خل فی دعائه means, he was particular in his prayer. خلیل means, a special and particular friend whose love penetrates your inner parts (Aqrab & Lane). See also 2:255.

Commentary:

This verse gives the essence of Islam which signifies submission to the Will of God and the devotion of one’s faculties and powers to His service (see also note on 2:113). Abraham has been held out to the People of the Book who revere him as a patriarch and to the Arabs who were proud of being descended from him, as an example who embodied in his person the essence of Islam by his full submission to the Will of God; and both these people are herein told that it is only the true observance of the teachings of Islam that can make one like Abraham—beloved of God and His special friend.

There is a hadith in which the Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "If I had taken anyone from among men as my خلیل (special friend whose love penetrates one’s heart), I would have certainly taken Abu Bakr as such. But such friendship is permissible with God alone Who is my خلیل" (Bukhari, ch. on Fada’il of the Holy Companions).

2:258; 14:2; 33:44; 57:10; 65:12.

Commentary:

The pronoun in یھدی به (thereby does Allah guide) may refer either to the "Book" or the "Light" spoken of in the previous verse. The use of the word سبل (paths) in the plural number indicates that just as there are diverse kinds of difficulties and obstacles that beset the path of a spiritual wayfarer, so God has also provided for him many means of deliverance and safe arrival at his destination. السلام (peace) being also one of the names of God (see 50:24), the words سبل السلام may mean, "the paths leading to God".

The clause, and guides them to the right path, is added to show that the God of Islam not only leads men out of darkness into light but also does so by the shortest and the straightest path, the word مستقیم (right) also meaning "straight". See 2:6.

Important Words:

تحمل علیه (thou drive him away). تحمل is derived from حمل. They say حمله i.e. he bore or carried or conveyed it. حمل علیه الشیءmeans, he loaded him with the thing, or he put the thing on him as a load; or he imposed on him the thing as a burden. حمل علیه means, he charged or assaulted or attacked him (Lane). It is in the last mentioned sense that the word has been rendered here as "drive him away".

یلھث (hangs out his tongue) is formed from لھث meaning, he thirsted; or thirst heated his body. They say لھث الکلب i.e. the dog put forth his tongue on account of thirst or fatigue or weariness. لھث الرجل means, the breath of the man rose on account of fatigue or weariness; or he was fatigued or weary (Lane & Aqrab).

قصص (description) is the noun-infinitive from قص. They say قص اثره i.e. he followed his footsteps; or he followed his track in pursuit. قص الشعر means, he cut or clipped the hair. قص علیه الخبر means, he related to-him the news or the narrative or the story. قصص therefore, means, description or explanation; a narrative or story; following someone or something in his or its footsteps or track (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:63.

Commentary:

The verse continues the description of the similitude begun in the previous verse. When a man becomes wholly engrossed in worldly affairs and begins to follow his evil desires and inclinations and rejects truth, he becomes, degraded, as it were, to the position of a dog. His thirst for money becomes insatiable. He continues to hanker after the paltry goods of this world. This description quite fits in with a hypocrite or one weak in faith. Whether or not he is made to undergo sacrifices in the cause of religion, he seems to be always panting like a thirsty dog, as if the ever-increasing burden of sacrifices is leaving him exhausted. The above interpretation is in accord with the meaning of the expression حمل علیه in the sense of "putting a load on". If, however, the expression is taken in the sense of "attacking or charging" or for that matter "driving", then the words would mean that the weak of faith belonging to the class of people mentioned here always feel fatigued and weary in the way of God, whether they are smitten with afflictions and trials or not.

8:63.

Commentary:

The words من اتبعك (those who follow thee) are grammatically in apposition to the pronoun (thee) in حسبك (sufficient for thee). It is thus wrong to translate the verse as "Allah is sufficient for thee and so are those who follow thee." The sufficing of God relates both to the Prophet and his followers.

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.

13:34.

Important Words:

اولوا بقیة (persons possessed of understanding). بقیة it is derived from بقی which means, he or it remained, lasted, endured and was or became permanent or perpetual. They say بقی من الشیء بقیة i.e. a remnant, relic or residue of the thing retained. The Arabs say فلان من بقیة القوم i.e. such a one is of the best of people, for it is the best that lasts. اولوا بقیة means, persons possessed of excellence, or persons possessing a relic of judgement and intelligence, or persons of understanding and discrimination, or persons possessing a quality of watching or observing and, hence, of guarding and preserving (Lane & Aqrab). See also 11:87.

اترفوا (they were afforded ease and comfort) is derived from ترف which means, he enjoyed or led a plentiful and a pleasant or an easy and delicate life; or a life of ease and plenty. They say اترفه المال i.e. wealth made him behave exorbitantly; or to be excessively disobedient or rebellious; or to exalt himself; be inordinate in infidelity; or to be extravagant in acts of disobedience and in wrongdoing. اترف الرجل means, the man persisted in, resolved upon, transgression, wrongdoing and deviation from the right way (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse makes a fleeting reference to a serious but general mistake. It purports to say that, when experience had shown that man has a tendency to become corrupt, why did not the wise men among past generations recognize this responsibility about their own people and at the outset warn them of the evil consequences of their bad deeds and thus nip the evil in the bud. But instead of doing this they allowed the evil to grow, with the result that their people became totally corrupt and depraved. These people, instead of learning a lesson from the fate of their predecessors, lost themselves in pursuit of the paltry things of the world and the result was that they ranged themselves with wrongdoers and became estranged from God.

6:58.

Commentary:

In this verse the Holy Prophet is represented as saying that his wont is to benefit by the signs of God, to believe in Him alone, and to eschew all forms of idolatry, because he has received clear proof and sure knowledge from God. This shows that a blind and unthinking faith which is not based on sound arguments carries no weight. A true Muslim, like his Master, the Holy Prophet, should possess clear and irrefutable proofs and evidence to support and substantiate all his beliefs and doctrines. Mere hearsay or traditional belief is nothing.

17:66; 34:22.

7:19; 17:64; 38:86.

Important Words:

سلطان (power) is derived from سلط (saluta) meaning, he or it overcame or prevailed or predominated; or became established in superior power. سلطان among other things, means, might or power; possession of superior power; predominance; absolute dominion or authority; sovereign or ruling power. It also means, proof, evidence or argument (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse mentions another group of people who, too, are protected from the temptations of Satan. They do not belong to the category of Prophets or of those other specially chosen servants of God, referred to in v. 41 who get their guidance directly from God, but they, nevertheless, find out the truth through the help of God’s Elect and His Prophets. With regard to such people the verse purports to say that they enjoy Divine protection to the extent that Satan has no سلطان (sovereign or dominating power) over them, though they are subject to his occasional attacks. There are to be found among them such weak of faith as sometimes choose to follow the suggestions of Satan and, consequently, falter and fall. But this happens only when they have actually become "erring ones," whereas before the actual commission of sin such people also enjoy Divine protection.

Incidentally, the verse also suggests that human nature is intrinsically pure. Only such men lose the right path as themselves defile their nature and choose to follow Satan. This idea has been further explained in the words قد خاب من دساھا which mean that he alone perishes who destroys his own soul and buries it in the dust of sin (91:11).