|
94.
" say: ` if the last abode with allah is yours exclusively
and
not for other people, then long for death
if
you are truthful '. "
95.
" but never will they long for death, because of what their hands
have
sent forth; for allah well knows the unjust. "
96.
" indeed, you will find them the greediest of people for life,
even
more than those who associate partners (to allah);
each
one of them is covetous to live (even) a thousand years,
yet
the prolongation of his life shall not remove him further away
from
the punishment. allah sees what they do. "
97.
" say (o' muhammad): ` whoever is an enemy to gabriel, who brought
down
(the qur'an) upon your heart by allah's leave,
confirming
what was before it, and a guidance
and
glad tidings for the believers ' ; "
98.
" and whoever is an enemy to allah, his angels, his messengers,
gabriel
and michael (should know that) allah is surely
an
enemy to the infidels. "
99.
" verily, we have sent down to you clear signs, and none denies
them
except the transgressors. "
100.
" what! whenever they made a covenant, a group of them cast it
aside
? nay, most of them do not (truly) believe. "
101.
" and when there came to them a messenger from allah,
confirming
what was with them, a part of them
who
were given the book cast the book of allah behind their backs,
as
though they knew (it) not! "
* * * *
commentary :
" say: ` if the last abode with
allah is yours exclusively
and not for other people, ..."
from the former verses, it was
understood that the jews claimed
that they would not be touched
by the fire but for a few days when
they worshipped the calf, saying:
" the fire shall not touch us but for a
few days ". also, when they
were told to believe in allah's revelation,
they replied that they would
believe only in their book, the turah: " we
believe (only) in what was sent
down to us (before). " they imagined that
they were the only people who
would be qualified for salvation and
felicity, while other nations
would be punished and receive eternal
destruction in the hereafter.
then, to cancel this kind of idea and to
verify that the case is not
as they considered, it is told them:
"... then long for death if
you are truthful '."
the messenger of allah is commanded
to tell them that if the
abode of the hereafter and the
blessings of heaven are exclusively
theirs, they must strive to
reach such bliss and invoke for death in order
to get rid of the disasters
and miseries of this world. it is in this
situation that they would attain
eternal happiness which they falsely
think belongs to them alone.
* * * *
" but never will they long for
death, because of what their hands
have sent forth; ... "
"... for allah well knows the
unjust."
and in another occurrence, as
a protest to them, the qur'an says:
"... if you think that you are
friends to allah, to the exclusion of (other)
men, then invoke your desire
for death if you are truthful! ", (sura
al-jumu`ah, no. 62, verse 6).
yes, a sincere friend desires
to be with his friend, someone in love
wishes to see one's love, and
a seeker of a particular thing is anxious
and desirous to obtain that
which one is seeking.
worldly affairs and materialism
often stand as a curtain or barrier
between allah and his servants.
they usually do not let one
approach him and be acquainted
with his / her creator deservingly.
therefore, the true sincerity
towards him is the desire of death. then,
here, to unvail the falsehood
of the statement of the jews, allah
announces that if they truly
believe that the future abode with allah is
exclusively theirs and think
that only they are those who are the
favoured people of allah, not
any other people, they must invoke
death with their tongues, hearts,
and actions to reach him without any
natural barrier.
" indeed, you will find them
the greediest of people for life,
even more than those who associate partners (to allah);..."
but they never invoke death
because they are the greediest of all
people for the life of this
world. they love the long life of this world
even much more than pagans and idolators.
"... each one of them is covetous
to live (even) a thousand years, ..."
besides their hideous deeds
and that they do not seek death in
order to meet the lord, each
of them would like to live one thousand
years.
the figure ` one thousand years
' metaphorically refers to the idea
that they wish to live a long
life. this is evidence to their lie and they
know that neither the last abode
with allah is theirs, nor are they
the friends of allah. they arrogantly
state these things, based on
bigotry, in order to tell the
muslims that both the jews and their
ancestral religion are right,
and muslims are wrong and their religion is
untrue. then allah, by this
clear evidence, made their falsehood
manifest by stating that the
friends of allah are those who are
desirous of death to attain
their goal.
"... yet the prolongation of
his life shall not remove him further away
from the punishment. ..."
"... allah sees what they do.
"
that is, the jews will never
long for death, then how can they
desire a long life when it does
not save them from the punishment ?
yet, they are the greediest
people for the low life of this world which
can be a barrier obstructing
entrance into the everlasting felicity of the
life in the coming world. furthermore,
the members of this group
having belief in the hereafter
and the life after death, are greedier for
the life of this world than
pagans and blasphemers, who wrongly believe
that man will be destroyed and
perish after death.
" say (o' muhammad): ` whoever
is an enemy to gabriel, ..."
the commentators believe that
as `abdullah-ibn-abbas cites, the
occasion of revelation of this
verse was as follows:
one of the scholars of the jews
by the name of ibn-suriya, with a
group of jewish people from
fadak, was attending the holy prophet
(p.b.u.h.) when he put forth
some questions to test his gift of prophecy.
thereby being convinced that
muhammad (p.b.u.h.) was a true prophet
of allah, he asked as to which
of allah's angels had conveyed the
divine messages to him, and
he (p.b.u.h.) answered that gabriel had.
the jew said he would not believe,
as gabriel was the enemy of
his people and he is the angel
of punishment, annoyance, displeasure,
indignation, and execution;
while michael was not, and if michael
would have been the one who
came down to the prophet (p.b.u.h.),
then they would believe in him
(p.b.u.h.). so, allah (s.w.t.) sent down
this verse and told the holy
prophet (p.b.u.h.) to say that he who is the
enemy of gabriel, is the enemy
of the one:
"... who brought down (the qur'an)
upon your heart by
allah's leave, ..."
"... confirming what was before
it, and a guidance and glad tidings
for the believers ' ; "
thus, the qur'an attests to
the rightfulness of all the heavenly
books such as the turah, the
evangil, psalms of david, the written
sheets (scriptures), and what
allah had sent to other prophets (a.s.).
the word /hudan/ ` a guidance
' here, may refer to the guidance of
the qur'an for all of the believing
members of the jinn and humans.
the guidance is apportioned
to the believers perhaps for the reason
that it is only the believers
who are benefited by the qur'an, so
therefore, the glad tidings
are given to them.
* * * *
now, this verse reiterates the
subject matter of the previous verse
but with more emphasis and accompanied
with a threat. it says:
" and whoever is an enemy to
allah, his angels, his messengers,
gabriel and michael (should
know that) allah is surely
an enemy to the infidels. "
this statement is an indication
to the meaning that these instances
are not separable. the essence
of allah, angels, all his messengers,
gabriel and michael or any other
angels, from this point of view, are all
the same and to have enmity
with one of them is, in fact, having enmity
with the others.
in other words, allah's ordinances,
which are helpful on the path
to development of the human
race, have been revealed from his origin
unto prophets (p.b.u.th.) by
means of angels. and if there be any
difference between their missions,
it is a difference of the division of
responsibilities, not a contrast
in missions. they are all alongside the
path of the same goal. so, being
an enemy against one of them is
showing enmity against allah.
* * * *
upon the occasion of revelation
of verse 99, there is a narration
from ibn-abbas who said: " ibn-suriya, a jewish scholar, told the prophet
(p.b.u.h.): ` o muhammad,
you have not brought anything for us that we
understand it, and also the
lord has not sent a clear sign to you so that we
follow you thereby '. then,
allah sent down this verse which was a frank
vivid answer to that statement. 1
none denies divine signs save the transgressors
!
through this verse, the qur'an
points to the fact that allah has
given the prophet of islam (p.b.u.h.)
enough evidence and sufficient
signs all of which are so clear
that nobody can deny them. hence,
those who deny them, indeed,
have recognized the rightfulness of his
invitation, but, because of
their special evil intentions, they oppose it.
" verily, we have sent down
to you clear signs, and none denies them
except the transgressors
"
contemplation over the verses
of the qur'an makes the way clear for
any pure-hearted truth-seeker.
by reciting these verses, the reality and
truthfulness of the invitation
of the prophet of islam (p.b.u.h.), as well
as the understand this meaning
that their hearts have not been darkened
as a result of committing sin.
thus, is it not surprising that transgressors
and those who have stained themselves
with sins by disobeying the commands
of allah, never believe in islam.
* * * *
"what! whenever they made
a cavenant, a group of them cast it aside?
nay, most of them do not
(truly) believe."
with reference to the previous
verses, this verse is also a protest against
the jews as to why some of these
people neglect and breach their covenant
that they make whit allah. they
not only breake their covenant but also have
no faith at all. it may refer
to this idea that ifhey believed in allah and
his prophets (a.s.), they would
never break their covenant or never fail in
their promise.
* * * *
" and when there came to them
a messenger from allah,
confirming what was with
them, ... "
the purpose of the term ` messenger
', here, may be the last
prophet (p.b.u.h.), or it may
refer to all those prophets (a.s.) who came
after moses (a.s.), because,
according to the previous verses, the
qur'an protests against the
jews for rejecting all of the great prophets
after moses (a.s.). these prophets
(a.s.), with their divine
commissions, abrogated moses'
religion whereas, in the meantime, they
confirmed the rightfulness of
what the jews had in their hands the
turah yet, some of them (the
jews) put the book of allah behind
their backs:
"... a part of them who were
given the book cast the book of allah
behind their backs, ..."
some of the learned men of the
jews put the book of allah, the
turah, which attested to the
prophethood of the last messenger of
allah, prophet muhammad (p.b.u.h.),
" behind their backs " and, by
neglecting his specific description
which was recorded in the turah,
they abandoned it totally:
"... as though they knew
(it) not ! "
1
majma`-ul-bayan, vol. 1, p. 168 |
