41. " and believe in what i have revealed (the qur'an),
confirming that (scripture) which is with you, and be not the first
to reject faith therein, and sell not my signs for a miserable
price; and be in awe of none but me."
42. " and confound not the truth with falsehood,
nor conceal the truth while you know (it)."
43. " and keep up the prayer, and pay the poor-rates (zakat), and bow
down
in prayer with those who bow down (in congregation)."
commentary :
the lord commands the jews that they
should believe in his
revelation, the qur'an, and accept it because the acceptance of the
qur'an is just the same as the acceptance of the turah:
" and believe
in what i have revealed (the qur'an) confirming that
(scripture) which is with you,..."
this statement indicates that the
turah, in which they believe,
itself has pointed out the glad tidings of the advent of the promised
prophet, hadrat muhammad (p.b.u.h.), and the revelation of the holy
qur'an. thus, the requisite belief in the content of the turah is belief
in the qur'an.
"...and be not the first to reject faith therein,..."
the verse addresses the jews and says that
those people, who are
of the " people of the book " and among whom there are scholars and
learned men who believe in god and have accepted the divine
prophets, should not be the first group to reject the qur'an and deny its
rightfulness. when their scholars do not accept the truth, many others
also follow them and reject it.
"...and sell not my signs for a miserable price;..."
some authentic narrations denote that many
of the scholars and
rabbis of the jews used to sell the verses and some features of hadrat
muhammad, the promised prophet (p.b.u.h.), mentioned in the
scripture of old, the turah, to some of the rich jews at that time and
perverted the verses of the turah in exchange for taking money from
them. here, allah scorns them and forbids them from doing this
abominable action and directs them not to corrupt the scripture for
that little sum of money. the money they used to take was, of course, a
large sum, but, in comparison with what they committed, it was very
little. allah's signs are worth more than all their paltry
considerations, and changing and perverting those divine signs is a very
great sin so that gold and silver, howsoever much they may be, or even
high social positions, seem naught in comparison with it. so, he says
"... and be in awe of none but me."
" and confound not the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth
while you know (it)."
this verse provides another emphasis on
the above meaning. the
jewish scholars are told, here, not to mix up the truth with falsehood by
perverting the verses of the turah and hiding its revelations about the
prophet of islam (p.b.u.h.), when they are supposed to make them
manifest, because they recognize them and, in connection to this, know
the difference between right and wrong very well.
down in prayer with those who bow down (in congregation)."
in islam, next to the belief in allah, his
messenger, and the
resurrection, prayer and alms (zakat) are the two essential pillars of
faith without which the establishment and endurance of faith is
impossible.
prayer and poor-rates, as well as observing their proper times, are
strictly and repeatedly emphasized in the concerning verses of the holy
qur'an and islamic traditions and narrations. the excellence and
importance of prayers are briefly pointed out in commenting on verse 3,
the current sura on pages 80-83 in this volume.
explanation :
islam, as a religion, has revealed
information with the perfection
necessary to train mankind and to discipline the human race and to
enable them to raise themselves from the depths of material
degradation to the unlimited elevation of spiritual glory in order to
qualify each individual as an adherent, as much as he or she personally
desires, to rise towards the divinity in store for every sincere seeker of
it. the curbing of the physical desires of a human being is sure to have
the natural consequence of sublimating it by the resulting moral effect
on the mind which can gradually put it well on the way to receiving the
enlightenment of the higher meanings of life. a certain degree of piety
and devotion is essential for a human being to be initiated into the
realm of spiritual bliss. all the previous religions, particularly the creed
of the jews and the christians, were limited to some extreme systems of
optional ascetic hermitage of extremes which did not agree with the
natural demands of the social life of the people. the imposition of
such extremes, with the freedom to do it or not, could help only a few
to follow the order, discarding completely their worthy life but the bulk
of the people had sunk deep into hypocritical observances and
practices.
islam, as a practical and fully regulated religion, bases its
foundation first on humbling the ego of man by making him conscious
about his relation to his creator and thus making him yield to the lord,
his god, in complete submission to him by worshipping in a way suiting
his humble position. by this, islam brings man in the presence of his
lord. the first cardinal doctrine or ordinance of islam is `salat' or
` prayers ' which develops in a human being the appropriate feeling in
relation to god and puts the individual in direct contact with the great
qualities of the absolute divinity.