لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

4:154.

Commentary:

We learn from Exod. 32:9, 10 that the worship of the calf called forth the wrath of God, whereupon Moses prayed to God for the Israelites and then, in the words of the Old Testament, 'the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people' (Exod. 32:14). In this connection it may be noted that the. Quran uses the word 'forgave' instead of 'repented', as used in the Bible, for the latter expression is obviously quite inappropriate to God’s attribute of Knowledge and Majesty. Most probably the word is either a mistranslation of the original or a later interpolation.

It may also be noted here that the word عفو used in this verse does not only signify "forgiving or passing over a sin" but also "obliterating a sin". If a man truly and sincerely turns to God with repentance, He not only forgives him his sin but obliterates the very traces of it, leaving him as stainless and pure as a newborn child.

The words, that you may be grateful, point to a very deep truth. Forgiveness by a superior authority produces the feelings of gratefulness in the person forgiven, and gratefulness in turn impels a man to further acts of obedience and goodness. Thus a sort of continuity in righteousness is brought about.

2:260; 6:123.

Important Words:

بعثناکم (We raised you) is from بعث. They say بعثه i.e. (1) he sent him as a messenger; (2) he made him to rise; (3) he roused him up; (4) He (God) brought him to life; (5) he awoke him from sleep; (6) he instigated him to do a certain thing (Aqrab).

موتکم (your death). See notes on 2:20 and 2:29 where it has been explained that the word موت (death) includes (1) spiritual death; and (2) a state of extreme sorrow, grief, or fear, etc.

Commentary:

The verse should not be understood to mean that the Israelites were restored to life after they had actually died. The Quran strongly repudiates the idea of the dead coming to life again in this world (21:96). The death spoken of in the verse is either spiritual death or a state of extreme grief or terror brought about through dreadful punishment, etc. The Bible testifies to the "death" of which the Quran speaks, as follows: "And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee…And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf" (Exod. 32:31-35).

But God’s forgiveness soon followed; for He did not want to ruin the Israelites, but to raise them morally and spiritually and make them a grateful people.

8:8, 11; 9:25.

2:250.

Important Words:

بدر (Badr) literally means the full moon. The verb form بدر from which the noun-form is derived gives the sense of making haste. They say بدر الی الشیء i.e. he hastened towards it. Badr, in the sense of full moon, is so called because it hastens to rise before the sun sets and to set before the sun rises. Badr is also the name of a place on the route between Mecca and Medina. It takes its name from a spring which belonged to a man named Badr. The Battle of Badr referred to here took place near this place.

Commentary:

These words are addressed to Muslims through the Holy Prophet, who actually used them after the Battle of Uhud. They remind the Faithful that God had granted them victory at Badr while they were much weaker than at the time of the Battle of Uhud, because they behaved obediently, patiently and God-fearingly on that occasion. So the setback at Uhud was due to their own weakness and the disobedience, though not quite intentional, which some of them showed to their Master. But the words also imply a promise of help in future if the Muslims repent of their mistake and behave like true believers.

2:186.

Important Words:

جنب (unclean) for which see 4:44.

Commentary:

After the questions of food and marriage comes the question of cleanliness on which Islam lays so much emphasis, specially on clean­liness necessary for the proper performance of worship. The feet are here mentioned after the head, not because they are intended, as alleged by the Shias, to be only wiped like the head, but because they come last in the process of ablution. This is apparent from the fact that the word ارجل (feet) has been put in the accusative case in the standard text, like the words وجوه (faces) and ایدی (hands), thus showing that, like the latter, the word "feet" is also governed in the accusative case by the verb اغسلوا (wash) and not by the particle با (over) which governs the word رؤس (heads) only. Hence the addition of the verb "wash" before it in the translation. It is true that a solitary reading gives the word ارجل(arjula) as ارجل (arjulin in the genitive case). But even this does not necessarily mean that the word is not governed by the verb اغسلوا (wash); for, according to the rules of Arabic grammar, nouns in the accusative case may sometimes be put in the genitive case owing to their proximity to a noun in the genitive case. According to this rule, ارجل (feet) would be taken to have been put in this reading in the genitive case owing to its proximity to the word رؤس (heads), but really it is governed not by the preposition با but by the verb اغسلوا. In fact, the word ارجل (feet) has been put after رؤس (heads) to point out the order which is to be observed in the performance of ablution. The authentic sayings of the Holy Prophet also make it clear that in performing an ablution the feet should be washed and not merely wiped. These sayings are also supported by the practice of the Holy Prophet.

There are, however, cases when the feet are not to be washed but simply "wiped" like the heads, e.g., when one is wearing socks or stockings. So it may be that the common reading arjula (in the accusative case) applies to the general rule of "washing" the feet when performing وضوء (ablution), while the exceptional reading arjuli (in the genitive case) applies to the exceptional cases when the feet are to be "wiped" like the head.

The words, you have touched women, embody a chaste and graceful expression and mean "you have had sexual intercourse with them".

The sense of the verse may be summed up as follows: (1) Before offering his Prayers, a Muslim should perform the prescribed ablution, i.e.washing of the face and the hands, wiping of the head, and washing of the feet. (2) If a man is جنب (unclean), i.e. he has had sexual intercourse with his wife or, for that matter, has had a nocturnal discharge, he should have a complete bath in order to purify himself for Prayers. (3) If, however, a man is sick and the process of ablution or bathing is likely to do him harm, or if he is on a journey and cannot find water, then even after answering the call of nature or becoming "unclean" by having sexual intercourse with his wife, he is allowed to forego the process of ablution or bathing and to perform instead the تیمم with pure dust. See also 4:44.

2:226.

Commentary:

The verb عقد (‘aqqada) is the intensive form of عقد (‘aqada) for which see 5:2. It conveys the idea of greater deliberation and solemnity. Hence the expression بما عقدتم الایمان (oaths which you take in earnest) would really mean, oaths which you swear solemnly and deliberately.

The use of the word اوسط (average) means both 'middle', (i.e. average) and 'best' (see 2:144) and is thus meant to imply that an oath may be regarded as expiated if ten poor men are fed with food the expiator ordinarily provides for his family, but that it is better to feed them with the best food with which he feeds his own family.

The pronoun ھم (their) in کسوتھم (their clothing) may refer either to families or to poor persons. In the former case, the sentence would read, "the clothing (of ten poor men) with the average (or the best) kind of clothing which you provide for your families". In the latter case, it would simply mean, "the clothing of ten poor men".

The verse should not be taken as describing three different ways by which a person can expiate a broken oath. The different ways are intended to represent three progressive stages of expiation, the third alternative being better than the second, and the second better than the first.

The injunction to expiate oaths does not mean that they may be broken with impunity and then expiated. The prescription of penalties is merely meant to meet a possible eventuality. But oaths contrary to Islamic Law are no oaths. They must be broken. Then there are oaths that pertain to the rights of individuals. These cannot be expiated even by adopting any of the above-mentioned three courses. If, for instance, a man promises on oath to give to a person certain sum of money, and then breaks his oath, and makes the prescribed expiation, the expiation will not absolve him from his obligation to make the promised payment. He must pay the man the promised sum, notwithstanding the expiation. The expiation will only atone for the sin he committed against God by breaking his oath.

7:87.

Commentary:

Muslims are here told that as God saved them when they were weak in the land and were surrounded by wicked and mischievous people, so they should strive to save those who are weak and surrounded by dangers. The verse also hints that as Muslims will soon prosper and attain power, they should never forget the days of hardships through which they have passed, i.e. in the days of their power, they should never oppress the weak creatures of God but should always treat them with justice and mercy.

39:7.

23:79; 67:24.

Commentary:

The verse makes a most moving appeal to the gratitude of man. It says that God has endowed him with faculties of sight, hearing and understanding so that by their proper use he might fulfil the great object of his creation. But it is a pity that he not only does not make proper use of these faculties for the attainment of this noble object but often misuses them and thus, instead of winning the pleasure of God, deserves and draws upon himself His punishment.

The verse continues the main theme of the chapter and gives one more argument in support of the need for Divinerevelation viz. that when man is born he is devoid of all kinds of knowledge but is endowed with the faculties of hearing, sight and understanding. With their help he gradually acquires knowledge of the physical world. He depends upon these Divine gifts for the acquisition of material knowledge but in the matter of spiritual knowledge he has the hardihood to deny the need of Divine guidance.

The words, that you might be grateful, point to the fact that the gifts of God as mentioned in this verse should have naturally led man to grateful appreciation of Divine grace, but instead they serve to make him proud and so deny the need of Divine assistance.

One point worthy of special note in this verse is that the faculties of hearing, seeing and understanding have been mentioned in the order in which they help man to acquire knowledge. Scientists have only recently discovered the fact that first of all a new-born child makes use of the power of hearing. The faculty of seeing develops later and the faculty of understanding is the last to mature. The fact that in many of the lower animals the eyes of the young remain closed for several days after birth confirms the above view. The fact that the Quran should have mentioned a physiological truth which was not generally known at the time of its revelation certainly constitutes an unanswerable argument in favour of its Divine origin.

Important Words:

البدن (sacrificial camels) is the plural of بدنة which means, a she-camel or a male camel; a cow and a bull (preferably the first and the second) that is slaughtered at Mecca or brought there for sacrifice, so called because of its fatness, بدن (badana) as a verb meaning, he was or became big, bulky, big-bodied or corpulent or fat (Lane & Aqrab).

صواف (stand tied up in rows) is the plural of صافة which is derived from صوف. They say صوف القوم i.e. the people stood in rows. صواف means, standing in rows (Lane).

وجبت (they fall down). They say وجب الحائط i.e. the wall fell down. وجب الرجل means, the man fell down and died. وجب الشمس means, the sun set. فاذا وجبت جنوبھا means, when their sides fall upon the ground; when they die and fall down (Lane).

قانع (contented) is active participle from قنع (qania‘) which means, he was contented with his lot; and also from قنع(qana‘a) which means, he asked, he begged. قنع الجبل means, he ascended the mountain. القانع means, one who is contented with his lot; one who asks or begs; one of a people (Aqrab).

المعتر (one who supplicates) is derived from عر (‘arra). They say عرہ i.e. he vexed him; he did evil to him; he addressed or applied himself to obtain favour without asking; he came to him and sought his bounty. المعتر means, one who applies oneself to obtain favour without asking; one who comes to another to ask for a favour; a poor man (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse signifies that the slaughtering of camels which are brought to Mecca for sacrifice is but a symbol of man’s readiness to lay down his life for the sake of his Creator and Master just as camels lay down their lives for their own masters. This is the supreme object and purpose of sacrifice, other objects mentioned in the verse being of secondary importance. The pilgrim is reminded of the significance of sacrifice when he slaughters an animal and thus the animal serves as a sign of God.