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CH.33 AL-AHZAB32. But whoever of you is obedientto Allah and His Messenger and doesgood works; We shall give her her

reward twice over; and We haveprepared for her an honourable pro-vision. 309833. 0 wives of the Prophet! youare not like any other women if youare righteous. So be not soft inspeech, lest he in whose heart is adisease should feel tem pted; and speak

a d ece nt sp eech .3 09934, And stay in your houses withdignity, and do not show off yourselveslike the showing off of the former daysof ignorance, and observe Prayer,and pay the Zakat, aand obey Allahand His Messenger. Surely. Allah

desires to remove from you all un-cleanness, 0 Members of the House-hold, and purify you com pletely. 3100

PT. 22(~,~ V'. ~ -' ,I ' 9 '" -' I ~~ :~ ~.-::: ~ '" '"~ ~~~YW.J~~~~~~

r~' frt; r-:H': ,,;:J{, Y ''''''r,; -' -'.--'~",5.@ 4J.d"'..J')~ "'~\ 1\ ,.w~'" ~'\ ~;, /~...JyG ~ ~,9-'/", - /f~"'9./ / -~~t~~~J'~~o .~. '; t !U- .~"~~.. ,,;" ';;.-''' ,,~ ~~ ""..~ "'-' ~,' , ; 1 , - : : ~ ~ ~ J'~~ : ' ' ':~~ "' !...PyA \ :- 4 ()~ ~ ...~:.~..,;A:)

c f-:f',9,,; 9,'" "'\f,ls~--,~;J;~3-;~.\. ~ /9;/ "'7"',,,,,,,, ~J ,,,!; ,-::",~, , :"'.J.",. "I ~.. ~ ~ ~,I.."". ~~~y) "'~,. :.r.Jn_0"'~' 1~\I"""

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. ' '" ,I ~ ,~ \ ,9\ ~ ~ r ,l ': : \ j. \1 ' J '" '", \~ QJ.) IoN ~ \,,-:JI 'U

, \-- ' cW I.." uti' ..~.. "" '.-7-""'"t:~' '/ ~~~~/ : ' ""';, .. , /'" /'" ~\ \~, ;:-"11.. " ,; ..~ ,..' ~ ~-?~ ~--- ~._--._-a19: 56; 20 : 133.

~ ~ ,---------_._.3 09 8. Commen ta ry :The masc ulin e g en de r o f th e v erb .:;..;.jj~s u se d

because of the subject 0" " w hich is invariablyfoUowed by a verb in the masculine gender.3099. C omm entary:The wives of the Holy Prophet are here

enjoined to preserve the dignity of their very, exalted position and to conduct them selves withdue propriety and decorum while talking tomembers of the opposite sex.By im plication all M uslim w om en are included

in this injunction. They are expected to bekind and gentle in speech but their gentlenessshould not be misunderstood by any evilly-inclined person for pliancy and softness.

3100. Im portant W ords:If~) (uncleanness) is derived from ~J

(rajasa) which means, it was or became dirty orfilthy or unclean or hated; he did a bad or evilaction. d~ J (rijsun) m eans, dirt or filth; a dirtyor filthy thing; a thing or action disliked for itsfilthiness; a sin; an action that leads to punish-m ent ; doubt; infidelity; suggestion of the devil(Lane & Aqrab). See also 5 : 91.Commentary :The words "stay in your houses" show that

the principal sphere of the activities of a w om anis her house-not that she is not allowed to leaveits four walls. She may go out as many times asshe may require for the perform ance of a legiti-mate errand or the satisfaction of a legitimate

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~ ~-'-

AL-AHZABT. 22

35. And remember what is rehears-ed in your houses of the Signs of Allahand of wisdom. Verily, A llah is theKnowe r o f subtle tie s, A II-Aware.310 !_._~ ~~

need. But to move about in mixed society.and take part in all sorts of avocations andprofessions, shoulder to shoulder w ith m an, andto do so to the neglect and detriment of herspecial domestic duties as the mistress of thehouse is not the Islamic conception of idealwomanhood. The Holy Prophet's wives wereparticularly required to "stay in their houses"because the dignity of their exalted position as"Mothers of the Faithful" demanded this andalso because M uslims often visited them to paytheir respects and sought necessary inform ationand guidance from them on all importantr eli gio us ma tte rs .

The commandment seems to apply only tothe wives of the Holy Prophet but it equallyapplies to all Muslim women. It is the Quranicway of address that while it appears to be parti-cularly addressing the Holy Prophet, the addressis meant equally for all Muslims. Sim ilarly, a

CH.33

~~tl t'" l l~ \: ~J(..,'j;~ I~?!.~ -:!(?t"..~;W ~~~ ~~. ~y.)-,t (' .-: ~ ""16 1 ~ I"@~ ~ ~tC)1 ~I

commandment addressed to the wives of theHoly Prophet applies also to all M uslim wom en.

T he e xp ressio n ..:.;..~ ~JIA>I a pp lie s p rin cip allyand prim arily to the Holy Prophet's wives. Thisis quite clear from the context and also from vv.11 : 74 and 28 : 13. In its wider sense, however,it includes all members of a family who formone's household, even one's children and child-ren's children. T he expression had also been usedby the Holy Prophet for some of his select Com-panions. ..:.;..~~ Jib I l:.. .)l...l- i.e. "Salman ismember of our household" (?aghir), is a wel1-known saying of the Holy Prophet.3101 . C ommentary:

The Holy Prophet's noble consorts were re-quired not only to serve as model of virtue,piety and righteousness for the Faithful but toteach them the principles and precepts ofIslam which they had learnt direct from theProphet.

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CH.33 AL-AJ:IZAB PT. 22~. 5 36. ('Surely, m en who subm it them-selves to God and women whosubm it them selves, to Him, and 'be-lieving men and believing women,and obedient men and obedientwom en, and truthful m en and truthfulw om en, and m en steadfast in their fai thand steadfast women, and men whoare humble and women who are hum-ble, and men who give alms and wo-men who give alms, and men who

fast and women who fast, and menwho guard their chastity and womenw ho guard their chastity, and m en whorem em ber A llah much and w om en w horemember Him-Allah has preparedfo r . ,allof them forgiveness and a greatreward.3102

..~ 'it l ".n,'l' I" . ,'\ ,?1\"", \", ~~Y>~~Y" .J~'-'~ ..,t\(.;>t"" , .."I' " ", ..",,; J,I \ , \' , "" .." \ .. n" ",,-\ '~\\"...l'::.\ I"'~,:'A\ '",~~,--,~~,-,~).. ," " toto ". It' .- """, ..",,,,, . I,' \ ~ /' ,v , " \ 1 """ 1~. ..~U d . ':~ .J ~ ' ., . ': .. 'I J .",...L~t,'" . ", ..",.", ,,~v~'I I...1. wH"'" r"'H ' "J.;:;~ I""" ~.J''''1-,~\,t,QJIJ~ - -,." .. 1

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.."l t -: ' (~t,... ~I'" , ,,, ,'..s:":,,\.~I'.1 '-4.IJ , ~ J19 " t ~~",~~~'l l ~"""" I ) '('~\ \~ I~~:'l'~ .J ~ ~rv- aJj ~ 9~v.J J1$

@~a9 : 112.

3102. C omm entary:This verse em bodies a m ost effective repudia-

tion of the charge that Christian missionariesand publicists arein the habit of1evelling at Islam ,viz., that it accords a lower status to women. TheQur'an has repeatedly said that M uslim wom enstand on the same level w ith Muslim men, andthat they can attain to all those spiritual heightsto which men can attain. Besides, Islam con-fers on women all the political and social rightswhich men enjoy. Only their spheres ofactivities being different, their duties are dif-frent. It is this difference in duties of both the. sexes that has been mistakenly, or perhapsdeliberately, m isunderstood by hostile critics ofIslam as im plying a lower status for wom en.The ten outstanding attributes of M uslim m en

and women mentioned in this verSe have beenappropriately described in an ascending order.The first stage of the spiritual developm ent

of a believer i!' that of t"j_1 whic h in th is v erse

_._~~-has been used in the sense 'of intellectual accept-ance of truth. The next stage is that of .)l40;Iwhich im plies the giving of peace and safety toothers and testifying to the Div:nely-revea1edTeaching. At the stage of ~"j._\ a M uslim acceptstruth because reason and common sense dem andof him this acceptance, w hile at the stage'of .)l..~ Ihe com bines em otions and feelings w ith reason;and becomes intellectually and emotionallya true believer. The third stage of spiritualdevelopm ent is tha t of u ,,;.i which signifies totalobedience to God's commandments. At thisstage the spiritual way-farer finds himselfirresistibly attra cted tow ards his C reator, and hissubm ission to D ivine commandm ents proceedsfrom his love for the Supreme Being. The nextstage in the spiritual journey is reached when abeliever becomes J.>I which means that heid en tifie s h im se lf c on lp le te ly w ith tru th , a nd fa ce stria ls a nd temp ta tio ns w ith c omple te e qu an im ity .His faith becom es pure and free from all dross ofhypocrisy and love of worldly things. The

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PT. 22 AL-AHZAB CH.3337. And it behoves not a believingm an or a believing w om an, Itw hen A llahand His Messenger have decided amatter, that there should be a choicefor them in the matter concerningthem. And whoso disobeys Allah andHis M essenger, surely strays away inman ifes t e rror .3103

-;:1,;",1 /'" 1 / 1 -" 'J ~/ ~ "' ~~IJ .. t ~~ . ~.$- "... .s . ~ "" "'. .J .J .:W ~ J",,s< ... >'" .J ~'"CI .J...

;: . ,,,,;,,,.1>, '1 ' ~;"".'I jj""'!p" ,'" ~f1'"~d.J~~ ~ ~S ~ CI~ Cli~tJ.\f:": ~I / "'w / , ~. ' 9" ..!~. ..~ \:...~ 'U ".~.'C:J ..:.- ~ ~..) -' ~

a4 : 66.fifth stage is that o f .r.-P; w hen id entificatio n w ithtruth becom es a perm anent feature of a believer'scharacter. T he stage of I'-.J';:';'is a still higherI..-stage in spiritual progress. It indicates anattitude of hum ility w hich the believer developsafter he has gained complete victory over trialsand tribulations consequent upon the growingconsciousness of his ow n w eakness and that of thep erfectio n. an d completen ess o f th e D iv in e B ein g.The next stage is that of J4:... A t this stagethe believer becomes conscious that he is not tolive for himself alone but should share God-given blessings with other fellow-beings. A t thestage of ~ I"" which is the next high spiritualsta ge th e b elie ve r le arn s to sa crific e h is own .1 eg iti-.m ate needs and com forts for the benefit of othersand at the. ninth .stage of re-r::-J.;9 u Ji;l hescrupulously guards all the avenues throughwhich sin can find access to his m ind. A t the. ,ten th stag e i.e. ..:ill If . J) liJ I , which is the laststage and which forms the climax of spiritualgrowth and devel,opment, the believer. is socompletely el)gr~ssed in God as to have becomeJO .~ t i n . H i s r emembr ance.

31 03 . C ommen tary :The verse under comment continues thegeneral them e of the preceding verses, viz., that

believers should try as far as possible, tosubordinate their own desires to the desire of theHoly Prophet and when he has given hisdecision regarding an affair, they should acceptit unhesitatingly without the least mental reser-v atio n. T he immed iate o ccasio n for the rev elatio nof this verse may have been Zainab's hesitationto comply with the Holy Prophet's greatlycherished wish that she should marry Zaid, hisfreed slave. It goes to Zainab's credit that indeference to the Prophet's w ish she agreed toher marriage with Zaid, much against herpersonal inclination. Zainab's marriage withZaid and their subsequent separation has beendeal('\vith in some detail in the next verse. Itis, however, wrong to assume, as someCommentators have m istakenly assumed, thatthe Holy Prophet pressed and compelledZainab agai.nst her w ill to accept Zaid as herhusband. It being inconsistent w ith Islam icteaching, the Holy Prophet could not havedone this. Zainab only deferred to the wishof the Holy Prophet.

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CH.33 AL-AHZAB' . "-----------------38. And remember when thou didstsay to him on whom Allah had bes-towed favours and on whom thou also

hadst bestowed favours: 'Keep thyw ife to thyself; and fear A llah.' Andthou didst conceal in thy heart whatA llah was going to bring to light, andthou w ast afraid of the people, w hereasA llah has better right that thou shouldstfear H im . Then, when Zaid hadaccomplished his want of her so as tohave no further need of her, We jo inedher in marriage to thee, so that theremay be no hindrance for the believersw ith regard to marriage with the w ivesof their adopted sons, when they haveaccomplished their want of them andhave divorced them. And Allah'sd ecree must be fu lfilled.3 10 43104. Im portant W ords:1),-, (want) has no verb. It means, a want. a

need, an object of want or need; or that whichone proposes to accomplish or of which one isdesirous. T hey say.)" -' "'~...,s.;:..ii.e. h e a cc om -plished or obtained his want from him (Lane &Aqrab).Com mentary :As the verse deals w ith an incident of very

great historical importance, it demands anddeserves a somewhat detailed explanation.Zaid bin J:larith, to whom the words "on whomAllah had bestowed favours and on whom thou,also had bestowed favours" refer, belonged tothe tribe of Kalb. In his childhood he waskidnapped and sold as a slave in Mecca wherehe was bought by Khadijah's brother and givenover to her. On her marriage w ith the HolyProp!1~ Khadijah presented Zaid to him who at()~ ema.ncipated him . Zaid was so muchattached to the Prophet that w hen later his fatherand uncle begged of the Holy Prophet to let him

PT. 22'" '" ,,,,'" '" 0' '" -- '" " Jl '" ,~~\'" ~@ \d'i ' Jj)J .\"" .. .).. .. ~ ($ ,., ~ );-'.., , "~~ :e'i~:W t~';~;S~~" ;;i'(..S;;- :;;.0' . - ...,)".1",,,,,,,.' j't:" ~,,, "'."'" ". \..1/,"\' "'i "'''''',,4' " '"Ir",C)I ~I G lUI-'~. 1~-'~.~ a jJ I \ .0

~ ~. , ,'" '" ~ ;; ~A r, 7'" !".. r~ .J.J '."",~ '" . . ~. ~ ...' d ..~-" '. .; ~ .; -~ u, '1 "" ''i' ''''~ '''I~' t;""" "". ;'Y t i~ " ,! (. - . ..))~~~.)I~''; ~~~~ ~~~~(,;;:\~'.J?/ l ' 9 ' ," "f7",J. I~I""

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PT. 22 AL-AHZAB~~-~ ~-~---~ --

CH.33--~-~ ~-----_._------_._---------

into actual effect of this noble ideal of Islam.He wished to marry Zainab to Zaid, who inspite of having been liberated by the Prophetand called his son, unfortunately still carried thestigma of slavery in the minds of seme people.It was exactly this stigma of slavery, thisinvidious distinction between 'free' and 'slave'which the Holy Prophet sought to remove byZainab's marriage with Zaid. In deference tothe Holy Prophet's wish Zainab agreed to theproposal. The purpose of the Holy Prophetwas achieved. The marriage levelled to theground all class distinctions and divisions. Itwas a practical demonstration of Islam 's nobleideal. The marriage, however, ended in failure,not so much due to a difference in the socialstatus of Zainab and Zaid as to the incompati-bility of their dispositions and temperamentsand also due to a feel ing of inferiority fromwhich Zaid suffered. The failure of themarriage naturally grieved the Holy Prophet.But it also served a very useful purpose. Inpursuance of Divine command, as mentioned inthe latter part of the verse under comment, theProphet himself married Zainab, thus cuttingat the very root of another obnoxious and deep-seated A rab custom , viz., that it w as a sacrilegeto marry the wife of one's adopted son. Thecustom of adoption was abolished and with itwent also thisJoolish notion. Thus Zainab'smarriage with Zaid served one lvery nobleobject and its failure another highly usefulpurpose.

The words "fear Allah" signify that Zaidwanted to divorce Zainab, and as divorceaccording to Islam is very hateful in the sightof God, the Holy Prophet exhorted him notto do so.

The clause, "And then thou shouldstfear Him," may apply to both Zaid and the Holy

"'-"'"

Prophet. Applying to Zaid it would meanthat Zaid did not like that the cause of hisseparation from Zainab should come to light,perhaps because as the words "fear Allah,"indicate the fault lay more with him than withZainab. As, however, applying to the HoJyProphet, the words would signify that as them arriage betw een Zaid and Z ainab w as arrangedat his instance and wish, he naturally did notlike its breaking. The clause also show s that theProphet feared that the break-down of themarriage which was arranged by him and whichhad been entered intO in deference to hisspecial w ish, but w hich resulted in an ostensiblefailure of the experiment in Islamic brother-hood, would cause some mental confusion anduneasiness am ong people w hose faith w as w eak.This was the anxiety that lay heavy on theProphet's heart. The words, "thou didst fearmen," seem to point to this fear of his. But, asmentioned above, God had His own purpose inthe failure of this marriage. He wanted to showthat there was nothing in this failure to be afraidof. On the contrary, it was a blessing in disguiseand was intended to serve a great purpose andtherefore the Prophet's fear w as unfounded.

Christian and other hostile critics of Islampretend to find in the Holy Prophet's marriagewith Zainab a basis for mean attacks on him.It is stated that the Prophet, having by chanceseen Zainab, became enamoured of her beautyand Zaid, having come to know of his desire tomarry her, sought divorce from her. The factthat the H oJy Prophet's m ost inveterate enem ies,before w hose eyes the w hole affair had actuallytaken place, dared not attribute the base m otivesascribed to him by these critics after so manycenturies, completely knocks the bottom fromunder this base and totally unfounded charge.Zainab was the Prophet's own cousin and being

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CH.33 AL-AHZAB PT. 2239. No blame can attach tothe Prophet w ith respect to that whichAllah. has made incumbent upon him.

Such mdeed was the way of Allah withthose who have passed away before-and the command of Allah is a decreeordained-31540. Those who delivered the mes-sages of Allah .tand feared Him , andfeared none bUt Allah. And sufficientis A llah a s a Reckoner. :H05A

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,/ ,,,,,,,, ,/;' (;, /. , )) " '"1.:);:.~~~4.:J~ / 4L'~ ~ '~ t" " - :,~ .'"..~" " ~ I.:)~ C!~~I \'" J. II(V:\ \: ; ...;. ~L ~("" "," , ~I/'"

V .. . t!::-.J dJj ~ \~ t. ;'(/67: 13.

so closely related to him he must have seen hermany times, for "Purdah" had not as yet beenenjoined. B esides, it was in deferenc::: to his ownpersistently expressed wish that Zainab hadreluctantly agreed to marry Zaid. It is onrecord that she and her brother had desiredbefore her marriage with Zaid that she should betaken in marriage by the Holy Prophet himself.What was it that prevented the Holy Prophetfrom marrying her when she was a virgin andw hen she herself ardently desired to get m arriedto him? The whole story evidently seems to bea figment of the "fertile" imagination of theHoly Prophet's hostile critics and it is aninsult to human intellect to give the leastcredence to it. But while there are someChristian critics like M uir and M argolioth whofind fault w ith the Holy Prophet for havingm arried Z ainab, there are others better inform ed'and more honest like the good and noble Rev.Bosworth Smith who find nothing in thismarriage to cavil at. The Rev. gentlemansays:

It should be remembered, however, thatmost?f MUQammad's marriages may beexplamed, at least, as much by his pityfor the forlorn condition of the persons

concerned, as by other motives. Theywere almost all of them widows whowere not remarkable either for theirbeauty or their wealth, but quite thereverse. May not this fact, and hisundoubted faithfulness to Khadijah tillher dying day, and till he himself wasfifty years of age, give us additionalground to hope that calumny or miscon-ce~tion has been at work in the story ofZamab ("Mul)ammad and Muhammad-anism").

3105. C ommentary:The reference in the words, "that which Allah

has made incumbent upon him ," and "the com-mand of Allah is a decre~ ordained," is to theHoly Prophet's marriage with Zainab. Thewords show that this marriage took place inobedience to express D ivine command.3105A . C ommentary:Though the Holy Prophet knew that Zainab

being the divorced wife of Zaid known tobe his adopted son, his m arriage with her wouldgive rise to much criticism among the Arabs,he did not at all hesitate to marry her whenhe found that it was God's command to doso. In the performance of his sacred missionthe Holy Prophet never cared for the feelingsand susceptibilities of anybody. In fact, God's

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PT. 22 AL-AHZAB41. Mul;ammad is not the fatherof any of your men, but he is th eMessenger of Allah, and the Seal of

the Prophets; and Allah has full know-ledge o f a ll th in gs .3 106

CH. 33

J" 'J>-:; ' ,((."' ,%r"".. ,.. """r(;/, (j,o~ -'r~r"~~CtJ.J~~~~~I\.! ~dO~t f1 '. ?, ,, ,, ; ., ~ "'J. j ' I lo "" I@~ ~ ..

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CH.33 AL-AHZABrise. It says that the Holy Prophet is . . u I J > ~Ji.e. the spiritual father of a whole Ummat an dhe is also ~~I~l;. signifying that he is thespiritual father of all the past and futureProphets. So when he is the spiritual father ofall the believers and all Prophets, how can he besaid to be .J~,ii.e. issu ele ss. B ut if th e e xp re ssio n0~~~~}:f9JI~be taken to mean that the HolyProphet is the last of the Prophets and that noProphet will come after him , then the verseappears to be out of tune with the context andinstead of refuting the objection of disbelieversthat the Holy Prophet was issueless, supportsa nd re in fo rc es it.Briefly, according to the m eaning .of the w ord

~j'l;. , the expression 0:~I~JI~ can have fourposs ib le meanings:(I) That the Holy Prophet was the Seal of

th e P ro ph ets , i.e., no Prophet, past or future,can be regarded as true unless his prophethoodbears the seal of the Holy Prophet. The pro-phethood of every past Prophet m ust be confirm edand testified to by the Holy Prophet and nobodycan attain to prophethood after him except bybeing his~::..i (follow er). A ll claim s to prophet-hood must be judged and tested by reference tothe revelation received by the Holy Prophet andto h is te ac hing s.(2) That the Holy Prophet was the best, the

noblest and the m ost perfect of all the Prophetsand that he was also a source of embellishmentfor them (Zurqani, Shara1,1 Mawahib al-Ladunniyya).(3) That the Holy Prophet was the last of the

Law-bearing Prophets. This interpretation hasbeen accepted by many eminent Muslimtheologians, saints and savants such as Ibn'Arabi, Shah Wali-AUah, Imam 'Ali Qan,Mujaddid Alf Thani, etc. According to thesegreat scholars and saints no Prophet can comeafter the Holy Prophet who should abrogate his

PT. 22Millat or should not be in his Ummat(FutUl).at, Tafhimat, Mukatabat & Yawaqitwa'l Jawahir). 'A 'ishah, the talented spouse ofthe Holy Prophet, has removed all ambiguityabout the m eaning of the expression 0~~J 1~1l;..She is reported to have said:0..\A; \5; 'j I>1~1 'j.J ~~:.J \ ('"'J;. "' ; I I} ';i.e. Say that he (the Holy Prophet) is 0:~:J1 ~11~but do not say that there will be no Prophetafter him (Manthur). This saying of 'A 'ishahm akes it quite clear that the expression ~~ ~J I~ ; \ ~and oJ..., u~; 'j were considered by her to becontradictory to each other in meaning andsignificance.(4) That the Holy Prophet was the last of the

Prophets, but only in this senSe that all the quali-ties and attributes of prophethood found theirmost perfect and complete consummation andexpression in him; ~il;. in the sense of being thelast word in excellence and perfection is ofcommon use.Moreover, the Qur'an clearly speaks of the

advent of Prophets after the Holy Prophet.The following two verses leave no am biguity ont hi s poin t:-

And whoso obeys Allah and thisMessenger of His shall be am ong those onwhom Allah has bestowed His blessings,namely, the Prophets, the Truthful,the Martyrs and the Righteous. Andexcellent com panions are these (4 : 70).0 children of Adam! if Messengerscome to you from among yourselves,rehearsing My Signs come unto you,then whoso shall fear God and do gooddeeds, on them shall come no fear norshaH they grieve (7: 36).The Holy Prophet himself was clear in hism ind as to the continuity of prophethood after

him . He is reported to have said: "If Abraham(his son) had lived long, he would have been aP rophet" (M aja, k it ab a l-Jan ti i' z) , and, "AbuBakr is best of men after me, except that aP rophet should appear" (K anz al-'Umm al).

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PT. 22 AL-AJ:fZAB6 42. 0 ye who believe! arememberA llah w ith much rem embran ce;3lo7

43: bAnd glorify Him morning andevenmg.44. He it is Who sends blessingson you, as do His angels, Cthat Hemay bring you forth from all kindsof darkness into light. A nd H e is M erci-fu l to th e belie ve rs .3107A45. dTheir greeting on the daywhen they meet Him , will be 'Peace.'And He has prepared for them anhonourable rew ard.46. 0 Prophet! truly eW e have sen tthee as a W itness, and a Bearer of gladtidings, and a Warner,3 10S

---~

CH.33~ ~~

! J (~ :1~-7',1-'/ I 9(: 0 I .- v@\$ I;~ ~ \!Jyj'~ I~~'~ .~;:'" .. .."').p,. ...

e~~~-----.a4 : 104; 8 : 46 ; 62 : ] I. 13 : 4 2 : ]9 : 12. c2 : 2 58; 14 : 6; 57 : 10; 65 : 12.d 10 : II; 36 : 59. "25 : 57; 35 : 25; 48 : 9 .3107. C ommentary:The verse means to say that the remembrance

of God will playa great part in the wonderfulrevolution that the Holy Prophet w ill bringabout among his people by his noble example.3107A . C ommentary:Th e Sura under comment primarily deals

with the domestic life of the Holy Prophet andtells us, how it was not only pure and beyondreproach but was an ideal and exemplary one.The present and the next ftw verses serve as aprelude to the real subject of marriage anddivorce in relation to the Prophet, which beginswith v. 50 below . The marriages of the HolyProphet have been subjected to much mean andvile criticism. To this a somewhat detailedreference has already been made (33 : 38). Thepresent verse, however, means to say that that

great and noble Prophet who brought about sucha wonderful revolution in the lives of his peopleand "brought them forth from darkness intolight" could not be the type of man his traducersvainly try to depict him .T he word s r - - < : " ~ 1 " , J~ when used about God

mean, "He sends down blessings upon you," butwhen used about the angels or the believers theym ean, "they pray for you."3 10 8. C ommen tary :In this and the next verse five prom inent quali-

ties of the Holy Prophet have been mentioned tosh ow th at h e p ossesse s alllh e n ecessary q ualific a-tions which a spiritual Leader who is entrustedwith the Divine mission "to bring men out ofdarkness into light," should possess; (1) he is aWitnesE. i.e. a promulgator of the Law and a

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CH.33 AL-AHZAB47. And as a Summoner unto A llahby His Command, and as a Lampthat gives bright light.3lO8A48. And announce to the believersthe glad tidings that they will havegreat bounty from A llah.49. nAnd follow not the disbelieversand the hypocrites, and leave alonetheir annoyance, and put thy trustin Allah; for Allah is sufficient as aGuardian.3109SO, 0 ye who believe! when youmarry believing women and thendivorce them bbefore you have touchedthem , then you have no right againstthem with regard to the period ofwaiting that you reckon. So makesom e provision for them and send themaway in a handsom e m anner. 3110

al8 : 29; 25 : 53. b2 : 237.

PT. 22{I ? r~ ;) r \ '" r~ '" ,.@~ ~~;~j",~~'Jl ?;I.);

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m odel; (2) he is a B earer of glad tidings, i.e. Godhas not lost interest in men and continues tosend H is M essengers and Prophets to reclaimlost hum anity w hen there is need for one; (3) heis a Warner telling men that if they did notbenefit by his teaching and persisted in theirevil ways, they will come to grief; (4) he is aS ummoner unto A llah by H is command, i.e. heis no t a self-ap pointed R eform er but a D ivinely-commissioned Teacher; and (5) he is a Lamptha t g ives l ight , i.e. now, he alone is "the lightand the way."3 10 8A . Commen ta ry :

In this verse the Holy Prophet has beenlikened to the sun, thus indicating that as thesun is the central point in the physical universeso is the Holy Prophet the central point in thespi ri tu al r ea lm , i.e., he is like the sun in the fir-m am ent of Prophets w ho are like so m any stars

and moons in comparison with him . He is alsolike the sun am ong his ow n C om panions w homhe him self has likened to stars. H e is reportedto have said: M y C om panions are like so m anystars; w hom soever of them you follow you w illb e r igh tly guided (~agh ir ).3 10 9. Commen ta ry :

T he reference in the w ords "leave alone theirannoyance" m ight be to the vile attacks thatwere to be made by evil-m inded critics uponthe spotless character of the Holy Prophet onaccount of some of the marriages he had toenter into in the latter part of his life.3 11 0. Commen ta ry :The words "and send them away in a hand-some manner" signify (1) that no reproach ord isg race should be considered to b e attached todivorce; (2) that the divorced woman shouldordinarily be paid more than her part of thestipulated dow er, and (3) that after divorce her

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PT. 22 AL-AHZAB CH.3351. 0 Prophet! We have made law-ful to thee thy wives whom thou hastpaid their dowries, and those whomthy right hand possesses from amongthose whom Allah has given thee asgains of war, and the daughters ofthy paternal uncle, and the daughtersof thy paternal aunts, and the daughtersof thy m aternal uncle, and the daughtersof thy maternal aunts who have emi-grated w ~th thee and any other believing

woman If she offers herself for marri-age to the Prophet provided the Pro-phet desires to m arry her: this provisionis only for thee, as against odzer be-lievers-W e have already made knownwhat We have enjoined on them con-cerning their w ives and those whomtheir right hands possess-in order thatthere m ay be no difficulty for thee in thedischarge of thy work. And Allah isMost F org iv ing, Me rc ifu1.3111

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~~I at ~~~I;.stB ' _;I" ~"

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---~._~ ~------AL-AHZABH.33

considerations that he m arried m ost of his w ives.H e m arried J:Iaf~ah w hose husband w as killed inthe Battle of Badr, Zainab bint Khuzaimahw hose,husband w as killed in the B attle of U Qad,Umm Salmah whose husband died in 4 A.H., andUmm J:Iabibah, daughter of Abu Sufyan, whobecame a widow in 5 or 6 A.H. (in exile in Abys-sinia). H e m arried Juw airiyah and $afiyyah, bothwidows, in 5 A.H. and 7 A.H. respectively, seek-ing a union with and pacification of their tribes.It is worthy of note that a hundred familiesof the Bani M u~~aliq w ere liberated by M uslim swhen the Holy Prophet married Juwairiyah.Maimunah, anothr widow, it is said, offeredherself to be taken in marriage by the HolyProphet which offer he condescended to acceptin the interest of the education and training ofMuslim women. He married Zainab, the di-vorced wife of Zaid in 5 A.H. in order to put astop to a foolish custom prevailing among theArabs and in order also to assuage her woundedfeelings as the respected lady had felt deeplyhumiliated at being divorced by Zaid. Hemarried Mariah in 7 A.H. and thus by raising afreed slave girl to the highly eminent spiritualstatus of the "Mother of the Faithful" he gave adeath blow to slavery. Such were the pious andrighteous m otives of our noble M aster in m arry-ing widows and divorced women, by no meansnoted for their youth or beauty, and yet hiscruel and mean traducers vainly try to depicthim as a person who was given to gratifyinghis carnal desires. They deliberately ignorethe patent fact that up to the age of 25he lived the spotless life of a celibate. Then inthe prime of his youth he married a lady fifteenyears his senior and lived with her a most happylife till he was an old man of fifty and she

PT. 22about sixty-five. After her death he marriedSaudah, another lady of a very advancedage. He married all his other wives, towhich exception has been taken by evil-minded carpers, between 2 A.H. and 7 A.H., aperiod w hen he w as constantly engaged in activefighting and hi life was perpetually in dangerand the fate of Islam itself hung in the balance.C ould any sane person in such situation of dangera nd u nc erta in ty c onc eiv e o f c on tra ctin g m arriag eafter marriage from motives attributed to theHoly Prophet? After this he lived for aboutthree years as virtual ruler of the w hole of A rabiawhen all the comforts and amenities of life wereat his disposal and yet he entered into no furthermarriage. Does not this fact alone establishthe honesty and sincerity of the Holy Prophet'sm otives in m arrying his w ives?The words "if she entrusts herself to theProphet" have been taken as specially referring

to Maimunah who is reported to have offeredherself to be taken into marriage by the HolyProphet. The clause, "This provisIO n is only forthee as against other believers," means that itwas a special privilege of the Holy Prophet andwas due to the special nature of his dutiesas a Divine Prophet. In fact, marriages ofthe Holy Prophet were dictated by muchhigher and nobler considerations than merelypersonal. The clause may also refer to thespecial perm ission granted to the H oly Prophet,to retain all his w ives, after the commandm entcontained in 4 : 4 was revealed, lim iting to fourthe number of wives allowed to M uslims at onetime.The words, "We have already made known

w hat W e have enjoined on them concerning theirwives," refer to the commandm ent contained in4 : 4 .

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PT. 22_.~-~-------.

AL-A~ZAB~--~---~ ~-~_.__._- -~-~~ ~----52. Thou mayest defer the marriageof any of them that thou pleasest, andrec eiv e unto th yse lf whom thou p leas es t;

and if thou desirest to take back any?fthose w hom thou hast put aside, thereIS no blame on thee. That is m ore likelythat their eyes ~ay be cooled, and thatthey may not gneve, and that they mayall be pleased with that which thouhast given them . And Allah knowswhat is in your hearts; and Allah isAl l-Knowing , Forbea ring .311253. It is not allowed thee to marrywomen after that, nor to changethem for other w ives even though theirgoodness please thee, except any thatthy right hand possesses. And Allahis W atchful over all things.3! l3

- ~ ~ ~

3112. Im portant W ords~~)' (thou m ayest defer) is derived from t.::-.T he y s ay .J~ )l1 t.::-) i.e. he postponed, put off,

deferred or delayed an affair. The Quranicexpressionj .;)j1.J"~0 -,.::-).. ( 9 : 1 07 ) m ea ns, th oseabout whom decision has been deferred forthe decree of Allah (Lane &Aqrab).Commentary:W hereas on the one hand the wives of the Holy

Prophet w ere given the option to choose betw eenhis com pany and the m aterial com forts of life andworldly goods (33 : 29-30), on the other theHoly Prophet was also given the same choiceto retain, or part w ith, any of his w ives. Allhis w ives lost no time in indicating their pre-ference. They chose to cast in their lot w ith theHoly Prophet. The Holy Prophet, on his part,was equally considerate. He signified his in-tention to retain all of them . This decision ofthe Prophet greatly pleased them . This is the

CH.33", ,-/ ? ., 017[':.;' , ~I ' 'i''''' ~ !J~ 'f~ .- :" '''' , ,~~~ ~ So 1~2~~~\Z.Jd~y., ~ "..,

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~ . j : l i~ % ~ J ; ; r ~ ~ flll t~ 9r -: ~",;. . '-''''''',; ~. 0'''''~'''r'''~i t '''99'' .d"'''';''''''' """,~~~",~~I'tw?':1 'I?.. ~ -' \. :.1), )~~t r~'M'" JiJ''-: w ? I 0' j, " 9() ~.. ~ .. ~II" /"'t -: r~", :sl:"" 't...).J ~ ~ t!:;4.IJ

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AL-AHZABH.33R.7 54. 0 ye who believe! enter notthe houses of the Prophet unless leave isgranted to you for a meal,-not

waiting for its appointed time. Butenter when you are invited, and whenyou have finished eating disperse, w ith-out seeking to engage in talk. Thatcauses inconvenience to the Prophet,and he feels shy of asking youto leave, but Allah is not shy of say-ing what is true. And when you askthem-the wi lies of the Prophet-for anything, ask them from behind acurtain. That is purer for your heartsand their hearts. And it behoves younot to cause inconvenience to theMessenger of Allah, nor that youshould ever marry his wives afterhim . Indeed that would be, in thesight of A llah, an enorm ity.31l4

The words "Allah is W atchful over an things"may signify that God knew fun well the moralresponsibilities of the wives of the HolyProphet. Other women, although they mightbe superior to them in some respects, werenot to be as useful or fitted for the great andnoble task which the Prophet's wives had toperform.3 11 4. C ommen tary :

The teaching of social ethics and domesticmorals and manners with special reference to

. the Holy Prophet's marriage with Zainab andthe calum nies and false charges of which the evil-minded "Hypocrites" accused him form the sub-ject of the present verse. Some of the socialmanners taught in this verse are: One shouldnot enter a house uninvited and when invitedone should be punctual. It is as bad to be beforetime as to be behind time. After meals oneshould depart. not wasting one's own and other

PT. 22,,,""'~ ,"'--;" '" ", " '''' '" '9", I '" ~ r~t17\:)1~Jy.~1~~.~J:j~~\ctlfJ\ ~~~ "'~4.l,~' \.\ " '~ ~~ J ' /~~~1w. .. . J "'~~ ~ \~ ,,)J C ).)~,. ''''''f~'' " r - : : 9Y'f

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PT. 22 AL-AHZAB CH.3355. (~Whether you reveal a thing orconceal it, A llah knows aU thingsfu ll we ll.

56. There is no blame on them in1his respect w ith regard to their fathersor their sons or their brothers, or thesons of their brothers or the sons oftheir sisters, or th eir w om enfolk or thosewhom their right hands possess.And, fear Allah, 0 lv iv es o f th e Prophet ,Verily, A llah is W itness over allthings.311557. Allah and His angels sendblessings on the Prophet. 0 ye who be-liev e, y ou too should invok e blessing son him and salute him w ith th e saluta-tion of peace. 3 1 1658. Verily, bthose w ho m align Allahand H is Messenger-Allah has cursedthem in this w orld and in the Hereafter,and has prepared for them an abasingpunishment. 3117

y ~ ';, r"'. 7" " \.~ , , y , 9~ .~ ~t ~~'~b ~\~I"" ". . ',7:J," , .~ 1 / z ;: :; ' .9~ r"'" ~~ r" .;; ... -::: ~ ' ""....~ --' ~~.' - \..o.)-,~~~--,1- / '/' J \ J. I@ \~ ~ - 'I~ :"r~"1M t ~, ". . \. -, ~ ... ~ 1.:.\0 a.1J C)j. 4IJ

~JI ~U'~IM-'--~I\~ ~~ ~Lo ..."l \ ~ I" .. ' !: :" ~ \..:) .. J.:W ~;.....e~;.\ ::q~ .. Q.~ r;t I'~""I--' ~ ~

',9' j 9;'//(/?9""""~ ""'}"..., '., -::.4:-41t~ dJ~.J) @ \\:,))~.~~\ c>!8\t~ ~Ij;~ J:\; j.~~t; ~ 11

.13 : 30; 40: 150. 1/9 : 61.the great task o f the spiritual training of Muslimmen and women which required utmostreveren ce for them on their p art.3 11 5. Commen ta ry :

This verse lays down exceptions to thecommandment g iven in verse 54 above. Womencan go before these relations inside the housewithout observing "Purdah" or can conversefr ee ly w ith th em .3 11 6. Commen ta ry :

The sending down of blessings by Allah andH is angels upon the H oly Prophet signifies that

those who seek to retard the progress of his causeby slandering him and bringing false accusationsagainst him live in a fool's paradise. By theirnefarious activities they can do him no harm .His cause w ill continue to progress and prosperbecause God and H is angels bless it.

311 7. C ommentary:By "maligning Allah" is m eant "seeking to

retard the cause of truth" and by "m aligning H isM essenger," is m eant "seeking to slander anddefame h im ."

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CH.33 AL-AI:1ZAB59. RAnd those who malign believ-ing men and believing women for whatthey have not earned shall bear th e Rui/t

of a calumny and a manifest sin.m8t 8 60. 0 Prophet! tell thy wives andthy daughters, and the women of thebelievers, that they should draw closeto them portions of their loose outercoverings. That is m ore likely that theymay thus be distinguished and notm olested. A nd A llah is M ost Forgiving,Merciful. 3119

PT. 22

l:o~~l'(,,,~,. ~',,~ '~~9 ~'~I".. :.-' ."yttI .J~~ ~ ~~, .Jt It.:': r~l.l"r f~ ,~"'" "" ;"~~rt. "''I...J "'u" 'M I .. . \ /. . t::Y ... ,.~ . ~~.~'. ~ : r , - ~ ; a 1 ' ""~(~V j; ~!q ~~~~ ~" ,. -' ~ ~j '" ~~ .. ..- ""; ~,,, ~H~ b~ '~ , ~~~~ \ U.),~.)~!. . ~ . J" '.." .."'''~ ~;'0; , \ Jo'''' ' ''''-' i'"''\~~ , ""~' III "" r~ ; ;I .". "I":. ~. ..@ ~ .JJpd.-U\ \:)o~ \:i.)~~ ~~..#1 ...

a4 : 113; 24 : 24.0:;J.~(drawclose)is aorist from ~j~1 which is

transitive verI:) from 0j.) which means, he or itwas or became near. aU.)1means, he made himd raw n ea r. lr!-'~' l~ :Lc ... :;. .j.) jmeans , s he le t d ownher garment upon her and veiled herself with it.J= _Jl-:;..:i.)i m e an s, I le t d ow n th e v eil, or c urtain,for the purpose of concealment (Lane & Aqrab)Commentary:

This verse contains the basic com mandm entwith regard to "Purdah" as enjoined by Islam .For a full discussion, how ever, of this subject see24 : 32 where the present verse has also beendiscussed. Briefly, it may be stated here thatIslamic "Purda.h" is intended to serve a doublepurpose. It enjoins privacy and recommendsdecorum and dignified behaviour . Women arenot allowed to m eet m en prom iscuously and theyare expected to observe certain rules regardingdress w hen going out of their houses.

3118. C ommentary:The word lS)i which is infinitive noun from

0J) j.~ m eans both annoying and m aligning.3119. Im portant W ords:

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~ ~ ~-~ --~._.-

AL-AHZAB~~-

PT. 22

61. If the hypocrites, and those inw hose hearts is a disease, and those w hocause agitation in the city, desist not,W e shall surely make thee take actionagainst them; then they will not dwelltherein as thy neighbours, save for al it tle while.3]2O

CH.33(Q// 99 . "" ,J 1.9' ""'" -:. '". .., ;'1:: ~ ~ \ : J \ '" ~ ~ ;...'.q~ '\ ~&>f (f;~

"/ c.r.." ) (.:)~, .. ~ ~/,.J,~I~"".9"'..""'"

,J,9"'""i( ~ ~~?~.~-} \~(.:)~ ;J 'jj;~~,r",,_. ~ '9 (Z\!9 "'" ~, ~/ ~..>~...

3120. Im portant W ords:.J ~7.r (who cause agitation) is the plural of'

A7'-j" which is active participle from ~) whichis the transitive form of .";7) which means, itwas or became in a state of commotion oragitation, or in a state of violent agitation.i -,AJ1 A7) means, the people prepared them-selves for war. J . ~ . ; : . J I Ii 1 -,.Q .~ ;1m ean s, th ey sa idwhat was false respecting the thing or they toldmany evil and false tales respecting the thingin order that the people m ight become in a stateof commotion, agitation or disturbance in conse-quence the reo f. '''';'7'-;1 alone means, they saidwhat was false in relating tales of conflicts andfactions or discords and the like. They sayIj,) ~ ..I...J 1 J 1 -'';'7 '-;1i.e. they told in the townand country of such a matter, in order thatthey m ight cause commotion or agitation, etc.,w ithout there being anything thereof true inth eir estim atio n (L an e)."'(;~j;';'J (We shall make thee take action

against them) is formed from Iji.f which isderived from 1.;i-. T hey say .l..1 Dji. i.e. itadhered to it; he became attached to it; heloved it; he adhered, clung or clove to it.~ 41.i.i means, he made him to become attachedto or fond of it, to adhere, cleave or cling toit; he incited, urged or instigated him todo it. ...I.:.,.,.Jl1 ,-:-t::JI ~ji. f means, I incited, or

urged the dog against the game. ~rl 41.)dmeans, he set him upon them or over them ; ormade him to have masterly dom inion orauthority over them . The Quranic expression.JI..I J \ rr;~ o.)d means, He cast enm ity bet-ween them as though he made it cleave to them(Lane & A qrab).Commentary:A s the p resent Sura d eals w ith th e v ic issitu de s

through which Islam had to pass during the firstfew years of its life at Medina, some referenceto the "Hypocrites" and Jews of Medina wascalled for, as they form ed a substantial part of thepopulation of Medina. They sought to put allsorts of obstacles and impediments in the wayof Islam , lest it should gain political powerand prestige. The m ain weapon in their arm ouryagainst Islam was the spreading of false news.The verse under comment foretold the doom ofthese people at a time when they thought thattheir plots and conspiracies against Islam w ouldsucceed. After the Battle of the Ditch BanGQ urai?,;ah , the last Jew ish trib e living in M edina,were severely punished and Medina becamecompletely rid of the Jews. The capacity of the"Hypocrites" to create m ischief also received asevere set-back, as the defeat and dispersionof the confederated armies added vastly to thepolitical power and prestige of Islam .

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CH.33 AL-AHZAB62 . Then they w ill be accursed.Wherever they are found, they will beseized, and cut into pieces.312163. RSuch has been the way of Allahin the case of those who passed awaybefore, and thou wilt never find achange in the way of Allah.312264. bMen ask thee concerning theHour. Say, 'The knowledge of it iswith Allah alone.' And what will

make thee know that the Hour maybe nigh ?312365. l'Allah has surely cursed thedisbelievers, and has prepared forthem a burning fire,66. Wherein they will abide forever. They will find therein no friendnor helper.67. On the day when their faces areturned over in the fire, they will say,d'O , would that we had obeyed Allahand obeyed the M essenger !'3124

PT. 22~ ~ '" '..' ,,, 9'" -!t:" ,9''''e~~~"\ ~It ,.." "I~~~., ,,-'1' -, ~ .. ..

..'" ,,/,"'''' ''''' "'", "'- '/'"1':"1 "'\ t,-\,:, I?I-' "",;i . '" I "'"'~~) ~

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PT. 22 AL-AJ;tZAB CH.3368. aAnd they w ill say, 'O ur Lord,we obeyed our chiefs and our greatones and they led us astray from the

way. 312569. 'Our Lord, give them doublepunishment and curse them with avery g re at c urse .'

'1 9 70. 0 ye who believe! be not likethose who vexed and slandered Moses;but Allah cleared him of what theyspoke of him . bAnd he is honour-able in the sight of Allah.312671. 0 ye who believe! fear Allah,and say the straightforward word.3127

_._~ ~~ ~--

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CH.33 AL-AHZAB72. He will set right your actionsfor you and forgive you your sins.aAnd whoso obeys Allah and His

Messenger, shall surely attain a m ightysuccess.73. Verily, We offered the trustto the heavens and the earth and themountains, but they refused to bear itand were afraid of it. But man boreit. Indeed, he is ca pa ble o f b eing un-just to, a nd neglectful of , him'iel f: .!2 'i '-

PT. 22?,,;~ ? ;" ~..;.??'" "~ ~ ~ ;~.. ; ~ ?J..? ; "? , ;, ':'\" , , 1 .,~ -' . y.J . v-:::-:.' , -

f~~I.'"~; ,; ~ ,,,,, (

,; , ,;'" I ~ '.,t::\~ ,..,. . /, -. '~\' ~\~ -, ' .)!}) I..W '\I>"",)) ",.." "";;r;,;' ;';';f:~~jl~ 9~1 ~'dJ\.A~1\Sb~ \!>1

,;'" ' ~ ' ;/ .,f- :1N"r~. ' ~~ .. : .,'''~ ,.. ~,~? ~JUt~-'~~ -' .,-\.:) ~ ,':'-'j9,!1; r~1iI;' 'r~(" .b9r'~'"E9~~\.A ~ 6-~ (neglectful) is the intensive form of

Job l~ w hich is active participle from J.g~ (jahila). which means, he was ignorant. oI~l...J-&~ means,he acted towards him in a silly and foolishmanner and wrongly. J > = J I J-&~ means, heneglected or ignored the truth. JiI> l~ mean s,ignorant, neglectful; foolish or silly and w rongin conduct (Lane & Aqrab).Commentary:This verse has presented Commentators of

.~~ ,~--.the Qur'an with some difficulty. In view ofdifferent significations of the words used, theverse seems to be susceptible of the followinginterpretations:(I) Taking the word ,J.> as meaning to accept.

and :i.il...1s signifying the trust of m an's love ofGod, the verse would m ean that a great spiritualdestiny awaited man. He was made God'svicegerent on earth (2 : 31). He was gifted withthe great capacities and powers to assim ilate andmanifest in his person Divine attributes and tobecome the image of his Creator. This wasindeed a great trust which man, alone of all theuniverse, w as found capable of discharging, otherbeings and things--the angels, the heavens, theearth and the mountains-being quite unequalto the task. They refused, as it were, to bear it.M an accepted this responsibility because he alonecould discharge it, as he had been endowedwith great natural qualities. He was capable ofbeing i .s11;(unjust to him sef) and J.H ~ (neglect-ful o f h im se lf) i.e., he could be unjust to him selfin the sense that he could bear any hardship andundergo any sacrifice for the sake of his Creator,and he was capable of being neglectful in thesense that in the discharge of his great and sacredtrust he could be neglectful of his own interestand destre for a life of ease and comfort.

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PT. 22 AL-AJ:lZAB,-~--~~-_.'_.~~-

74. The result is that A llah willp un ish h ypo critical m en and h yp ocriti-cal women, and idolatrous men andidolatrous w om en; aand A llah turns inmercy to believing men and believingwomen; and Allah is M ost Forgiving,Merciful. 3129

CH.33-- '0"'--_'-'- ~ -" '------

~v1JI; L.~;':9,h~ o .;~9JI,1'~~9J. #fI1~ "" '" .J..,,, . @ ., ..;b 1 ", ? 0'''' ),":.;I."~'...J./I I \~ ~'I'I "'''/~::i.''~~~Y'"

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CHAPTER 34A L - S A B A'

(R eve ale d befo re B ijra )D ate of R evelation, T itle and C ontext

The Sura seems to ow e its title to the fact that it contains a somewhat detailed reference to Saba',a people of Yemen who were destroyed by a great flood. It was revealed at Mecca. While it isdifficult to assign to it a definite date from the nature of its contents, it appears to belong to theearly M eccan period, though som e scholars place it in the m iddle M eccan period, w hile some otherslike Rodwell and Noldeke give it even a later date.T he p reced in g sev eral Suras em bodied prophecies about the rise, progress and the ultim ate victory

of Islam over false Faiths, w hile in the imm ediately preceding Chapter, A I-A l)zab, the subject w asdealt with at some length as to how the combined forces of darkness utterly failed in their nefariousdesigns to destroy Islam and how Islam emerged from one of the severest ordeals with flyingcolours, its pow er and prestige having been considerably enhanced. In the present Sura, however,the Muslims have been warned that they should be on their guard against falling into bad waysbecause when wealth and prosperity come to a people they are prone to give themselves up to alife of ease and luxury. Since God has no particular relation with any community for all time, if apeople in the hey-day of their glory and material prosperity lead a life of sin-as did the Israelitesafter Solom on or the Sabeans -they too suffer the consequences of their sinful deeds.

The immediate connection, of this Sura with its predecessor consists in the fact that towardsthe close of that Sura it was stated that of the whole creation of God man alone wasendowed w ith such inborn qualities and capacities as enable him to fulfil the demands of the Shari'atand to imbibe and demonstrate in his person Divine attributes. All other species of creation wereincapable of doing so. Therefore, when the great responsibility of conforming life to the D ivineLaw was placed before man and other beings and things, they all refused to accept it except man

, because he alone was found capable of going to the utmost lim it in sacrificing his comforts andinterests in the discharge of his great and grave responsibility.

The Sura opens with the celebration of praises of the W ise and All-Aware God, Whoknow ing that of all creation m an alone could bear the heavy burden of carrying out the grave res-pon sib il it y o f fu lf illi ng t he demands o f t he Shari'at , laid that burden on his shoulders, but havinglaid it, He did not leave him alone. He continued to help him in the performance of his nobleta sk to its c omple tio n.

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Subjt'Ct-MatterThe Sura has six sections and fifty-five verses. It opens with the celebration of the praises of

Allah "to W hom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth," implying that asGod is Great and Almighty, a people who seek to defy His authority are sure to meet with failureand frustration. The disbelievers, it further says, try to delude them selves into the belief that theirrejection of the M essage of Islam w ill go unpunished and th~t "the H our will never com e upon them "(v. 4). They accuse the Holy Prophet of being an impostor who seeks to impose his leadership onthem. But the Prophet is no liar or forger but a true Messenger of God and as such his cause willgrow and prosper and disbelievers will be punished for rejecting him. Their power will break andtheir glory depart and this fact w ill constitute a proof of the truth of the Holy Prophet's m ission.

The Sura proceeds to make a somewhat detailed reference to the Prophets, David andSolomon, who made vast conquests and subdued rebellious tribes and in whose reigns theIsraelite power and glory rose to its zenith. The result was that in the pride of their powerand prosperity the Israelites fell into evil ways and began to lead a life of sin which resulted inDivine wrath descending upon them. The reference to David and Solomon is followed bya reference to the Sabeans who were a highly prosperous and cultured people, but who likethe Israelites defied and disobeyed D ivine com mandm ents and I ike them incurred the displeasureof God and were destroyed by a mighty flood. By referring to the m ight, glory andprosperity of the Israelites under David and Solomon, and to that of the Sabeans, and to theirsubsequent destruction, the Sura gives a warning to Muslims that great wealth, power andprosperity will alw be bestowed on them, but if in the hey-day of their glory they, like the Israelitesand the Sabeans, gave themselves up to a life of luxury and ease. they will be punished like them .

T he third section (ruku') deals with the main theme of the S iir a, v iz ., the progressive rise of thecause of Islam and the sad fate that is in store for idol-worshippers and their false deities. Thedisbelievers are challenged to call upon their deities to obstruct the progress of Islam , and to arrestthe decline and downfall of their own false ideals and institutions. They are told that no poweron earth could stop this from happening. They are further warned that when the "Hour" of theirultimate defeat arrives, the sinners and the guilty will be punished. This process of decline anddecay of disbelief began with the BattIe of Badr and reached its culm ination on the day whenM ecca-1hen the great citadel of idol-worship in Arabia-fell. and the Ka'ba was cleared of idols.In order to make disbelievers realize that their cause was destined to perish and Islam was tosweep away everything before it, they are told to study the operation of the laws of nature,which were all working in favour of Islam. In answer to the disbelievers' demand as to whenthe prophecy about the rise and progress of Islam will be fulfilled, the Sura goes so far as to fix theactual date when palpable signs of the rise of Islam and decline and downfall of disbeliefwill begin to appear. These signs, it proceeds to add, will begin to take place about a year afterthe flight of the Holy Prophet from Mecca, when the Quraishites, by expelling him from hisn ative to wn, w ill rende r the mse lve s deservin g of D ivine pu nishm en t.

Next, the Sura says that whenever a Divine Reformer makes his appearance it is alwaysthe vested interests and privileged classes that stand in his way. They feel and apprehend thatthe rise of the new Movement will weaken their hold on the poor people who, by accepting the

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new Message, will refuse to be exploited or suppressed any more. So they fight it tooth and nailand try to nip it in the bud and the suppressed and exploited classes are, by threats and intim idation,dragooned into accepting their lead and opposing the Divine Reformer. This has happened in thetime of every Prophet. But no amount of opposition from any direction has ever been able to stayor retard the progress of truth. W hen, however, the tim e of reckoning for the disbelievers arrives,both the exploitedl[and the exploiters begin to curse each other for having rejected the DivineM essage. But this m utual recrim ination and condemnation proves of no avail.

T ow ards its close the Sura refers to a criterion by which it could be easily found out that the HolyProphet is neither an impostor nor a maniac. He is a true Prophet of God, b~cause an impostoris never allowed to progre5s and prosper and eventually comes to a sad end, and a madman cannotbring about such a wonderful revolution in the life of a whole people as the Holy Prophet hasdone. The SUra ends with the warning to disbelievers of Mecca to take a lesson from th~ fateof the opponents of Prophets of yore, who in pride of power and position, rejected the DivineReformers and were consequently destroyed. If the Meccan disbelievers rejected the Messageof Islam they, too, would meet with no better fate.

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4. And those who disbelieve say,'The Hour will never come upon us'.Say, 'Yea, by my Lord Who knowsthe unseen, it w ill surely come uponyou. aNot an atom 's weight in theheavens or in the earth or anythingless than that or greater escapes H im ,but all is recorded in a perspicuousBook 3133,5. b'That He may reward those whobelieve and do good works. It is

these w ho will have forgiveness and anhonourable p rovis ion. '31346. CBut as to th ose who striv e ag ain stOur Signs, seeking to frustrate Ourplans, it is they for whom there will beth e su fferin g o f a p ain fu l p un ishmen t.

U IO : 62. b10 : 5; 30 : 46. cn : 5 2; 34 : 39.The words "whatever comes forth from it,and whatever descends from the heaven"m ay refer to the Word of G od w hich is cast aw ayby the people and is corrupted by them and thenis taken up to heaven so that it m ay descend onea rth in a p urifie d sta te .The w ords, "w hatever goes into the earth andw hatever com es forth from it," m ay also sign ify

that whatever man shall sow, so shan he reap.Good actions produce good results and badd ee ds le ad to e vil co nse qu en ce s.The verse m ay also signify that G od is aware

'of every phenomenon and every event, in-cluding the rise and fan of nations and peoples.3 13 3. Commen ta ry :Tht reference in the word "Hour" is to the

hour of the trium ph of Islam and the defeat anddiscomfiture of disbel ief.

AL-SABA' PT. 22I' I l~"I~ j,~I 'r~ 'tr""J~ " ,n-r.n 'IIIJ"r::)1J'.u-' ~~ ~\Jj!,~ ~~, ~~j("'~~,~y~j~~~~t:JU"'" .."";;:J j ".. "" ~ ,; .:J,,:J . ... .......I:.ri ~ t ~ - '~ . . > ~ \~ ~ ; 9~\ ~jj~2; ' ~ .".. -- I0,.U .. ?I} ~'fl:.'L" t '" "~H:U 7"-~ ~ '" ~ :;)~ ~.J~..~ :I~~~. J I l itt!\ ~" t'!" , ': " .", " . Nf""T~J ~ ~.J~ ~~I(S~

t;)\tJ? 1 '~ ? ~ It" .~ -::v::)~.t ~ ).J .J /)~9Jk~~l::~ ~_A1,9~P'~ ,~:~ .~~ {t.~rt" . j ,~ ~.-:; ;' '' '' '' '' ' ;. . ~ ~.~,.....

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The subject of the preceding verse is furtherelaborated and developed in the present one,viz., that no action good or bad goes unrew arded.The disbelievers are thus warned that theiropposition to Islam and their persecution ofM uslim s w in not go unpunished.3 13 4. Commen ta ry :This and the next verse constitute a further

e labo ra tio n o f t he s ub je ct o f th e p re ceding ver se s,viz., th e immutab le law o f c au se a nd e ffec t."F orgiv en ess" in th e v erse co rresponds to the

D ivine attribute "Forgivin g" and "honourableprovision" corrsponds to "M erciful" in v. 3.T he w ord s "forgiveness" and "honou rable p ro-v isio n" h av e b ee n p la ce d in o rd er o f p re ce de nc e,for;; j.M (fo rg iv enes s) a lway s p re cede s :i.'~"="')(mercifulness).

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PT. 22 AL-SABA' CH.347. ItAnd those who are givenknow ledge see that w hatever has beenrevealed to thee from thy Lord is the

truth, and that it guides unto the pathof th e M ig hty, th e P raisew orth y.

8. And those who disbelieve say,'Shall we show you a man who willtell you that when you are broken upinto pieces, you shall be raised as anew creation ?3I3~9. 'Has he forged a lie againstA llah or is he afflicted w ith m adness TNay, bbut those w ho believe not in theH ereafter are already sufferin g from!he punishment and are too far goneIn e rro r.

"" "" :" """ JJ/.. " '-" ;',?~ ~ l ~t...(~. ' ''''-. \ 1'' t ~" ~ 'rl "',..",-~ .. U -t'v '" ~ ~-' '-.:!~ ~~-'.,.>~h b'''' .'1\"

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/117:11:27:5.3135. Im portant W ords:

"13 :20:22 :55:35 :32:47 :3:56 :96.

r:i'j-4 (you are broken up) is derived from 0j--which means, he scattered or dispersed.y.}:J I 0).. means, he tore the cloth in manyplaces. .J.~.J" 0)-4 m eans. he rent or marred hishonour or reputation. Theysay 0:; I..f r~i j~i.e. he dispersed them to all parts of thecountry. He (God) destroyed them thoroughlyand com pletely (Lane & A qrab).Commentary:In verse 4 disbelievers were warned that

the time of the triumph of Islam and their owndestruction was fast approaching. The wordused in that verse to convey this warning was:i.~t_JI (the Hour). In the verse under comm ent

the disbelievers are shown as vainly seeking todivert the subject of their defeat by pre tendingto take the word :i.d_J I ( the Hour) in the senseof the Day of Resurrection when they shall bebroken up into pieces and not in the sense inwhich it has been used in v. 4. riz., the day of theirdefeat and destruction inthis world. The versem ay also m ean that disbelievers accuse the HolyProphet of seek ing to create a community of hisown by causing discord and disharmony in the irranks, and implies the answer that these peoplewho brag so much of their unity were never aunited people. Their ta lk of unity is an emptytalk and their charge that the Holy Prophetseeks to crea te disunity am ong them is altogetherfa lse a nd u nfo un de d.

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AL-SABA' PT. 2210. Do they not see what is beforethem and what is behind them of theheaven and the earth? /tlf W e please,

We could cause the earth to sink withthem , or cause pieces of the sky to fallupon them. In that verily is a Sign forevery repentant serv ant of A llah. 3136

~. 2 11. And certainly, We bestowedgrace upon D avid from U s saying: b 'O yemoun ta in s, repeat the praises of Allahwith him , and 0 birds, ye also.' AndWe made the iron soft for him . 3137

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~ '1 , " ;~ '~~8 !IJ. ",~.'".; .-' 0 .;~.; C)/~">J'J,,, ...~9",,,; I . / L- r~/t"';~ ~d.J;J~)13. ~ I ~ ( ~ ~ . I I : ' ~ ~ ~'l:~ . U,;'/ - .; ...\.:)" ... ~ '" I"'W:-t "~.!,;I ~..,.;(;; "~r",! ~"...-'~ U jIJ~J.~~~~I;~I~"

':''' .;,- ,,':.J.. "y "" ' J" //" '" '"@~~I~~I-'~Ia 6 : 6 6 ; 1 7 : 6 9 ; 6 7 : 17-18. b21 : 80; 38 :19-20.

31 36. C om men tary :The verse under comment continues the theme

of the pr.:ceding verses and purports to say thatthere are evident Signs in the heavens and theearth w hich constitute an unm istakable evidenceof the fast approaching triumph of Islam and thedownfall and disgrace of disbelievers. Thewords "W e will make the earth sink with them"refer to the Signs of the earth; and the words' 'orcause to fall upon them a portion of the heaven"allude to Heavenly Signs. Undoubtedly, themanner in which the forces of darkness anddisbelief were put to rout in their combatagainst Islam showed that the victory of Islamwas due solely to Divine help and succour whichcame to M uslims in the nick of time.

'3137. Important W ords:~i-,i (repeat the praises) is derived from yT

which means, he returned. ~I JI yT means,he returned to God from his sins, he repented.y -,i means, he repeated or echoed the praises ofGod (Lane & Aqrab).Commentary:

As the principal theme of this Sura is the

triumph of Islam and the great wealth, powerand dominion that were to b~ given to Muslims,and as the might and splendour of the Israelitesattained its zenith in the reigns of David andSolomon, so a som~w hat detailed reference hasbeen made in this Sura to these two greatProphets and Kings in order, on the one hand,to tell Muslims that such great glory andsplendour will come to them also, and, on theother, to wam them that if they did not behaveproperly and if they defied and violated Divinecommandments and indulged in evil practkes,they too will come to grief, as did the Israelitesafter Solomon's death, when all their powerand glory departed, and they became pariahsam ong the nations.

For a detailed discussion of the subject as tohow the mountains and the birds repeated thepraises of God along with David see 21 : 80.Briefly, the word "mountains" signifies thosemountain tribes which submitted to David,while the use of the word "birds" implies thatDavid led large and powerful armies followedby flocks of birds which feasted upon the dead

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12. And We said, 'Make thou full-length coats of mail, and make therings of a proper measure. And dorighteous deeds, surely I see all thaty ou do.'3 I38

13. (t And to Solom on We subjectedthe wind; its morning course was amonth's journey, an d its ev enin g cou rsewas a month's journey too. And Wecaused a fount of molten copper toflow for him . And of the linn weresome who worked under him , by thecommand of his Lord. And We saidthat whosoever of them turned awayfrom Our command, We would makehim taste the punishment of burningfire.3139

9. ..",. \ '" , ,1~~ '; \~1 '" /I:JI,).1-m ean s,he related uninterruptedly and well the tradi-tion or narrative (Lane & A qrab).Commentary:

The reference in this verse is again to D avid 'sm ilitary m ight. The words "and do righteousdeeds" embodied an admonition to the people ofDavid that they were not to exult in theirm ilitary conquests. Their main and principalobject should be to preach and practisegoodness. The implied admonition is meant forMuslims.3139. Important W ords:c.'J) (evening course) is derived from C.I)which means, he went or journeyed or worked.

T hey say r - g . ~ J I LI) i.e. he went to them or hewent to them in the evening; or did a thing inthe evening or in the afternoon; he went orjourneyed at any time. c.IJ)1 is the going orjourneying in the last or latter part of theday; or the going or journeying at any time ofthe day or night. C~) means, the w ind; a good

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or pure thing; merc)'; aid against an enemy;victory or conquest; predom inance and power;a turn of good fortune (Lane & Aqrab). Seealso 8:47.Commentary:The verse speaks volumes for the vast extent

of Solomon's dominions and the peace andprosperity which reigned in his empire.Solomon's dom inions extended from northernSyria along the coast of the eastern Mediter-ranean down to the Red Sea, along the ArabianSea and up to the Persian Gulf. In fact, inSolom on's tim e, the Israelite em pire had reachedits zenith in wealth, power and prestige asthe word ~) which, among other things, meanspower and conquests, used in the verse. shows.The verse also shows that Solomon possessed alarge m ercan tile navy:

And King Solomon made a navy of shipsin Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth.on the shore of the Red Sea, in the landof Edom. And Hiram sent in the navyhis servants, shipm en that had knowledgeof the sea, with the servants of Solomon.And they came to Ophir, and fetchedfrom thence gold. four hundred andtwenty tents and brought it to KingSolomon (l Kings, 9 : 26-28).Solomon's foreign alliances formed thebasis for foreign commercial relations.From the Egyptians he bought chariotsand horses. which he sold to the Hittitesand other people of the north. W iththe Phoenicians he united in maritime

~ommerce, sending out a fleet once111three years from Ezion-geber. at thehead of the Gulf of Akaba, to Ophire,presumably on the eastern coast of theArabian Peninsula. From this distantport, and others on the way. he derivedfabulous amounts of gold and tropicalproducts. !h.ese revenues gave himalmost unlimIted means for increasingthe glory of his capital city and palace,and for the perfection of his civil andm ilitary organizations (Jew. Enc. vol.xi, p. 437).

The words, "And W e caused a fount of moltencopper to flow for him." signify the high stage tow hich in dustry and craftsm anship had d evelopedunder Solomon. He had erected factoriesin which Copper was molted. I,n the Bihle wehave:

Moreover, he made an altar of brasstwenty cubits the length thereof, andtwenty cubits the breadth thereof andten cubits the height thereof. A lso hemade a molten sea of ten cubits frombrim to brim, round in compass and theheight thereof was five cubits (IIChronicles 4 : 1-2).The expression. "And of the Jinn were some

who worked under him" shows that Solomonhad conquered and pressed into service wildand rebellious mountain tribes who workt"dfor him day and night. Incidentally, the verseshows that Solom on's rule was firm and strong.A reference to this is also to be founu in theB ib le in II C hron icles. 2 : 1 8 .

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14. They made for him what hedesired, of palaces and statues, andbasins like reservoirs, and large cook-ing vessels fixed in their places. AndWe said: It'W ork ye, 0 House ofDavid, gratefully;' ,but few of Myse rv an ts a re g ra te fu l. .,140

15. And when We decreed his(Solom on's) death, nothing indicatedto them that he was dead save a wormof the earth that ate away his staff.So when he fen down, the Jinn plainlyrealized that if they had known theunseen, they w ould not have rem ainedin a state of degrading torm en t. 3141

3140 . Im portan t Words:'-;-"'U~.. (palaces) is the plural of ,-:-,1>:" whicham ong other things m eans, a palace; a m osque

(Lane & Aqrab). See also 3 : 38.01.A~basins) is the plural of :i.:..A .~h ich is

infinitive noun from uA ~. They say :i.;[~j'c.i~i.e. he slaughtered the she-cam el and gave theflesh for food to the people in bowls. ~~m eans, a large bow l or receptacle, particularlyused for food; a small well; a generousman. .1.}. :t:.A~m eans, a generous m an w hoentertains many guests and feeds many. Heis so called because people are fed by him inthe ~ (Lane & Aqrab).

,-:-,I"p '"(reservoirs) is the plural of:i.:: ~ whichis derived from I~. They say Cl j;J II~~ i.e. hecol le cted t he t rib ut e. if yoJl"i .1,,]1 l~~ means, hecollected the w ater in the pond. yl"p'" is theplural of :i.~~ w hich m eans, a large w atering-trough in w hich w ater is c olle cte d fo r c am els ,a water reservoir; a company of men (Lane &Aqrab).

/ / ;' - JI,.Ii> ;' l':O W"" ~ ~; j~ \::,~ ~'l "~~,~V';:'I" -' ,)J ~ J-.. ~~ " ,;.,~ d ( J" t fA--!\ ~ 1 , J!. ' u \" -" i~.J ) ~,,~..,,0~-'u..,) ~ ~~ / ~ ", ::1",~,\U~d@.) I..S" ." ~ -'~I ~~~ ;J;~ ~'/i\ d.~~\;;.~ r~1

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--~.-16. aThere was indeed a Sign forSaba' in their hom e-land-tw o gardens,one on the right hand and one on theleft; and W e said to them . 'Eat of theprovision of your Lord and be gratefulto Him . A good land and a MostForg iv ing Lord !,3142

, "'.. ,,,, I",!? I ~d~ !;'~I ~ ,'" ?; ( "'~ :'~ '::''" .. ~~'" ~10''''\.:) ~1 9" . l> /, "("r ~ ' }! . "~dJ' y..:.\'" , : ) U . W ? I 'IZ:J~ ~. ~ -- ' ... ,.I)J O"J ~ ~ '(j"", c,,,/ t" wl-Gt)~~..>J~ .....al6 : 113.

Commentary:The reference in the words "a worm of the

earth" is to Solomon's worthless son and succes-sor, Rehoboam , under whose weak rule the greatand mighty kingdom of Solomon fell to pieces.Besides leading a life of ease and luxury, hew as su rro un ded b y fo olish a nd selfish c oun se llo rswhose bad advice led him to pursue a policywhich brought about the ruin and downfall ofthe kingdom which had been reared on firm andsound footing by his great father. The wildmountain tribes realizing that the strong handwhich had held them under subjection was nomore, rebelled and revolted, with the resultthat disorder and chaos follow ed and Solom on'sm ighty kingdom cracked and crumbled. SeeI Kings, Chaps. ]2, 13, 14 & Jew. Ene. under"Rehoboam."The expression "that ate away his staff,"

signifies that the disruption and disintegrationof Solom on's kingdom set in in Rehoboam 's tim e.31 42. C ommen ta rr:The preceding verses having made a mention

of the blessings and favours which God hadbestowed upon the Israelites and which foundtheir fullest expression in the highly prosperousreigns of David and Solomon, the presentverse proceeds to refer to another very pros-perous and happy people of their time-thepeople of Saba'. Saba', as is mentioned under27: 23, was a city of Yemen situated about

three days' journey from ~an'a', also calledMa'arib.

This town finds frequent reference inthe Old Testament and in Greek, Romanand Arabic literature, especially in theSouth Arabian inscriptions. TheSabaeans were a highly civilized andprosperous people. The finds made inthe country itself are in harmony withthe various classical literary sources.which agree in showing that the Sabaensattained the greatest importance of allArab peoples of the pre-M uham madanperiod, in particular of the four leadingpeoples of S outh A rabia w how ereknow neven to the Greeks...these still extantm onum ents of the once highly developedcivilization, to which Sabaea mainlyowe d its histo ric al im po rta nc e... A ga th ar-c hide s's rem ark s o n the sp le nd id bu ilding sof the kings and private individualsin Saba' and the descriptions of Sabaeancastles by the Arabs are confirmed bythe testim ony of the inscriptions, whichto a great extent commemorate thebuilding of houses (palaces) and forti-fications. Of public works built toassist agriculture like barriers and dam s.the most celebrated was the dam ofM a'arib" (Ene. of1s1am , vo1. 4. p. 16).Tirm idhi quotes a tradition on the authority

of Farwah bin Malik that when asked whetherSaba' was the name of a land or of awoman, the Holy Prophet is reported to havesaid, 'It is neither the name of a land northat of a woman but the name of a manin Yemen who had ten sons. Six of them re-mained in Yemen while four of them went to

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17. But they turned awny; BSOWesent against them a fierce flood. AndW e gave them , in lieu of their gardens,two gardens bearing bitter fruit andtam arisk and a few lo te-trees.31 43

18. Thus We requited them be-cause of their ingratitude; and none doW e requite in this manner but theungrateful. 3144

--

\:~~~' ~ ~it~~1~. ~;'~ \~?:/~t-',~ .. \"-Z:- ~ ~~J;'{'" ,1' "'" "" , ".. { , \:'. t~ ~ \,(t ?"i' . . .. ':' , '-'~~~~ J~.J..: ~ I,,;'~)~~';- .~~ ~ ? ", ",,,,,

ti2\~ ~ , '""?";~~~

eS~I~JJj~~t~~~~;; ~~...aI6:113.

Syria. As for those who made Syria theirhome, they were loham, Ghassan and Amila;and as for those who stayed back in Yemen theywere Ash'ariyyun, Himyar, Kandah, M adhpihand 'Ammar. On b

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19. And We placed, between themand the towns which we had blessed,other towns that were prom inentlyvisible, and W e fixed easy stages bet-w een them and said: 'Travel in themby night and day in security. '314~20. But they said, 'Our Lord.place longer distances between th estages of our journeys.' And theyw ronged them selves; so W e m ade thembywords and We broke them into

pieces, an utter breaking up. Inthat verily are Signs for every steadfastand gra te fu l person .314621. And Iblis indeed found true hisjudgment concerning them . so theyfo llowed him , all except a party ofbelievers.3147

to be on their guard against ingratitude andd efia nc e o f D iv in e c ommandments.31 45. C ommen tary:The words "the towns which we had blessed"

refer to the towns of Palestine. the s.::at ofSolomon's government with which theSabaeans carried on prosperous trade.

;;~ U; ~.J meaning towns situated so near toeach other as to be easily visible; well knownor prominent towns; towns situated on highground, the verse shows that the route fromYemen to Palestine and Syria was veryftequented, safe and prosperous and was denselypopulated and the towns in the way weresituated so close to each other as to be easilyvisible.3 146. C ommentary:

The words shown as spoken by the people ofSaba' in the verse were not actually spoken by

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them but are used to describe their actual condi-tion when they ddied and disobeyed Divinecommandments and consequently fell on evildays. The prosperous and frequented routebecame deserted, and desolate. The words"place longer distances between the stages orour journey" signify that because m any towns onthe route fell into ruin, the distance between onestage to the other became much longer and les5safe.

The expression "and so We made them by-words" m eans that the Sabaeans were so utterlydestroyed that no sign or mark was left of them .T hey b ecam e o nly a su bject fo r sto ry -tellers.31 47. C ommentary :The verse means to say that by their evil

deeds the people of Saba' justified Satan'sestimate that he would be successful in leadingthem astray. The reference to this estimate ofSatan about the wicked people and their

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'-' --'-'--'--22. ,tAnd he had no power overthem , but it was so that We mightdistinguish those who believed in theHereafter from those who were indoubt about it. And thy Lord isWa tchfu l o ve r a ll th in gs.3 148.3 23. Say, b'Call upon those whomyou assert to be gods beside A llah,They control not even the weight ofan atom in the heavens or in the earth,

nor have they any share in either, nOfhas He any helper am ong them ',314924. cN o intercession avails withHim, except for him about whom Hepermits it , until when their hearts arerelieved of fright they would say,'What is it that your Lord said T They

(th e Messeng ers) w ill a nswer, 'The tru th .'And He is the High, the Great.31SO

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25. Say, a'W ho gives you sustenancefrom the heavens and the earth?' Say,'A llah. Either We or you are on rightg uid ance o r in man ifest erro r.'31 5126. Say, 'Y ou will not be ques-tioned as to our sins, nor shall we bequestioned as to what you do.'27. Say, 'Our Lord will bring us alltogether; then He will judge betweenus with truth: and He is the GreatJudge, th e A ll-Knowing.'3 152

)J I ~ ,,- ~ ./(!., ,J{&I~ ~ jl ;9~ ',~ jl~ ;>Jj l~ J;fyO\.".. \I' '~ '~ ~, '\"'-\ ,~prffl;~~~I.?~I~'..U~ ~\:?J .- 'I \ :)".:t::\~A/{.:f~/~:~ ~ ,- fh ""'''' \(:; ;' ~ -: "~~\f-~.J--' ~~ .. 1.:)' J. ' J;/'/; .~df ~ '~~ /~ ':.f~! /~ J,-,;, if~)~~ ...~~~.J ...~~

@);;~ iItr=li I~-alO : 32; 27 : 65; 35 : 4.

Commentary :The verse signifies that when punishment is

decreed for a people on account of their evildeeds, no intercession can avail them.

The words "their hearts" may signify "thehearts of the intercessors" and the pronoun"they" in the words "they would say" refers tothe sinful people who will be punished, andthe second "they" in the expression "they willanswer, 'the truth'" to the intercessors or tothe Messengers of God. Or the words "theirhearts" may refer to the hearts of disbelieversand the pronoun "they" to them in both thesentences. In such a case the verse wouldmean that when the curtain will be lifted fromthe eyes of disbelievers and reality will dawnon them in its naked form , they will say tothemselves that what God had said through HisM essengers w as true.3151. Com mentary :

The fact that the Qur'an itself answers thequestion "Who gives you sustenance from theheavens and the earth?" by saying that it is AllahWho does so, shows that there could possibly

be no other answer to this question except theone here given by the Qur'an.

The words, "Either we or. you are on rightguidance or in manifest error," mean that assurely w e (the believers) are on the righ t. so surelyyou (the disbelievers) are in error.3]52. Im portant W ords:

c . b J I (the Great Judge) is derived from C:;,They say ~3~= : C :; i.e. he judged betwef n them .~I~I c...::i means, he opened the door. ,:1;:;m eans, Judge. r 1;:,4) is an epithet applied to'-God meaning, the Great Judge; the Opener of thegates of His Mercy and of sustenance to Hisservants (L ane & A qrab).Commentary:

The verse is generally taken as referring to theFan of Mecca when it was decided beyond theshadow of doubt as to which of the two parties-Muslims and disbelievers-was "on right guid-ance" and which "in manifest error." It wasafter that great victory that a union of heartswas brought about between Muslims and theiradversaries, the leitter having given up theirfalse beliefs and doctrines joined the fold ofIslam . The use of the expression I~=; C~ in

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28. Say, it'Show me those whom youhave joined with Him as partners. Nay!you cannot do so, for He is A llah, theM ighty, the W ise.'315329. bAnd We have not sent theebut as a Bearer of glad tidings and aW arner for all mankind, but most menk now not.:;I5 4 .30. l'And they say, 'W hen will thispromisebefuljilled, if you a re tru th fu l? '31. Say,' For you is the promise of aday from which dyou cannot rem ainbehind a single moment nor can youg et ah ea d o f i t. '3155

--'~ ~ ~-a3 5 : 41; 46: 5. b21 : 108. 1:'21: 39; 36: 49; 67 : 26.preference to the expression l.: ~ points to thisunion of the hearts. The verse thus constitutesa prophecy about the Fall of Mecca. It may alsorefer to the Battle of Badr when for the firsttime Muslims and the Quraishite army wereb ro ug ht to ge th er.3153. C ommentary:The verse means to say that on the day of theFall of M ecca it will be decisively established

that the false gods of disbelievers were devoidof all power and wisdom and that Allah. the Godof Islam , was All-Powerful and W ise.3154. C omm entary:The Holy Prophet has been repeatedly

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.4 32. And those who disbelieve say,'W e w ill never believe in this Q ur'an,nor in what is before it;' and couldstthou see awhen the wrongdoers willbe made to stand before their Lord,throwing back the blame one toanother. Those who were consideredweak w ill say to those who were proud,'Had it not been for you, we shouldsure ly have been belie ve rs .'3156

33. bThose who were proud will~ av to those w ho w ere considered w eak,W as it we that kept you away from theguidance, after it had come to you?Nay, it was you yourselves who wereguilty.'

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"';"!''''"",9Id' t I"'; t b .. .l '" '' -'' ''' '' '.~ tr~-".Y~~~ ~l~ji;'.J 7'!.~ ~(5If1't't:U ' -: \1 .'''' 1'1 " ~ ,'" 9 ,'"~, OJ '" '" ,~.:I~~...~~'Q .."!~...Y .. 't:~.) ~.. ~;"",,,,,, ",9'",~ "' ~ "" '" 9 9,,,.,~;.t t"" ~." -: \.lIt t' Q.,.~?~t~'JJ\ J '.."r !J . cr.",..!)., ~,,~

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"'" "..@~~ ..a7 : 39; 14: 22; 28 : 64 ; 33 : 68; 40: 48. b7 : 40; 14 : 2 2; 28 : 64; 40 : 4 9.3 15 6. Commen ta ry :

The e xp re ssio n ,,~ ..I.~0~ ! literally m ean in g "b et-ween his two hands" is used in the sense of"before him or it." It has been used in thissense in 5 : 47 and 46 : 2 2. But it is also used inthe sense of "in his presence" as in v. 13.Som etimes, however, this expression refers to athing which is yet to come. In this sense theexpression .~~ 0~ IS.).JI m ay m ean' the revela-tion which is yet to come."

It is hum an nature that when a guilty personis face to face witb the punishm ent of his guilt,he tries to excuse himself by seeking to shiftthe responsibility for his m isdeeds to anotherperson. It is to this aspect of human naturethat reference has been m ade in this and the nexttw o verses. In these v erses the d eceiv ers a nd th edeceived are shown as engaging in mutual re-crim ination w hen th ey see pun ishme nt ov ertak-ing them , seeking to throw the responsibilityo f th eir disb elief one upo n ano th er.

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34. aAnd thos e who were consideredweak will say to those who wereproud, 'Nay, but it was your schem-ing night and day, when you bade usdisbelieve in Allah and set up equalsunto Him.' bAnd they will concealtheir rem orse w hen they see the punish-ment; and We shall put chains roundthe necks of those who disbelieved.They will not be requited but for whatth ey d id .3 15735. And We never sent a Warnerto any city but C thew ealthy ones there-of said, 'Surely, we disbelieve in whatyou have been sent w ith.'3ls836. And they say, 'W e have morewealth and children; and we shan notbe puni shed .'3159

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37. Say, 'V erily, amy Lord enla rgesthe provision for whomsoever Hepleases , and s trait ens it fo r whom so everH e pleases; but most men do notknow.'31605 38. And it is not your we11th n