وَرُسُلِهِۦ

58:6.

Important Words:

میکال (Michael) is the name of another angel who, like Gabriel, is also one of the chief angels. The word has been described, as being a combination of words, i.e. می کائیل or من کائیل which means, who as God? or who is like God? (Geseneus & Jew. Enc.); i.e. there is none like God, the angel Michael having been given this name owing to his being assigned the duty of establishing God’s Unity and Oneness in the universe. The Jews looked upon Michael as their favourite angel (Jew. Enc., also Jarir, under verse 2:98, 99). He was the guardian angel of the Israelites (Enc. Brit. under Michael). In Islam Gabriel is believed to be superior to Michael in rank, for whereas Gabriel is known as عبدالله Michael has been given the name عبیدالله, the word عبید being diminutive of the word عبد (Jarir, i. 329). In the days of the Holy Prophet, the Jews looked upon Gabriel as the angel of wars, calamities and hardships, whereas they looked upon Michael as the angel of peace and plenty and rain and herbage (Jarir & Kathir).

Commentary:

As an insult to a king’s agent implies insult to the king himself, so those who say unworthy things about any of the angels really find fault with God. The Quran, therefore, declares that the words of the Jews referred to in the preceding verse imply irreverence to God and opposition to His will, such as only an enemy of God could show. Angels constitute an important link in the spiritual chain and he who breaks even one link of the spiritual chain or manifests ill-will against any single unit of the spiritual system, in fact severs his connection with the whole system. Such a man deprives himself of the favours and blessings which are bestowed upon the true servants of God and renders himself deserving of the punishment fixed for transgressors.

In this verse a general mention of God, the angels and the Prophets is followed by a specific mention of Gabriel and Michael. The reason is not far to seek. The Jews regarded Gabriel as their enemy. It is therefore particularly pointed out that enmity with Gabriel merits divine punishment. The name of Michael is also mentioned along with Gabriel’s so that no Muslim might take it into his head to retort to Jewish hatred of Gabriel by speaking ill of Michael, the favourite angel of the Jews.

See 2:137.

3:148, 194; 60:6.

Important Words:

غفرانك (Thy forgiveness). غفران is the noun-infinitive from غفر for which see 2:59 and 2:200. غفران on the part of God signifies, covering man with mercy and forgiveness and saving him from the punishment of sins. It is used in the infinitive form for the sake of emphasis, words like "I or we implore" being understood before it.

Commentary:

The mention of the believers along with the Prophet has a special significance in the verse; the purifying influence of the Holy Prophet has brought into existence a class of men who have become purified both in belief and in deeds, thus fulfilling the object for which the Prophet for whom Abraham had prayed was to make his appearance.

Good deeds are indeed the principal means for the attainment of purification, but they have their origin in the purity of the heart, which can be attained only by holding true beliefs. Hence, the verse details the fundamental points of belief which the Holy Prophet taught his followers, i.e. belief in God and His angels and His Books and His Messengers, mentioned in their natural order.

Among the points of belief detailed here, one is that true believers say, We make no distinction between any of His Messengers. This means that true believers should accept all the Messengers of God, without exception, and should make no distinction between them by accepting some and rejecting others. There is in this, food for thought for those Muslims who reject the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, whom God raised in fulfilment of the prophecies of the Holy Prophet and who came to demonstrate the truth of Islam, by cogent reasons and powerful signs.

Another very important means of attaining purification is prayer. The verse represents true believers as offering prayer to God in the ennobling words, We hear and we obey. We implore Thy forgiveness, O our Lord, and to Thee is the returning. This prayer contains four basic elements of purification: (1) man should ever be prepared to listen to God’s commandments; (2) he should be ever ready to obey His commandments, whatever the circumstances; (3) he should always be asking for God’s forgiveness for his sins and shortcomings; and (4) he should never forget that he will one day return to, and stand before, his Maker and will render an account of his works.

8:38; 29:3-4.

72:27-28.

Important Words:

لیطلعکم (would reveal to you). یطلع is derived from طلع, which means, he appeared; he rose; he ascended. اطلعه علیه means, he revealed it to him or he made him acquainted with it; or lifted him high up so that he might have a clear view of it. The expression لیطلعکم علی الغیب therefore, would mean, that He should cause you to ascend the unseen; or lift you high up to have a clear view of the unseen, i.e. cause you to obtain mastery of the unseen; or in other words, reveal to you the secrets of the unseen in abundance. Elsewhere the Quran says لایظھر علی غیبه احدا God discloses not the unseen to anyone in abundance (72:27). Here, too, the word used, i.e. یظھر points to mastery of a thing or having a thing in abundance.

Commentary:

The sentence, Allah would not leave the believers as you are, signifies that the trials and tribulations through which Muslims have so far passed would not soon end. There are yet many more in store for them, and they will continue to come till true believers are distinguished from hypocrites and those weak of faith.

The expression, Allah chooses of His Messengers whom He pleases, does not mean that some of the Messengers are chosen and others not, but that of the persons whom He has ordained to be sent as His Messengers, He chooses the one suited for the particular age in which he is sent. Or the particle من (of) may be taken to give the sense of intensification or emphasis without restricting the sense to a specified section of the class. In that case the sentence will read as, Allah does choose as His Messengers whom He pleases. It must be remembered that all Messengers are raised under a special divine decree.

When it was stated that God intended to separate the wicked from the good by revealing His will to His Messengers, the question was asked by disbelievers, why did not God reveal Himself to them? To this question God has given the answer that He reveals His will only to His Messengers and the Elect. All are not pure or ennobled enough to receive His revelation.

2:5, 137; 4:163; 5:60.

4:151.

4:117.

Commentary:

In the clause: O ye who believe, believe in Allah and His Messenger… the first-mentioned belief refers to lip-profession and the second to true and genuine belief which really matters. The words thus show that sometimes expressions like "O ye who believe" or "believers" may be used for those who profess to be believers in Islam but do not live up to its teachings by carrying out faithfully its precepts into practice. Their assertion is a mere lip-profession that carries no weight.

4:137.

Commentary:

This verse provides clear proof of the fact that belief in all the Messengers of God is essential. The expression رسله (His Messengers) comprehends all Messengers of God and admits of no exception, demanding belief in all Prophets, whether old or new.

The words, We believe in some and disbelieve in others, condemn those people who would believe in some Messengers of God and reject others. The idea is further explained by 4:153 below which says, those who believe in Allah and in all of His Messengers, and make no distinction between any of them. Here the expression, any of them, clearly refers to "the Messengers" and not to God and the Messengers combined, which shows that the present clause, We believe in some and disbelieve in others, refers to the distinction some people seek to make between the different Messengers, and not to the distinction they make between God and His Messengers, which has already been referred to in the preceding clause of the present verse, i.e. make a distinction between Allah and His Messengers.

Ibn Kathir, the famous expositor of the Quran, explains this verse as follows: "What is meant here is that he who rejects any of the Prophets of God really rejects all of them, for God has made it obligatory on man to believe in every Prophet whom He has raised for any people at any time on the earth" (vol. iii. 224). In fact, if a people reject a Prophet of God out of envy or bigotry or self-will, it becomes clear that their faith in the Prophet in whom they profess to believe is also not sincere and true but is mere make-belief. For, if they had really believed in him as a Messenger of God, they would have believed in that other one also who was his like and whose claim was supported by similar arguments.

The expression, desire to take a way in between, means that such people "seek a middle course between faith and disbelief", i.e. they accept God and reject His Prophets or accept some Prophets and reject others, or accept some claims of a Prophet and reject others or regard the claims of a Prophet to be true but do not consider themselves bound to join his fold. True faith lies in total submission, accepting God and all His Messengers with all their claims. No middle course is permissible. See also the two succeeding verses.

2:137; 2:286; 3:85.

Commentary:

The verse 4:151 above dealt with four classes of disbelievers: (1) those who disbelieve both in Allah and His Messengers; (2) those who profess to believe in Allah but reject His Messengers, i.e. those who believe that there is indeed a God but that He sends no Messengers, or those who think they are bound to accept only that which God sends down by His revelation but do not look upon the behests and precepts of the Prophet as binding on them; (3) those who accept some of the Messengers of God and reject others; and (4) those who accept some claims of a divine Messenger and reject others, or those who, though declaring a claimant to prophethood to be true in his claims, do not think it to be binding on them to enter his fold. In continuation of the above, the verse under comment says that only those people can hope for reward from God who spurn all the above different forms of disbelief and whose faith in God and in all His Prophets is full and unqualified.

5:78.

58:23.

5:74.

2:117; 10:69; 17:112; 18:5; 112:4, 5.

Important Words:

کلمته (His word). کلمة has been used in the Quran in different senses:(1) good tiding (e.g. 37:171, 172); (2) warning of coming punishment (e.g. 39:20); (3) a thing or being created without the instrumentality of any physical means, i.e. by the Will of God expressed by saying "Be" (e.g. 3:46-48); (4) a Sign (e.g. 18:110); (5) a message (e.g. 3:65); (6) a design; (e.g.9:40); (7) a word or saying (e.g. 23:101). See also 3:46.

روح (mercy) is derived from راح i.e. it became cool and pleasant; he was brisk, lively, active, prompt or quick. روح means, soul or spirit; the subtle substance in man which is the principle of vitality and of sensation and of voluntary motion; the breath which a man breathes and which pervades the whole body, after the exit of which he ceases to breathe; Divine revelation or inspiration; the Quran; angel; joy and happiness; mercy (Lane).

Commentary:

From the above-mentioned different meanings of روح and کلمة becomes clear that no higher spiritual status can be assigned to Jesus than to the other Prophets, on account of the word روح or کلمة having been used about him in the Quran. These and similar expressions have been used in the Quran about other Prophets also and even about persons who were not Prophets, such as Mary and the children of Adam (see 58:23; 15:30; 32:10; 21:92). It may be noted here that the words روح منه (mercy from Him) do not mean that the روح formed a part of the Divine Being but that it was only a gift of God. The expression منه (from Him) has been used in the Quran in this sense in 45:14.

In fact, the Quran uses these words about Jesus because foul charges were brought against him and his mother, Mary, by the Jews. These words are thus meant to exculpate and exonerate him from those charges and not to deify him. The Quranlends no support whatsoever to the absurd and unfounded view that Jesus was anything higher than a human being. He was human and of the earth, and yet a Messenger of God (e.g. 43:60; 19:31).

The verse refers to the three alleged persons of the Trinity, i.e. the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and condemns Trinity, declaring Allah alone to be the one true God, and the Messiah and the Holy Spirit as only the servants of God and in no way sharers in Godhead.

3:134; 35:33.

Important Words:

عرض (value) is derived from عرض (‘arada). عرض الشیء لفلان means, he showed, manifested, presented the thing to such a one means, breadth, width; vastness; latitude. ذھب طولاً و عرضاً means, he went lengthwise and breadthwise. The word also means, worldly goods; price; gain; a compensation; a substitute; any goods or commodities except gold or silver; etc. (Lane).

Commentary:

In view of different meanings of عرض given under Important Words the verse would mean that the heavens and the earth—the whole universe—would be given to believers as a reward for the good works they had done in this life, which signifies that the reward of the righteous in the afterlife would be beyond measure or count. Or the Paradise comprising both the heavens and the earth may signify that the believers will live in Paradise both in this life and in the Hereafter. Moreover, the fact that Paradise as conceived by the Quran is as extensive as both the heavens and the earth—the whole space—shows that it comprises Hell also. This means that Paradise and Hell are not two distinct and separate places but two conditions or states of mind. A well-known saying of the Holy Prophet gives an insight into the Quranic conception of Paradise and Hell. Once on being asked by some of his Companions: "If Paradise comprises in its vastness heavens and earth, where is Hell," the Holy Prophet is reported to have replied, أین اللیل اذا جاء النھار i.e. where is the night when the day comes (Ibn Kathir). Besides, the substitution of the words مغفرة من ربکم وجنة in the verse under comment for مغفرة من اللّٰه و رضوان in the preceding verse shows that Paradise (جنة) in fact means the pleasure of God (رضوان). What a beautiful conception of Paradise!

7:5-6; 17:18; 21:12; 22:46.

Commentary:

From the subject of divorce the verse makes a subtle diversion to the subject of defiance of God and His Messengers. In fact, in religious phraseology a woman is described as standing in the same relation to her husband as do the followers of a Prophet in relation to the Prophet. This comparison between the two relationships has been made quite clear in the last verse of Surah At-Tahrim, where disbelievers have been compared to the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, and believers of different grades of righteousness and spirituality to the wife of Pharaoh, and to Mary, mother of Jesus.