["Allah[1] has surely heard the words of her who contends with you concerning her husband and complains to Allah. Allah hears what both of you say.[2] Verily Allah is All- Hearing, All-Seeing.###[1] Here, hearing does not merely imply hearing a complaint but also redressing the grievances. \t [2] The translators generally have translated these sentences in the past tense, which tends to give the meaning that the woman had left after relating her complaint and the Prophet (peace be upon him) some time later might have received this revelation. That is why Allah has said: We indeed heard what the woman said, who was pleading with you and complaining to Us, and We were at that time hearing the conversation of both of you. But in most of the traditions that have been reported in the Hadith about this incident, it has been stated that right at the time when the woman was relating the zihar pronounced by her husband and complaining to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the effect that if she was separated from her husband, she and her children would be ruined, the state of receiving revelation appeared on the Prophet (peace be upon him) and these verse’s were sent down. On this basis we have preferred rendering these sentences in the present tense.","Those among you who divorce their wives by declaring them to be their mothers,[1] such are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave birth to them.[2] Indeed what they say is highly contemptible and false.[3] Verily Allah is Most Pardoning, Most Forgiving.[4]###[1] Among the Arabs it often so happened that during a family quarrel, the husband in the heat of the moment would say to his wife: Anti alayya ka-zahri ammi which literally means: You are for me as the back of my mother. But its real meaning is: To have sexual relations with you would be like having sexual relations with my mother. Such words are still uttered by the foolish people, who, as the result of a family quarrel, declare the wife to be like their mother, or sister, or daughter, and make her unlawful for themselves like the prohibited women. This is called zihar. Zahr in Arabic is metaphorically used for riding and mounting. Thus, the conveyance is called zahr, because man rides on its back. As this word was employed in order to make the wife unlawful, it was termed zihar. In the pre- Islamic days this was looked upon as tantamount to the pronouncement of divorce, even of greater effect than that, for they took it to mean that the husband was not only severing his marital relations with his wife but was also declaring her to be unlawful for himself like his mother. On this very basis, the Arabs thought reunion could be possible after a divorce but it was impossible after zihar. \t [2] This is Allah’s first decision concerning zihar. It means that if a person shamelessly compares the wife to his mother, his this utterance does not make his wife his mother, nor is she endowed with the sanctity that the mother enjoys. The mother’s being mother is fact, for she has given birth to the man. On this very ground, she is eternally sacred and prohibited. Now, how will the woman who has not given him birth become his mother simply by a word of mouth, and how will sanctity and prohibition be established for her by reason, morality and law which, by virtue of this fact, is only reserved for the mother who gave birth. Thus, Allah by this condemnation abolished the custom of the pre-Islamic ignorance according to which the marriage contract between the husband, by pronouncing zihar, and the wife stood dissolved and she became absolutely forbidden for him like the mother. \t [3] That is, to liken the wife to the mother is, in the first place, an absurd and shameful thing which no noble person should ever think of, not to speak of uttering it with the tongue. Secondly, it is also a falsehood, for if the one who says such a thing is giving the news that his wife has now become his mother for him, he is uttering falsehood, and if he is declaring that he has henceforth bestowed on his wife the sanctity of the mother, even then his claim is false, for God has not given him the authority that he may treat a woman as his wife as long as he likes and then start treating her as his mother as and when he likes. The lawgiver is Allah Almighty, not he, and Allah has included in the order of motherhood the grandmothers, both paternal and maternal, mother-in-law, foster mother and the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) along with the woman who gave birth. Nobody has the right to include of his own whim another woman in this order, not to speak of the woman who has been his wife. This gives the second legal injunction. To pronounce zihar is a grave sin and forbidden act, the violation of which deserves to be punished. \t [4] That is, such an utterance actually deserves to be punished much more severely, but it is Allah’s kindness that He has, firstly, abolished the custom of ignorance and saved your family life from utter ruin, and secondly, has prescribed the lightest punishment for the culprits. And His supreme kindness is that the punishment too, is not any form of physical torture or imprisonment, but a few acts of worship and virtue, which are meant to reform you and help spread good in your society. In this connection, one should also understand that the acts of worship that have been prescribed by Islam as expiations for certain crimes and sins are neither mere punishments that they may be without the spirit of worship, nor mere acts of worship that they may entail no pain and suffering of the punishment. But both the aspects have been combined in them so that the culprit may experience pain as well as expiate his sin by means of performing a virtue and act of worship.","Those[1] who declare their wives to be their mothers and thereafter go back on what they have said[2] shall free a slave before they may touch each other. That is what you are exhorted to do.[3] Allah is fully aware of all your deeds.[4]###[1] From here begins the statement of the legal injunctions concerning zihar. To understand this, it is necessary that one should keep in mind the incidents of zihar that took place in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), for the code of law pertaining to zihar is derived from the verses and the judgments that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave after the revelation of these verses in the cases of zihar brought before him. \t [2] According to Abdullah bin Abbas, the first case of zihar in Islam was the one relating to Aus bin Samit Ansari, on whose wife Khaulah’s complaint Allah sent down these verse. Although the details of this case that the traditionists have cited from several reporters contain minor differences, yet the elements of legal import and significance are almost agreed upon. A resume of these traditions is as follows: \t [3] Aus bin Samit had grown a little peevish in old age and according to some traditions, had also developed an ailment resembling insanity. The reporters have described it by the word lamam which is not exactly madness in Arabic but a state resembling it. In this state he had also pronounced zihar on his wife several times before, but in Islam this was the first occasion that he pronounced it as the result of a quarrel with her. Thereupon, his wife appeared before the Prophet (peace be upon him) and relating the whole story to him, said: O Messenger of Allah, is there any way out of this situation that could save me and my children from ruin. The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) reply has been reported in different words by different reporters. In some traditions the words are to the effect: No command has been given to me so far in this regard, and in some others the words are: In my opinion you have become unlawful to him, and in still others: You are unlawful to him. At this, she began to cry and complain and told the Prophet (peace be upon him) over and over again that her husband had not pronounced the words of divorce; therefore, he should suggest a way by which she and her children and her old husband’s life could be saved from ruin. But the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave her the same reply every time. In the meantime he underwent the state of receiving revelation and these verses were revealed. After this, he said to her (and according to other traditions, he called her husband and told him) to free a slave. When they expressed their inability to do so, he said that the husband would have to observe two months’ fast consecutively. She said: Aus is such a man that unless he eats and drinks three times a day, his sight starts failing him. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Then, you will have to feed 60 poor people. They submitted that they did not have the means for that unless they were helped out by him. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave them food articles that could suffice 60 men for two meals. Different quantities of it have been mentioned in different traditions. According to some traditions Khaulah herself gave to her husband food articles equal in quantity to those given by the Prophet so that he may perform the expiation. (Ibn Jarir, Musnad Ahmad Abu Daud, Ibn Abi Hatim). \t [4] The second incident of zihar relates to Salamah bin Sakhr Bayadi. He had a somewhat abnormal appetite for sex. When the fasting month of Ramadan came, he, fearing that he might lose self-control in daytime in the state of fasting, pronounced zihar on his wife till the end of Ramadan. But he could not adhere to his pledge and went in to his wife one night. Penitent he appeared before the Prophet (peace be upon him) and told him what he had done. He told him to release a slave. He said he had no one else beside his wife, whom he could release. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then told him to observe two months’ consecutive fast. He replied that it was during obligatory fasting itself that he had been unable to control himself and had become involved in trouble. The Prophet then said that he should feed 60 poor people, He replied that they were poor themselves and had gone to bed at night without food. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) got him a sufficient quantity of food articles from the collector of the zakat of Bani Zurayq so that he may feed 60 persons and may also save something for his children. (Musnad Ahmad, Abu Daud, Tirmadhi).","And he who does not find a slave (to free), shall fast for two months consecutively before they may touch each other; and he who is unable to do so shall feed sixty needy people.[1] All this is in order that you may truly believe in Allah and His Messenger.[2] These are the bounds set by Allah; and a grievous chastisement awaits the unbelievers.[3]###[1] This is the divine commandment in respect of zihar. The following are the details of the law that the jurists of Islam have derived from the words of this verse, the judgments of the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah and the general principles of Islam. \t [2] (1) This law of zahir abrogates the Arabian custom of ignorance according to which the marriage contract stood annulled and the woman became permanently forbidden to the husband. Likewise, this law annuls all those laws and customs which regard zihar as a meaningless custom, which is of no legal effect, and permit man to continue having marital relations with his wife as usual even after having compared her to his mother and other prohibited relations. For in the sight of Islam the sanctity of the mother and other prohibited relations is not such an ordinary thing that a man may even think of the comparison between them and his wife, not to speak of uttering it with the tongue. Between the two extremes the position adopted by the Islamic law in this regard is based on three principles: \t [3] (a) That the marriage contract is not annulled by zihar, but the woman continues to be the husband’s wife as usual,","Verily those who oppose Allah and His Messenger[1] shall be brought low even as those before them were brought low.[2] Surely We have sent down Clear Signs; and a humiliating chastisement awaits the unbelievers;[3]###[1] Those who oppose: Those who do not recognize the bounds set by Allah and instead set some other bounds for themselves. Ibn Jarir Tabari has given this commentary of this verse: That is, the people who resist Allah with regard to the bounds and duties enjoined by Him, and set for themselves some other bounds instead of the bounds set by Him. Baidawi has given this commentary of it: That is, they show hostility towards and dispute with Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him), or set other bounds for themselves than the bounds set by them, or adopt the bounds set by others. Alusi in his Ruh Al-Maani has concurred with Baidawi in this commentary and cited the statement of Shaikh-ul-Islam Sadullah Chalpi to the effect: In this verse a threat has been held out to those kings and evil rulers who have framed many such rules as are opposed to the bounds set by the Shariah, and called them law. Here, Allama Alusi has dwelt upon the constitutional status (i.e. constitutional from the Islamic viewpoint) of the man made laws as against the Shariah laws and concluded thus: \t [2] There can be no doubt in the disbelief of the person who regards this law as commendable and superior to the Shariah and says that it is wiser and better suited to the genius of the people. And when the Shariah injunction in a particular matter is pointed out to him, he is angry, as we have seen some of those who are under the curse of Allah. \t [3] The word used in the original is kubt, which means to disgrace, to destroy, to curse, to drive off, to push out, to debase. What is meant to be said is that the communities of the former Prophets who resisted Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) and rebelled against His commandments have already gone to their doom. Now those from among the Muslims who adopt the same attitude in life will also meet with the same evil end. Whenever the people made their own laws contradictory to divine law, or adopted laws made by others, they were deprived of Allah’s bounty and grace, with the result that their lives were filled with deviations, immoralities and moral and social evils, which caused them to be ultimately degraded and humiliated oven in this world. If the same error now is committed by the community of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), there is no reason why it should continue to be regarded with favor by Allah and He may go on protecting it from a disgraceful destruction for ever and ever. Allah had neither any ill will against the communities of His former Messengers nor has He any special connection with the community of this Messenger (peace be upon him).","a chastisement that shall come upon them on the Day when Allah will raise them all to a new life and will inform them of their deeds.[1] Allah has recorded it all while they have forgotten it. Allah is a witness over everything.###[1] That is, their having forgotten their own attitude and conduct does not mean that it is dead and forgotten altogether. For them the disobedience of God and resistance to His commands may be an ordinary matter which they may forget easily once they have indulged in it and may not even regard it as anything objectionable, which they should have avoided, yet in the sight of God it is no ordinary matter at all. With Him every misdeed of theirs has been noted down, His register contains a full record of every deed done by a person, when and where it was done, what was his own reaction to it, what were its consequences and how far and in what forms did they appear and spread in the world.","Are you not aware[1] that Allah knows whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth? Never is there any whispering among three but He is their fourth; nor among five but He is their sixth;[2] nor fewer nor more but He is with them wherever they may be.[3] And then He will tell them on the Day of Judgement all that they have done. Surely Allah knows everything.###[1] From here to verse 10 continuously the hypocrites have been taken to task for the attitude they had adopted in the Muslim society. Although apparently they were a part of the Muslim community, secretly they were a separate group from the believers. Whenever the Muslims saw them, they found them whispering secretly together. That is how they conspired and made all sorts of plans in order to create rifts in the ranks of the Muslims, and to cause alarm and spread mischief among them. \t [2] The question may arise why have three and five been mentioned here instead of two and three? Why has two and then four been left out? The commentators have given many answers to this question but in our opinion the correct answer is that this style has been adopted for maintaining the literary beauty of the Quran. Without this the style would have suffered from blemishes. Therefore, after making mention of three and five whisperers the gap has been filled up in the following sentence by saying: whether the whisperers are fewer than three, or more than five, in any case Allah is always with them. \t [3] This Allah’s being associated with them is, in fact, in the sense of Allah’s being All-Knowing and All-Aware, All- Hearing and All-Seeing and His being absolute in power, and not in the sense that Allah, God forbid, is a person who is secretly and invisibly present among the five persons as their sixth associate. This, in fact, is meant to make the people realize that they may be holding secret counsels in safe and hidden places and may be able to conceal their plans from the world but they cannot keep them concealed from Allah, that they may escape from every power of the world, but they cannot escape the grasp of Allah.","Have you not seen those who were forbidden to whisper and yet they engaged in what they had been forbidden?[1] They secretly converse among themselves concerning sin and transgression and disobedience to the Messenger. And when they come to you, they greet you in a manner that Allah does not greet you,[2] and say to themselves: “Why does Allah not chastise us for these utterances of ours?”[3] Hell it is that shall suffice them, and in it will they burn. How woeful is their destination!###[1] This shows that before the revelation of this verse the Prophet (peace be upon him) had forbidden the people this practice. Yet when they did not desist, Allah directly sent down this verse containing His warning and wrath for such people. \t [2] This was the common practice of the Jews and the hypocrites. According to several traditions, some Jews came before the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: Assam alaika ya abul-Qasim. That is, they pronounced as-sam alaika in such a manner as to give the impression that they had said as-salam alaika (peace be on you), which is the Islamic way of greeting. But actually they had said sam, instead of salam, which means death. In response the Prophet said: wa-alaikum. Aishah retorted: May death visit you and the curse of Allah. The Prophet warned her, saying: Aishah, Allah does not like abusive language. She submitted: Didn’t you hear, O Messenger of Allah what they said. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: And didn’t you hear what reply I gave? I said: And the same upon you. (Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim). Abdullah bin Abbas has stated that both the Jews and the hypocrites had adopted this very way of greeting. (Ibn Jarir). \t [3] That is, they regarded it as a proof of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) not being a Messenger. They thought that if he had been a true Messenger, they would be punished by a torment as soon as they greeted him in that way. Since there was no torment while they were greeting him day and night like that, he was not a Messenger of Allah.","Believers, when you converse in secrecy, let that not be concerning sin and transgression and disobedience to the Messenger; rather, converse concerning virtue and piety. And fear Allah to Whom all of you shall be mustered.[1]###[1] This shows that najwa (talking secretly together) by itself is not forbidden, but it s being lawful or unlawful depends upon the character of the people who hold secret consultations and upon the circumstances under which such consultations are held, and upon nature of the consultations themselves, If the people whose sincerity, righteousness and purity of character are well known, are seen talking secretly together, nobody would have any misgiving that they were planning mischief. On the contrary, the whispering and secret consultations of the people who are notorious for their evil and wicked character, produce in every mind, the suspicion that they are engaged in a new conspiracy. Likewise, if a couple of persons talk for some time together on some matter secretly, it is not objectionable, but if some people have formed themselves into a gang and constantly engaged in a whispering campaign against the Muslim community, this would indeed be a prelude to some mischief. If nothing else, it would at least stir up divisions among the Muslims. Above all, the thing that decides whether najwa (secret counsel) is lawful or unlawful is the nature of the things talked of it. If two men hold a secret counsel in order to bring a dispute the an end, and to restore a person’s right, or to bring a dispute to an end, or to restore a person’s right, or to promote a good cause, it is no evil, but rather and an act of virtue, On the contrary, if the same secret counsel between two men is held with a view to creating mischief, or usurping the rights of others, or committing a sin, obviously the object itself would be evil and the secret counsel about it evil added to evil.","Whispering is an act of Satan, one that aims at causing grief to the believers; yet without Allah's leave no harm can be caused to them. So in Allah should the believers put all their trust.[1]###[1] This has been said so that if a Muslim watches some other people whispering, which causes him the doubt that it is directed against him, he should not feel so offended as to start planning a counter-attack on the basis of mere suspicion, or begin to nourish grief, or malice, or undue concern in his heart. He should understand that no one can harm him except by Allah’s leave. This conviction would inspire him with such confidence that he would feel delivered of many a useless worry and imaginary danger and leaving the wicked to themselves would remain engaged in peacefully doing his duty. The believer who has trust in Allah is neither a faint-hearted person, whose peace of mind could be ruined by every doubt and suspicions nor so shallow and mean-minded as would lose his cool when confronted by the evildoers and start behaving in an unjust manner himself.","Believers, when you are told: “Make room for one another in your assemblies,” then make room; Allah will bestow amplitude on you.[1] And when it is said: “Rise up,” then rise up;[2] Allah will raise to high ranks[3] those of you who believe and are endowed with knowledge. Allah is well aware of all that you do.###[1] This has been explained in the introduction to this Surah. Some commentators regard this command as restricted to the assemblies of the Prophet (peace be upon him). But as pointed out by Imam Malik, the correct view is that this is a general instruction for the assemblies held by the Muslims. One of the rules of etiquette taught by Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) to the Muslims is that when they are sitting in an assembly and some more people arrive, they should have the courtesy to accommodate the newcomers and should squeeze in together as far as possible to make room for them to sit. The new-comers should also have the courtesy not to press in forcibly and make others rise up in order to take their place. In the Hadith Abdullah bin Umar and Abu Hurairah have reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Nobody should make another person rise up so as to take his place, but you should yourself make room for others. (Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim). And Abdullah bin Amr bin Aas reports that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: It is not lawful for a person that he should forcibly press in between two men except by their leave. (Musnad Ahmad, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi). \t [2] Abdur Rahman bin Zaid bin Aslam has stated that the people used to prolong their sitting in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) assemblies and tried to sit till the end. This caused him inconvenience and discomfort as well as hindrance in his daily chores. At this Allah sent down this command, teaching the people the etiquette: When you are told to rise up froth the assembly, you should rise up and disperse. (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir). \t [3] That is, you should not think that if in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) assembly you had to sit a little farther away from him for the sake of making room for others, you would be reduced in rank or if you were asked to rise up and disperse from the assembly, you were disgraced. The real means of exaltation of ranks is faith and knowledge, and not an opportunity to sit nearest to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his assembly and sit the longest. If a person happened to sit nearer to him, it does not mean that he became exalted in rank, for the high ranks belong only to those who have attained to the wealth of knowledge and faith. Likewise, the person who prolonged his sitting with the Prophet (peace be upon him) only to cause him inconvenience and discomfort, in fact, displayed lack of good manners. His there sitting near him for a long time will not exalt him in rank in any way. Far higher and exalted in rank in the sight of Allah is he who attained to taste faith and knowledge and imbibed the morals that should belong to a believer.","Believers, when you come to the Messenger for private consultation, offer some charity before your consultation with him.[1] That is better for you and more conducive to purity. But if you find nothing to offer in charity, then know that Allah is Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.###[1] According to Abdullah bin Abbas, this command was sent down because the Muslims had started requesting the Prophet (peace be upon him) for private counsel much too frequently, and this put him to great inconvenience. At last, Allah willed to relieve His Prophet (peace be upon him) of this burden. (Ibn Jarir). Zaid bin Aslam says that the Prophet (peace be upon him) would never turn down the request of anyone, who wanted to consult him in private. Whoever desired to have private counsel with him, he would oblige him. Often it so happened that the people would ask for private counsel in matters in which there was no real need. This was the time when all of Arabia was engaged in war against Al-Madinah. Sometimes, after a person had made such a request, Satan would whisper into the ears of the people the idea that he had brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him) the news of invasion by such and such tribes, and this would cause rumors to spread in Al-Madinah. On the other hand, this would give the hypocrites an opportunity to say that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a credulous person, who listened to and believed in whatever anyone told him. Because of this Allah imposed the restriction that anyone who wanted to have private counsel with the Prophet should first give away something in charity. (Ibn Arabi: Ahkam al-Quran). Qatadah says that some people talked to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in private in order to show their superiority to others.","Are you afraid that you will have to offer charity when you hold private conversation with the Prophet? But if you are unable to do so and Allah pardons you, then establish Prayer and pay Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah is well aware of all that you do.[1]###[1] This second command was sent down some time after the first command, and it concealed the injunction of giving something in charity. However, there is a difference of opinion as to how long the injunction remained in force. Qatadah says it remained in force for less than a day and then was abrogated. Muqatil bin Hayyan says that it remained in force for ten days; and this is the longest period of its life mentioned in any tradition.","Do you not see those who took for friends a people whom Allah is wroth with?[1] They neither belong to you nor you to them.[2] They swear to a falsehood, and they do so knowingly.[3]###[1] The allusion is to the Jews of Al-Madinah whom the hypocrites had taken for friends. \t [2] That is, they are neither sincere in their connections with the believers, nor with the Jews: their relations with both are based on selfish interests. \t [3] A false oath: that they have believed in and have accepted Muhammad (peace be upon him) as their guide and leader and are faithful to Islam and the Muslims.","Allah has prepared for them a grievous chastisement. Indeed, evil are the acts in which they are engaged.","They have taken their oaths as a shield by means of which they hinder people from the Way of Allah.[1] Theirs shall be a humiliating chastisement.###[1] That is, on the one hand, they swear oaths to their faith and fidelity to make the Muslims believe that they belong to them, and on the other, they sow doubts and suspicions against Islam and the followers of Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him) of Islam in the hearts of the people, so that they should turn away from Islam in disgust taking their word to be a true inside picture of Islam, coming from the Muslims themselves.","Neither their possessions nor their offspring will be of any avail to them against Allah. They are the people of the Fire; therein they shall abide.","On the Day when Allah will raise them all from the dead they will swear before Him as they swear before you today,[1] thinking that this will avail them. Behold, they are utter liars.###[1] That is, not being content with swearing oaths before the people in this world, they will swear false oaths also before Allah Himself in the Hereafter, for falsehood and fraud has become second nature with them, which they will not give up even after death.","Satan has gained mastery over them and has made them neglect remembering Allah. They are the party of Satan. Behold, the party of Satan will be the losers.","Verily those who oppose Allah and His Messenger will be among the most abject beings.","Allah has written: “Surely I will prevail; I and My Messengers.”[1] Verily Allah is Most Strong, Most Mighty.###[1] For explanation, see( E.N. 93 of Surah As-Saaffat).","You shall not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day befriending those who oppose Allah and His Messenger even though they be their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred.[1] He has inscribed faith in their hearts and has strengthened them with a spirit from Him, and He shall make them enter Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Therein they shall abide. Allah is well-pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him. They belong to Allah's party. Verily Allah's party shall prosper.###[1] Two things have been stated in this verse: first, a matter of principle, and the second, a statement of fact. The matter of principle is that faith in the true religion and love of the opponents of the religion are contradictory things, which cannot conceivably co-exist in one and the same place. It is absolutely impossible that love of the faith and love of the enemies of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) should co-exist in one and the same heart, just as a person’s love for himself and his love for his enemy cannot co-exist in his heart simultaneously This is as if to say: lf you see a person who professes the faith as well as keeps relations of love with the opponents of Islam, you should never be involved in the misunderstanding that he might perhaps be true in his profession in spite of his this attitude and conduct. Likewise, the people who have established relations with Islam and the opponents of Islam simultaneously, should themselves also consider their position well and see what they actually are. Are they believers or hypocrites? And what actually they want to be. Do they want to live as believers or as hypocrites? If they have any righteousness left in them and any feeling that from a moral viewpoint hypocrisy is the meanest and most abject attitude for man, they should give up their attempt to ride in two boats simultaneously. Faith wants them to be decisive. If they want to remain believers, they should sever and sacrifice all those connections that clash with their relationship with Islam. If they hold another relation dearer to themselves than the relationship with Islam, then they should better give up their false profession of Islam.","All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth extols Allah's Glory: He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.[1]###[1] For explanation, see( E.Ns 1, 2 of Surah Al-Hadid). The object of this introductory sentence before making an appraisal of the banishment of the Bani an-Nadir is to prepare the mind to understand the truth that the fate this powerful tribe met was not the result of the power of the Muslims but a manifestation of the power of Allah.","He it is Who in the first assault drove forth the People of the Book that disbelieved from their homes[1] at the first gathering of forces.[2] You did not believe that they would leave; while they too thought that their fortresses would defend them against Allah.[3] Then Allah came upon them from whence they did not even imagine,[4] casting such terror into their hearts that they destroyed their homes by their own hands and their destruction was also caused by the hands of the believers.[5] So learn a lesson from this, O you who have perceptive eyes![6]###[1] Here, the reader should understand one thing at the outset so as to avoid any confusion about the banishment of the Bani an-Nadir. The Prophet (peace be upon him) had concluded a formal written treaty with the Bani an-Nadir. They had not broken this agreement as such that it should have become void. But the reason why they were attacked was that after making different kinds of minor violations of it, they at last committed such an offense which amounted to the breach of trust. That is, they plotted to kill the leader of the other party to the treaty, i.e. the Islamic State of Al- Madinah. The plot became exposed, and when they were accused of breaking the agreement they could not deny it. Thereupon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told them either to leave Al-Madinah or to be ready for a war. This notice was in accordance with this injunction of the Quran: If you ever fear treachery from any people, throw their treaty openly before them. (Surah Al-Anfal, Ayat 58). That is why Allah is describing their exile as His own action, for it was precisely in accordance with divine law. In other words, they were not expelled by the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims but by Allah Himself. The other reason why Allah has described their exile as His own action has been stated in the following verses. \t [2] The word hashr in the text means to gather the scattered individuals togather or to take out scattered individuals after mustering them together. Thus, the words li-awwal-ilhashr mean: with the first hashr or on the occasion of the first hashr. As for the question, what is implied by the first hashr here, the commentators have disagreed on it. According to one group it implies the banishment of the Bani an-Nadir from Al-Madinah, and this has been described as their first hashr in the sense that their second hashr took place in the time of Umar, when the Jews and the Christians were expelled from the Arabian peninsula, and the final hashr will take place on the Day of Resurrection. According to the second group it implies the gathering of the Muslim army together to fight the Bani an- Nadir; and li-awwal-il-hashr means that as soon as the Muslims had gathered together to fight them, and no blood yet had been shed, they, by the manifestation of Allah’s power, offered to be banished from Al-Madinah of their own accord. In other words, these words have been used here in the meaning of at the very first assault. Shah Waliullah has translated it at the first gathering of the army. Shah Abdul Qadir has translated it at the first mustering. In our opinion this translation very nearly gives the meaning of these words. \t [3] To understand this one should keep in mind the fact that the Bani an-Nadir had been well established here for centuries. They lived in compact populations outside Al- Madinah without any lien element. Their settlement was well fortified, which had fortified houses as are generally built in feud-ridden tribal areas. Then their numerical strength also equaled that of the Muslims, and inside Al- Madinah itself many of the hypocrites were their supporters. Therefore, the Muslims could never expect that they would, even without fighting, be so unnerved by the siege as to leave their homes willingly. Likewise, the Bani an-Nadir also could not have imagined that some power would compel them to leave their homes within six days. Although the Bani Qainuqa had been expelled before them, and their false pride of valor had proved to be of no avail, they lived in a locality inside Al-Madinah and did not have any separate fortified settlement; therefore, the Bani an- Nadir thought that their inability to withstand the Muslims was not exceptionable, Contrary to this, in view of their own fortified settlement and strongholds, they could not imagine that some power could turn them out so easily. That is why when the Prophet (peace be upon him) served a notice on them to leave Al-Madinah within ten days, they boldly retorted, saying: We are not going to quit, you may do whatever you please. \t [4] Here, the question arises, on what basis has Allah said: They were thinking that their fortresses would save them from Allah. Did the Bani an-Nadir really know that they were not facing Muhammad bin Abdullah (peace be upon him) but Allah? And did they, in spite of knowing this, think that their fortresses would save them from Allah? This is a question which would confound every such person who does not know the psychology of the Jewish people and their centuries-old traditions. As regards the common men, no one can imagine that despite their knowing consciously that they were facing Allah, they would entertain the false hope that their forts and weapons would save them from Allah. Therefore, an ignorant person would interpret the divine word, saying that the Bani an-Nadir in view of the strength of their forts were apparently involved in the misunderstanding that they would remain safe from the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) attack, but in reality they were fighting Allah and from Him their forts could not save them. But the fact is that the Jews in this world are a strange people, who have been knowingly fighting Allah: they killed the Prophets of Allah knowing them to be His Prophets, and they declared boastfully and arrogantly that they had killed the Prophets of Allah. Their traditions say that their great Patriarch, the prophet Jacob (peace be upon him), wrestled with Allah throughout the night and Allah could not throw him even till daybreak. Then, when at daybreak Allah asked Jacob to let Him go, Jacob replied that he would not let Him go until He blessed him. Allah asked him his name, and he answer Jacob. Allah said that his name would no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you strove with God and with men, and prevailed. (See Gen. 32: 25-29 in the latest Jewish translation; The Scriptures, published by the Jewish Publication Society of America 1954). In the Christian translation of the Bible too this subject has been rendered likewise. In the footnote of the Jewish translation, Israel has been explained as: He who striveth with God. In the Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature the meaning given of Israel by the Christian scholars is: Wrestler with God. Then in Hosea (O.T.) the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) has been praised thus: By his strength he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed. (Ch. 12: 3-4). Now, obviously, the people of Israel are the children of the same Prophet Israel who, according to their faith, had striven with God and wrestled with Him. For them it is not at all difficult that they should stand firm and fight even God. On this very basis, they, even according to their own profession, killed the Prophets of God, and under the same false pride they put the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) on the cross and bragged: We have killed Jesus Christ, son of Mary, Messenger of Allah. Therefore, it was not against their traditions that they fought Muhammad (peace be upon him) despite their knowledge that he was Allah’s Messenger. If not their common people, their rabbis and learned men knew well that he was the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah. The Quran itself contains several evidences to this effect. (For instance, see (E.Ns 79, 95 of Surah Al-Baqarah);(E.Ns 190, 191 of Surah An-Nisa);(E.Ns 70, 73 of Surah As-Saaffat). \t [5] Allah’s coming down upon them does not mean that Allah was staying in another place whence He attacked them. But this is a metaphoric expression. The object is to give the idea that while facing Allah they were thinking that Allah could chastise them only by bringing an army against them from the front and they were confident that they would resist that force by their fortifications. But Allah attacked them from whence they had not thought it possible; and this was that He made than weak and broke their power of resistance from within after which neither their weapons nor their strongholds could help them. \t [6] That is, the destruction occurred in two ways: from outside the Muslims besieged them and started demolishing their fortifications, and from within, first they raised obstacles of stone and wood to stop the Muslims from advancing, and for this purpose broke their own houses for the material; then, when they became certain that they would have to vacate the place, they started pulling down their houses, which they had so fondly built and decorated, with their own hands, so as to render them useless for the Muslims later. When they settled peace with the Prophet (peace be upon him) on the condition that they would be spared their lives but would have the permission to carry away whatever they could, except the weapons and armor, they started removing the frames of the doors and windows, even pegs, so much so that some people removed the beams and wooden ceilings, which they put upon the back of their camels and left.","If Allah had not decreed banishment for them, He would certainly have chastised them in this world.[1] As for the Hereafter, the chastisement of the Fire awaits them.###[1] Would have punished them in this world: world have caused them to be annihilated. That is, had they fought instead of surrendering to save their lives, they would have been completely wiped out. Their men would have perished in the war and their womenfolk and children would have been taken prisoners and there would be no one to have them ransomed.","That is because they set themselves against Allah and His Messenger; and whoever sets himself against Allah should know that Allah is surely Most Stern in retribution.","The palm-trees that you cut down or those that you left standing on their roots, it was by Allah's leave that you did so.[1] (Allah granted you this leave) in order that He might humiliate the evil-doers.[2]###[1] The reference is to the fact that the Muslims cut down or burnt many of the palm-trees that stood in the oases around the settlement of the Bani an-Nadir in order to facilitate the siege, However, they left those trees standing which did not obstruct the military operations. At this the hypocrites of Al-Madinah and the Bani Quraizah, and the Bani an-Nadir themselves raised a clamor, saying that, on the one hand, Muhammad (peace be upon him) prohibited spreading disorder in the world, but, on the other hand, fruit trees were being cut down by his command, which amounted to spreading disorder in the world. At this Allah sent down the command: Whatever trees you cut down, or whatever you left standing, your neither act was unlawful, but it had Allah’s permission. The legal injunction that is derived from this verse is that the destruction caused for the sake of military operations does not come under spreading disorder in the world. But spreading disorder in the world is that an army under the fit of war hysteria should intrude into the enemy territory and start destroying the crops, cattle, gardens, houses and everything in its way without any reason. In this matter, the general instruction is the same which Abu Bakr Siddiq gave while dispatching the Muslim army to Syria: Do not cut down fruit trees, do not destroy crops, do not ravage the settlements. This was precisely in accordance with the Quranic teaching, which condemns those who spread chaos: When they get power they direct all their efforts towards spreading corruption in the land, destroying harvests and killing people. (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 205). But the specific command in respect of the war exigencies is that if destruction is necessary for military operations against the enemy, it is lawful. Thus, Abdullah bin Masud has given this explanation in the commentary of this verse: The Muslims had cut down only those trees of the Bani an- Nadir that stood on the battlefield. (Tafsir Nisaburi). Some of the Muslim jurists have overlooked this aspect of the matter and expressed the opinion that the permissibility of cutting the trees of the Bani an-Nadir was confined only to that particular event. It does not make it generally permissible that whenever war necessitates, trees of the enemy be cut down and burnt. Imam Auzai, Laith and Abu Thaur hold this same opinion. But the majority of the jurists hold the view that for the sake of important military operations it is permissible. However, this is not permissible for the purpose of mere destruction and pillage. \t [2] One may ask: This verse of the Quran could satisfy the Muslims, but how could those who did not accept the Quran as divine word be satisfied at this reply to their objection that both acts were permissible as they had Allah’s permission for it? The answer is: This verse of the Quran was sent down to satisfy only the Muslims; it was not sent down to satisfy the disbelievers. Since due to the objection of the Jews and the hypocrites, or due to their own thinking, they had been involved in the misgiving whether they were guilty of spreading disorder in the earth. Allah gave them the satisfaction that both the acts, cutting down some trees to facilitate the siege and leaving some other trees standing which did not obstruct the siege, were in accordance with divine law.","Whatever Allah has taken away from them and bestowed (as spoils) on His Messenger[1] for which you spurred neither horses nor camels; but Allah grants authority to His Messengers over whomsoever He pleases. Allah has power over everything.[2]###[1] From here to the end of verse 10, Allah explains how the lands and properties that were restored to the Islamic State after the exile of the Bani an-Nadir, are to be managed and administered. As it was the first occasion that a land was conquered and included in the Islamic territory, and many more lands were destined to be conquered in the future, the law governing the conquered lands was enunciated at the outset. Here, a note-worthy point is that Allah at this place has used the words: Ma-afa-Allahu ala Rasuli-hi-min-hum: Whatever Allah restored to His Messenger from them. These words clearly imply that the rebels of Allah Almighty are not entitled to own the earth and things existing on it. If they have become their owners and are appropriating them, their ownership and appropriation of these things is, in fact, in the nature of usurpation of a master’s property by a dishonest servant. The real right of these properties is that these should be spent and used in the service and obedience of their real Master, Allah, Lord of the worlds, according to His will, and their this use is possible only through the agency of the righteous believers. Therefore, the true position of the properties which pass from the ownership of the disbelievers into the hands of the Muslims as the result of a lawful war, is that their real Owner has withdrawn them from His disobedient and disloyal servants, and restored them to His obedient and loyal servants. That is why, in the terminology of the Islamic Law such properties have been described as Fai (restored properties). \t [2] That is, the restoration of these properties to the Muslims is not the result of the effort of the actual fighting army so that the army on that basis may have the right that the properties may be distributed among the soldiers, but its real nature is that Allah by His bounty has given dominance to His Messengers and the system that they represent over them. In other words, the passing of these properties into the Muslims’ hands is not the direct result of the effort and struggle of the fighting army, but the result of the total strength that Allah has bestowed on His Messenger and his community and the system established by him. Therefore, these properties are quite different in nature from the spoils of war and so cannot be distributed among the soldiers as such.","Whatever (from the possessions of the towns people) Allah has bestowed on His Messenger belongs to Allah, and to the Messenger, and to his kinsfolk, and to the orphans, and to the needy, and to the wayfarer[1] so that it may not merely circulate between the rich among you.[2] So accept whatever the Messenger gives you, and refrain from whatever he forbids you. And fear Allah: verily Allah is Most Stern in retribution.[3]###[1] In the preceding verse what was pointed out was why these properties should not be distributed among the fighting army like the spoils, and why the legal injunction concerning them is different from that concerning the spoils. Now in this verse it is being stated as to who are entitled to have a share in these properties. \t [2] The first share in these is of Allah and His Messenger. The detail of how the Prophet (peace be upon him) acted on this injunction has been related by Malik bin Aus bin al- Hadathan on the authority of Umar, thus: The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to take from it necessary expenses for himself and his family and the rest he used to spend on arranging arms and conveyances for Jihad. (Bukhari, Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Daud, Tirmadhi, Nasai and others). After the passing away of the Prophet (peace be upon him) this share was transferred to the Public Treasury of the Muslims so that it is spent in the service of the mission which Allah had entrusted to His Messenger (peace be upon him). Imam Shafai is reported to have expressed the opinion that the share which was specifically meant for the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) person, is for his caliph after him, for the Prophet (peace be upon him) was entitled to it on the basis of his office of leadership and not on the basis of the office of Apostleship. But the view of the majority of the Shafei jurists in this matter is the same as of the other jurists, viz. that this share now is reserved for the religious and collective welfare of the Muslims, and not for any particular person. \t [3] The second share is of the kinsfolk, and this implies the kinsfolk of the Prophet (peace be upon him), i.e. the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-Muttalib. This share was set aside so that, besides meeting his own and his family’s requirements, the Prophet (peace be upon him) could also fulfill his obligations towards those of his relatives who stood in need of his help, or whom he felt like helping. After the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), this ceased to be a separate and independent source, because like the right of the orphans and the wayfarers and the indigent among the Muslims, looking after the rights of the needy among the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-Muttalib also became the responsibility of the Public Treasury. However, they were treated as superior to others in so far as they had no share in the zakat. Abdullah bin Abbas has related that in the time of Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman, the first two shares were dropped and only the remaining three shares (i.e. those for the orphans and the indigent and the wayfarers) were kept as of those entitled to fai. Then Ali also acted on the same in his time, Muhammad bin Ishaq has related on the authority of Imam Muhammad Baqir that although Ali’s personal opinion was the same as of the people of his house (that this share should be given to the relatives of the Prophet, peace be upon him), he did not think that he should act against the practice of Abu Bakr and Umar. Hasan bin Muhammad bin Hanafiyah says that after the Prophet (peace be upon him), a difference of opinion arose about these two shares (i.e. the share of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the share of his relatives). Some people said that the first share should go to the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) caliph, some said that the second share should go to the relatives of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and still others said that the second share should be given to the relatives of the caliph. At last, a consensus was reached that both the shares be spent on the requirements of Jihad. Ata bin Saib says that Umar bin Abdul Aziz in his time had started sending the share of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the share of the relatives to the Bani Hashim. The opinion of Imam Abu Hanifah and of most of the Hanafi jurists is that in this matter the same practice is correct as was being followed in the time of the righteous Caliphs. (Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj pp. 19-21). Imam Sharei’s opinion is that both the rich and the needy from among the people whose being descended from the Bani Hashim and the Bani al-Muttalib is confirmed, or is well known, can be given shares from fai. (Mughni alMuhtaj). The Hanafis say that only their needy people can be helped from this; however, their right to this is greater than that of others. (Ruh al-Maani). According to Imam Malik, there is no restriction on the government in this matter. It can spend on any head that it deems fit and proper, but the better course is that it should give preference to the people of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) house. (Hashiyah ad-Dusuqi ala-sh-Sharh-al-Kabir).","It also belongs to the poor Emigrants who have been driven out of their homes and their possessions,[1] those who seek Allah's favour and good pleasure and help Allah and His Messenger. Such are the truthful ones.###[1] This implies those people who at that time had been expelled from Makkah and other parts of Arabia only because they had embraced Islam. Before the conquest of the territory of the Bani an-Nadir these emigrants had no permanent means of sustenance. Therefore, it was commanded that in the properties which were then taken, and in the fai properties which are taken in future there is also a share of these people along with the common poor people and the orphans and the wayfarers. With these properties all such people should be helped, who are forced to emigrate for the cause of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) to the abode of Islam. Accordingly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) distributed a part of the properties taken from the Bani an-Nadir among the emigrants and the oases which the Ansar had set aside for the support and maintenance of their emigrant brothers were returned to them. But it is not correct to think that the emigrants had this share in the fai only at that time. In fact, the intention of the verse is to point out that till Resurrection it is the duty of the Islamic government of the country to settle the people who are exiled and compelled to take refuge in it because of being Muslims and to enable them to stand on their feet economically; and it should also spend on this head from the fai properties besides the zakat funds.","It also belongs to those who were already settled in this abode (of Hijrah)[1] having come to faith before the (arrival of the) Muhajirun (Emigrants).They love those who have migrated to them and do not covet what has been given them; they even prefer them above themselves though poverty be their own lot.[2] And whosoever are preserved from their own greed, such are the ones that will prosper.[3]###[1] This implies the Ansar. In other words, not only are the emigrants entitled to fai but those Muslims also are entitled to receive their share from it who were already living in the abode of Islam (Al-Madinah). \t [2] This is in praise of the Ansar, the Muslims of Al- Madinah. When the emigrants came from Makkah and other places to their city, they offered their gardens and oases to the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the request that he distribute them among their emigrant brethren-infaith. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: These people do not know gardening: they have come from a region where there are no gardens. Could it not be that you (the Ansar) continue to work in the gardens and oases and make the emigrants partners in the produce? The Ansar submitted: We have heard and obeyed. (Bukhari, Ibn Jarir). Thereupon the emigrants said: We have never seen any people so self-sacrificing as the Ansar, for they would work and labor and make us partners in the produce. We think they would thus be entitled to all spiritual rewards. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Nay, as long as you would praise them and pray for their well-being, you also would get your rewards. (Musnad Ahmad). Then, when the territory of the Bani an-Nadir was taken, the Prophet (peace be upon him) made this proposal to the Ansar: Now one way of managing it is that your properties and the gardens and the oases left by the Jews be combined together and then the whole distributed among you and the emigrants. The second way is that you take back your properties, and the lands vacated by the Jews be distributed among the emigrants. The Ansar said: You may please distribute these evacuee properties among the emigrants and may give them of our properties also as you please. At this Abu Bakr cried out: May Allah reward you, O assembly of the Ansar, with the best of everything. (Yahya bin Adam, Baladhuri). Thus, with the willing consent of the Ansar the properties left by the Jews were distributed only among the emigrants, and from among the Ansar only Abu Dujanah, Sahl bin Hunaif and (according to some) Harith bin as-Simmah were given shares, for they were poor people. (Baladhuri, Ibn Hisham Ruh al-Maani). The same self-sacrificing spirit was shown by the Ansar when the territory of Bahrain was annexed to the Islamic State. The Prophet (peace be upon him) wished that the conquered lands of that territory be given to the Ansar, but they submitted: We would not take any share from it unless a similar share was given to our emigrant brothers. (Yahya bin Adam). Allah has praised the Ansar for this very spirit of self-sacrifice. \t [3] The word used here means “is saved” and not “was safe”, for without Allah's help and succor no one can attain to the wealth of the heart (liberal-mindedness) by his own power and effort. This is a blessing of God, which one can attain only by God’s bounty and grace. The word shuhha is used for stinginess and miserliness in Arabic. But when this word is attributed to the self of man, it becomes synonymous with narrow-mindedness, niggardliness, mean spiritedness and small-heartedness, and not mere stinginess: it is rather the root cause of stinginess itself. Because of this very quality man avoids acknowledging even the good qualities of another, not to speak of recognizing his rights and discharging them. He wants that he alone should gather up everything in the world, and no one else should have anything of it. He never feels content with his own right, but usurps the rights of others, or at least wants to have for himself all that is good in the world and should not leave anything for others. On this very basis one’s being saved from this evil has been described in the Quran as a guarantee for success. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has counted it among the most evil qualities of man which are the root cause of corruption and mischief. Jabir bin Abdullah has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Avoid shuhha for it was shuhha which ruined the people before you. It incited them to shed each other’s blood and make the sacred and forbidden things of others lawful for themselves. (Muslim, Musnad Ahmad, Baihaqi, Bukhari in Al-Adab). The tradition of Abdullah bin Umar contains the following words: It led them to commit wickedness and they committed it. It commanded them to commit sins and they committed sin. It urged them to break off all connections with the kindred and they broke off all connections with them. (Musnad Ahmad, Abu Daud, Nasai). Abu Hurairah has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Faith and shuhha of the self cannot combine in one and the same heart. (Ibn Abi Shaibah, Nasa Baihaqi in Shuab al-Iman, Hakim). Abu Said Khudri has stated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Two of the qualities are such that they cannot combine in a Muslim: stinginess and misbehavior. (Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Bukhari in Al-Adab). It is as a result of this very teaching of Islam that, apart from individuals, the Muslims as a nation are still the most generous and liberal minded people in the world.","(And it also belongs to) those who came after them,[1] and who pray: “Lord, forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in faith, and do not put in our hearts any rancour towards those who believe. Lord, You are the Most Tender, the Most Compassionate.”[2]###[1] In the injunctions laid down up to here, it has been ruled that in the fai properties there are the rights of Allah and His Messenger and the Messenger’s relatives and the orphans and the indigent and the wayfarers and the emigrants and the Ansar and of the Muslim generations which will be born till the Day of Resurrection. It is this important legal ruling of the Quran in the light of which Umar introduced the new system in respect of the lands and properties of the conquered territories of Iraq, Syria and Egypt and of the possessions of the previous governments and rulers of those countries. When these countries were conquered; some of the distinguished companions among whom were included prominent men like Zubair, Bilal, Abdur Rahman bin Auf and Salman Farsi, insisted that these should be distributed among the armies who had fought and conquered them. They thought that those properties did not come under those upon which you have not rushed your horses and camels, but the Muslims had conquered them by rushing their horses and camels on them. Therefore, except for those cities and territories which surrendered without the war, all the rest of the conquered lands came under ghanimah for which the legal command is that one fifth of the lands and the people be given to the public treasury and the remaining four parts be distributed among the soldiers. But this opinion was not correct on the ground that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had not distributed the lands and the people of any territory conquered by fighting in his time after the deduction of one-fifth, like the booty. Two of the most conspicuous precedents of his time were the conquest of Makkah and the conquest of Khaiber. Of these he handed over Makkah intact to its inhabitants. As for Khaiber, according to Bushair bin Yasar, he divided it into 36 parts, of which he set aside 18 parts for collective benefits and requirements of the Muslims and distributed the remaining 18 among the army. (Abu Daud, Baihaqi, Abi Ubaid: Kitab al-Amwal; Yahya bin Adam: Kitab al-Kharj Baladhuri: Futuh al-Buldan; Ibn Human: Fath al-Qadir). This action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) made it clear that the command in respect of the conquered lands, even if they might have been taken by fighting, is not the same as of the ghanimah otherwise he would never have given the whole of Makkah intact to the people of Makkah, and would have set aside exactly one-half of the properties of Khaiber for the common benefits of the Muslims instead of deducting its one-fifth for the public treasury. Thus, what was established on the basis of the Sunnah was: In respect of the territories conquered by fighting, the ruler of the Muslims has the authority that he may take any decision that he deems fit keeping in view the conditions of the time. He can distribute them if he so likes but if a territory has an unusual nature and importance, as Makkah had, he can also treat its inhabitants with favor, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) treated the people of Makkah. \t [2] But as the conquests had not yet become common in the Prophet’s time and separate injunctions in respect of the different kinds of conquered territories had not yet become clearly known to the people, so when big countries were annexed to Islam in the time of Umar, the companions were faced with the problem whether the territories conquered by force were in the nature of ghanimah or fai. After the conquest of Egypt, Zubair demanded: Distribute this, whole land just as the Prophet (peace be upon him) had distributed Khaiber. (Abu Ubaid). About the conquered territories of Syria and Iraq, Bilal insisted: Distribute all the lands among the fighting forces just as the spoils are distributed. (Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj). On the other hand, Ali gave this opinion: Leave these lands in possession of the peasants so that they continue to remain a source of income for the Muslims. (Abu Yusuf, Abu Ubaid,). Likewise, the opinion of Muadh bin Jabal was: If you distributed these lands, evil consequences would occur. Because of this distribution large properties will pass into the hands of those few people, who have conquered them. Then, when these people pass away and their properties pass on to their heirs and there is left only one woman or only one man from among them, nothing might remain for the future generations to meet their needs and even to meet the expenses of safeguarding the frontiers of the Islamic State. Therefore, you should so settle things that the interests of both the present and of the future generations are equally safeguarded. (Abu Ubaid, p. 59; Fath al-Bari, vol. vi, p. 138). Umar calculated and found that if the territories of Iraq were distributed, each individual would receive two or three peasants on the average as his share, (Abu Yusuf. Abu Ubaid). Thereupon he arrived at the judicious conclusion that those territories should not be distributed. Thus, the replies that he gave to those who demanded their distribution, were as follows:","Did[1] you not see the hypocrites say to their brethren, the unbelievers among the People of the Book: “If you are banished we too will go with you and will not listen to anyone concerning you; and if war is waged against you, we will come to your aid.” But Allah bears witness that they are liars.###[1] From the style of this whole section (verses 11-17), it appears that it was revealed at the time when the Prophet (peace be upon him) had served a notice on the Bani anNadir to leave Al-Madinah within ten days, but had not yet laid siege to their quarters. As has been mentioned about, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) served the notice to the Bani an-Nadir, Abdullah bin Ubayy and other leaders of the hypocrites of Al-Madinah sent them a message to the effect that they would come to their aid with two thousand men, and that the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Ghatafan would also rise in their support; therefore, they should stand firm and should never surrender to the Muslims. For if the Muslims waged a war against hem, they would fight them from their side; and if they expelled hem, they also would go out with them. Thereupon Allah sent down these verses. Thus, chronologically this section is an earlier revelation and the first section a later revelation, when the Bani an-Nadir had actually been driven out of Al-Madinah. But in the Quran the order of the two passages has been reversed for the reason that the subject matter of the first section is of greater importance","To be sure, if they are banished, they will not go with them and if war is waged against them, they will not aid them; and even if they provide any aid to them, they will still turn their backs, and thereafter no aid will be forthcoming to them.","Surely they have greater dread for you in their hearts than for Allah.[1] That is because they are a people who are devoid of understanding.[2]###[1] That is, the reason why they dare not face you openly in the field is not that they are Muslim: and have fear of God in their hearts and are afraid that despite their claim to the faith when they come out to help the disbelievers as against the believers, they will be held accountable before God. But what actually restrains them from facing you is that when they see your profound love and spirit of selfsacrifice and devotion for Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the great unity and concord in your ranks, they become dispirited. They know well that although you are few in number, the spirit of martyrdom which has turned each single individual among you into a gallant warrior and the organization which has molded you into a solid body, will also crush them along with the Jews when they clash with you in the battlefield. Here one should bear in mind the fact that if a person harbors the fear of another than God in his heart, it is in fact a negation of the fear of God. Obviously, the person who considers one of the dangers as lesser and the other greater, pays no heed to the first but does whatever he can to safeguard himself against the greater danger. \t [2] A great truth has been expressed in this brief sentence. A person who has sense knows that the real power to be feared is the power of Allah and not the power of men. Therefore, he will avoid every such thing as may call for the punishment of Allah, whether there is any human power to call him to account for it or not, and he will come out to accomplish any duty which Allah has enjoined on him, whether he is opposed and hindered by all the powers of the world. But a man, who has no sense, determines his attitude and conduct in view of the human powers, instead of Allah's power, in all matters of lift, because Allah’s power for him is imperceptible and human powers are perceptible. If he avoids something, he will avoid it, not because of the fear of Allah’s punishment for it, but because of a human power, which may be there to take him to task. And if he does something he will do is not because Allah has enjoined it, but because some human power has ordered or approved of it, and will reward him for it. This very distinction between intelligence and folly, in fact, distinguishes the character and conduct of a believer from that of an unbeliever.","They will never fight against you as a body (in an open battlefield); and if they fight against you they will fight only in fortified townships or from behind walls. Intense is their hostility to one another. You reckon them united while their hearts are divided.[1] That is because they are a people devoid of reason.###[1] This refers to the second weakness of the hypocrites. The first weakness was that they were cowardly. They feared the men instead of fearing God and had no higher aim of life before them like the believers, which might impel them to fight for it even at the cost of life. And their second weakness was that they had no common tie between them except hypocrisy, which might unite them together into a strong band. The only thing that had brought them together was that they were all feeling highly upset at the flourishing leadership and rule of Muhammad (peace be upon him), who was an outsider in their city, and at the warm reception and help which their own compatriots, the Ansar, were giving to the Emigrants. Because of this jealousy they wanted them to join hands together and in conspiracy with the enemies of Islam of the surrounding areas should somehow put an end to this alien power and authority. But apart from this negative objective there was no positive common aim to unify them. Each of their chiefs had his own separate band, each craved for his own leadership. No one was sincere to the other, but each bore such jealousy and malice for the other that they could neither forget their mutual enmities nor desist from harming the other fatally even while facing those whom they regarded as their common enemy.","They are like those who tasted the evil consequences of their deeds[1] a short while before. A grievous chastisement awaits them.###[1] The allusion is to the disbelievers of the Quraish and the Jewish clan of the Bani Qrainuqa who had been defeated by a handful of ill-equipped Muslims in spite of their larger numbers and superior equipment, due mainly to these weaknesses.","Their parable is that of Satan when he says to man: “Disbelieve,” but when he disbelieves, he says: “I am quit of you. Verily I fear Allah, the Lord of the Universe.”[1]###[1] That is, these hypocrites are treating the Bani an-Nadir in much the same way as Satan treats men. Today they are urging them to stand firm and go forth and clash with the Muslims making them believe that they would come to their aid, but when they actually clash with the Muslims, they would renounce their pledges and promises and would never even look back to see their fate. The same way does Satan treat every disbeliever, and a similar treatment had he given to the disbelieving Quraish at Badr, as has been mentioned in (Surah al-Anfal, Ayat 48). First, he incited them with false hopes and brought them out to confront the Muslims, saying: Today no one can overcome you, for I am with you. But when the two forces met in battle, he took to his heels, saying: I have nothing to do with you. I see that which you cannot see. Indeed, I fear Allah.","In the end both will be in the Fire, and will abide in it. That is the recompense of the wrong-doers.","Believers,[1] fear Allah and let every person look to what he sends forward for the morrow.[2] Fear Allah; Allah is well aware of all that you do.###[1] It is a rule of the Quran that whenever the hypocritical Muslims are taken to task for their hypocrisy, they are given admonition also so that whoever of them has some life left in his conscience, may feel remorse for his conduct and attitude and may make an effort, out of the fear of Allah, to come out of the pit into which his worship of the self has thrown him. This whole section (verses 18-24) consists of such admonition. \t [2] For tomorrow: for the Hereafter. That is, this whole worldly life is “today”, whose “tomorrow” is the Day of Resurrection, which is going to follow it. Adopting this style Allah has, in a wise manner, made man understand the truth that just as that person is highly foolish, who gambles away his all for the enjoyment of today and does not realize whether tomorrow he would be left with anything to eat and a place of shelter or not, so is also that person only working for his own doom, who is too absorbed in making his world to pay heed to the Hereafter, whereas the Hereafter is to follow this world just as today is to be followed by tomorrow, and there he would find nothing if he has sent nothing ahead for the morrow. Besides, the other wise point here is that every person has been appointed his own censor. Unless a person develops in himself the sense of what is good for him and what is evil, he cannot appreciate whether what he is doing will make his future in the Hereafter or mar it. And when this sense becomes active in himself, he will have to calculate and see for himself whether the way in which he is spending his time, his wealth, his energies and capabilities leads to Heaven or Hell. To do so is in his own interest; for if he does not do so he will ruin his own future itself.","And be not like those who forgot Allah and so He made them oblivious of themselves.[1] They are the wicked ones.###[1] That is, forgetfulness of God inevitably leads to forgetfulness of one’s own self. When man forgets that he is slave to the Almighty, he will inevitably form a wrong view of his position in the world, and his whole life will go wrong because of this basic error. Likewise, when he forgets that he is slave to nobody except Allah, he does not serve the one whose slave actually he is not. This also is a grave and allpervading misunderstanding, which corrupts his whole life. Man’s real position in the world is that of a slave; he is not free and self-sufficient; and he is slave of only One God, and is no one else’s slave beside Him. The person who does not know this truth, does not in fact know himself. And the person who in spite of knowing this, forgets it at any moment, may commit an act at that very moment, which a disbeliever, or a polytheist or a man forgetful of God only would commit. Man’s remaining firm and steadfast on the right path entirely depends on his remembering God at all times. For as soon as he, becomes heedless of Him, he becomes heedless of himself and this very heedlessness turns him into sinfulness.","Those destined for the Fire and those destined for Paradise cannot be alike. Verily it is those destined for Paradise who shall triumph.","Had We sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain you would indeed have seen it humbling itself and breaking asunder out of fear of Allah.[1] We propound such parables to people that they may reflect.###[1] The parable means that if a huge creation like a mountain had the sense and knowledge that it had been made responsible and accountable, like man, before Allah Almighty, for its deeds, it would have trembled from the fear of it. But how heedless, senseless and thoughtless is the man, who understands the Quran, and has known the whole truth through it, yet he is neither seized by any fear nor feels worried as to what answer he would make to his God about the responsibilities that have been placed on him. On the contrary, when he reads the Quran, or hears it being read, he remains un-moved as if he were a lifeless and senseless stone, which is not supposed to hear and see and understand anything. (For further explanation, see (E.N. 120 of Surah Al-Ahzab).","He[1] is Allah: there is no god but He;[2] the Knower of the unseen and the manifest,[3] He is the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.[4]###[1] These verses explain what kind of God He is, and what are His attributes, Who has sent this Quran to you, Who has placed these responsibilities on you, and before Whom you have to render an account of your deeds in the end. This mention of the divine attributes immediately after the above theme automatically gives man the feeling that he has not to deal with an ordinary being but with Almighty Allah Who has such and such attributes. Here, one should also understand that although in the Quran, the attributes of Allah Almighty have been stated in a unique way, which gives a clear concept of the divine Being, there are two places where the attributes of Allah have been mentioned in a most comprehensive way, in the verse of the Alkursi (Al- Baqarah, Ayat 255) and in these verses of Surah Al-Hashr. \t [2] That is, He is the One besides Whom none else has the rank, position, attributes and powers of Godhead so that he may be worshiped and served as god. \t [3] That is, He knows whatever is hidden from the creatures as well as whatever is known and visible to them. Nothing of this universe is unknown to Him. He directly knows whatever has happened in the past, whatever exists at present and whatever will happen in the future. He does not stand in need of any means or medium of knowledge. \t [4] That is, He alone is the Being Whose mercy is limitless, which covers the whole universe and blesses and benefits everything in it. None else in the world is the bearer of such all-pervading, infinite mercy. The mercy of every other being, characterized by the ability of mercy, is partial and limited, and that quality too is not essentially its own, but bestowed by the Creator for a specific need and purpose. He has created the quality of mercy for some other creature. He has created it in order to make one creature a means for the development and well-being of the other creature. This by itself is a proof that Allah’s Mercy is infinite.","He is Allah: there is no god but He: the King,[1] the Holy,[2] the All-Peace,[3] the Giver of security,[4] the Overseer,[5] the Most Mighty,[6] the Overpowering,[7] the All-Great.[8] Exalted be He from whatever they associate with Him.###[1] The word used in the original is al-Malik, which means that He alone is the real Sovereign. Moreover, the word al- Malik in its general sense also gives the meaning that He is King of the entire universe and not of a particular region or of a specific country. His Sovereignty and rule comprehends the entire universe. \t [2] He is Master of everything. Everything submits itself to His command and power and authority, and there is nothing to delimit His Sovereignty. At different places in the Quran all aspects of Allah’s Sovereignty have been presented and explained fully. \t [3] And whoever exists in the heavens and the earth, belongs to Him. All are obedient to Him. (Surah Ar-Room, Ayat 26). \t [4] He administers the affairs of the world from the heavens to the earth. (Surah As-Sajdah, Ayat 5). \t [5] To Him belongs the dominion of the earth and the heavens, and all matters are referred to Him for decision.( Surah Al- Hadid, Ayat 5). \t [6] He has no partner in His sovereignty. (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 2). \t [7] In His hand is the absolute control of everything. (Surah Ya Seen, Ayat 83). \t [8] Doer of whatever He wills.(Surah Al-Burooj, Ayat 16).","He is Allah, the Planner,[1] Executer and Fashioner of creation.[2] His are the names most beautiful.[3] Whatever is in the heavens and the earth extols His Glory.[4] He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.[5]###[1] That is, those who regard a creature as an associate in His powers, authority, attributes, or in His Being, in fact, utter a grave falsehood, for Allah is far exalted that anybody or anything should be an associate with Him in any sense. \t [2] That is, the entire world and everything in it, from the initial plan of its creation till its coming into existence in its final, finished form, is entirely Allah’s work of creation. Nothing has come into existence by itself nor come about accidentally, nor has anyone else the least share in its creation and development. Here, Allah’s act of creation has been described in three separate stages, which take place one after the other. First is the stage of khalq, which means to ordain, or to plan. It is like an engineer’s conceiving the design of a building, which he intends to build for a specific purpose and draws out its detailed diagram and model. The second stage is barr, which actually means to separate, to cut, to split asunder. The Creator has been called Al-barii in the sense that He enforces the plan He has conceived and brings out the thing from non-existence into existence. It is Analogous to the engineer’s putting marks on the ground of the full measurements of the building according to the plan, digging the foundations, raising the walls and completing all the practical preliminaries of the construction work. The third stage is taswir, which means to give shape; here it implies giving something its final complete shape. In all these three stages there is no resemblance whatever between Allah’s work and human works. None of human plans is such as may not have been derived from previous models and plans. But each of Allah’s plans is, unique and His own original creation. Whatever man makes, he makes it by combining the substances created by Allah. He does not bring anything from nonexistence into existence, but composes and constructs by different methods whatever is present and available. Contrary to this, Allah has brought everything from non-existence into creation, and the substance itself of which He has made the universe is created by Him. Likewise, in the matter of giving shape also man is not the inventor but an imitator, and only a poor imitator. The real Maker of forms and shapes is Allah, Who has given a unique and matchless shape to every species and individual and has never repeated exactly the same shape or from. \t [3] Names imply the adjectives, and “His are the excellent names” means that those adjectives which indicate or express some kind of defect are not appropriate for Him. He should be remembered by those names which express His attributes of Perfection. In the Quran these beautiful names of Allah have been mentioned here and there, and in the Hadith 99 names of that Exalted and Pure Being have been enumerated which Timidhi and Ibn Majah have related on the authority of Abu Hurairah. If one studies these names as mentioned in the Quran and the Hadith carefully, he can easily understand what words would be appropriate and suitable if one has to remember Allah in another language. \t [4] That is, everything proclaims with the tongue, or otherwise, that its Creator is free from every fault and defect, weakness and error. \t [5] For explanation, see E.N. 2 of Surah","Believers,[1] if you have left (your homes and) have come forth to struggle in My Way and to seek My good pleasure, do not make friends with My enemies and your enemies. You befriend them whereas they have spurned the Truth that has come to you; and (such is their enmity that) they expel the Messenger and yourselves for no other reason than that you believe in Allah, your Lord. You send to them messages of friendship in secrecy, although I know well whatever you do, be it secretly or publicly. And whosoever of you does so has indeed strayed far away from the Straight Path.###[1] It would be appropriate to give at the outset the details<br>of the incident concerning which these verses were revealed<br>so that the subject that follows is understood easily. The<br>commentators agree, and Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah,<br>Urwah bin Zubair and others also have unanimously<br>reported that these verses were revealed at the time when a<br>letter of Hatib bin Abi Baltaa to the pagans of Makkah was<br>intercepted.","If they could overcome you, they would act as your foes and would hurt you by their hands and tongues, and would love to see you become unbelievers.[1]###[1] Although what has been said up to here, and what<br>follows in this regard, was revealed in connection with the<br>incident relating to Hatib, Allah, instead of dwelling on his<br>case only, has given the believers this lesson forever. It is<br>contrary to the profession of the faith that a person should<br>act, out of any motive or reason, in a way detrimental to the<br>interests of Islam and subservient to the interests of<br>disbelief when a conflict is going on between Islam and<br>disbelief and some people have adopted a hostile attitude<br>towards the Muslims only because they are Muslims. Even<br>if a person be wholly free from any ill-will against Islam<br>and acts thus not with an evil intention but for the sake of a<br>dire personal need, the act anyhow is unbecoming of a<br>believer, and whoever acts thus strays from the right way.","On the Day of Resurrection neither your blood-kindred nor your own offspring will avail you.[1] (On that Day) He will separate you.[2] Allah sees all that you do.[3]###[1] The allusion is to Hatib. As he had acted thus only in<br>order to ensure that his mother and brother and children<br>remained safe in the event of a war, it is being said: The<br>relations for whose sake you have committed this grave<br>error, will not save you on the Day of Resurrection. No one<br>will dare come forward in the court of Allah and say: Our<br>father, or our son, or our brother had committed this sin<br>for our sake; therefore, we may be punished instead of him.<br>At that time everyone will be worried only about himself,<br>and weighed down with the anxiety of somehow saving<br>himself from the consequences of his own acts, not to speak<br>of being ready to take the burden of another’s sins on him.<br>This thing has been expressed in clearer words at several<br>other places in the Quran. At one place it has been said: To<br>save oneself from the torment of that Day, the culprit will<br>wish to give his children, his wife, his brother, his kinsfolk,<br>who gave him shelter, and all the people of the earth, in<br>ransom that this device might rescue him. <br>(Surah Al-Maarij, Ayats 11-14). And at another place it is said: On<br>the Day man shall flee from his brother and his mother and<br>his father and his wife and his children. Each one of them,<br>on that Day, shall have enough to occupy him so as to make<br>him heedless of others.(Surah Abasa, Ayats 34-37). \t [2] That is, all worldly relations and bonds of love and<br>friendship shall be rendered void in the Hereafter. The<br>people will not be judged as groups and parties and<br>families, but every person will have to present himself as an<br>individual and render his own account only. Therefore, no<br>one in the world should commit a wrong for the sake of a<br>relationship or friendship or fraternity, for he will himself<br>have to face all its consequences, and no one else will<br>become a partner in a matter of his personal responsibility. \t [3] The following conclusions are deduced from the details<br>of the case of Hatib, as mentioned above, and the verses<br>which were revealed in this connection:","You have a good example in Abraham and his companions: they said to their people: “We totally dissociate ourselves from you, and from the deities that you worship instead of Allah. We renounce you[1] and there has come to be enmity and hatred between us and you until you believe in Allah, the One True God.” (But you may not emulate) Abraham's saying to his father: “Certainly I will ask pardon for you, although I have no power over Allah to obtain anything on your behalf.”[2] (And Abraham and his companions prayed): “Our Lord, in You have we put our trust, and to You have we turned, and to You is our ultimate return.###[1] That is, we reject you. We neither consider you to be in<br>the right nor your religion. The inevitable demand of the<br>faith in Allah is denial of taghut (Satan): Whoever rejects<br>taghut and believes in Allah has taken a firm support that<br>never gives way. (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 256). \t [2] In other words, it means: Though there is an excellent<br>example for you in Abraham’s (peace be upon him)<br>conduct in that he expressed disapproval of his pagan<br>people and broke off all connections with them, yet his<br>promise to pray for the forgiveness of his pagan father and<br>then carrying it out practically is not worth following, for<br>the believers should not have even this much relationship of<br>love and sympathy with the disbelievers. In<br>(Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 113), Allah has clearly warned: It does not<br>behoove the Prophet (peace be upon him) and those who<br>have believed that they should pray for the forgiveness of<br>the polytheists even though they be near kinsmen. Thus, no<br>Muslim is allowed to pray for the forgiveness of his<br>unbelieving kinsmen on the basis of the argument that the<br>Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) had done so. As for<br>the question, why did the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon<br>him) pray thus, and did he carry out his promise<br>practically. The answer has been provided by the Quran in<br>full detail. When his father expelled him from the house, he<br>had said on his departure: I bid you farewell: I will pray to<br>my Lord for your forgiveness.(Surah Maryam, Ayat 47).<br>On the basis of this very promise he prayed for him twice.<br>One prayer is contained in (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 41): Lord,<br>forgive me and my parents and the believers on the Day<br>when reckoning will be hold. And the second prayer is in<br>(Surah Ash Shuara, Ayat 86): Forgive my father, for indeed<br>he is from among those who have strayed and do not<br>disgrace me on the Day when the people will be raised back<br>to life. But afterwards when he realized that the father for<br>whose forgiveness he was praying, wan an enemy of Allah,<br>he excused himself from it and broke off even this<br>relationship of love and sympathy with him.","Our Lord, do not make us a test for the unbelievers,[1] and forgive us, our Lord. Surely You are Most Mighty, Most Wise.”###[1] There are several ways in which the believers can<br>become a cause of trial for the disbelievers, for which every<br>believer should seek Allah’s refuge. For example:","Indeed there is a good example for you in them; a good example for anyone who looks forward to Allah and the Last Day.[1] As for him who turns away, Allah is All-Sufficient, Immensely Praiseworthy.[2]###[1] Who is hopeful of Allah and the Last Day: Who expects<br>that one Day he will have to present himself before Allah<br>and is hopeful that Allah will treat him benevolently and<br>help him attain to success in the Hereafter. \t [2] That is, Allah has no need of such believers, who<br>profess to believe in His religion as well as maintain<br>friendly relations with His enemies. He is Self Sufficient:<br>His Godhead does not require that they should<br>acknowledge Him as God. He is Self-Praiseworthy, i.e. His<br>being praiseworthy is not dependent on the people's<br>praising and glorifying Him. If they affirm the faith, they<br>do so not for any good of Allah, but for their own good.<br>And they cannot gain anything from their affirmation of<br>the faith until they break off all connections of love and<br>friendship with the enemies of Allah as the Prophet<br>Abraham (peace be upon him) and his companions did.","It may well be that Allah will implant love between you and those with whom you have had enmity.[1] Allah is Most Powerful; and Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.###[1] Although the true believers were following the<br>exhortation to sever their connections with the unbelieving<br>kinsmen patiently, yet Allah knew how hard it was to break<br>off one’s connections with his parents, brothers and sisters<br>and near relations. Therefore, Allah consoled them with the<br>hope that a time would soon come when their same<br>relations would become Muslims and their today’s enmity<br>would again change into love tomorrow. When this thing<br>was said no one could understand how this would happen.<br>But hardly a few weeks had passed after the revelation of<br>these verses when Makkah fell and the people of Quraish<br>began to enter Islam in large numbers, and the Muslims<br>witnessed with their own eyes how the hope they were given<br>materialized.","Allah does not forbid that you be kind and just to those who did not fight against you on account of religion, nor drove you out of your homes. Surely Allah loves those who are equitable.[1]###[1] Here a doubt may arise in the minds. It is all right to<br>treat the disbelievers, who are not hostile, kindly, but<br>should only they be treated unjustly? And should the<br>disbelievers, who arc hostile, be treated unjustly? The<br>answer is that in this context, the word justice, in fact, has<br>been used in a special sense. It means: Justice demands that<br>you should not be hostile to those who are not hostile to<br>you, for it is not justice to treat the enemy and the nonenemy<br>alike. You have every right to adopt a stern attitude<br>towards those who persecuted you for embracing Islam and<br>compelled you to leave your homes and pursued you even<br>after your expulsion. But as for those who were not<br>partners in persecuting you, you should treat them well and<br>should fulfill the right they have on you because of blood<br>and other relationships.","Allah only forbids you to be friends with those who have fought against you on account of religion and who have driven you out of your homes and have abetted in your expulsion. And any who make friends with them, they are the wrong-doers.[1]###[1] The instructions to sever relations with the disbelievers<br>given in the preceding verses, could cause the people the<br>misunderstanding that this was because of their being the<br>disbelievers. Therefore, in these verses it has been made<br>clear that its real cause is not their disbelief but their<br>hostility to Islam and their tyrannical treatment of the<br>followers of Islam. The Muslims, therefore, should<br>distinguish between the hostile disbeliever and the nonhostile<br>disbeliever, and should treat those disbelievers well<br>who have never treated them with evil. Its best explanation<br>is the incident that took place between Asma, daughter of<br>Abu Bakr, and her disbelieving mother. A wife of Abu<br>Bakr’s was Qutaylah bint Abdul Uzza, who was a<br>disbeliever and had remained behind in Makkah after the<br>migration. Asma had been born of her. After the peace<br>treaty of Hudaibiyah when the traffic opened between<br>Makkah and Madinah, she came to Al-Madinah to see her<br>daughter and also brought some gifts. Asma herself has<br>related that she went to the Prophet (peace be upon him)<br>and asked: Should I see my mother. And can I treat her as<br>a daughter should treat her mother. The Prophet (peace be<br>upon him) replied: Yes, treat her as your mother. (Musnad<br>Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim). Asma’s son, Abdullah bin<br>Zubair, has given further details of this incident. He says<br>that Asma in the beginning had refused to see her mother.<br>Then, when she received Allah and His Messenger’s<br>permission she met her. (Musnad Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn<br>Abi Hatim). This by itself leads to the conclusion that a<br>Muslim’s serving his unbelieving parents and his helping<br>his unbelieving brothers and sisters and relatives is<br>permissible when they are not hostile to Islam. Likewise,<br>one can also spend his charities on the indigent among the<br>dhimmis. (Al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Quran; Ruh al-Maani).","Believers, when believing women come to you as Emigrants (in the cause of faith), examine them. Allah fully knows (the truth) concerning their faith. And when you have ascertained them to be believing women, do not send them back to the unbelievers.[1] Those women are no longer lawful to the unbelievers, nor are those unbelievers lawful to those (believing) women. Give their unbelieving husbands whatever they have spent (as bridal-dues); and there is no offence for you to marry those women if you give them their bridal-dues.[2] Do not hold on to your marriages with unbelieving women: ask for the return of the bridal-due you gave to your unbelieving wives and the unbelievers may ask for the return of the bridal-due they had given to their believing wives.[3] Such is Allah's command. He judges between you. Allah is All-Knowing, Most Wise.###[1] The background of this injunction is that after the<br>peace treaty of Hudaibiyah, in the beginning, the Muslim<br>men started fleeing Makkah, while arriving at Al-Madinah<br>they were sent back according to the terms of the treaty.<br>Then the Muslim women started arriving and first of all,<br>Umm Kulthum Uqbah bin Abi Muait emigrated to Al-<br>Madinah, The disbelievers invoked the treaty and<br>demanded return, and two brothers of Umm Kulthum,<br>Walid bin Uqbah and Amarah bin Uqbah, came to Al-<br>Madinah to take her back. At this the question arose<br>whether the treaty of Hudaibiyah applied to the women as<br>well. Allah has answered this very question here, saying: If<br>they are Muslims, and it is ascertained that they have<br>emigrated only for the sake of the faith and for no other<br>motive, they are not to be returned. \t [2] Here, a complication has arisen on account of the narration<br>of the Hadith from the viewpoint of the meaning and<br>content, and it must be resolved. The traditions that are<br>found in the Ahadith about the conditions of the treaty of<br>Hudaibiyah are mostly traditions narrated from the<br>viewpoint of the meaning and purport. About the condition<br>under discussion the words in the different traditions are<br>different. In some the words are to the effect: Whoever<br>reaches us from you, we will not return him, but whoever<br>reaches you from us, you shall return. In some others the<br>words are to the effect: Whoever of his companions comes<br>to the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah without the<br>permission of his guardian, he will send him back. And in<br>still another, the words are: Whoever, from the Quraish<br>goes to Muhammad (peace be upon him) without the<br>permission of his guardian, he will return him to Quraish.<br>The style of these traditions by itself shows that this<br>condition of the treaty has not been reported in the actual<br>words of the treaty, but the reporters have reported its<br>purport in their own words. But since most of the traditions<br>are of the same nature, the commentators and traditionists<br>generally have understood that the treaty was general,<br>which applied to both men and women, and the women too<br>were to be returned according to it. Later, when this<br>injunction of the Quran that the believing women were not<br>to be returned, came to their knowledge, they interpreted it<br>to mean that Allah in this verse had decided to break the<br>treaty in so far as it related to the believing women. But this<br>was not an ordinary thing which should be accepted so<br>easily. If the treaty was general, without any exception in<br>respect of men and women, it could not be lawful for one<br>party to amend it unilaterally and change a part of it by<br>itself. And even if such a thing happened, it is strange that<br>the Quraish did not protest against it, whereas they<br>remained on the lookout for an opportunity to raise<br>objections against everything that the Prophet (peace be<br>upon him) and the Muslims did. Had they found that the<br>Prophet had committed a breach of the treaty conditions,<br>they would have raised a loud clamor. But we do not find<br>any trace of it in any tradition that they took an exception<br>to this ruling of the Quran. Had this question been<br>carefully considered the problem could have been resolved<br>by reference to the actual words of the treaty. But many<br>people paid no attention to it. If some scholars (e.g. Qadi<br>Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi) did pay any attention, they did not<br>hesitate to say that the reason why the Quraish did not<br>raise any objection was that Allah had miraculously scaled<br>their mouths in this matter. It is strange how these scholars<br>felt satisfied at this explanation. \t [3] The fact of the matter is that this condition of the peace<br>treaty had been proposed by the disbelieving Quraish, and<br>not by the Muslims, and the words that Suhail bin Amr,<br>their representative, had gotten included in the treaty were:<br>And that whichever man (rajul) come to you from us, even<br>if he be on your religion, you will return him to us. These<br>words of the treaty have been reproduced in Bukhari<br>(Kitab ash-Shurut: Bab ash-Shurut fil-Jihad wal-<br>Masalahah) through authentic channels. It may be that<br>Suhail used the word rajul in the meaning of a person, but<br>this might be the meaning he had in his mind. The word<br>written in the treaty was rajul, which is used for a fullgrown<br>man in Arabic. That is why when the brothers of<br>Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah came to the Prophet (peace be<br>upon him) and demanded her return, (according to Imam<br>Zuhri’s tradition), Holy Prophet (peace be upon him)<br>refused to return her, saying: The condition was about the<br>men, not the women. (Ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al-Quran;<br>Loam Razi, Tafsir Kabir) Until then the people of Quraish<br>themselves were under the delusion that the treaty applied<br>to all kinds of emigrants, men or women; But when the<br>Prophet (peace be upon him) drew their attention to these<br>words of the treaty, they were struck dumb and had to<br>accept this decision.","And if you fail to receive from the unbelievers a part of the bridal-due of your disbelieving wives, and then your turn comes, pay to those who have been left on the other side an amount the like of the bridal-due that they have paid.[1] And have fear of Allah in Whom you believe.###[1] This thing had two alternatives and the verse applies to<br>both. First, with the disbelievers with whom the Muslims<br>had treaty relations, they wanted to settle the matter, thus:<br>We shall return the dowers of the women who have<br>emigrated to us, and you will return the dowers of the<br>pagan wives of our men who have been left on your side.<br>But the disbelievers did not agree to this. However,<br>according to Imam Zuhri, the Muslims, in obedience to the<br>divine command became ready to return the dowers of the<br>women who were left behind with the pagans in Makkah,<br>but the pagans refused to return the dowers of the women<br>who had emigrated to the Muslims in Al-Madinah.<br>Thereupon Allah enjoined that the dowers of the emigrant<br>women, which were to be returned to the pagans, should be<br>collected together in Al-Madinah instead of sending these to<br>pagans; then from these collections disbursements should<br>be made to those to whom the dowers were due from the<br>pagans according to what was due to them.","O Prophet, when believing women come to you and pledge[1] to you that they will not associate aught with Allah in His Divinity, that they will not steal,[2] that they will not commit illicit sexual intercourse, that they will not kill their children,[3] that they will not bring forth a calumny between their hands and feet,[4] and that they will not disobey you in anything known to be good,[5] then accept their allegiance[6] and ask Allah to forgive them. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.###[1] As we have explained above, this verse was sent down<br>some time before the conquest of Makkah. After the<br>conquest the Quraish started coming to the Prophet (peace<br>be upon him) in large numbers to take the oath of<br>allegiance. From the men he took the oath himself on<br>Mount Safa. As for the women he appointed Umar to<br>administer the oath to them on his behalf and to ask them<br>to pledge that they would refrain from the things<br>mentioned in this verse. (Ibn Jarir, on the authority of Ibn<br>Abbas; Ibn Abi Hatim, on the authority of Qatadah). Then,<br>on his return to Al-Madinah he ordered the Muslim women<br>of Al-Madinah to be gathered together in a house and he<br>sent Umar to take the oath from them. (Ibn Jarir, Ibn<br>Marduyah, Bazzar, Ibn Hibban, on the authority of Umm<br>Atiyyah Ansariah). On the Eid day also, after his address to<br>men, he went to the assembly of women and in his sermon<br>to them, he recited this verse and asked them to pledge that<br>they would refrain from the things mentioned in it.<br>(Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Abbas’s tradition). Apart<br>from these occasions, at different other times also, the<br>women came before the Prophet (peace be upon him)<br>individually as well as collectively to take the oath of<br>allegiance, as mentioned in several Ahadith. \t [2] In Makkah, when the oath of allegiance was being<br>administered, Hind bint Utbah, wife of Abu Sufyan, asked<br>the Prophet (peace be upon him) its explanation and said:<br>Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyan is rather stingy. Will it be<br>sinful if I take out something from his wealth without his<br>permission to meet my own and my children’s needs. The<br>Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: Nay, but only, justly<br>and lawfully; i.e. take only that much as may actually<br>suffice for your needs. (Ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al-Quran). \t [3] This also includes abortion, whether it is abortion of<br>the legitimate or of the illegitimate fetus. \t [4] This implies two kinds of calumny: \t [5] (1) A woman’s accusing other women of having illicit<br>relations with other men and her spreading such stories<br>among the people, for the women are generally prone to<br>spreading such things. \t [6] (2) A woman’s delivering a child by somebody else and<br>making her husband believe that it is his. Abu Daud has<br>related a tradition from Abu Hurairah saying that he heard<br>the Prophet say: The woman who brings such a child into a<br>family as does not actually belong to it, has no connection<br>with Allah, and Allah will never admit her to Paradise.","Believers, do not make friends with those against whom Allah is wrathful and who are despaired of the Hereafter, as despaired as are the unbelievers lying in their graves.[1]###[1] The words in the original can have two meanings:","All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth extols Allah's glory. He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.[1]###[1] This is a brief introduction to this discourse. For its explanation, see (E.Ns 1,2 of Surah Al-Hadid). The discourse has been opened with this introduction so that before hearing or reading what is going to follow, one may well understand that Allah is free from and far above this that the functioning of His Godhead should depend on someone’s faith and another one’s help and sacrifices. If He exhorts the believers to adopt sincerity in faith and urges them to exert their utmost for the success and victory of the truth, that is for the sake of their own good; otherwise the will of Allah is accomplished by His own power and by His own design, whether somebody makes no effort at all towards its implementation, and whether the whole world joins together to frustrate and resist it stubbornly.","Believers, why do you profess that which you do not practise?","It is most loathsome in the sight of Allah that you should profess what you do not practise.[1]###[1] One meaning of this passage is general as is apparent from its words. It has a special meaning also, which becomes evident when this verse is read along with the verse that follows. The first meaning is that there should be complete agreement between a true Muslim’s word and deed: he should carry into effect whatever he says, and when he has no intention of doing it, or has no power for it, he should not say it. To say one thing and do another is one of the most hideous characteristics of man, in the sight of Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has explained that a person’s being characterized by this quality is a sign that he is not a believer but a hypocrite.","Allah indeed loves those who fight in His Way as though they are a solid wall cemented with molten lead.[1]###[1] First, it shows that only those believers are blessed with Allah’s good pleasure and approval, who are prepared to fight in His way, disregarding every kind of danger. Secondly, that Allah likes an army which has three characteristics:","And call to mind when Moses said to his people: “O my people, why do you torment me when you know well that I am Allah's Messenger to you?”[1] So when they deviated, Allah made their hearts deviant. Allah does not direct the evil-doers to the Right Way.[2]###[1] At several places in the Quran details have been given of how the Israelites in spite of acknowledging the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) as a Prophet of God and their own benefactor maligned him and proved disloyal to him. For this see (Surah Al Baqarah, Ayats 51, 55, 60, 67-71);(Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 153); (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayats 20-26);(Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 138-141; 148-151); (Surah TaHa, Ayats 86-98). In the Bible too, the Jewish history written by the Jews themselves is replete with such events; for instance, sec Exodus, 5: 20-21, 14: 11- 12, 16: 2-3, 17: 3-4; Numbers, 11: 1-15, 14: 1-10, ch. l6, 20: 1-5. Here, allusion to these events is meant to warn the Muslims that they should not adopt the same attitude towards their Prophet as the Israelites had adopted towards their Prophet, otherwise they would meet the same fate as was met by the Israelites. \t [2] That is, it is not Allah’s way to force the people to follow the right way of guidance if they are bent upon following the crooked ways of sin and disobedience. From this it automatically follows that the deviation of a person or nation is not initiated by Allah but by the person or the nation itself. But the law of Allah is that He provides means of deviation only for the one who chooses deviation, so that be may go astray into whatever alleys he may like. Allah has granted man the freedom of choice. Now it is for every man and for every group of men to decide whether he or it wants to obey their Lord, or not, and whether he or it chooses the right way for it or one of the crooked ways. There is no compulsion from Allah in this choice. If somebody chooses the way of obedience and guidance, Allah does not push him forcibly towards deviation and disobedience; and if somebody is resolved to follow disobedience instead of the way of righteousness, it is not Allah’s way to make him adopt the way of obedience and guidance forcibly. But this also is the truth that a person who chooses a particular way for himself, cannot follow it practically unless Allah provides for him the ways and means and creates for him the conditions which are necessary for following it. This is Allah’s grace and favor without which no one’s efforts can be meaningful and productive. Now, if a person is not at all interested in seeking Allah’s grace for righteousness, but seeks His grace for adopting evil, he is given the same. And when he receives the grace for doing evil, he becomes temperamentally perverse accordingly and the course of his action and effort goes on becoming crooked until at last the capability to do and accept good in him is gradually lost and destroyed. This is what is meant by, when they adopted perverseness, Allah caused their hearts to become perverse. In this state it is against the law of Allah that the one who wants to adopt deviation, and is actively and earnestly engaged in seeking it, and is expending all his thought and energy to move further and further on towards it, should be forcibly turned towards guidance, for such an action would negate the object of the test and trial, for which man has been granted the freedom of choice in the world. For if a man adopts righteousness through such guidance, there is no reason why he should be entitled to any reward whatever. Rather in such a case, the one who was not guided forcibly and was left in deviation on that account, should not be subjected to any punishment, for the responsibility for his deviation would lie on Allah, and at the time of his accountability in the Hereafter, he could present the argument: When there existed the rule of granting guidance forcibly in the world, why was I deprived of that favor? This is the meaning of the words: Allah does not guide the transgressors. That is, Allah does not grant the favor of adopting the way of obedience to those, who have chosen the way of sin and disobedience for themselves of their own free will.","And call[1] to mind when Jesus, son of Mary, said: “O Children of Israel, I am Allah's Messenger to you, I verify the Torah which has come before me,[2] and I give you the glad tiding of a Messenger who shall come after me, his name being Ahmad.”[3] Yet when he came to them with Clear Signs they said: “This is sheer trickery.”[4]###[1] This relates to the second disobedience of the children of Israel. The first disobedience they committed in the beginning of their great era of power and prosperity, and this second towards the very end of it, after which they came under the wrath and curse of God for ever and ever. The object of relating these two events here is to warn the Muslims of the consequences of adopting the attitude of disobedience towards their Prophet as the Israelites had adopted towards their Prophet. \t [2] This sentence has three meanings and all three are correct: \t [3] (1) That I have not brought any new religion, but the same religion that the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) had brought. I have not come to repudiate the Torah, but to confirm it just as the Messengers of God have always been confirming the Messengers who came before them. Therefore, there is no reason why you should hesitate to acknowledge my apostleship. \t [4] (2) I answer to the good news that is there in the Torah about my advent. Therefore, instead of opposing me you should receive, and welcome me as the one whose coming had been foretold by the former Prophets.","Who would be more unjust than he who invents a lie about Allah[1] the while he is being called to Islam?[2] Allah does not direct such evildoing folk to the Right Way.###[1] Who invents a lie against Allah: Declares the Prophet sent by Allah to be a false prophet and regards the revelations of Allah to His Prophet as forged by the Prophet himself. \t [2] That is, there could be no greater injustice than that besides calling a true Prophet (peace be upon him) a false prophet, one should start hurling abuses on him and employing all sorts of lies and false allegations and slanders to defeat his mission although the Prophet (peace be upon him) is calling him to Allah’s worship and His obedience.","They seek to extinguish Allah's light (by blowing) with their mouths, but Allah shall spread His light in all its fullness, howsoever the unbelievers may abhor this.[1]###[1] One should bear in mind that these verses were sent down in A.H. 3 after the Battle of Uhud, when Islam was confined only to the city of Al-Madinah, the Muslims were only a few thousands in number, and entire Arabia was bent upon wiping out this religion. The defeat that the Muslims had suffered at Uhud, had sullied their image of power and the tribes of the surrounding areas had been emboldened. Under such conditions it was said: No one will succeed in blowing out this light of Allah, but it will shine forth and spread throughout the world. This was a clear prediction which literally came true. Who could know except Allah at that time of what was the future of Islam? Human eyes could only see that it was a flickering candle and violent winds were blowing to put it out forever.","He it is Who has sent forth the Messenger with the Guidance and the True Religion that He may make it prevail over all religion, however those that associate aught with Allah in His Divinity might dislike this.[1]###[1] The idolaters: The mushriks, those who combine the service of others with the service of Allah and mix other religions in the religion of Allah. Those who are not prepared to see that the entire system of lift is established on the obedience and guidance of One God. Those who insist that they will worship any deity they like and base their their beliefs and morals and civilization on any philosophy and doctrine they please. As against the ways of such people, it is being said that the Messenger of Allah has not been sent to make a compromise with than, but with the object that he should cause the guidance and religion of truth which he has brought from Allah to prevail over all religions, i.e. every aspect of the way of life. This mission he has to accomplish in any case whether the disbelievers and polytheists like it or not, and whoever they support it or resist it. This declaration has been made in the Quran at two other places. In (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 33 )and (Surah Al-Fath, Ayat 28). Here it has been re-iterated for the third time. (For further explanation, see( E.N. 32 of Surah At- Taubah) and (E.N. 51 of Surah Al-Fath).","Believers, shall I direct you to a commerce[1] that will deliver you from a grievous chastisement?###[1] A bargain is something in which a person employs his wealth, time, labor and talent in order to earn a profit. In the same sense the faith and jihad in the cause of Allah have been called a bargain, as if to say: If you exert all your powers and spend all your resources in the way of Allah, you will get the profits that are being mentioned in the following verses. This same theme has been expressed in Surah At-Taubah in another way. (See (E.N. 106 of Surah At-Taubah).","Have faith in Allah and His Messenger[1] and strive in the Way of Allah with your possessions and your lives. That is better for you if you only knew.[2]###[1] When the believers are asked to believe, it automatically gives the meaning that they should become sincere Muslims: they should not rest content with oral profession of the faith but should be ready and willing to make every sacrifice in the cause of their faith. \t [2] That is, this bargain is far superior for them to every worldly bargain.","He will forgive you your sins and will admit you to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. He will lodge you in excellent mansions in the Gardens of eternity. That is the supreme triumph.[1]###[1] The real profits of the bargain that they will attain in the eternal lift of the Hereafter are:","He will also grant you the other favour that you desire: help from Allah and a victory that will come soon.[1] Give glad tidings of this to the believers.###[1] Although victory and success in the world is a great blessing of Allah, yet for the believer the thing of real importance is not this but the success of the Hereafter. That is why the gain of the worldly life has been mentioned as second and the result accruing in the Hereafter first.","Believers, become Allah's helpers, as Jesus, son of Mary, said to the disciples:[1] “Who is my helper in (calling people) to Allah?” The disciples had responded by saying: “We are Allah's helpers.”[2] Then a section of the Children of Israel believed and a section rejected the call. Thereafter We aided the believers against their enemies, and they prevailed.[3]###[1] For the companions of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) the word disciples generally has been used in the Bible, but later the term apostle became prevalent for them among the Christians, and in the sense that they were God’s apostles, but in the sense that the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) used to send them to different parts of Palestine as his preachers. Among the Jews this word was already in use for those who were sent to collect subscriptions for the Temple. However, the Quranic term hawari is better than both the Christian terms. The essence of this word is hur, which means whiteness. The washer man is called hawari because he whitens clothes by washing them. A pure and un-adulterated thing is also called hawari. The flour from which bran has been sifted is known as huwwara. In this very meaning this word is used for a sincere friend and an unselfish supporter. Ibn Sayyidah says: Anyone who exaggerates in helping another is his hawari. (Lisan al-Arab). \t [2] This is the last place in the Holy Quran where those who exert themselves in calling the people to Allah’s religion and to cause it to become dominant over disbelief, have been called helpers of Allah. Before this, this very theme has been expressed in (Aal-Imran, Ayat 52); (Surah Al- Hajj, Ayat 40);(Surah Muhammad, Ayat 7);(Surah Al-Hadid, Ayat 25) and(Surah Al-Hashr, Ayat 8). And we have explained these verses in(E.N. 50 of Surah Aal-Imran); (E.N. 84 of Surah Al-Hajj);(E.N. 12 of Surah Muhammad); (E.N. 47 of Surah Al-Hadid). Moreover, in (E.N. 9 of Surah Muhammad) light has been also thrown on an aspect of this question. In spite of this some people seem to have the confusion that when Allah Almighty is All-Powerful, Self-Sufficient, and Independent of the help of all His creatures, how then can a man be a helper of Allah? To remove this confusion we shall further explain this point here. \t [3] In fact, these people have not been called helpers of Allah for the reason that Allah, Lord of the worlds, (God forbid) stood in need of any help from some of His creatures, but because in the sphere of life in which Allah Himself has granted man freedom of belief and disbelief, obedience and disobedience. He does not will to make the people His believers and obedient servants by means of His power and might. Instead, He adopts the method of admonition and instruction to show them the right way through His Prophets and Books. The one who accepts this admonition and instruction willingly is a Momin. The one who submits practically to His commands is a Muslim and devout Godworshiper. The one who adopts an attitude of Godconsciousness is a Muttaqi. The one who vies with others for good works is a Muhsin. And over and above this, the one who starts working for the reformation of the people by means of the same method of admonition and instruction and for establishing the system of Allah’s obedience instead of disbelief and wickedness, is declared by Allah as His own helper, as has been mentioned in clear words at several places in the verses cited above. If the object were to designate such people as helpers of Allah’s religion and not of Allah, the words would have been ansaru din-Allah and not ansar-Allah, yansuruna din-Allah and not yansurun- Allah, intansuruna din-Allah and not in-iansurun-Allah. When in order to convey and express a theme; Allah has adopted one and the same style at several places, successively, it proves conclusively that the actual object is to designate these people as helpers of Allah. But this helpfulness, God forbid, is not in the sense that these people fulfill some need of Allah for which He requires their help, but it is in the sense that these people participate in the cause which Allah wills to accomplish through His Prophets and His Books instead of His great power and might.","All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth extols the glory of Allah, the Sovereign, the Holy, the All- Mighty, the All-Wise.[1]###[1] For explanation, see (E.Ns 1, 2 of Surah Al-Hadid), and (E.Ns 36, 37, 41 of Surah Al-Hashr). This introduction bears a deep relevance to the theme that follows. In spite of the fact that the Jews of Arabia were witnessing clear signs of Prophethood in the person of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his high character and works and in spite of the clear good news given by the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) in the Torah, which only applied to him, they were denying him only because they did not want to acknowledge the prophethood of a person who did not belong to their own community and race. They openly proclaimed that they would believe only in that which had come to them, and would not accept any teaching, which came through a non-Israelite prophet, even if it was from God. For this attitude in the following verses they have been reproved. Hence the reason for beginning the discourse with the introductory sentence. First, it says that everything in the universe is glorifying Allah; that is, the entire universe testifies that Allah is free from all those faults and weaknesses because of which the Jews have formed the concept of their racial superiority. He is not related to anyone. He has nothing to do with favoritism. He treats all His creatures with equal justice, mercy and care. No particular race and nation is His favorite so that He may be bound to bless it whatever it may do. And He is not prejudiced against any race or nation so that He may deprive it of His bounties even if it possesses all the good qualities. Then, it says that He is the Sovereign; that is, no worldly power can restrict His authority and powers, as if to say: You, O Jews, are His servants and subjects. It is not for you to decide whom He should appoint His Messenger, and whom He should not, for your guidance. Then, it says that He is Holy; that is, He is far exalted and glorified that His judgments may be mistaken. Human judgments may have mistakes but His decrees are perfect. In the end, two more attributes of Allah have been mentioned. That He is All-Mighty, i.e. none can fight Him and win and that He is All-Wise, i.e. whatever He does, it is always the very demand of wisdom, and His plans and designs are so wellplanned that none in the world can hinder and frustrate them.","He it is Who has sent to the gentiles a Messenger from among themselves,[1] one who rehearses to them His verses, purifies their lives, and imparts to them the Book and the Wisdom[2] although before that they were in utter error;[3]###[1] Here the word ummi (gentile) has been used as a Jewish term and there is a subtlety in it. The verse means: The All- Mighty and All-Wise Allah has raised a Messenger (peace be upon him) among the Arabs whom the Jews contemptuously consider the gentiles and much below themselves, The Messenger (peace be upon him) has not risen of his own wish and will, but has been raised by Him Who is the Sovereign of the universe, Who is All-Mighty and All-Wise, Whose power can be resisted and opposed only to one’s own loss and peril. \t [2] One should know that the word ummi has occurred in the Quran at several places but in different meanings at different places. At one place it has been used for the people who do not possess any revealed scripture, which they may he following, as in (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 20), where it has been said: Ask those who possess the Book and those who do not possess (ummis); Have you accepted Islam. Here, the ummis imply the Arab polytheists, and they have been regarded as a separate class from the followers of the Book, i.e. the Jews and the Christians. At another place, it has been used for the illiterate people among the Jews and Christians, who are ignorant of the Book of Allah, as in( Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 78): Among the Jews there are some illiterate people (ummis) who have no knowledge of the Book but are guided by mere conjecture and guesswork. At still another place, this word has been used purely as a Jewish term, which implies all the non-Jewish people, as in (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 75) (The actual cause of this dishonesty of theirs is that they say): We are not to be called to account for out behavior towards the non-Jews (ummis). This third meaning of ummi is implied in the verse under discussion. It is a synonym of the Hebrew word goyim, which has been translated gentiles in the English Bible and implies all the non-Jewish or the non-Israelite people of the world. \t [3] But the real significance of this Jewish term cannot be understood only by this explanation of it. The Hebrew word goyim originally was used only in the meaning of a nation, but gradually the Jews reserved it first for the nation other then themselves, then they gave it the special meaning that all the nations other than the Jews were un-civilized, irreligious, unclean and contemptible; so much so that in its connotations of hatred and contempt this word even surpassed the Greek term barbarian which they used for all the non-Greeks. In rabbinical literature, goyim are such contemptible people, who cannot be considered human, who cannot be made companions in a journey, who cannot be saved even if one of them is drowning. The Jews believed that the Messiah of the future would destroy all the goyim and burn them to annihilation (For further explanation, see( E.N. 64 of Surah Aal-Imran).","and (He has also) sent him to those others who have not yet joined them.[1] He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.[2]###[1] That is, the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not restricted only to the Arabs but is meant for other nations and races as well, who have not yet joined the believers, but are going to be born till the Last Day. The word minhum (of them) in the original can have two meanings: \t [2] (1) That those other people will be of the ummis i.e. the non-Israelite nations of the world.","Such is Allah's favour: He bestows it on whomsoever He pleases. Allah is the Lord of abounding favour.","The parable of those who were charged with the Torah and then they failed to live up to it[1] is that of a donkey[2] laden with books. Even more evil is the parable of the people who gave the lie to the Signs of Allah.[3] Allah does not direct such wrong-doers to the Right Way.###[1] This sentence has two meanings, a general meaning and a special meaning. The general meaning is that the people who were entrusted with the knowledge and practice of the Torah and with the responsibility of guiding the world according to it, neither understood this responsibility nor discharged it as they should have. The special meaning is being the bearers of the Torah these people should have been foremost to join hands with the Messenger (peace be upon him), good news about whose advent had been already given in the Torah, but, instead, they have been in the forefront to oppose him and have thus failed to fulfill the demand of the teaching of the Torah. \t [2] That is, just as a donkey loaded with books does not know what it is loaded with, so are these people loaded with the Torah and they do not know what this Book was sent for and what are its demands. \t [3] That is, they are even worst than a donkey, who is without sense and therefore is excusable. But these people have intelligence, they read and teach the Torah and are fully aware of its meaning. Yet they are turning away from its guidance and refusing willfully to acknowledge and believe in the Prophet (peace be upon him) who even according to the Torah teaches the truth. They are guilty not because of ignorance but because of denying Allah’s revelation deliberately.","Tell them: “O you who have become Judaised,[1] if you arrogantly fancy that you are Allah's favourites[2] to the exclusion of all people, then wish for death, if you are truthful in your claim.”[3]###[1] This point is noteworthy. It has not been said: O Jews. But: O you who have became Jews, or who have adopted Judaism, the reason being that the way of life brought by the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) and the Prophets after and before him, was Islam itself. None of those Prophets was a Jew, nor had Judaism been born in their time, but Judaism as such came into being much later. It is ascribed to the tribe which descended from Judah, the fourth son of the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him). When after the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him), his kingdom broke into two parts, this tribe became ruler over the state which came to be known as Judea. The other tribes of the Israelites established their separate state which became famous as Samaria. Then Assyria not only destroyed Samaria but also wiped out those Israelite tribes which had founded that state. After that only the decedents of Judah besides those of Benjamin remained. Who because of the predominance of the descendants of Judah, began to be called the Jews. Judaism is the name of the framework of the doctrines, customs, and religious rules and regulations which the priests, rabbis and learned men of this race prepared according to their own ideas, theories and trends for many centuries. This framework started being shaped in the 4th century B.C. and continued to develop till the 5th century A.D. It contains a very small element of the divine guidance brought by the Messengers of Allah, and even that element has been corrupted. That is why at many places in the Quran they have been addressed as alladhina hadu, O you who have become Jews. All of these were not the Israelites but there were among them also converts who had embraced Judaism. Whenever in the Quran the children of Israel have been addressed, the words are: O children of Israel, and where the followers of Judaism have been addressed, the words are; alladhina hadu, O you who have become Jews. \t [2] At several places in the Quran, their claim has been described in detail, as in (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 111), they say: none shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew. In( Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 80): The fire of Hell is not going to touch us, and even if it does at all, it will be only for a few days, and in (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 18): We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones. Same such claims are also found in the books of the Jews themselves. The world at least knows that they regard themselves as the chosen people of God, and cherish the false notion that Cod has a special relationship with them, which is not shared by any other human group or class. \t [3] This has been stated for the second time in the Quran, addressing the Jews. First, in (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayats 94- 96), it was said, Say to them: If the abode of the Hereafter with Allah is exclusively reserved for you and not for the rest of mankind, then you should long for death, if you are sincere in your claim. Believe it that they will never wish for it, for (they are fully aware of) what they have sent before them for the Hereafter. And Allah knows well the mentality of the transgressors. You will find that of all mankind, they are the greediest for life; any they are even greedier than the idolaters. Each one of them longs to have a life of a thousand years, but a long life can by no means remove them away from the doom, for Allah is watching whatever they are doing. Now the same thing has been repeated here. But this is not a mere repetition. In the verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, it was said when no war had yet taken place between the Muslims and the Jews. In this Surah it was reiterated at the time when after several battles their power in Arabia had been finally and absolutely crushed. These battles and their results proved by experience and observation that what had been said in Surah Al-Baqarah was correct. In Al-Madinah and Khaiber, the Jewish strength was much superior to that of the Muslims both in numbers and in resources. Then they had the pagans of Arabia and the hypocrites of Al-Madinah also as their allies who were bent upon wiping out the Muslims. But in spite of this great disparity in numbers the Muslims overwhelmed the Jews mainly because they were least afraid of dying for the cause of Allah. They were rather fond of it, and would enter the battlefield fully prepared to embrace death. For they believed that they were fighting in the way of God and had complete faith that the one who fell martyr in His way would be blessed with Paradise. Contrary to this, the Jews were not prepared to fight and lay down their life for any cause, neither the cause of God, nor the cause of their nation nor for their own self, properties and honor. They only loved to live, in whatever way or fashion it be. This had made them cowardly.","But they shall never wish for death because of the (evil) deeds they have committed.[1] Allah is well aware of these evil-doers.###[1] In other words, their flight from death is not without a reason. Whatever they may say, their conscience is fully aware of how they are behaving towards Allah and His religion and what consequences can be expected of the misdeeds they are committing in the world. That is why they are afraid to appear at the court of God.","Tell them: “The death from which you flee will certainly overtake you. Then you will be returned to Him Who fully knows what is hidden and what is manifest. Thereupon He will let you know all that you used to do.”","Believers, when the call for Prayer is made on Friday,[1] hasten to the remembrance of Allah and give up all trading.[2] That is better for you, if you only knew.###[1] Three things in this sentence are particularly noteworthy: \t [2] (1) That call to the Prayer is mentioned here.","But when the Prayer is ended, disperse in the land and seek Allah's Bounty,[1] and remember Allah much[2] so that you may prosper.[3]###[1] This does not mean that after the Friday is over, it is obligatory to go in search of livelihood, but it only implies permission. As it was ordered to stop all worldly business as soon as the call was made for the Prayer, so it is allowed that after the Prayer is over, the people may dispose and resume or pursue whatever occupation or business they may like. It is just like the prohibition of hunting in the state of ihram, but after ihram is put off, one is told to hunt. (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 2). That does not mean that one must hunt, but that one may hunt if one so likes. Or, for instance, in Surah An-Nisa, permission to marry more than one wife has been given, saying: Marry two or three or four women whom you choose. Here, although the verb is in the imperative mood, no one has taken it in the meaning of a command. This gives the principle that the imperative form of the verb does not always imply an obligation or command. It sometimes implies the permission and sometimes exercise of choice or preference. The context determines where it implies the command, where the permission and where Allah’s approval of the act, and not that the act is obligatory. Immediately after this very sentence itself, it has been said: And remember Allah much. Here also the verb is in the imperative mood, but obviously it implies exercise of one’s choice and not that it is a duty or compulsion. \t [2] Here, another thing worthy of mention is that although in the Quran, Friday has not been declared a public holiday like the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, yet no one can deny that Friday is a symbol of the Muslim community precisely in the same way as Saturday is a Jewish and Sunday a Christian symbol. And if declaring a day in the week a public holiday be a cultural necessity, then just as the Jews naturally select Saturday for it and the Christians Sunday, so a Muslim (if he has any Islamic feeling) will necessarily select only Friday for this purpose. The Christians did not even hesitate to impose their Sunday on some other countries where Christian population was negligible. When the Jews established their state in Palestine, the first thing they did was to announce Saturday as the weekly holiday instead of Sunday. In pre-partitioned India one conspicuous distinction between British India and the Muslim states was that in one part of the country Sunday was observed as a closed holiday and in the other Friday. However, where the Muslims lack Islamic values, they hold to Sunday even after attaining to sovereign power as we see in Pakistan. In case of excessive westernization, Friday is replaced by Sunday as the weekly holiday as was done by Mustafa Kamal in Turkey. \t [3] Remember Allah much: Do not forget Allah even when you are otherwise occupied, but remember Him under all circumstances and remain conscious of Him at all times. (For explanation, see( E.N. 63 of Surah Al-Ahzab).","Yet no sooner than they saw some trading or amusement, they flocked to it and left you standing by yourself.[1] Tell them: “That which is with Allah is far better than amusement and trading.[2] Allah is the Best Provider of sustenance.”[3]###[1] This is the incident because of which the commandments pertaining to the Friday congregational Prayer have been enjoined in the preceding verses. Its narrative as related in the collections of Hadith, on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abu Hurairah, Abu Malik, and Hasan Basri, lbn Zaid, Qatadah and Muqatil bin Hayyan is as follows: A trade caravan from Syria arrived in Al-Madinah right at the time of the Friday Prayer and its people started playing their drums to announce their arrival. The Prophet (peace be upon him) at that time was delivering the sermon, Hearing the drum the people in the congregation became impatient and rushed out towards Baqi where the caravan had halted, except for 12 men. The most authentic tradition in this narrative is of Jabir bin Abdullah, which has been related by Imam Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Uwanah, Abd bin Humaid, Abu Yala and others through reliable channels. The only diversity is that in some traditions it is stated that the incident took place when the Prayer was in progress; in others that it happened when the Prophet was delivering the sermon. However, what appears to be correct when the tradition of Jabir and those of others are read together is that it happened during the sermon. Where Jabir says that it happened during the Friday Prayer, he in fact has used the word Friday Prayer for the combination of the sermon and the Prayer. According to the tradition of Abdullah bin Abbas, seven women had remained behind with 12 men. (Ibn Marduyah). Qatadah says that one woman remained with 12 men, (lbn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim). According to the tradition of Daraqutni 40 individuals remained, of Abd bin Humaid 7 individuals and of Farra 8 individuals. But all these are weak traditions. The tradition of Qatadah that such a thing happened thrice is also weak. (Ibn Jarir). The authentic tradition in this regard is of Jabir, according to which the number of those who remained behind is stated to be 12. Apart from one tradition of Qatadah, all traditions of the other companions and their followers agree that this happened only once. When read together different traditions about those who remained behind show that they included Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, AIi, Abdullah bin Masud, Ammar bin Yasir, Salim (slave of Hudhaifah) and Jabir bin Abdullah. The tradition related by Hafiz Abu Yala from Jabir bin Abdullah says that when the people rushed out like that and only 12 companions were left behind, the Prophet (peace be upon him) addressed them, saying: By Him in Whose hand is my life, if all of you had left, and none had remained behind, this valley would have overflowed with fire. A theme resembling this has been cited by Ibn Marduyah from Abdullah bin Abbas and by Ibn Jarir from Qatadah. \t [2] The Shiite scholars have used this incident also for taunting and finding fault with the companions. They say that abandoning the sermon and the Prayer by such a large number of the companions for the sake of worldly gain and amusement is a proof that they preferred the world to the Hereafter. But this is a misplaced objection that can be raised only if one keeps his eyes closed to realities. As a matter of fact, this incident took place just after the migration. At that time, on the one hand, the collective training of the companions was in the initial stages, and on the other, the disbelievers of Makkah had subjected the people of Al-Madinah to a strict economic blockade because of which necessities of life had become scarce in the city. Hasan Basri says that the people at time were starving and the prices had risen abnormally high. (Ibn Jarir). Under such conditions when a trade caravan arrived, the people rushed out to buy things of daily need lest these were sold out before the Prayer was concluded. This was a weakness and error which became suddenly manifest due to insufficient training and severity of the conditions. But whoever sees the sacrifices made by the companions for the cause of Islam afterwards and sees what piety and righteousness they displayed in the matter of worship and dedication and dealings can never dare bring against them the allegation that they preferred the world to the Hereafter unless he himself bears malice against the companions. \t [3] However, just as this incident does not support the critics of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), so it also does not support the ideas of those people who cherish exaggerated notions about them and claim that they never committed any error, or if they committed some, it should not be mentioned, for making mention of their error and calling it an error is derogatory and it reduces one’s reverence and respect for them, and its mention goes against the verses of the Quran and the Hadith, which state that the companions are Allah’s favorite people and have already been forgiven all their errors and mistakes. All this is exaggeration for which there is no basis in the Quran and the Hadith. Here, everyone can see for himself that Allah Himself has mentioned the error that happened to have been committed by a large number of the companions, in the Book that will be read by the entire ummah till Resurrection, and in the same Book which speaks of their having been forgiven and being chosen people of Allah. Then in the books of the Hadith and commentary also details of this error have been described by all scholars, from the companions to the major scholars among the followers of the Sunnah. Does it mean that Allah has made this mention in order to destroy the reverence for the same companions whose reverence and esteem He wants to instill in all our hearts? And does it mean that the companions and their followers and the traditionists and commentators have mentioned these details of this incident because they were unaware of the religious aspect of the matter which these zealots show and describe? And have the people who read Surah Al-Jumuah and study its commentary really lost reverence and esteem for the companions from their hearts? If the answer to each of these questions is in the negative, and it is surely in the negative, then all those exaggerated ideas and notions, which some people express and show in regard to the reverence of the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) companions, are erroneous.","(O Prophet), when the hypocrites come to you, they say: “We bear witness that you are certainly Allah's Messenger.” Allah certainly knows that you are His Messenger. But Allah also bears witness that the hypocrites are utter liars![1]###[1] That is, Although the thing they are uttering with the tongue is true by itself, it does not reflect their belief. Therefore they lie when they say that they bear witness that you are a Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah. Here, one should clearly understand that an evidence or witness is composed of two things: first, the actual thing to which one bears the witness; second, the concerned person’s own belief about the thing to which he bears the witness, Now, if the thing by itself is true and the belief of the bearer of witness also corresponds to what he says, he will be truthful in every respect. And if the thing in itself is false; but the bearer of the witness believes it to be right and true, he will be regarded as truthful in one way, for he is truthful in expressing his belief, and liar in another way, for the thing he is bearing witness to is by itself false. Contrary to this, if the thing by itself is true but the belief of the bearer of the witness is opposed to it, he will be regarded as truthful because he is testifying to the right thing, and a liar because his own belief is contrary to what he is saying with the tongue. For instance, if a believer states that Islam is a true religion, he is truthful in every respect, but if a Jew, while he is steadfast in his Judaism, states the same thing, he would be stating the right thing but his evidence would be regarded as false, for he is testifying against his faith and belief. And if he calls it a false religion, he would be uttering a false thing but he would be bearing a true witness according to his belief.","They shelter behind their oath,[1] and thus hinder their own selves and others from the Path of Allah.[2] Evil indeed is what they do.###[1] That is, they use the oaths that they swear to convince others of their Islam and faith as a shield to save themselves from the wrath of the Muslims so that they do not treat them as they treat their open enemies. \t [2] These oaths may imply the oaths which they usually swear to convince others of their faith as well as those which they swore when they were caught committing some hypocritical act, and also those oaths which Abdullah bin Ubayy had sworn to contradict the report given by Zaid bin Arqam. Besides these, there is another probability that Allah might have regarded this statement of theirs as an oath: We bear witness that you are Allah’s Messenger. This last probability has given rise to a dispute among the jurists, namely: If a person states something with the words: I bear witness, will it be regarded as an oath or not? Imam Abu Hanifah and his companions (except Imam Zufar), Imam Sufyan Thauri and Imam Auzai regard it as an oath (Yamin in the Shariah terminology). Imam Zufar says that it is not an oath. Two sayings from Imam Malik have been reported in this connection: First, that it is an oath absolutely, and second, that if while saying: I bear witness, his intention was to say: My God, I bear witness, or I bear witness before God, it would be a statement on oath, otherwise not. Imam Shafei says: Even if the person says the words: I bear witness before God. it would not be a statement made on oath, unless he uttered these words with the intention of swearing an oath, (AI-Jassas, Ahkam al- Quran; Ibn alArabi, Ahkam al-Quran).","All that is because they first believed and then disbelieved, and therefore a seal was set on their hearts; as a result they understand nothing.[1]###[1] In this verse believing means professing the faith in order to be counted among Muslims, and disbelieving means not to believe sincerely and to persist in disbelief as usual. The verse means to say that when they, after due thought, decided to adopt this hypocritical attitude instead of adopting either belief or disbelief plainly, Allah caused a seal to be set on their hearts and deprived them of the grace to adopt the attitude and conduct of a true, sincere and noble person. Now, their power of understanding has been lost, their moral sense has become dead, and while following this way they never even feel that their habit of always telling lies, their deceitful behavior and the ever present contradictions between their word and deed is a wretched state in which they have involved themselves.","When you look at them, their persons are pleasing, and when they speak, you pay heed to what they say.[1] But in truth they are (merely) beams of timber propped-up (against a wall).[2] They consider every shout they hear to be directed against them.[3] They are your utter enemies;[4] guard against them.[5] May Allah do away with them![6] How are they being turned away (from the Truth)?[7]###[1] Abdullah bin Abbas has stated that Abdullah bin Ubayy was a strongly built, healthy, handsome and smoothtongued person, and the same was the case with most of his companions. They were all the nobles of Al-Madinah. When they came to sit in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) assembly, they would sit reclining on cushions against the walls and would talk agreeably and convincingly. From their outward appearance and manner of speech no one could imagine that those honorable people of the city would be so wretched and degraded in their character. \t [2] That is, those who sit reclining on cushions against the walls, are not but but pieces of timber. Comparing them to timber is meant to imply that they are devoid of the moral sense which is the essence of humanity. Then by comparing them to blocks of timber propped up against the wall, it has also been pointed out that they are absolutely worthless, for the timber would be useful only when it has been utilized in making of a ceiling, or a door frame, or a piece of furniture. A block of timber that has just been placed against a wall serves no useful purpose at all. \t [3] This brief sentence portrays the state of their guilty conscience. Since they fully knew what game of hypocrisy they were playing under the screen of their superficial faith, they always remained in a state of alarm, thinking as to when the secret of their treason might be exposed, or the believers might feel disgusted with their evil deeds and machinations and take them to task for them. If ever a cry was raised anywhere in the city, or a noise was heard; they immediately grew alarmed and thought it was directed against themselves. \t [4] In other words, these hidden enemies are more dangerous than the open enemies. \t [5] That is, do not be deceived by their outward appearances. Beware of them, for they can deceive you at any moment. \t [6] This is not a curse but a declaration of the verdict about them by Allah that they have become worthy of His punishment and He will certainly inflict His punishment on them. It is also possible that Allah may not have used these words in their literal sense but in the meaning of a curse and condemnation according to Arabic idiom. \t [7] It has not been pointed out as to who perverts them from belief to hypocrisy. This by itself makes it clear that there is not one but many factors responsible for their perversion. There is Satan, there are their evil friends, and there are their own selfish motives. Someone’s wife or children become his motive, and someone is driven to perversion by the evil ones in his society, or by jealousy, spite and pride.","When it is said to them: “Come, Allah's Messenger will seek forgiveness for you,” they (contemptuously) shake their heads and you see them holding back in pride.[1]###[1] That is, they not only refuse to come to the Messenger to seek forgiveness, but also on hearing the invitation they shake their heads with arrogance and pride, and remain adamant, thinking that it would be disgraceful for them to approach the Messenger (peace be upon him) to seek forgiveness. This is a clear sign that they are not believers.","It is all the same for them whether you ask forgiveness for them or not; for Allah shall never forgive them.[1] Surely Allah does not direct the transgressing folk to the Right Way.[2]###[1] This thing was reiterated in Surah At-Taubah, which was revealed three years after Surah Al-Munafiqoon, even in stronger words. In that Surah, Allah, while addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him) said this about the hypocrites: O Prophet (it will be all the same) whether you beg forgiveness for them or not, for Allah will not forgive them even if you beg forgiveness for them seventy times. This is because they have disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and Allah does not show guidance to the wrongdoers. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 80). A little further on in that Surah it was again said: And never perform the funeral prayer for anyone of them who dies nor stand at his grave, for they have denied Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) and died while they were transgressors. (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 84). \t [2] Two things have been stated in this verse. First, that the prayer of forgiveness can be beneficial only for those who are guided aright. Let alone a common man, even if Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) himself prays for the forgiveness of the person, who has turned away from guidance and adopted the way of sin and transgression instead of obedience, he cannot be forgiven. Second, that it is not Allah’s way to bless with guidance those who do not seek His guidance. If a person himself turns away from Allah’s guidance, rather shakes his head with arrogance and rejects the invitation when he is called towards guidance, Allah has no need that He should go after him with His guidance and implore him to come to the right path.","It is they who say: “Give nothing to those who are with the Messenger of Allah so that they may disperse.” (They say so although) the treasures of the heavens and the earth belong to Allah. But the hypocrites do not understand.","They say: “When we return to Madinah, the honourable ones will drive out from it those that are abject.”[1] In truth, all honour belongs to Allah, and to His Messenger, and to the believers.[2] But the hypocrites do not know.###[1] Zaid bin Arqam says: When I reported these words of Abdullah bin Ubayy to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and Abdullah bin Ubayy came and disowned them on oath, the elderly people of the Ansar, and even my own uncle, reproved me for this; so much so that I felt that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had also mistaken me for a liar and Abdullah bin Ubayy for a truthful person. This caused me great anguish and grief. Then, when these verses were revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) called me, and taking hold of my ear, said: The boy’s ear was truthful Allah has himself testified to what it had heard. (Ibn Jarir. In Tirmidhi also there is a tradition on the same subject). \t [2] That is, all honor belongs to Allah in virtue of His essence, to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in virtue of his prophethood, and to the believers in virtue of their faith. As for the disbelievers, the wicked people and the hypocrites, they have no share whatsoever in the real true honor.","Believers,[1] let your possessions and your offspring not make you negligent of Allah's remembrance.[2] For whoso does that, they will be the losers.###[1] Now a word of admonition is being addressed to all those people who have entered Islam, whether they are true and sincere believers, or those who profess the faith merely verbally. As we have explained at several places above. the words alla-dhina amanu in the Quran are sometimes used to address the true believers and sometimes to address the hypocrites, for they profess the faith only with the tongue, and sometimes to address the Muslims of all kinds in general. The context itself shows which group is the audience at a particular place. \t [2] The mention of the possessions and the children, in particular, has been made for man mostly turns away from the demands of the faith for the sake of their well being and interests and becomes involved in hypocrisy, weakness of faith, or wickedness and disobedience; otherwise it implies everything of the world that allures and absorbs man so completely that he becomes heedless of the remembrance of God. This heedlessness in respect of the remembrance of God is indeed the root cause of all evil. If man only remembers that he is not free but the servant of One God, and that God is fully aware of all his actions and deeds, and he will be held accountable one day before Him for all his actions and deeds, he would never be involved in any deviation and wickedness, and if ever he commits an error due to a human weakness, he will immediately rectify it as soon as he comes to realize his wrongdoing and repent.","And spend of what Allah has granted you by way of sustenance before death should come to any of you and he should say: “Lord, why did You not defer my return for a while so that I might give alms and be among the righteous?”","But when a person's term comes to an end, Allah never grants any respite. Allah is well aware of all that you do.","All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth extols Allah's glory.[1] His is the sovereignty[2] and to Him is all praise due;[3] He has power over everything.[4]###[1] For explanation, see( E.N. 1 of the commentary on Surah Al-Hadid). A study of the following theme by itself shows why the discourse has ban begun with this sentence. What has been stated below about the universe and man is that Allah alone is their Creator, Master, Ruler, and He has not made this universe without purpose and wisdom, that man has not been created and left irresponsible, so that he may act as he may please, and there should be nobody to call him to account, and that the Ruler of this universe is not a care-free and ignorant king so that he may have no knowledge of what is happening in his kingdom. The best introduction to this theme could be the same as has been couched in this brief sentence. In view of the context, the introduction means: In whichever direction you may turn your gaze, from the earth to the limitless vastnesses of the heavens, you will clearly see that everything from a particle to the great galaxies not only testifies to the existence of God but also bears evidence that its God is free from every defect, every weakness and error. Had there been the least probability of a defect or fault, weakness or deficiency, in His essence and attributes, in His acts and decrees, this perfect and wise system could not have come into being at all, nor continue to function so consistently and immutably from eternity to eternity. \t [2] That is, the Kingdom of the universe solely belongs to Him. He has not just created it and left it alone after giving it the initial creation, but He alone is actually ruling over it every moment. No one else has any role or share whatsoever in this rule and sovereignty. If others possess temporarily and on a limited scale some powers of ownership or rule somewhere in the universe, these are not their personal powers, which they might have acquired by virtue of their own ability, but these have been granted to them by Allah. They possess these powers as long as Allah wills, and they can be withdrawn as and when He so desires. \t [3] In other words; He alone is worthy of all praise. Whatever other being has any praiseworthy quality, it has ban granted by Allah. And if hamd (praise) be taken in the sense of shukr (thankfulness), the meaning would be: In reality Allah alone is worthy of being thanked, for all good things in the world have been created by Him, and He alone is the real Benefactor of all kinds of creation. When we thank another being for favor, we thank it for the reason that Allah conveyed His blessing through it or him to us, otherwise neither the being itself is the creator of the blessing nor could it convey the blessing to you without Allah’s permission and help. \t [4] That is, He is the possessor of absolute power: He can do whatever He wills, there is no power to restrain or limit His Omnipotence.","He it is Who has created you: and among you are those that deny the Truth[1] and among you are those that believe in it.[2] Allah observes all that you do.###[1] It has four meanings and all are correct in their respective places: \t [2] First, that He alone is your Creator, yet some of you deny His being the Creator and others acknowledge this truth. This meaning becomes obvious when the first and the second sentences are read together.","He created the heavens and the earth with Truth and shaped you, giving you excellent shapes. And to Him is your ultimate return.[1]###[1] In this verse three things have been stated in their sequence, which are well connected logically:","He knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you conceal and what you disclose.[1] Allah even knows what lies hidden in the breasts of people.[2]###[1] Another translation can be: Whatever you do secretly and whatever openly. \t [2] That is, He is aware not only of those acts of man, which come to the notice of the people but He knows also those acts which remain hidden from them. Moreover, He does not only see the superficial form of the acts, but also knows what intention and purpose underlay each act of man and with what motive and aim he did whatever he did. This is such a truth that if man ponders over it seriously, he can fully understand that justice can be done only in the Hereafter, and only in God’s court can real justice be possibly done. Man’s own intellect itself demands that man must be punished for each of his crimes. But everyone knows that in the world most of the crimes remain hidden, or the culprit escapes punishment because of insufficient evidence, or even if the crime becomes revealed, the culprit is so influential and powerful that he cannot be punished. Then the intellect of man also requires that man should not be punished only because his behavior resembles a criminal act, but it should be ascertained that he has committed the act intentionally and deliberately and at the time he committed it, he was acting as a responsible agent, his intention, in fact, was to commit the crime, and he knew that what he was doing was a crime. That is why the worldly courts inquire into these things when they decide the cases, and regard such an inquiry as a demand of the rule of justice. But are there any means available in the world by which these things may be precisely ascertained beyond every shadow of doubt? Considered from this viewpoint, this verse also bears a deep logical relevance to Allah Almighty’s saying: He has created the earth and the heavens with truth. The necessary demand of creating them with truth is that perfect justice should prevail in this universe. Such justice can be established only when every act of a responsible man may not only remain concealed from the eyes of the one administering justice but the intention with which a person performed an act also should not remain hidden from him. And obviously, there cannot be any being, apart from the Creator of the universe, who can administer such justice. Now, if a person denies Allah and the Hereafter, he in fact, asserts that we humans live in a universe which is devoid of justice, which is rather a place where justice cannot possibly be done. The person whose intellect, mind and conscience feel satisfied at such an assumption would be a shameless creature if be thought he was being progressive and rationalistic and those people antiquated and retrogressive who accept a highly rational concept about the universe, which the Quran presents.","Has the news of the unbelievers of the past not reached you? (They disbelieved) and then tasted its evil consequence. A grievous chastisement awaits them.[1]###[1] That is, the evil that they tasted in the world in consequence of their misdeeds was neither the real punishment of their crimes nor the full punishment. The real and full punishment they have yet to suffer in the Hereafter. However, the people can learn a lesson from the torment that visited them. They can see how the nations which adopted an attitude of unbelief against their Lord, went an degenerating and consequently met with an evil and disgraceful end. (For further explanation, see (E.Ns 5, 6 of Surah Al-Aaraf),(E.N. 105 of Surah Houd).","This was because their Messengers would come to them with Clear Signs,[1] but they would say: “Shall mortals (like ourselves) guide us to the Right Way?”[2] They rejected the Truth and turned away. Thereupon Allah became unconcerned with them, for Allah is Self-Sufficient, Innately Praiseworthy.[3]###[1] The word bayyinet as used in the original has a vast meaning. Bayyin (singular of bayyinat) in Arabic is something which is very clear and manifest. Saying about the Prophets that they came with bayyinat gives the meaning that firstly, they brought such manifest signs as bore clear testimony to their having been appointed by Allah. Secondly, they presented whatever they presented with rational and clear arguments. Thirdly, there was no ambiguity in their teaching. They clearly explained what was the truth and what was falsehood, what was lawful and what was unlawful, what path man should follow and what he should avoid. \t [2] This was then the foremost and basic cause of their degeneration and ruin mankind could not have known the right course of action in the world unless their Creator gave them the correct knowledge, and there could be no practical means of bestowing such knowledge by the Creator unless He blessed some of the human beings with the knowledge and entrusted them with the duty to convey it to other human beings. For this purpose, He sent the Prophets with the manifest signs (bayyinat) so that there was no reasonable ground for the people to doubt their being on the truth. But the people refused to believe that a human being could be a Messenger of God. Then, obviously there could be no other way for them to receive guidance. (For further explanation, see (E.N. 11 of Surah YaSeen). In this connection, however, a strange manifestation of the ignorance and folly of human beings is seen. They have in fact, never shown any hesitation in accepting the guidance of men, so much so that they have carried out gods of wood and stone according to their guidance, they have made human beings themselves God, the incarnation of God, even son of God. And they have adopted such strange viewpoints by following the guidance of their misleaders blindly, which ruined human civilization and morals altogether. But when the Messengers of God came to them with the truth, and they presented the pure truth before them without any selfish motive, they said: Shall mere human beings show us guidance? This amounted to saying that if a human begin misled them, they would follow his guidance willingly, but if he showed the right path to them, his guidance was not acceptable. \t [3] That is, when they treated the guidance sent down by Allah with indifference, then Allah also became indifferent to them and did not care what pit they fell in. Allah did not stand in need of their acknowledging Him as God in order to sustain and support His Godhead. Nor was He in need of their worship, nor of their praise and adoration. He, in fact, willed to show them the right path only for their own good and well-being. But when they turned away from it, Allah also became heedless of them. Then, neither He gave them guidance, nor remained responsible for their protection, nor saved them from being afflicted with calamities, nor prevented them from bringing about their own ruin for they themselves were not keen for His guidance and help.","The unbelievers have vehemently contended that they shall not be raised to life.[1] Say to them: “Yes, by my Lord, you shall surely be raised to life,[2] and you shall certainly be fully informed of all that you did.[3] That is easy enough for Allah.”[4]###[1] That is, this was the second basic error in which the deniers of the truth have been involved in every age, and which has ultimately brought about their ruin. Although no denier of the Hereafter ever had any means of knowing, nor has he today, nor will he have in the future, that there is no life after death, but these ignorant people have always asserted the same thing, whereas there neither exists any intellectual basis for denying the Hereafter with absolute certainty nor any scientific basis for it. \t [2] This is the third place where Allah Almighty has instructed His Prophet to tell the people by swearing an oath by his Lord that such a thing shall certainly happen. First, in Surah Younus, it was said: They ask, is what you say really true. Tell them: Yes, by my Lord, it is absolutely true and you have no power to avert it.(verse 53). Then, in Surah Saba, it was said: The disbelievers say: How is it that Resurrection is not overtaking us. Say: By my Lord, it will surely overtake you. (verse 3). \t [3] Here, the question arises: What difference does it make for a disbeliever in the Hereafter whether you give him the news of its coming by swearing an oath or without swearing an oath. When he does not believe in it at all, will he believe in it only because you are asserting this on oath. The answer is: In the first place, the addressees of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were the people who knew from their personal knowledge and experience that he had never uttered a lie in his life. Therefore, even if they might have forged the most shameless slander against him with their tongue, yet in their hearts they could never conceive that a truthful man like him could say a thing on oath by Allah of which he himself was not convinced by knowledge and experience. Secondly, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not only present the doctrine of the Hereafter but also gave highly rational arguments for it. What distinguishes a Prophet from others is that the arguments, however strong and cogent, that others may give for the Hereafter, can at the most make the listener admit that the occurrence of the Hereafter is more reasonable and probable than its absence. On the contrary, a Prophet stands at a notch higher level than a philosopher. His real position is not that be has arrived at the conclusion of the necessity of the Hereafter by the exercise of reason. But his real position is that he has the knowledge that the Hereafter shall occur and says with conviction that it shall surely occur. Therefore, only a Prophet can swear an oath to declare this but not a philosopher. Then, faith in the Hereafter can be generated only by a Prophet’s statement; the reasoning of a philosopher does not have the power to induce even himself to adopt it as his religious creed on the basis of his own argument, not to speak of another person. If the philosopher is really correct, he cannot go beyond, should be or ought to be. Only a Prophet can assert with conviction that a thing is and certainly is. \t [4] This is the purpose for which the children of Adam will be resurrected. This also contains the answer to the question: What is the special need for it. If one keeps in view what has been discussed concerning verse 1,4 above, one can easily understand that in this universe, which has been created with the truth, it would be highly unreasonable to imagine about man who has been given freedom to choose either belief or unbelief, who has been granted authority to appropriate many of the things in this universe, and who after choosing the way of belief or unbelief has accomplished much good or done evil on his own responsibility by making the right or the wrong use of his authority during his life. That when he has done all this the good done by the virtuous and the evil committed by the criminal, one should neither bear any fruit, nor should there be any time when his deeds and actions should be subjected to security. The person who asserts such an irrational thing inevitably commits one of the two absurdities: either he thinks that although this universe is based on wisdom, yet a creature like man, who has been endowed with authority, has been created and left irresponsible here; or he thinks that this universe is a random creation devoid of the wisdom of a Wise Creator. In the first place, he makes a contradictory statement, for the existence of an irresponsible creature, endowed with authority, in a universe based on wisdom, is clearly against justice and wisdom. In the second case, he cannot give any rational being like man should come into being in a haphazardly created, foolish universe, and how he conceived the idea of justice. Only a stubborn person could uphold the belief that folly could generate wisdom and injustice could generate justice, or the one who has become a mental patient because of his obsession for hair splitting.","So believe in Allah and in His Messenger and in the Light that We have sent down.[1] Allah is fully aware of what you do.###[1] That is, when this is the truth and the whole human history testifies that the real cause of the destruction of the nations has been their disbelieving the Messengers and their denial of the Hereafter, then they should not insist on meeting the same doom by following their example, but should believe in the guidance presented by Allah and His Messenger and the Quran. Here, as the context itself shows, by the light that We have sent down, means the Quran. Just as light itself is clearly seen and reveals everything that was hidden in darkness around it, so is the Quran a light whose being based on the truth is self-evident; in its light man can solve and understand every problem that he cannot solve and understand exclusively by means of his own knowledge and intellect. Anyone who has the light can clearly see the straight path of truth out of the countless, crooked paths of thought and action, and can follow the straight path throughout life in such a way that at every step he can know where the crooked bypaths are misleading and where the pitfalls of destruction are situated on the way, and what is the path of safety and security among them.","(You shall come to know that) when He will assemble you on the Day of Gathering.[1] That shall be the Day (to determine) mutual gains and losses.[2] Whoever believes in Allah and acts righteously,[3] Allah will have his evil deeds expunged and will admit him to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Therein they shall abide forever. That is the supreme triumph.###[1] The Day of Gathering: the Resurrection, when all human beings born in the world from the beginning of creation till the Last Day will be gathered together simultaneously. This theme has been fully explained in the Quran at several places; e.g. in Surah Houd it has been said: That will be the Day when all the people shall gather together and will witness everything that will happen there. (verse 103). And in Surah Al-Waqiah: Say to them; Surely, the former and the latter, all shall be gathered together one day, the hour of which has already been appointed. (verse 50). \t [2] The word yaum-ut-taghabun as used in the original is too vast in meaning to be explained in a word, or even a sentence, of any other language. Of all the names of the Resurrection that occur in the Quran, this name probably is the most meaningful. Therefore, an explanation is necessary to understand its meaning. \t [3] Taghabun is from ghabn, which can be pronounced both as ghabn and as ghaban. Ghabn is mostly used concerning commercial and business transactions and ghaban concerning opinion. Lexically, it has other meanings also, e.g. heedlessness, forgetfulness, a person’s being deprived of his share, a man’s harming another inadvertently in business or mutual dealing, etc.","As for those who disbelieved and gave the lie to Our Signs:[1] they shall be the inmates of the Fire, and will abide in it. That is a woeful resort!###[1] These words by themselves make manifest the meaning of unbelief (kufr). Unbelief is nothing but denying the verses of Allah’s Book to be divine revelation, rejecting the truth expressed therein and refusing to follow and obey the commandments given in them; its results are those being mentioned below.","No misfortune[1] ever befalls unless it be by Allah's leave.[2] And whosoever has faith in Allah, Allah directs his heart along the Right Path.[3] Allah has knowledge of everything.[4]###[1] The discourse now turns to the believers. While reading this passage one should keep in mind the fact that at the time when these verses were revealed. Muslims were passing through great hardships. After years of persecution at Makkah they had left their home and emigrated to Madinah, where the sincere Muslims who had given them refuge had been doubly burdened. On the one hand, they had to support and sustain hundreds of the emigrants who were coming to them from different parts of Arabia. On the other, they had become the target of the persecution and enmity of the enemies of Islam of entire Arabia. \t [2] This same theme has also occurred in ( Surah Al-Hadid, Ayats 22-23 ) above and we have explained it in( E.Ns 39 to 42 of the commentary of that Surah). The same circumstances under which this thing was said there and the same object for which it was said underlie the verses here as well. This means that afflictions and hardships do not descend of themselves, nor has anyone in the world the power to cause an affliction to descend on anyone he may like by his own authority. All calamities wholly depend on Allah’s leave. He may allow an affliction to descend upon someone or may disallow it. And Allah’s leave in any case is based on one or other wisdom, directed to some ultimate good, which man neither knows, nor can understand. \t [3] That is, it is only belief in Allah which keeps man on the right path even in the face of an onslaught of afflictions and does not let him waver under the most trying circumstances. The one whose heart is devoid of belief either looks upon afflictions as a result of mere chance, or thinks they are brought or prevented by worldly powers, or considers them to be the work of such imaginary powers which human superstition regards as potent in bringing good and causing evil, or believes that God is the real Doer of everything but does not believe so truly and sincerely in all these different cases man degenerates. He endures the affliction, but then yields and bows to every false god, accepts every humiliation, is ready to do any mean thing and commit any wrong act he does not hesitate to abuse God, even commits suicide. On the contrary, the heart of the person who knows and believes sincerely that everything is in the hands of Allah. He alone in the Master and the Ruler of the universe. That only by His permission can an affliction befall and only by His command can it be averted. Such a person is blessed by Allah with the grace of patience and submission and of acquiescing in divine will, and is granted the power to face every circumstance with determination and courage. Even under the most straitened circumstances the candle of the hope of Allah’s bounty lights up his way. No affliction, however severe and trying, can dishearten him as to cause him to swerve from the right path or bow to falsehood, or invoke others than Allah for the redress of his grievances. Thus, every affliction opens up for him a new door to well-being and happiness and no affliction remains an affliction for him. In fact, it becomes, in the final, a blessing in disguise. For whether he falls a victim to it or passes through if safely, in each case he emerges successful from the trial set for him by his Lord. This same thing has been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a Hadith which has been reported unanimously by all the reporters, saying: Strange is the affair of the believer! Whatever Allah decrees for him is good for him. When an affliction befalls him, he endures it patiently, and this proves good for him. When he is blessed with prosperity, he thanks his Lord, and this too proves good for him. Such a good fortune only falls to the lot of a believer. \t [4] In this context this has two meanings: First, that Allah knows who really believes and what is the measure of his belief. So, on the basis of His knowledge, He grants guidance only to that heart, which has belief in it, and grants it guidance precisely in accordance with the measure of belief. Another meaning can also be: That Allah is not unaware of the condition of His believing servants. He has not left them alone after having invited them to faith and subjected them at the same time to severe trials and temptations of the world. He knows exactly what hardships a believer is passing through in the world, and under what circumstances he is fulfilling the demands of his faith. Therefore, O believers, you should rest assured that whatever affliction descends upon you by Allah’s leave, in Allah’s knowledge it must be directed to some ultimate good, which must be for your own well-being. For Allah is well-wisher of His believing servants. He does not will to subject them to afflictions and hardships without good reason.","Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away from obedience, (then know that) Our Messenger has no other duty than to clearly convey the Truth.[1]###[1] In view of the context, it means: Whatever the circumstances, good or bad, you should remain steadfast to obedience to Allah and His Messenger. But if under the pressure of hardships you turned away from obedience, you would only harm your own selves. The only responsibility of Our Messenger was to guide you to the right path, which the Messenger has fulfilled in the best way possible.","Allah there is no god but He; in Allah should the believers put all their trust.[1]###[1] That is, all divine powers belong to Allah alone. No one else has any power to make or mar your destiny. He alone can bring about a good time and He alone can avert a bad time. Therefore, whoever believes sincerely that Allah is One, has absolutely no other choice than to place his full trust in Him and to continue doing his duty as a believer with the conviction that goodness and well being only lie in the way that Allah has shown him. If he attains to success in this way, it will only be by Allah’s help and leave; there is no other helper. And if he encounters difficulties, hardships, dangers and disasters in this way, Allah alone will rescue him, for there is no other rescuer beside Him.","Believers, there are enemies to you from among your spouses and your off-spring, so beware of them. But if you forgive and overlook their offences and pardon them, then surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.[1]###[1] This verse has two meanings:","Your possessions and your offspring are nothing but a trial for you. And there awaits a great reward[1] for you with Allah.###[1] For explanation, see (E.N. 23 of Surah Al-Anfaal). Here one should also keep in view the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) saying which Tabarani has related on the authority of Abu Malik al-Ashari, saying: Your real enemy is not he whom, if you kill there is success for you, and if he kills you, there is Paradise for you; but your real enemy may be your own child who is born of your own loins, or the wealth of which you are the owner. That is why here as well as in Surah (Al-Anfaal, Ayat 28), Allah says: If you save yourselves from the temptation and allurements of worldly possessions and children and succeed in keeping love of them subject to the love of Allah, there are rich rewards for you with Allah.","So hold Allah in awe as much as you can,[1] and listen and obey, and be charitable. This is for your own good. And whoever remains safe from his own greediness, it is such that will prosper.[2]###[1] At another place in the Quran it has been said: Fear Allah as rightfully He should be feared. (Surah Aal-Imran, Ayat 102). At still another place: Allah does not burden any one with a responsibility heavier than he can bear. <br>(Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 286) And here: Fear Allah as much as you can. When these three verses are read together it appears that the first verse sets an ideal which every believer should try to attain. The second verse lays down the principle that no one has been required to exert himself beyond his power and ability, for in Allah’s religion one has been made responsible only for what is within his power and ability. This verse enjoins every believer to try to attain piety and consciousness of God as far as he can. He should carry out His commands and avoid His disobedience as best as he possibly can. For if he shows laxity in this regard, he will not be able to escape punishment. However, one will not be held accountable for what was beyond his power and Allah alone can decide best what was really beyond a person’s power and ability. \t [2] For explanation, see  (E.N. 19 of Surah Al-Hashr).","If you give Allah a goodly loan, He will increase it for you several fold[1] and will forgive you. Allah is Most Appreciative, Most Forbearing.[2]###[1] For explanation, see  (E.N. 267 of Surah Al-Baqarah); (E.N. 33 of Surah Al-Maidah);  (E.N. 16 of Surah Al-Hadid). \t [2] For explanation, see  (E.Ns 52, 59 of Surah Fatir);(E.N. 42 of Surah Ash-Shura).","He knows that which is beyond the ken of perception as well as that which can be perceived. He is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise.","O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them for their waiting-period,[1] and compute the waiting period accurately,[2] and hold Allah, your Lord, in awe. Do not turn them out of their homes (during the waiting period) – nor should they go away (from their homes)[3]– unless they have committed a manifestly evil deed.[4] Such are the bounds set by Allah; and he who transgresses the bounds set by Allah commits a wrong against himself. You do not know: maybe Allah will cause something to happen to pave the way (for reconciliation).[5]###[1] That is, O believers, you should not make undue haste in the matter of pronouncing divorce: your minor family quarrels should not so incite you that you should pronounce the final divorce in a fit of anger and there remains no chance for reconciliation. However When you have to divorce your wives, you should divorce them for their prescribed waiting period. Pronouncing divorce for the waiting period has two meanings and both are implied here. \t [2] First, that you should divorce them at a time when their waiting period can begin. This thing has already been prescribed in( Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 228). The waiting period of the married woman who menstruates is three monthly courses after the pronouncement of divorce. If this commandment is kept in view the only appropriate time of pronouncing divorce that the waiting period may duly begin is when she is not in her courses, for the waiting period cannot begin from the course during which she may have been divorced, and divorcing her in that state would mean that, contrary to the divine command, her waitingperiod should extend to four courses instead of three courses. Furthermore, this commandment also demands that the woman should not be divorced in the period of purity during which the husband may have had sexual intercourse with her. For in this case, at the time divorce is pronounced, neither the husband nor the wife can know whether she has conceived in consequence of the intercourse or not. Because of this neither the waiting period can begin on the hypothesis that this would be reckoned in view of the succeeding monthly courses nor on the hypothesis that this would be the waiting period of a pregnant woman. So, this commandment lays down two rules simultaneously. First, that divorce should not be pronounced during menstruation. Second, that divorce may be pronounced either in the period of purity during which there was no sexual intercourse with the woman, or in the state when the woman’s being pregnant was known. A little consideration of the matter will show that the restrictions imposed on the pronouncement of divorce are for good reasons. The reason for imposing the restriction on the pronouncement of divorce during menstruation is that in this state the husband and the wife are somewhat estranged from each other because of the prohibition of sexual intercourse in this state and also from the medical viewpoint it is confirmed that the woman is not temperamentally normal during the courses. Therefore, if a quarrel starts between them in this state, both the husband and the wife would be helpless to an extent to put an end to it, and if the matter is deferred till the woman is free from her courses, there is the possibility that the woman also may return to her normal temperamental state and the mutual attraction that nature has placed between them also may work and reunite them. Likewise, the reason for prohibiting the pronouncement of divorce during the purity period in which sexual intercourse may have taken place, is that if in consequence of it conception takes place, it can neither be known to the husband nor to the wife. Therefore, it cannot be a suitable time for pronouncing the divorce. If the man comes to know that conception has taken place, he would think a hundred times before deciding finally whether he should pronounce divorce or not on the woman who carries his child in her womb. The woman also in view of the future of her child would try her best to remove the causes of her husband's displeasure. But if a decision is taken blindly, in undue haste, and then it is known that conception had taken place, both will regret it later. \t [3] This is the first meaning of divorcing for the prescribed waiting period, which applies only to those women marriage with whom has been consummated, who menstruate and may possibly conceive. As for its second meaning it is this: If you have to divorce your wives, you should divorce them till the expiry of their waiting period. That is, do not pronounce three divorces all at once leading to permanent separation, but pronounce one, or at the most two divorces, and wait till the end of the waiting period, so that there remains some chance for reconciliation for you at any time during this period. According to this meaning; this commandment is also useful in respect of those woman marriage with whom has been consummated and who menstruate as well as of those who no longer menstruate, or those who have not yet menstruated, or those whose pregnancy at the time of the pronouncement of divorce is known. If this divine command is rightly followed, no one will regret after having pronounced divorce, for if divorce is pronounced in this way, there remains room for reconciliation within the waiting period, and even after the expiry of the waiting period the possibility remains that the separated husband and wife may remarry if they wish reconciliation. \t [4] This same meaning of talliqu-hunna li-iddati hinna (divorce them for their prescribed waiting-period) has been given by the earliest commentators. Ibn Abbas has given this commentary of it: One should not pronounce divorce during menstruation nor in the period of purity (tahr) during which the husband may have had sexual intercourse. But one should leave the wife alone till she attains purity after the course; then one may pronounce a single divorce on her. In this case even if there is no reconciliation and the waiting period expires, she would be separated by the single divorce. (Ibn Jarir). \t [5] Abdullah bin Masud says:","And when they reach the end of their term (of waiting), then either honourably retain them (in the bond of wedlock) or honourably part with them,[1] and call two persons of known probity as witnesses from among yourselves,[2] and (let these witnesses) give upright testimony for the sake of Allah. That is to what all those that believe in Allah and the Last Day are exhorted.[3] Allah will find a way out for him who fears Allah,[4]###[1] That is, in case you have pronounced one or two revocable divorces, you should take a decision before the expiry of the waiting-period whether you would keep the wife in wedlock or send her away. If you decide to keep her, then you should keep her with honor and dignity and not with a view to tormenting and harassing her and getting another opportunity to prolong her waiting-period by divorcing her once again; and if you decide to part with her, then you should part with her gracefully, without indulging in any quarrel or vilification. If you still owe her the dower, or a part of it, pay it off, and give her something in addition also at her departure according to your means, as has been enjoined in (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 241). (For further explanation, see(E.N. 86 of Surah Al-Ahzab). \t [2] Ibn Abbas says that this implies calling to witness two men both at divorce and at reconciliation. (Ibn Jarir). Imran bin Husain was asked: A man divorced his wife and then took her back, but he neither called anybody to witness pronouncement of the divorce nor resumption of the relation. He replied: You pronounced the divorce against the sunnah and you took your wife back against the sunnah. You should call to witness men both at divorce and at resumption of relation, and you should not commit this mistake again. (Abu Daud, Iba Majah). But the four Sunni Imams agree that to call men to witness the divorce and the resumption and separation is no condition for these acts to be valid, so that if there was no witness, neither divorce should take place nor resumption should be valid nor separation. But this condition has been enjoined so that the parties may not deny any of the facts later and in case there was a dispute the matter might be settled easily and any suspicions and doubts might also be removed. This command is just like the command: Have witnesses in case of commercial transactions. (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 282). This does not mean that it is obligatory to have witnesses at business transactions, and if there was no witness, the transaction would be invalid; but this is a wise instruction which has been given to prevent disputes and it is good to follow it. Likewise, in the case of divorce and resumption also although a person’s act and conduct would be legally valid even without the witnesses yet caution demands that whatever is done, it should be witnessed, simultaneously or later, by two just men. \t [3] These words clearly show that the instructions given above are in the nature of advice and not law. If a man pronounces divorce against the approved method as explained above, or fails to reckon the waiting-period accurately, or expels the wife from the house without a good reason, or returns to her at the end of the waitingperiod only to harass her, or sends her away after a quarrel, or fails to call the men to witness the divorce, reconciliation, or separation, if will not affect the legal effects of divorce or reconciliation or separation at all. However, his acting against Allah’s advice would be a proof that his heart was devoid of the taste faith in Allah and the Last Day. That is why he adopted a course which a true believer would never adopt. \t [4] The context itself shows that here “fearing Allah in whatever one does” means to pronounce divorce in accordance with the approved method taught by the Sunnah, to reckon the waiting-period accurately, to avoid turning the wife out of the house, to take the wife back if one decides to keep her at the expiry of the waiting-period with the intention of keeping her equitably and to send her away in a fair manner if one decides to part with her, and to call two just men to witness the divorce, reconciliation or separation, as the case may be. In respect of this, Allah says that whoever acts in fear of Him, He will open for him a way out of the difficulties. This automatically gives the meaning that whoever does not fear Allah in these matters, will create for himself such complications and difficulties from which he will find no way out.","and will provide him sustenance from whence he never even imagined.[1] Whoever puts his trust in Allah, He shall suffice him. Surely Allah brings about what He decrees;[2] Allah has set a measure for everything.###[1] It means: keeping the divorced wife in the house during the waiting period, to maintain her and to pay her the dower, or something in addition at departure certainly burdens a man financially. To spend on a woman whom one has already decided to send away because of strained relations will surely be irksome, and if the man is also poor, this expenditure will further pinch him. But a man, who fears Allah, should endure all this gracefully. Allah is not niggardly as the people are. If a person spends his wealth in accordance with His law, He will provide for him in a manner beyond all expectations. \t [2] That is, there is no power that can prevent Allah’s decree from enforcement.","The waiting period of those of your women who have lost all expectation of menstruation shall be three months[1] in case you entertain any doubt; and the same shall apply to those who have not yet menstruated.[2] As for pregnant women, their waiting period shall be until the delivery of their burden.[3] Allah will create ease for him who fears Allah.###[1] This is in respect of the women who no longer menstruation and have reached menopause because of age. Their waiting-period will be reckoned from the day divorce was pronounced on them and three months imply three lunar months. If divorce was pronounced at the commencement of the lunar month, it is agreed that the waiting-period will be reckoned with regard to the sighting of the new moon; and if it was pronounced somewhere in the middle of the month, according to Imam Abu Hanifah, three months will have to be completed reckoning each month of 30 days. (Badaias-Sami ). \t [2] As for the women whose courses are irregular due to some reason, the jurists have held different opinions: \t [3] Saeed bin al-Musayyab says that Umar ruled: If the woman who has been divorced stops having menses after having them once or twice after the divorce, she will wait for 9 months. If signs of pregnancy appear, well and good, otherwise after the passage of 9 months, she should observe the waiting-period of three additional months. Then she would be lawful for marriage to another person.","This is the commandment of Allah that He has revealed to you. Whoever fears Allah, He will expunge his evil deeds and will richly reward him.[1]###[1] Although this is a general exhortation which applies to all matters and conditions of human life, yet in this particular context the object is to warn the Muslims to follow the commands mentioned above in fear of God, no matter what responsibilities they may have to shoulder in consequence thereof, for as a reward for this Allah will remove their ills and will forgive their sins and will enhance their rewards in the Hereafter. Obviously, the waitingperiod of the divorced woman whose term has been prescribed as three months will be longer than that of the woman whose term has been appointed as three menstruation, and the term of the pregnant woman may be several months longer. To shoulder the responsibility of the maintenance and lodging of the woman whom a man may have decided to give up, during this whole period, will be an unbearable burden for the people, but Allah’s promise is that He will lighten the burden that is borne in fear of Him and in following His command, by His special bounty and grace, and will reward the person much more generously and richly in comparison to the small burden borne by him in the world.","(During the waiting period) lodge them according to your means wherever you dwell, and do not harass them to make them miserable.[1] And if they are pregnant, provide for them maintenance until they have delivered their burden.[2] And if they suckle your offspring whom they bore you, then give them due recompense, and graciously settle the question of compensation between yourselves by mutual understanding.[3] But if you experience difficulty (in determining the compensation for suckling) then let another woman suckle the child.[4]###[1] The jurists agree that if the woman has been divorced revocable, the husband is responsible for her lodging and maintenance. They also agree that if the woman is pregnant, the husband will bear the responsibility of her lodging and maintenance till child-birth whether she has been divorced revocable or irrevocably. However, the difference of opinion has arisen about whether the nonpregnant woman who has been divorced irrevocably is entitled to both lodging and maintenance, or only to lodging, or to neither. \t [2] One group says that she is entitled to both lodging and maintenance. This is the opinion of Umar, Abdullah bin Masud, Ali bin Husain (Imam Zain al-Abidin), Qadi Shuraih and Ibrahim Nakhai. The same has been adopted by the Hanafis, and the same is also the viewpoint of Imam Sufyan Thauri and Hasan bin Saleh. This is supported by the Hadith of Daraqutni in which Abdullah bin Jabir reports that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The woman who has been divorced thrice has a right to lodging and maintenance during the waiting-period. This is further supported by those traditions in which it has been reported that Umar had rejected the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, saying: We cannot abandon the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace be upon him) on the word of a woman. This shows that the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the knowledge of Umar must be that such a woman is entitled to both maintenance and lodging. Furthermore in a tradition from Ibrahim Nakhai there is the explanation that Umar rejecting the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, had said: I have heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) say that such a woman has a right to lodging as well as to maintenance. The first argument that Imam Abu Bakr al Jassas has given in his discussion of this question in his Ahkam al-Quran is that Allah has explicitly said: Divorce them for their prescribed waiting periods. This divine command also applies to that person who might have taken his wife back after divorcing her twice in the first instance, and now he is left with only one divorce to pronounce. His second argument is: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught this method of pronouncing divorce that one should either pronounce divorce in such a period of purity in which one may not have had sexual intercourse, or in a state when the signs of a woman’s being pregnant might have appeared. In this he did not make any distinction between the first, second, or final divorce. Therefore, the divine command: Lodge them (in the waiting period) where you yourselves live, will be regarded as relevant to every form of divorce. His third argument is: The maintenance and lodging of the pregnant woman, whether divorced revocable or irrevocably, is binding on the husband, and in respective the non-pregnant revocably divorced woman also both these rights are binding. This shows that the maintenance and lodging have not been made incumbent on the basis of pregnancy but because both are legally bound to stay in the husband’s house. Now, if the same injunction be applicable to the irrevocably divorced non-pregnant woman also, there can be no reason why her lodging and maintenance should not be incumbent on the man divorcing her. \t [3] The second group says that the irrevocably divorce woman has a right to lodging but not to maintenance. This is the viewpoint of Saed bin al-Musayyab, Suleman bin Yasar, Ata, Shabi, Auzai, Laith and Abu Ubaid, and Imam Shafei and Imam Malik also have adopted the same. But in Mughni al-Muhtaj a different viewpoint of Imam Shafei has been stated as will be explained below. \t [4] The third group say that the irrevocably divorced woman is neither entitled to lodging nor to maintenance. This is the viewpoint of Hasan Basri, Hammad Ibn Laila, Amr bin Dinar, Taus, Ishaq bin Rahawaih and Abu Thaw. Ibn Jarir has cited this very viewpoint as of Ibn Abbas, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and the Imamiah sect of the Shias also have adopted the same, and in Mughni al-Muhtaj the viewpoint of the Shafeis also has been stated to be this: The woman who is passing her waiting-period on the basis of divorce has an obligatory right to lodging, whether she is pregnant or not, but for the woman who has been irrevocably divorced, it is not obligatory. And for the nonpregnant irrevocably divorced woman there is neither maintenance nor clothing. This viewpoint in the first place is based on this verse of the Quran: You do not know: Allah may after this bring about a situation (of reconciliation). From this they conclude that this could be correct only about a revocably divorced woman, and not about an irrevocably divorced one. Therefore, the command of lodging the divorced woman in the house is specifically applicable only to the revocably divorced woman. Their second reasoning is from the Hadith of Fatimah bint-Qais, which has been reported in the collections of Hadith through many authentic channels.","Whoever has abundant means, let him spend according to his means; and he whose means are straitened, let him spend out of what Allah has given him. Allah does not burden any human being beyond the means that He has bestowed upon him. Possibly Allah will grant ease after hardship.","How many towns[1] rebelled against the commandment of their Lord and His Messengers. Then We called them to a stern accounting, and subjected them to a harrowing chastisement.###[1] Now, the Muslims are being warned of the fate they would meet in this world and in the Hereafter is they disobeyed the commands they have been given through the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah and His Book and the rewards they would receive if they adopted obedience.","So they tasted the evil fruit of their deeds; and the fruit of their deeds was utter loss.","Allah has laid in store for them a grievous chastisement. So fear Allah, O people of understanding who have attained to faith. Allah has sent down to you an Exhortation,","a Messenger[1] who rehearses to you Allah's verses that clearly expound the Guidance so that He may bring out those that believe and act righteously, from every kind of darkness into light.[2] He will admit whosoever believes in Allah and acts righteously to Gardens beneath which rivers flow. They shall abide in them forever. For such has Allah made an excellent provision.###[1] Some of the commentators opine that admonition here implies the Quran and Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Some others say that admonition implies the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself, because he was admonition for the people through and through. We are of the opinion that this second interpretation is more correct, for according to the first commentary the sentence would read: We have sent down to you an ddmonition and sent such a Messenger. Obviously, there is no need for such an interpolation in the Quranic passage when it is perfectly meaningful, even more so, without it. \t [2] Out of darknesses into light: out of the darknesses of ignorance into the light of knowledge. The full significance of this divine saying becomes obvious only when one studies the other ancient and modern family laws of the world pertaining to divorce, waiting-period and provision of maintenance. This comparative study will show that in spite of the un-ending alterations, modifications and continual legislation no nation has been able so far to build for itself such a rational, natural and socially useful law as had been given by this Book and the Messenger (peace be upon him) who brought it 1500 wears ago. It has never stood in need of revision nor it ever will. There is no occasion here for a detailed comparative study of it; we have, however, given a brief specimen of it in the concluding portion of our book Huquq az-Zaujain; the scholars who are interested in the subject can for themselves compare the world’s religious and secular laws with this law of the Quran and Sunnah.","Allah it is He Who created seven heavens, and, like them, the earth.[1] His commandment descends among them. (All this is being stated so that you know) that Allah has power over everything, and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge.###[1] “The like of them” does not mean that He created as many earths as the heavens, but it means that He has also created several earths as He has created several heavens. “Of the earth” means that just as this earth which is inhabited by man is serving as bed and cradle for the creatures living on it, so has Allah made and set other earths also in the universe. which serve as beds and cradles for the creatures living on them. Moreover, there are clear pointers in the Qur'an to the effect that living creatures are not found only on the earth but also in the heavens. (For instance, see (Surah Ash-Shura: 29 and E.N. 50) on it. In other words! the countless stars and planets seen in the sky are not all lying desolate, but like the earth there are many among them which are inhabited.","O Prophet, why do you forbid what Allah has made lawful for you?[1] Is it to please your wives?[2] Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.[3]###[1] This is not, in fact, a question but an expression of disapproval. The object is not to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) why he had done so, but to warn him that his act to make unlawful for himself what Allah had made lawful is not approved by Allah. This by itself gives the meaning that nobody has the power to make unlawful what Allah has made lawful; so much so that the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself also did not possess any such power. Although the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not regard this as unlawful as a matter of faith nor legally but only forbade himself its use, yet since he was not an ordinary man but Allah’s Messenger, and his forbidding himself something could have the effect that his followers too would have regarded it as forbidden, or at least reprehensible, or the people of his community might have thought that there was no harm in forbidding oneself something his Allah had made lawful, Allah pointed it out to him and commanded him to refrain from such prohibition. \t [2] This shows that in this case the Prophet (peace be upon him) had not made a lawful thing unlawful because of a personal desire but because his wives had wanted him to do so, and he had made it unlawful for himself only in order to please them. Here, the question arises: why has Allah particularly made mention of the cause of making the thing unlawful besides pointing out the act of prohibition? Obviously, if the object had been to make him refrain from making a lawful thing as unlawful, this could be fulfilled by the first sentences and there was no need that the motive of the act also should have been stated. Making mention of it in particular clearly shows that the object was not to check the Prophet (peace be upon him) only for making a lawful thing as unlawful, but along with that to warn the his wives also to the effect that in their capacity as the Prophet’s wives they had not understood their delicate responsibilities and had made the Prophet (peace be upon him) do a thing which could lead to making a lawful thing as unlawful. \t [3] Although it has not been mentioned in the Quran as to what it was that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had made forbidden upon himself, yet the traditionists and commentators have mentioned in this regard two different incidents, which occasioned the revelation of this verse. One of these relates to Mariyah Qibiyyah (Mary, the Copt lady) and the other to his forbidding upon himself the use of honey.","Allah has prescribed for you a way for the absolution of your oaths.[1] Allah is your Guardian. He is All-Knowing, Most Wise.[2]###[1] It means: Act according to the method Allah has prescribed for absolution from oaths by expiation in( Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 89 )and break your promise that you have made to forbid yourself of a lawful thing. Here, an important legal question arises and it is this: Is this command applicable to the case when a person has forbidden upon himself a lawful thing on oath, or is forbidding oneself a lawful thing by itself tantamount to swearing an oath, whether the words of the oath have been used or not. The jurists in this regard have expressed different opinions: \t [2] One section of them says that mere forbidding oneself of a lawful thing is not an oath. If a person without swearing an oath has forbidden upon himself a wife, or some other lawful thing, it is an absurd thing which does not entail any expiation, but he can resume without any expiation the use of the thing that he had forbidden for himself. This is the opinion of Masruq, Shabi, Rabiah and Abu Salamah; and the same view is held by Ibn Jarir and all the Zahiris. According to them forbidding oneself of something would be an oath only in case express words of oath are used when forbidding it for oneself. In this regard, their reasoning is that since the Prophet (peace be upon him) while forbidding himself a lawful thing had also sworn an oath, as has been reported in several traditions, Allah told him to act according to the method that had been appointed for absolving oneself from oaths.","The Prophet confided something to one of his wives and then she disclosed it (to another); so after Allah revealed to the Prophet (that she had disclosed that secret), he made a part of it known to her and passed over a part of it. And when he told her about this (i.e., that she had disclosed the secret entrusted to her), she asked: “Who informed you of this?” He said: “I was told of it by He Who is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”[1]###[1] Different things have been reported in different traditions, saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had told such and such a thing to one of his wives in confidence, which she disclosed to another wife. But for us, in the first place, it is not right to investigate it, for it is on the disclosure of a secret that Allah is taking a wife to task, it cannot therefore be right for us to inquire into it and try to uncover it. Secondly, in view of the object for which this verse was sent down, it is not at all important to know what the secret was. Had it any connection with the object of the discourse, Allah would Himself have mentioned it. The real object for which this incident has been related in the Quran is to warn the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) wives and through them, the wives of the responsible people among the Muslims not to be careless in the matter of guarding secrets. Had it been only a private and personal affair, as is generally the case between the husband and the wife in the world, there was no need that Allah should have directly informed the Prophet (peace be upon him) of it through revelation, and then did not rest content only with giving the information, but should also have recorded it in the Book which the whole world has to recite forever. The reason why it was given such importance was that this wife was not the wife of an ordinary husband but of that illustrious husband, whom Allah had appointed to the office of the highest responsibility, who was locked in an incessant battle with the disbelievers, polytheists and hypocrites at all times and under whose leadership a fierce conflict was going on for establishing Islam in place of paganism. In the house of such an illustrious man there could be countless things which if not kept secret but disclosed before time, could harm the great mission which he was performing. Therefore, when a lady of the house happened to show this weakness for the first time in that she disclosed a secret that had been told her in confidence, to another (a member of her own household), the weakness was immediately pointed out to her, not secretly but openly in the Quran, so as to impart training in the guarding of secrets not only to the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but also to the wives of all responsible people of the Muslim community. In the verse the question whether the secret disclosed pertained to a matter of any consequence or not, and whether its disclosure could cause any harm to the mission or not, has been altogether ignored. What has been disapproved and pointed out in particular is that the secret was disclosed to another. The higher the position of responsibility a person holds the more dangerous would be the leakage of secrets from his house. No matter whether a thing is of any consequence or not, once a person becomes careless in the matter of guarding secrets, he may reveal important things as well as trivial matters.","If the two of you turn in repentance to Allah (that is better for you), for the hearts of both of you have swerved from the Straight Path.[1] But if you support one another against the Prophet,[2] then surely Allah is his Protector; and after that Gabriel and all righteous believers and the angels are all his supporters.[3]###[1] The word saghat in the original is from saghy which means to swerve and to become crooked. Shah Waliyullah and Shah Rafiuddin have translated this sentence thus: Crooked have become your hearts. Abdullah bin Masud, Abdullah bin Abbas, Sufyan Thauri and Dahhak have given this meaning of it: Your hearts have swerved from the right path. Imam Razi explains it thus: Your hearts have swerved from what is right, and the right implies the right of the Prophet (peace be upon him). And Allama Alusis commentary is although it is incumbent on you that you should approve what the Messenger (peace be upon him) approves and disapprove what he disapproves, yet in this matter your hearts have swerved from conformity with him and turned in opposition to him. \t [2] The word tazahur means to cooperate mutually in opposition to another person, or to be united against another person. Shah Waliyullah has translated this sentence, thus: If you mutually join together to cause distress to the Prophet. Shah Abdul Qadir’s translation is: If you both overwhelm him. Ashraf Ali Thanwi’s translation says: And if you both continued to work thus against the Prophet. And Shabbir Ahmad Uthmami has explained it thus: If you two continued to work and behave thus (against the Prophet, peace be upon him). \t [3] The verse is clearly addressed to two ladies and the context shows that these ladies are from among the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) for in( verses 1-5 of this Surah )the affairs concerning the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) wives only have been discussed continuously, and this becomes obvious from the style of the Quran itself. As for the question who were the wives, and what was the matter which caused Allah’s displeasure, the details are found in the Hadith. In Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasai, a detailed tradition of Abdullah bin Abbas has been related, which describes the incident with some variation in wording. Ibn Abbas says:","Maybe if he were to divorce you, your Lord might grant him in exchange wives better than you[1] – those who truly submit to Allah,[2] are full of faith, obedient,[3] disposed to repentance,[4] and given to worship[5] and fasting[6] – both previously wedded ones and virgins.###[1] This shows that the fault did not lie only with Aisha and Hafsah but the other wives also had some share in it. That is why, after them, all the other wives too, have been warned in this verse. No light has been thrown on the nature of the error in the Quran. However, some details are found in the Hadith, which we shall relate below. \t [2] In Bukhari, a tradition has been reported from Anas, saying that Umar said: The Prophet’s (peace be upon him) wives because of their mutual envies and rivalries had utterly displeased him. At this I said to them: It may well be that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) divorced you, Allah would give him in your place better wives than you. Ibn Abi Hatim has, on the authority of Anas, reported the statement of Umar in these words: I was informed that a discord had been created between the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his wives. At this I went to each of them and asked them to refrain from vexing the Prophet (peace be upon him); otherwise Allah would give him in their stead better wives than themselves. So much so that when I went to the last of them (and according to a tradition of Bukhari, to Umm Salamah), she said to me: O Umar, is not the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself enough to admonish his wives? Then why should you come out to counsel them. This made me quiet, and after this Allah sent down this verse. \t [3] In Muslim, Abdullah bin Abbas has related that Umar said to him: When the Prophet (peace be upon him) separated himself from his wives, I went to the mosque and found the people worried and upset and playing with pebbles and saying to one another: The Prophet (peace be upon him) has divorced his wives. After this Umar related his visiting the apartments of Aishah and Hafsah and admonishing them. Then he said: I went before the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: Why do you feel upset with regard to your wives? If you divorce them, Allah is with you, all the angels and Gabriel and Michael are with you, and I and Abu Bakr and all the believers are with you. I thank Allah that seldom has it so happened that I said a thing and did not have hope from Allah that He would testify to what I said. So, after this these verses of Surah At-Tahrim were sent down. Then I asked the Prophet (peace be upon him): Have you divorced your wives? He said: No. Thereupon I stood at the entrance of the Mosque and announced in a loud voice: The Prophet has not divorced his wives. \t [4] The traditions related in Bukhari from Anas and in Musnad Ahmad from Abdullah bin Abbas, Aishah and Abu Hurairah say that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had pledged to remain away from his wives for a month and he retired in seclusion to his apartment. When 29 days passed, Gabriel came and said: You have fulfilled your oath: a month has come to completion. Hafiz Badruddin Aini in Umdat al-Qari has related this on the authority of Aishah: The wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) had become divided into two parties. One party consisted of Aishah herself and Hafsah, Saudah and Safiyyah, and the other of Zainab, Umm Salamah and the rest of the wives. These traditions indicate to some extent the conditions that existed in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) domestic life at that time, which made it necessary that Allah Almighty should intervene and reform the attitude of the wives. Although the wives were the best ladies of society, yet they were human beings and were not free from human weaknesses. Sometimes, when it became difficult for them to lead a life of continuous poverty and hardship, they would become restive, impatient and would start pressing the Prophet (peace be upon him) for better maintenance. At this Allah sent down(verses 28-29 of Surah Al-Ahzab )and admonished them to the effect: If you seek the world and its adornments, our Messenger will give you of these and send you of in a good way. But if you seek Allah and His Messenger and the Hereafter, you should bear up against the hardships with patience, which you might have to face when living with the Messenger. (For details, see( E.N. 41 of Surah Al-Ahzab )and the introduction to it). Then on account of the feminine nature they sometimes happened to behave in a way, which though not unusual in everyday human life, did not go well with the unique dignity and great responsibilities of the house to which Allah had given them the honor to belong. So, when it was apprehended that those things might embitter the Prophet’s domestic life and might even adversely affect the great mission that Allah had entrusted to him, He sent down this verse in the Quran, and reformed them so that the wives may realize the responsibilities of the position and rank which they had attained as the life-companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah, and should not regard themselves as ordinary women and their household as a common household. The very first sentence of this verse was such as might have caused their hearts to shudder. There could be no severer warning for them than this: It may well be that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) divorces all of you, Allah will give him in your place better wives than yourselves. In the first place, even the thought of being divorced by the Prophet (peace be upon him) was unbearable for them: more than that, this would deprive them of the honor of being mothers of the believers, and the other women whom Allah would give as wives to the Prophet (peace be upon him) would be better than them, After this it was no longer possible for the wives to behave in a way as would have occasioned a reproof from Allah. That is why we find only two places in the Quran where these selected and distinguished ladies have been administered a warning, in Surah Al-Ahzab and here in Surah At-Tahrim. \t [5] In the places where the words Muslim and momin have been used together, Muslim means the one who carries out Ddivine commands practically, and momin the one who believes sincerely and truly. Thus, the foremost quality of the best Muslim wives is that they should be believing in Allah and His Messenger and His religion (deen) sincerely and also practically following Allah’s religion in their morals, habits, customs and conduct. \t [6] Obedient has two meanings and both are implied here.","Believers, guard yourselves and your kindred against a Fire whose fuel is human beings and stones,[1] a Fire held in the charge of fierce and stern angels who never disobey what He has commanded them, and always do what they are bidden.[2]###[1] This verse tells that a person’s responsibility is not confined to making effort to save himself from the punishment of God but it is also his responsibility that he should so educate and also train to the best of his ability members of his family to become Allah’s favorite servants, who have been entrusted to his care in the natural process of life; and if they might be following a path to Hell, he should try, as much as he can, to correct them. His concern should not only be that his children should lead a happy and prosperous life in the world but, more than that, he should be anxious to see that they do not become fuel of Hell in the Hereafter. According to a tradition reported in Bukhari by Abdullah bin Umar, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Each one of you is a herdsman and is accountable with regard to his herd. The ruler is a herdsman and is accountable with regard to his subjects. The man is a herdsman of his family and is accountable with regard to them. And the woman is a herdsman of her husband’s house and his children and is accountable with regard to them. \t [2] “Whose fuel...stone’ probably implies coal. Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Imam Muhammad al-Baqir and Suddi say that this will be brimstone.","(It will then be said): “Unbelievers, make no excuses today. You are being recompensed for nothing else but your deeds.”[1]###[1] The style of both these verses contains a severe warning for the Muslims. In the first verse the Muslims have been addressed and told that they should save themselves and their households from the dreadful punishment. In the second that this will be said to the disbelievers while subjecting them to punishment in Hell. This by itself gives the meaning that the Muslims in the world should avoid adopting that conduct and behavior in consequence of which they may have to meet with the fate as the disbelievers in the Hereafter.","Believers, turn to Allah in sincere repentance;[1] maybe your Lord will expunge your evil deeds and admit you to the Gardens beneath which rivers flow.[2] This will be on the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who have embraced faith and are with him;[3] their light will be running before them and on their right hands, and they will say: “Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Surely You have power over everything.”[4]###[1] Literally, taubat an-nasuh-an may either mean that one should offer such true repentance as may have no tinge of pretense and hypocrisy in it, or that one should wish his own self well and repenting of sin should save oneself from the evil end, or that one should so adorn and improve his life after repentance as to become a cause of admonition for others, and seeing his example others also also reform themselves accordingly. These are the meanings of taubat an-nasuh which are indicated by its literal sense. As for its religious meaning, its explanation is found in the Hadith which Ibn Abi Hatim has related on the authority of Zirr bin Hubaish. He says: When I asked Ubayy bin Kaab the meaning of taubat an-nasuh, he said that he had asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) the same question, and he had replied: It implies that when you happen to commit an error, you should feel penitent for it, then should implore Allah for forgiveness remorsefully, and then should refrain from committing the same error again. This same meaning has been reported from Umar, Abdullah bin Masud and Abdullah bin Abbas also, and in a tradition Umar has defined taubat an-nasuh, thus: After offering repentance one should not even think of committing the sin, not to speak of repeating it. (Ibn Jarir). Ali once heard a desert Arab chanting the words of repentance and forgiveness quickly and mechanically and remarked: This is the repentance of the liars. The man asked: What is true repentance? Ali replied: It should be accompanied by six things \t [2] (1) You should feel penitent for the wrong you have done. (2) You should carry out the duties that you have ignored. (3) Restore the rights that you have usurped. (4) Ask forgiveness of him whom you have wronged. (5) Make a resolve not to repeat the sin again. (6) Consume yourself in obedience to Allah as you have so far been consuming it in wrongdoing, and cause it to taste the bitterness of obedience as you have so far been causing it to enjoy the sweet taste of disobedience and sin. (Al- Kashshaf). \t [3] In connection with repentance there are also some other points which should be well understood. (1) That repentance, in fact, is to show remorse for an act of disobedience only because it is a disobedience of Allah. Otherwise to make a resolve to refrain from a sin because it is harmful for health, for instance, or it is likely to cause defamation or financial loss, is no repentance. (2) That man should offer repentance as soon as he realizes that he has committed disobedience of Allah and should compensate for it without delay in whatever form possible and should not defer it in any way. (3) That violating one’s repentance again and making a jest of repentance and repeating the sin again and again of which one has repented, is a proof of the falsity of one’s repentance. For the essence of repentance is penitence, and breaking his repentance repeatedly is a sign that it has not been motivated by penitence. (4) that if the person who has repented sincerely and resolved not to repeat the sin again, happens to repeat it once again because of human weakness, it will not revive his past sin. However, he should offer a fresh repentance for the latter sin and should resolve more firmly that he would not commit the sin in future. (5) That it is not necessary to renew one’s repentance again every time one remembers the disobedience committed in the past, but if one’s self derives pleasure from the remembrance of the past, sinful life, one should offer repentance again and again until the remembrance of the sins causes remorse instead of pleasure and enjoyment. For the person who has actually repented of disobedience because of fear of God cannot derive pleasure from the thought that he has been disobeying God. His deriving pleasure from it is a sign that fear of God has not taken root in his heart. \t [4] The words of the verse deserve deep consideration. It has not been said that if you repeat, you will surely be forgiven and will certainly be admitted to Paradise, but that: If you offer true repentance, it may well be that Allah will treat you kindly. It means that it is not incumbent upon Allah to accept the repentance of the sinner and to grant him Paradise instead of subjecting him to punishment but it will be His kindness and compassion that He may forgive well as reward His servant. One should have hope of His forgiveness, but one should not commit a sin with the confidence that he will achieve forgiveness by repentance.","O Prophet, strive against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be severe with them.[1] Hell shall be their resort. What a grievous end!###[1] For explanation see (E. N. 82 of Surah At-Taubah).","Allah has set forth for the unbelievers the parable of the wives of Noah and Lot. They were wedded to two of Our righteous servants, but each acted treacherously with her husband,[1] and their husbands could be of no avail to them against Allah. The two of them were told: “Enter the Fire with all the others who enter it.”###[1] This betrayal was not in the sense that they had committed an indecency but in the sense that they did not follow the Prophets Noah and Lot (peace be upon them) on the way of faith but sided with their enemies against them. Ibn Abbas say: No Prophet’s wife has ever been wicked and immoral. The betrayal of these two women in fact was in the matter of faith and religion. They did not acknowledge the religion of the Prophets Noah and Lot (peace be upon them). The Prophet Noah’s wife used to convey news about the believers to the wicked of her people, and the Prophet Lot’s wife used to inform the immoral people about those who visited him in his house. (Ibn Jarir).","Allah has set forth for the believers the parable of Pharaoh's wife. She prayed: “My Lord, build for me a house with You in Paradise and deliver me from Pharaoh and his misdeeds;[1] and deliver me from the iniquitous people.”###[1] From Pharaoh and his work: from the evil end that Pharaoh would meet in consequence of his evil deeds.","Allah has also set forth the parable of Mary, the daughter of Imran,[1] who guarded her chastity,[2] and into whom We breathed of Our Spirit,[3] and who testified to the words of her Lord and His Books. She was among the obedient.[4]###[1] It may be that the name of Mary’s father was Imran, or she may have been called daughter of Imran because she belonged to the family of Imran. \t [2] This is a refutation of the accusation by the Jews that the birth of Jesus was, God forbid, the result of a sin of his mother. Their same accusation has been called a monstrous calumny in (Surah An-Nisa, Ayat 156). (For explanation, see (E.N. 190 of Surah An-Nisa). \t [3] That is, without her having any connection with a man, Allah breathed into her womb a Spirit from Himself. (For explanation, see(E.Ns 212, 213 of Surah An-Nisa) and (E.N. 89 of Surah Al-Anbiya). \t [4] For the explanation of the object for which these three kinds of women have been cited as an example, see the Introduction to the"]