| Back | Next |
|
"... Allah knows best where to place His apostleship. ..." It is evident that messengership relates neither to age and wealth nor to the circumstances of tribes. But, before mentioning anything else, the necessary conditions of it are : spiritual receptiveness, purity of inward, noble human virtues, splendid thoughts, strong decisions, and, finally, an extra ordinary piety and morality with the stage of inerrancy. The existence of these qualities, especially the quality of the receptiveness of the rank of inerrancy; are some things that none knows exept Allah. How far the difference is between these conditions and what they have mentioned ! The successor(s) of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) should also have all the qualities and conditions of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), except revelation and divine legislation. That is, such a successor is both the protector of the religion and divine laws, and the guardian of the religion and its regulations, and the spritual and material leader of people. That is why he must have both the position of inerrancy and immunity of fault and sin so that he can fulfil his mission, and to become a trusty example and a leader whom is obeyed. For this very reason, such a successor is also chosen by Allah, not by people or by a consultative committee. It is only Allah Who knows where to place this position, not people. So, at the end of the verse, the Qur'an has stated the fate of such sinners and false leaders who claim too much. It indicates that for the plots and deceits that these sinners applied to make people astray, soon they will be put in humiliation and in an intensive punishment before Allah. It says: "... Soon there shall befall those who are guilty humiliation from Allah and a severe punishment because of the plots they used to devise." With their wrong actions, these self-lovers wanted to protect their social situation and grandour, but Allah will despise them so much that they eel the most painful spiritual tortures then. * * * (1) Sura 'An'am, No. 6, Verse 123. (125) فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلامِ وَ مَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقاً حَرَجاً كَأَنَّما يَصَّعَّدُ فِي السَّماءِ كَذلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ 125. " Therefore, whomever Allah intends that He should guide him aright, He opens his breast to Islam; and whomever He intends that He should cause him to send astray, He makes his breast narrow and straitened as if he were ascending upwards into the sky. Thus does Allah lay abomination on those who do not believe." Commentary : The purpose of the divine guidance and misguidance is to provide the means of guidance for those who deserve it, and to ruin those means for those who are not eligible of it. The objective meaning of the Qur'anc term / Sadr / (breast) is 'heart and spirit', and, therefore, the purpose of 'opening the breast' is broading the scope of mind and thought, as well as the height of spirit, for accepting the Truth and guidance. This situation needs that the person renounces the low desires and wishes of his heart. He who has not ' an open breast ' usually remains inside of himself and does not dare to come out. The fruit of ' an open breast ' is, firstly, insight and luminosity. and, secondly, a tender heart which accepts the Truth. Thus, accepting the Truth necessarily needs an innate receptiveness and capacity. " Therefore, whomever Allah intends that He should guide him aright, He opens his breast to Islam; ..." And, the one who is not ready to accept the Truth, can not ascend into the sky of cognition. "... and whomever He intends that He should cause him to send astray, He makes his breast narrow and straitened as if he were ascending upwards into the sky. ..." The result of coming out from the course of natural disposition, intellect, and nature is saffocation, straitened circumstances, and stresses. The corruptors are indeed entangled with straitened circumstances and stresses, although they see themselves in a worldly apparent welfare and progression. "... Thus does Allah lay abomination on those who do not believe." * * * (126) وَ هذا صِراطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيماً قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الْآياتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَذَّكَّرُونَ 126. " And this is the path of your Lord; straight. Indeed We have explained the Signs for people who take admonition." Commentary : One of Allah's ways of treatment is that He appoints 'open breasts' for the clear-hearted truth-seekers; and, on the contrary, those obstinate disbelievers who flee from Faith are involved with abomination and lack of divine aid. Therefore, all ways, save the way of Allah, are either false or blind. " And this is the path of your Lord; straight. ..." Allah has completed the argument to all, if they are of those who are attentive. "... We have explained the Signs for people who take admonition." * * * (127) لَهُمْ دارُ السَّلامِ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَ هُوَ وَلِيُّهُمْ بِما كانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ 127. " For them shall be the abode of peace with their Lord, and He is their Guardian because of what they used to do." Commentary : In Heaven, there is no harshness, competition, contradiction, accusation and jealousy, grudge and lie, grief, and no kind of worriment, death, disease, poverty and so on. " For them shall be the abode of peace ..." And, above the bounty of security and peace, there is the existence of being under the light of especial grace of Allah therein. Briefly speaking, the inhabitants of Heaven are those who, like the near-stationed angels and even higher than them, have rank of nearness with their Lord. "... with their Lord, ..." However, reaching to the divine security and guardianship can be obtained under the light of (good) deeds. The verse says : "... and He is their Guardian because of what they used to do." * * * (128) وَ يَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعاً يا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ قَدِ اسْتَكْثَرْتُمْ مِنَ الْإِنْسِ وَ قالَ أَوْلِياؤُهُمْ مِنَ الْإِنْسِ رَبَّنَا اسْتَمْتَعَ بَعْضُنا بِبَعْضٍ وَ بَلَغْنا أَجَلَنَا الَّذِي أَجَّلْتَ لَنا قالَ النَّارُ مَثْواكُمْ خالِدِينَ فِيها إِلاَّ ما شاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ 128. " And on the day He musters all together, (addressing the Satans of jinn, He says:) ' O' assembly of jinn ! you took away a great part of mankind.' And their friends from among the human beings will say : ' O' our Lord ! Some of us profited by others and we have reached our term which You had assigned for us.' He will say : 'The fire is your abode, to remain in it (forever), except that Allah wills (to forgive some of you)'. Verily your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing." Commentary : Following the former matters, the Qur'an says :" And on the day He musters all together, (addressing the Satans of jinn, He says:) ' O' assembly of jinn ! you took away a great part of mankind.'..." Then those of human beings who had followed them will say that they profited from each other. The verse says :"... And their friends from among the human beings will say : ' O' our Lord ! some of us profited by others ..." The interest that the jinns have benefited from human beings is that they have been their chiefs and masters and those human beings have obeyed their low desires and lusts. The interest that human beings have benefited from jinns is that the jinns have ornamented the vain pleasures and lusts before their eyes and have made them amused by these apparently fair things. "... and we have reached our term which You had assigned for us.'..." This part of the verse means that they say: ' We have reached the death You had appointed for us.' Some commentators say that the purpose of this statement is to point to the resurrection of the dead in Hereafter. "... He will say: ' The Fire is your abode, to remain in it (forever), ..." Addressing such people, Allah says that Hell Fire is their dwelling place and they will remain in punishment there forever. Returning from Fire is an exception which refers to guilty Muslims. If He pleases, He will punish them; and if He wills, He will forgive them by His grace. At the end of the verse, the Qur'an says that Allah is Wise in His affairs, and He knows every thing. "... Verily your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing." * * * (129) وَ كَذلِكَ نُوَلِّي بَعْضَ الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضاً بِما كانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ 129. " And thus do We make some of the iniquitous to befriend others on account of what they used to earn." Commentary : As a trial, Allah may leave the unjust to themselves and make them friends of each other in order that they show affection to each other. In this case, their retribution, that He will give them, will be as much as they deserve. So, similar to the situation of the transgressors among jinn and human, on the Resurrection Day, when Allah will refer them to each other and He will declare Himself to be clear of them, we will refer the unjust to each other, too. There are some persons who have followed some persons other than Allah. They will be left to their masters on that Day, and will be told to go to them for the deliverance from Fire. The purpose of this statement is to announce them that, on the Resurrection Day, there will not be any friend to save them from the chastisement. In other words, as a result of the friendship and affection that they had between themselves, they will be sent to the Hell following each other.(1) " And thus do We make some of the iniquitous to befriend others on account of what they used to earn." (1) According to some Islamic narrations, the
retribution of the following persons will be the domination of the cruel ones
upon them. These persons are : those who abandon enjoining right and forbidding
wrong, and those who do not pay khoms (one fifth levy), alms and religious
taxes, and those who assist the unjust. (Atyab-ul-Bayan, the commentary) Section 16The Decreed Punishment Shall be unavoidableThe warning against the sure punishment - The decreed punishment being unavoidable - The superstitious infanticide - Every soul shall bear witness against its own self. (130) يا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَ الْإِنْسِ أَ لَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِنْكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آياتِي وَ يُنْذِرُونَكُمْ لِقاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هذا قالُوا شَهِدْنا عَلى أَنْفُسِنا وَ غَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَياةُ الدُّنْيا وَ شَهِدُوا عَلى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَنَّهُمْ كانُوا كافِرِينَ 130. " ' O' assembly of the jinn and mankind ! Did there not come to you messengers from yourselves, recounting to you My Signs and warning you of the meeting of this Day ? ' They will say : 'We bear witness against ourselves.' And the life of this world deceived them, and they will bear witness against their own selves that they were (constantly) disbelievers. Commentary : On the Day of Judgement, Allah (s.w.t.) will tell the cruel Satanic persons:" ' O' assembly of the jinn and mankind ! Did there not come to you messengers from yourselves, ..." Of course, all Divine prophets were appointed from humankind, but since the totality of jinn and men have been addressed at first, due to this respect, the prophets have been attributed to all, too, although they have been from the same kind. "... recounting to you My Signs and warning you of the meeting of this Day ? '..." These prophets recited the proofs and verses of Allah to you, and they warned you of meeting such a Day, too. "... They will say : ' We bear witness against ourselves.' And the life of this world deceived them, and they will bear witness against their own selves that they were (constantly) disbelievers. This confession of the sinners, which occurs before Allah on the Day of Judgement, denotes the fact that they have accepted that Allah's argument has been completed to them, and He has sent prophets and guides toward them. However, it is also narrated by Ibn-'Abbas that every prophet was chosen from among human beings, and then, that human-prophet would choose a messenger for jinns from among themselves. * * * (131) ذلِكَ أَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرى بِظُلْمٍ وَ أَهْلُها غافِلُونَ 131. " This is because your Lord would never destroy the towns unjustly while their people were negligent." Commentary : One of Allah's ways of treatment is that, by sending prophets and different kinds of warning, He shows right and wrong to people and states the facts for them to complete the argument. It is in that case that if they behave heedlessly, He will punish them. This general law and way of treatment is referred to in numerous verses of the Qur'an, including : Sura-Ash-Shu'ara, No. 26, verse 208 which says: " And We did not destroy any town but it had (its) warners :", and Sura Al-'Isra', No. 17, verse 15 where it says : "... nor do We chastise until We raise an apostle." Therefore Allah's chastisements are given because of justice which exists in the Essence of His Lordship. Regarding to this, it can be said that punishment without former statement of admonishment and warning, is unjust and is a vice. " This is because your Lord would never destroy the towns unjustly while their people were negligent." * * * (132) وَ لِكُلٍّ دَرَجاتٌ مِمَّا عَمِلُوا وَ ما رَبُّكَ بِغافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ 132. " And for all (men) there are ranks in accordance with what they have done, and your Lord is not heedless of what they do." Commentary : Allah is just and He gives everyone the rank due to the deeds the one has performed. Thus, both the felicity and evil fortune of people depend on their own deeds and conduct. " And for all (men) there are ranks in accordance with what they have done, and your Lord is not heedless of what they do." * * * (133) وَ
رَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ إِنْ يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَ يَسْتَخْلِفْ
مِنْ بَعْدِكُمْ ما يَشاءُ كَما أَنْشَأَكُمْ مِنْ ذُرِّيَّةِ قَوْمٍ آخَرِينَ 133. " And your Lord is Self-Sufficient, the Lord of Mercy, if He pleases, He may take you off, and make whom He pleases successors after you, just as He produced you from the descendants of other people." 134. " Verily what you are promised, will certainly come, and you cannot make (Allah) helpless (to flee from His retribution)." Commentary : In the previous verses the statement was about rewards justly and without atrocity given to the eligible persons. Here, in this verse, the Qur'an refers to the Mercy and Self-Sufficience of Allah, both of which are reasons to His Justice. The verse says :" And your Lord is Self-Sufficient, the Lord of Mercy, ..." That is, your Lord is not in need of His servants and their worships. He is the owner of clemency. He bestows mercy upon people. He enjoins them to do some duties in order to deliver some great benefits to them. These benefits are not obtainable unless through the way of being eligible of them. This eligibility can be gainded by means of fulfilling the divine duties accompanied with glorification and veneration unto Allah. "... if He pleases, He may take you off, and make whom He pleases successors after you, just as He produced you from the descendants of other people." The Qur'an addresses the sinners and says that if Allah pleased He (s.w.t.) would destroy all of you. Then, after your destruction and your annihilation, He would appoint another group instead of you who should obey Him, just as the same form that He created you from the generation of other people who existed before you. * * * " Verily what you are promised, will certainly come, and you cannot make (Allah) helpless (to flee from His retribution)." It is completely sure that whatever you are promisel to, such as resurrection, reward and retribution, and the varieties of situations and differences which there are between the ranks of Heaven and the levels of Hell Fire, will certainly come, while you are not outside the sovereignty and realm of Allah. * * * (135) قُلْ يا قَوْمِ اعْمَلُوا عَلى مَكانَتِكُمْ إِنِّي عامِلٌ فَسَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ تَكُونُ لَهُ عاقِبَةُ الدَّارِ إِنَّهُ لا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ 135. " Say: ' O' my people ! act according to your ability; verily I too act. Then soon you will know for whom will be the (good) end of the abode. Surely the unjust will not be felicitous '." Commentary : The verse announces to the disbelievers that they act as far as they can and do their best as much as it is possible for them, and also in a form that their possibilities let them. " Say: ' O' my people ! act according to your ability; ..." It is so that I, in my turn, do my best, too. "... verily I too act ..." The purpose of this part of the verse is that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) says to the disbelievers that they might remain in their infidelity and hostility, and he (the Prophet) would persist on Islam and be affirmed in patience before them, too. "... Then soon you will know for whom will be the (good) end of the abode. ..." It will not be very late that you will come to know which of us will have a good and admirable end. "... Surely the unjust will not be felicitous." This phrase has been added as a warning and threat of punishment when it says that the unjust will not he successful in reaching to their own ideal.6D * * * (136) وَ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ مِمَّا ذَرَأَ مِنَ الْحَرْثِ وَ الْأَنْعامِ نَصِيباً فَقالُوا هذا لِلَّهِ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَ هذا لِشُرَكائِنا فَما كانَ لِشُرَكائِهِمْ فَلا يَصِلُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَ ما كانَ لِلَّهِ فَهُوَ يَصِلُ إِلى شُرَكائِهِمْ ساءَ ما يَحْكُمُونَ 136. " And they (the polytheists) assigned to Allah out of what He has created of tilth and cattle, a portion, and said : 'This is for Allah', according to their assertion, 'And this is for our associates.' Then what is for their associates does not reach Allah, and what is for Allah reaches their associates. (How) evil is the judgement that they make !" Commentary : Those who go out of the path of prophets' training and enter the land of imagination, their statements and decisions are also imaginary and without logic. They consider themselves the possessors of everything, and set divisions between them. Once they know sons as their own share and daughters as Allah's share :" What ! for you the male and for Him the females." (Sura An-Najm, No. 53, verse 21). And another time, according to their imagination, they divide tilth and cattle. The verse says : " And they (the polytheists) assigned to Allah out of what He has created of tilth and cattle, a portion, and said : 'This is for Allah', according to their assertion, 'And this is for our associates.' Then what is for their associates does not reach Allah, and what is for Allah reaches their associates. ..." Polytheists imagined that the share of their idols was unchangeable. Therefore, they spent it upon idol temples and the servants therein; but when the money of expenditure was insufficient, they expended the share of God for idol-temples, for the reason that the God of the skies was free from want. They expended it neither for infants, nor for the poor, nor for guests. "... (How) evil is the judgement that they make !" They judge badly, because they consider their idols prior to God. They do something which is neither legal nor religious. And, which judgement is more indecent and more shameful than this that a person supposes a worthless piece of wood or stone higher than the Creator of the world of existence ? Can a degradation of thought worse than this be considered ? * * * (137) وَ كَذلِكَ زَيَّنَ لِكَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ قَتْلَ أَوْلادِهِمْ شُرَكاؤُهُمْ لِيُرْدُوهُمْ وَ لِيَلْبِسُوا عَلَيْهِمْ دِينَهُمْ وَ لَوْ شاءَ اللَّهُ ما فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَ ما يَفْتَرُونَ 137. " And thus their associates have made fair seeming to most of the polytheists the killing of their children, that they may destroy them and confound their religion for them. And had Allah pleased they would not have done so. Therefore, leave them with what they forge." Commentary : Here, Allah refers to another indecent quality of the specifications of these people. The verse says :" And thus their associates have made fair seeming to most of the polytheists the killing of their children, ..." As they assigned share from their tilth and cattle for God, Satans also made fair seeming killing their daughters and burying them alive for fear of poverty and scorn. Some commentators have said that the custom of killing daughters came forth from the time when Nu'man-ibn-Munthir plundered a tribe of Arabs and took their females captive. The daughter of Qays-ibn-'Asim was also among the captives. When the two parties made peace, all women went their own homes except Qays' daughter, who preferred to stay among the enemy's troop. Qays made an oath that he would bury alive any daughter was born in his house. "... that they may destroy them ..." The Arabic sign 'li', in this part of the verse, refers to the end of the action. Then the phrase means that the result of ornamentation of slaying child was the destruction of people. There were, of course, some obstinate persons among them who intended to kill them, too. "... and confound their religion for them ..." Another result was that their religion became dubious to them and they hesitated. "... And had Allah pleased they would not have done so ..." If Allah (s.w.t.) had desired to prohibit them its performance, or to force them to abandon it, He would have done it and prevented them from doing that. But this work did not fit to responsibility, which is an arbitrary affair. "... Therefore, leave them with what they forge." Do leave them then with their lies and calumnies and let them be in their own state, for Allah will retribute them. This phrase is stated in the utmost threat. This verse indicates that ornamentation of slaying and slaughter itself both were among their own practices, and they were liars when they attributed it to Allah. * * * (138) وَ قالُوا هذِهِ أَنْعامٌ وَ حَرْثٌ حِجْرٌ لا يَطْعَمُها إِلاَّ مَنْ نَشاءُ بِزَعْمِهِمْ وَ أَنْعامٌ حُرِّمَتْ ظُهُورُها وَ أَنْعامٌ لا يَذْكُرُونَ اسْمَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْها افْتِراءً عَلَيْهِ سَيَجْزِيهِمْ بِما كانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ 138. " And they said: ' These are cattle and tillage prohibited. None may eat them except whom we please' - so they assert - 'and (there are) cattle whose backs are forbidden and cattle over which they do not mention Allah's name' - forging a lie against Him. Soon He will requite them for what they used to forge." Commentary : The Qur'an has referred to another false belief of idolaters' notion in this verse. They considered camels, cows, sheep, and tilth unlawful, with their own imagination, and they divided them for gods. They said that none could eat from their meat unless they would let. " And they said: ' These are cattle and tillage prohibited. None may eat them except whom we please ' - so they assert - ..." When the holy verse says "So they assert" it means that they had no reason for this action of theirs, but they encumbered themselves only imaginarily. "... 'and (there are) cattle whose backs are forbidden ..." The objective meaning of the cattle on whose backs they believed was unlawful to ride, were as follows :A she-camel which had brought forth ten she-camel issues; and a she-camel which had brought forth five issues and her ears were slit; and a male camel which had caused ten issues. (Refer to the commentary of verse 103 from Sura 5, too.) "... and cattle over which they do not mention Allah's name' ِ forging a lie against Him ..." Mujahid, a commentator, says that there were some cattle over which, and over their limbs, they did not mention the name of Allah, and they did not perform pilgrimage rites on them as well. Or, when slaughtering them, they mentioned the names of idols over them, not the name of Allah. They used to do these things with the reason that Allah had commanded them to do so. But that was a lie and a calumny. "... Soon He will requite them for what they used to forge." Allah will give them soon their retribution for the lies and calumnies they used to forge against Him. * * * (139) وَ قالُوا ما فِي بُطُونِ هذِهِ الْأَنْعامِ خالِصَةٌ لِذُكُورِنا وَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلى أَزْواجِنا وَ إِنْ يَكُنْ مَيْتَةً فَهُمْ فِيهِ شُرَكاءُ سَيَجْزِيهِمْ وَصْفَهُمْ إِنَّهُ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ 139. " And they said: ' What is in the bellies of these cattle is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our wives. But if it be born dead, then all of them are partners in it. Soon He will requite them for their attributing (falsehood to Him). Verily He is All-Wise, All-Knowing." Commentary : (10)
|