Topic: To Holy Prophet(sa)

11:50; 12:103.

3:38.

Important Words:

اقلامھم (their arrows). اقلام is the plural of قلم (an arrow). They say قلم الشیء i.e. he cut the thing. قلم الظفر means, he clipped the superfluous part of the nail (Aqrab). القلم means; (1) a reed used for writing after being pared or shaped into a pen, i.e. a reed-pen; (2) a headless arrow used for drawing lots; (3) an arrow or a dart (Aqrab). It was customary among Arabs to use arrows for drawing lots as well as in gambling, etc.

Commentary:

Many of the facts which the Quran has brought to light regarding Mary are not found in the previous Scriptures. Hence, they are here spoken of as "things unseen". As narrated in the verses that follow, Mary had become pregnant, while leading a life of dedication in the temple. The priests grew most anxious when they came to know of the startling fact. They feared scandal and disputed among themselves and cast lots to decide as to who should take charge of her and arrange her disposal in marriage with some suitable person. One Joseph, a carpenter, as mentioned in the Gospels, was hit upon as a suitable person to be her husband and was persuaded to accept the awkward situation. All this was naturally done in secret and so it was a غیب (a thing unseen) which the Quran has brought to light.

4:167; 13:44; 29:53.

Commentary:

God Himself answers the question which He has put in the beginning of the verse; for the disbelievers did not know how to answer. They could not think that God also could bear witness. The answer has been given by God in order to instruct and teach believers.

Now the question is, how does God bear witness? This verse and the next two mention three ways by which God bears witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet. The first is by means of the Quran. This Quran has been revealed to me, the verse calls upon the Holy Prophet to say, so that with it I may warn you and whomsoever it reaches. These words signify that whosoever opposes the Quran and obstructs it will be visited by Divine punishment. This punishment will constitute God’s testimony to the truth of the Holy Prophet. The second and the third ways by which God bears witness are mentioned in the verses that follow.

11:32.

10:16; 46:10.

Commentary:

The words, I do not say to you, I possess the treasures of Allah, imply that when the Quran says that the Messengers of God are the announcers of glad tidings, this should not be construed to mean that as soon as a person believes in a Prophet of God, he acquires wealth. He will have to wait for the favours of God to come at their appointed time.

The words, nor do I say to you, I am an angel, here imply that it is not in the power of the Prophet to bring down punishment, for he is not "an angel of punishment."

After the above declarations it might be asked what good there was in following the Prophet when worldly favours took time in coming and when the Prophet was so powerless against his enemies. The Quran answers this implied question by saying that the getting of a treasure was not the only boon which one could desire. The perfect guidance which was received through the Prophet was a great blessing in itself for those who accepted the guidance were like one who possessed eyes, while those who rejected it were like one who had no eyes, and the blind and the seeing could never be alike. These are matters to be reflected upon and pondered over.

6:5.

6:105; 17:103.

Important Words:

اجتبیتھا (dost thou forge it). The word اجتبیت derived from جبی . They say, جبی المال i.e. he collected wealth or property. اجتباهmeans, he chose it or selected it. اجتباه also means, he forged it; he extemporised it. The expression لولااجتبیتھا would, therefore, mean, wherefore hast thou not forged it, or produced it, or invented it; or wherefore hast thou not demanded it of God (Lane & Aqrab).

بصائر (evidences) is the plural of بصیرة which is derived from بصر which means, he saw; he was or became endowed with mental perception or belief or knowledge or understanding or intelligence or skill. ابصر الطریق means, the way became manifest. You say انا علی بصیرة i.e. I am certain; or I possess certain knowledge. بصیرة means, mental perception; the perceptive faculty of the mind; understanding; intelligence or skill; firm belief of the heart; constancy or firmness in religion; an evidence, testimony, proof or argument; a witness; an example by which one is admonished; a shield (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The word آیة means "a sign". The verses of the Quran are also called آیات (signs) because every one of them by itself constitutes a divine sign, an evidence of the Divine origin of the Quran, and of the truth of the Holy Prophet. The purport of the verse is that although the Word of God is being revealed as occasion demands, and successive signs of God are being shown to men, yet whenever there is some delay in the coming of Divine revelation or the occurrence of signs, disbelievers ignore the Word of God already revealed and the signs already shown and shamelessly begin to ask of the Prophet, "Why do you not bring any revelation or show any sign in your support?" as if no sign had so far been shown and no revelation had come. To this impudent demand of disbelievers, the Holy Prophet is instructed to reply that the sending down of revelation or the showing of signs lies entirely in the hands of God and that he himself possesses no power to produce them at will. But why do they demand a fresh revelation or a new sign, asks the Quran. Are not the revelations that have already come and the signs that have already appeared enough to establish the truth of Islam? Why do they not ponder over them and profit by them?

It should be remembered that God seldom shows signs at the demand of disbelievers. Moreover, the demand for a fresh sign on their part implies that the signs already shown were no signs and furnished no evidence of the Prophet’s truth. Thus to accede to their demand means a reflection on the signs already shown and detracts from their value. It is, therefore, very rare that God shows fresh signs or miracles as demanded by disbelievers. He requires them rather to consider past signs and profit by them.

7:64, 70; 50:3

Important Words:

قدم (rank) is the substantive noun from قدم. They say قدم القوم (qadama) i.e. he went before the people or he preceded them; or he took precedence of them; or he led them so as to set an example; قدم البلد (qadima) means, he came to or arrived at the town. قدمه علی غیرہ (qaddama-hu) means, he gave him precedence over another in time, place or rank; he preferred him to another or honoured or esteemed him above another. The expression لزید عند بکر قدم means, there is strength or rank or good footing for Zaid, with Bakr. They say فلان علی قدم عظیم i.e. such a one is on an excellent footing or foundation. فلان علی قدم فلان means, such a one is the successor of such a one (literally, such a one treads in the footsteps of such a one). قدم means, the human foot; precedence, or preference; rank, footing or foundation (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

It is generally believed that the occasion for the revelation of this verse was when disbelievers taunted that God could find no one better to act as His Messenger than the orphan boy of Abu Talib. Though no great value can be attached to this or that incident as being the cause of the revelation of a particular verse, the incident referred to above at least throws some light on the treatment which the Meccans meted out to the Holy Prophet and the contempt in which he was held by them after he had laid claim to prophethood. To call the Holy Prophet the orphan boy of Abu Talib, who was his uncle and guardian, and not to call him after his own father, was intended to insinuate that a man who was the son of an unnamable person and who had been brought up by another could not be worthy of a Messenger of God.

The verse also brings to light the important fact that those who become morally depraved lose all sense of self-respect as well as all confidence in themselves, for here the disbelievers are represented as looking upon themselves as being so degenerate that they could not think that anyone from among them could come and rescue them from the morass of degradation into which they had fallen and that only someone from outside could reform them. This tragic fact also holds good in the case of present-day Muslims. They, too, are anxiously waiting for Jesus to come down from the heaven to take them out of the slough of despair and degradation and are refusing to accept the heavenly Reformer whom God raised from among themselves to lead them to moral perfection and spiritual glory.

The words, give glad tidings to those who believe that they have a true rank of honour with their Lord, embody a promise that whoever acts upon the teachings of the Holy Prophet will achieve all kinds of prosperity and glory. This was another cause of surprise for disbelievers. According to them, the followers of the Holy Prophet lacked those qualities that go to make a people great and prosperous. They, therefore, wondered how Muslims dared hope to succeed in their great aim of destroying the old order of things and building on its ashes a new and better order. The words, with their Lord, signify that Muslims would make not only moral and spiritual but also material progress. By referring to their connection with a Being Who has the power to bestow all forms of advancement, the Quran alludes to the complete glory and many-sided success of Muslims.

The words, Surely, this is a manifest enchanter, signify that when disbelievers heard the above announcement, they said that Muhammad had succeeded in representing falsehood as truth, because he knew how to take advantage of the weakness of man. He had inspired the cowardly with fear and had held out false hopes to the greedy, and had thus managed to bring people over to his side. This is the very criticism which is levelled at the Holy Prophet by modern Christian writers. They also allege that Muhammad converted the ignorant Arabs to his faith by threatening with punishment those of them who disbelieved and tempting those who were credulous and greedy with promises of bliss and happiness. If that was indeed a stratagem, where is the religion which does not promise Heaven to its believers

and Hell to disbelievers? If speaking of blessings—which are the inevitable result of accepting truth—be called tempting a people with false promises, then no religion is safe from the charge of holding out such temptation. And what will Christian critics say of Jesus, who promised the keys of Paradise to Peter and to his other followers and threatened disbelievers with deprivation of the kingdom of God? (Matt. 16:15-19; 18:3 & 19:28, 29).

17:74.

17:94; 25:9.

13:8.

Important Words:

فلعلك (thou art now perhaps). The word لعل is used to denote either a state of hope or of fear, whether that state pertains to the speaker or to the addressee or to someone else. In the Quranic expression فلعلك تارك بعض مایوحی الیك (thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee) the word لعل has been used to signify that "the people imagine that thou art now perhaps going to abandon, etc." (Mufradat). See also 2:22.

کنز (treasure) is the noun-infinitive from کنز (kanaza). They say کنز المال i.e. he buried the property or treasure in the earth; he collected the property and treasured it, or he hoarded it or stored it in secret. کنز الرمح means, he stuck or fixed the spear in the ground. کنز التمر means, he stored or packed up the dates (in the receptacle). کنز (kanz) means, treasure; property buried in the earth; any property whereof the portion that should be given in alms is not given; property that is preserved in a receptacle; anything abundant and collected together; gold and silver; a treasure of knowledge or science; that in which property is preserved or that in which property is buried or hoarded in secret (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It is a peculiarity of Quranic diction that sometimes it omits to give the question and only gives the answer, the question being implied in the answer itself. The present verse constitutes an example of this style. In the previous verse believers were promised forgiveness and a great reward. Thereupon disbelievers asked the Holy Prophet in a jeering and ironical manner, "You say your followers will get a great reward and their sins will be forgiven. We know nothing about the forgiveness of their sins. But where is the promised reward of which we do not see the slightest sign? You do not have even the money which you need so badly, nor do the angels descend from heaven to help you." The Quran turns the tables upon the disbelievers and answers their irony, with an irony, saying, "How weighty indeed is the objection of these people and perhaps, o Prophet, from fear of being unable to answer it, you would hide a part of Our revelation which contains prophecies regarding the prosperity and triumph of Islam!" meaning that such a thing can never be.

The verse is capable of another interpretation also. In this case the word لعل would be taken to refer to the hope of disbelievers that the Holy Prophet may, out of fear of their objections, suppress part of the Divine revelation. The verse declares such hopes to be vain and futile, for the Holy Prophet was "only a warner," and the function and duty of a warner is only to issue the warning and deliver his message faithfully; he has no right to suppress any portion of the message. Again, by using the words "only a Warner" the verse also hints that the Holy Prophet did not claim to be God so that the treasures of the earth might be under his control; he was only a human being. If it be said here that believers who were promised "a great reward" (see the preceding verse) were also human beings like the Holy Prophet, it should be remembered that they were promised the reward not immediately but after they had established their title to it by displaying patience and steadfastness under trials and hardships for a considerable time. So disbelievers could demand from the Holy Prophet clear and palpable signs of the prosperity promised to him only when the promised time had come and not earlier. To come attended with power and glory in the very beginning is a sign of personal authority which belongs to God alone and not to any human being."

The words, Allah is Guardian over all things, are intended to point to the fact that all these promises will certainly come to pass. The Holy Prophet will assuredly get both مغفرة (lit. covering up) and a great reward, and the angels of God will undoubtedly descend to bring his work to completion and make null and void the machinations of his enemies. Not only will he himself be favoured with a great reward, but his followers and disciples also would become rulers and kings. Any fair-minded and impartial person can see that both these promises were literally fulfilled.

Some hostile critics of Islam have pretended to infer from this verse that the Holy Prophet was actually prepared to abandon a portion of the Quran out of fear of the objections of his opponents. But the context spurns this baseless interpretation. Can any reasonable person imagine that the demand for the descent of helping angels or for the possession of a treasure was such that, on account of it, the Holy Prophet should, in any way, have become prepared to suppress part of Divine revelation, or that he was unaware of the fact that he was only a warner whose duty was to deliver the Message, whatever it might be? Again, did he not know that God had clearly spoken to him saying He Himself was "Guardian over all things"? So the words, thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee, contain only a vain hope on the part of the disbelievers that the Prophet might give up part of his revelation; they do not at all find any intention or readiness on his part to do so. Do not these critics know that when at Mecca a deputation of the Quraish waited on the Holy Prophet and asked him to give up preaching against their idols and threatened to crush him and his tribe in case he refused to do so, the prompt answer he gave was that even if they put the sun on his right and the moon on his left he would not swerve a hair’s breadth from the teachings which God had given him? Could he, whom the threats or cajolery of the Quraish at a time when he was extremely weak could not induce to give up his preaching, have become so unnerved by these silly objections as to become ready to conceal a part of the DivineWord?

The verse that follows also gives the lie to such an inference, for it contains a challenge to the world to produce ten Surahs like any ten Surahs of the Quran. If there had been any doubt in the Prophet’s mind concerning any portion of the Quran, could that very portion possibly have been followed by a challenge like this? This challenge shows that he believed in the truth of every word of the Quran with a conviction firm as a rock.

Important Words:

نقص (We narrate). They say قص اثرہ i.e. he followed his tracks or footsteps in pursuit. قص علیه الحدیث means, he related to him the story in its proper manner i.e. rightly, as though he followed its traces in pursuit and related it accordingly (Lane). See also 7:177.

Commentary:

As the expression نقص (which literally means, we narrate rightly or properly) indicates, the verse shows that some differences existed about the life story of Joseph. The Quran here claims to act as judge between the upholders of different views and to lift the veil of obscurity from the face of the true story. This is why it says, We relate to thee the narration rightly or properly as though following its very traces (see Important Words). It is strange that some European critics of the Quran have not taken into consideration the existence of differences about the life of Joseph, but have only thought fit to take exception to the narrative of the Quran, merely because it differs from that of the Bible in certain details. In fact, the very objection has established the truth of the Quran, inasmuch as the claim that it relates the incidents rightly shows that the Revealer of the Quran knew that at some future time people would object to the Quranic version. Brinckman is one of these critics. In his "Notes on Islam" he says, "In the Koran a beautiful and touching tale is mangled and spoiled." The following pages will show whether it is in the Quran or the Bible, that a "beautiful and touching tale" has been "mangled and spoiled."

One of the reasons why the story of Joseph was revealed to the Holy Prophet in such detail is that it contains many prophetic allusions to his own life. The whole story was to be, as it were, re-enacted in the person of the Holy Prophethimself and his brethren, the Quraish, and was thus to serve as evidence of his truth. Another reason is that, as the Holy Prophet was the like of Joseph it was necessary that he himself should know the latter’s life history.

The Holy Prophet has been referred to here as of those not possessed of requisite knowledge. His lack of requisite knowledge about Joseph was intended to hint that, firstly, the whole truth about Joseph was to be found neither in the Bible nor in the Talmud; and, secondly, that the Holy Prophet was not aware that events similar to those which happened to Joseph were to occur in his own life. The account of the Quran differs from that of the Bible in many respects but, as will appear from the following pages, wherever the two accounts differ, it is the Bible that has erred.

25:61.

Commentary:

The previous two verses spoke of the people to whom God grants perfect peace of mind and who enjoy a truly happy end. By the words, Thus have We sent thee, the Quran means to suggest that God has raised the Holy Prophet so that he may, by his noble teaching and noble example, produce men of this type.

The verse draws the attention of disbelievers to God’s attribute of الرحمن (the Gracious) in a very striking manner. It says that whereas disbelievers demand immediate punishment, God continues to delay and postpone it. It is His attribute of Ar-Rahman which is at the root of this postponement, and yet disbelievers say that He is not Ar-Rahman. If God had not been Ar-Rahman they would have met their destruction long before.

The question also arises here, how could the Holy Prophet raise a stone-hearted people like the Arabs to the high standard of moral and spiritual excellence mentioned in the preceding verse? In reply to this natural misgiving, the Holy Prophet is bidden to say, "It is not my work, but God’s. In Him do I put my trust, and to Him will I repeatedly turn for help till this object is attained." The verse also draws our attention to the great spiritual lesson that real reformation, which is the purification of the heart, is brought about only through trust in God and constantly turning to Him in prayer. Those who seek to reform the hearts of men by physical and material means can never succeed. Material means can at best reform the exterior of men. It is only spiritual means that can engender conviction and purity of heart. This is why the so-called cultured and enlightened nations of the West have, in spite of their best efforts, failed to present that high standard of morality and spirituality to which the Holy Prophet raised his Companions, notwithstanding his utter lack of material resources.

2:136; 4:126; 22:79.

Commentary:

The reason why Abraham has been held up as an exemplar is that he was held in high esteem not only by Jews and Christians but also by the idolaters of Arabia, being the common ancestor of all. The verse does not mean, as insinuated by some Christian writers, that according to it the Holy Prophet was merely a follower of the religion of Abraham and nothing more. The words, "following the way of Abraham" only mean, following and imitating him in things mentioned in the preceding verse—he was a paragon of virtue and yet was humble and grateful to God. The Holy Prophet was by far a nobler character than Abraham and Islam a much better religious system than any previous one.

29:46.

6:35, 116; 10:65.

Commentary:

The verse makes it clear that the above account of the Dwellers of the Cave is not meant merely as an interesting narrative but refers to events of the past of great spiritual significance, at the same time constituting a forewarning to Muslims to be always prepared for hardships like those that the Dwellers of the Cave had to suffer. In fact according to Ibn ‘Abbas the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that اصحاب الکھف (Dwellers of the Cave) are the companions of the Imam Mahdi (Manthur). The words, there is none who can change His words, also support the assumption that the account of the Dwellers of the Cave contains mighty prophecies, otherwise there was no sense in using such challenging words as these. See the following verses.

23:117.

Commentary:

The words O my Lord, increase me in knowledge show the great importance that the Quran attaches to the acquirement of knowledge. Even the Holy Prophet to whom was vouchsafed knowledge about the generations that have passed away and about those that are yet to be born أوتیت علم الاولین و الآخرین)), is taught to pray that his knowledge may be increased. He is further reported to have said, "Seek knowledge though it may be found in a country as far away as China" (Saghir vol. 1). Elsewhere in the Quran knowledge has been styled as "God’s great grace" (2:270 & 4:114).

The verse also implies that all knowledge is of two kinds: (a) that which is vouchsafed to man through revelation and which has found its perfect manifestation in the Quran which is the last and most perfect Divine teaching; (b) that which man acquires by his own effort and labour. It is this second kind of knowledge for the acquisition of which man is enjoined in the present verse to make ceaseless effort.

The verse also implies that the Quran will come to be increasingly read and followed.

30:53.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that the prophecies which the Holy Prophet has made about the triumph of Islam and about the defeat and discomfiture of disbelief are not the figment of his own imagination. They proceed from the Almighty God and are based on His clear and express Word.

18:28.

Important Words:

اتل (recite) is imperative from تلا. They say تلا الکتاب i.e. he read, rehearsed, recited the book; he followed it and did according to it. ھو یتلو فلانا means, he follows such a one in action; he imitates him. تلوت الابل means, I drove the camels together from their several quarters. اتل means, proclaim; preach, read, recite, rehearse; follow (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:114.

ذکر (remembrance) is infinitive noun from ذکر (dhakara) which means, he remembered; he kept in mind. ذکر (dhikrun) means, remembrance; speaking of or mentioning; honour; eminence; good name; praise, etc. (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:153, 201; 6:69 & 15:7.

Commentary:

Three things have been mentioned in this verse, viz. preaching and reading of the Quran, observance of Prayer and the remembrance of Allah. The purpose of all three is to deliver man from the bondage of sin and to help him to rise morally and spiritually which is the supreme object of all Divine Books. A living faith in a Supreme Being to Whom man has to render an account of all his actions after his death in a new life is the basic principle of all revealed religions and their great aim is to create and inculcate such faith because it is this faith that can serve as a potent and effective check on man’s evil propensities and actions. This is why the Quran reverts again and again to the subject of God’s existence and speaks of His great power, glory and love and lays the greatest emphasis on Divine remembrance of which the Islamic Prayer constitutes the most complete form; and of which—if performed with all its necessary conditions—purity of mind and actions is the inevitable result. Observance of Prayer, however, demands the fulfilment of the following five conditions:

1. One should be regular in saying Prayers.

2. Prayers should be said punctually at their appointed hours and in accordance with the prescribed rules.

3. One should be humble in spirit and should not allow one’s thoughts to wander away while saying Prayer.

4. Prayers should be said in congregation.

5. One should exhort others also to be regular and punctual in saying Prayers.

ذکر الله may mean, (1) man’s glorification of God, or (2) God’s remembrance of man, i.e. His raising him to a place of honour and eminence and spreading his good reputation. The verse purports to say that if you remember God and glorify Him, He will bestow honour and renown upon you and will make you eminent and respected in the world. See also 23:10.

7:204; 10:16, 110; 46:10.

2:187; 11:62.

22:55; 47:3; 56:96.

6:89.

Commentary:

The verse is of general application, and stresses the futility and stupidity of polytheistic beliefs and idolatrous practices.