SURAH (57) AL-HADID (AYA 1 to 29)
Sura (57) AL-HADID (The Iron) Aya 1 to 29 in 4 Sections
Revealed in Madina
SECTION 1
The Kingdom of ALLAH (SWT)
All Knowledge, Power, and Authority
belongs only to ALLAH (SWT)---Everything in the heavens and in the earth works
at His command---Charity commended
سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ
وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ {57:1}
[Q57:1] Sabbaha liLLaahi maa
fissamaawaati wal ardi wa Huwal 'Azeezul Hakeem.
[Q57:1] Whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares the glory of ALLAH (SWT), and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
[Q57:1] Whatever is in the heavens and the earth declares the glory of ALLAH (SWT), and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
[Q57:1] Segala yang ada di langit dan di bumi tetap mengucap tasbih kepada ALLAH
(SwT) dan Dialah Yang Maha Kuasa, lagi Maha Bijaksana.
See
commentary of Bani
Israil 17:44.
"The heavens and the earth (the universe) celebrate the glory
of ALLAH (SWT)" MEANS THEY
OBEY THE LAWS MADE BY ALLAH (SWT) TO GOVERN THEIR WORKING. See
commentary of Baqarah
2:164; Rad 13:2; Anbiya 21:33; Ya Sin 36:38; Rahman 55:5; Jathiya 45:3 to 11;
and Fatihah 1:2 (rabbul alamin) -- taqdir and hidayat.
The praise or the glorification of the creatures of the Almighty Creator of the
Universe is their serving Him, governed
by His laws, THE LAWS OF NATURE WHICH NONE COULD
EVER GO AGAINST.
OBEDIENCE implies submission or surrender.
Surrender is of two (2) kinds,
ß FIRSTLY the helplessness under which an
individual or a group of individuals cannot BUT act in a given pattern, AND WHILE acting realise the Wisdom and the Grace endowed in the
behaviour or the pattern and then glorifying the Authority controlling the
affairs.
ß The SECOND kind of surrender is, the voluntary submission adopting a
pattern or mode of thought or action, of one’s own accord, at one’s own
choice and discretion, [*] knowing the beauties, [*] the wisdom and the grace of the Lord endowed in the
offered pattern AND the loss and the disadvantage
involved in rejecting the offer. **UNDER THIS KIND OF SUBMISSION, THE PATTERN
IS ONLY OFFERED, LEAVING THE ACCEPTANCE OR REJECTION BOTH TO THE INDIVIDUAL
DISCRETIONARY CHOICE OF EVERY MAN OR WOMAN.**
THIS IS ISLAM. WHILE
OFFERING THE BLESSINGS OF THE TRUTH, INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT COMPELLED TO ACCEPT IT, the mission of guidance to it ends with the
making the truth manifest to facilitate the faculty of discretion endowed
exclusively in man, i.e.,
to distinguish the right from the wrong, the truth from the falsehood---see
verses
2:112, 2:256, 3:18 and 4:125 and 5:3.
THE GRACE OF THE LORD HAS BEEN REPEATEDLY ADMONISHING MAN, **TO USE HIS DISCRETION---**HIS
REFLECTIVE FACULTY, **THE WISDOM, **HIS INSIGHT WHILE STUDYING THE HOLY QUR’AN TO
DISTINGUISH THE RIGHT FROM THE WRONG, [#] AND NEVER to get his sight, his ears and his heart sealed
with any preconceived false notion or prejudice, [#] AND CONSTANTLY inviting mankind to the right path, with
the promise of the Reward for goodness [#] AND
CONDEMNING the wrong one, with the warnings against the penalty which
consequently would be inflicted on the evil ones.
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(57:1) All that is in the heavens and
the earth extols the glory of Allah. *1 He
is the Most Mighty, the Most Wise. *2
*1 'That
is, "It has always been so that everything in the universe has proclaimed
the truth that its Creator and Sustainer is free from every blemish and defect,
every weakness, error and evil. He is glorified in His essence, He is glorified
in His attributes, He is glorified in His works as well as His commands whether
they relate to the creation, or to the religious law for mankind. Here sabbaha
has been used in the past tense; at other places yusabbihu has been used which
includes both the present and the future tenses. This would signify that every
particle in the universe has always been extolling the glory of its Creator and
Sustainer in the past, is doing 60 at present and will continue to do the same
in the future for ever and ever."
*2 That is, not only is He All-Mighty and All-Wist, but the truth is that He afoot is AII-Mighty and All-Wise. The word 'Aziz signifies a mighty and powerful Being Whose decrees cannot be prevented by any power in the world from being enforced, Whom no one can oppose and resist, Who has to be obeyed by every one whether one likes it or not, Whose rebel cannot escape His accountability and punishment in any way; and Hakim signifies that whatever He does He does it wisely. His creation, His administration and rule, His commands and guidance, all are based on wisdom. None of His works is tarnished by any tract of folly or ignorance.
There is another fine point here, which one should fully understand. Seldom in the Qur'an has Allah's attribute of `Aziz (AII-Mighty) been accompanied by His attributes of being Qawi (Strong), Mugtadir(Powerful), Jabber (Omnipotent), Dhuntiqam (Avenger) and the like, which only signify His absolute power, and this has been so only in places where the context demanded that the wicked and disobedient be warned of Allah's relentless punishment. Apart from such few places, wherever the word 'Aziz has been used for Allah, it has everywhere been accompanied by one Or other of His attributes of being Hakim (Wise), Alim (Knower), Rahim (Merciful), Ghafur (Forgiving), Wahhab (Generous) and Hamid (Praiseworthy). The reason is that if a being who wields un-limited power is at the same time foolish, ignorant, un-forgiving as well as stingy and devoid of character, its power and authority cannot but lead to injustice and wickedness THUS, WHEREVER INJUSTICE AND WICKEDNESS IS BEING COMMITTED IN THE WORLD, IT IS ONLY BECAUSE THE ONE WHO WIELDS AUTHORITY OVER OTHERS, IS EITHER USING HIS POWER UN-WISELY AND FOOLISHLY, OR HE IS MERCILESS AND HARDHEARTED, OR EVIL-MINDED AND WICKED. Wherever power is coupled with these evil traits of character, no good can be expected to result. That is why in the Holy Qur'an Allah's attribute of `Aziz has necessarily been accompanied by His attributes of being All-Wise and Knowing, Compassionate and Forgiving, Praiseworthy and Generous, so that man may know that the God Who is ruling this universe has, on the' one hand, such absolute power that no one, from the earth to the heavens, can prevent His decrees from being enforced, but, on the other, He is also AlI-Wise: His each decision is based on perfect wisdom; He is also AII-Knowing whatever decision He makes, it precisely according to knowledge; He is also Compassionate: He does not use infinite power mercilessly; He is Forgiving as well: He does not punish His creatures for trifling faults, but overlooks their errors; He is also Generous: He does not treat His subjects stingily, but liberally and benevolently; and He is also Praiseworthy: He combines in Himself all praiseworthy virtues and excellences.
The full importance of this statement of the Qur'an can be better understood by those people who are aware of the discussions of the philosophy of politics and law on the question of sovereignty. Sovereignty connotes that the one who possesses it should wield un-limited power: there should be no internal and external power to change or modify his decision or prevent it from being enforced, and none should have any alternative but to obey him. At the mere concept of this infinite and un-limited power, man's common-sense necessarily demands that whoever attains to such power, should be faultless and perfect in knowledge and wisdom, for if the one holding this power is ignorant, merciless and evil, his sovereignty will inevitably lead to wickedness and corurption. That is why the philosophers who regarded a single man, or a man-made institution, or an assembly of men as the holder of this power, have had to presume that he or it would be infallible. But obviously, neither can unlimited sovereignty be actually attained by a human power, nor is it possible for a king, or a parliament, or a nation, or a party that it may use the sovereignty attained by it in a limited circle faultlessly and harmlessly. The reason is that the wisdom that is wholly free of every trace of folly, and the knowledge that fully comprehends all the related truths, is not at all possessed even by entire mankind, not to speak of its being attain d by an individual, or an institution, or a nation. Likewise, as long as man is man, his being wholly free of and above selfishness, sensuality, fear, greed, desires, prejudice and sentimental love, anger and hate is also not possible. If a person ponders over these truths, he will realize that the Qur'an is indeed presenting here a correct and perfect view of sovereignty. It says that no one except Allah in this universe is possessor of absolute power, and with this unlimited power He alone is faultless, All-Wise and All-Knowing, Compassionate and Forgiving, and Praiseworthy and Generous in His dealings with Hid subjects.
*2 That is, not only is He All-Mighty and All-Wist, but the truth is that He afoot is AII-Mighty and All-Wise. The word 'Aziz signifies a mighty and powerful Being Whose decrees cannot be prevented by any power in the world from being enforced, Whom no one can oppose and resist, Who has to be obeyed by every one whether one likes it or not, Whose rebel cannot escape His accountability and punishment in any way; and Hakim signifies that whatever He does He does it wisely. His creation, His administration and rule, His commands and guidance, all are based on wisdom. None of His works is tarnished by any tract of folly or ignorance.
There is another fine point here, which one should fully understand. Seldom in the Qur'an has Allah's attribute of `Aziz (AII-Mighty) been accompanied by His attributes of being Qawi (Strong), Mugtadir(Powerful), Jabber (Omnipotent), Dhuntiqam (Avenger) and the like, which only signify His absolute power, and this has been so only in places where the context demanded that the wicked and disobedient be warned of Allah's relentless punishment. Apart from such few places, wherever the word 'Aziz has been used for Allah, it has everywhere been accompanied by one Or other of His attributes of being Hakim (Wise), Alim (Knower), Rahim (Merciful), Ghafur (Forgiving), Wahhab (Generous) and Hamid (Praiseworthy). The reason is that if a being who wields un-limited power is at the same time foolish, ignorant, un-forgiving as well as stingy and devoid of character, its power and authority cannot but lead to injustice and wickedness THUS, WHEREVER INJUSTICE AND WICKEDNESS IS BEING COMMITTED IN THE WORLD, IT IS ONLY BECAUSE THE ONE WHO WIELDS AUTHORITY OVER OTHERS, IS EITHER USING HIS POWER UN-WISELY AND FOOLISHLY, OR HE IS MERCILESS AND HARDHEARTED, OR EVIL-MINDED AND WICKED. Wherever power is coupled with these evil traits of character, no good can be expected to result. That is why in the Holy Qur'an Allah's attribute of `Aziz has necessarily been accompanied by His attributes of being All-Wise and Knowing, Compassionate and Forgiving, Praiseworthy and Generous, so that man may know that the God Who is ruling this universe has, on the' one hand, such absolute power that no one, from the earth to the heavens, can prevent His decrees from being enforced, but, on the other, He is also AlI-Wise: His each decision is based on perfect wisdom; He is also AII-Knowing whatever decision He makes, it precisely according to knowledge; He is also Compassionate: He does not use infinite power mercilessly; He is Forgiving as well: He does not punish His creatures for trifling faults, but overlooks their errors; He is also Generous: He does not treat His subjects stingily, but liberally and benevolently; and He is also Praiseworthy: He combines in Himself all praiseworthy virtues and excellences.
The full importance of this statement of the Qur'an can be better understood by those people who are aware of the discussions of the philosophy of politics and law on the question of sovereignty. Sovereignty connotes that the one who possesses it should wield un-limited power: there should be no internal and external power to change or modify his decision or prevent it from being enforced, and none should have any alternative but to obey him. At the mere concept of this infinite and un-limited power, man's common-sense necessarily demands that whoever attains to such power, should be faultless and perfect in knowledge and wisdom, for if the one holding this power is ignorant, merciless and evil, his sovereignty will inevitably lead to wickedness and corurption. That is why the philosophers who regarded a single man, or a man-made institution, or an assembly of men as the holder of this power, have had to presume that he or it would be infallible. But obviously, neither can unlimited sovereignty be actually attained by a human power, nor is it possible for a king, or a parliament, or a nation, or a party that it may use the sovereignty attained by it in a limited circle faultlessly and harmlessly. The reason is that the wisdom that is wholly free of every trace of folly, and the knowledge that fully comprehends all the related truths, is not at all possessed even by entire mankind, not to speak of its being attain d by an individual, or an institution, or a nation. Likewise, as long as man is man, his being wholly free of and above selfishness, sensuality, fear, greed, desires, prejudice and sentimental love, anger and hate is also not possible. If a person ponders over these truths, he will realize that the Qur'an is indeed presenting here a correct and perfect view of sovereignty. It says that no one except Allah in this universe is possessor of absolute power, and with this unlimited power He alone is faultless, All-Wise and All-Knowing, Compassionate and Forgiving, and Praiseworthy and Generous in His dealings with Hid subjects.
لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ يُحْيِي
وَيُمِيتُ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ {57:2}
[Q57:2] Lahoo mulkus samaawaati
wal ardi yuhyee wa yumeetu wa Huwa 'alaa kulli shai'in Qadeer.
[Q57:2] His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes death; and He has power over all things.
[Q57:2] His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; He gives life and causes death; and He has power over all things.
[Q57:2] Dialah sahaja yang menguasai dan memiliki langit dan bumi; Dia
menghidupkan dan mematikan dan Dia Maha Kuasa atas tiap-tiap sesuatu.
Refer
to the summary of al Fatihah pertaining
to the Biblical "Lord's prayer".
± ALLAH (SWT)
belongs the kingdom of the whole universe. It is His will which operates the heavens
and the earth and whatsoever is between them and controls their functions
through the laws made by Him.
± He is the
first and the last, the manifest and the hidden, the real ever-existing
supreme-being. These
attributes in their true sense cannot be applied to any save the infinite, the
absolute and the eternal.
± Nothing can
be said about Him save negation of the ideas and
concepts applicable to the created beings of composite nature.
± His presence with the created beings refers to His all embracing omnipresence and renders null and void all anthropomorphic
concepts of god-head.
Refer
to the commentary of Ha Mim: 9 to 12; Araf 7:54 and Yunus 10:3 and Baqarah 2:255.
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(57:2)
His
is the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He gives life and causes death,
and He has power over everything.
هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ
وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ {57:3}
[Q57:3] Huwal Awwalu wal'Aakhiru
waz Zaahiru wal Baatinu wa huwa bikulli shai'in Aleem.
[Q57:3] He is the First and the Last and the Ascendant (over all) and the Knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things.
[Q57:3] He is the First and the Last and the Ascendant (over all) and the Knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things.
[Q57:3] Dialah Yang Awal dan Yang Akhir dan Yang Zahir serta Yang Batin dan
Dialah Yang Maha Mengetahui akan tiap-tiap sesuatu.
Note
how brief is the statement within only four of the divine attributes of the
Absolute, viz., the
External, the
Manifest and
the Hidden Existence
of the Reality of the All-Divine Being is presented.
These attributes in their true sense
cannot be applicable BUT TO an Absolute and Unlimited and All-Embracing One about Whom
nothing can be actually excepte negation of the ideas and the concepts which
are applicable to beings of composite nature.
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(57:3) He is the First and the Last, and
the Manifest and the Hidden, *3 and He has
knowledge of everything.
*3 That is, "When there was
nothing, He was, and when there will be nothing, He will be. He is the most
Manifest of all the manifest, for whatever manifests itself in the world, does S0
only by His attributes and His works and His light. And He is the Most Hidden
of all the hidden, for not only do the senses fail to percieve Him but the
intellect and thought and imagination also cannot attain to His essence and
reality. The best commentary in this regard are the words of a supplication of
the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) which Imam Ahmad,
Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Baihaqi have related on the authority of Hadrat Abu
Hurairah, and Hafiz Abu Ya'la Mosuli in his Musnad on the authority of Hadrat
'A'ishah:
"Antal Awwal, fa-laisa qablaka shai'in; wa Antal Akhir fa-laisa ba 'daka shai 'in; wa Antal Zahir, fa-laisa fauqaka shai in; wa Anfal Batin, fa laisa dunaka shai'in. " "You alone are the First; none is before You; You alone are the Last: none is after You; You alone are the Exalted none is above You; You alone are the Hidden: none is more hidden than You."
Here, the question arises: How does this accord with the immortality and eternal life of the dwellers of Paradise and Hell mentioned in the Qur'an when Allah alone is the Last and Eternal? Its answer has been provided by the Qur'an itself: "Everything is perishable except Allah Himself." (AI-Qasas: 88). In other words no creature is immortal in its personal capacity; if a thing exists or continuos to exist, it does so because Allah keeps it so, and can exist only by His letting it exist; otherwise in its own capacity everything is perishable except Allah, Immortality in Heaven and Hell will not be bestowed upon somebody because he is immortal by himself, but because AIIah will grant him eternal life. The same is true of the angels: they are not immortal by themselves. When Allah willed they came into existence, and will continue to exist only as long as Her wills.
"Antal Awwal, fa-laisa qablaka shai'in; wa Antal Akhir fa-laisa ba 'daka shai 'in; wa Antal Zahir, fa-laisa fauqaka shai in; wa Anfal Batin, fa laisa dunaka shai'in. " "You alone are the First; none is before You; You alone are the Last: none is after You; You alone are the Exalted none is above You; You alone are the Hidden: none is more hidden than You."
Here, the question arises: How does this accord with the immortality and eternal life of the dwellers of Paradise and Hell mentioned in the Qur'an when Allah alone is the Last and Eternal? Its answer has been provided by the Qur'an itself: "Everything is perishable except Allah Himself." (AI-Qasas: 88). In other words no creature is immortal in its personal capacity; if a thing exists or continuos to exist, it does so because Allah keeps it so, and can exist only by His letting it exist; otherwise in its own capacity everything is perishable except Allah, Immortality in Heaven and Hell will not be bestowed upon somebody because he is immortal by himself, but because AIIah will grant him eternal life. The same is true of the angels: they are not immortal by themselves. When Allah willed they came into existence, and will continue to exist only as long as Her wills.
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي
سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي
الْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ
فِيهَا ۖ وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
بَصِيرٌ {57:4}
[Q57:4] Huwal lazee khalaqas
samaawaati wal arda fee sittati ayyaamin summas tawaa 'alal 'Arsh; ya'lamu maa
yaliju filardi wa maa yakhruju minhaa wa maa yanzilu minas samaaa'i wa maa
ya'ruju feeha wa Huwa ma'akum ayna maa kuntum; waLLaahu bimaa ta'maloona Baseer.
[Q57:4] He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is firm in power; He knows that which goes deep down into the earth and that which comes forth out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up into it, and He is with you wherever you are; and ALLAH (SWT) sees what you do.
[Q57:4] He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is firm in power; He knows that which goes deep down into the earth and that which comes forth out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up into it, and He is with you wherever you are; and ALLAH (SWT) sees what you do.
[Q57:4] Dialah yang telah menciptakan langit dan bumi dalam enam masa, kemudian
Dia bersemayam di atas Arasy; Dia Mengetahui apa yang masuk ke bumi serta apa
yang keluar daripadanya dan apa yang diturunkan dari langit serta apa yang naik
padanya dan Dia tetap bersama-sama kamu di mana sahaja kamu berada dan ALLAH
(SwT) Maha Melihat akan apa yang kamu kerjakan.
THIS STATE OF THE CREATOR, BEING WITH HIS
CREATURES, IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, IS ANOTHER STATE WHICH INDICATES HIS ONLY
PRESENCE OF ALL-EMBRACING NATURE AND is a blow to all anthropomorphic conception of the god-head.
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(57:4) He it is Who created the heavens
and the earth in six days and then established Himself on the Throne. *4 He
knows all that enters the earth and all that comes forth from it, and all that
comes down from the heaven and all that goes up to it. *5 He
is with you wherever you are. *6 Allah sees
all that you do.
*4 That is, He alone is the Creator
of the universe as well as Its Ruler. (For further explanation, see E.N.'s 41,
42 of AI-A'raf, E.N.4 of Yunus, E.N.'s 2 to 5 of Ar-Ra'd, E.N,'s 11 to 15 of Ha
Mim As-Sajdah).
*5 In other words, He is not only the Knower of the wholes but also of the parts. He knows each seed that goes under the layers of the soil, each leaf and bud that comes out of the soil, each rain-drop that falls from the sky, and each molecule of the vapour that ascends from the seas and lakes to the sky. He is aware of every seed Iying anywhere under the soil. That is how He causes it to split and sprout up and develop. He is aware of how much vapour has risen from each different place and where it has reached. That is how he collects it into cloud and distributes it and causes it to fall as rain in due measure on different place of the earth. The same is true of the details of everything that goes into the earth and comes out of it, and of everything that ascends to the sky and descends from it. If aII this were not comprehended by Allah in His knowledge, it would not be possible for Him to plan and order each thing separately and to regulate and control it in a wise manner.
*6 That is, "Nowhere are you outside Allah's knowledge, His power, His rule, His management and administration. Allah knows wherever you are, whether in the earth, or the air, or the water, or in a secret place. Your being alive there is by itself a proof that Allah is providing for you in that very place. If yow heart is beating, if your lungs are breathing, if yow hearing and yow sight arc functioning, it is only because all parts of yow body are working under Allah's rule. And if death comes to you at any place; it comes because Allah takes a decision to stop providing for you and to recall you from the world."
*5 In other words, He is not only the Knower of the wholes but also of the parts. He knows each seed that goes under the layers of the soil, each leaf and bud that comes out of the soil, each rain-drop that falls from the sky, and each molecule of the vapour that ascends from the seas and lakes to the sky. He is aware of every seed Iying anywhere under the soil. That is how He causes it to split and sprout up and develop. He is aware of how much vapour has risen from each different place and where it has reached. That is how he collects it into cloud and distributes it and causes it to fall as rain in due measure on different place of the earth. The same is true of the details of everything that goes into the earth and comes out of it, and of everything that ascends to the sky and descends from it. If aII this were not comprehended by Allah in His knowledge, it would not be possible for Him to plan and order each thing separately and to regulate and control it in a wise manner.
*6 That is, "Nowhere are you outside Allah's knowledge, His power, His rule, His management and administration. Allah knows wherever you are, whether in the earth, or the air, or the water, or in a secret place. Your being alive there is by itself a proof that Allah is providing for you in that very place. If yow heart is beating, if your lungs are breathing, if yow hearing and yow sight arc functioning, it is only because all parts of yow body are working under Allah's rule. And if death comes to you at any place; it comes because Allah takes a decision to stop providing for you and to recall you from the world."
لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ وَإِلَى
اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الْأُمُورُ {57:5}
[Q57:5] Lahoo mulkus samaawaati wal
ard; wa ilaL Laahi turja'ul umour.
[Q57:5] His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and to ALLAH (SWT) are (all) affairs returned.
[Q57:5] His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and to ALLAH (SWT) are (all) affairs returned.
[Q57:5] Dialah sahaja yang menguasai dan memiliki langit dan bumi dan kepada ALLAH
(SwT) jualah dikembalikan segala urusan.
(see commentary for verse 2)
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(57:5) His is the dominion of the
heavens and the earth, and to Him are all matters referred (for judgement).
يُولِجُ اللَّيْلَ فِي النَّهَارِ وَيُولِجُ
النَّهَارَ فِي اللَّيْلِ ۚ وَهُوَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ {57:6}
[Q57:6] Yoolijul laila fin
nahaari wa yoolijun nahaara fil lail; wa Huwa 'Aleemum bizaatis sudour.
[Q57:6] He causes the night to enter in upon the day, and causes the day to enter in upon the night, and He is Cognizant of what is in the hearts.
[Q57:6] He causes the night to enter in upon the day, and causes the day to enter in upon the night, and He is Cognizant of what is in the hearts.
[Q57:6] Dialah yang memasukkan waktu malam ke dalam waktu siang dan memasukkan
waktu siang ke dalam waktu malam (silih berganti) dan Dialah Yang Maha
Mengetahui akan segala (isi hati) yang terkandung di dalam dada.
(see commentary for verse 2)
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(57:6) He causes the night to pass into
the day, and causes the day to pass into the night, and He fully knows all that
is hidden in the breasts of people.
آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَأَنْفِقُوا مِمَّا
جَعَلَكُمْ مُسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ ۖ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَأَنْفَقُوا
لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ {57:7}
[Q57:7] Aaaminoo biLLaahi wa
Rasoolihee wa anfiqoo mimmaa ja'alakum mustakh lafeena feehi fallazeena aamanoo
minkum wa anfaqoo lahum ajrun kabeer.
[Q57:7] Believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His
Messenger, and spend out of what He has made you to be successors of; for those
of you who believe and spend shall have a great reward.
[Q57:7] Berimanlah kamu kepada ALLAH (SwT) dan RasulNya dan belanjakanlah (pada
jalan kebajikan) sebahagian dari harta benda (pemberian ALLAH (SwT) yang
dijadikannya kamu menguasainya sebagai wakil. Maka orang-orang yang beriman di
antara kamu serta mereka membelanjakan (sebahagian dari harta itu pada jalan ALLAH
(SwT); mereka tetap beroleh pahala yang besar.
Any intelligent student of the Holy Qur’an would not fail to note and appreciate Islam
associating alms or charity with the faith. In fact the
sincerity of the believer in Islam is proved by his attitude to his possessions in the material
world. ONE, WHO LOVES ALLAH (SWT),
WOULD SURRENDER HIMSELF WITH ALL HIS INTEREST, TO HIM. Refer to the
commentary of Baqarah
2:3, 177, 195, 215, 245, 254, 261 to 268, 270 to 273; Ali Imran 3:92, 134;
Ma-idah 5:55; Bara-at 9:34, 44 for spending in the cause of ALLAH (SWT).
Those who
inherit wealth must remember
that what came into their hands should have been spent in the cause of ALLAH
(SWT) by their ancestors, who by hoarding it have already earned the displeasure of ALLAH (SWT) AND NOW they must not follow into their fathers'
footsteps.
Imam Ali said:
"ALLAH
(SWT) told the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala
Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad): "Wealth is Mine. The possessor of it is
a trustee. The poor and the have-nots of this world are My family. Woe unto
those possessors of wealth who do not discharge their duty concerning My
trust."
THE GIFTS FROM ALLAH (SWT) ARE BOTH
PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL. CLOSE-FISTEDNESS IN EITHER FIELD IS PUNISHABLE.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:7) Believe in Allah and in His
Messenger *7 and
expend *8 of what He
has entrusted to you. *9 A great reward awaits those of
you who believe and spend their wealth. *10
*7 The addressees here are not the
non-Muslims, but, as is borne out by the whole subsequent discourse, the
Muslims who had affirmed the Faith and joined the ranks of the believers, but
were not fulfilling the demands of the Faith and conducting themselves as true
believers should. It is obvious that non-Muslims cannot be invited to
affirm the Faith and then immediately asked to subscribe generously to the
cause of Jihad for the sake of Allah, nor can they be told that whoever would
fight and spend his wealth in the cause of Allah before the victory, would
attain to a higher rank than him who would perform these services later, For,
when a non-Muslim is invited to the Faith, the preliminary demands of it only
are presented before him and not the-ultimate once, Therefore, in view of the
context, the meaning of saying "Believe in Allah and His messenger"
here would be: "O people, who profess to have affirmed the Faith and have
joined the ranks of the Muslims, believe in Allah and Messenger sincerely and
conduct yourselves as the true and sincere believers should. "
*8 Here, by spending is not implied spending on public welfare, but, as is clearly borne out by the words of verse 10, it implies subscribing to the cause of the war effort that was being waged at that time under the leadership of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) to uphold Islam against paganism. Two things, in particular, were such for which the Islamic Government at that time stood in great need of financial help. First, the war equipment; second, supporting and sustaining the oppressed Muslims, who, due to persecution by the disbelievers had emigrated, and were still emigrating, to Madinah from every corner of Arabia, The sincere Muslims were trying their best to render as much help as they could but meeting the entire expenses in this regard was much beyond their means and resources, and their this same spirit of sacrifice has been commended in vv. 10, 12, 18 and 19 below. But among the Muslims there were quite a number of well-to-do people, who were watching this struggle between Islam and paganism as mere spectators and had no feeling whatever that the faith they claimed to believe in imposed certain rights also on their life and wealth. This second kind of people are the addressees of this verse, They have been exhorted to believe sincerely, and to spend their wealth in the cause of Allah.
*9 This has two meanings and both are implied here. The first meaning is "The wealth that you possess is not, in fact, your personal property but has been givers to you by Allah. You are not its exclusive master and owner. Allah has given you proprietary right over it as His vicegerent. Therefore, you should have no hesitation in spending it in the service of the real Master. It is not for the vicegerent to withhold the Master's wealth from being spent for the Master's own sake." The second: "Neither has this wealth been with you since ever nor will it remain in your possession for ever, Yesterday it was in some other people's possession; then Allah made you their successor and entrusted it to you, A time will come when it will not remain with you but some other people will succeed you as its owners, Therefore, in this short-lived ownership, when you are its trustees, spend it in the cause of AIlah so that in the Hereafter You may be rewarded for it permanently and eternally. This same thing has been stated by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) in a Hadith. Tirmidhi relates that once a goat was slaughtered in the Holy Prophet's house and its flesh was given away to the poor. When he came to the house and asked: "What remains of the goat?" Hadrat `A'ishah replied: "Nothing but a shoulder." Thereupon the Holy Prophet remarked: "Nay, the whole goat but the shoulder" That is, "Whatever has been given away for the sake of Allah, has, in fact, been saved." According to another Hadith, a person asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what kind of charity brings the highest reward? He replied: That you should give away a thing in charity when you are hale and hearty: when you feel it could be saved and may like to invest it in the hope of earning more. Do not wait till death when you may say: Give this to so and so and that to so and so, for at that time the wealth has in any case to pass on to so and so. "(Bukhari, Muslim). According to still another Hadith, the Holy Prophet said: "Man says: `My wealth! My wealth!' whereas his own share in his wealth is no more than what he has eaten up, or worn away, or passed on in charity? Whatever remains will leave him and will be passed on to others." (Muslim)
*10 Here again, expending wealth in the cause of Jihad has been regarded as an essential demand of the Faith and a proof of one's sincerity in it, as if to say: "The true and sincere believer is he who does not shirk spending wealth on such an occasion."
*8 Here, by spending is not implied spending on public welfare, but, as is clearly borne out by the words of verse 10, it implies subscribing to the cause of the war effort that was being waged at that time under the leadership of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) to uphold Islam against paganism. Two things, in particular, were such for which the Islamic Government at that time stood in great need of financial help. First, the war equipment; second, supporting and sustaining the oppressed Muslims, who, due to persecution by the disbelievers had emigrated, and were still emigrating, to Madinah from every corner of Arabia, The sincere Muslims were trying their best to render as much help as they could but meeting the entire expenses in this regard was much beyond their means and resources, and their this same spirit of sacrifice has been commended in vv. 10, 12, 18 and 19 below. But among the Muslims there were quite a number of well-to-do people, who were watching this struggle between Islam and paganism as mere spectators and had no feeling whatever that the faith they claimed to believe in imposed certain rights also on their life and wealth. This second kind of people are the addressees of this verse, They have been exhorted to believe sincerely, and to spend their wealth in the cause of Allah.
*9 This has two meanings and both are implied here. The first meaning is "The wealth that you possess is not, in fact, your personal property but has been givers to you by Allah. You are not its exclusive master and owner. Allah has given you proprietary right over it as His vicegerent. Therefore, you should have no hesitation in spending it in the service of the real Master. It is not for the vicegerent to withhold the Master's wealth from being spent for the Master's own sake." The second: "Neither has this wealth been with you since ever nor will it remain in your possession for ever, Yesterday it was in some other people's possession; then Allah made you their successor and entrusted it to you, A time will come when it will not remain with you but some other people will succeed you as its owners, Therefore, in this short-lived ownership, when you are its trustees, spend it in the cause of AIlah so that in the Hereafter You may be rewarded for it permanently and eternally. This same thing has been stated by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) in a Hadith. Tirmidhi relates that once a goat was slaughtered in the Holy Prophet's house and its flesh was given away to the poor. When he came to the house and asked: "What remains of the goat?" Hadrat `A'ishah replied: "Nothing but a shoulder." Thereupon the Holy Prophet remarked: "Nay, the whole goat but the shoulder" That is, "Whatever has been given away for the sake of Allah, has, in fact, been saved." According to another Hadith, a person asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what kind of charity brings the highest reward? He replied: That you should give away a thing in charity when you are hale and hearty: when you feel it could be saved and may like to invest it in the hope of earning more. Do not wait till death when you may say: Give this to so and so and that to so and so, for at that time the wealth has in any case to pass on to so and so. "(Bukhari, Muslim). According to still another Hadith, the Holy Prophet said: "Man says: `My wealth! My wealth!' whereas his own share in his wealth is no more than what he has eaten up, or worn away, or passed on in charity? Whatever remains will leave him and will be passed on to others." (Muslim)
*10 Here again, expending wealth in the cause of Jihad has been regarded as an essential demand of the Faith and a proof of one's sincerity in it, as if to say: "The true and sincere believer is he who does not shirk spending wealth on such an occasion."
وَمَا لَكُمْ لَا تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ ۙ
وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ لِتُؤْمِنُوا بِرَبِّكُمْ وَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِيثَاقَكُمْ
إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ {8}
[Q57:8] Wa maa lakum laa
tu'minoona biLLaahi war Rasoolu yad'ookum lituu'minoo bi Rabbikum wa qad akhaza
meesaaqakum in kuntum mu’mineen.
[Q57:8] And what reason have you that you should not believe in ALLAH (SWT)? And the Messenger calls on you that you may believe in your Lord, and indeed He has made a covenant with you if you are believers.
[Q57:8] And what reason have you that you should not believe in ALLAH (SWT)? And the Messenger calls on you that you may believe in your Lord, and indeed He has made a covenant with you if you are believers.
[Q57:8] Dan mengapa kamu tidak beriman kepada ALLAH (SwT)? Sedang Rasulullah
mengajak kamu untuk beriman kepada Tuhan kamu dan ALLAH (SwT) telah mengambil
janji setia dari kamu (untuk beriman); jika kamu hendak beriman (maka telah
jelaslah dalil-dalilnya).
IN
THE LIGHT OF WHAT HAS BEEN STATED IN VERSES 1 TO 6 EVERY MAN MUST BELIEVE IN ALLAH (SWT) particularly
when He has sent the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala
Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) with the verses of the Quran and his life pattern (sunnah) in which ALLAH
(SWT)'s plan and purpose were unfolded, to
guide man to the right path.
© Some commentators say that the covenant refers to the promise taken by ALLAH (SWT) from every
soul in the spiritual realm that it would serve and worship Him alone.
There is also the implied covenant that he who
accepts the invitation of the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) to believe in the
gospel of unity will believe in ALLAH (SWT) and serve Him and His servants.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:8) How is it that you do not believe
in Allah when the Messenger calls you to believe in your Lord *11 and although he has taken a
covenant from you, *12 if indeed you are believers?
*11 That
is, "You are adopting this
unbelieving attitude and conduct at a time when the Messenger of Allah is
present among you, and you are receiving the invitation to the Faith not
through an indirect and remote means but directly through the Messenger of
Allah himself."
*12 Some commentators have taken this pledge to imply the pledge of service to Allah, which had been taken at the beginning of creation from the future offspring of Adam (peace be upon him), and some others take it for the pledge with which man has been naturally endowed to serve and obey Allah. But the truth is that it implies the conscious pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger that every Muslim makes to his Lord by the affirmation of the Faith. At another place in the Qur'an this same pledge has been referred to thus;
"Keep in mind the blessing Allah has bestowed upon you and do not forget the solemn covenant which He made with you (and which you confirmed), when you said: `We have heard and submitted.' Fear Allah for Allah knows the very secrets of the hearts," (AI-Ma'idah: 7)
Hadrat `Ubadah bin Samit relates: "The Holy Messenger of Allah (upon whom be His peace and blessings) had made us pledge that we would listen and obey both in sound health and in ill health; would spend in the cause of Allah both in prosperity and in adversity would enjoin the good and forbid the evil; would proclaim the truth for the sake of Allah and would not fear the blame of any one in this regard." (Musnad Ahmad)
*12 Some commentators have taken this pledge to imply the pledge of service to Allah, which had been taken at the beginning of creation from the future offspring of Adam (peace be upon him), and some others take it for the pledge with which man has been naturally endowed to serve and obey Allah. But the truth is that it implies the conscious pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger that every Muslim makes to his Lord by the affirmation of the Faith. At another place in the Qur'an this same pledge has been referred to thus;
"Keep in mind the blessing Allah has bestowed upon you and do not forget the solemn covenant which He made with you (and which you confirmed), when you said: `We have heard and submitted.' Fear Allah for Allah knows the very secrets of the hearts," (AI-Ma'idah: 7)
Hadrat `Ubadah bin Samit relates: "The Holy Messenger of Allah (upon whom be His peace and blessings) had made us pledge that we would listen and obey both in sound health and in ill health; would spend in the cause of Allah both in prosperity and in adversity would enjoin the good and forbid the evil; would proclaim the truth for the sake of Allah and would not fear the blame of any one in this regard." (Musnad Ahmad)
هُوَ الَّذِي يُنَزِّلُ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ آيَاتٍ
بَيِّنَاتٍ لِيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ
بِكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌ {9}
[Q57:9] Huwal lazee yunazzilu
'alaa 'abdiheee Aayaatim baiyinaatil liyukhrijakum minaz zulumaati ilan noor;
wa innaL Laaha bikum la Ra'oofur Raheem.
[Q57:9] He it is who sends down clear communications upon His servant, that he may bring you forth from utter darkness into light; and most surely ALLAH (SWT) is Kind, Merciful to you.
[Q57:9] He it is who sends down clear communications upon His servant, that he may bring you forth from utter darkness into light; and most surely ALLAH (SWT) is Kind, Merciful to you.
[Q57:9] Dialah yang menurunkan kepada hambaNya (Nabi Muhammad)
keterangan-keterangan Al-Quran yang terang nyata, kerana Dia hendak
mengeluarkan kamu dari gelap-gelita (kekufuran) kepada cahaya (iman) yang
terang-benderang dan (ingatlah) sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Maha Belas, lagi Maha
Mengasihani, terhadap kamu.
(see commentary for verse 8)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:9) He it is Who sends down Clear
Signs to His servant so as to bring you out from darkness into light. Surely
Allah is Most Kind and Most Compassionate to you.
وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلَّا تُنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا يَسْتَوِي مِنْكُمْ مَنْ
أَنْفَقَ مِنْ قَبْلِ الْفَتْحِ وَقَاتَلَ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِنَ الَّذِينَ
أَنْفَقُوا مِنْ بَعْدُ وَقَاتَلُوا ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ
وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ {10}
[Q57:10] Wa maa lakum allaa
tunfiqoo fee sabeeliL Laahi wa liLLaahi meeraasus samaawaati wal-ard; laa
yastawee minkum man anfaqa min qablil fat-hi wa qaatal; ulaaaika a'zamu
darajatam minal lazeena anfaqoo mim ba'du wa qaataloo; wa kullanw wa'adaLLaahul
husnaa; waLLaahu bimaa ta'maloona Khabeer.
[Q57:10] And what reason have you that you should not spend in ALLAH (SWT)'s way? And ALLAH (SWT)'s is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, not alike among you are those who spent before the victory and fought (and those who did not): they are more exalted in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards; and ALLAH (SWT) has promised good to all; and ALLAH (SWT) is Aware of what you do.
[Q57:10] And what reason have you that you should not spend in ALLAH (SWT)'s way? And ALLAH (SWT)'s is the inheritance of the heavens and the earth, not alike among you are those who spent before the victory and fought (and those who did not): they are more exalted in rank than those who spent and fought afterwards; and ALLAH (SWT) has promised good to all; and ALLAH (SWT) is Aware of what you do.
[Q57:10] Dan mengapa kamu tidak membelanjakan harta benda kamu pada jalan ALLAH
(SwT)? Padahal ALLAH (SwT) jualah yang mewarisi langit dan bumi (serta segala
isinya). Tidaklah sama di antara kamu, orang-orang yang membelanjakan hartanya
serta turut berperang sebelum kemenangan (Nabi menguasai Mekah). Mereka itu
lebih besar darjatnya daripada orang-orang yang membelanjakan hartanya serta
turut berperang sesudah itu dan tiap-tiap satu puak dari keduanya, ALLAH (SwT)
janjikan (balasan) yang sebaik-baiknya. Dan (ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) Maha
Mendalam PengetahuanNya akan apa yang kamu kerjakan.
Ë For spending in the cause
of ALLAH (SWT) refer to the commentary of verse 7.
Before the fall of Makka the Muslims were a very poor community, so those who
spent in the cause of ALLAH (SWT) in such days of distress are superior to those who
spent after the removal of poverty when economic prosperity was achieved.
µ It is a historical fact that the wealth of Khadijah Kubra inherited by Fatema
Zahra and her children was spent to feed not only the displaced muhajirs BUT also to finance the battles fought by the HOLY
PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa
ala ali Muhammad) to defend the small
community of Muslims.
As far as the fighting in the way of ALLAH (SWT) is
concerned none can be cited save Ali whose valour and courage won all the
battles fought by the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad).
Refer to the commentary of Ali Imran 3:13 and Anfal 8:5 (Badr); Ali
Imran 3:121 to 168 and Anfal 8:16 (Uhad); Bara-at 9:25 to 27 (Hunayn) Baqarah 2:214, 251 and Ahzab 9:1 to 3, 9 to 27 (Khandaq) and Fat-h 48:20 (Khaybar).
THERE IS NO SAHABI EQUAL TO ALI
IN THIS REGARD because, leave alone comparison, many of them used to run
away from the battlefields whenever odds were against the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), as stated in the commentary of above noted
verses.
The concluding words of the verse MEAN THAT ALLAH (SWT) ALWAYS AND SEES AS TO **WHAT
EVERYONE DOES IN HIS CAUSE AND **WHO STANDS FAST
WITH HIS APOSTLE MUHAMMAD (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA
MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD) TO THE LAST, AND **WHO DESERTS THE FAITH AND LEAVES AWAY THE RANKS OF THE
FAITHFUL.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:10) How is it that you do not expend
in the Way of Allah when to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and
the earth? *13 Those who spent their wealth and
took part in fighting before the Victory cannot be equated (with those who
spent their wealth and took part in fighting afterwards). They are higher in
rank than those who spent and fought afterwards. *14 But to each Allah has promised a
good reward. Allah is well aware of all that you do. *15
*13 This
has two meanings: (1) "Your
wealth is not going to stay with you for ever. One day you will leave it
behind; then Allah alone will inherit it. Thus the best thing would be that you
should spend it yourself in the cause of Allah so that your reward for it is
guaranteed with Allah. If you do not spend it yourself, it will in any case
return to Allah, but then you will not be entitled to any reward from
Him." (2) "You
should have no fear of indigence and poverty when you spend it in the cause of
Allah, because Allah for Whose sake you would spend your wealth, is the Owner
of aII the treasures of the heavens and the earth. He possessed not only what
He has bestowed on you today but has much more to bestow on you tomorrow."
This same thing bas been expressed at another place, thus "O Prophet,
say to there: `My Lord gives abundantly to whomever of His servants He wills
and sparingly to whomever He wills. Whatever you spend, He replenishes it by
other provisions: He is the best of Providers'." (Saba: 39)
*14 That is, "Although both are entitled to the reward, yet the former are necessarily higher in rank than the latter, for they faced greater risks for the sake of Allah in difficult circumstances, which the latter not. They spent their wealth at a time when there appeared no remote chance of victory that would compensate for their expenditure, and they fought the disbelieves at a critical tune when there was an ever present apprehension that the enemy might overpower and crush the followers of Islam completely." Mujahid, Qatadah and Zaid bin Aslam, from among the commentators, say that the word °victory" in this verso has been used for the Conquest of Makkah, and `Amir Sha'bi says that it refers to the Truce of Hudaibiyah. The former view has been adopted by most of the commentators, and in support of the latter this tradition from Hadrat Abu Sa'id Khudri is presented: "During the time when the Truce of Hudaibiyah was concluded, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said to us: `In the near future there will appear the people, whose deeds will make you look upon your own deeds as mean and trifling, but even if one of them possessed a mountain of gold and he expended all of it in the cause of Allah, he would not attain to your spending two pounds, or even one pound of it." (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduyah, Abu Nu'aim Isfahani). Further more, it is also supported by the Hadith which Imam Ahmad has related on the authority of Hadrat Anas. He says: "Once a dispute arose between Hadrat Khalid bin Walid and Hadrat `Abdur Rahman bin `Auf, in the course of which Hadrat Khalid said w Hadrat `Abdur Rahman: "You people assume your superiority over us on account of your past services. ` When this thing came to the Holy Prophet's notice, he said: `By God in whose hand is my life, even if you people spent gold equal (in weight) to Mount Uhud, or equal to other mountains, you would not attain to the deeds of these people." From this it is argued that in this verse "victory" refers to the Truce of Hudaibiyah, for Hadrat Khalid bin Walid had embraced Islam after this Truce and had participated in the Conquest of Makkah. However, whether "victory" in this particular case is taken to imply the Truce of Hudaibiyah or the Conquest of Makkah, in any case the verse does not mean that the distinction of the ranks is confined to this one victory alone, but as a general principle it shows that those who fight and spend in the cause of Islam at the time when disbelief and disbelievers appear to be dominant and Islam seems to have no remote chance of victory, are far superior in rank to those who make sacrifices after the conflict between Islam and paganism has been decided in favour of Islam."
*15 That is, "Allah does not bestow His favours blindly. He sees who has performed what deeds, under what kind of circumstances, and with what motive and then determines the rank and the reward of the deed of each person with full justice and awareness,"
*14 That is, "Although both are entitled to the reward, yet the former are necessarily higher in rank than the latter, for they faced greater risks for the sake of Allah in difficult circumstances, which the latter not. They spent their wealth at a time when there appeared no remote chance of victory that would compensate for their expenditure, and they fought the disbelieves at a critical tune when there was an ever present apprehension that the enemy might overpower and crush the followers of Islam completely." Mujahid, Qatadah and Zaid bin Aslam, from among the commentators, say that the word °victory" in this verso has been used for the Conquest of Makkah, and `Amir Sha'bi says that it refers to the Truce of Hudaibiyah. The former view has been adopted by most of the commentators, and in support of the latter this tradition from Hadrat Abu Sa'id Khudri is presented: "During the time when the Truce of Hudaibiyah was concluded, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said to us: `In the near future there will appear the people, whose deeds will make you look upon your own deeds as mean and trifling, but even if one of them possessed a mountain of gold and he expended all of it in the cause of Allah, he would not attain to your spending two pounds, or even one pound of it." (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduyah, Abu Nu'aim Isfahani). Further more, it is also supported by the Hadith which Imam Ahmad has related on the authority of Hadrat Anas. He says: "Once a dispute arose between Hadrat Khalid bin Walid and Hadrat `Abdur Rahman bin `Auf, in the course of which Hadrat Khalid said w Hadrat `Abdur Rahman: "You people assume your superiority over us on account of your past services. ` When this thing came to the Holy Prophet's notice, he said: `By God in whose hand is my life, even if you people spent gold equal (in weight) to Mount Uhud, or equal to other mountains, you would not attain to the deeds of these people." From this it is argued that in this verse "victory" refers to the Truce of Hudaibiyah, for Hadrat Khalid bin Walid had embraced Islam after this Truce and had participated in the Conquest of Makkah. However, whether "victory" in this particular case is taken to imply the Truce of Hudaibiyah or the Conquest of Makkah, in any case the verse does not mean that the distinction of the ranks is confined to this one victory alone, but as a general principle it shows that those who fight and spend in the cause of Islam at the time when disbelief and disbelievers appear to be dominant and Islam seems to have no remote chance of victory, are far superior in rank to those who make sacrifices after the conflict between Islam and paganism has been decided in favour of Islam."
*15 That is, "Allah does not bestow His favours blindly. He sees who has performed what deeds, under what kind of circumstances, and with what motive and then determines the rank and the reward of the deed of each person with full justice and awareness,"
SECTION 2
Charity, a goodly loan to ALLAH (SWT)
Those who do caharity, lend a goodly loan to ALLAH (SWT) ---The
believers are guided by the Divine Light---The plight of the disbelievers while
in suffering---Redoubled reward for the charitable and the painful chastisement
for the disbelievers.
مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا
فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ وَلَهُ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ {11}
[Q57:11] man zal lazee yuqriduL Laaha
qardan hasanan fa yudaa'ifahoo lahoo wa lahooo ajrun kareem.
[Q57:11] Who is there that will offer to ALLAH (SWT) a good gift so He will double it for him, and he shall have an excellent reward.
[Q57:11] Who is there that will offer to ALLAH (SWT) a good gift so He will double it for him, and he shall have an excellent reward.
[Q57:11] Siapakah orangnya yang mahu memberikan pinjaman kepada ALLAH (SwT),
sebagai pinjaman yang baik (ikhlas) supaya ALLAH (SwT) melipat-gandakan
balasannya? Dan (selain itu) dia akan beroleh pahala yang besar!
Refer
to the commentary of Baqarah 2:245 and Ma-idah 5:12 for the goodly loan. THE GOODLY LOAN TO ALLAH (SWT) IS
CHARITY. IT IS BOUND BY THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS
FOR ITS ACCEPTANCE:-
(i)
must have been earned through lawful means,
(ii)
must be free from harmfulness
(iii)
must be needed by the giver, not discarded or unusable, (see verse 2:245 & 5:12)
(iv)
must be given before death occurs because after death he is no longer in
need of any worldly possession,
(v)
must be given without strings attached, particularly not to promote self
interest and reputation,
(vi)
must be given to the most needy,
(vii)
must be given to please ALLAH (SWT), not for fame or show-off,
(viii)
must be given with the idea that whatever is given is very less.
Also
refer to verse
18 of this surah below.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:11) Who is it that will give Allah a
beautiful loan? A loan that Allah will repay after increasing it many times and
grant him a generous reward. *16
*16 How
Generous and Beneficent is Allah that if a man spends the wealth granted by
Himself in His way, He calls it a loan Himself, provided that it is a good
loan, that is, a loan which in given with a pure intention, without any selfish
motive of winning reputation and renown, or of doing favour to somebody, but
only for the sake of Allah's approval and to win His good-will and rewards.
Allah makes two promises in this regard: (1) That
He will repay it increasing it manifold; and (2) that
He will also give from Himself the best reward for it.
According to a Hadith reported by Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud, when this verse was revealed and the people heard it from the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace), Hadrat Abud-Dahdah Ansari asked: "O Messenger of Allah, does Allah want a loan from us? The Holy Prophet replied: Yes, O Abud-Dahdah, He said kindly show me your hand. The Holy Prophet extended his hand towards him. He took his hand in his own hand and said: I give away my garden in loan to my Lord." Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud says that the garden had 600 date-palms and his own house also in which his family lived- Saying this to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) he went straight back home, and calling out to his wife said: "Come out, O mother of Dahdah, I have loaned this garden to my Lord." She replied: "Dahdah's father, you have made a, good bargain!' and she immediately vacated and left the garden with her effects and children." (Ibn Abi Hatim). This incident throws light on the conduct of the sincere believers of that time, and from this one can also understand the kind of the "good loan" that Allah has promised to return increasing it manifold with a rich reward in addition.
According to a Hadith reported by Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud, when this verse was revealed and the people heard it from the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace), Hadrat Abud-Dahdah Ansari asked: "O Messenger of Allah, does Allah want a loan from us? The Holy Prophet replied: Yes, O Abud-Dahdah, He said kindly show me your hand. The Holy Prophet extended his hand towards him. He took his hand in his own hand and said: I give away my garden in loan to my Lord." Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud says that the garden had 600 date-palms and his own house also in which his family lived- Saying this to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) he went straight back home, and calling out to his wife said: "Come out, O mother of Dahdah, I have loaned this garden to my Lord." She replied: "Dahdah's father, you have made a, good bargain!' and she immediately vacated and left the garden with her effects and children." (Ibn Abi Hatim). This incident throws light on the conduct of the sincere believers of that time, and from this one can also understand the kind of the "good loan" that Allah has promised to return increasing it manifold with a rich reward in addition.
يَوْمَ تَرَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ
يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُمْ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَانِهِمْ بُشْرَاكُمُ الْيَوْمَ
جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ
الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ {12}
[Q57:12] Yawma taral mu'mineena
walmu'minaati yas'aa nooruhum baina aydeehim wa biaymaanihim bushraakumul yawma
jannaatun tajree min tahtihal anhaaru khaalideena feeha; zaalika huwal fawzul ‘azeem.
[Q57:12] On that day you will see the faithful men and the faithful women-- their light running before them and on their right hand-- good news for you today: gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, that is the grand achievement.
[Q57:12] On that day you will see the faithful men and the faithful women-- their light running before them and on their right hand-- good news for you today: gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein, that is the grand achievement.
[Q57:12] (Ingatlah) ketika engkau melihat (pada hari kiamat): Orang-orang yang
beriman, lelaki dan perempuan, cahaya (iman dan amal soleh) mereka bergerak
cepat di hadapan mereka dan di sebelah kanan mereka (semasa mereka berjalan,
serta dikatakan kepada mereka): Berita yang menggembirakan kamu pada hari ini,
(kamu akan beroleh) Syurga yang mengalir di bawahnya beberapa sungai, kekal
kamu di dalamnya; yang demikian itu adalah kemenangan yang besar.
ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT the light
of their faith and their good deeds will guide the righteous to their
destination.
î The light in the right hand mentioned is the
light of their good deeds, because as per Bani Israil 17:71 the blessed will receive their record in their
right hand.
î According to Araf 7:44; Hijr 15:46 and Jathiyah 45:30, they will be
admitted into the paradise which is the highest achievement.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:12) On that Day you will see
believing men and women that their light will be running before them and on
their right hands. *17 (They will be told): “A good
tiding to you today.” There shall be Gardens beneath which rivers flow; therein
they shall abide. That indeed is the great triumph.
*17 This
and the following verses show that the Light on the Day of Judgement will be
specifically meant for the righteous believers only. As for the disbelievers
and the hypocrites and the wicked people, they will be wandering about in the
darkness as they had been in the world. The light there will be the light of
righteous deeds. The sincerity of the faith and the piety of the character and
conduct will turn into light that will lend brightness to the personality of
the virtuous. The brighter the deed the more luminous will be his person, and
when he will walk towards Paradise, his light will be running forward before
him. The best explanation of it is Qatadah's mursal tradition in which he says;
"The Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) said:
"The light of some one will be so strong and sharp that it will be running
on before him equal to the distance between Madinah and `Aden, of another equal
to the distance between Madinah and San'a, and of another even less than that;
to much so that there will be a believer whose light will Dot extend beyond his
steps." (Ibn Jarir). In other words, the
intensity of the light of a person will be proportionate to the extent of the
good done and spread by him in the world, and the beams of his light will be
running on before him in the Hereafter extending as far as his good will have
extended in the world.
Here, a question may arise in the mind of the reader "One can understand the meaning of their light running on before the believers but what does their light running on only on their right hand mean? Will there be darkness on their left side? The answer is: When a man is walking with a light on his right hand, his left side also will be bright, though the fact of the matter is that the light will be on his right hand. This has been explained by the Hadith, which Hadrat Abu Dharr and Abu Darda' have reported, saying that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said: "I shall recognize the righteous people of my Ummah by their light which will be running on before them and on their right and on their left." Hakim, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduyah).
Here, a question may arise in the mind of the reader "One can understand the meaning of their light running on before the believers but what does their light running on only on their right hand mean? Will there be darkness on their left side? The answer is: When a man is walking with a light on his right hand, his left side also will be bright, though the fact of the matter is that the light will be on his right hand. This has been explained by the Hadith, which Hadrat Abu Dharr and Abu Darda' have reported, saying that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said: "I shall recognize the righteous people of my Ummah by their light which will be running on before them and on their right and on their left." Hakim, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduyah).
يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ
لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انْظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِكُمْ قِيلَ ارْجِعُوا
وَرَاءَكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُورًا فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بَابٌ
بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُ {13}
[Q57:13] Yawma yaqoolul munaa
fiqoona walmunaafiqaatu lillazeena aamanun zuroonaa naqtabis min noorikum
qeelarji'oo waraaa'akum faltamisoo nooran faduriba bainahum bisooril lahoo
baab, baatinuhoo feehir rahmatu wa zaahiruhoo min qibalihi-‘azaaab.
[Q57:13] On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for us, that we may have light from your light; it shall be said: Turn back and seek a light. Then separation would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment.
[Q57:13] On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for us, that we may have light from your light; it shall be said: Turn back and seek a light. Then separation would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment.
[Q57:13] (Ingatlah) semasa orang-orang munafik, lelaki dan perempuan (yang
sedang meraba-raba dalam gelap-gelita pada hari kiamat), berkata kepada
orang-orang yang beriman: Tunggulah kami, biarlah kami mengambil sedikit dari
cahaya kamu. (Lalu) dikatakan (kepada mereka secara mengejek-ejek): Baliklah
kamu ke belakang, kemudian carilah cahaya (di sana), serta diadakanlah di
antara mereka (yang beriman dan yang munafik itu) sebuah tembok yang mempunyai
pintu, di sebelah dalamnya mengandungi rahmat (Syurga dan nikmat) dan di
sebelah luarnya, dari situ terdapat (Neraka) dan azab seksa.
THE ILLUSTRATION GOES TO MEAN THAT ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT NONE WOULD HAVE THE LEAST RELIEF FROM THE OTHERS’
FAITH. IT WOULD
BE IN A MIXED GATHERING. THERE WILL BE BARRIER BETWEEN HELL AND HEAVEN.
While [1] THE BELIEVERS will
be admitted to see heavens through the entrance into the barrier, [2] THE HYPOCRITES will
be stationed with the barrier in front of them, barring their entrance to the
heavens with the hell-fire behind them.
Ø The light
was not given to the righteous there---THEY BROUGHT IT FROM THE
LIFE HERE. Hence Qur’an refers that running before
them---AND
Ø The hypocrites are said just to remember what they
did in this life and have from their own doings.
See verse
66:8. See commentary of Araf 7:44.
ON
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT [1] none shall carry the burden of another,
[2] nor any will
be able to rescue others as per Baqarah 2:48; Anam 6:165; BaniIsrail 17:15; Fatir 35:18;
Zumar 39:7 and Najm 53:38; BUT [3] those who are
given permission by ALLAH (SWT) will advocate and recommend whosoever they find
suitable for receiving mercy and forgiveness from ALLAH (SWT) as per Baqarah 2:255; Nisa 4:85; Yunus 10:3 Maryam 19:87; Ta Ha
20:109; Anbiya 21:28; Saba 34:23.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:13) On that Day the hypocrites, both
men and women, shall say to the believers: “Look at us that we may extract some
light from your light.” *18 They will be told: “Go back and
seek light for yourselves elsewhere.” Then a wall shall be erected between them
with a door in it. On the inside of it there will be mercy, and on the outside
of it there will be chastisement. *19
*18 It
means that when the believers will be going towards Paradise, the light will be
before them, and the hypocrites will be stumbling about in the darkness behind.
At that time they will call out to the believers, who lived with than together
in the same Muslim society in the world, saying: "Look back towards us
awhile so that we also may get some light."
*19 This means that the people of Paradise will enter it awhile this gate and the gate will then be closed. On one side of the gate there will be the blessings of Paradise and on the other the torment of Hell. For the hypocrites it will not be possible to cross the barrier that will stand between them and Paradise.
*19 This means that the people of Paradise will enter it awhile this gate and the gate will then be closed. On one side of the gate there will be the blessings of Paradise and on the other the torment of Hell. For the hypocrites it will not be possible to cross the barrier that will stand between them and Paradise.
يُنَادُونَهُمْ أَلَمْ نَكُنْ مَعَكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا
بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِنَّكُمْ فَتَنْتُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ وَارْتَبْتُمْ
وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الْأَمَانِيُّ حَتَّىٰ جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَغَرَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ
الْغَرُورُ {57:14}
[Q57:14] Yunaadoonahum alam nakum
ma'akum qaaloo balaa wa laakinnakum fatantum anfusakum wa tarabbastum wartabtum
wa gharratkumul amaaniyyu hatta jaaa'a amruL Laahi wa gharrakum biLLaahil
gharoor.
[Q57:14] They will cry out to them: Were we not with you? They shall say: Yea! But you caused yourselves to fall into temptation, and you waited and doubted, and vain desires deceived you till the threatened punishment of ALLAH (SWT) came, while the arch deceiver deceived you about ALLAH (SWT).
[Q57:14] They will cry out to them: Were we not with you? They shall say: Yea! But you caused yourselves to fall into temptation, and you waited and doubted, and vain desires deceived you till the threatened punishment of ALLAH (SWT) came, while the arch deceiver deceived you about ALLAH (SWT).
[Q57:14] (Pada saat itu) mereka (yang munafik) menyeru orang-orang yang beriman
(sambil berkata): Bukankah kami bercampur gaul dengan kamu (di dunia dahulu)?
Orang-orang yang beriman menjawab: Benar! Akan tetapi kamu telah membinasakan
diri kamu (dengan perbuatan munafik) dan kamu telah menunggu-nunggu (kebinasaan
umat Islam), dan kamu pula ragu-ragu (terhadap perkara-perkara agama) serta
kamu diperdayakan oleh angan-angan kosong (untuk mencapai maksud kamu), sehinggalah
datangnya (maut) yang ditetapkan oleh ALLAH (SwT) (kepada kamu) dan (selain
itu), kamu pula diperdayakan oleh bisikan Syaitan dengan (pengampunan) ALLAH
(SwT) (semata-mata dan melupakan azabNya).
The evil will refer to its association or
proximity with the good in the earthly life, BUT, as it [1] chose
temptation for itself, [2] used its power
to ruin the good, [3] doubted ALLAH
(SWT)'s very existence, [4] belied His
messengers and guides, [5] followed its
own lusts and [6] neglected reason and [7] truth
on the promptings of the ‘arch deceiver’ (Shaytan), death (amr) seized it,
there will be no accommodation available. It will be thrown into the eternal
punishment of burning fire.
PHYSICAL
COMPANIONSHIP, EVEN WITH THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI
MUHAMMAD), WILL BE OF NO AVAIL TO THE HYPOCRITES, DISBELIEVERS, AND EVILDOERS.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:14) The hypocrites will call out to
the believers: “Were we not with you?” *20 The
believers will reply: “Yes; but you allowed yourselves to succumb to
temptations, *21 and you wavered *22 and you remained in doubt *23 and false expectations deluded
you until Allah’s command came to pass, *24 and the
Deluder *25 deluded you concerning Allah.
*20 That
is, "Did we not live with you together in the same Muslim society? Did we
not affirm the Faith? Did we not offer the Prayers along with you and observe
the Fast and perform the Hajj and pay the Zakat? Did we not sit with you in
your assemblies and were we not bound in marriage ties and kinship with you?
Then, how is it that we have been separated from you today?"
*21 That is In spite of your claim to be Muslims, you never believed like true and sincere Muslims and remained suspended between belief and unbelief. You still had your interests attached to disbelief and the disbelievers and you never gave yourselves up wholly to Islam."
*22 Tarabbus (from which tarabbastum of the Text is derived) means to wait and tarry for an opportunity. When a person is unable to decide which of the two alternative ways he should choose but stands and waits to consider which way should be more favorable for him to follow, he is involved in tarabbus. The hypocrites, had adopted the same attitude during the critical time of the conflict between Islam and un-Islam. Neither were they siding with disbelief openly nor were spending their energy to support and help Islam with full conviction. They were sitting on the fence, waiting to set which party in the conflict became dominant, so that if it was Islam they may join it on the basis of their affimlation of the faith, and if it was unbelief they may side -with its supporters taking advantage of their neutral position in the conflict.
*23 This implies different kinds of doubts that a hypocrite suffers from, and the same also are the actual causes of his hypocrisy. He doubts the existence of God, the Prophethood of the Prophet, the Qur'an's being Allah's book, the Hereafter, its accountability, and its rewards and punishments, and he doubts whether the conflict between the Truth and falsehood is real, or a mere delusion; as for himself he considers the only truth to be that one should enjoy lift and its pleasures to the full, For unless a person is involved in such doubts he can never be a hypocrite.
*24 This can have two meanings: (1) "Until death came to him, you could not shed this delusion till the last moment"; and (2) "that Islam became dominant, while you looked on unconcerned."
*25 That is, Satan.
*21 That is In spite of your claim to be Muslims, you never believed like true and sincere Muslims and remained suspended between belief and unbelief. You still had your interests attached to disbelief and the disbelievers and you never gave yourselves up wholly to Islam."
*22 Tarabbus (from which tarabbastum of the Text is derived) means to wait and tarry for an opportunity. When a person is unable to decide which of the two alternative ways he should choose but stands and waits to consider which way should be more favorable for him to follow, he is involved in tarabbus. The hypocrites, had adopted the same attitude during the critical time of the conflict between Islam and un-Islam. Neither were they siding with disbelief openly nor were spending their energy to support and help Islam with full conviction. They were sitting on the fence, waiting to set which party in the conflict became dominant, so that if it was Islam they may join it on the basis of their affimlation of the faith, and if it was unbelief they may side -with its supporters taking advantage of their neutral position in the conflict.
*23 This implies different kinds of doubts that a hypocrite suffers from, and the same also are the actual causes of his hypocrisy. He doubts the existence of God, the Prophethood of the Prophet, the Qur'an's being Allah's book, the Hereafter, its accountability, and its rewards and punishments, and he doubts whether the conflict between the Truth and falsehood is real, or a mere delusion; as for himself he considers the only truth to be that one should enjoy lift and its pleasures to the full, For unless a person is involved in such doubts he can never be a hypocrite.
*24 This can have two meanings: (1) "Until death came to him, you could not shed this delusion till the last moment"; and (2) "that Islam became dominant, while you looked on unconcerned."
*25 That is, Satan.
فَالْيَوْمَ لَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْكُمْ فِدْيَةٌ وَلَا
مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۚ مَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ ۖ هِيَ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَبِئْسَ
الْمَصِيرُ {57:15}
[Q57:15] Fal Yawma laa yu'khazu
minkum fidyatunw wa laa minal lazeena kafaroo; maawaakumun Naaru hiya maw
laakum wa bi'sal maseer.
[Q57:15] So today ransom shall not be accepted from you nor from those who disbelieved; your abode is the fire; it is your friend and evil is the resort.
[Q57:15] So today ransom shall not be accepted from you nor from those who disbelieved; your abode is the fire; it is your friend and evil is the resort.
[Q57:15] Oleh itu, pada hari ini tidak diterima penebus diri dari kamu dan tidak
juga dari orang-orang kafir. Tempat tinggal kamu ialah Neraka, Nerakalah sahaja
penolong kamu dan itulah seburuk-buruk tempat kesudahan kamu!
(see commentary for verse 14)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:15) So no ransom shall be accepted
from you today, nor from those who disbelieved. *26 You are destined for the Fire.
That will be your guardian. *27 And that indeed is a grievous
destination.
*26 This
clearly shows that in the Hereafter the hypocrites will be doomed to the same
fate as the disbelievers.
*27 The words hiya maula kum (Hell is your maula) can have two meanings: (1) "That Hell is the only proper place for you"; and (2) "that you never took Allah as your maula (friend, patron) so that He may look after you; now Hell only is your maula; therefore, Hell now will look after you "
*27 The words hiya maula kum (Hell is your maula) can have two meanings: (1) "That Hell is the only proper place for you"; and (2) "that you never took Allah as your maula (friend, patron) so that He may look after you; now Hell only is your maula; therefore, Hell now will look after you "
أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ
قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا
كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ
فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ {57:16}
[Q57:16] Alam yaani lillazeena
aamanooo an takhsha'a quloo buhum lizikriL Laahi wa maa nazala minal haqqi wa
laa yakoonoo kallazeena ootul Kitaaba min qablu fataala 'alaihimul amadu
faqasat quloobuhum wa kaseerum minhum faasiqoun.
[Q57:16] Has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should be humble for the remembrance of ALLAH (SWT) and what has come down of the truth? And that they should not be like those who were given the Book before, but the time became prolonged to them, so their hearts hardened, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:16] Has not the time yet come for those who believe that their hearts should be humble for the remembrance of ALLAH (SWT) and what has come down of the truth? And that they should not be like those who were given the Book before, but the time became prolonged to them, so their hearts hardened, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:16] Belum sampaikah lagi masanya bagi orang-orang yang beriman, untuk
khusyuk hati mereka mematuhi peringatan dan pengajaran ALLAH (SwT) serta
mematuhi kebenaran (Al-Quran) yang diturunkan (kepada mereka)? Dan janganlah
pula mereka menjadi seperti orang-orang yang telah diberikan Kitab sebelum
mereka, setelah orang-orang itu melalui masa yang lanjut maka hati mereka
menjadi keras dan banyak di antaranya orang-orang yang fasik (derhaka).
##### According
to Ibne-Abbas, 13 years, and according to Ibne Mas’ood 14 years after the revelation of the Holy Qur’an had started
his mission, this
verse was revealed about the companions of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad).
IT COULD BE EASILY JUDGED HOW DEEP FAITH HAD GONE
INTO THEIR HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE. THE [#] HEARTS WERE NOT HUMBLED AND THE [#] DECLARATION OF THE FAITH WAS ONLY VERBAL.
õ The reference is to the
Jews who became arrogant, corrupted the revealed Law given to them, had become
hard-hearted, subverted justice, the faith and its practice and got themselves
divided into sects and involved into disputes among themselves.
õ Compares the believers
who hearts had not yielded to the faith though the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala
Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) was still alive.
¥ BUT THE
FOLLOWERS OF THE ANCIENT SCRIPTURES WHO’S HEARTS HAD BEEN HARDENED BY THE
LENGTH OF TIME.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:16) Is the time not come that the
hearts of the believers should be humbled to Allah’s remembrance and to the Truth
that He has revealed, *28 and that they should not be like
those who were vouchsafed the Book and then a long time elapsed so that their
hearts were hardened? A great many of them are now evil-doers. *29
*28 Here
again, the word "believers" is general, but it does not apply to alI
the Muslims; it refers to those particular Muslims who had professed the faith
verbally and joined the followers of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's
peace) though their hearts were devoid of any concern for Islam. They were
watching that the pagan forces were bent upon wiping out Islam; they had
encircled the handful of Muslims from all sides, who were being made the target
of persecution everywhere in Arabia, and thus oppressed the Muslims were
fleeing to Madinah empty-handed for refuge; the sincere Muslims were extending
to them whatever economic help they could; yet they were, at the same time,
engaged in a life and-death struggle with the enemy. But, in spite of this,
these people who professed the faith were not being moved at all. So, here,
they are being put to shame as if to say: "What kind of believers are you?
At this critical juncture for Islam, is it not yet time that your hearts should
melt at the mention of AIlah and be filled with the spirit of sacrifice for the
sake of His Religion? Can the believers be such that they may 'have no feeling
for Islam when it is confronted with hard times, that they may sit un-concerned
when they are summoned in the name of Allah, that the hearts may neither
tremble out of fear of Allah nor bow to His Command when He Himself should make
an appeal for contributions in the Book sent down by Him, declaring it as a
loan on Himself and plainly telling that the one who would regard his wealth as
dearer than the cause of the true Faith would be a hypocrite and not a
believer?"
*29 That is, "The Jews and Christians seem to have lost fervour and degenerated spiritually and morally hundreds of years after the passing away of their Prophets; but have you already become so depraved that while the Prophet is still present among you, and the Book of God is still being revealed, and not much time has passed over you since you affirmed the Faith, and you have started behaving like the Jews and Christians who have reached this state through centuries of playing and tempering with the Book of Allah and its verses?"
*29 That is, "The Jews and Christians seem to have lost fervour and degenerated spiritually and morally hundreds of years after the passing away of their Prophets; but have you already become so depraved that while the Prophet is still present among you, and the Book of God is still being revealed, and not much time has passed over you since you affirmed the Faith, and you have started behaving like the Jews and Christians who have reached this state through centuries of playing and tempering with the Book of Allah and its verses?"
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ
مَوْتِهَا ۚ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ {57:17}
[Q57:17] i'lamooo annaL Laaha
yuhyil arda ba'da mawtihaa; qad baiyannaa lakumul Aayaati la'allakum ta’qiloon.
[Q57:17] Know that ALLAH (SWT) gives life to the earth after its death; indeed, We have made the communications clear to you that you may understand.
[Q57:17] Know that ALLAH (SWT) gives life to the earth after its death; indeed, We have made the communications clear to you that you may understand.
[Q57:17] Ketahuilah kamu, bahawa ALLAH (SwT) menghidupkan bumi sesudah matinya;
sesungguhnya Kami telah menjelaskan kepada kamu keterangan-keterangan dan
bukti, supaya kamu memahaminya.
ALLAH (SWT) gives life to the earth after its death. There
is a sign in it to demonstrate that in a similar way He will bring to life the dead on the Day of Resurrection.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:17) Know well that Allah revives the
earth after it becomes lifeless. We have clearly shown Our Signs to you,
perchance you will use your reason. *30
*30 The
point contained here should be well understood, At several places in the Qur'an
the Prophethood and the revelation of the Book have been compared to the
rainfall, for the effects produced by them on humanity are precisely like those
produced by rain on the soil. Just as the dead earth swells and blooms as soon -as
it receives a shower of rain, so it is with the dead humanity in a country
where a Prophet is raised through Allah's mercy and Revelation begins to be
sent down to him. It starts revealing those virtues which lay hidden and
suppressed for ages; it starts manifesting from within itself excellent morals
and good deeds and virtues of every kind. Allusion has been made to this truth
here so as to open the eyes of the Muslims of the weak faith and to make them
ponder their state. The way humanity was being reformed by the blessed rainfall
of the Prophethood and Revelation and the way it was being richly and
generously blessed in every way was not a remote story for them. They were
observing it themselves in the pious and righteous society of the Companions and
experiencing it day and night around them. Polytheism with all its evils was
present before them while the virtues and good things emanating from Islam also
were blooming and flourishing before their eyes. Therefore, they did not need
to be told any details. An allusion was enough to the effect, "The signs
of how Allah grants life to the dead earth through the rainfall of His mercy
have been shown to you; now you should use your common sense and consider it
for yourself as to what benefit you arc deriving from this blessing.
"
إِنَّ الْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَالْمُصَّدِّقَاتِ
وَأَقْرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ
كَرِيمٌ {57:18}
[Q57:18] Innal mussaddiqeena wal mussaddiqaati wa aqraduL Laaha
qardan hassanany yudaa'afu lahum wa lahum ajrun kareem.
[Q57:18] Surely (as for) the charitable men and the charitable women and (those who) set apart for ALLAH (SWT) a goodly portion, it shall be doubled for them and they shall have a noble reward.
[Q57:18] Surely (as for) the charitable men and the charitable women and (those who) set apart for ALLAH (SWT) a goodly portion, it shall be doubled for them and they shall have a noble reward.
[Q57:18] Sesungguhnya orang-orang lelaki yang bersedekah dan orang-orang
perempuan yang bersedekah, serta mereka memberikan pinjaman kepada ALLAH (SwT),
sebagai pinjaman yang baik (ikhlas), akan digandakan balasannya (dengan
berganda-ganda banyaknya), dan mereka pula akan beroleh pahala yang
mulia.
Refer
to the commentary of verse 11 and
other references mentioned therein.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:18) Verily those who give alms *31 – be they men
or women,– and give Allah a beautiful loan shall be repaid after increasing it
many times; and theirs shall be a generous reward.
*(31) Sadagah, as an Islamic term, is the
charity given sincerely and with a pure intention only with a view to seek
Allah's good pleasure without making any show of it, and without the intention
of doing any favour to the recipient. The donor should give it only because
he has a true feeling of the service of his Lord. The word is derived from sidq;
THEREFORE, SADAQAT (SINCERITY) IS OF ITS ESSENCE. No charity and no expending
of the wealth can be a sadaqah unless it springs from a sincere and pure motive
of spending only for the sake of Allah.
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُولَٰئِكَ
هُمُ الصِّدِّيقُونَ ۖ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ
وَنُورُهُمْ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ
الْجَحِيمِ {57:19}
[Q57:19] Wallazeena aamanoo biLLaahi
wa Rusuliheee ulaaa'ika humus siddeeqoona wash shuhadaaa'u 'inda Rabbihim lahum
ajruhum wa nooruhum wallazeena kafaroo wa kazzaboo bi aayaatinaaa ulaaaika As
haabul Jaheem.
[Q57:19] And (as for) those who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His messengers, these it is that are the truthful and the faithful ones in the sight of their Lord: they shall have their reward and their light, and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject Our communications, these are the inmates of the hell.
[Q57:19] And (as for) those who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His messengers, these it is that are the truthful and the faithful ones in the sight of their Lord: they shall have their reward and their light, and (as for) those who disbelieve and reject Our communications, these are the inmates of the hell.
[Q57:19] Dan orang-orang yang beriman kepada ALLAH (SwT) dan Rasul-rasulNya,
merekalah pada sisi (hukum) Tuhan mereka, (orang-orang yang mempunyai kedudukan
yang tinggi darjatnya) seperti orang-orang "Siddiqiin" dan
orang-orang yang mati Syahid; mereka akan beroleh pahala dan cahaya orang-orang
Siddiqiin dan orang-orang yang mati syahid itu dan (sebaliknya) orang yang
kufur ingkar serta mendustakan ayat-ayat keterangan Kami, merekalah ahli
Neraka.
THE
PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED INTO GROUPS --- [1] the one consisting of those who
believe in ALLAH (SWT) and the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) --- AND [2] the others who disbelieve and belie the signs from ALLAH
(SWT). The division though very brief BUT very comprehensive.
Ë NONE IS A BELIEVER, IF HE BELIEVES ONLY IN ALLAH (SWT) ---SINCE HIS FAITH IS COMPLETED ONLY BY THE BELIEF IN THE TRUTHFULNESS
OF THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD). BY SAYING ‘LA ILAHA
ILLALLAH (SWT)’. THERE IS NO ALLAH (SWT) BUT ALLAH (SWT), I.E.,
DECLARING THE FAITH AUTOMATICALLY DEMANDS THE FAITH IN THE TRUTHFULNESS OF HIS
APOSTLE, I.E., “MUHAMMADUR RASULULLAH’.
MUHAMMAD IS THE APOSTLE OF ALLAH (SWT). THE BELIEF IN THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD), IS ESSENTIAL, also from the point of
view that faith in ALLAH (SWT), many
others also had, BUT the faith was adulterated and corrupted by all sorts of [#] polytheistic
pagan AND [*] heathen
dualism and trinity---viz., [#] believing in, ALLAH (SWT) incarnating
Himself in the mortals ---ALLAH (SWT) taking material shape ---AND [*] ALLAH
(SWT) getting divided into three and at the same time being one, which
phenomenon though unable to stand any reasoning, is blindly accepted.
BY ACCEPTING THE APOSTLESHIP OF THE HOLY PROPHET
MUHAMMAD (ALLAHUMA
SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD),
THE FAITH IN THE ABSOLUTE UNITY OF ALLAH (SWT) IS ESTABLISHED.
Faith in the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali
Muhammad) could be
perfect and be acceptable when the believer submits himself in devotion to him
and remains faithful to him in trials as well as in prosperity AND NOT running away deserting him in
times of danger and risks and yet claiming closest attachment to him at times
of security and prosperity.
THE
BELIEVERS IN ALLAH (SWT) AND HIS APOSTLE WOULD BE ‘SIDDEEQOUN.’
THE TRUTHFUL ONES AND ‘SHUHADA’ THE
WITNESSES TO THE TRUTH. WHEN A QUALITY IS MENTIONED INDEFINITELY THE DEGREE OF
IT WOULD BE THE PERFECT ONE.
ß ‘Siddeeq’
is an intensive degree of the love of truth and
even that to the maximum extent of it. A ‘Siddeeq’
would naturally and essentially be one **who never in his life
must have uttered any falsehood OR **be untrue to anyone. THE GREATEST FALSEHOOD IS POLYTHEISM.
EXCEPTING ALI,
î
There was none among the companions of the HOLY
PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali
Muhammad), the most of whose life had not been spent in worshipping false gods and
false notions.
î
Those who had been lost to falsehood for the
greater part of their lives and even after their embracing the truth, i.e.,
Islam, doubted about the truthfulness of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) at Hudaibiyya; AND
î
Had been repeatedly deserting him on all occasions
of terrible dangers and risks, ……
Could never sensibly be counted among the
‘truthful ones’ and more so as ‘the Witnesses of Truth’.
THE ONE WHO
FROM THE BEGINNING OF HIS LIFE TO THE END OF IT, WAS THE STRONGEST IN FAITH ‘SHUHADA’
AND PIETY WAS, ALI.
ß In regard to being witness to the truth, those who
prove the Truth by their own existence with it, i.e.,
î
By the effacement of their moral individuality into
that of Eternal Absolute Universal One after which their existence becomes the
living proof or the clear evidence or a Witness to the existence of the Really
Existent One.
î
Who’s Life, Strength, Knowledge, and the various
other qualities became proof of the attributes of the All-Divine Perfect One.
î
Since the martyrs get their mortal body controlled
by the excellence of their spirit and allow it to be annihilated in the way of ALLAH
(SWT), they are called ‘Shuhada’ for their very
act of effacing themselves with their faith in ALLAH (SWT) proves, that without
the unconquerable conviction about the Ever-living Existence of the Omnipotent,
Omnipresent and Omniscient Being, none would give up everything of his own.
The
knowledge about those who lived in the life-time of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad
wa ala ali Muhammad), referred to
here, in this verse, who possessed these qualities as the purified ones, by ALLAH
(SWT) Himself, is
also essential for every seeker of Truth, for one’s own guidance to adopt such
beings as the ideal or the models in the day to day practical life on which
alone depends the proof of one’s faith and faithfulness essential to earn
salvation.
Ì The ideal of
Muslim life on earth is given in this verse.
”Say (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad)
verily my prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are (all) for ALLAH
(SWT), the Lord of the Worlds.” Verse
6:162.
None
can ever prevent a single one in the whole Islamic world be compared to Ali, Fatema, Hasan and Husain
and the Nine Holy Imams---
1.
Ali-ibnul-Husain-Az-Zainulabideen,
2.
Muhammad
ibne Ali-Al-Baquir,
3.
Jafar
ibne Muhammad As-Sadiq,
4.
Musa-ibne
Jafar Al-Kazim,
5.
Ali
ibne Musa Ar-Riza,
6.
Muhammad
ibne Ali-At-Taqi,
7.
Ali
ibne Muhammad An-Naqi,
8.
Hasan-ibne
Ali Al-Askari and
9.
Muhammad
ibne Hasan Al-Mahdi.
All
the above holy ones who constitute the Ahlul Bait and the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) whom ALLAH (SWT) Himself
purified (verse 33:33) and who were presented by the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma
sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) as his own (verse 3:60). WHO LIVED AS THE PERFECT MODELS OF
FAITH AND ITS CORRECT PRACTICE, EVERY ONE OF WHOM LIVED FOR ALLAH (SWT) AND THE
GODLINESS AND DIED FOR HIM AS MARTYRS?
THUS THE REFERENCE
IS TO THOSE HOLY ONES OF ALLAH (SWT) WHO ARE DIRECTLY IMPLIED IN THIS VERSE.
Ü Ayyashi narrates that once a
disciple of Imam Jafar bin Muhammad as Sadiq requested
him to pray to ALLAH (SWT) to bless him with martyrdom. The Imam said: "Every true
believer is a martyr." Then he recited this verse. He further
observed: "Whoever recognises the true
vicegerents of ALLAH (SWT) and sincerely expects that ultimately they shall
take charge of the kingdom of ALLAH (SWT), is like him who fought with the HOLY
PROPHET (ALLAHuma
sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) and gave his life in the
cause of ALLAH (SWT) in the presence of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad)."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:19) In Allah’s sight only those who
truly believe in Allah and His Messengers *32 are utterly
truthful *33 and true bearers of witness (for
the sake of Allah). *34 For them is their reward and
their light. *35 As for those who gave the lie to
Our Signs, they are the people of Hell.
*32 Here,
the believers imply those people of true faith whose attitude and conduct was
absolutely different from that of the people of weak faith and the false
claimants to Islam, and who were at that time vying with one another in making
monetary sacrifices and were struggling with their lives in the cause of the
true Faith.
*33 Siddiq (most truthful) is the superlative from sidq; however, one should clearly understand that sidq is not merely a statement conforming to the truth, but a statement which is not only true in itself but its Bayer also upholds it as a truth sincerely. For instance, if a person says that Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) is Allah's Messenger, this is by itself precisely according to 'the truth for the Holy Prophet is truly Allah's Messenger, but the person would be true in his statement only if he also believed and upheld him as Allah's Messenger. Therefore, a thing would be sidq if what was said was in conformity with the truth as well as with the Bayer's own conscience. Likewise, sidq also contains the sense of faithfulness, sincerity and practical righteousness. Sadiq-ul-wa d would be the person who kept his promise practically, who never broke it. Sadiq (true friend) would be he who did full justice to friendship in the time of need, and who never proved faithless to any, body in any way. In war, sadiq fil-qital (true soldier) would be the one who fought with all his heart and body and established his valour practically. Thus, sidq in essence implies that one's deed should fully conform to one's word. The one who acts contrary to his word cannot be Sadiq. On that very basis, the one who preaches one thing and acts contrary to it, is regarded as a false preacher. With this meaning of sidq and sadiq in view one can fully appreciate the meaning of the superlative sadiq. It would inevitably imply a righteous person who is free from every impurity, who has never swerved from the truth and piety, who could never be expected to say anything against his conscience who believed in whatever he believed with full sincerity and remained faithful to it under all circumstances, and who has practically proved that he is a true believer in the full sense of the word. (For further explanation, see E.N. 99 of An-Nisa).
*34 The early commentators have differed about the explanation of this verse. Ibn 'Abbas, Masruq, Dahhak, Muqatil bin Hayyan and others say that the previous sentence ended with humssiddiqun; and wash-shuhada'-u `inda Rabbihim la-hum ajru-hum wa nuru-hum is a separate and independent sentence. ACCORDING TO THIS EXPLANATION, the translation of the sentence would be: "Those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, are indeed the most truthful (as siddiqun); as for the true witnesses (ash-shuhada ), they will have their reward and their light from their Lord. " Contrary to this, Mujahid and several other commentators regard this whole expression as one sentence. According to them the translation would be that which we have given in the text above. The two commentaries differ because the first group has taken the word Shahid in the meaning of the martyr in the way of Allah and seeing that every believer is not a shahid in this sense, has taken wash-shuhada'-u `inda Rabbi-him as a separate sentence. But the other group takes shahid in the meaning of the witness of the Truth, and not in the sense of the martyr, and in this sense every believer is a shahid. We are of the opinion that this second commentary is preferable and this is
"Thus have We made you a community of the 'Golden Mean' so that you may be witnesses in regard to mankind and the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you." (AI-Baqarah; 143).
"AIIah had called you "Muslims" before this and has called you (by the same name) in this (Qur'an) also so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind." (Al-Hajj: 78)
In a Hadith, Hadrat Bara' bin 'Azib has related that he heard the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) say: “The believers of my Ummah are shahid (the witnesses); then he recited this very verse of Surah AI-Hadid." (Ibn Jarir). Ibn Marduyah has related on the authority of Hadrat Abu ad-Darda' the tradition that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said: "The one who emigrates from a land in order to save his life and his faith from temptation, is recorded as a Siddiq (most truthful), and when he dies, AIIah takes his soul as a shahid (true witness). Then aftar this, the Holy Prophet recited this very verse." (For 'the explanation of this meaning of shahadat, see E:N. 144 of AI-Baqarah, E.N 99 of An-Nisa', E.N. 82 of Al-Ahzab).
*35 That is, "Each one of them will receive the reward and the light of the measure and degree he deserves. They will all get their own respective rewards and lights, and their shares have already been reserved for them,"
*33 Siddiq (most truthful) is the superlative from sidq; however, one should clearly understand that sidq is not merely a statement conforming to the truth, but a statement which is not only true in itself but its Bayer also upholds it as a truth sincerely. For instance, if a person says that Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) is Allah's Messenger, this is by itself precisely according to 'the truth for the Holy Prophet is truly Allah's Messenger, but the person would be true in his statement only if he also believed and upheld him as Allah's Messenger. Therefore, a thing would be sidq if what was said was in conformity with the truth as well as with the Bayer's own conscience. Likewise, sidq also contains the sense of faithfulness, sincerity and practical righteousness. Sadiq-ul-wa d would be the person who kept his promise practically, who never broke it. Sadiq (true friend) would be he who did full justice to friendship in the time of need, and who never proved faithless to any, body in any way. In war, sadiq fil-qital (true soldier) would be the one who fought with all his heart and body and established his valour practically. Thus, sidq in essence implies that one's deed should fully conform to one's word. The one who acts contrary to his word cannot be Sadiq. On that very basis, the one who preaches one thing and acts contrary to it, is regarded as a false preacher. With this meaning of sidq and sadiq in view one can fully appreciate the meaning of the superlative sadiq. It would inevitably imply a righteous person who is free from every impurity, who has never swerved from the truth and piety, who could never be expected to say anything against his conscience who believed in whatever he believed with full sincerity and remained faithful to it under all circumstances, and who has practically proved that he is a true believer in the full sense of the word. (For further explanation, see E.N. 99 of An-Nisa).
*34 The early commentators have differed about the explanation of this verse. Ibn 'Abbas, Masruq, Dahhak, Muqatil bin Hayyan and others say that the previous sentence ended with humssiddiqun; and wash-shuhada'-u `inda Rabbihim la-hum ajru-hum wa nuru-hum is a separate and independent sentence. ACCORDING TO THIS EXPLANATION, the translation of the sentence would be: "Those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, are indeed the most truthful (as siddiqun); as for the true witnesses (ash-shuhada ), they will have their reward and their light from their Lord. " Contrary to this, Mujahid and several other commentators regard this whole expression as one sentence. According to them the translation would be that which we have given in the text above. The two commentaries differ because the first group has taken the word Shahid in the meaning of the martyr in the way of Allah and seeing that every believer is not a shahid in this sense, has taken wash-shuhada'-u `inda Rabbi-him as a separate sentence. But the other group takes shahid in the meaning of the witness of the Truth, and not in the sense of the martyr, and in this sense every believer is a shahid. We are of the opinion that this second commentary is preferable and this is
"Thus have We made you a community of the 'Golden Mean' so that you may be witnesses in regard to mankind and the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you." (AI-Baqarah; 143).
"AIIah had called you "Muslims" before this and has called you (by the same name) in this (Qur'an) also so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind." (Al-Hajj: 78)
In a Hadith, Hadrat Bara' bin 'Azib has related that he heard the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) say: “The believers of my Ummah are shahid (the witnesses); then he recited this very verse of Surah AI-Hadid." (Ibn Jarir). Ibn Marduyah has related on the authority of Hadrat Abu ad-Darda' the tradition that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) said: "The one who emigrates from a land in order to save his life and his faith from temptation, is recorded as a Siddiq (most truthful), and when he dies, AIIah takes his soul as a shahid (true witness). Then aftar this, the Holy Prophet recited this very verse." (For 'the explanation of this meaning of shahadat, see E:N. 144 of AI-Baqarah, E.N 99 of An-Nisa', E.N. 82 of Al-Ahzab).
*35 That is, "Each one of them will receive the reward and the light of the measure and degree he deserves. They will all get their own respective rewards and lights, and their shares have already been reserved for them,"
SECTION
3
The
present life is only a sport and a play
The present life
is nothing but a sport and a play vying in the multiplication of wealth and issues---To
hasten seeking forgiveness---Niggardliness condemned---Prophets were sent with
Books and Balance to establish justice on earth.
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ
وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ
وَالْأَوْلَادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ
فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا ۖ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ
وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ ۚ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا
مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ {57:20}
[Q57:20] i'lamooo annamal hayaa
tud dunyaa la'ibunw wa lahwunw wa zeenatunw wa takaasurun bainakum wa takaasurn
fil amwaali wal awlaad, kamasali ghaisin a'jabal kuffaara nabaatuhoo summa
yaheeju fataraahu musfaaran summa yakoonu hutaamaa; wa fil aakhirati 'azaabun
shadeedunw wa magh firatum minaL Laahi wa ridwaan; wa mal haiyaa tuddun yaaa
illaa mataa'ul gurour?
[Q57:20] Know that this world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement and (also) forgiveness from ALLAH (SWT) and (His) pleasure; and this world's life is naught but means of deception.
[Q57:20] Know that this world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement and (also) forgiveness from ALLAH (SWT) and (His) pleasure; and this world's life is naught but means of deception.
[Q57:20] Ketahuilah bahawa (yang dikatakan) kehidupan dunia itu tidak lain
hanyalah (bawaan hidup yang berupa semata-mata) permainan dan hiburan (yang
melalaikan) serta perhiasan (yang mengurang), juga (bawaan hidup yang
bertujuan) bermegah-megah di antara kamu (dengan kelebihan, kekuatan dan bangsa
keturunan) serta berlumba-lumba membanyakkan harta benda dan anak pinak;
(semuanya itu terhad waktunya) samalah seperti hujan yang (menumbuhkan tanaman
yang menghijau subur) menjadikan penanamnya suka dan tertarik hati kepada
kesuburannya, kemudian tanaman itu bergerak segar (ke suatu masa yang
tertentu), selepas itu engkau melihatnya berupa kuning; Akhirnya ia menjadi
hancur bersepai dan (hendaklah diketahui lagi, bahawa) di akhirat ada azab yang
berat (di sediakan bagi golongan yang hanya mengutamakan kehidupan dunia itu)
dan (ada pula) keampunan besar serta keredaan dari ALLAH (SwT) (disediakan bagi
orang-orang yang mengutamakan akhirat) dan (ingatlah, bahawa) kehidupan dunia
ini tidak lain hanyalah kesenangan bagi orang-orang yang terpedaya.
There is in this verse THE MANIFEST TRUTH ABOUT
THIS WORLD. PEOPLE NOT ONLY
SPEND THEIR LIFE IN IT, BUT THEY MOSTLY INDULGE IN SHOWING OFF AND BOASTING AND
PILING UP RICHES IN RIVALRY---see verses 6:32, 29:64 and 47:36.
± In childhood man is
enamored of sport and play, *in adult age he is seized
with feelings of self display, *and in old
age he is dominated by pride at wealth and offspring.
ALLAH (SWT)'S MERCY, PLEASURE AND PARDON ARE FREE
AND OPEN TO ALL, LIKE HIS RAIN. Those who love the pleasures of this world are delighted with
the green of the growth, which soon withers,
becomes dry and crumbles to pieces, like the worldly pleasures, pomp’s,
boastings and possessions. The good men take the real spiritual
harvest and store it for the hereafter.
Z Once the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali
Muhammad) drew the attention of his companions to the
swollen, rotten and stinking dead body of a goat lying on the ground, and asked
them if any of them would buy it for a penny. All refused. Then he said: "The value of the worldly possessions is lower
than this corpse."
Z To Ammar-e-Yasir told the
Holy Imam Ali ibne Abi Talib: “O
Ammar! Grieve thou not for this world, for all the amusement of this world is
in six things: (1) Eating, (2) Drinking, (3) Dressing,
(4) Wedding, (5) Riding, (6) Smelling
[1] Honey, the best and
sweetest food, is the saliva of an insect, the bee. [2] The best drink is water which is
also used by animals to quench their thirst. [3] The nicest dress is made of silk
which is the refuse of a small worm. [4] The most passionate act is cohabiting in which
urinative organs are used." [5] Of the material implement of riding the horse,
there is the danger of a fatal fall from it. [6] The most refreshing scent, musk,
is the blood of an animal, the deer.
Z The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala
Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) said:
î "This
world is a prison for the believers, and a garden for the disbelievers."
î "Treat
this world as a land to cultivate harvest for the hereafter."
î “This
world is the farm to cultivate for the hereafter.”
NOTE the apt similitude
given to the world to the crops, the rain and the cultivator and the ultimate
disappointment.
[*] The
wise ones take things with the real value and avail of them to their spiritual
gain, more than the material profit. [*] They gain knowledge of everything and select
things which could afford them the nourishment they need in this life for their
physical life, paving the way or facilitating their spiritual uplift. [*] They
know the end of everything is decay and vanishing and the end enjoyment is
fatigue and exhaustion, leading to disease and death.
± MOST OF THE ATTRACTIONS
OF THE VANITIES OF THIS WORLD ARE BUT TRIALS AND
TESTS---verse 3:185.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:20) Know well that the life of this
world is merely sport and diversion and adornment and an object of your
boasting with one another, and a rivalry in the multiplication of riches and
children. Its likeness is that of rain: when it produces vegetation it delights
the tillers. But then it withers and you see it turn yellow, and then it
crumbles away. In the Hereafter there is (either) grievous chastisement (or)
forgiveness from Allah and (His) good pleasure. The life of this world is
nothing but delusion. *36
*36 To
understand this theme fully one should keep the following verses of the Qur'an
in mind: Imran; 14- 15, Yunus: 24-25, ibrahim: 18, AI-Kahf: 45-46, An-Nur: 39.
In aII those verses the truth that has been impressed on the mind is: The life
of this world is a temporary life: its spring as well as its autumn is
temporary, is much here to allure man, but this, in fact, consists of base and
insignificant things which man because of his shallowness of mind regards as
great and splendid and is deluded into thinking that in attaining them lies
supreme success. The truth however is that the highest benefits and means of
pleasure and enjoyment that one can possibly attain in the world, are indeed
bast and insignificant and confined to a few years of temporary life, and can
be destroyed by just one turn of fate. Contrary to this, the lift hereafter is
a splendid and eternal life: its benefits are great and permanent and its
losses too are great and permanent. The one who attains Allah's forgiveness and
His goodwill there, will indeed have attained the everlasting bliss beside
which the whole wealth of the world and its kingdom become pale and
insignificant. And the one who is seized in God's torment there, will come to
know that he had made a bad bargain even if he had attained aII that he
regarded as great and splendid in the world.
سَابِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ
وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ
وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ {57:21}
[Q57:21] Saabiqooo ilaa
maghfiratim mir Rabbikum wa jannatin 'arduhaa ka-'ardis samaaa'i wal ardi u'iddat lillazeena aamanoo biLLaahi wa
Rusulih; zaalika fadluL Laahi yu'teehi many yashaaa'; waL Laahu zul fadlil ‘Azeem.
[Q57:21] Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and to a garden the extensiveness of which is as the extensiveness of the heaven and the earth; it is prepared for those who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His messengers; that is the grace of ALLAH (SWT): He gives it to whom He pleases, and ALLAH (SWT) is the Lord of mighty grace.
[Q57:21] Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and to a garden the extensiveness of which is as the extensiveness of the heaven and the earth; it is prepared for those who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His messengers; that is the grace of ALLAH (SWT): He gives it to whom He pleases, and ALLAH (SWT) is the Lord of mighty grace.
[Q57:21] Berlumba-lumbalah kamu (mengerjakan amal-amal yang baik) untuk mendapat
keampunan dari Tuhan kamu dan mendapat Syurga yang bidangnya seluas segala
langit dan bumi, yang disediakan bagi orang-orang yang beriman kepada ALLAH
(SwT) dan Rasul-rasulNya; yang demikian ialah limpah kurnia ALLAH (SwT),
diberikanNya kepada sesiapa yang dikehendakiNya; dan ALLAH (SwT) sememangnya
mempunyai limpah kurnia yang besar.
Refer
to the commentary of Ali Imran 3:133.
It
is said that his deputy from Heracleus asked the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), “If Paradise is to be extensive in the heavens
and the earth, where would then be the hell?” the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala
Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) replied “Glory be to ALLAH
(SWT)! Where remains the night when day comes.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:21) So vie with one another *37 in seeking to attain your Lord’s
forgiveness and a Garden whose width is as the width of the heaven and the
earth, *38 one which
has been prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers. That is
Allah’s bounty which He bestows upon those whom He pleases. Allah is the Lord
of abounding bounty.
*37 Musabagat (from which sabiqu of the
original is derived) means to compete
and vie with each other in order to excel. The meaning is: "Give
up your rivalries with one another for amassing wealth, and pleasures and
benefits, of the world and instead
make the forgiveness of your Lord and Paradise the object of your struggle and
rivalries.'
*38 Some commentators have taken the word ard in 'arduha ka- 'ard-is- sama '-I wal-ard in the sense of breadth, but actually this word has been used here in the meaning of spaciousness and extensiveness. In Arabic the word ard is not only used for breadth, as a counterpart of length, but also for spaciousness, as it has been used in Ha Mim As-Sajdah: 51: fa-dhu du'a in 'arid: "Then he is full of wordy supplications." Besides, one should also understand that the object here is not to foretell the area or extent of Paradise, but to give an idea of its vastness and extensiveness. Here its vastness has been described as the vastness of the heaven and earth, and in Surah AI-'Imran it has been said: "Hasten to follow the path that leads to your Lord's forgiveness and to Paradise whose vastness is that of the universe, which has been prepared for the righteous "' (v. 133) When both these verses are read together, one gets the idea that the; gardens and palaces man will receive in Paradise will only serve as his dwelling-place t but the entire universe will be his home He will not be restricted to one place as be is in this world, where just for reaching the Moon, his nearest neighbour in space, he has had to struggle hard for years and expend excessive resources only to overcome the difficulties of a short journeny. There the whole universe will be accessible to him: he will be able to see whatever he would desire from his station and be able to visit whichever place he would like easily
*38 Some commentators have taken the word ard in 'arduha ka- 'ard-is- sama '-I wal-ard in the sense of breadth, but actually this word has been used here in the meaning of spaciousness and extensiveness. In Arabic the word ard is not only used for breadth, as a counterpart of length, but also for spaciousness, as it has been used in Ha Mim As-Sajdah: 51: fa-dhu du'a in 'arid: "Then he is full of wordy supplications." Besides, one should also understand that the object here is not to foretell the area or extent of Paradise, but to give an idea of its vastness and extensiveness. Here its vastness has been described as the vastness of the heaven and earth, and in Surah AI-'Imran it has been said: "Hasten to follow the path that leads to your Lord's forgiveness and to Paradise whose vastness is that of the universe, which has been prepared for the righteous "' (v. 133) When both these verses are read together, one gets the idea that the; gardens and palaces man will receive in Paradise will only serve as his dwelling-place t but the entire universe will be his home He will not be restricted to one place as be is in this world, where just for reaching the Moon, his nearest neighbour in space, he has had to struggle hard for years and expend excessive resources only to overcome the difficulties of a short journeny. There the whole universe will be accessible to him: he will be able to see whatever he would desire from his station and be able to visit whichever place he would like easily
مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي
أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ
عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ {57:22}
[Q57:22] Maaa asaaba mim musee
batin fil ardi wa laa feee anfusikum illaa fee kitaabim min qabli an nabra
ahaa; innaa zaalika 'alaL Laahi yaseer:
[Q57:22] No evil befalls on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before We bring it into existence; surely that is easy to ALLAH (SWT):
[Q57:22] No evil befalls on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before We bring it into existence; surely that is easy to ALLAH (SWT):
[Q57:22] Tidak ada sesuatu kesusahan (atau bala bencana) yang ditimpakan di bumi
dan tidak juga yang menimpa diri kamu, melainkan telah sedia ada di dalam Kitab
(pengetahuan Kami) sebelum Kami menjadikannya; sesungguhnya mengadakan yang
demikian itu adalah mudah bagi ALLAH (SwT).
‘Kitab’
referred to in this verse is the ‘secured Tablet’.
‘Lauhe Mahfooz’
which is the record of everything that
is willed by ALLAH (SWT) to be enacted. The
recording is necessary consequence of His Infinite Knowledge but informing man
of the predestined record to avoid distress to man as stated in verse 23 of
this Surah.
ALL THINGS HAPPEN AS CONSEQUENCES THAT FOLLOW IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS MADE BY ALLAH (SWT). The recording of these consequences in a book refers to ALLAH (SWT)'s
infinite knowledge, which is announced to man so that he may avoid distress.
– Misfortune
or good fortune may turn out to be illusory, THEREFORE, men of ALLAH (SWT): -
î do not envy those who
possess material possessions,
î nor do they exult if they
have them,
î nor covet nor boast.
IF THEY ARE GIVEN BOUNTIES OF ALLAH (SWT), THEY SHARE THEM WITH OTHER PEOPLE AS THEY CONSIDER THEM GIFTS
OF ALLAH (SWT).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:22) No misfortune ever befalls on
earth, nor on yourselves but We have inscribed it in the Book *39 before We make it manifest. *40 Surely that is easy for Allah. *41
*39 "A
Book": the Writ of destiny,
*40 Here, "it" may be referring to the affliction as well as to the earth, or the self of man, or in view of the context, to all the creatures.
*41 That is, it is not at all difficult for Allah to pre-ordain the destiny of each and every one of His creatures.
*40 Here, "it" may be referring to the affliction as well as to the earth, or the self of man, or in view of the context, to all the creatures.
*41 That is, it is not at all difficult for Allah to pre-ordain the destiny of each and every one of His creatures.
لِكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا
تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ {57:23}
[Q57:23] Likailaa taasaw 'alaa
maa faatakum wa laa tafrahoo bimaaa aataakum; waLLaahu laa yuhibbu kulla
mukhtaalin fakhoor,
[Q57:23] So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; and ALLAH (SWT) does not love any arrogant boaster:
[Q57:23] So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; and ALLAH (SWT) does not love any arrogant boaster:
[Q57:23] (Kamu diberitahu tentang itu) supaya kamu tidak bersedih hati akan apa
yang telah luput daripada kamu dan tidak pula bergembira (secara sombong dan
bangga) dengan apa yang diberikan kepada kamu dan (ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) tidak
suka kepada tiap-tiap orang yang sombong takbur, lagi membanggakan diri.
(see commentary for verse 22)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:23) (We do so) that you may not
grieve over *42 the loss you suffer, nor exult
over what He gave you. Allah does not love the vainglorious, the boastful,
*42 In
order to understand why this has been said in that context, one should keep in
mind the conditions through which the Muslims were passing at the time this
Surah was revealed. 'An ever present danger of attack by the enemy, battles in
quick succession, a state of constant siege, hardships caused by economic
boycott by the disbelievers, persecution of the converts to Islam everywhere in
Arabia, these were the conditions that the Muslims were confronted with at that
time. The disbelievers looked upon these as a proof of the Muslims having been
forsaken and rejected, and the hypocrites took these as a confirmation of their
own suspicions and doubts. As for the sincere Muslims, they were facing these
bravely and resolutely, yet the excess of hardship and suffering would
sometimes become trying even for them. So,
the Muslims are being consoled, as if to say: "No affliction, God forbid, has befallen you without the knowledge
of your Lord. Whatever you are experiencing is according to the pre-ordained
scheme of Allah, which is already recorded in the Writ of destiny. And you are being made to pass through
these trials and tribulations for the sake of your own training for the great
service that Allah wills to take from you. If you are made to attain to
success without passing through these hardships, weaknesses will remain in your
character due to which you will neither be able to digest power and authority
nor withstand the tempests and furies of falsehood."
الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ
بِالْبُخْلِ ۗ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ {57:24}
[Q57:24] Allazeeena yabkhaloona
wa yaamuroonan naasa bil bukhl; wa many yatawalla fa innaL Laaha Huwal
Ghaniyyul Hameed.
[Q57:24] Those who are niggardly and enjoin niggardliness on men; and whoever turns back, then surely ALLAH (SWT) is He Who is the Selfsufficient, the Praised.
[Q57:24] Those who are niggardly and enjoin niggardliness on men; and whoever turns back, then surely ALLAH (SWT) is He Who is the Selfsufficient, the Praised.
[Q57:24] Orang-orang yang bakhil dan menyuruh manusia supaya berlaku bakhil,
(akan mendapat balasan yang menghina) dan sesiapa yang berpaling (dari mematuhi
hukum ALLAH (SwT) maka padahnya tertimpa atas dirinya sendiri), kerana
sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT), Dialah Yang Maha Kaya, lagi Maha Terpuji.
THE AVARICIOUS and THE NIGGARDLY not only keep the gifts of ALLAH (SWT)
from other men BUT ALSO dry up the streams of
charity in others.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:24) those who are niggardly and bid
others to be niggardly. *43 And he who turns away, (should
know that) Allah is Self-Sufficient, Immensely Praiseworthy. *44
*43 The
allusion is to the trait of character that everyone could experience among the
hypocrites in the Muslim society itself. As regards the outward affirmation of
the Faith, they could not be distinguished from the true Muslims. But owing to
lack of sincerity they were not receiving the sort of training that was being
given to the sincere Muslims. Therefore, the little prosperity and leadership
that they were enjoying in an ordinary town of Arabia, was causing them to be
swollen with pride. As for their stinginess, not only were they themselves
unwilling to give away a penny in the cause of God Whom they professed to
believe in and the Messenger whom they professed to follow and the Faith which
they professed to have accepted, but tried to prevent others also from making
any contribution, for, they thought, it was a useless cause. Obviously, if there had been no trials
and tribulations, these worthless people, who were of no use to Allah, could
not be separated from the sincere and worthy believers, and without weeding
them out a mixed crowd of sincere and insincere Muslims could not be entrusted
with the high office of leadership of the world, the great blessings of which
the world subsequently witnessed in the rightly-guided Caliphate.
*44 That is, "Even if after hearing these words of admonition a person does not adopt the way of sincerity, faithfulness and sacrifice for the sake of AIIah and His Religion, and wishes to persist in his stubbornness, which Allah disapproves, then AIlah has no use for him, for AIIah is AII-Sufficient and Independent of His creatures: He does not stand in need of their help in any way. And He is All-Praiseworthy: people of good qualities only arc acceptable to Him; people of evil character cannot be entitled to receive any favour from Him. "
*44 That is, "Even if after hearing these words of admonition a person does not adopt the way of sincerity, faithfulness and sacrifice for the sake of AIIah and His Religion, and wishes to persist in his stubbornness, which Allah disapproves, then AIlah has no use for him, for AIIah is AII-Sufficient and Independent of His creatures: He does not stand in need of their help in any way. And He is All-Praiseworthy: people of good qualities only arc acceptable to Him; people of evil character cannot be entitled to receive any favour from Him. "
لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ
وَأَنْزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ
ۖ وَأَنْزَلْنَا الْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ
وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ وَرُسُلَهُ بِالْغَيْبِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ
قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ {57:25}
[Q57:25] Laqad arsalnaa Rusulanaa
bilbaiyinaati wa anzalnaa ma'ahumul Kitaaba wal Meezaana liyaqooman naasu
bilqist, wa anzalnal hadeeda feehi baasun shadeedunw wa manaafi'u linnaasi wa
liya'lamaL Laahu many yansuruhoo wa Rusulahoo bilghaib; innaL Laaha Qawiyyun ‘Azeez.
[Q57:25] Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity; and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men, and that ALLAH (SWT) may know who helps Him and His messengers in the secret; surely ALLAH (SWT) is Strong, Mighty.
[Q57:25] Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity; and We have made the iron, wherein is great violence and advantages to men, and that ALLAH (SWT) may know who helps Him and His messengers in the secret; surely ALLAH (SWT) is Strong, Mighty.
[Q57:25] Demi sesungguhnya! Kami telah mengutus Rasul-rasul Kami dengan membawa
bukti-bukti dan mukjizat yang jelas nyata dan Kami telah menurunkan
bersama-sama mereka Kitab Suci dan keterangan yang menjadi neraca keadilan,
supaya manusia dapat menjalankan keadilan dan kami telah menciptakan besi
dengan keadaannya mengandungi kekuatan yang handal serta berbagai faedah lagi
bagi manusia. (Dijadikan besi dengan keadaan yang demikian, supaya manusia
menggunakan faedah-faedah itu dalam kehidupan mereka sehari-hari) dan supaya ternyata
pengetahuan ALLAH (SwT) tentang orang yang (menggunakan kekuatan handalnya itu
untuk) menegak dan mempertahankan agama ALLAH (SwT) serta menolong
Rasul-rasulNya, padahal balasan baiknya tidak kelihatan (kepadanya);
sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Maha Kuat, lagi Maha Kuasa.
Refer
to Nahl
16:36 and Rahman 55:8 and 9.
© ‘Mizan’
refers to justice which gives to each person his due.
Also see commentary of Shura 26:17.
© ‘Hadid’
(iron), according to the Ahlul Bait, refers to
the Dhulfiqar, the sword given to Ali by the HOLY PROPHET
(ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). IT
ALSO IMPLIES LAWS MADE BY ALLAH (SWT) TO CREATE DISCIPLINE.
‘To know’
stands for ‘to make people know’ i.e., to prove to
the world as to who helps the cause of ALLAH (SWT) and who does not do it. In
every battle, ALLAH (SWT) DISTINGUISHED THE SINCERE BELIEVERS WHO STOOD
FAST WITH HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA
MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD) TO THE LAST, from those who ran away from the battle-fields deserting the
cause of ALLAH (SWT) and His Apostle.
THIS PASSAGE POINTS OUT:
(i)
All prophets of ALLAH (SWT) came with clear proof and testimony.
(ii)
To every nation a prophet was sent who had a book with him (also refer to Nahl 16:36).
(iii)
The three
aspects of divine sovereignty referred to here are (a) legislation (b) judiciary (c) execution,
by the terms: (a) the book (b) the scale (c) and the iron.
(iv)
Everything which exists here, whether concrete or abstract, is the revealed form of
what is with ALLAH (SWT) (see Hijr 15:21).
(v)
No book is without a scale. The relation of the scale to the book is the relation of
a scale of a map to the map itself. **The
books represent the map of divine knowledge in revealed form, AND **no map can be of any use without a precise
(infallible) scale. There is no doubt that the true
scale for a book can only be an infallible man who himself is the microcosm of
the whole universe (see Rahman 55:7 to
9)
(vi)
The scriptures prior to the Qur’an, limited
in scope and application, had their corresponding scale; and the Qur’an (the final, completed,
perfect and universal book) has its perfect and universal scale.
THEREFORE the revealed scale, in this verse, does not refer to weighing or
measuring physical objects.
(vii)
Iron stands for strength, power, discipline and sanctions of law, and also one of the sources to have political and economic power THEREFORE it is a means of testing man's attitude towards
the divine law and order.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:25) Indeed We sent Our Messengers
with Clear Signs, and sent down with them the Book and the Balance that people
may uphold justice. *45 And We sent down iron, wherein
there is awesome power and many benefits for people, *46 so that Allah may know who,
without even having seen Him, helps Him and His Messengers. Surely Allah is
Most Strong, Most Mighty. *47
*45 In
this brief sentence the whole essence of the mission of the Prophets bas been
compressed, which one should clearly understand. It says that all the
Messengers who came to the world from AIIah, brought three things:
(1) Bauuomatat: manifest signs which clearly showed that they were really Allah's Messengers, and were not impostors; convincing arguments which made it evident that what they tore presenting as Truth was really the Truth, and what they condemned as falsehood was really falsehood clear instructions which told without any ambiguity what was the right way for the people in respect of beliefs, morals, acts of worship and dealings, which they should adopt, and what were the wrong ways which they should shun and avoid.
(2) Kitab: the Book which contained all the teachings required for the guidance of man so that people may turn it for enlightenment.
(3) Mizan: the Criterion of truth and falsehood which may precisely indicate, like a balance, the golden mean between the extremes in matters of thought, morals and dealings.
The object for which the Prophets were sent with these three things was that man's conduct in the world and the system of human life, individually as well as collectively, should be established with justice. On the other hand, every man should precisely know [*] the rights of God, [*] the rights of his self and [*] the rights of all these people with whom may have to deal in any way, and should fulfil them faithfully; and, on the other, the system of collective life should be built on such principles as should eliminate every kind of injustice from society, should safeguard every aspect of civilization and locial life against extremism, should establish correct balance and equity in all spheres of collective life, so that all elements of society should receive their rights equitably and fulfil their obligations and duties responsibly. In other words, the object of sending the prophets was to establish individual as well as collective justice. They wanted to establish justice in the personal life of each individual so as to bring about poise and equilibrium in his mind, his character, his conduct and his dealings. They also wanted to establish the whole system of human society on justice so that both the individual and the society should assist and cooperate with each other in their spiritual, moral and material well-being instead of being a hindrance and obstacle.
*46 Sending down iron means creating iron in the earth just as in Az-Zumar: 6 it has been said: "He Scat down for you eight heads of cattle, male and female." As whatever exists in the earth, has come hero by Allah's command, and has not appeared by itself, its being created has been expressed in the Qur'an as its being sent down. The mention of "sending down iron which has greath strength and other benefits for men" immediately after stating the object of the mission of the Prophets by itself indicates that by iron here is meant political and military power. Thus the verse means: "Allah did not raise His Prophets in the world just to present a scheme for the establishment of justice, but it was also a part of their mission [#] endeavour to enforce it practically, [#] collect necessary power to establish justice in all spheres of life, [#] punish those who might disrupt it and to break the power of those who might resist it."
*47 That is, "Allah does not need this help because He is weak and cannot use His power to accomplish this work, but He has adopted this method for the trial of men: man can advance on the way of his progress and well-being only by passing through this trial. Allah indeed has the power w subdue all the disbelievers by one command whenever He wills and give to His Messengers complete dominance over them, but in that case the believers in the Messcngers would have - nothing to do for which they should become entitled to rewards. That is why Allah instead of accomplishing this mission through His dominant power adopted the method of sending His Messengers to human beings with the Signs and the Book and the Criterion, and enjoined them to present the way of justice before the people and exhort them to refrain and desist from wickedness sad injustice At the same time He gave us full option to accept the message of the Messengers or to reject it. He summoned those who accepted the invitation to come forward and help Him and His Messengers to establish justice, and to exert their utmost against those were bent upon retaining the unjust system. Thus, Allah wants to see who among us reject: the invitation to justice, who exert with their lives in order to retain injustice as against justice, who shirk: supporting d struggling for the cause of the message of justice after they have accepted it, and who stake their lives and their possessions for the sake of unseen God to help the truth become dominant in the world. Only for those who emerge successful in this test will avenues to fixture progress be opened up. "
(1) Bauuomatat: manifest signs which clearly showed that they were really Allah's Messengers, and were not impostors; convincing arguments which made it evident that what they tore presenting as Truth was really the Truth, and what they condemned as falsehood was really falsehood clear instructions which told without any ambiguity what was the right way for the people in respect of beliefs, morals, acts of worship and dealings, which they should adopt, and what were the wrong ways which they should shun and avoid.
(2) Kitab: the Book which contained all the teachings required for the guidance of man so that people may turn it for enlightenment.
(3) Mizan: the Criterion of truth and falsehood which may precisely indicate, like a balance, the golden mean between the extremes in matters of thought, morals and dealings.
The object for which the Prophets were sent with these three things was that man's conduct in the world and the system of human life, individually as well as collectively, should be established with justice. On the other hand, every man should precisely know [*] the rights of God, [*] the rights of his self and [*] the rights of all these people with whom may have to deal in any way, and should fulfil them faithfully; and, on the other, the system of collective life should be built on such principles as should eliminate every kind of injustice from society, should safeguard every aspect of civilization and locial life against extremism, should establish correct balance and equity in all spheres of collective life, so that all elements of society should receive their rights equitably and fulfil their obligations and duties responsibly. In other words, the object of sending the prophets was to establish individual as well as collective justice. They wanted to establish justice in the personal life of each individual so as to bring about poise and equilibrium in his mind, his character, his conduct and his dealings. They also wanted to establish the whole system of human society on justice so that both the individual and the society should assist and cooperate with each other in their spiritual, moral and material well-being instead of being a hindrance and obstacle.
*46 Sending down iron means creating iron in the earth just as in Az-Zumar: 6 it has been said: "He Scat down for you eight heads of cattle, male and female." As whatever exists in the earth, has come hero by Allah's command, and has not appeared by itself, its being created has been expressed in the Qur'an as its being sent down. The mention of "sending down iron which has greath strength and other benefits for men" immediately after stating the object of the mission of the Prophets by itself indicates that by iron here is meant political and military power. Thus the verse means: "Allah did not raise His Prophets in the world just to present a scheme for the establishment of justice, but it was also a part of their mission [#] endeavour to enforce it practically, [#] collect necessary power to establish justice in all spheres of life, [#] punish those who might disrupt it and to break the power of those who might resist it."
*47 That is, "Allah does not need this help because He is weak and cannot use His power to accomplish this work, but He has adopted this method for the trial of men: man can advance on the way of his progress and well-being only by passing through this trial. Allah indeed has the power w subdue all the disbelievers by one command whenever He wills and give to His Messengers complete dominance over them, but in that case the believers in the Messcngers would have - nothing to do for which they should become entitled to rewards. That is why Allah instead of accomplishing this mission through His dominant power adopted the method of sending His Messengers to human beings with the Signs and the Book and the Criterion, and enjoined them to present the way of justice before the people and exhort them to refrain and desist from wickedness sad injustice At the same time He gave us full option to accept the message of the Messengers or to reject it. He summoned those who accepted the invitation to come forward and help Him and His Messengers to establish justice, and to exert their utmost against those were bent upon retaining the unjust system. Thus, Allah wants to see who among us reject: the invitation to justice, who exert with their lives in order to retain injustice as against justice, who shirk: supporting d struggling for the cause of the message of justice after they have accepted it, and who stake their lives and their possessions for the sake of unseen God to help the truth become dominant in the world. Only for those who emerge successful in this test will avenues to fixture progress be opened up. "
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ
وَجَعَلْنَا فِي ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَابَ ۖ فَمِنْهُمْ مُهْتَدٍ
ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ {57:26}
[Q57:26] Wa laqad arsalnaa
Noohanw wa Ibraaheema wa ja'alnaa fee zurriyyatihiman nubuwwata wal Kitaaba
faminhum muhtad; wa kaseerum minhum faasiqoun.
[Q57:26] And certainly We sent Nuh and Ibrahim and We gave to their offspring the (gift of) prophecy and the Book; so there are among them those who go aright, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:26] And certainly We sent Nuh and Ibrahim and We gave to their offspring the (gift of) prophecy and the Book; so there are among them those who go aright, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:26] Dan demi sesungguhnya! Kami telah mengutus Nabi Nuh dan Nabi Ibrahim
dan Kami jadikan pada keturunan keduanya orang-orang yang berpangkat Nabi dan
menerima Kitab-kitab agama maka sebahagian di antara mereka: Orang yang beroleh
hidayat petunjuk dan kebanyakan mereka orang-orang yang fasik (derhaka).
This
passage asserts the ‘Nubowwat’ and ‘the Book’ will go out of the issues
of Noah and Abraham BUT it does not mean that all issues will be righteous and on the contrary most of them will be wicked---also
see verses
3:33 & 34 and 35:32.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:26) Indeed We *48 sent forth Noah and Abraham and
established in their line Prophecy and the Book. *49 Then some of
them embraced the guidance and many of them are wicked. *50
*48 Now
it is being told what corruptions appeared among those who believed in the
Prophets who came to the world before the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be
Allah's peace and blessings) with the Signs and the Book and the
Criterion.
*49 that is, whichever Messenger came with Allah's Book, was from the progeny of the Prophet Noah and, after him, from the progeny of the Prophet Abraham.
*50 'Became transgressors" became disobedient.
*49 that is, whichever Messenger came with Allah's Book, was from the progeny of the Prophet Noah and, after him, from the progeny of the Prophet Abraham.
*50 'Became transgressors" became disobedient.
ثُمَّ قَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ بِرُسُلِنَا
وَقَفَّيْنَا بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْإِنْجِيلَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِي
قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ رَأْفَةً وَرَحْمَةً وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً
ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ
فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا ۖ فَآتَيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْهُمْ
أَجْرَهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ {57:27}
[Q57:27] Summa qaffainaa 'alaa
aasaarihim bi Rusulinaa wa qaffainaa be 'Eesab ni Maryama wa aatainaahul
Injeela wa ja'alnaa fee quloobil lazeenat taba' oohu raafatanw wa rahmatanw wa
rahbaaniyyatanib tada' oohaa maa katanaahaa 'alaihim illab tighaaa'a ridwaaniL Laahi
famaa ra'awhaa haqqa ri'aayatihaa fa aatainal lazeena aamanoo minhum ajrahum wa
kaseerum minhum faasiqoon.
[Q57:27] Then We made Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and We sent Isa son of Marium afterwards, and We gave him the Injeel, and We put in the hearts of those who followed him kindness and mercy; and (as for) monkery, they innovated it-- We did not prescribe it to them-- only to seek ALLAH (SWT)'s pleasure, but they did not observe it with its due observance; so We gave to those of them who believed their reward, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:27] Then We made Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and We sent Isa son of Marium afterwards, and We gave him the Injeel, and We put in the hearts of those who followed him kindness and mercy; and (as for) monkery, they innovated it-- We did not prescribe it to them-- only to seek ALLAH (SWT)'s pleasure, but they did not observe it with its due observance; so We gave to those of them who believed their reward, and most of them are transgressors.
[Q57:27] Kemudian Kami iringi sesudah mereka: Rasul-rasul Kami silih berganti
dan Kami iringi lagi dengan Nabi Isa Ibni Mariam, serta Kami berikan kepadanya:
Kitab Injil dan Kami jadikan dalam hati orang-orang yang mengikutnya perasaan
belas kasihan (sesama sendiri) dan (perbuatan mereka beribadat secara)
"Rahbaniyyah" merekalah sahaja yang mengadakan dan merekanya; Kami
tidak mewajibkannya atas mereka; (mereka berbuat demikian) kerana mencari
keredaan ALLAH (SwT); dalam pada itu mereka tidak menjaga dan memeliharanya
menurut yang sewajibnya. Oleh itu, orang-orang yang beriman (kepada Nabi
Muhammad) di antara mereka, kami berikan pahalanya dan (sebaliknya) banyak di
antara mereka yang fasik (derhaka).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(57:27) In their wake, We sent a
succession of Our Messengers, and raised Jesus, son of Mary, after all of them,
and bestowed upon him the Evangel, and We set tenderness and mercy *51 in
the hearts of those that followed him. As for monasticism, *52 it
is they who invented it; *53 We did not prescribe it for them.
They themselves invented it in pursuit of Allah’s good pleasure, and then they
did not observe it as it ought to have been observed. *54 So
We gave their reward to those of them that believed. But many of them are
wicked.
*51 The
words in the Text are rafat
and rahmat,
which are almost synonymous: But when they are used together, rafat
implies the compassion that a person feels on seeing another person in pain and
distress, and rahmat
is the feeling under which be tries to- help him. As the Prophet Jesus was
highly compassionate and merciful towards the people, his this trait of
character deeply influenced his disciples: therefore, they treated the people
with pity ant-sympat by and served them with aII their heart and soul.
*52 The root rahb (from which rabaniyyat or ruhbaniyyat is derived) means fear; thus rahbaniyyat means a mode of life which reflects fear and terror, and ruhbaniyyat means the mode of life of the terrified. As a term it implies a person's abandoning the world out of fear (whether it is the fear of somebody's tyranny, or far of the worldly temptations and distractions, or fear of one's personal weaknesses) and taking refuge in the jungles and mountains, or living alone as a hermit.
*53 The words in the original can have two meanings: (I) "That We did not enjoin monasticism rahbanit) upon them: We enjoined upon them only the seeking of Allah's good pleasure:" and (2) that monasticism was not enjoined by Us: they of their own accord enjoined it on themselves, to seek Allah's good pleasure." In both cases this verse makes it explicit that monasticism is an unIslamic crced, and it has never been part of the true Faith. The same thing has been stated by the Holy Prophet thus: "There is no monasticism in Islam." (Musnad Ahmed). In another Hadith the Holy Prophet said: "The monasticism of this Ummah is to fight in the way of Allah." (Musnad Ahmed Musnad'Abi Ya'la That is, he way for this Ummah to attain to spiritual piety lies not in abandoning the world but in fighting in Allah's way: this Ummah does not flee to the jungles and mountains out of fear of temptations and distractions but counteracts them by resort to fighting in Allah's way. According to a tardition related both by Bukhari ant by Muslim, one of the Companions said that he would keep up Prayers throughout the night; another said that he would fast perpetually without ever observing a break; and a third one said the he would never marry and would have nothing to do with women. When the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) came to know of what they had resolved, he said: 'By God, I fear Allah the most and remain conscious of Him at all times; yet my way is that I observe the fast as well as break it; I keep up the Prayer during the night as well as have sleep; and I marry the women also. The one who dces not follow my way, does not belong to me" Hadrat Anas says that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) used to say: "Do not be- hard and severe to yourselves lest AIIah should be hard and severe to you. A community had adopted this way of severity towards itself; then Allah also seized it in severity. Look, the remainder of them are found in the monasteries and churches." (Abu Da 'ud).
*54 That is, they were involved in a double error: first, they imposed on themselves the restrictions which Allah had not imposed; second, They did not observe in the right spirit the restrictions that they had imposed upon themselves with a view to attain to Allah's goodwill, and conducted themselves in a way as to earn Allah's wrath instead of His good pleasure.
To understand this theme fully we should havc a look at the history of Christian Monasticism.
Until 200 years after the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) the Christian Church knew no monasticism. Its germs, however, were found in Christianity from the very beginning. To look upon asceticism as a moral ideal and to regard celibacy as superior to matrimonial and mundane life is the basis of monasticism. Both these existed in Christianity from the beginning. Owing to the sanctification of celibacy in particular, it was considered undesirable for those the performed religious services in the church to marry, have children and be involved in domestic chores; so much so that by the 3rd century monasticism began to spread like an epidemic in Christiandom. Historically, it had three main causes!:
First, sensuality, immorality and worship of the world had so permeated the ancient polytheistic society that in their zeal to counteract it the Christian scholars adopted the extremist way instead of the way of moderation. They so stressed chastity that the relationship between man and woman by itself came to be looked upon as filthy, even if it was within marriage. They reacted so violently to mammonism that to possess property of any kind ultimately was considered a sin for a religious person and to live like a poor man and ascetic the criterion of moral excellence. Likewise, in their reaction to the sensualism of the polytheistic society they touched the other extreme. They made withdrawal from pleasure and all material comforts, self denial and curbing of the desires the object of morality and regarded torturing the body by different sorts of harsh discipline as the climax and proof of a person's spirituality.
Secondly, when Christianity started achieving successes and spreading rapidly among the common people, the Church in its zeal to attract more and more adherents went on imbibing every evil that was prevalent in society. Thus, saint-worship replaced the ancient deities. Images of Christ and Mary began to be worshipped instead of the idols of Horus and Isis. Chrismas took the place of Saturnalia. Christian monks began to practise every kind of occult art like curing the sick by amulets and magic incantations, taking omens and fortune-telling, driving out spirits, etc. as were prevalent in ancient days. Likewise, since the Common people looked upon a ditty and naked person who lived in a cave or den As a holy and godly man, this very concept of saintlihood became prevalent in the Christian Church, and legends of their miraculous powers began to abound in the memoirs of the Christian saints,
Thirdly, the Christians possessed no detailed law and definite traditions and practices to determine the bounds of religion. They had given up Mosaic Law and the Gospel by itself afforded no perfect code of guidance. Therefore, the Christian doctors went on permitting every kind of innovation to enter the religion partly under the influence of alien philosophies, customs and practices and partly under their personal preference and whim. Monasticism was one such innovation. Christian scholars and doctors of law took its philosophy and rules and practices from the Buddhist monks, Hindu Yogis and ascetics, Egyptian Anchorites, Iranian Manicheans, and the followers of Plato and Plotinus, and made the same the means ant methods of attaining self-purification, spiritual loftiness and nearness to AIIah. Those who committed this error were not ordinary men. From the 3rd to the 7th century (i.e.. till about the time the Qur'an began to be revealed) the religious personalities who were recognized as the foremost scholars and religious guides and leaders of Christendom, both in the East and in the West,-St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Bazianzus, St. Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine St. Benedict, St. Gregory the Great-all were monks themselves and great upholders of monasticism. It was under their influence that monasticism became popular in the Church.
Historically, monasticism among the Christians started from Egypt. Its founder was St. Anthony (A.D. 250 -350) who is regarded as the father of Christian Monasticism. He set up the first monastery at Pispir (now Der al Memum) in the Fayum. Later he established another monastery on the coast of the Rod Sea, which is now called Der Mar Antonius. The basic cults of Christian Monasticism are derived from his writings and instructions. After this beginning the monastic movements spread like a f flood in Egypt and monasteries for monks and nuns were set up everywhere in the land in some of which lived three thousand monks at a time. In 325 another ascetic, pachomius, appeared in Egypt, who founded ten major monasteries and nunneries for the monks and nuns. The monastic movement then began to spread in Palestine and Syria and different countries of Africa and Europe. The Christian Church in the beginning experienced some confusion in connection with monasticism, for although it recognized abandonment of the world, celibacy and voluntary poverty as an ideal of spiritual life, yet it could not declare marriage, producing children and possessing property or money to be sinful as the monks did. Subsequently, under the influence of holy men like St. Athanasius (d. 373), St. Basil (d. 379), St. Augustine (d. 430) and Gregory the Great (d. 609) many of the monastic rules became part and parcel of the Church.
This monastic innovation has some characteristics which are briefly as follows:
(1) Inflicting pain on the body by severe exercises and novel methods. In this thing every monk tried to surpass the other. The achievements of these holy men as related in the memoirs of the Christian saints are to this effect: St. Macarius of Alexandria constantly carried on himself a weight of 80 pounds. For six months he slept in a swamp while poisonous flies preyed on his naked body. His disciple, St. Eusebius, even surpassed his master in suffering severities and rigours. He moved about carrying a weight of 150 pounds, and lay in a dry well for three years. St. Saba ate the maize that would start stinking having been soaked in water for a whole Month. St. Bassarion lay in thorny bushes for 40 days and did not rest his back on the ground for 40 years. St. Pachomius passed 15 years of his life, and according to another tradition 50 years, without rating his back on the round St. John remained standing in worship for three years during which he neither sat nor (ay down; he would only recline at times against a rock. His food consisted of the offering that was brought for him every Sunday. St. Simeon Styiltes (390-449) who is counted among the most illustrious Christian saints, used to observe an un-broken 40 days fast and smiling. Owing to such concepts the bond of marriage between man and woman came to be looked upon as filthy. A monk was forbidden even to look at a woman, not to speak of marriage, and was required to abandon his wife if he was married. As for men it was also impressed on the women that if they wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they should shun marriage and remain spinsters and if they were married, they should separate from their husbands. St. Jerome, the distinguished Christian scholar, ruled that the woman who remained a spinster as a nun for the sake of Christ, was the bride of Christ, and her mother was the mother-in-law of Christ, i.e. God. Elsewhere St. Jerome says: "To cut asunder the bond of marriage with the axe of chastity is the primary duty of the true devotee of God." The first impact these teachings had on a Christian man or Christian woman, under religious fervour, was that his or her married life was ruined. And since there was no provision for divorce or separation in Christianity, the husband and the wife would separate from each other while they remained bound in wed-lock. St. Nilus was father of two children. When he came under the spell of monasticism, he immediately separated from his wife. St. Ammon, on the first night of his marriage, gave his bride a sermon on the filthiness of the marriage bond and then the two between themselves decided to keep aloof from each other throughout life. St. Abraham abandoned his wife on the very first night of marriage. The same was done by St. Alexis. The memoirs of the Christian saints are full of such incidents.
The Church continued to resist in one way or the other these extremist concepts for three centuries. In those days it was not required of a priest to be single and unmarried. If he was married before being appointed a minister, he could keep his wife. However, he was forbidden to marry after his appointment. Moreover, a person could not be appointed a minister if he had married a widow, or a divorced woman, or had two wives, or possessed a concubine. Gradually, by the 4th century, the concept became firm that for a married person it was odious to perform religious services in the Church. The Council of Gengra (A.D. 362) was the last one in which such ideas wen held as anti-religious, but a little lour in 386, Roman Synod counselled the priests to avoid marriage relations and the following year Pope Siricius decreed that the priest who married, or continued to have sex relations with his wife if already married should be dismissed from office. Illustrious scholars like St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine upheld this decision most fervently, and after a little resistance it became fully enforced in the Western Church. In this period several councils were convened to consider the complaints to the effect that the people who were already marred were having "illicit" relations with their wives even after their appointment to perform religious duties. Consequently, with a view to reform them, rules were made to the effect that they should sleep in the open, should never meet their wives in private, and should meet them only in the presence of at (cast two other men. St. Gregory has made mention of a wonderful priest who did not have any relation with his wife for 40 years, and when the woman approached him at his death-bed, he rebuked her, saying: 'Woman keep away!"
The memoirs of the Christian saints of this period are full of such instances. One particular saint had the characteristic that he observed silence for 30 years: he was never seen speaking. Another had tied himself to a rock; another roamed the jungles and lived on grass; another moved about carrying a heavy load; another kept his limbs and body tied in fetters and chains; some saints lived in the dens of beasts, or in dry wells, or in old graves; and some others remained naked and concealed their private parts under long hair and would crawl on the ground. After death the bones of the illustrious saints were preserved in monastery. I saw a full library decked with such bones in St. Catherine's monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. There were skulls and foot-bones and handbones arranged separately. A glass-case contained the whole skeleton of a saint.
(2) Their second characteristic was that they were dirty and strictly cleanliness and bodily care. Washing or applying water to the body was regarded as opposed to God-worship, for according to them puriflcation of the body was tantamount to pollution of the soul. St. Athanasius has faithfully described this virtue of St. Anthony that he never washed his feet during life. St. Abraham from the day he entered Christianity neither washed his face nor feet for 50 years. A famous nun Virgin Sylvia, never allowed any part of her body except the fingers to become wet with water throughout life It is said of 130 nuns of 8 convent that they never washed their feet and would shudder with horror at a mere reference to bath.
(3) Monasticism practically forbade married life and ruthlessly discarded the institution of marriage. All religious writings of the 4th and 5th centuries are replete with the thought that celibacy is the highest moral virtue, and chastity meant that one should strictly abstain from sexual relation even if it was between husband and wife. The perfection of a pure spiritual life lay in complete self-denial, with no desire for physical pleasure. It was necessary to suppress any carnal desire because it strengthened animality. For them pleasure and sin were synonymous so much so that being happy was regarded as being forgetful of God. St. Basil forbade even laughing refused to oblige her. The woman lay at the entrance for three days and three nights and at last breathed her last in the same state. Then the holy man emerged from his seclusion, mourned his mother's death and prayed for her forgiveness.
In the same harsh way these saints treated their sisters and children. There is the story of Mutius, a prosperous man by aII means. Drawn out suddenly by the religious impulse, he took his 8-year-old son and went to a monastery. But for the sake of his progress to holiness it was necessary that he should give up love of his son. Therefore, first the son was separated from him Then the innocent child was subjected to harsh treatment before his very eyes and he watched it patiently. Then, the abbot of the monastery ordered him to go and Cast the child into the river. He became ready even for this; then right at the time when he was going to throw the child into the river, the monks saved the child's life then it was admitted that he had actually attained td the rank of a holy man.
*52 The root rahb (from which rabaniyyat or ruhbaniyyat is derived) means fear; thus rahbaniyyat means a mode of life which reflects fear and terror, and ruhbaniyyat means the mode of life of the terrified. As a term it implies a person's abandoning the world out of fear (whether it is the fear of somebody's tyranny, or far of the worldly temptations and distractions, or fear of one's personal weaknesses) and taking refuge in the jungles and mountains, or living alone as a hermit.
*53 The words in the original can have two meanings: (I) "That We did not enjoin monasticism rahbanit) upon them: We enjoined upon them only the seeking of Allah's good pleasure:" and (2) that monasticism was not enjoined by Us: they of their own accord enjoined it on themselves, to seek Allah's good pleasure." In both cases this verse makes it explicit that monasticism is an unIslamic crced, and it has never been part of the true Faith. The same thing has been stated by the Holy Prophet thus: "There is no monasticism in Islam." (Musnad Ahmed). In another Hadith the Holy Prophet said: "The monasticism of this Ummah is to fight in the way of Allah." (Musnad Ahmed Musnad'Abi Ya'la That is, he way for this Ummah to attain to spiritual piety lies not in abandoning the world but in fighting in Allah's way: this Ummah does not flee to the jungles and mountains out of fear of temptations and distractions but counteracts them by resort to fighting in Allah's way. According to a tardition related both by Bukhari ant by Muslim, one of the Companions said that he would keep up Prayers throughout the night; another said that he would fast perpetually without ever observing a break; and a third one said the he would never marry and would have nothing to do with women. When the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) came to know of what they had resolved, he said: 'By God, I fear Allah the most and remain conscious of Him at all times; yet my way is that I observe the fast as well as break it; I keep up the Prayer during the night as well as have sleep; and I marry the women also. The one who dces not follow my way, does not belong to me" Hadrat Anas says that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) used to say: "Do not be- hard and severe to yourselves lest AIIah should be hard and severe to you. A community had adopted this way of severity towards itself; then Allah also seized it in severity. Look, the remainder of them are found in the monasteries and churches." (Abu Da 'ud).
*54 That is, they were involved in a double error: first, they imposed on themselves the restrictions which Allah had not imposed; second, They did not observe in the right spirit the restrictions that they had imposed upon themselves with a view to attain to Allah's goodwill, and conducted themselves in a way as to earn Allah's wrath instead of His good pleasure.
To understand this theme fully we should havc a look at the history of Christian Monasticism.
Until 200 years after the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) the Christian Church knew no monasticism. Its germs, however, were found in Christianity from the very beginning. To look upon asceticism as a moral ideal and to regard celibacy as superior to matrimonial and mundane life is the basis of monasticism. Both these existed in Christianity from the beginning. Owing to the sanctification of celibacy in particular, it was considered undesirable for those the performed religious services in the church to marry, have children and be involved in domestic chores; so much so that by the 3rd century monasticism began to spread like an epidemic in Christiandom. Historically, it had three main causes!:
First, sensuality, immorality and worship of the world had so permeated the ancient polytheistic society that in their zeal to counteract it the Christian scholars adopted the extremist way instead of the way of moderation. They so stressed chastity that the relationship between man and woman by itself came to be looked upon as filthy, even if it was within marriage. They reacted so violently to mammonism that to possess property of any kind ultimately was considered a sin for a religious person and to live like a poor man and ascetic the criterion of moral excellence. Likewise, in their reaction to the sensualism of the polytheistic society they touched the other extreme. They made withdrawal from pleasure and all material comforts, self denial and curbing of the desires the object of morality and regarded torturing the body by different sorts of harsh discipline as the climax and proof of a person's spirituality.
Secondly, when Christianity started achieving successes and spreading rapidly among the common people, the Church in its zeal to attract more and more adherents went on imbibing every evil that was prevalent in society. Thus, saint-worship replaced the ancient deities. Images of Christ and Mary began to be worshipped instead of the idols of Horus and Isis. Chrismas took the place of Saturnalia. Christian monks began to practise every kind of occult art like curing the sick by amulets and magic incantations, taking omens and fortune-telling, driving out spirits, etc. as were prevalent in ancient days. Likewise, since the Common people looked upon a ditty and naked person who lived in a cave or den As a holy and godly man, this very concept of saintlihood became prevalent in the Christian Church, and legends of their miraculous powers began to abound in the memoirs of the Christian saints,
Thirdly, the Christians possessed no detailed law and definite traditions and practices to determine the bounds of religion. They had given up Mosaic Law and the Gospel by itself afforded no perfect code of guidance. Therefore, the Christian doctors went on permitting every kind of innovation to enter the religion partly under the influence of alien philosophies, customs and practices and partly under their personal preference and whim. Monasticism was one such innovation. Christian scholars and doctors of law took its philosophy and rules and practices from the Buddhist monks, Hindu Yogis and ascetics, Egyptian Anchorites, Iranian Manicheans, and the followers of Plato and Plotinus, and made the same the means ant methods of attaining self-purification, spiritual loftiness and nearness to AIIah. Those who committed this error were not ordinary men. From the 3rd to the 7th century (i.e.. till about the time the Qur'an began to be revealed) the religious personalities who were recognized as the foremost scholars and religious guides and leaders of Christendom, both in the East and in the West,-St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Bazianzus, St. Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine St. Benedict, St. Gregory the Great-all were monks themselves and great upholders of monasticism. It was under their influence that monasticism became popular in the Church.
Historically, monasticism among the Christians started from Egypt. Its founder was St. Anthony (A.D. 250 -350) who is regarded as the father of Christian Monasticism. He set up the first monastery at Pispir (now Der al Memum) in the Fayum. Later he established another monastery on the coast of the Rod Sea, which is now called Der Mar Antonius. The basic cults of Christian Monasticism are derived from his writings and instructions. After this beginning the monastic movements spread like a f flood in Egypt and monasteries for monks and nuns were set up everywhere in the land in some of which lived three thousand monks at a time. In 325 another ascetic, pachomius, appeared in Egypt, who founded ten major monasteries and nunneries for the monks and nuns. The monastic movement then began to spread in Palestine and Syria and different countries of Africa and Europe. The Christian Church in the beginning experienced some confusion in connection with monasticism, for although it recognized abandonment of the world, celibacy and voluntary poverty as an ideal of spiritual life, yet it could not declare marriage, producing children and possessing property or money to be sinful as the monks did. Subsequently, under the influence of holy men like St. Athanasius (d. 373), St. Basil (d. 379), St. Augustine (d. 430) and Gregory the Great (d. 609) many of the monastic rules became part and parcel of the Church.
This monastic innovation has some characteristics which are briefly as follows:
(1) Inflicting pain on the body by severe exercises and novel methods. In this thing every monk tried to surpass the other. The achievements of these holy men as related in the memoirs of the Christian saints are to this effect: St. Macarius of Alexandria constantly carried on himself a weight of 80 pounds. For six months he slept in a swamp while poisonous flies preyed on his naked body. His disciple, St. Eusebius, even surpassed his master in suffering severities and rigours. He moved about carrying a weight of 150 pounds, and lay in a dry well for three years. St. Saba ate the maize that would start stinking having been soaked in water for a whole Month. St. Bassarion lay in thorny bushes for 40 days and did not rest his back on the ground for 40 years. St. Pachomius passed 15 years of his life, and according to another tradition 50 years, without rating his back on the round St. John remained standing in worship for three years during which he neither sat nor (ay down; he would only recline at times against a rock. His food consisted of the offering that was brought for him every Sunday. St. Simeon Styiltes (390-449) who is counted among the most illustrious Christian saints, used to observe an un-broken 40 days fast and smiling. Owing to such concepts the bond of marriage between man and woman came to be looked upon as filthy. A monk was forbidden even to look at a woman, not to speak of marriage, and was required to abandon his wife if he was married. As for men it was also impressed on the women that if they wished to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, they should shun marriage and remain spinsters and if they were married, they should separate from their husbands. St. Jerome, the distinguished Christian scholar, ruled that the woman who remained a spinster as a nun for the sake of Christ, was the bride of Christ, and her mother was the mother-in-law of Christ, i.e. God. Elsewhere St. Jerome says: "To cut asunder the bond of marriage with the axe of chastity is the primary duty of the true devotee of God." The first impact these teachings had on a Christian man or Christian woman, under religious fervour, was that his or her married life was ruined. And since there was no provision for divorce or separation in Christianity, the husband and the wife would separate from each other while they remained bound in wed-lock. St. Nilus was father of two children. When he came under the spell of monasticism, he immediately separated from his wife. St. Ammon, on the first night of his marriage, gave his bride a sermon on the filthiness of the marriage bond and then the two between themselves decided to keep aloof from each other throughout life. St. Abraham abandoned his wife on the very first night of marriage. The same was done by St. Alexis. The memoirs of the Christian saints are full of such incidents.
The Church continued to resist in one way or the other these extremist concepts for three centuries. In those days it was not required of a priest to be single and unmarried. If he was married before being appointed a minister, he could keep his wife. However, he was forbidden to marry after his appointment. Moreover, a person could not be appointed a minister if he had married a widow, or a divorced woman, or had two wives, or possessed a concubine. Gradually, by the 4th century, the concept became firm that for a married person it was odious to perform religious services in the Church. The Council of Gengra (A.D. 362) was the last one in which such ideas wen held as anti-religious, but a little lour in 386, Roman Synod counselled the priests to avoid marriage relations and the following year Pope Siricius decreed that the priest who married, or continued to have sex relations with his wife if already married should be dismissed from office. Illustrious scholars like St. Ambrose, and St. Augustine upheld this decision most fervently, and after a little resistance it became fully enforced in the Western Church. In this period several councils were convened to consider the complaints to the effect that the people who were already marred were having "illicit" relations with their wives even after their appointment to perform religious duties. Consequently, with a view to reform them, rules were made to the effect that they should sleep in the open, should never meet their wives in private, and should meet them only in the presence of at (cast two other men. St. Gregory has made mention of a wonderful priest who did not have any relation with his wife for 40 years, and when the woman approached him at his death-bed, he rebuked her, saying: 'Woman keep away!"
The memoirs of the Christian saints of this period are full of such instances. One particular saint had the characteristic that he observed silence for 30 years: he was never seen speaking. Another had tied himself to a rock; another roamed the jungles and lived on grass; another moved about carrying a heavy load; another kept his limbs and body tied in fetters and chains; some saints lived in the dens of beasts, or in dry wells, or in old graves; and some others remained naked and concealed their private parts under long hair and would crawl on the ground. After death the bones of the illustrious saints were preserved in monastery. I saw a full library decked with such bones in St. Catherine's monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. There were skulls and foot-bones and handbones arranged separately. A glass-case contained the whole skeleton of a saint.
(2) Their second characteristic was that they were dirty and strictly cleanliness and bodily care. Washing or applying water to the body was regarded as opposed to God-worship, for according to them puriflcation of the body was tantamount to pollution of the soul. St. Athanasius has faithfully described this virtue of St. Anthony that he never washed his feet during life. St. Abraham from the day he entered Christianity neither washed his face nor feet for 50 years. A famous nun Virgin Sylvia, never allowed any part of her body except the fingers to become wet with water throughout life It is said of 130 nuns of 8 convent that they never washed their feet and would shudder with horror at a mere reference to bath.
(3) Monasticism practically forbade married life and ruthlessly discarded the institution of marriage. All religious writings of the 4th and 5th centuries are replete with the thought that celibacy is the highest moral virtue, and chastity meant that one should strictly abstain from sexual relation even if it was between husband and wife. The perfection of a pure spiritual life lay in complete self-denial, with no desire for physical pleasure. It was necessary to suppress any carnal desire because it strengthened animality. For them pleasure and sin were synonymous so much so that being happy was regarded as being forgetful of God. St. Basil forbade even laughing refused to oblige her. The woman lay at the entrance for three days and three nights and at last breathed her last in the same state. Then the holy man emerged from his seclusion, mourned his mother's death and prayed for her forgiveness.
In the same harsh way these saints treated their sisters and children. There is the story of Mutius, a prosperous man by aII means. Drawn out suddenly by the religious impulse, he took his 8-year-old son and went to a monastery. But for the sake of his progress to holiness it was necessary that he should give up love of his son. Therefore, first the son was separated from him Then the innocent child was subjected to harsh treatment before his very eyes and he watched it patiently. Then, the abbot of the monastery ordered him to go and Cast the child into the river. He became ready even for this; then right at the time when he was going to throw the child into the river, the monks saved the child's life then it was admitted that he had actually attained td the rank of a holy man.
(4) The
most painful and pathetic chapter of ascetic monasticism is that it cut asunder
man's relations with his parents, with his brothers and sisters, and even his
children For the Christian saints love of the parents for son, love of the
brothers and sisters for brother and love of the children for father also was
sinful. They believed it was necessary for man to break off aII those relations
for the sake of spiritual progress. In the biographies of the Christian saints
one comes across highly pathetic and heart-rending incidents. A monk, St.
Evagrius, had been undergoing severe exercises in the desert for many years.
Suddenly one day letters reached him from his father and mother, who were
passing their days in great agony without him. The saint, fearing that the
letters might arouse feelings of human love in his heart, cast the letters
immediately into the fire, without even opening them. The mother and sister of
St. Theodorus came to the monastery where he was staying, with recommendatory
letters from many priests, and desired to have only a glimpse of him, but the
saint refused to come out before them. St. Marcus' mother went to the monastery
to sec him. She somehow obtained the abbot's permission for it and requested
him to order her son to come out before her, but the son was adamant to her
prayers. At last, be implemented the abbot's orders by appearing before his
mother disguised and with closed eyes. Thus, neither was the mother able to
recognize her son, nor the son saw his mother. Another saint, St. Poemen ant
his six brothers lived in a desert tnonastery of Egypt. Years later their old
mother came to know of their whereabouts and went to sec them in the monastery.
As soon as the brothers saw their mother coming, they hurried into their cell
and shut the door. The mother started crying and wailing outside saying:
"I have travelled in this old age from a distant place only to have a
glimpse of you. There will be no harm if only I see you. Am I not your
mother?" But the saints did not open the door and told the mother that
they would meet her in the next world. Even more painful and piteous is the
story of St. Simeon Stylites, who left his parents and remained away from them
without any trace of his where abouts for 27 years. The father died of grief.
When the fame of the son's piety and holiness spread the mother, who was still
living in agony, came to know of his whereabouts. She came to the monastery to
see him but women were not allowed to enter. She prayed that either the son
should call her in, or he should himself conic out to let her have a glimpse of
him, but "the saint" before Easter every year. Once he kept standing
on one leg for a whole year. Often he would leave his monastery and retire to a
well. Later he got a 60 foot high pillar erected near Antioch, which was three
feet wide at the top and railed round. He spent the last 30 years of his life
on this pillar and remained permanently exposed to the elements. His disciples
carried food to him by ladder and removed his filth. He had even tied himself to
the pillar by a string, which cut into his flesh; when the flesh became rotten,
it bred worms; whenever a worm fell out, he would restore it to the sore,
saying: "Eat what God has given you Crowds of pilgrims flocked to him from
far and near. When he died the Christian world proclaimed that he was the best
model of a Christian saint.
The viewpoint of Christian monasticism in these matters was that the one who sought love of God, should break off all relations of human love that bound him in the world to his parents, his brothers and sisters and his children. St. Jerome says, "Even if your nephew clings to you with his hands round your neck; even if your mother calls you back in the name of having suckled you; even if your father obstructs your way and lies down before you, you should hasan out to the banner of the cross, trampling the body of your father, without shedding a tear. Ruthlessness in this mater is piety itself." St. Gregory writes, "A young monk who could not give up love of his parents, left the monastery one night in order to pay them a visit. God punished him for this error, for as soon as he returned to the monastery, he died. His body was buried in the grave but the earth did not accept it. He was placed in the grave again and again, and the earth threw him out every time. At last, St. Benedict placed a sacred offering on his chest, and then the grave accepted him." Of a nun it is said that for three days after her death, she remained subject to a torment because she had not been able to cleanse her heart of her mother's lout. About a saint it is written that he never treated anyone harshly except his relatives.
(5) Their practice of meting out ruthless, cruel and harsh treatment to their nearest relatives, made their human feeling dead, with the result that they would treat with utmost enmity those with whom they had any religious differences. By the beginning of the 4th century, 80 to 90 religious sects had arisen in Christianity. St. Augustine has made mention of 88 sects of his own time, each of which regarded the other with extreme hatred. And the fire of this hatred also was fanned by the monks, who were always in the forefront to hahtt and destroy the opponent sects by their machinations. Alexandria was a great cenur of this sectarian conflict.
There, in the beginning the Bishop of the Arian sect attacked the Athanasius party. Virgin nuns were dragged out of their convents, stripped naked and beaten with thorny branches and branded in order to make them give up their creed. Then, when the Roman Catholics came to power in Egypt, they treated the Arian' sect likewise; so much so that according to the prevalent view Arius himself also was poisoned. Once on the same city of Alexandria the monks of St.' Cyril created a turmoil. They seized a nun of the opponent sect and took her into their church; they killed her, backed her body to pieces, and cast it into the fire. Rome was not any different from this. In 366, at the death of Pope Liberius, two sects nominated their respective candidates for papacy; this resulted in great bloodshed; so much so that in one day 137 dead bodies were taken out from one church.
(6) Side by side with this retreat from the world and life of seclusion and poverty, wealth of the world also was amassed most avariciously. By the b-ginning of the 5th century the condition was that the bishop of Rome lived in his palace like kings, and when his conveyance emerged in the city, it would be as stately and splendid as of the emperor himself. St. Jerome complains of the conditions of his time (later part of the 4th century) saying that the feast hosted by many of the bishops out-classed the feasts of the governors. The flow of wealth to monasteries and churches had assumed the proportions of a deluge by the beginning of the 7th century (the age of the revelation of the Qur'an). It had been deeply impressed on the minds that a person who happened to commit a grave sin could be redeemed only by making an offering at a saint's shrine, or a sacrifice at the altar of a church or monastery. Then the same world and its luxuries and comforts abstention from which was the mark of distinction of the monks, lay at their feet. The factor which, in particular, caused this decline was that when the common people developed extreme reverence for the monks because of their undergoing severe exercises of self-discipline and self-denial, hosts of world seeking people also donned the monk's garments and entered their ranks. Then under the garb of feigned poverty they turned acquisition of worldly wealth and possessions into a flourishing business.
(7) In the matter of chastity also monasticism was repeatedly defeated in its fight against nature and defeated well and proper. In the monasteries some exercises of self-mortification were such as required the monks and nuns to live together in one and the same place, and they had often to pass the night in the same bed in their enthusiasm for more and more temptations. St. Evagarius, the well-known monk, has praised the self-control acquired by the Palestinian monks, saying: "They had mastered their passion so completely that although they bathed with the women together, looked at their bodice, touched them, even embraced them, yet they remained invincible to nature." Although bathing was an odious thing in monasticism, such baths were also taken for the sake of exercise in self-control. At last, about the same Palestine, St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 396) writes that it bas become a centre of wickedness and immorality. Human nature avenges itself on those who fight it. Monasticism fought it and ultimately fell in the pit of immorality the story of which is a most shameful blot on the religious history of the 8th to 11th centuries. An Italian bishop of the 10th century writes: "If the penal law for misconduct is practically enforced against those who perform religious services in the church, none would escape punishment except the boys, and if the law to remove illegitimate children from religious services was also enforced, there might perhaps be left no boy among the attendants of the church." Books of the medieval authors are replete with the complaints that the nunneries had become houses of prostitution. Within their four walls newborn babies were being massacred; the priests and religious attendants of the church had developed illicit connections even with forbidden relatives; the crime of the mtnatural act had spread like an epidemic in the monasteries; and the practice of confession had become a means of immorality in the churches.
From these details one can fully appreciate what corruption of Christianity the Qur’an is alluding to when it says: "The Christians themselves invented monasticism, but they did not observe it as it should have been observed."
The viewpoint of Christian monasticism in these matters was that the one who sought love of God, should break off all relations of human love that bound him in the world to his parents, his brothers and sisters and his children. St. Jerome says, "Even if your nephew clings to you with his hands round your neck; even if your mother calls you back in the name of having suckled you; even if your father obstructs your way and lies down before you, you should hasan out to the banner of the cross, trampling the body of your father, without shedding a tear. Ruthlessness in this mater is piety itself." St. Gregory writes, "A young monk who could not give up love of his parents, left the monastery one night in order to pay them a visit. God punished him for this error, for as soon as he returned to the monastery, he died. His body was buried in the grave but the earth did not accept it. He was placed in the grave again and again, and the earth threw him out every time. At last, St. Benedict placed a sacred offering on his chest, and then the grave accepted him." Of a nun it is said that for three days after her death, she remained subject to a torment because she had not been able to cleanse her heart of her mother's lout. About a saint it is written that he never treated anyone harshly except his relatives.
(5) Their practice of meting out ruthless, cruel and harsh treatment to their nearest relatives, made their human feeling dead, with the result that they would treat with utmost enmity those with whom they had any religious differences. By the beginning of the 4th century, 80 to 90 religious sects had arisen in Christianity. St. Augustine has made mention of 88 sects of his own time, each of which regarded the other with extreme hatred. And the fire of this hatred also was fanned by the monks, who were always in the forefront to hahtt and destroy the opponent sects by their machinations. Alexandria was a great cenur of this sectarian conflict.
There, in the beginning the Bishop of the Arian sect attacked the Athanasius party. Virgin nuns were dragged out of their convents, stripped naked and beaten with thorny branches and branded in order to make them give up their creed. Then, when the Roman Catholics came to power in Egypt, they treated the Arian' sect likewise; so much so that according to the prevalent view Arius himself also was poisoned. Once on the same city of Alexandria the monks of St.' Cyril created a turmoil. They seized a nun of the opponent sect and took her into their church; they killed her, backed her body to pieces, and cast it into the fire. Rome was not any different from this. In 366, at the death of Pope Liberius, two sects nominated their respective candidates for papacy; this resulted in great bloodshed; so much so that in one day 137 dead bodies were taken out from one church.
(6) Side by side with this retreat from the world and life of seclusion and poverty, wealth of the world also was amassed most avariciously. By the b-ginning of the 5th century the condition was that the bishop of Rome lived in his palace like kings, and when his conveyance emerged in the city, it would be as stately and splendid as of the emperor himself. St. Jerome complains of the conditions of his time (later part of the 4th century) saying that the feast hosted by many of the bishops out-classed the feasts of the governors. The flow of wealth to monasteries and churches had assumed the proportions of a deluge by the beginning of the 7th century (the age of the revelation of the Qur'an). It had been deeply impressed on the minds that a person who happened to commit a grave sin could be redeemed only by making an offering at a saint's shrine, or a sacrifice at the altar of a church or monastery. Then the same world and its luxuries and comforts abstention from which was the mark of distinction of the monks, lay at their feet. The factor which, in particular, caused this decline was that when the common people developed extreme reverence for the monks because of their undergoing severe exercises of self-discipline and self-denial, hosts of world seeking people also donned the monk's garments and entered their ranks. Then under the garb of feigned poverty they turned acquisition of worldly wealth and possessions into a flourishing business.
(7) In the matter of chastity also monasticism was repeatedly defeated in its fight against nature and defeated well and proper. In the monasteries some exercises of self-mortification were such as required the monks and nuns to live together in one and the same place, and they had often to pass the night in the same bed in their enthusiasm for more and more temptations. St. Evagarius, the well-known monk, has praised the self-control acquired by the Palestinian monks, saying: "They had mastered their passion so completely that although they bathed with the women together, looked at their bodice, touched them, even embraced them, yet they remained invincible to nature." Although bathing was an odious thing in monasticism, such baths were also taken for the sake of exercise in self-control. At last, about the same Palestine, St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 396) writes that it bas become a centre of wickedness and immorality. Human nature avenges itself on those who fight it. Monasticism fought it and ultimately fell in the pit of immorality the story of which is a most shameful blot on the religious history of the 8th to 11th centuries. An Italian bishop of the 10th century writes: "If the penal law for misconduct is practically enforced against those who perform religious services in the church, none would escape punishment except the boys, and if the law to remove illegitimate children from religious services was also enforced, there might perhaps be left no boy among the attendants of the church." Books of the medieval authors are replete with the complaints that the nunneries had become houses of prostitution. Within their four walls newborn babies were being massacred; the priests and religious attendants of the church had developed illicit connections even with forbidden relatives; the crime of the mtnatural act had spread like an epidemic in the monasteries; and the practice of confession had become a means of immorality in the churches.
From these details one can fully appreciate what corruption of Christianity the Qur’an is alluding to when it says: "The Christians themselves invented monasticism, but they did not observe it as it should have been observed."
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ
وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ
نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ {57:28}
[Q57:28] Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena
aamaanut taquLLaaha wa aaminoo bi Rasoolihee yu'tikum kiflaini mir rahmatihee
wa yaj'al lakum nooran tamshoona bihee wa yaghfir lakum; waLLaahu Ghafoorur Raheem:
[Q57:28] O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH (SWT) and believe in His Messenger: He will give you two portions of His mercy, and make for you a light with which you will walk, and forgive you, and ALLAH (SWT) is Forgiving, Merciful;
[Q57:28] O you who believe! be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH (SWT) and believe in His Messenger: He will give you two portions of His mercy, and make for you a light with which you will walk, and forgive you, and ALLAH (SWT) is Forgiving, Merciful;
[Q57:28] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Bertakwalah kamu kepada ALLAH (SwT) dan
tetaplah beriman kepada RasulNya (Muhammad), supaya ALLAH (SwT) memberi kepada
kamu dua bahagian dari rahmatNya dan menjadikan bagi kamu cahaya untuk kamu
berjalan dengannya (pada hari kiamat kelak), serta diampunkannya dosa kamu dan
(ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) Maha Pengampun, lagi Maha Mengasihani.
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(57:28) Believers, have fear of Allah and
believe in His Messenger, *55 and He will grant you a two-fold
portion of His Mercy, and will appoint for you a light whereby you shall walk; *56 and
He will forgive you. *57 Allah is Most Forgiving, Most
Compassionate.
*55 The
commentators differ in the explanation of this verse, One
group says that the address here is
directed to the people who believed in the Prophet Jesus. It is being said to
them, "Believe in the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace
and blessings) now; for this you will be given a double reward, one reward for
believing in the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) and the other reward for
believing in the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings).
The second
group says that the followers of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) are being
addressed. They are being admonished to the effect: "Do not rest content
with your verbal affirmation of the Faith only, but you should believe
sincerely and truly. For this you will be given a double reward: one reward for
giving up disbelief and turning to Islam, and the second reward for believing
sincerely in Islam and remaining steadfast to it " The first commentary
is supported by vv. 52-S4 of Surah AI-Qasas, and furthermore by the tradition
reported by Hadrat Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, according to which the Holy Prophet
(upon whom be peace) said: "There
are three men who will get a double reward, one of them is a person from among
the followers of the earlier Books who believed in this earlier Prophet and
then believed in the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace)."
(Bukhari Muslim). The second commentary is supported by verse 37 of
Surah Saba, which says that the righteous believers will have a double reward.
From the point of view of argument both the commentaries are equally weighty.
However, considering the theme that follows, one feels that the second
commentary is more in keeping with the context here; and in fact the whole
theme of this Surah, from beginning to end, supports this very commentary. From
the beginning of this Surah- the addressees are the people who had entered
Islam after affirming the Prophethood of the Holy Prophet and it is they whom
the Surah invites to believe sincerely and truly and not merely verbally with
the tongue
*56 That is, "He will bless you with such a light of knowledge and vision in the world by which you will be able clearly distinguish at every step the straight way of Islam from the crooked paths of ignorance in different matters of life, and in the Hereafter He will grant you the Light that has been mentioned in verse 12 above.'
*57 That is, "He will forgive you your errors that you may happen to commit due to human weaknesses in spite of your sincere efforts to fulfil the demands of the Faith, and will also forgive those sins of yours that you had committed in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance."
*56 That is, "He will bless you with such a light of knowledge and vision in the world by which you will be able clearly distinguish at every step the straight way of Islam from the crooked paths of ignorance in different matters of life, and in the Hereafter He will grant you the Light that has been mentioned in verse 12 above.'
*57 That is, "He will forgive you your errors that you may happen to commit due to human weaknesses in spite of your sincere efforts to fulfil the demands of the Faith, and will also forgive those sins of yours that you had committed in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance."
لِئَلَّا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ أَلَّا
يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِنْ فَضْلِ اللَّهِ ۙ وَأَنَّ الْفَضْلَ بِيَدِ
اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ {57:29}
[Q57:29] Li'alla
ya'lama Ahlul kitaabi allaa yaqdiroona 'alaa shai'im min fadliL Laahi wa annal
fadla bi YadiL Laahi u'teehi many yashaaa'; waLLaahu Zul fadilil 'azeem.
[Q57:29] So that the followers of the Book may know that they do not control aught of the grace of ALLAH (SWT), and that grace is in ALLAH (SWT)'s hand, He gives it to whom He pleases; and ALLAH (SWT) is the Lord of mighty grace.
[Q57:29] So that the followers of the Book may know that they do not control aught of the grace of ALLAH (SWT), and that grace is in ALLAH (SWT)'s hand, He gives it to whom He pleases; and ALLAH (SWT) is the Lord of mighty grace.
[Q57:29] (Ditetapkan pemberian yang demikian kepada kamu) supaya golongan ahli Kitab
(Yahudi dan Nasrani yang menentang Islam) mengetahui, bahawa sesungguhnya
mereka tidak mempunyai sebarang kuasa untuk mendapat (atau menyekat) sesuatu
dari limpah kurnia ALLAH (SwT) dan bahawa sesungguhnya limpah kurnia itu
terletak dalam kekuasaan ALLAH (SwT), diberikanNya kepada sesiapa yang
dikehendakiNya dan (ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) jualah yang mempunyai limpah kurnia
yang besar.
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(57:29) (You should do this) so that the
People of the Book know that they have no control over Allah’s Bounty, and that
all bounty is in Allah’s Hand; He bestows it on whomsoever He pleases. Allah is
the Lord of abounding bounty.
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