Topic: Punishment For

Important Words:

دون (other than) is derived from دان i.e. he or it was or became low, mean or weak. دون used as an adjective means, low, mean, paltry, or contemptible; also high and noble. When used as a preposition, as in the present verse, دون gives the sense of (1) this side of, i.e. behind or lower in tank; (2) that side of, i.e. ahead or higher in rank; (3) other than (Aqrab).

انداد (objects of worship). See 2:23.

Commentary:

While dealing with the subject of idolatry the Quran makes use of the following four words: (1) ند (like or equal); (2) شریك (co-partner or sharer); (3) اله (worthy of worship); and (4) رب (sustainer). While the first two words are used only about those objects of worship that are other than God, the last two are used about God also. The word ند (like or equal) which is used in the present verse refers to such objects of worship as are supposed to be like God or equal to Him, being contrary or opposed to the true God. Among those who have set up انداد (equals) with God may be mentioned the Zoroastrians who believe in two independent gods, i.e. Ormazd, the God of Light, and Ahriman, the God of Darkness.

Love of God is the essence of all religion. In Islam it forms the central point, the pivot round which the whole Islamic teaching revolves. No religion has emphasised the love of God as much as Islam has. The Holy Prophet was so much engrossed in God that he was spoken of by the pagan Arabs as having fallen in love with Him, even as a lover falls in love with his beloved. No other subject has been so completely and so repeatedly dealt with in the Quran as God’s beauty and excellence and such of His attributes as create an irresistible love and longing in the human soul for his Lord and Master Who is spoken of in the Quran as a "Most Loving God" (11:91; 85:15). Yet Christian writers accuse Islam of being a cold and calculating religion, bereft of all love for God. Can anything be farther from the truth?

28:64, 65; 34:33, 34.

Important Words:

تبرأ (disown) is derived from بری. They say بری من العیب او الدین i.e. he became free from defect or got clear of debt. بارأ شریکهmeans, he became separated from his partner. تبرأ من فلان means, he separated from such a one; he got clear of him; he declared to have no connection with him; he renounced or disowned him (Aqrab).

اسباب (ties) is the plural of سبب which signifies: (1) a tie or a rope; (2) a means which helps a person to reach his destination; (3) a way or a path, leading to something; (4) love or relationship (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse vividly describes the scene when those guilty of idolatry will be called to account for their evil beliefs and practices. They will look to their leaders for help and guidance, but the latter will disown them and all ties of love and kinship between them will be cut asunder and all supports and all means of rescue will be lost. The verse is a stern warning to those who blindly follow their leaders and, being misled by them, reject God’s Messengers.

23:100; 26:103.

Important Words:

کرة (return) is the infinitive noun from کر. They say کر الفارس i.e. the horseman returned to the attack after he had raced back. فعله کرة بعدکرة means, he did it again and again. کرة therefore means: (1) returning to the attack; (2) returning to the original state (3) a turn or time (Mufradat & Aqrab).

حسرات (anguish) is the plural of حسرة which is derived from حسر. They say حسرالبحر i.e. the sea sank or receded from the shore. حسرالرجل means: (1) the man was tired and wearied (2) he was sorrowful and grieved. حسرة means: (1) feeling intense anguish at a loss sustained or harm suffered; (2) regret or compunction; (3) grief or sorrow for a thing that has escaped one (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

Having despaired of receiving help from their leaders, the disbelievers will, on the Day of Judgement, wish that they may be sent back to the world so that they may denounce these leaders in this world just as they were disowning them in the next. But this will be only a vain desire doomed to perish unfulfilled. Nay, the selfsame desire will become a source of anguish and punishment for them.

The clause, they shall not get out of the Fire, does not mean that the punishment of Hell will be unending. Islam does not believe in the eternity of Hell. While the Quran speaks of the blessings of Paradise as never-ending and everlasting, it does not say so of the punishment of Hell but simply speaks of it as being very long (11:108, 109). The sayings of the Holy Prophet also support this view. "There will come a time over Hell," he is reported to have said, "when there will remain none in it" (‘Ummal). The verse only means that, being unable to bear the torment of Hell, the dwellers of the Fire will wish to come out of it, but will not be able to do so (32:21), until their term of punishment is over. The word Fire as used in this verse may also mean the fire of anguish and agony in which they shall burn on account of their designs and cherished hopes having come to naught.

8:13; 59:3.

Commentary:

The words, because they associate partners with Allah, signify that he who associates gods with Allah can never be truly brave, for he lacks complete devotion to anyone. It is only complete devotion that can inspire a person to make sacrifices. As a believer is completely devoted to the One God, therefore, he is ever ready to make every kind of sacrifice in His cause.

Moreover, it is through lack of perseverance that idolaters go from one god to another, and perseverance is an essential concomitant of bravery. Where there is no perseverance, there is no bravery. Again, idolaters are rebels in setting up gods with Allah and a rebel’s heart is never at rest; and a heart that is not at ease cannot be brave. Yet again, polytheism springs from superstitious fear and one possessed of that sort of fear can never be truly brave.

It should, however, be remembered that it is only relative bravery that is meant here; otherwise, even among idolaters and polytheists, there are men who possess bravery and courage, but their courage and bravery is inferior to that of true believers who put faith in One God and believe in His great powers and in the life after death.

Commentary:

The linking of عذاب (punishment) with the Divine attribute الرحمن (the Gracious) in this and other verses of this Surahappears to be somewhat incongruent and inconsistent. Punishment seems more appropriately related to God’s other attributes such as الجبار (the Subduer), القھار (the Most Supreme), ذو انتقام (the Avenger) etc. In fact, every punishment is the result of the defiance or disobedience of a particular Divine attribute. Sometimes a person is punished because he defies the Divine attribute الغفار (the Great Forgiver), at another time punishment comes upon him because he disobeys the Divine attribute الکریم (Most Generous) and so on. In this verse, in fact in the whole Surah, شرک i.e. idolatry, has been repeatedly denounced and condemned in the strongest and most scathing terms and the Divine attribute الرحمن i.e. the Gracious, has also been mentioned again and again because شرک (idolatry) in every shape and form is the direct result of denial of رحمانیةi.e. Divine grace. The two great idolatrous peoples—the Hindus and the Christians, have hopelessly fallen victim to the most degraded form of idolatry because they both deny رحمانیة i.e. Divine grace—the former by believing in the indestructibility and eternity of matter and soul and the latter by subscribing to the foolish doctrine that salvation is impossible without Atonement. So the mentioning together of the Divine attribute الرحمن (the Gracious) and Divine punishment shows that it is not رحمانیة i.e. Divine grace, which is the cause of Divine punishment, rather it is its denial and rejection.

شیطان (Satan), as stated above, may signify man’s evil inclinations and propensities, his bad friends and associates and evil spirits that cast their shadows upon him and lead him deeper and deeper into sin and transgression.

13:16; 16:49-50; 55:7.

Commentary:

God has fixed certain laws—natural laws, which all created things, animate or inanimate, have to obey. There is no escape from submission to these laws. There are, however, certain other laws—the laws of the Shari‘ah—which God has made for the guidance of man. These laws man may obey or disobey and defy and thus may suffer the consequences of his defiance.

The verse further brings home to idolaters the folly and futility of their taking the objects of nature for worship besides Allah. It says that all these things depend upon Him for their very existence. They all submit to the laws He has fixed for them and cannot live independently of God for a moment. It is sheer folly, therefore, to adore and worship things and beings which are themselves subject to God-made laws. The expression یسجد له کثیر من الناس و کثیر حق علیه العذاب besides the meaning given in the text, may also mean that many from among men submit to Allah and many others incur His displeasure and punishment because they do not submit to laws made by Him.

Commentary:

Man is the noblest creation of God. The whole universe—the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the oceans, the mountains, etc., have been made to serve him. He can rise morally and spiritually so high as to reflect in his person the Divine attributes. So if man whom God has given the highest place in His whole creation degrades himself so low as to worship lifeless objects, he falls, as it were, from the heights of spiritual eminence to the depths of moral and intellectual degradation. This, in brief, is the purport of this verse.

A brief note on idolatry is here called for. Broadly speaking idolatry consists in the paying of Divine honours to idols, images or any created object; the ascription of Divine powers to natural agencies and the excessive admiration, veneration or love for any person or thing. Besides this, idolatry has several other subtler forms. Some of these are as follows:

1. To believe that there are more beings than one who possess equal and similar powers and attributes and who have equal share in the creation and control of the universe with God.

2. To show allegiance or veneration to beings or objects other than God in the form of acts and movements of the body which are expressive of the highest veneration for those beings or objects and which are prescribed by different religions to be offered only to the Supreme Being and which have been regarded as part of worship, such as prostration, etc.

3. To rely fully and completely upon material means for the fulfilment of one’s needs to the entire exclusion of trust in God.

4. To ascribe to human beings attributes which are God’s own exclusive prerogatives, such as His being Eternal and Everlasting and His attribute of creation or quickening the dead.

5. To think of a person that he has attained to such stage of nearness to God that God is bound to and does accept all his prayers. This amounts to ascribing Divine powers to him.

6. To entertain feelings of love, veneration for, or fear of, any human being greater or even equal to those which he has for God. All these different forms of idolatry have been expressed by the four words used by the Quran, viz. ند (like or equal); شریک (co-partner or sharer); اله(worthy of worship) and رب (sustainer).

17:47; 23:67-68; 39:46.

5:61.

Important Words:

یسطون (would attack) is formed from سطا. They say سطا به او علیه i.e. he sprang or rushed upon him and overpowered him; he made an assault or attack upon him. سطا الفرس means, the horse went at random or in a headlong manner, not obeying guidance; he went with wide step or raised his tail in running. سطا الماء means, the water was or became abundant (Lane & Aqrab).

38:7.

Important Words:

ود (Wadd) is derived from ود (Wadda). They say ودہ i.e. he loved him or it. ود (Wadd) was an idol worshipped by the tribe of Banu Kalb in Daumatul-Jandal. It was in a man’s figure, representing manly power.

سواع (Suwa‘) is derived from ساع. They say ساع الشیء i.e. the thing was wasted (Lane). سواع was an idol which the BanuHudhail worshipped. It was in a woman’s shape, representing female beauty.

یغوث (Yaghuth) is derived from غاث. They say أغاثه i.e. he aided or helped him. یغوث was an idol belonging to the tribe of Murad. Its votaries believed that it helped them when they called for help.

یعوق (Ya‘uq) is derived from عاق. They say عاقه عن کذا i.e. he hindered or prevented or withheld him from such a thing (Lane). یعوق was an idol belonging to the tribe of Hamdan. It was in the shape of a horse, representing swiftness. Its votaries believed that it prevented the enemy from doing harm to its worshippers, and warded off calamities from them.

نسر (Nasr) is derived from نسر. They say نسر الطیر i.e. the bird tore it with its beak. نسر means, eagle or vulture (Aqrab). It was an idol of the Dhul-Kila‘ tribe. It was in the shape of an eagle or vulture, representing long life or insight.

Commentary:

From time immemorial, man, in his ignorance, has worshipped forces of nature, idols made of wood or stone, and human beings. Noah’s people were steeped in idol worship. They had many idols, the five mentioned in the verse under comment being the most popular. The Arabs, several centuries afterwards, are supposed to have brought them from Iraq; Hubal, their most famous idol, was brought from Syria by ‘Amir bin Lohay; their own principal idols being Lat, Manat and ‘Uzza. Or the Arabs might have named their own idols after the idols of the tribe of Noah as the two peoples were not very distant from each other and there was general intercourse between them. There is nothing impossible or improbable in the two neighbouring idolatrous peoples having identical names for their idols.

14:37.

21:78; 26:121; 37:83; 54:12-13.