Topic: Before The Holy Prophet(sa)

3:106; 6:160; 8:47.

2:232.

8:64.

Important Words:

حبل (rope). They say حبله i.e. he bound or tied him with a rope or cord. حبل الصید means, he caught the game with a snare or net. حبلت المرأة means, the woman became pregnant. حبل means, a rope or cord or anything with which a thing is tied or made fast; a bond or cause of union or link of connection, such as a bond of love or friendship; mutual connection by such a bond; a covenant or compact; an obligation by which one becomes responsible for the safety of a person or thing; a promise or assurance of security or safety; an artery, vein or nerve (Lane). It also means alliance and protection (Aqrab).

Commentary:

Another cause of the spiritual degradation of the Israelites was that they did not remain united but split up into sections, finding fault with one another. The verse warns Muslims against that danger. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: "The Book of God is the rope of Allah which has been extended from the heavens to the earth" (Jarir, iv. 30). Broadly speaking, there are three things which may be taken to have been here meant by the rope of God, by holding fast to which Muslims may remain united and be safe against disunion and disruption: (1) the Quran; (2) the Messenger of God; (3) the Successors to the Messenger of God.

The similitude may have reference to sea life. Ropes are thrown to save the life of a drowning man. When a man falls into the sea or when a boat is wrecked by a storm, people in the boat or those standing on the shore throw out ropes to those who are struggling for their lives in the sea. The similitude is thus incidentally a refutation of the objection that the Quran restricts its similitudes to such objects only as were known to the desert dwellers of Arabia.

It may be noted here that whenever the Quran speaks of the open or secret hostility of the enemies of Islam, it exhorts Muslims to be strong of faith; for it is at such times that one is likely to waver and show weakness in resolution. Thus, after referring to the hostility of the People of the Book (3:100, 101) the Quran exhorts Muslims: (1) to fear God as He should be feared (3:103); (2) to be constant in obedience to God (3:103); and (3) to hold fast to the rope of God and preserve themselves from disunion (3:104).

The words, remember the favour of Allah, signify that as one can properly appreciate a boon of God only when one experiences the disadvantages that result from its absence, so the Quran reminds Muslims of the discord and enmity that existed between them before they became united in Islam.

The words, He united your hearts in love, show that according to Islam it is no great virtue to bear no malice or hatred to others. Nor does Islam inculcate a life of seclusion and detachment. What it requires is positive love for, and active sympathy with, fellow beings. One who is devoid of this is really devoid of true faith.

Commentary:

As ل is a particle and in Arabic a new sentence never begins with a particle, a sentence or clause or expression therefore must be taken as understood before the words لایلاف قریش as before بسم الله الرحمان الرحیم the word أقرء (I read) or أشرع (I begin) is taken to be understood. In the present case the understood expression, according to some commentators, is اعجب یا محمد and the verse is supposed to read something like this: اعجب یا محمد لنعم الله علی قریش فی ایلافھم رحلة الشتاء والصیف i.e. do thou wonder O Muhammad at God’s great favour upon the Quraish that He has created in their hearts love for journeying in winter and summer. The Divine favour consisted in the fact that by taking trade caravans in winter to Yemen and in summer to Syria and Palestine, the Quraish brought necessities of life to Mecca. By this trading activity, they developed a certain prestige and also became acquainted with the prophecies about the appearance of a great Prophet in Arabia by coming into contact with Jews of Yemen and Christians of Syria who knew those prophecies. It was indeed a great Divine favour that God created in the hearts of the Quraish a liking, for making journeys to Yemen and Syria. They were so rooted in the soil and had such great attachment for the Ka‘bah that they would rather starve than leave it, even temporarily. It was by the exhortation of Hashim, the Holy Prophet’s great grandfather, that they took to this calling. Thus it constituted a great Divine favour upon the Quraish that by their journeys to these places they, besides other advantages of these journeys, were being prepared to accept the coming Prophet when he appeared.

Apart from the expression اعجب یا محمد لنعم الله علی قریش taken as understood, there is another explanation of the verses which fits in, perhaps more appropriately, with the context. This is as follows: "Thy Lord destroyed the Owner of the Elephant to attach the hearts of the Quraish to their journeying freely in winter and summer, which constituted a great Divine favour upon them." This is because if Abraha had not been destroyed it would have been impossible for the Quraish to make journeys to Yemen. The destruction of Abraha, therefore, besides opening the way for trade journeys to Yemen, made the Ka‘bah all the more sacred in the eyes of the Arabs for whom it was already a place of Pilgrimage. This in its turn gave added impetus to the trade of the Quraish.