إِحْدَى

1098

Important Words:

الشوکة (sting) is derived from شاك. They say شاکنی الشوك i.e. the thorn hurt or wounded me or it pierced my body. الشوکة is both the noun-infinitive from شاك and the singular of الشوك (thorns, spines, etc.). الشوکة means, thorn; sting; point of a spear, etc.; any weapon or weapons; sharpness of weapons; strength or might or vehemence thereof in war and fighting (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The "two parties" mentioned in the verse refer to (1) the Meccan army that had come forth to fight the Muslims, and (2) the Meccan caravan that was returning from the north and proceeding home. The former, besides being much larger in number, was heavily armed and very well-equipped; while the caravan was only lightly armed. Both belonged to Mecca and were equally hostile to Islam.

The verse signifies that as Allah had already made a promise to the Holy Prophet that He would give victory to Muslims over one of the two Meccan parties, viz. the caravan or the army, so against all hope He granted them victory in fulfilment of His promise. This shows that while yet at Medina, the Holy Prophet had been informed by God of the possible attack by the Meccan army, for without this Allah could not refer to "one of the two parties," but that the Holy Prophet kept the matter secret. The words, thy Lord Who rightfully brought thee forth from thy house, while a party of the believers were averse (8:6 above), also show that at Medina the Holy Prophet had undoubtedly received Divine revelation informing him of the coming attack by the enemy and that it was God Who had ordered the Holy Prophet to come forth. The above-quoted words also hint that the Holy Prophet kept this information secret, revealing it to only a few of his chosen comrades.

The words غیر ذات الشوکة (without sting) imply that the Muslims wanted to meet the party that was without sting, (i.e. the caravan) which they could easily overcome but that God desired to bring about an encounter with the army which could not be easily conquered, and His object in doing so was to establish the truth by His words and to cut off the root of the disbelievers, so that the prophecies with regard to the destruction of the enemy might be fulfilled that day, and their fulfilment against all hope might become the means of establishing the truth of Islam. For a more detailed account of the Battle of Badr see notes on 3:14 & 8:42-45.

1208

Commentary:

The "two good things" referred to in this verse are martyrdom and victory. Only one of these two things can fall to the lot of believers in a war. Either they win and triumph or they die on the battlefield and become martyrs. Hence, the evil desires which the disbelievers and hypocrites entertained concerning the Muslims could never be fulfilled. The verse thus purports to say that true believers can never suffer a defeat; they either die fighting and thus win martyrdom or they return victorious from the field of battle.

2894A

Commentary:

The construction of the verse does not seem to lend countenance to the conclusion generally considered derivable from it, viz. that Shu‘aib or Jethro agreed to marry one of his daughters to Moses in lieu of eight or ten years of service. The fact of the matter appears to be that Shu‘aib having grown very old needed an honest man to look after his flocks and Moses having been found as possessing the required qualifications was taken in service by him at the instance of one of his daughters. Eight or ten years were agreed upon as the tenure of service. Shu‘aib, however, being a holy man either himself realized or was informed by God that a great future lay before Moses. He, therefore, offered to marry one of his daughters to him and, desiring that his son-in-law should live with him for some time and benefit by his noble company, laid it down as one of the conditions of marriage that Moses should stay with him for eight or ten years. Thus it is not correct to say that Shu‘aib offered to marry his daughter to Moses in lieu of the latter serving him for eight or ten years. Whatever remuneration Moses might have received from Shu‘aib had nothing to do with the marriage proposal.

The flight of Moses from Egypt and his stay in Midian for ten years bears a striking resemblance to the residence of the Holy Prophet for ten years in Medina after his Hijrah from Mecca. Moses must have, in a large measure, benefited himself spiritually by his God-fearing and righteous father-in-law’s company just as his upbringing in the house of Pharaoh had equipped him with temporal knowledge. But the noble Prophet of Islam was indebted to no human being for the great treasures of spiritual and temporal knowledge possessed by him. He had received them direct from God.

The expression من عندک means, 'It would be an additional favour from you.'

3209

Commentary:

The verse gives another argument to bring home to disbelievers the sense of the guilt of rejecting the Holy Prophet. It purports to say to them that they used to taunt the Jews and the Christians for rejecting their own Prophets and revelations; and, by assuming an air of superiority, used to say to the latter that if ever a Prophet of God appeared among them they would at once accept him. But now that the greatest of the Prophets has been raised among them, they are opposing and persecuting him.