مِن قَبْلِكَ

2:137, 286; 3:200; 4:61, 137, 163; 5:60.

4:70; 7:36; 61:7; 62:4.

Important Words:

انزل (has been revealed) is derived from نزل which means, he descended; or he came down. The literal meaning of the transitive form انزل would, therefore, be, he sent down, or he caused to descend. Figuratively, however, the word has come to be used about anything bestowed by God on man. God being high, everything that comes from Him may be said to descend from above. When used with reference to God’s Word, انزل would mean, He revealed. Thus we say, انزل الله كلامه in the sense of اوحی i.e. God revealed His word (Aqrab).

الآخرة (what is yet to come) is derived from اخر. They say اخرہ i.e. he put it back; he put it behind; he postponed it. The word الآخرة which is the feminine of الآخر i.e. the last one or the latter one, is used as an epithet or an adjective opposed to الاول i.e. the first one. الآخر with a different vowel-point in the central letter, means, "the other" or "another" (Aqrab). The object which the adjective الآخرة in the verse qualifies is understood, most commentators taking it to be الدار, the full expression thus being الدار الآخرة (the last abode). The context, however, shows that here the word understood is not الدارbut الرسالة i.e. الرسالة الآخرة (the message or revelation which is to come). The word; الآخرة has, therefore, been rightly translated here as "that (i.e. the revelation) which is yet to come".

یوقنون (they have firm faith) is derived from ایقن which again is derived from یقن i.e. it became clear and established. ایقن الامر means, he knew the matter well and made sure of it; he was certain about it. یقین means, certainty; becoming sure of a thing beyond doubt; anything sure and established (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse describes three more qualities of a متقی i.e. a righteous person. In the previous verse mention was made of faith in general. But as a true believer seeks to know the details of تقوی (righteousness) in order to perfect his faith, he is told here that for its consummation he must believe in the Holy Prophet and through him in the previous Prophets, and must at the same time believe in "what is yet to come". Thus, belief in the Holy Prophet is the central point so far as belief in the Prophets of God is concerned, and no person can become متقی (a truly righteous person) unless he believes in the Holy Prophet.

From the words, that which has been revealed to thee, quite an erroneous inference is some­times drawn to the effect that it is belief in the Quran and not belief in the Holy Prophet that is enjoined. This view the Quran forcefully contradicts. Besides making it clear in several places that belief in the Prophet is as essential as belief in the Book (e.g.2:286; 4:66; 4:137), the Quran makes the point clear in another way also. At one place we have, He it is Who has sent down to you the Book clearly explained (6:115), and at another, and in like manner have We sent down the Book to thee(O Prophet) (29:48). The fact that God sometimes speaks of the Quran as having been sent to the people and sometimes to the Prophet is not without point. In fact, the difference in construction is full of meaning; for where the Quran is spoken of as having been sent to the people, the intention is to point out that the Quranic teaching is suitable and appropriate for them and is meant for their good; and where the Quran is spoken of as having been sent to the Prophet, the intention is to emphasize that he is not merely the bearer of a message but is the person best fitted to explain the message he has brought and to become an exemplar of the teaching contained in the message. Elsewhere God says, Allah knows best where to place His message (6:125), which is a clear proof of the fact that a Prophet is not merely the bearer of a message, but is selected by God for a higher purpose, i.e. to become a model for his followers; otherwise, anybody can be sent as a bearer of a message and the question of special selection does not arise.

The words, and that which was revealed before thee, illustrate a special characteristic of Islam, i.e. it not only recognizes the truth of all previous Prophets but makes it obligatory upon its followers to believe in the Divine origin of the teachings they brought with them (see also 13:8; 35:25). But it must be remembered that Islam is a complete and final teaching which has superseded all previous teachings. Belief in them, therefore, is only in the sense of reverence for them and not in the sense that a Muslim should act upon them. That is why in the verse under comment God mentions the earlier Scriptures after the Quran and not before it, as the chronological order required, so that the attention of the believers may be drawn to the fact that belief in the previous books is based on the Quran and is not independent of it.

According to the Quran (35:25), Prophets have appeared among all peoples and all nations and we are commanded to believe in all previous revelations, and thus an effective step has been taken to promote peace and harmony among the followers of different religions. The verse applies to no particular Book. Any earlier Book which claims Divine origin and has been accepted for a long time and by a large section of mankind to be the Word of God falls within the meaning of this verse.

The word الآخرة (what is yet to come) means either "the message or revelation which is to follow" or "the Last Abode", i.e. the next life. Of these two meanings the first is more applicable here; for it fits in with the other two parts of the verse which speak of God’s revelations. In this connection it is also noteworthy that while the word ایمان has been used in reference to the past and present revelations, the word یقین has been used in reference to the future ones. This is because ایمان relates to something definite and determined, and as the future revelation was not yet definite and determined at the time when the verse was revealed, so the word یقین was used for it.

The subject of the latter part of this verse, referred to in the words, what is yet to come, finds further exposition in 62:3, 4 where the Quran speaks of two advents of the Holy Prophet. His first advent took place among the Arabs in the 7th century of the Christian era when the Quran was revealed to him; and his second advent was to take place in the latter days of the world in the person of one of his followers who was to come in his spirit and power. This prophecy found its fulfilment in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, in whose advent have been fulfilled also the prophecies of other Prophets regarding the appearance of a World-Messenger in the Latter Days.

Commentary:

The words, They desire to seek judgement from the rebellious, need not be taken as referring to any particular incident; they speak of a general tendency among hypocrites.

3:8.

2:5, 137; 3:200; 4:137; 5:60.

Important Words:

مقیمین (who observe Prayer) is the active participle from اقام which is derived from قام i.e. he stood up or he stood still. اقام الامر means, he put the affair in a right state or condition.

اقام الصلوة means, he said or observed prayer constantly, regularly and with all the conditions attached to it (Lane & Aqrab). According to ordinary rules of grammar, this word ought to have been المقیمون and not المقیمین. But the اعراب (diacritics) of the word have been varied from that of the preceding or succeeding words e.g. الراسخون and المومنون in order to arrest the attention of the reader and thus to impress upon his mind the importance of the matter. The rules of the Arabic language sanction that variation for the purpose of emphasis (Jarir, vi. 16; Kashshaf, i. 336).

Commentary:

The words, But those among them who are firmly grounded in knowledge, refer to those learned Jews who embraced Islam. The word "believers" has been added to indicate that only those Jews are meant here who turned Muslim.

2:148; 10:95; 11:18.

Commentary:

The words, if thou art in doubt, cannot refer to the Holy Prophet, for the Divine Messenger to whom the word of God is revealed can never entertain any doubt about it. Nor can these words be said to refer to any of his Companions, for we read in 12:109, Say, this is my way; I invite unto Allah on sure knowledge—I and those who follow me. It is therefore wrong to say that the Prophet or his Companions, who are represented here as possessing sure knowledge, ever entertained doubt about the truth of the Quran. The persons addressed here are undoubtedly those who differed among themselves after "knowledge" (the Quran) had come to them. See v. 94.

The objecters are further told that if, as they assert, this Book (i.e. the Quran) gives rise to doubts, they should enquire from those who have benefited by reading and acting upon it. They will then find how it has illuminated their hearts and raised them to the highest pinnacles of spiritual glory.

By saying, ask those who have been reading the Book before thee, the verse also makes it clear that a revealed book alone does not make a perfect guide and that a teacher is needed who, by his superior spiritual knowledge and practical example, should lay bare its hidden beauties and excellences.

16:44; 21:8.

Commentary:

It is clear from this verse that only men, not women, can become Prophets. In fact, men and women have their specific spheres of work, the office of prophethood being outside the sphere of women. All other spiritual favours and blessings, however, are as open to women as to men.

The verse also warns disbelievers that their present pomp and power should not deceive them into thinking that they will indefinitely continue to enjoy these things. The time was fast approaching when their power and glory would depart and the people would see the truth and accept Islam. Their days would end in adversity and degradation, unlike those of the believers, whose condition would continue to improve, though sincere believers always enjoy perfect peace of mind even in adversity.

Important Words:

شیع (parties) is the plural of شیعة (a party) which is derived from شاع meaning, it (a thing or a piece of news) became spread or disclosed. اشاع الخبر means, he spread or disclosed the news. شیع بالابل (shayya‘a) means, he (a pastor) called to the camels whereupon they (gathered together and) followed one another. شیعة of which the plural is شیع means, a separate or distinct party of men, so called from their agreeing together and following one another; the followers or assistants of a man; any people that have combined in or for an affair; any people or party whose affair or case is one and who follow one another’s opinion (Lane).

Commentary:

In the word شیع (parties or more literally, parties forming groups) all the former peoples have been spoken of as groups. This negatives the assertion of those so-called in-dependent people who describe themselves as not belonging to any group, for every man must belong to one group or another whether old or new, known or unknown. Herding, according to psychologists, is one of the strongest instincts of man, and it is in reference to this fact that the former peoples have been spoken of as forming so many شیع (parties or groups). For the meaning of the word شیع see Important Words.

The verse purports to state that the Prophet of Islam is not the first Prophet. There have been Prophets before him and God extended His protection to their teachings also. Similarly He will protect his teaching, the Quran. On the occasion of the appearance of a Prophet who brings a new Law, this protection is afforded to his teaching, among other things, by his followers being invested with political power which enables them to give a practical demonstration of the truth of his teaching. His followers may not attain to political power very early in their career, nevertheless they achieve such influence as enables them to demonstrate by actual practice the truth of his teachings. It is indeed surprising that the opponents of every Prophet have always refused to test the truth of his claim by the criteria of the history of past Prophets, which is the easiest way to ascertain the merits of any such claim. This attitude of disbelievers proves that they are not honest or earnest about ascertaining the truth but intend only to confuse the issues.

12:110; 21:8.

Commentary:

Disbelievers laboured under the misconception that the Holy Prophet was an ordinary man like themselves, so there was little to fear from his rejection. The present verse warns them that all the previous Prophets were also ordinary mortals but they succeeded in their mission and their opponents met with complete discomfiture and destruction. So they too would invite their ruin if they rejected him.

The words, So ask those who possess the Reminder, contain a sound rebuke to the Meccan disbelievers. They took pride in the fact that they were the descendants of great Prophets, Abraham and Ishmael, and were well acquainted with their history. They are here told that they seem to have forgotten the history of their ancestors of whom they are so proud. They should consult some other people who happen to know and thus realize that it is not safe to defy God’s Prophets.

Taking ذکر in the sense to remember, the words اھل الذکر would mean, those who remember, and the expression, ask those who possess the Reminder, would mean that if the disbelievers of Mecca have forgotten the history of their forefathers they should learn it from Muslims who are اھل الذکر, i.e. who possess and remember that history. The taunt must have cut to the quick the Meccan idolaters who were so proud of their ancestry.

The words, نوحی الیھم (to whom We sent revelation), point out that the honour and greatness which the Prophets had acquired had their basis not in material resources or numbers, but were due to the revelations they received from God.

The verse also suggests an answer to the misgivings of disbelievers who asked how the Holy Prophet, a helpless man, could bring political power and glory to his followers. They are told that all the previous Prophets were as helpless as he, yet they were successful in their mission and gained power and greatness.

Commentary:

The verse gives a third argument in favour of the Unity of God. It purports to say that all the Divine Messengers and great religious reformers who appeared among different nations and countries at different times testified with one voice to the Oneness of God which was their common mission. In spite of the fact that with the passage of time the teachings of these Prophets became tampered with and were subjected to distortions and interpolations, the belief in the Unity of God continued to be the basic principle of all these teachings. These Prophets and Messengers appeared among all nations and peoples and the greatest of all, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, appeared at a time when the whole world was immersed in the Cimmerian darkness of moral turpitude, and idol worship was rife among every people and country in one form or another and was practised in its most heinous form in Arabia where the Holy Prophet preached his message of the Oneness of God. He carried on such an effective and relentless campaign against idolatry that it disappeared from Arabia never to return. Not only did he condemn and forbid idol-worship and enjoin and impress upon his people the worship of One True God but also gave unanswerable arguments in support of monotheism and against polytheism and he fully succeeded in engendering in the minds of his followers an invincible faith in Divine Unity and an equally implacable hatred for shirk—setting up equals with God. In four short sentences of one of its shortest Surah—Al-Ikhlas, the Quran has refuted and demolished in a most beautiful and effective manner four forms of polytheism. The first verse proclaims the absolute Unity of God. It says: "Say, He is Allah, the One." It means that out of ignorance and perversity man invents and indulges in most fantastic theories and ideas about God. But the central and pivotal fact about the Divine Being remains that He is absolutely One in every respect and manner. He is neither the beginning nor the end of anything and He is not like anything, nor any thing is like Him. To regard anything like Him is to impugn His absolute Unity.

In the words, "Allah, the Independent and Besought of all," the Quran has demolished the second kind of shirk i.e. to ascribe Divine powers and attributes to other beings and things. The verse says that God has need of nobody but all beings and things have need of Him. It is therefore foolish and futile to have recourse to beings and things which themselves are wholly dependent upon God. The third verse, viz. "He begets not, nor is He begotten" refutes and repudiates the third kind of polytheism i.e. the doctrine of God being the father or son of anybody. The verse means to say that God is eternal and everlasting. He has begotten no son who should take His place, nor is He begotten of anyone from whom He should have inherited His Divine powers and attributes. He was always Independent and Besought of all and will ever be so. So we should worship Him and call on Him alone for the fulfilment of our needs and requirements. The verse "And there is none like unto Him," exposes the folly and futility of the fourth kind of shirk. It signifies that it is beyond any created thing to be His partner in Divinity i.e. to be like Him in His person or attributes. God is far exalted and above that to which man can aspire. However high man may rise, he cannot even touch the fringes of the precincts of Divinity and will ever remain God’s servant.

This is the most sublime conception of absolute Unity of God as taught and inculcated by the Quran.

At another place (2:256) the Quran has shed further light on Divine Unity. It says: "There is no God but Allah, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. Slumber seizes Him not, nor sleep (i.e. no interruption ever takes place in His works). To Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that will intercede with Him except by His permission (i.e. God grants the prayers of His servants but no one should think that He can compel God to accept His prayer. It is after He has granted the permission to any of His servants that he can intercede with Him)? He knows what is before them and what is behind them (i.e. He knows the past and the future. His knowledge is complete and all-comprehensive because full control is not possible without complete knowledge and complete knowledge is the never-failing accompaniment of absolute Unity). And they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He pleases (i.e. man can accomplish nothing except with the help of the knowledge that he receives from God). His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth (i.e. not an atom moves in the heavens and the earth without His permission and every particle is subject to His control). And the care of them burdens Him not (i.e. the universe will continue to exist and function under the never-failing supervision and protection of God). And He is the High (i.e. every atom of the universe bears witness to His Almightiness and He is so exalted that human reason cannot attain to full comprehension of Him); and yet He is great (i.e. He is so manifest in His great works that every honest seeker after Him can attain to communion with Him)." This is the very high and noble conception of Divine Unity which the Holy Prophet gave to the world and for which he worked and suffered. He told the people of the world that Divine Unity consists in the fact that man should rise to such a high stage of spiritual exaltation as to become completely engrossed in One God and become at one with Him. It is when man reaches this high stage of moral and spiritual development that he can be said to have attained the great object of his creation.

Important Words:

تمنی (he sought or desired to obtain). تمنی الشیء means, he desired the thing. تمنی الرجل means, the man lied. تمنی الکتاب means, he read or recited the book. أمنیة (أمانی plural) means, what is desired; a lie; an object of wish (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse has been subjected to much conjecture and speculation by some ignorant and careless commentators and has been deliberately misinterpreted and its meaning purposely distorted by prejudiced Christian writers. It is said that one day at Mecca when the Holy Prophet recited the Quranic verse, أفرأیتم اللات والعزی و مناة الثالثة الاخری i.e. "now tell me about Lat and ‘Uzza, and Manat, the third one, another goddess" (53:21), Satan put in his mouth the words تلک الغرانیق العلی وان شفا عتھن لترتجی i.e. these are exalted goddesses and their intercession is hoped for. They call it the 'lapse of Muhammad' or his 'compromise with idolatry'. In fact the Holy Prophet never made any compromise with idolatry nor was there any lapse on his part. The lapse, if any, occurred in the minds of these hostile critics of Islam. It is a case of wish being father to the thought. These people are always on the lookout to discover a lapse in the Holy Prophet and when they find none, they invent one and impute it to him.

They say that the verse under comment refers to the above incident. We shall deal at length with the whole episode when we come to the relevant verse i.e. 53:21. Suffice it here to say that the whole story is belied by the fact that 53rdchapter was, according to consensus of scholarly opinion, revealed in the 5th year of the Call at Mecca while the present Surah was revealed at Medina or on the eve of his departure from Mecca. It is inconceivable that God should have waited for eight long years to refer in this verse to that incident. Moreover, the story has been rejected as totally unfounded by all learned commentators of the Quran, Ibn Kathir, being one of them. It appears to have been based on some reports narrated by Waqidi, whom all competent authorities regard as quite untrustworthy. It seems strange that the utterance of this blasphemy should have been attributed to that great and uncompromising iconoclast i.e. the Holy Prophet, whose whole life was spent in denouncing and condemning idolatry and idol worship. Besides this the whole context of 53:21 belies this story. The verses preceding and succeeding 53:21 contain an unsparing denunciation of idolatry. In fact the whole Surah (53) is a condemnation of شرک (idol worship).

Moreover, there is nothing in the words of the verse itself to warrant the forging of such a blatant lie. The meaning of the verse is quite clear. It purports to say that whenever a Prophet desires to attain his object, i.e. whenever he preaches the message of truth and desires that Divine Unity may be established on earth, Satan places all sorts of obstacles and impediments in his way, i.e. wicked people seek to retard the progress of truth by putting all sorts of obstacles in the way of the Prophet. They wish to see his mission fail. But they cannot frustrate the Divine plan and God removes all those impediments and makes the cause of truth prevail and triumph. This meaning of the verse is quite simple and clear and is in perfect harmony with the text. The words "But Allah removes the obstacles placed by Satan," lend powerful support to this meaning. The verse is of general import. What it refers to happens in the case of every prophet. There is no warrant for suggesting that the verse applies exclusively to the Holy Prophet. History too supports the view that the verse is of general application. In their impatience to find fault with the Holy Prophet, however, hostile Christian writers have singled him out, and, misinterpreting the verse, have attributed a supposed lapse to him.

Moreover, it is wrong to suggest, as some commentators have done, that it is possible for Satan to interfere with the purity of the Quranic revelation. God has taken upon Himself to protect and safeguard it against all interference and interpolation. See also 15:10 & 72:27-29.

10:104; 40:52; 58:22.

6:89.

Commentary:

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

13:7; 53:33.

Commentary:

The verse seeks to comfort the Holy Prophet by telling him that all the Divine Messengers who passed before him were also subjected to the objections that are being levelled against him.

Commentary:

The Surah opens with the important subject of revelation of the Quran as implied in the Divine attributes Ha Mim, placed at its beginning.

21:54; 26:75.

Commentary:

The hackneyed plea of idolaters to support idol worship has always been that it was a time-honoured practice observed by their forefathers. In fact, old ideas and customs die hard. They have always proved a stumbling block in the way of disbelievers to accept the Divine Message. For the meaning of the word أمة see 6:39 and 16:121.

21:26.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that study of the lives of all Divine Messengers reveals the fact that they all taught and preached Unity of God and directed all their efforts to its establishment in the world. There is not to be found in their teachings the faintest support of polytheism or remotest reference to it.