Topic: Fixed Term

3:149; 4:135; 42:21.

Commentary:

The preceding verse spoke of the possible death of the Holy Prophet. But that was mentioned only as a matter of principle. Otherwise, how could the Holy Prophet, whom God had promised to protect, die except by His leave? Whenever death comes, it comes with the permission of God; but that permission could not be yet given in the case of the Holy Prophet. There is a fixed time for it and the enmity or the secret machinations of disbelievers could not hasten that time.

15:27; 23:13; 32:8; 37:12; 38:72.

71:5.

Commentary:

The creation of man referred to in the words, Who created you, is meant as an illustration of the light mentioned in the previous verse, while the decreeing of a term, i.e. the ordaining of death, is meant as an illustration of "darkness". The verse ascribes both these acts to God as acts of mercy, thus refuting those who believe in two separate Gods, one of evil and the other of good.

The words, there is another term fixed with Him, refer to the Day of Judgement or of Resurrection when men, after passing through the gate of death, will receive their rewards from their Lord.

10:50; 15:6; 16:62; 35:46.

Important Words:

یستقدمون (get ahead) is derived from قدم i.e. he preceded; or he came before; or he headed (someone else). استقدم القوم means, he preceded the people, or he went ahead of the people, or he went before them (Lane & Aqrab). As one who gets ahead of a thing virtually leaves it behind, therefore, the idea in یستقدمون (get ahead) is that of escaping.

یستأخرون (remain behind) is derived from اخر. They say استأخرالقوم i.e. he remained behind the people. استأخر also means, he or it was put behind or put off or delayed (Lane & Aqrab). As one who remains behind a thing virtually puts the thing off, therefore, the idea in یستأخرون (remain behind) is that of putting off.

Commentary:

The verse means that when the time fixed for the punishment of a people comes, it cannot be averted. Disbelievers, who have incurred it, can neither escape it nor put it off by a single moment.

7:189.

7:35; 16:62; 35:46.

Commentary:

This verse embodies a reply to the disbelievers’ demand for punishment (mentioned in the preceding verse). The Holy Prophet is bidden to ask them how he could fulfil their demand for punishment when personally he possessed no power either to do good to, or avert evil from, himself. How clearly this and similar other verses show that the real object of the Quran is to uphold the Unity of God! The Quran cannot bear any human being, even the greatest of all the Prophets, to be regarded as equal to God.

The word امة (people) in this verse means those who disbelieve and not people generally as referred to in v. 48. The verse means to say that there comes a time when disbelievers meet their inevitable end and their place is taken by another people who follow the Divine Messenger. In other words, the Holy Prophet is made to say to disbelievers that, though it is not in his power to bring punishment on them, yet, as it is the immutable law of God that when a people take to evil ways they decline and fall, they will not be allowed to go unpunished and on their ashes a new people shall arise and a new era of truth shall dawn.

14:12; 40:79.

Commentary:

Disbelievers objected that the Holy Prophet had come without any worldly resources. The verse under comment replies to this objection by stating that earlier Prophets were also without any worldly resources. They, like him, had their physical needs and requirements. They, too, had wives and children whom they had to support and look after and had their duties to perform. Yet in spite of all the impediments and obstacles in their way and in spite of their physical needs and requirements and of the absence of material resources, they succeeded and triumphed. So shall the Holy Prophet.

The verse also makes it clear that signs of punishment are certainly shown to disbelievers but not at the time and in the form in which they demand them. The form and time of signs are determined by God alone, for they are shown only "by the command of Allah."

It may be asked here what, if God raised Messengers for the reformation of man, prevented Him from delegating to these Messengers the power of punishment, particularly when He knew that Signs would be demanded of them by their opponents and also when even earthly governments invest their officials with certain magisterial powers? Again, if God had invested His Prophets with the power to punish the people, it would have at least this advantage that the people would have feared and respected them and dared not oppose them. The Quran answers this question in the words, For every term there is a divine decree, which means that, as it is God Who determines the nature and form of each punishment and the time of its occurrence and He alone, being All-Knowing, knows in what form and at what time the sending down of a certain punishment will prove beneficial to the people, the power of punishing cannot be delegated to any other person. For if that delegation can at all be fair and useful, it must be accompanied by the delegation of many other divine powers, which is simply unthinkable. The infliction of punishment, therefore, could not be entrusted to the Prophets or to anybody else.

10:12; 18:59; 35:46.

7:35; 10:50.

Commentary:

This verse furnishes an answer to a possible doubt arising from the preceding verse. The doubter would say, if Divine revelation is the only source of guidance, and teachings devised by man all lead to error, why then do disbelievers, in spite of their rejection of Divine guidance, not always come to grief in this life? On the contrary, many of them are seen to prosper, which fact shows that they are not altogether in the wrong. One answer implied in the verse is that if thieves, robbers and murderers do not always meet with immediate punishment and sometimes get respite, how can respite granted to rejecters of the Quran be adduced as a proof that it is not the revealed word of God? Another reason embodied in this verse as to why punishment is not always meted out to the guilty is that if all sins had been at once punished by God, the world would have come to an end and all life on earth would have become extinct. Man would have perished as a result of his sins and there would have been no purpose in the beasts, animals, birds etc., remaining alive after his destruction. Being created for man’s use and benefit they would have perished with him. So God’s wise plan in granting respite to evildoers and deferring their punishment provides yet another proof of the life after death when man’s actions will meet with full and even-handed justice.

8:69; 10:20.

Important Words:

لزاماً (inevitable) is derived from لزم. They say لزمه i.e. it necessarily or inseparably belonged to it, clove or adhered to him or it. لزام الامر means, the affair became incumbent upon him. ألزمه شیئا means, he obliged him to do or endure a thing or He (God) decreed or ordained to him a thing; he made a thing cleave to him or he made him to cleave to a thing. لزاماً means, death; reckoning; such as cleaves fast; a thing inseparable; decision in a case (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The reference in the words, a word already gone forth, is to the Divine declaration contained in the verse "My mercy encompasses all things" (7:157) i.e. God in His infallible wisdom has decreed that His attribute of mercy will continue to transcend all His other attributes. Or the reference may be to the verse "And Allah would not punish them while thou wast amongst them" (8:34). In this case the words "a term already fixed" refer to the battle of Badr.

15:6.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that no people can thwart their decreed destiny. Rejection of Divine Prophets never goes unpunished but it is for God to determine the form and the time of the punishment to be meted out to disbelievers.

22:48; 26:205; 27:72-73; 37:177-178.

Commentary:

The verse gives a direct answer to the disbelievers’ demand for the sign of punishment and says that instead of benefiting by the sign of mercy which has been given to them in the form of the Quran, these ill-fated people persist in their demand for punishment. They will have this Sign and the punishment will come upon them also all of a sudden and from quarters least expected. But they will have to wait for أجل مسمی i.e. a fixed and appointed term.

The implied reference in the words أجل مسمی is to the migration of the Holy Prophet to Medina and the punishment demanded by the disbelievers is elsewhere expressed in the words, "O Allah! if this indeed be the truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring down upon us a grievous punishment" (8:33). The punishment came upon the disbelievers in the form of the Battle of Badr which took place about a year after the Holy Prophet left Mecca. It broke the power of the Quraish and all their prominent leaders were killed. Their defeat was crushing and most unexpected. They could never conceive that their well-armed and fully equipped army would be defeated by a handful of 313 ill-armed Muslims who had come to the field of battle quite unprepared, because they had no idea when they left Medina that they would be meeting a regular and fully armed host. The words, "it will come upon them unexpectedly" may also have a general application, meaning that when Divine punishment is delayed, the disbelievers begin to think that all the warning was but an illusion and a fantasy and consequently they become lulled into a false sense of security and even increase in transgression. It is when they are in this state of complacency that the punishment comes upon them quite unexpectedly and destroys them.

7:35; 10:50.

Commentary:

If v. 27 above is taken as referring to the Battle of Badr, the word یوم (day) in the present verse would signify 'a year'. The Battle of Badr wasfought in about a year after the Hijrah.

45:18; 98:5.

10:20; 20:130; 41:46.

Commentary:

While the pronoun "they" in the expression "and they did not become divided" refers to the followers of the Prophets mentioned in the previous verse, the reference in the words, "those who were made to inherit the Book after them," is either to those followers of the above-mentioned Prophets who inherited the Book after those Prophets had passed away or to the people in the time of the Holy Prophet who became heirs to Divine revelation after the followers of the Israelite Prophets had defied and disobeyed the Divine Message.

Commentary:

The verse means that if differences between husband and wife are due to the poverty of the husband, God will provide for him from sources he never could imagine, provided he fears Allah and honestly wishes to tide over the difficult situation.

21:110.

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet is enjoined to say to disbelievers that it is not for him to say when the threatened punishment will be, but come it must.