Appearance
Summaries of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān
The summary with which Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī opens his commentary on each verse of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, in the order of the verses. To read the summary of one verse, type it on the Summary page.
3:1–2 — Alif, Lam, Mim.
(1) Alif, Lam, Mim. (2) Allah—there is no god except Him—is the Living One, the All-sustainer.
Every contingent being subsists in its existence by God, the Self-subsisting (al-Qayyūm); for its existence is not its very essence. God’s self-subsistence (qayyūmiyyah) and His bestowing of existence come from knowledge, and knowledge and self-subsistence necessarily entail life. So God is the Living, the Self-subsisting. The noble name “He” (huwa) is the greatest and noblest of the names, gathering all the others, and it points to the absolute Identity (al-huwiyyah al-muṭlaqah). The expression “the Living, the Self-subsisting” can be counted as two names, or as one name made up of two parts.
3:3–4 — He has sent down to you the Book with the truth
(3) He has sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what was [revealed] before it, and He had sent down the Torah and the Evangel (4) before as guidance for mankind, and He has sent down the Criterion. Indeed, there is a severe punishment for those who deny the signs of Allah, and Allah is all-mighty, avenger.
God, the Living, the Self-subsisting, has sent down a Book in which there is life and support for people, and guidance and proof for humankind. It is fitting that the Jews and the Christians follow it, so as to be guided and to attain felicity; for it confirms their Books, the Gospel and the Torah. Disbelief in it destroys their life and pulls down what supports them, and its end is a severe punishment from God.
3:5 — Nothing is indeed hidden from Allah in the earth or in the sky
Nothing is indeed hidden from Allah in the earth or in the sky.
The world of creation and its whole order are created by God (s.w.t.) and last by His will. The universe, with its heavens and its earth, is under His dominion and His management; so nothing in it is hidden from Him, and nothing escapes Him.
3:6 — It is He who forms you in the wombs [of your mothers] however He wishes
It is He who forms you in the wombs [of your mothers] however He wishes. There is no god except Him, the All-mighty, the All-wise.
God (s.w.t.) forms the human being and draws his features while he is in his mother’s womb, as He wills and as His wisdom requires. For the children of Adam, and the whole world from its beginning to its end, are created with a wise creation and came into being with wisdom. Failure and an evil end come from bad obedience, not from bad divine ordaining; and punishment is the necessary, compelling consequence for whoever disbelieves in God and adopts thought and belief that oppose God’s customs and His wise order.
3:7 — It is He who has sent down to you the Book
It is He who has sent down to you the Book. Parts of it are definitive verses, which are the mother of the Book, while others are metaphorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviance, they pursue what is metaphorical in it, courting temptation, and seeking its interpretation. But no one knows its interpretation except Allah and those firmly grounded in knowledge; they say, ‘We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord.’ And none takes admonition except those who possess intellect.
Among the verses there are the decisive (muḥkamāt) and the ambiguous (mutashābihāt). The decisive verses are the mother of the Qur’anic teachings, and the ambiguous verses are referred back to them to remove the vagueness that appears in them. No one takes up the ambiguous verses on their own except those in whose hearts there is a sickness, who interpret them according to their desires, seeking discord (fitnah) and leading astray. As for those firmly grounded in knowledge (al-rāsikhūn fī al-ʿilm), who know their interpretation (taʾwīl), they are the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt); and they say: We believe in the whole Qur’an; all of it is from our Lord.
3:8–9 — [They say,] ‘Our Lord! Do not make our hearts swerve after You have guided us
(8) [They say,] ‘Our Lord! Do not make our hearts swerve after You have guided us, and bestow Your mercy on us. Indeed, You are the All-munificent. (9) Our Lord! You will indeed gather mankind on a day in which there is no doubt. Indeed Allah does not break His promise.’
Those firmly grounded in knowledge constantly remember the Day of Resurrection. They know, as people of understanding who take heed, that every blessing, in its coming into being and in its continuing, is from God; and they understand well what is meant by seeking discord and leading astray. They do not cease humbling themselves before God and asking Him for deliverance from the danger of deviation and of the trial with which those whose hearts swerve were afflicted.
Part of their good knowledge of God’s blessing and His favour to them is that they did not attribute guidance to themselves, but said: “after You have guided us”. They asked Him to increase their guidance, so that before the ambiguous verses they would say, “We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord”, and so that they would always remain among “the people of understanding”, and the blessing of being firmly grounded in knowledge and faith would not be taken from them, through the decisive and ambiguous verses of His and acting on each of them as befits it. And they praise God, the Gatherer of creation for the Day of Return, certain that He does not fail the promise.
3:10 — As for the faithless, neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them anything…
As for the faithless, neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them anything against Allah; it is they who will be fuel for the Fire;
The faithless reckon that their wealth and their children are enough for them in place of faith in God. So God (s.w.t.) warned them against this opinion of theirs, to establish His proof against them; and so that the faithful, who are dazzled by the wealth of the faithless, impressed by their strength and their moving freely about the land, may know that nothing the faithless own of wealth, sons and numbers will benefit them or ward off harm from them before the will of God, the Possessor of strength, the Firm. They are punished with poverty and with distance from God’s mercy; and they are the fuel of the fire.
3:11 — as in the case of Pharaoh’s clan and those who were before them
as in the case of Pharaoh’s clan and those who were before them, who denied Our signs. So Allah seized them for their sins, and Allah is severe in retribution.
God mentions here the people of Pharaoh, and the tyrants before them, as an example of the faithless becoming fuel for the fire because of their ugly deeds and their evil conduct. Their wealth and their children did not benefit them at all apart from God; so He seized them for their sins, and no one held back His punishment from them; and on the Day of Resurrection they will have no protector and no helper.
3:12 — Say to the faithless, ‘You shall be overcome and mustered toward hell
Say to the faithless, ‘You shall be overcome and mustered toward hell, and it is an evil resting place.’
In this verse there is a miraculous report of the Unseen about the working of the divine custom (sunnah): the victory of justice and faith over unbelief and wrongdoing. The Prophet (s.a.w.) is commanded to say to the faithless: You will be overcome, humbled; and Medina, indeed the Arabian Peninsula, will be freed of your sins and your evils. In it there is another report of the Unseen: the gathering of the faithless to what they have prepared for themselves, which is described as an evil resting place; and “evil” (baʾs) is the severity of harm.
3:13 — There was certainly a sign for you in the two hosts that met
There was certainly a sign for you in the two hosts that met: one host fighting in the way of Allah and the other faithless, who saw them as visibly twice as many. Allah strengthens whomever He wishes with His help. There is indeed a moral in that for those who have insight.
This verse mentions an important event, the battle of Badr, in which the Muslims lined up for war with the polytheists of Quraysh; and in it the faithful saw God’s help from the Unseen for them. It is a miracle added to the other miracles, one the Muslims witnessed themselves, and which the Qur’an told them of.
That help was a support and reinforcement from God (s.w.t.): either by sending down angels, or by sending down rain, or by sending down security and tranquillity into hearts and casting terror into the hearts of the faithless, or by acting on their sight, so that He showed them the faithful as twice their number, to weaken their souls and break their morale, as happened on the day of Badr.
3:14 — The love of [worldly] allures
The love of [worldly] allures, including women and children, accumulated piles of gold and silver, horses of mark, livestock, and farms has been made to seem decorous to mankind. Those are the wares of the life of this world, but the goodness of one’s ultimate destination lies near Allah.
God has described Himself in His Book as the One who adorns the heavens, the earth and the human primordial nature (fiṭrah). Every praiseworthy adorning is from God, and every blameworthy adorning is also from Him in one respect (every contingent thing, if it is good, is attributed to God without an intermediary, and if it is evil, it is attributed to Him through an intermediary). But since the verse here is set in the context of rebuking and belittling the people of appetites, this shows that the one who adorns them is Satan.
Adorning external things is the act of God, while adorning qualities and inner states that are subject to satanic whispering is the act of Satan. The verse is here concerned with warning against the beloved thing being adorned with the colour of appetite. It does not look at the like of a man’s love for his wife and his children and what supports his livelihood; for this is an instrumental and praiseworthy love that human nature requires, and it is attributed to God (s.w.t.), and is not part of the blameworthy love of appetites.
The seven desirable things mentioned in this verse are given as examples, not as a full list. Imagined adornments such as rank and leadership are not mentioned, so as to state plainly their foundations, which are the seven appetites. “Daughters” are not mentioned in it, either because they are included under the heading “women”, since loving them includes instinctive appetite and emotional love, or because they are included under the heading “sons” by way of giving the masculine precedence over the feminine, or because the verse came down when people’s souls then resented daughters. The seven desirable things are not mentioned in an order marked by particles such as “then” (fa, thumma); but the order and precedence in wording certainly point to the importance of what is mentioned first, and there is no doubt that their effects on the individual are not equal.
3:16–17 — Those who say, ‘Our Lord! Indeed
(16) Those who say, ‘Our Lord! Indeed, we have faith. So forgive us our sins, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.’ (17) [They are] patient and truthful, obedient and charitable, and they plead for [Allah’s] forgiveness at dawns.
These noble verses relate the conduct and qualities of the Godwary who were promised the bliss of the Hereafter in the previous verse. They pray with a truthfulness in their prayer that points to their Godwariness and their faith in God (s.w.t.), and they ask Him to forgive their sins and protect them from the fire. The second verse sets out their noble qualities: patience, truthfulness, humility, spending, and asking forgiveness before dawn. The time before dawn (saḥar) is the horizon of majesty towards the inner realm (malakūt), the moments of union and of reaching the station of the angels brought near; and the order in wording conveys their order in spiritual rank.
Some of these qualities are particular, such as spending, and some are general, such as truthfulness and patience. Joining asking forgiveness before dawn with financial spending is to draw attention to the fact that worship at night does not make one free of carrying out the social mission. The plural in the word “before dawn” (asḥār) points to the continuance and permanence of asking forgiveness; so a little that is cut off is not enough to enter the company of “those who ask forgiveness before dawn”. Among its instances is asking forgiveness in the night prayer.
3:18 — Allah, maintainer of justice
Allah, maintainer of justice, the Almighty and the All-wise, besides whom there is no god, bears witness that there is no god except Him, and [so do] the angels and those who possess knowledge.
In this verse God bears witness to His own oneness while He maintains justice, and He reports the testimony of the angels and of those possessed of knowledge to that. The word of tawḥīd (“There is no god but He”) is repeated twice because of the greatness of what is testified to, and its repetition is a repetition of the testimony. So God has two testimonies here, with the testimony of the angels and of those possessed of knowledge between them.
3:19 — Indeed, with Allah religion is Islam
Indeed, with Allah religion is Islam, and those who were given the Book did not differ except after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among themselves. And whoever denies Allah’s signs [should know that] Allah is swift at reckoning.
God (s.w.t.) mentions the broad lines of the laws sent down to His messengers under the name “Islam”, and that they are all true, for they spring from His one religion. He mentions that the cause of the disagreement of the People of the Book, after they knew the truth, was their wrongdoing and their transgression. He threatens those who disbelieve in His signs and His clear proofs with a swift reckoning; for they stopped their ears to His call, buried their primordial nature (fiṭrah) so that it would not reach sound knowledge, led people astray from the level path, and strove to kill God’s religion and put out its light.
3:20 — If they argue with you, say
If they argue with you, say, ‘I have submitted my will to Allah, and [so has] he who follows me.’ And say to those who were given the Book and the uninstructed ones, ‘Do you submit?’ If they submit, they will certainly be guided; but if they turn away, then your duty is only to communicate, and Allah watches His servants.
God commanded His Messenger, in his argument with the People of the Book, to declare to them his own submission and that of the faithful with him to God (s.w.t.), and to ask them about their own submission (islām), a question that carries a command. If they submit, they are guided; and if not, the Messenger has nothing but to convey and to deliver the message. As for whoever does not believe after the proof and the clear evidence have been established, his affair is with God, who judges it by His judgement; and God sees His servants.
3:21–22 — Those who deny Allah’s signs and kill the prophets unjustly and kill those who call for…
(21) Those who deny Allah’s signs and kill the prophets unjustly and kill those who call for justice from among the people, inform them of a painful punishment. (22) They are the ones whose works have failed in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.
In these verses God gives the glad tidings of a painful punishment to those who deny His miracles, both the heavenly Books sent down and the creation of this world, to those who kill His messengers, and to those who command what is right and forbid what is wrong. He (s.w.t.) reports that their good deeds are scattered dust with no worth, and that they have no helper either in this world or in the Hereafter. The words are directed to the faithless who argued with the Prophet (s.a.w.) and resisted the truth that came to them, and they remind them of their evil end and their being forsaken in this world and the Hereafter.
3:23–24 — Have you not regarded those who were given a share of the Book
(23) Have you not regarded those who were given a share of the Book, who are summoned to the Book of Allah in order that it may judge between them, whereat a part of them refuse to comply and they are disregardful? (24) That is because they say, ‘The Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days,’ and they have been misled in their religion by what they used to fabricate.
This verse rebukes a group of the People of the Book, namely the Jews. They were called to God’s judgement in the Qur’an, or to what the Torah and the Qur’an judged; but they turned away from the truth, as was their habit in their conduct. That was because of their supposing that the fire would touch them only for a few days; and so the lies they had woven deceived them about their religion.
3:25 — But how will it be [with them] when We gather them on a day in which there is no doubt
But how will it be [with them] when We gather them on a day in which there is no doubt, and every soul shall be recompensed fully for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged?
The People of the Book, out of arrogance, did not answer God’s call, though they were deceived and supposed that their punishment would be only a few days. If they did not submit in this world, they will submit to God, humbled, on the day when humans and jinn are gathered. That is “the Day of Gathering”, about which there is no doubt: either in the sense that there is no doubt that it will come and take place, or in the sense that it is a day on which realities are uncovered, so that no doubt about anything remains. And every person will receive the recompense of his deeds in full, whether good or evil, with no wrong and no injustice.
3:26 — Say, ‘O Allah, Master of all sovereignty
Say, ‘O Allah, Master of all sovereignty! You give sovereignty to whomever You wish, and strip of sovereignty whomever You wish; You make mighty whomever You wish, and You degrade whomever You wish; all choice is in Your hand. Indeed You have power over all things.’
The expression “Master of the kingdom” (Mālik al-mulk) is among the most telling and precise expressions pointing to the all-embracing ownership of God over all things; for the word “kingdom” (mulk) has a broad and comprehensive meaning that includes the outward and the inward kingdom. This expression points to God’s (s.w.t.) dominion over all things: the giving of every kingdom and its taking away are in His hand alone and according to His wise will; and His giving and His withholding are always good, whether as reward or as punishment. As for what the human being takes, it is not always good.
Might and humiliation in the Qur’an are of two kinds, true and false. True might is the might of God, His Messenger and the faithful; and false might is the might of the faithless, which they imagine for themselves, and they are the humiliated in truth. Might and humiliation are in the hand of God alone; and this points to the tawḥīd of acts, not to compulsion (jabr) as some reckon. For the Qur’an, in dozens of its verses, affirms the human being’s responsibility for his deeds, while preserving the tie between God, the Bestower, and the merit of the one who receives. So it is not that the human being has no role at all in attaining might and kingdom or in losing them.
3:27 — ‘You make the night pass into the day and You make the day pass into the night
‘You make the night pass into the day and You make the day pass into the night. You bring forth the living from the dead and You bring forth the dead from the living, and You provide for whomever You wish without any reckoning.’
This noble verse gives three examples of divine power, whose universal sense came in the previous verse in a short sentence and a comprehensive statement:
Making the night enter into the day and the day into the night, by shortening one of them and lengthening the other. By this the four seasons come about, which are among the most important causes of the growth of plants and of the continuance of the life of human beings and animals.
Bringing the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living. Among the examples of that is the believer being born of the faithless and the faithless being born of the believer.
Providing people with blessings that cannot be counted, each according to his need and his state, of material and spiritual provision in this world and the Hereafter, without anyone deserving any of it, little or much, or being able to pay anything of it back.
Everything that contains benefit and use is provision in language and in people’s usage. So spiritual matters, such as might, honour, knowledge and prophethood, are provisions from God (s.w.t.). He does not provide for people according to their toil and the measure of their effort; rather, He is the Provider without reckoning, even though work is a necessary cause in it.
3:28 — The faithful should not take the faithless for allies instead of the faithful
The faithful should not take the faithless for allies instead of the faithful, and Allah will have nothing to do with those who do that, except when you are wary of them, out of caution. Allah warns you to beware of [disobeying] Him, and toward Allah is the return.
God has forbidden the faithful to take the faithless as allies (muwālāt). It is among the major sins and transgressions, and at times it may amount to unbelief: taking them as allies and as intimates for purposes they conceal. Whoever does that is under God’s anger.
The faithful have no affection in their hearts for the faithless; this is the lowest of the ranks. Still less do they take them as allies and as close confidants, which is the highest degree of ties and the firmest of the bonds that conflict with God’s guardianship (wilāyah); and the least degree of forbidding what is wrong is the heart’s rejection.
Yes, relations with them without alliance and without affection are permitted. The reason for forbidding that alliance is the evil effects that arise from it, among them opening the door to deviation from the path of religion and to leading its teachings astray: “They wish that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you would be alike; so do not take allies from among them” (4:89). The end of taking the faithless as allies is the loss of faith, God’s disowning, and deprivation of His mercies and His special kindnesses; for these are particular to the just among the faithful.
Yes, if that is precaution (taqiyyah) against their evil, it does not harm faith; for taqiyyah is among the broad lines of God’s religion, not a law of one revealed law rather than another. So there is nothing wrong in acting on it for whoever acts on it in his religion.
The sentence “And God warns you of Himself” is a threat from God (s.w.t.), a call to Godwariness of God and fear of Him, and a warning from Him (s.w.t.) to people of wisdom against expecting to know His Essence, or hoping to witness It.
The sentence “and to God is the destination” points to the return of existence to God (s.w.t.). The human being, together with the caravan of existence, is in transformation and becoming towards God (s.w.t.), either to Paradise or to the fire.
3:29 — Say, ‘Whether you hide what is in your hearts or disclose it
Say, ‘Whether you hide what is in your hearts or disclose it, Allah knows it, and He knows whatever there is in the heavens and whatever there is in the earth; and Allah has power over all things.’
Whoever takes the faithless as allies outside the framework of precaution (taqiyyah) and its necessity, let him know that God knows what he hides and what he shows. For He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and so He knows what is in them; and the human being is part of what He created, so his state is also known to God. Besides His knowledge of everything, He is able to call anyone to account and to disclose his secret; and by His absolute power God (s.w.t.) is able to do what He knows.
3:30 — The day when every soul will find present whatever good it has done
The day when every soul will find present whatever good it has done; and as for the evil, it has done, it will wish there were a far distance between it and itself. Allah warns you to beware of [disobeying] Him, and Allah is most kind to [His] servants.
On the Day of the Return every person will find his deed present, whether good or evil; and what is present is the deed itself, not its form or its counterpart. Then he will wish that there were between him and his evil deed a great distance.
The presence of deeds is evidence that they take on a body (tajassum al-aʿmāl). There is an objection: that bringing deeds back themselves after they have ceased to exist is impossible, so what is brought present is their recompense or their records. This objection is rejected; for the spirit of the deed and its intention remain kept in the soul, and what ceases to exist is the form of the deed, which has no effect. An example of that: standing up with the intention of respect or of insult. It passes away inasmuch as it is an outward act, but the intention remains, and the reckoning is according to it. “A great distance” (amad baʿīd) is a long separation in time; and the soul’s wishing for that in the Hereafter is the appearance of its demands and its putting off of deeds in this world.
The mention of kindness at the end of the verse sets out the reason for the warning; and that warning arises from God’s mercy towards His servants and His tender care for them.
3:31 — Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me
Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.’
In this verse God asks for love of Him and obedience to Him; and in return He (s.w.t.) makes His love and His forgiveness their reward for these two things. This covenant and pledge exchanged between the two sides is an instance of God’s tenderness and His kindness to His servants.
For the human being to be able to travel on the path of love, there must be someone who guides him and shows him the way. That is why the Noblest Prophet (s.a.w.) was charged with conveying God’s message to His servants, saying to them: If you truly love God, follow me, so that God (s.w.t.) will love you too.
Love of God is a perfection that God, the Gracious, gives to His servants; and since the fruit of this gift is God’s love for the servant who loves, the human being’s love for God is surrounded by two divine loves, just as the servant’s repentance comes between two acts of turning from God.
Love is a shared bond that ties God and His servants. Contrary to what some believe, the servant can be the lover and God (s.w.t.) the Beloved; and likewise God can be the Lover and that servant beloved by Him.
Obedience comes from the servant, and forgiveness from God (s.w.t.). Here we should notice that love is the effect of knowledge on one side, and the cause of obedience on the other.
As for mentioning the name “God” explicitly instead of the pronoun, it is because of the importance of the subject, and to convey what is meant: that forgiveness and mercy are what divinity requires.
3:32 — Say, ‘Obey Allah and the Apostle.’ But if they turn away
Say, ‘Obey Allah and the Apostle.’ But if they turn away, indeed Allah does not like the faithless.
On the basis of the previous verse, following is obedience that comes from love; and this shows in sincere obedience. So what love necessarily brings is obedience out of the heart’s longing for God and His Messenger (s.a.w.); and there is no doubt that the value of that obedience lies in the sanctity of the One obeyed, who is God (s.w.t.) and His Messenger (s.a.w.).
Without complete obedience to the greatest Prophet (s.a.w.), in every respect (in the message, in guardianship (wilāyah), and in setting out and explaining the Qur’an), a person will be neither a lover of God nor beloved by Him.
Those who turn away from God’s rulings and His commands are faithless; and since unbelief stains every affair of their lives, they have no share in God’s love, and so they are among those under anger and those who are hated.
3:33–34 — Indeed Allah chose Adam and Noah
(33) Indeed Allah chose Adam and Noah, and the progeny of Abraham and the progeny of Imran above all the nations; (34) some of them are descendants of the others, and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.
This noble verse makes known the chosen ones (al-muṣṭafawn) whom it is obligatory to follow and obey.
The divine religion is a chosen religion, and its followers are the people of purity and the pure in belief, with characters and deeds free of every blemish; and God (s.w.t.) willed that these be sincere, pure ones, by His granting them success, His support and His preparing the means of guidance.
The prophets Adam and Noah, the pure family of Abraham, and the family of ʿImrān (the father of the lady Mary), besides being God’s best (khiyarat Allāh), are also chosen. This choosing, which is a personal choosing preceded by a choosing through lineage, is a special and exceptional choosing; what is meant by it is the great leadership and the Imamate, or being foremost in conveying the divine message.
God (s.w.t.) selected this group and chose it from all the worlds (that is, all human communities, or the whole of humans and jinn, or the worlds of knowledge and action, which include the angels too), and preferred it over all His creatures.
All of those chosen ones are one line, one from another. They share one source and one luminous reality, and in the qualities that made it necessary to choose them over the worlds; just as they do not differ in the qualities of virtue. On this basis, besides the bond of fatherhood and kinship of lineage among each of them, there is a stronger and firmer bond among them. The chain of the prophets and messengers, beginning with Adam, through Noah and the family of Abraham, and the family of ʿImrān (a.s.), is gathered together by what gathers them (choosing), just as the divine message itself gathers them. Some of them followed others in coming, in a connected, continuous way; and this one original chain was not cut off in any period of history.
God is All-hearing, All-knowing. By His knowledge of the secrets of human beings and the worth of each of them, He knows whom to choose; His choosing is not at random, nor in vain, nor without aim, measure and foundation.
3:35 — When the wife of Imran said
When the wife of Imran said, ‘My Lord, I dedicate to You in consecration what is in my belly. Accept it from me; indeed You are the All-hearing, the All-knowing.’
Remember this historical scene and report when Hannah, the mother of Mary, who had lost her husband ʿImrān during pregnancy, knowing that the servants of the Holy House were chosen from among boys, and moreover, that males were more suitable for service, with expectation, confidence and hope that her future child would be male, made it obligatory upon herself to free her child from her guardianship and management and dedicate them to the service of the temple and sanctuary, saying: I will free my child from every constraint so that they may be completely in the service of Your religion.
With this vow (nadhr), which was different from the conventional vow and was absolute rather than conditional, she relinquished her guardianship and custodianship over her child and entrusted them to God for proper upbringing, leaving the choice and selection of appropriate work to the child themselves; not that she wanted to force them into service.
She, who insisted that her child be dedicated and consecrated for God both in origin and continuation, requested the good acceptance and complete acceptance of the object of the vow one, meaning the essence of the child’s being, although the acceptance of the child accompanies the acceptance of the vow.
In a statement that conveyed the greatness of her vow, she addressed God: You who know the supplicating servants and give effect to their prayers, answer my prayer as well.
Note: The vow of freeing a child in this way (taḥrīr walad) is one of the abrogated rulings.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:35 →
3:36 — When she bore her, she said
When she bore her, she said, ‘My Lord, I have borne a female [child]’—and Allah knew better what she had borne, and the male [child she expected] was no match for the female [child she had borne] —‘and I have named her Mary, and I commend her and her offspring to Your care against [the evil of] the outcast Satan.’
When ʿImrān’s wife, who had heard she would give birth to a son but did not know about the intermediary role, discovered that her child was a girl, she prayed with a mixture of regret and pain, yet also with rationality, saying that she had given birth to a female child.
Her surprise was due to the nature of her vow, as she had wanted a male child to serve in the sacred house (bayt al-maqdis), since in terms of continuous presence in the mosque and service to the mosque and worshippers (ʿubbād), a male could not be compared to a female.
God, to alleviate her regret and sorrow, said that He knows, but you and those like you do not know what you have delivered. The son you were expecting could not match the greatness and importance of this daughter who would become a mother without a husband, and along with her son Jesus (a.s.) would become a universal pearl and miracle, through whom the story of Adam’s creation would be well retold.
If the phrase “and the male is not like the female” is the speech of Mary’s mother (a.s.), it means that a man is not like a woman who must be absent from temple service for several days each month.
In any case, the central element of this verse is the “special daughter” versus the “special son,” not male and female in general. From the final part of ʿImrān’s wife’s prayer, where she entrusted Mary and her child to God and sought refuge from Satan - who is outcast from all good things - it becomes clear that she knew her daughter would have a child and that the child would survive.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:36 →
3:37 — Thereupon her Lord accepted her with a gracious acceptance
Thereupon her Lord accepted her with a gracious acceptance, and made her grow up in a worthy fashion, and He charged Zechariah with her care. Whenever Zechariah visited her in the sanctuary, he would find provisions with her. He said, ‘O Mary, from where does this come for you?’ She said, ‘It comes from Allah. Allah provides whomever He wishes without any reckoning.’
This verse tells of the acceptance of the prayer of Mary’s mother (a.s.). Since Mary was destined to become, without a husband, the mother of a prophet like Jesus, both her acceptance for service in the sacred house and her growth and upbringing were special and significant. To achieve proper nurturing, she was blessed with both an effective source (a worthy mentor), pure and wholesome food, a divine teacher, as well as good instruction and a secure, spiritual environment for striving in worship and struggling against the low self (nafs) and Satan.
God appointed Zechariah (a.s.) as the guardian and provider for Mary’s livelihood and life affairs. Whenever Zechariah (a.s.) would enter the sanctuary to fulfill his guardianship and educate Mary (a.s.), he would find, in a manner that raised questions, prepared provisions; these were special and extraordinary provisions that were not the common food or fruit of that time and were not available to others. In accordance with the harmony between unseen sustenance and the visible world, these provisions were appropriate for Mary’s age at the time. Thus he asked her: “Where does this sustenance come from?” This provision was a special miracle and extraordinary honor, such that it inspired Zechariah to contemplate something generous and extraordinary himself - namely, requesting a pure child from God.
Commitment to the sanctuary of worship in essence, attributes, and action - which is complete God-consciousness (taqwā) - brings with it sustenance “without reckoning.” God gives material and spiritual, ordinary and extraordinary, natural and supernatural sustenance to whomever He wishes without means or ordinary calculations. He alone is the Provider (Rāziq), whether through normal calculated means or extraordinarily without reckoning. Of course, when it comes in an extraordinary form, one more quickly realizes the unseen.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:37 →
3:38 — Thereat Zechariah supplicated his Lord
Thereat Zechariah supplicated his Lord. He said, ‘My Lord! Grant me a good offspring from You! Indeed You hear all supplications.’
The prophet Zechariah’s (a.s.) witnessing those wonderful matters in the states of the lady Mary (a.s.), of perfections and marvels (karāmāt), had a deep effect on him, stirring in him the desire to pray to God (s.w.t.) to give him righteous offspring, hoping for His mercy and His kindness. So between his prayer and what he saw of her state (a.s.) there is a link and a fit. This does not mean that Zechariah (a.s.) did not know it was possible to break the custom (of nature); rather, he was waiting for the suitable opportunity to ask for offspring, of which he had been deprived. When that opportunity came, he turned to God (s.w.t.) humbly, with all hope and expectation, despite the absence of the natural causes; and he set about asking God (s.w.t.) to provide him with a pure, righteous son like the lady Mary (a.s.) in her qualities and her traits.
In a state of feeling near to God (s.w.t.) and sensing that he was present before Him, in the shade of His lordship and of his faith that His blessing comes from Him (s.w.t.) as a beginning, he asked God for his need, hoping that He would fulfil it for him without a natural cause, or by the easiest cause.
In his prayer (a.s.) he mentioned what serves as evidence, following in that the example of the prophet Abraham (a.s.), saying: “... Indeed You are the Hearer of prayer.”
He described God with affirmative attributes (ṣifāt thubūtiyyah), such as the Powerful, the Knowing, the Wise and the Hearing, and acknowledged his own helplessness and weakness; and these two matters are among the duties of prayer.
3:39 — Then, as he stood praying in the sanctuary the angels called out to him
Then, as he stood praying in the sanctuary the angels called out to him: ‘Allah gives you the good news of John, as a confirmer of a Word of Allah, eminent and chaste, a prophet, and one of the righteous.’
The prophet Zechariah’s (a.s.) prayer was answered. A company of the angels came to him while he was standing praying in his sanctuary (miḥrāb), which is the most fitting place for speaking with the angels and hearing their call, to give him the glad tidings that God (s.w.t.) would give him a son possessing unique qualities and traits. They taught him his name as well; and it is possible that he (a.s.) had known it by another way.
The answering of the prayer and the glad tidings were swift, but the birth of the prophet John (Yaḥyā) (a.s.) perhaps came about after a time.
The prophet John (a.s.) had qualities and traits that no one before him had had, which his father (a.s.) knew through a report of the Unseen from God. So his traits and his characteristics were like an explanation of God’s answer to his father’s (a.s.) prayer. Here are some of them:
No one before him had been named John.
He confirmed the prophethood of the Messiah (a.s.) and called people to believe in him. His faith in the Messiah, at a time when all denied him and accused his mother of evil, was a revolution in the way of truth, a pride and a great virtue for him (a.s.). The like of him in this is the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), when he went ahead of all in confirming the Messenger and believing in him.
He (a.s.) was a master (sayyid), free, refined, pure, and possessed of many virtues, and was known for his mastery among his people, for his virtue and his lofty spiritual rank among them.
His mastery over appetites and his command of the desires of the self, curbing their unruliness and their capture, and his striving against them by his chastity, his purity and his integrity, and his leaving marriage and approaching women. He (a.s.) was one who controlled himself, enslaving the self and its desire.
He was granted the station of prophethood.
He was of the line of the prophets and the company of the pure righteous, whose selves reached the station of righteousness (ṣalāḥ).
3:40 — He said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a son while old age has overtaken me and my wife is…
He said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a son while old age has overtaken me and my wife is barren?’ Said He, ‘So it is that Allah does whatever He wishes.’
In this noble verse the prophet Zechariah (a.s.) asks God (s.w.t.), with all courtesy, wondering how he could have a son, and how his barren wife could bear children, when he had reached extreme old age. The divine answer was to mention the fixed law, “Thus does God do what He wills” (3:40), which points to God’s (s.w.t.) unlimited power.
Zechariah’s (a.s.) wonder was not finding such a thing unlikely; rather, it was a magnifying of this miracle and amazement at this blessing and at divine power, and wishing to prolong the speech with God, or to know whether God (s.w.t.) would give him the son while keeping the existing state (that is, while he remained an aged old man and his wife barren), or by changing their state, or whether he would be given that son from another wife.
To lighten the intensity of Zechariah’s (a.s.) wonder, the angels said: “Thus does God do what He wills.” Nothing stands in the way of God’s (s.w.t.) power, and His will turns on His wisdom (s.w.t.). At one time His wisdom requires the act to come about according to natural causes, and at another by miracle and breaking the custom.
3:41 — He said, ‘My Lord, grant me a sign.’ Said He
He said, ‘My Lord, grant me a sign.’ Said He, ‘Your sign is that you will not speak to people for three days except in gestures. Remember Your Lord much, and glorify Him morning and evening.’
The prophet Zechariah (a.s.) was waiting for his newborn with impatience, longing to know the time of his birth, and he had no doubt about what he had been given the glad tidings of. That is why he asked God (s.w.t.) to make a sign and a clear evidence of that for him, so that he would know the time of the birth and the actual fulfilment of the glad tidings. It was not a mark to distinguish revelation from the whispering of Iblīs; for he (a.s.) knew the difference between them by his prophetic infallibility. So he was assured that that call was a merciful one from God (s.w.t.); and his asking for a sign and hearing another heavenly revelation increased his assurance.
God (s.w.t.) answered His prophet’s (a.s.) request and said to him: Your sign is your inability to speak for three days, while you are healthy and sound from every affliction. And lest anyone think that your silence is the fast of silence, you will be able to speak only in remembrance. So the sign that the glad tidings have come true is that he becomes unable, in the order of creation (takwīnī), to speak with his tongue for three days except in remembrance of God. What was meant by this sign is Zechariah’s (a.s.) assurance that the glad tidings of the birth of his promised son John (a.s.) were from God (s.w.t.).
That sign was in the order of creation, not legislative, and was particular to Zechariah, an honour to him; for his tongue became a true sign and was tied from speech except for the remembrance of God. This is a divine kindness and a special care, and an inability to speak in a healthy person for no cause that has anything to do with natural matters. The inability to speak, in the state of being able to speak, is like the ability to speak in the state of inability: both are signs of divine power.
But for Zechariah (a.s.) to give thanks for this miraculous sign, he had to remember God and glorify Him for three days, night and day.
What is meant by glorifying in the evening and the morning may be the prayer, or a particular remembrance that sanctifies God and declares Him free of every fault and deficiency.
Since Sūrat Maryam came down in Mecca, before Sūrat Āl ʿImrān, which came down in Medina, the story of Mary (a.s.) came in it in greater detail.
3:42 — And when the angels said, ‘O Mary
And when the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah has chosen you and purified you, and He has chosen you above the world’s women.
Mary was one who was spoken to (muḥaddatha) and conversed with angels. This conversation represents her own dignity and prophetic tidings and is guidance-giving and glad-tidings-bearing revelation (waḥy tasdīdī wa tabshīrī), not legislative revelation and prophethood (waḥy wa nubuwwat tashrīʿī). The essence of her being was blessed with divine selection, and according to this personal selection (iṣṭifāʾ nafsī), God chose her (not preferred her) among the children of the prophets (a.s.). He also purified and elevated her from all moral vices and false accusations (not just from menstruation), and she possessed both outer and inner purity, and purity of soul.
God also chose her from among all women of the world, past and future, to become a mother without a husband; meaning her relative selection (iṣṭifāʾ nisbī) was due to this characteristic of bearing a child without a husband, not that she was superior to all women of all times and places in all aspects of knowledge and piety.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:42 →
3:43 — O Mary, be obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in…
O Mary, be obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow down with those who bow [in worship].’
In the continuation of the dialogue between the angels and Mary (a.s.), the angels, while conveying the divine message in a way that conveyed the greatness of the matter, asked her to show three forms of gratitude in response to the three virtues and glad tidings: personal choosing (iṣṭifāʾ nafsī), personal purification (taṭhīr nafsī), and genealogical choosing (iṣṭifāʾ nasabī). She was to maintain constant humility, prostration, and bowing, and follow the way of those who pray, as prostration and bowing are important parts of prayer, with prostration being the most excellent part.
The mentioned call was of the nature of action-revelation (waḥy fiʿl) rather than legal-revelation (waḥy ḥukm); meaning that Mary received an inner inclination toward devotion (qunūt), prostration (sujūd), and bowing (rukūʿ), rather than a new command to perform these actions. Therefore, these inclinations were of the nature of actions, not rulings.
She affirmed and implemented this guidance in the best possible way, and God also affirmed her constant devotion and humility.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:43 →
3:44 — These accounts are from the Unseen
These accounts are from the Unseen, which We reveal to you, and you were not with them when they were casting lots [to see] which of them would take charge of Mary’s care, nor were you with them when they were contending.
The content of the previous verses concerning Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph (a.s.) is news of the unseen, for it was not recorded in any book - although it does appear in the distorted versions of the Torah and Gospels available today - nor did the great Prophet (s.a.w.) know it himself, nor had he heard it from anyone; there was no one among his unlettered people who could teach it to him, nor was he present to witness these events; and knowledge of the unseen is only possible secondarily and through divine information and permission.
The vow of Mary’s mother, Mary’s birth, and God’s gracious acceptance of her provided the circumstances for the family of ʿImrān, the community leaders and the trustees of the temple to compete with each other to win the honour of mentoring and looking after her.
This eagerness and competition led to contention and drawing lots: they cast special arrows or pens with which they used to write the Torah into water, and the lot fell to Zechariah (a.s.).
Zechariah’s guardianship came after the drawing of lots and did not occur in two stages.
The repetition of “you were not with them” is for importance and emphasis of the matter; or because the aforementioned contention and resorting to lots, despite their connection and relationship to each other, are two separate events.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:44 →
3:45–46 — When the angels said, ‘O Mary
(45) When the angels said, ‘O Mary, Allah gives you the good news of a Word from Him whose name is Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, distinguished in the world and the Hereafter and one of those brought near [to Allah]. (46) He will speak to the people in the cradle and in adulthood, and will be one of the righteous.’
These verses, which explain the hereditary selection of Mary (a.s.), give her the glad tidings that she will become a mother through divine means and that Jesus is solely her son, so that she would not think she would have a child through a husband, which is why she was astonished.
In the angels’ glad tidings to Mary, several attributes of the Messiah are enumerated:
The entire universe consists of divine words; however, he is the perfect manifestation of God’s creative word (not conventional), because his spirit has a strong connection and special bond with God. He came into existence through the command and word “Be”, and since he had no father, and also due to the nature of pregnancy and delivery from his mother’s side being miraculous and without passing through the normal period of pregnancy, he is therefore the great sign of God and better demonstrates God’s power. 2. His sign is that his name is Jesus, his title is Messiah, meaning spiritual leader and one anointed with blessings (mamsūḥ bi-l-baraka), and his patronymic is son of Mary. 3. In this world, he will have an accepted and popular presence, meaning prophethood and messengership, and in the Hereafter he will have a spiritual presence, and others will take him as their intercessor with God. The description of Jesus the Messiah as being distinguished (wajīh) in this world and the Hereafter absolves him and his mother from false accusations. 4. With both earned and gifted proximity, he has a special closeness [to God], and his distinction is at the level of those brought near (muqarrabīn), not at the level of the righteous (abrār) or the companions of the right (aṣḥāb al-yamīn). 5. Jesus the Messiah speaks from the cradle in the first days after his birth; both the fact of this speech is miraculous and that he speaks in the cradle what prophets (a.s.) say at forty years of age, and he speaks consistently from infancy until forty years of age, which is the period of human intellectual maturity and prophethood of prophets. His prophethood was present from infancy (although he was not yet commanded to implement and propagate religious laws), and this speech was both a miracle proving his prophethood and evidence of his purity and his mother’s chastity. The speech in the cradle occurred with the involvement and indication of his mother, and this miracle is attributed to both of them. He also has prophetic speech during his maturity, and prophethood itself is supernatural.
Jesus the Messiah (a.s.) is among the righteous (ṣāliḥīn).
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:45–46 →
3:47 — She said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a child seeing that no human has ever touched me?’…
She said, ‘My Lord, how shall I have a child seeing that no human has ever touched me?’ He said, ‘So it is that Allah creates whatever He wishes. When He decides on a matter He just says to it ‘‘Be!’’ and it is.
The announcement of the birth of Christ and Mary (a.s.) becoming a mother without a husband, which was contrary to custom and outside the known laws and traditions governing the system of creation, was astonishing for Mary (a.s.). In response to this amazement, apparently an angel from God explained and announced how she would become a mother, that with these very characteristics she would certainly become a mother and her having a child was definite. The emergence and birth of Christ (a.s.) was supernatural and of the nature of a special divine gift and bestowal, not of the nature of the effect of announcement and suggestion. When God wills the creation of something, with the issuance of the existential command and without need for normal causes and means, that thing comes into being. God addresses the knowledge-based existent (the non-existent in essence) and gives it objective form. This address is of the nature of an illuminative relation (iḍāfa ishrāqiyya) that creates the related.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:47 →
3:48–49 — He will teach him the Book and wisdom
(48) He will teach him the Book and wisdom, the Torah and the Evangel, (49) and [he will be] an apostle to the Children of Israel, [and he will declare,] “I have certainly brought you a sign from your Lord: I will create for you the form of a bird out of clay, then I will breathe into it, and it will become a bird by Allah’s leave. I heal the blind and the leper and I revive the dead by Allah’s leave. I will tell you what you have eaten and what you have stored in your houses. There is indeed a sign in that for you, should you be faithful.
These verses enumerate the characteristics of Jesus (a.s.) for his mother. God is the teacher, Jesus the Messiah is the student, and the focus of his teaching is the Book, meaning the heavenly scripture containing doctrinal, moral, political, social and similar laws, wisdom, the Torah and the Evangel.
The mention of wisdom after the Book is due to the importance of its special aspect that the divine Book contains, just as the mention of the Torah and Evangel after the Book is a specific mention after a general one and due to their importance, and also because the Torah and Evangel contained the collection of governing laws of that time.
After explaining the pillars of Jesus’s (a.s.) messengership (being eminent in this world and the hereafter, being close [to God], being righteous etc.), it presents the fact of his messengership, announces the beginning of his mission, and warned the Children of Israel that a messenger would come.
The mission of an ulū l-ʿazm (“possessed of resolve”) prophet like Jesus (a.s.) was not exclusively directed to the Children of Israel. The qualification of the Children of Israel in this verse does not have a restrictive meaning, but rather means that the beginning of his mission is with the Children of Israel and his messengership encompasses all Children of Israel, not just a specific group among them.
Messengership must be accompanied by miracles, therefore it mentions the miracles that are effective in proving messengership and then his message. The term “sign” (āya) in this verse includes all of his miracles. A sign and miracle is an extraordinary act that is not possible for ordinary humans. The miracles of Jesus were clear, famous, and tangible proofs for everyone and undeniable, and his intention in “bringing a sign from God” is that he has come from God.
Each of these miracles is a sign from God, not from Jesus himself. Jesus is both a manifestation of the Creator, as he gathers together the components of what he wants to create, and a manifestation of the Form-giver (muṣawwir), meaning he shapes the inner and outer realities of things, and a manifestation of the Life-giver (muḥyī), meaning he grants spirit and life.
The phrase “I will create for you” here means as a means of intellectual benefit and religious demonstration, not subjugation (as in he is creating the bird as proof "for" them, not as something "for" them to possess). Jesus, by God’s permission, created a bird and made it fly. His creation was, in terms of body, a real bird with all organs and limbs. The creation of the bird by Jesus was by God’s permission and not independent of Him, and according to divine command, it was his special form of worship. He was permitted to breathe life (physical breath mixed with spiritual breath), but the bird’s coming to life was through the Divine creative command of “Be.” In any case, his act of creating an animal was supernatural; meaning that he produced a living animal without egg-laying or embryonic development.
Jesus (a.s.) would heal the blind (akmah - denoting any type of blindness) and the leper (abraṣ), meaning those afflicted with leprosy (an incurable whiteness that appears on the skin), and to complete the proof, either initially or whenever requested as a miracle, he would bring the dead to life. He revived many dead people, thus he granted both initial life to inanimate matter and restored life to those who had died.
Jesus Christ (a.s.), by God’s permission, would report about what the Children of Israel had stored in their houses and kept for future use, or about the food they had eaten. Only through being a manifestation and by God’s permission could one be knowledgeable of the unseen and report hidden news.
Each of these mentioned miracles occurred multiple times; it was not just that he had the ability to perform them. Additionally, all of them were by “God’s permission” (bi-idhn Allāh), not just the revival of the dead.
The repetition of “by God’s permission” is to prevent the misconception of trinity and being the son of God, and also to indicate these miracles as signs of his messengership rather than his divinity.
God, addressing the Children of Israel who had accepted the principles of God’s existence, revelation, and messengership through their acceptance of Abrahamic prophets (a.s.), especially Moses (a.s.) with all his miracles, says in the manner of the best argumentation: if you believe in God, God’s permission, and the principle of ontological authority (wilāyat takwīnī), these matters are also miracles.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:48–49 →
3:50–51 — And [I come] to confirm [the truth of] that which is before me of the Torah
(50) And [I come] to confirm [the truth of] that which is before me of the Torah, and to make lawful for you some of the things that were forbidden you. I have brought you a sign from your Lord; so be wary of Allah and obey me. (51) Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him. This is a straight path.” ’
The content of Jesus’s (a.s.) message was the confirmation of the Torah and the explanation of rulings. To create a spirit of flexibility, accommodation, and acceptance among his audience, he confirmed the pure portion of the Torah of his time that was available and known to the people. He confirmed the principles and general, unchanging guidelines of ethics, jurisprudence, and law, which constitute the religion of Islam. According to God’s command, by abrogating and changing some of the specific subsidiary rulings and laws of Moses (a.s.), he made lawful some of the prohibited rulings of the Torah to lighten the burden on the Children of Israel. He conveyed to the people the specific laws and rulings of his own time. Since this abrogation relates to temporal specification, it does not conflict with the confirmation of the Torah.
Jesus the Messiah (a.s.) said: I have come to you with miracles from God and I command two things: observance of divine piety (taqwā) and obedience to me. These two (piety and obedience) each have their specific meaning, although divine piety in its general sense means the same as obedience to God’s rulings in matters of religious law.
In summary, Jesus (a.s.) had two missions: bringing rulings and implementing divine limits (ḥudūd). The axis of these matters is divine lordship (rubūbīyat), which is why he said: Since God is my Lord and your Lord, you must obey Him, and you must also obey me as I am your guardian by His permission and follow Him like you. You should worship Him as I do, for the straight path is this very servitude and worship.
The mention of these statements after describing the miracles is an expression of servitude, so that no one would think that Jesus (a.s.), who is a manifestation of the Creator, the Fashioner, and the Life-Giver, holds the station of lordship.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:50–51 →
3:52–53 — When Jesus sensed their faithlessness
(52) When Jesus sensed their faithlessness, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers [on the path] toward Allah?’ The Disciples said, ‘We will be helpers of Allah. We have faith in Allah, and you be witness that we have submitted [to Him]. (53) Our Lord, we believe in what You have sent down, and we follow the apostle, so write us among the witnesses.’
The Jews’ reaction to God’s glad tidings to Mary regarding Jesus (a.s.) was disbelief and a determination to harm and kill Christ. Their disbelief was practical and perceptible, and was manifest in a way that could be sensed.
When Jesus Christ (a.s.) saw the manifest disbelief of his enemies and became aware of their plot, in order to influence society and defend the foundation of his religion against those who, after preaching and guidance, would not abandon their practical disbelief and obstinacy, he devoted himself to creating an organization and developing cadres and nurturing disciples who were both pure and sincere themselves and were agents of sincerity and refinement and purification of others’ souls, as well as guides for those intellectually lost toward the truth.
Christ (a.s.) asked the disciples for support of God’s religion and said who would help him in the journey toward God and preserving His religion. Thus, Christianity, like other divine religions, begins its mission with preaching, advice, and counsel, and if these stages are not effective, it turns to struggle, holy war (jihād), and defense.
It should be noted that mentioning people or believers alongside God, in addition to expressing the importance of the matter, means that believers and people are manifestations of God’s action, His agents and messengers, and in reality, they are equivalent to divine help, not equivalent to Him.
In any case, the Disciples responded to Jesus’s (a.s.) call by stepping into the path of struggle and said that their uprising and resistance was apparently in support of him, but in reality it was aid to God’s religion. They both affirmed their belief and faith, and made a covenant with God, and pledged allegiance to Christ, and took him as a witness to renew their covenant. By making divine piety (taqwā) and obedience to the prophet their way of life, they asked God to make them among those of understanding (ulū al-ʿilm) and witnesses to His oneness.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:52–53 →
3:54 — Then they plotted [against Jesus]
Then they plotted [against Jesus], and Allah also devised, and Allah is the best of devisers.
The plot of the Children of Israel to kill Jesus (a.s.) did not succeed, and God exposed their scheme and prevented them from achieving their goal. He led Jesus (a.s.) and his disciples to victory in their struggle and battle, because the entire system of creation serves as the army and headquarters of truth. He can return the evil effects of the plotters’ schemes back to themselves, and on this basis, in the confrontation of plots, God’s plot, which revolves around justice mixed with forgiveness and benevolence, is superior and more perfect both in terms of strength and power, and in terms of truthfulness and legitimacy. In the realm of action, He is the best of plotters.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:54 →
3:55 — When Allah said, ‘O Jesus
When Allah said, ‘O Jesus, I shall take you[r soul], and I shall raise you up toward Myself, and I shall clear you of [the calumnies of] the faithless, and I shall set those who follow you above the faithless until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me will be your return, whereat I will judge between you concerning that about which you used to differ.
In response to the plotting and decision of Jesus’s people to kill him (a.s.), God’s subtle plan and good decree was to take his soul and raise him up to Himself.
From this verse, the situation of his holiness regarding life and death is not clear, because taking (tawaffī) does not specifically mean death, but rather means taking and receiving the soul completely and fully, whether in the form of death or sleep. Of course, based on other verses, his holiness was neither killed nor crucified, but rather God raised him while he was alive and he ascended alive towards God, and through this positional and spiritual elevation, a special blessing was bestowed upon him. Therefore, just as the beginning of his birth and period of life was mixed with miracles, his continuation and passing (tawaffī) were also accompanied by miracles.
God saved Jesus the Messiah (a.s.) from the society contaminated with disbelief and from the harm and plots of the Israeli disbelievers who were polluted with the filth and punishment of polytheism.
The divine tradition until the Day of Resurrection is the cultural, political, and social superiority along with the morality and belief of the true followers of the Messiah (a.s.) and those who believe in and have faith in his prophethood and messengership, and those who affirm his truthfulness; like the disciples and also Muslims who believe in his messengership and infallibility; not Christians who submitted to the trinity. Of course, this victory and superiority is contingent upon complete and perfect following.
The reference point for all human actions in this world and the hereafter is God. His authority is absolute, not specific to the resurrection, although its manifestation is in the hereafter. This return is universal and perpetual, and He is the reference point for humans at every moment.
Disagreement after knowledge, which results in some choosing the path of faith and others preferring the path of disbelief, is condemned and considered oppression, and it will be addressed in the divine court of justice.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:55 →
3:56–57 — As for the faithless, I will punish them with a severe punishment in the world and the…
(56) As for the faithless, I will punish them with a severe punishment in the world and the Hereafter; and they will have no helpers.’ (57) But as for those who have faith and do righteous deeds, He will pay them in full their rewards, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.
In answer to the unbelief, the obstinacy and the denial of the Jews, and their wrongdoing towards the Messiah and his pure mother (a.s.), God (s.w.t.) threatens them and warns them, telling them by word of mouth that the faithless will meet a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and that none of them will find anyone to help him and save him then.
What is certain in this noble verse is that what is meant is the Jews, who will be forsaken and overcome by the superiority of those who believe in the Messiah (a.s.).
On the basis of the second verse, receiving the reward in full and complete depends on goodness of the act, which is righteous action, and goodness of the agent, which is the faith of the doer and the believing spirit. The use of “paying in full” (tawfiyah) and “rewards” here is only to honour the faithful in the way that befits them. And to warn the wrongdoers, the second verse mentions that the wrongdoers are not loved, and does not mention His (s.w.t.) love for the faithful [for the setting is one of threat and warning to the faithless].
3:58 — These that We recite to you are from the signs and the Wise Reminder
These that We recite to you are from the signs and the Wise Reminder.
God (s.w.t.) addresses His noble Messenger (s.a.w.), saying: We have recited to you a part of the life of the Messiah (a.s.), and there are other reports of him that We will recite to you later. All that We have said to you are great verses of lofty standing, coming from the divine Book and the great, true Qur’an, which falsehood does not approach; rather, it is the decisive word, which is not jest.
3:59 — Indeed the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam
Indeed the case of Jesus with Allah is like the case of Adam: He created him from dust, then said to him, ‘Be,’ and he was.
Regarding Jesus Christ (a.s.), those who went to extremes believed in divine incarnation in him and considered him the son of God, adhering to the trinity, while those who went to the other extreme accused his mother. God, to prevent any form of extremism or minimalism, using the method of best argumentation and based on Christians’ belief in the creation of Adam (a.s.) without parents, states that the creation of Christ (a.s.) is like the creation of Adam (a.s.), whose body He created from dust, then said to him: “Be,” and through divine will (not through words) the intention was immediately realized and he (Adam) came to be; with the difference that Adam (a.s.) did not have a mother either, and was not born from previous humans who lacked intellectual development and responsibility. Therefore, those who have accepted the nature of Adam’s (a.s.) creation should more certainly accept the creation of another divine prophet, Jesus Christ (a.s.).
This analogy is irrefutable and, like other divine knowledge that comes from God, is established and protected from change.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:59 →
3:60 — This is the truth from your Lord
This is the truth from your Lord, so do not be among the skeptics.
This verse, which begins the story of the mubāhala (“mutual imprecation”), first emphatically and affirmatively establishes that all truth is from God, who is absolute truth and the source of all truth. Then, based on this exclusivity, it conveys a prescriptive prohibition to the Prophet (s.a.w.) and the Muslim community to have absolute certainty that truth is with them. This emphasis is because the important event of mubāhala will soon occur, and these two statements - affirmative and negative - eliminate any doubt about its legitimacy.
According to this verse, the story of Jesus (a.s.) is from God and therefore true, and one should not harbor any doubt (mirya) about it.
The final phrase of the verse, in addressing the Prophet (s.a.w.) who by divine providence possesses complete infallibility, means that you have a connection with God, and the link between you and Him is God’s manifestation in knowledge and action, which is from Him and is truth, so do not be among those who doubt.
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:60 →
3:61 — Should anyone argue with you concerning him
Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, our souls and your souls, then let us pray earnestly, and call down Allah’s curse upon the liars.’
After encouraging the Prophet (s.a.w.) to engage in debate with the Christian delegation from Najrān, and confirming his righteousness and victory and dispelling any doubt about it, God commanded him - who alongside calling to God’s oneness and the created nature of Jesus (a.s.) also claimed prophethood - to invite them to mutual imprecation (mubāhala). He said: Whoever disputes with you concerning this truth, of which Jesus Christ (a.s.) is an example, and demands proof from you in false argumentation, engage in mutual imprecation, for after intellectual methods have been exhausted and your opponent refuses to accept the truth, argumentation is no longer beneficial and the problem can only be resolved through invoking a miracle.
God commanded the Prophet (s.a.w.) to bring “sons” (abnāʾ), “women” (nisāʾ) and “souls” (anfus); meaning if you have one child bring one, and if more, bring them all; similarly for women and souls (each of these terms is used in its conceptual sense rather than referring to specific instances, even if in practice each had no more than one or two instances, since at the time of usage, the understood concept sometimes has one or more individuals).
In any case, the Prophet (s.a.w.) had all those from his family who fell under the categories of sons, women and souls participate in the mutual imprecation.
In this verse, sons (abnāʾ) means male children and refers to Ḥasan and Ḥusayn (a.s.), meaning the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) daughter’s children, not all believers and co-religionists.
The term “women” (nisāʾ), which is used comprehensively to refer to women in relation to husband, father, brother, son, and men in general, in this verse refers specifically to daughters, and in this instance only Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (a.s.) was present.
The referent of “ourselves” (anfusunā) is someone who is closer to the one making the call than sons or daughters, and does not mean relatives in general or tribal relations, since the closest members of his community were already mentioned separately. Rather, it means either yourself or someone who is like your own self should come to the mutual imprecation (mubāhala). Since the one making the call is different from the one being called, and no one calls themselves, the meaning of “ourselves” refers to someone who is like the Prophet’s own self, and according to the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) compliance in that instance, the only example of this was the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (a.s.) who, in this respect, enjoys superiority over all previous prophets.
Participation in the mutual imprecation had a condition that only these individuals possessed, which was the effect of their saying “amen” alongside the supplication. Or it was the effect of these special companions in giving confidence to the opposing side about the truthfulness of the one proposing the mutual imprecation. The point is that the central figure and main person responsible for the mutual imprecation was the Prophet (s.a.w.), and the companions came to the scene to say “amen,” not to supplicate or make the call themselves. Of course, the companions’ utterance of “amen” was effective in the acceptance of the supplication, because whoever’s utterance of “amen” is accepted, their supplication is also accepted.
The Prophet (s.a.w.) came to the scene of mutual imprecation with his dearest relatives and said: We leave the matter to God and through humble supplication we call God’s curse upon the liars; meaning we will ask God through supplication for a miracle in favor of the group of truth and against the group of falsehood, and specifically request the descent of punishment for the liars.
The mutual imprecation (mubāhala) is meant to uproot those liars, because the continuation of every being depends on special divine grace and mercy, and with cursing, meaning the withdrawal of this grace and mercy, that being is uprooted.
When he said: “We will place God’s curse,” this indicates the certainty of the response, because those holy essences are manifestations of divine love and wrath.
The Prophet’s (s.a.w.) claim is that God has no partner and that Jesus Christ (a.s.) is God’s servant whom He sent as a prophet. In this claim, either you are lying or we are, and we place God’s curse upon the liars. This curse, as mentioned, is a punishment of eradication, and not every liar deserves such punishment. The definite article in “the liars” (al-kādhibīn) is for a specific reference, not for generalization or category, and refers to one who knowingly lies; meaning someone who knows the truth yet lies and whose work is lying.
In the invitation to mutual imprecation, it was not said “let us perform mutual imprecation so that God destroys you,” but rather it was said with fairness and courtesy: "let us perform mutual imprecation so that God destroys the liars, whoever they might be."
The mutual imprecation is a living and eternal miracle, and the possibility of mutual imprecation for others could also justify the plural form of “liars.”
On the Summary page · Read the commentary on 3:61 →
3:62–63 — This is indeed the true account
(62) This is indeed the true account, for sure. There is no god but Allah, and indeed Allah is the All-mighty, the All-wise. (63) But if they turn away, indeed Allah knows best the agents of corruption.
The story of the Messiah (a.s.), and the success of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and those with him in the mutual imprecation (mubāhalah), is a truth about which there is no dispute.
In the mutual imprecation, punishment falls on those who uphold falsehood, and the one who upholds the truth is strengthened and supported. God is the Mighty, and the Wise, who exercises His power with wisdom.
Turning away from the truth is followed by corruption. So whoever turns away from the truth, after the proof has been completed against him and made plain in the story of the mutual imprecation, and persists in falsehood, is not only corrupt himself but also corrupts others; and he has a threat of painful punishment from God.
3:64 — Say, ‘O People of the Book
Say, ‘O People of the Book! Come to a common word between us and you: that we will worship no one but Allah, that we will not ascribe any partner to Him, and that some of us will not take some others as lords besides Allah.’ But if they turn away, say, ‘Be witnesses that we have submitted [to Allah].’
After a group of the Christians were turned away and cursed, God (s.w.t.) called the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, to begin a new stage, to complete the proof against them. He called them to gather around one comprehensive religion. The beautiful, refined expression, mixed with humility and appeal, “O People of the Book”, and likewise the gentle sentence with which the noble verse closes, point to love and harmony, and to the fact that the proposal of mutual imprecation, which pointed to divine anger, was not the end of the matter.
At a time when the People of the Book were behaving like the polytheists, believing in God’s (s.w.t.) indwelling (ḥulūl) and His bodiliness, instead of the tawḥīd they had been commanded to hold, this noble verse came down to call them to follow one shared religion and to centre on one principle that all the heavenly Books came down with, which is the principle of tawḥīd. It was not a call to act on everything that came in those Books of laws and rulings. So the verse here said: Come, so that we may all believe in a word (of truth) and submit to God on the basis of justice and fairness. We and you share in the obligation to submit to Him and to affirm His oneness in worship (practical tawḥīd), to deny any partner to Him (denying polytheism in essence), and to affirm His oneness in legislation; and these matters are holy for us and for you.
The sentence “that we worship none but God” teaches the denial of polytheism, not the teaching of tawḥīd; for tawḥīd is mixed into the human primordial nature (fiṭrah) from the outset.
The noble verse goes on calling the People of the Book to understand that the members of human society are parts of one, similar reality. So some should not impose their will and their desire on others, and none of them has the right to enslave another. If one of them submits and yields to the will of another and allows those of his kind to enslave him, he has taken them as lords. Others are like him in their servanthood and possess no power and no divine attribute, so it is not permitted to take them as lords; for lordship is among the attributes of divinity, and God (s.w.t.) alone deserves lordship over human beings and over existence. Accordingly, it is not permitted to follow anyone who does not draw his words from God, even if he speaks with God’s tongue and in God’s name; for following him means taking God as Lord, not deifying him himself.
In sum: the noble verse teaches the noble Messenger (s.a.w.) another way of dealing with the People of the Book, alongside using the beautiful expression “O People of the Book”, to draw them and guide them. It says to the Prophet (s.a.w.): “Say to them: So, we will not call you to a private or particular matter, but to something that concerns you all and concerns you as it concerns us and concerns us.” Then the noble verse closes its words by saying: “O Prophet! If they turn away and reject your call, say to them: Know that we acknowledge these principles of tawḥīd, and that your turning away from the truth does not trouble us, and your following it does not benefit us.”
3:65–66 — O People of the Book! Why do you argue concerning Abraham
(65) O People of the Book! Why do you argue concerning Abraham? Neither the Torah nor the Evangel were sent down until [long] after him. Do you not exercise your reason? (66) Ah! You are the very ones who argue about that of which you have knowledge. But why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows and you do not know.
God’s Friend Abraham (a.s.) is mentioned in the heavenly Books and among the followers of the divine religions with majesty and honour. That is why the Jews insisted on his being Jewish, and the Christians on his being Christian, to exploit his holiness. Each of them attributed him to itself, claiming that they were on his way, the heirs of his law, and the heirs of his religion and his path.
To refute these false wishes of theirs through rational analysis and shining proofs, God (s.w.t.) tells them in the Noble Qur’an that the Torah and the Gospel did not come down until long after Abraham (a.s.), calling the People of the Book to hold to reason and to keep to sound logic, but in a tone of reproach and rebuke. Then He alerts them and warns them, saying: Here you are, who have argued with your proofs and evidence in what you had some knowledge and prior acquaintance of, of the matters of the Torah and the Gospel, and you were silenced and could not keep to the answer of truth and logic. So why do you insist on false argument about a law of which you know nothing, and of which nothing has reached you in your Books, so that you tie it to Judaism and Christianity?
3:67 — Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian
Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian. Rather, he was a Hanif, a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.
We mentioned just now that both the Jews and the Christians attributed the Friend, Abraham (a.s.), to their own community, just as each of them claimed that guidance and the enjoyment of the gifts of Paradise depend on following his religion and walking according to his law alone.
As for the Noble Qur’an, it denies that the Friend, Abraham (a.s.), was a Jew or a Christian; for the Jewish and Christian laws came down only after him (a.s.). Then, a great personality and a prophet of lofty standing like Abraham (a.s.) could not follow an altered law; besides which he was not a polytheist but a pure monotheist (ḥanīf) who submitted (muslim), following the rule of God (s.w.t.) and His commands, which were, in most of them, in accord with Islam, especially its principles and its universal lines.
3:68 — Indeed the nearest of all people to Abraham are those who follow him and this prophet and…
Indeed the nearest of all people to Abraham are those who follow him and this prophet and those who have faith, and Allah is the guardian of the faithful.
God (s.w.t.) says to the People of the Book, the Jews and the Christians, who attributed themselves to God’s Friend Abraham (a.s.), by way of allusion and indirect hint: The people nearest to Abraham (a.s.) and closest to him, his true heirs and his sincere followers, are the monotheists who followed his conduct and took his law as their way, that is, those of his time who defended him; and this Prophet, the Seal (s.a.w.), and those who believe in him, especially the infallible Imams (a.s.), who are the clearest example of the truthful faithful.
We pointed out just now that the Friend, Abraham (a.s.), was the centre of all and the place of their pride, because he possessed the divine guardianship (wilāyah).
3:69 — A group of the People of the Book were eager to lead you astray
A group of the People of the Book were eager to lead you astray; yet they lead no one astray except themselves, but they are not aware.
The enmity of the People of the Book towards the faithful reached the point that they wished for them to disbelieve, and spent their efforts for that; indeed, that was among their deepest wishes and desires. But they were unable to lead the faithful astray as they wished, in such a way that they would be the main cause of leading them astray as an initial misguidance (iḍlāl ibtidāʾī), even though they were a cause of some people going astray.
The cause prepared for relative misguidance, which happens as recompense and punishment: in reality, the People of the Book lead none astray but themselves, and they do not perceive it. For the good and evil effects of the human being’s deeds return originally and essentially to himself. But these misleaders did not know that they would never be able to lead the faithful astray except by a permission in the order of creation (takwīnī) from God (s.w.t.) alone, however much they strove and spent their effort; just as some of the People of the Book and the faithless did not know that they themselves were astray, nor that they were leading astray those whom they called to embrace an abrogated religion. All are equal in terms of fact and reality.
3:70–71 — O People of the Book! Why do you deny Allah’s signs while you testify [to their truth]
(70) O People of the Book! Why do you deny Allah’s signs while you testify [to their truth]? (71) O People of the Book! Why do you mix the truth with falsehood, and conceal the truth while you know [it]?
The origin of the People of the Book is one, and they all share one quality with which they are pleased. That is why God (s.w.t.) addresses them all with one address, reproaching them in it and rebuking them for their evil deeds and their ugly acts. They used to witness and see the qualities of the Prophet (s.a.w.) and know them truly; indeed, their knowledge of his prophethood (s.a.w.) and his message (s.a.w.) was knowledge by the senses, not by intuition or reasoning. Yet even so, they persisted in disbelieving in God’s signs. Although their unbelief was confined to denying some of the principles of religion, such as the prophethood of the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.) in person, that is naturally counted as absolute unbelief about which there is no doubt.
In these two verses God (s.w.t.) forbids the People of the Book from going astray and leading astray, that is, from altering the Torah and the Gospel, from deliberately lying and casting doubts, from dressing truth in the garment of falsehood and showing falsehood in the guise of truth, from concealing the truth that came in them, from denying the truth and concealing testimony to it and hiding it from people. All of that was done by the People of the Book with knowledge and awareness on their part.
3:72 — A group of the People of the Book say
A group of the People of the Book say, ‘Believe in what has been sent down to the faithful at the beginning of the day, and disbelieve at its end, so that they may turn back [from their religion].’
The People of the Book chose a group from among themselves who would show Islam falsely and join the Muslims at the start of the day, and then return to their unbelief at the end of the day, claiming that they had come to know that Islam was false and that its message was a lie. They supposed that this trick would be able to make the Muslims doubt their religion and push them to abandon it.
What appears is that the background of this trick was the change of the qiblah to the Kaʿbah, and that it was not aimed at turning the Muslims away from facing the Kaʿbah and making them stay facing Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis).
3:73–74 — And [they say,] ‘Do not believe anyone except him who follows your religion.’ Say
(73) And [they say,] ‘Do not believe anyone except him who follows your religion.’ Say, ‘Indeed [true] guidance is the guidance of Allah.’ [They also say.] ‘[Do not believe] that anyone may be given the like of what you were given, or that he may argue with you before your Lord.’ Say, ‘Indeed all grace is in Allah’s hand; He grants it to whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing. (74) He singles out for His mercy whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace.’
The leaders of the Jewish plot would not believe in Islam. They are the ones who denied the abrogation of the Jewish law because of their racism and their arrogance, and their belief that prophethood would never come down from outside the Children of Israel. They would prevent the truths of the Torah and the Gospel from being disclosed to the Muslims and the polytheists, so that they would not know what had come down in them about the message of the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.) and his true prophethood. They forbade their followers to confirm the Noblest Prophet (s.a.w.) and to embrace Islam, in which their life lay. They used to fill the ears of their companions and their masters with false rumours, such as: Beware of believing that anything of virtue has come down to anyone that came down to you before! Or that anything of revelation has been revealed to anyone when it was revealed to you before him! No race or people ought to be distinguished above you or preferred over you; and do not tell anyone anything with which he could argue against you on the Day of Resurrection, saying: The Jews knew that we were in the right and believed us, yet they persisted in denying that and disbelieving in it.
God (s.w.t.) broke the force of their discord, nullified their plotting, and refuted their weak racist belief with a useful, restrictive parenthetical sentence: “Indeed, guidance is the guidance of God.” The way that leads to the lofty goal is the way of God (s.w.t.), which He gives to whom He wills; and the leaders of the Children of Israel and their political players, and their rabbis, have no power to prevent God’s (s.w.t.) bounty and His guidance, however much they plot and plan; for there is no limit to God’s bounty, His mercy and His guidance. There is no power, outer or inner, that can limit the breadth of divine mercy, which is free of miserliness and ignorance, or that can be touched by the evil plotting of enemies. God’s mercy is not limited, so that it would reach one group and not another; and God is not ignorant (God forbid) so as not to know to whom He gives His bounty; nor has He entrusted the matter of His bounty to any of His creatures, so that He would thereby be helpless.
3:75 — Among the People of the Book is he who if you entrust him with a quintal will repay it to…
Among the People of the Book is he who if you entrust him with a quintal will repay it to you, and among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar will not repay it to you unless you stand persistently over him. That is because they say, ‘We have no obligation to the non-Jews.’ But they attribute lies to Allah, and they know [it].
Among the People of the Book is one who, if entrusted with a heap of gold (qinṭār), would return what he was entrusted with, let alone less than it; and among them is one who, if entrusted with a single dinar, would not return it to its owner. For some of the People of the Book regard themselves as better than others, distinguished from all others in the rulings of law, and as having rights that no one else has. They believe that keeping trusts and returning them to their owners is obligatory for their own wealth, apart from other people; so the wealth of the faithful and their lives have no sanctity with them, and they allow themselves to betray them and to attack their rights as they wish and desire.
So the like of this person of the Book cannot be trusted with a single dinar; so what then of a heap of gold?
And if you entrusted the like of him with your trust, he would not return it to you except so long as you kept standing over him, earnestly demanding it and pressing for it. Their justification for this is their saying: There is no blame on us regarding those outside the people of our community in seizing their wealth, and we have the right to do with them what we will. And they lie against God, saying: God has given the unlettered (al-ummiyyīn) no sanctity at all, and will not punish us for what we do to them.
3:76 — Yes, whoever fulfills his commitments and is wary of Allah—Allah indeed loves the Godwary
Yes, whoever fulfills his commitments and is wary of Allah—Allah indeed loves the Godwary.
In reply to the Jews who said, “There is no blame on us regarding the unlettered”, this verse says in effect: Rather, you have no privilege over the unlettered; for God’s honour and His love are attained only through Godwariness and keeping covenants.
By making clear that those who keep their covenants when they make them, and the people of Godwariness who avoid what is forbidden and prohibited, especially breaking every kind of divine covenant, and who are eager to keep them, are the beloved of God, the verse denies the Jews’ claim that they are God’s beloved. It says to them: The one God (s.w.t.) loves is the one who has goodness of the act (keeping the covenant) and goodness of the agent (Godwariness).
3:77 — There shall be no share in the Hereafter for those who sell Allah’s covenant and their…
There shall be no share in the Hereafter for those who sell Allah’s covenant and their oaths for a paltry gain, and on the Day of Resurrection Allah will not speak to them nor will He [so much as] look at them, nor will He purify them, and there is a painful punishment for them.
Those of the People of the Book who break covenants have sold their covenant and their oaths with God (s.w.t.) for a paltry price: for the goods and wares of this world, which avail nothing. They do not keep their covenants and their oaths with people either. They are the ones who claim to be God’s beloved, and who allow themselves to go beyond the rights of others because of their hateful racism. These are of a lower degree than ordinary individuals and a baser standing than them, and in their distance from God (s.w.t.) they have no share in Paradise and its degrees on the Day of Resurrection; meaning that He (s.w.t.) abandons them to their inevitable fate without caring for them or minding them. There is no doubt that this by itself counts as a kind of spiritual and psychological punishment. Besides this, since the one who breaks faith and sells covenants is not beloved of God, God (s.w.t.) will not speak to him on the Day of Resurrection with the speech of special mercy and compassionate mercy (al-raḥmah al-raḥīmiyyah), and he will be deprived of hearing the special divine words.
Although God (s.w.t.) sees all things, they will not receive a single glance from Him (s.w.t.) on the Day of Resurrection. They will be deprived of His kindness and His legislative regard, and likewise of the success of purification, and they will meet the painful divine punishment.
In the descending course of the arc, God (s.w.t.) takes from them their share in the Hereafter, then deprives them of His speech and His address and of His compassionate regard (s.w.t.); so He does not purify them and does not bless them with His good things. At the last stage and the lowest degree, He will make them taste the painful punishment.
3:78 — There is a group of them who alter their voice while reading out a text [that they have…
There is a group of them who alter their voice while reading out a text [that they have themselves authored], so that you may suppose it to be from the Book, though it is not from the Book, and they say, ‘It is from Allah,’ though it is not from Allah, and they attribute lies to Allah, and they know [it].
The heavenly Books are truth sent down from God (s.w.t.). The habit and conduct of the evil scholars among the People of the Book (especially the Jews), continuing on their false way, was deception and abuse, through two matters. First: they altered God’s Books and interpreted them as they pleased, twisting their tongues with what they made up of lies and reciting it in a way that would make the hearer imagine it was from God’s (s.w.t.) Book, so that the Muslims would reckon it truth from Him (s.w.t.).
Second: attributing that forged and altered book to God (s.w.t.). They would spend great effort so that the conjecture of others would change and their doubt turn into certainty.
To deny this fabrication and to expose this lie and falsehood that they dressed in the garment of truth, He (s.w.t.) said: “and it is not from the Book”. And against their claim that their falsehood is from God, He (s.w.t.) said: “and it is not from God”; for it is among the lies of the evil rabbis and their deviations in thought and belief; so it is not from God (s.w.t.).
3:79–80 — It does not behoove any human that Allah should give him the Book
(79) It does not behoove any human that Allah should give him the Book, judgement and prophethood, and then he should say to the people, ‘Be my servants instead of Allah.’ Rather [he would say], ‘Be a godly people, because of your teaching the Book and because of your studying it.’ (80) And he would not command you to take the angels and the prophets for lords. Would he call you to unfaith after you have submitted [to Allah]?
The Children of Israel accused the Lord Messiah (a.s.) of calling people to worship him, or to worship the angels or the prophets (a.s.). These two verses came down to declare him (a.s.) free of the superstitions they accused him of, making clear that it is impossible for God (s.w.t.) to send down the Book on one of His servants, give him judgement and prophethood, and pour out on him of His lasting blessing, and then that a word of unbelief should run on his tongue, or that he should call people to worship him apart from God (s.w.t.). The prophets (a.s.) are God’s trustees over His messages; they cannot claim lordship when they have reached the rank of prophethood and been given wisdom, understanding, knowledge, government, leadership, the Imamate and judgement; for they are protected (maʿṣūmūn) from all of that. Worship is due only to God (s.w.t.) alone; and the intercession of the angels, the prophets and the friends of God (a.s.) is only by His (s.w.t.) permission; and He (s.w.t.) has not entrusted His affair and His judgement to any of His creatures to do what he wills.
If a person wants to be saved from the danger of calling to himself and from falling into what Pharaoh and those like him fell into, he must hold fast to the rope of God (s.w.t.) and take refuge in His lordship. That is why the prophets (a.s.) called people to be lordly (rabbāniyyīn), that is, to deepen their ties with God (s.w.t.). There is no doubt that the centre of lordly knowledge is the Book of God, and knowing it and learning it. The lordly scholar is the one who walks the path of the prophets and follows their traces, teaching people the Book and wisdom, while purifying the soul and cleansing the heart of impurities.
Alongside His denying that the prophets (a.s.) claim lordship, God (s.w.t.) pointed to the consequence of taking the angels as lords apart from Him, and forbade worshipping anything other than Him and the dangers of that, making clear that faith in the lordship of the prophets or the angels is unbelief in Him.
What is meant by Islam in the last verse is Islam in its comprehensive sense, that is, the religion of tawḥīd with which all the prophets were sent, not Islam in its technical sense.
3:81–82 — When Allah took a compact concerning the prophets
(81) When Allah took a compact concerning the prophets, [He said,] ‘Inasmuch as I have given you [the knowledge] of the Book and wisdom, should an apostle come to you thereafter confirming what is with you, you shall believe in him and help him.’ He said, ‘Do you pledge and accept My covenant on this condition?’ They said, ‘We pledge.’ He said, ‘Then be witnesses, and I, too, am among the witnesses along with you.’ (82) Then whoever turns away after that—it is they who are the transgressors.
In the previous two verses God (s.w.t.) denied that the prophets (a.s.) called people to worship them apart from Him (s.w.t.). In these two noble verses God (s.w.t.) warns His servants against excess and shortfall regarding the prophets (a.s.). How could it be for them (a.s.) to call to their own lordship, when God (s.w.t.) took their covenant (a.s.) beforehand, through them, from their communities: that they would believe in the prophets (a.s.) who came before them, give the glad tidings of those of them who would come after them, support them and help them; and believe in the greatest Prophet (s.a.w.) if he came to them confirming what they had, and support him and help him by preparing the suitable conditions for his sending and calling people to him, as with the Lord Messiah’s (a.s.) giving the glad tidings of him (s.a.w.)?
3:83 — Do they seek a religion other than that of Allah
Do they seek a religion other than that of Allah, while to Him submits whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they will be brought back?
What was binding on all people, after the covenant had been taken, was to acknowledge God and submit to Him, not to persist in their unbelief and their obstinacy. So how can those who turn away from God’s religion seek another religion, when whatever is in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him (s.w.t.) in the order of creation (takwīnī), willingly and unwillingly, glorifying, prostrating and obeying Him, and there is no existent or created thing that submits and yields to other than God (s.w.t.): “Do they then seek other than the religion of God, when to Him has submitted whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly and unwillingly?” And to Him (s.w.t.) is their return. God (s.w.t.) is the Origin and the First, and He is the Return and the Last. So their turning away has no effect, and their striving will not bring them anywhere, nor will they succeed.
By rebuking those who turn away, the noble verse warns of the danger of following other than God’s religion.
3:84 — Say, ‘We have faith in Allah and in what has been sent down to us
Say, ‘We have faith in Allah and in what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that which Moses, Jesus and the prophets were given by their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit.’
Against those who turn away from the divine covenant and seek a religion other than God’s religion, we see the Noblest Messenger (s.a.w.) and his community, in harmony with all the beings of creation, obedient and submitting to God (s.w.t.), confirming His messengers and His Books; and this is complete Islam.
The reason for the order of faith may be the mention of God first, then the Noble Qur’an and the heavenly Books; for tawḥīd is the root of all teachings and their foundation. The Noble Qur’an makes faith in all the heavenly Books obligatory, and it comes before them in proof, even though they came before it in establishment and in time.
This noble verse refutes the beliefs of the People of the Book, who disbelieved in some of the prophets (a.s.) and denied their Books. God’s prophets are all one, so it is not right to distinguish between them, believing in some and disbelieving in others. There is nothing false in the messages and Books of the prophets who have passed, and all the heavenly Books speak the truth, in their time and after it.
3:85 — Should anyone follow a religion other than Islam
Should anyone follow a religion other than Islam, it shall never be accepted from him, and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.
The whole world submits and yields to God (s.w.t.), and there is no religion other than God’s religion, and no path but His straight path. Accordingly, whoever runs after another religion is among the losers; indeed, among those of heavy loss merely for thinking of that; for the religion of Islam brings together what was scattered among the divine religions, and the covenant was taken to believe in it.
The faith accepted with God is the comprehensive religion of Islam, and God accepts no other. Whoever seeks a religion other than God’s (s.w.t.) religion is not himself good, nor is his act good. On the Day of Resurrection it will be uncovered that following other than God’s religion is loss, and that it was the cause of every human effort being wasted in this world.
3:86 — How shall Allah guide a people who have disbelieved after their faith and [after] bearing…
How shall Allah guide a people who have disbelieved after their faith and [after] bearing witness that the Apostle is true, and [after] manifest proofs had come to them? Allah does not guide the wrongdoing lot.
The People of the Book found the qualities of the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) in their Books, the Torah and the Gospel, and they knew him as they knew their own sons. But when he was sent with the message, they disbelieved in it and preferred misguidance after they had come to know divine guidance. The human being who turns his face away from general legislative divine guidance is left by God (s.w.t.) to himself and to whatever initial possibilities he has; so he leaves the oasis of guidance and wanders aimlessly in the wastes of misguidance. That is why we find the wrongdoers deprived of the special divine guidance that is poured out on the human being as a result of submitting, obeying and responding positively to general divine guidance. The wrongdoers are deprived of special guidance only because of their wrongdoing, their deliberate unbelief and their persistence in obstinacy.
3:87–89 — Their requital is that there shall be upon them the curse of Allah
(87) Their requital is that there shall be upon them the curse of Allah, the angels, and all mankind. (88) They will remain in it [forever], and their punishment will not be lightened, nor will they be granted any respite, (89) except such as repent after that and make amends, for Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
Those who turned away from initial divine guidance after they had known the truth, and after the signs and miracles had been shown to them, and who chose unbelief: these are driven away from God’s special mercy. The angels and people curse them with their tongues, and so put them far from God’s special mercy; besides the practical curses of the angels, which stand in the way of the faithless being included in this mercy.
But naturally, God (s.w.t.) does not close the way of repentance in their face, in the hope that some of them may take shelter under His special kindnesses and lordly care, and so walk the way of deliverance and success. On the basis of these words, the way of repentance is always open before the faithless, and they are able to exchange the divine curse for divine forgiveness and mercy through repentance before death, returning from their path, putting themselves right, putting right those who have gone astray, and repairing the places of corruption and falsehood.
3:90 — Indeed those who turn faithless after their faith
Indeed those who turn faithless after their faith, and then advance in faithlessness, their repentance will never be accepted, and it is they who are the astray.
Unbelief has degrees, and increase in unbelief means falling into the depths of those degrees. Those who apostatised from faith, went on in their error and their unbelief, and spent their lives committing sins deliberately, persistently and obstinately, and who then, when their deaths drew near, were forced to show repentance and remorse for what they had done: their repentance is not accepted, even if they were charged with it. For they are in complete misguidance: they are astray and lost in misguidance and bewilderment, and astray even in their repentance, because it is the repentance of the astray, not of the guided; and for that reason it will not be accepted from them.
3:91 — Indeed those who turn faithless and die while they are faithless
Indeed those who turn faithless and die while they are faithless, a world of gold will not be accepted from any of them should he offer it for ransom. For such there will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers.
Nothing equals the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, to the degree that a person will wish at those moments to ransom himself from the punishment with everyone on earth, and to give an earth-full of gold in exchange to rid himself and free himself from the punishment. He does not know that whoever leaves this world as one of the faithless will not be able to take charge of his affairs, because nothing will be accepted from him; for he has no substitute in this world, and the Hereafter will not be compensated after death. For this reason there is no atonement for unbelief, nor is there any chance in the Hereafter to reach tawḥīd; for this chance is obtained by way of repentance, ransom, intercession or guarantee, and all these options are denied in the Hereafter. On the Day of Resurrection no faithless person will benefit from the help of any of his many supporters and helpers.
3:92 — You will never attain piety until you spend out of what you hold dear
You will never attain piety until you spend out of what you hold dear, and whatever you may spend of anything, Allah indeed knows it.
God (s.w.t.) has tied a person’s reaching the station of the righteous (al-abrār), not righteousness in the absolute sense, to his spending what is dearest of his wealth and favourite to his heart, in His words: there is no way to reach the station of righteousness and the dwellings of the righteous except that the Muslim spend some of his most precious wealth (and what is meant is moderation in spending), or spend from the kind of what he loves. The examples of this spending are many and varied, and they include giving the soul, which is dearer than wealth and more precious; but spending wealth remains its most prominent and most common example.
Knowing that God (s.w.t.) knows whatever wealth is spent, and that He sees every spending, apparent or hidden, since all things run by His command and He alone rewards for them, will no doubt bring tranquillity and rest into the soul of the one who spends. So he goes beyond this economic step of his, by which he relieves others of the hardships of their living, to turn his face away from imagined beloveds and direct himself in his journey and his course to the true Beloved alone.
3:93 — All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself…
All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself before the Torah was sent down. Say, ‘Bring the Torah, and read it, if you are truthful.’
The verse sets out an objection raised by the Jews, connected with abrogation. They denied abrogation here: the lawfulness of good food at first and then its prohibition coming about as a recompense for their transgression and their wrongdoing and the ugliness of their deeds; that is, that it was forbidden after it had been permitted. To clear themselves of the stain of wrongdoing and of divine punishment, they began to trace the prohibition of good and familiar food back to the time of the prophet Abraham (a.s.) and his people, denying that the prohibition of these things was new and claiming that they had always been forbidden. This explains their objection to the Muslims, saying: How do you claim to be on the religion of Abraham (a.s.) and make lawful the foods he forbade in his law? God (s.w.t.) answered this objection by saying: “That food was lawful for Abraham (a.s.), except that the prophet Jacob (a.s.) forbade it to himself, not to others, because of its harm to him in his illness. After God (s.w.t.) sent the prophet Moses (a.s.) with the message and sent down the Torah on him, that food was forbidden to his followers because of the sins and evil deeds they committed. If you do not believe, then bring me the Torah and recite it, so that you may be certain of the truth of what I say.”
And the verse “Then bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful” carries proofs of the inimitability and of the truth of the claim of a prophet whose religion is not abrogated and whose Torah is not altered.
3:94 — So whoever fabricates a lie against Allah after that—it is they who are the wrongdoers
So whoever fabricates a lie against Allah after that—it is they who are the wrongdoers.
Those who lie and fabricate against God, knowing that, after the way of right guidance and guidance has been made clear to them and the proof has been completed against them: these are the wrongdoers, who did not observe the truth, renounced it and fabricated a matter against God. By what their state says, the verse is an indirect reference to the Jews; and the restriction it conveys points to how severe the lie is and how ugly.
3:95 — Say, ‘Allah has spoken the truth
Say, ‘Allah has spoken the truth; so follow the creed of Abraham, a Hanif, and he was not one of the polytheists.
Say [O Muḥammad (s.a.w.)] to the Jews, who falsely and slanderously claim to follow the prophet Abraham (a.s.), and likewise to the polytheists, who claim to be pure monotheists (ḥunafāʾ): God has spoken the truth; so follow the religion of Abraham, the Friend (a.s.), who was a pure monotheist, moderate, upon the straight path, and was not one of the polytheists.
3:96 — Indeed the first house to be set up for mankind is the one at Bakkah
Indeed the first house to be set up for mankind is the one at Bakkah, blessed and a guidance for all nations.
The Kaʿbah is the first place of worship that is general and for all the worlds, belonging to God; no place of worship like it was built before it or after it. The nobility of the Kaʿbah lies in its being attributed to God (s.w.t.), and the nobility of people lies in their bond with the Kaʿbah. The One who set up the House and founded it is God, mighty and majestic is He, as is pointed to by the reading of those who read “was set up” (waḍaʿa) for people, naming the Agent, who is God.
Over the length of time, the Kaʿbah has remained lofty, a spring of spiritual and material blessings; and the good in its neighbourhood is greater than in any other place, and more deeply rooted and lasting. The blessing of the founding of Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis) is only one of the effects of the blessings of the Kaʿbah and its founder and his helper. Even when the qiblah of the Muslims was Jerusalem, it was not given the honour of being a place of circumambulation, for example.
The Kaʿbah is a cause of guidance for all the worlds and the focus of the eyes of all the towns of the world: it is the qiblah, the place of visiting and of circling, the social pole, the capital of the sciences and teachings, and the starting point of the call of God’s prophets (a.s.), and other things besides. All these merits make it truly “guidance for the worlds”; and what distinguishes it from Jerusalem is its being described with the two qualities “blessed and guidance for the worlds”.
3:97 — In it are manifest signs [and] Abraham’s Station
In it are manifest signs [and] Abraham’s Station, and whoever enters it shall be secure. And it is the duty of mankind toward Allah to make pilgrimage to the House—for those who can afford the journey to it—and should anyone renege [on his obligation], Allah is indeed without need of the creatures.
Mecca abounds with many clear signs pointing to the truth, whether miracles or otherwise. Among the most prominent examples of them is the Station of Abraham (maqām Ibrāhīm) (a.s.); this alone speaks of many miracles and is like clear signs in the discussion of inimitability, as is the case with the well of Zamzam, which expresses several clear signs at once. The Station of Abraham (a.s.) is the trace of his two feet sunk into a hard stone by the power of God (s.w.t.); it is not the place where Abraham stood for the worship of God (s.w.t.).
Another clear sign is that God has blessed the Sacred House with legislative security (amn tashrīʿī), just as He blessed it with security in the order of creation (takwīnī); so He does not give respite to whoever strives to destroy it or to play with the rites of religion and its sanctities. Naturally, the land of the Ḥijāz necessarily lacks any manifestation of knowledge, culture, farming, grazing or industry that could keep its people from suffering hunger and famine, which would prepare the ground for seditions, wars, killing, plunder and great events to happen. But despite all these circumstances, God cast into people’s hearts love for the House, and driving their hearts towards submitting to that, and the obligation to venerate its sanctity and to preserve the security of Mecca, fixed in the law of Abraham (a.s.). So they preserved the sanctity of the House and its majesty, as an instance of His words: Whoever enters Mecca is safe, and no legal penalty (ḥadd) is carried out on him so long as he does not commit a crime there.
Whoever has the means of ability must make for the Sacred House (for the ḥajj or the ʿumrah). For this address emphasises again and again the obligation of the ḥajj and its importance. It is directed to all without exception, including the polytheists, each according to his state, and the human being at every age.
The condition for the ḥajj being obligatory is bodily and financial ability, even though the outward sense of the verse suggests ability in terms of provision and mount in particular.
Deliberately abandoning the ḥajj entails unbelief in practice (that is, unbelief in the branches of religion), not unbelief in belief; and it is not permitted, without an excuse, to delay the ḥajj beyond the year of ability.
3:98 — Say, ‘O People of the Book
Say, ‘O People of the Book! Why do you deny the signs of Allah, while Allah is witness to what you do?’
In this verse God (s.w.t.) directs a rebuke to the rabbis and the evil scholars among the People of the Book for their unbelief and their casting of doubts, addressing them in an honouring, beloved way: “O People of the Book”. It is in the language of admonition and good counsel, and of the kind of disputing in the best way, saying: How do you turn away from revelation, disbelieve in it and refuse to act on its content, when you are the People of the Book, who know revelation? How do you turn towards going astray and leading astray, when among you is the Book of God that gives the glad tidings of the Seal of the Prophets and his upright religion? Why do you not believe in this noble Prophet, according to what your Torah says?
God is witness over every stance. He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen, aware of the human being’s unseen and seen, his secret and his outward; all of that is witnessed by His knowledge by witnessing and by presence, a witnessing not veiled by any covering or curtain. So the human being must be wary, watch over what he does, and know that above him is a Watcher who encompasses all his deeds and his intentions.
3:99 — Say, ‘O People of the Book
Say, ‘O People of the Book! why do you bar the faithful from the way of Allah, seeking to make it crooked, while you are witnesses [to its truthfulness]? And Allah is not oblivious of what you do.’
Continuing the previous verse, God (s.w.t.) rebukes the evil scholars of the People of the Book and the false callers, and denounces their intrigues and confounding in turning the faithful away from the way of God by showing it to them as crooked and not straight, and their altering God’s signs by adding or removing and then casting them to people.
They are witnesses to the truth of the Qur’an, and to their earlier faith and likewise their unbelief after faith, their intrigues and their confounding; and God is not heedless of any of these deeds. So how do you not believe, when you are the witnesses and the scholars, and have reached the full measure of faith?
3:100 — O you who have faith, if you obey a part of those who were given the Book
O you who have faith, if you obey a part of those who were given the Book, they will turn you back, after your faith, into faithless ones.
God (s.w.t.) warns the faithful of the dangers of obeying the faithless who strive to turn people away from the way of God and to deviate from the straight path. He reminds them of the evil consequences this following will bring, and guides them to be alert, so that they do not fall into the pitfalls of temptation and of being led astray; for in that lies abandoning their religion.
3:101 — And how would you be faithless while the signs of Allah are recited to you and His…
And how would you be faithless while the signs of Allah are recited to you and His Apostle is in your midst? Whoever takes recourse in Allah is certainly guided to a straight path.
In the form of a rhetorical question of denial, God (s.w.t.) asks the faithless: “How can you disbelieve, when the causes of faith have been made available to you?” God’s verses are recited to you, and they are among the things that bring about an increase in faith; and the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) is among you, and he is the best example and fine model, explaining those verses to you.
Each of the noble verses of God and the presence of the Noblest Messenger (s.a.w.) among you (his pure Sunnah and his infallible family (a.s.)) is a firm and independent cause that holds you back from unbelief.
So the way of deliverance from the great danger embodied in following the Jews and apostatising from the upright religion is holding fast to God (iʿtiṣām bi-Allāh) and being cut off from others. For God (s.w.t.) is the One who protects. If God wills to protect him while others want to harm him, God’s will prevails; and conversely, if God wills harm for His servant, others will never be able to hold that harm back from him, even if all creatures gathered for that. So whoever holds fast to God’s rope and seeks means of approach to Him, simply so and without an intermediary, will surely find himself on the way that is safe from deviation, that is, the straight path. For God answers the request of whoever holds fast to Him, and the prayer of whoever calls on Him to protect him from evils.
So holding fast to God, which is faith, Islam and being guided, is accompanied by a kind of guidance as a reward for that. This guidance forms a final aim; it differs from holding fast at the level of the concept (not the instance), and so became a reward for it.
3:102 — O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah with the wariness due to Him and do not die except…
O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah with the wariness due to Him and do not die except as Muslims.
The noble verse points to the highest degree of Godwariness. The comprehensive meaning of Godwariness here is guarding, fortifying, avoiding dangers and rising above what destroys. This Godwariness has kinds, one of which is true Godwariness (ḥaqq tuqātih); and just as true Godwariness, that is, divine Godwariness, has degrees, some of it is only God’s true due of Godwariness.
True Godwariness is pure Islam, which means that the human being preserves the pure and binding religion in belief, character and action. Divine Godwariness, that is, the true Godwariness joined to meeting God and witnessing, is the final aim, and it is not available to all, even taking into account divine greatness and majesty. But each walks on this way according to his capacity and his ability, to reach a relative goal. If the human being keeps to the divine obligations within the measure of his ability, and strives to refine his soul and purify it according to his capacity, he will surely reach the rank of true Godwariness.
A person must be Godwary; and more important than that is preserving the continuance of that Godwariness until the unknown moment of death in pure Islam; and with that he was commanded.
3:103 — Hold fast, all together, to Allah’s cord
Hold fast, all together, to Allah’s cord, and do not be divided [into sects]. Remember Allah’s blessing upon you when you were enemies, then He brought your hearts together, so you became brothers with His blessing. And you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, whereat He saved you from it. Thus does Allah clarify His signs for you so that you may be guided.
Travelling to God is an ascent, and ascent requires a means; the rope is the human being’s means in his journey upward. So that he is not compelled to hold onto the ropes of others, which are no more than snares, he ought to hold fast only to the firm rope of God; and holding fast to this rope lies within the range of the human being’s life, not outside it.
Holding fast to God’s rope paves the way for collective ascent. Against God’s (s.w.t.) call to unity on the two firm pillars of belief and faith, Satan strives to cut this rope. If there is no holding that people hold onto, the ways of the Islamic community are cut off, it splits into groups and parties, and division leads it into the furnace of seditions and disagreement. So God’s rope is the axis of unity and deliverance, and the only way to preserve the bonds of belief and the inner tie between the human being and his Lord, which form the axis of the unity and harmony of the people of faith. It is holding fast to the Noble Qur’an and the pure family (al-ʿitrah al-ṭāhirah) (a.s.), who are God’s rope and His firmest handhold.
God (s.w.t.) has commanded unity and forbidden division and scattering. This prohibition is about the manner of holding fast, not its principle: if every Muslim held fast to God’s rope without being united together, they would have divided in the manner of holding fast. Division in matters of religion, after God’s rope has been made clear to them and they have come to know it, is blameworthy and forbidden. It is the source of disagreement after knowledge and of not following God’s Book, as well as transgression, love of this world, selfishness and arrogance; and it too is a kind of wrongdoing.
Just as God commands unity and harmony in the shade of holding fast to God’s rope, He makes easy the hardships that arise from it, removing the factors of disagreement, that is, ignorance in knowledge and ignorance in practice, by teaching the Book and wisdom, and also by purifying the soul; and He blesses human society with unity, love, harmony and security, as He brought together, by His kindness and His generosity, the warring tribes that fought one another in the age of the Ignorance, and replaced their enmities and their struggles with love and sacrifice. In truth, the root of the joining of hearts is in God’s hand, and He is the One who blesses the faithful with harmony and love. So one ought not to waste this divine gift and neglect it; rather, the faithful should call to mind the bitterness of the days of struggle alongside the sweetness of the moments of love and unity, so that a person values these blessings as they deserve and holds fast to them.
The noble verse says: Remember when you were on the edge of the pit of Hell and God saved you from falling into its depths; and the danger remains if you abandon holding fast to God’s rope. Whether what is meant by the noble verse is that you were two bow-lengths or nearer from war because of your fighting and your rancour, had God not saved you from it; or that the end of unbelief is falling into Hell, and there was nothing but the moment of death for you to move from your unbelief to the Hell of the barzakh had you died upon unbelief.
It guides us that the call to unity is set up on the firm basis of faith, and that the unbelief of the faithless and the rancour of the rancorous who stir up seditions is the cause behind all kinds of wrongdoing and standing on the edge of the fire.
In this way, God (s.w.t.) makes the hidden realities that take the form of the teachings of revelation received by the Noblest Messenger (s.a.w.), to convey them to people as they are and to make clear their meanings, rulings and wisdom. So God (s.w.t.) is the first to make clear the divine realities and the teachings of revelation; and He is not content with making clear the virtue of unity and the vice of disagreement, but makes clear all the teachings of religion.
3:104 — There has to be a nation among you summoning to the good
There has to be a nation among you summoning to the good, bidding what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who are the felicitous.
The religious society represents a community with a definite number of inhabitants who walk on one way and have one aim. Each one of them, in every age, must preserve the religious principles and protect them, as the support of their unity, and call to good, command what is right and forbid what is wrong. There is no doubt that the first duty that falls on the shoulders of every member of any united and organised group is to know the soundness of its members and that they are not afflicted with any possible disease, and to hurry to treat them and secure health security for them. This treatment is a kind of love in the garment of severity; for, looking at its manner, its conditions and its particular rulings, it is not a barrier to freedom (that is, it is neither trivial nor excessive), nor is it a cause of violence, hardship and difficulty, or of stripping away rights.
Calling to good includes commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and comes before them; and it is among the international rulings in Islam. There is no doubt that all good is Islam, and among the most important examples of good is following the Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah; just as following these two sources of good opens the door to all other good things.
The might and greatness of the Islamic community depend on commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong; and the verse under discussion counts as the most important axis for forming the virtuous city in the shade of bringing up the virtuous community, which protects the religious society from hostile cultural attack. It becomes clear to us from the verse that a refined group must be prepared to bring about acts of good and to prevent what is wrong from happening. On this basis, the Islamic community, which strives to establish what is right and uproot what is wrong, and before which comes knowing the call to good before these two matters, ought to call others to Islam, while at the same time making the Muslims people of success through those two calls.
What is right (maʿrūf) is everything that agrees with recognised reason and transmission; and what is wrong (munkar) is what reason and transmission reject and do not accept.
The essence of commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, which includes seriousness in the matter, differs from teaching, alerting and guiding, and even from calling to good. Since they (that is, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong) come in the form of a command and are accompanied by superiority and spiritual loftiness of the one who commands and forbids, they must come from a position of strength, besides knowledge; and they are two duties bound up with a particular group, not with all.
It should be pointed out that the obligation of these two matters is individual (ʿaynī), and the support for their obligation is reason and transmission. That obligation is not conditional on infallibility or on the justice of the one who commands and forbids. As for the field of applying it, it is in the following order (as regards the one addressed): the person himself, then the family, then the relatives, then the wider field particular to the Islamic government; and even non-Muslims sometimes too.
What is meant by this verse is not only those addressed in it; rather, it includes that important divine obligation for all without exception. The result of obeying it and submitting is success and mastery; indeed, the one who abandons what is right and commits what is wrong may reach relative success by the grace of others commanding him to what is right and forbidding him what is wrong. Perhaps the reason God mentioned the predominant quality of that group is that most of those who command and forbid are among the people of action; and mentioning them in this quality is a universal mention, naming them all as the people of success and mastery.
Commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong is counted among the active attributes of God (s.w.t.), and the best means of putting the programmes of the Islamic government into effect.
There is no doubt that whoever abandons commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong is not guided, and at the same time he will be affected by the misguidance of others and their harm to him.
3:105 — Do not be like those who became divided [into sects] and differed after manifest signs…
Do not be like those who became divided [into sects] and differed after manifest signs had come to them. For such there will be a great punishment
The Noble Qur’an, which promises to teach wisdom and purify souls, depicts for us the factor of unity, commands comprehensive holding fast and keeping away from division and scattering, just as it forbids the Muslims to commit the mistake the Jews and the Christians committed, whose word was divided and whose affairs were scattered. At the end of the verse God (s.w.t.) threatens whoever does that with a great punishment.
By forbidding division (separation and leaving personal presence) and disagreement (separation in belief and religion), God reminds the Muslims of the conduct of some past peoples who divided and scattered, and whose end was grievous and severe. After God (s.w.t.) forbade this deviant conduct and unsound action, He pointed to the dangers it holds.
The disagreement by which is meant the organised bringing forth, from time to time, of logical and sound difference, giving thought among individuals and coming out with a correct and penetrating view, is a special divine mercy, and it is without doubt something praised and praiseworthy. But after the clear proof has come and matters have become clear, disagreement becomes blameworthy and wrong, especially what is connected with the principles of belief; and that is what leads to the scattering of the Islamic community and to declaring this one faithless and that one a transgressor.
3:106–107 — on the day when [some] faces will turn white and [some] faces will turn black
(106) on the day when [some] faces will turn white and [some] faces will turn black. As for those whose faces turn black [it will be said to them], ‘Did you disbelieve after your faith? So taste the punishment because of what you used to disbelieve.’ (107) But as for those whose faces become white, they shall dwell in Allah’s mercy, and they will remain in it [forever].
The Day of Resurrection is a day on which some faces are whitened, and they win and succeed, while other faces are blackened, besides their being forsaken and losing. There is no doubt that the source of the light in the faces of the successful is their correct belief, their virtuous character and their righteous deeds, and the accord of everything in them with the order of creation, besides their nearness and their standing with God (s.w.t.), the light of the heavens and the earth. And there is no doubt that the darkness and blackness seen on the faces of the losers is caused by their distance from the Origin of light.
The outward whiteness or blackness on people’s faces that day, whose source is belief, the affairs of the heart, and the appearance of inner light or darkness, may be a sign of pride or disgrace, and an indication of felicity or wretchedness; so the people of faith and of unbelief are known by it. But the punishment of the Day of Resurrection is not limited to those who disbelieved after their faith (the apostates). The expression “for what you used to disbelieve”, which contains a rebuke to these people, points to their habit of unbelief and their persistence in it.
It is divine mercy that shaped the order of these two verses. That is why they began with the whitening of faces and ended with God’s mercy and His promise of abiding forever in Paradise, without any threat being mentioned to the faithless of abiding forever in Hell. Nor did the two verses point to God’s mercy being the cause of the deed of those whose faces are whitened; for all blessings and good things, and divine mercy, are matters given at the outset (ibtidāʾī). Likewise the punishments, the woes and the blackness with which some people are afflicted are a punishment whose source is God’s anger, because of the persistence of those whose faces are blackened in unbelief.
3:108 — These are the signs of Allah
These are the signs of Allah, which We recite to you in truth, and Allah does not desire any wrong for the creatures.
This noble verse points to the lofty matters mentioned in the previous verses, such as holding fast to God’s rope and the forbidding of the greatest factors behind the appearance of wrongdoing in society (division and disagreement), and the reward of the faithful and the punishment of the faithless on the Day of Resurrection. It emphasises that those divine verses are the truth and justice, from their issuing to their coming down, and that they do not part from truth and justice, nor will they ever part from them. So there is no lessening of the reward of the Godwary, and no increase in the punishment of the corrupt. The factors of wrongdoing are the human being and the like; God (s.w.t.) wrongs none of the worlds, nor does He will that, or its continuance, ever. Wrongdoing is ugly, and so for it to come from God (s.w.t.) is impossible and absurd, in all its kinds, meanings and divisions (linguistic, legal, in the order of creation and in the order of law).
To set out how great the matter is, the noble verse states plainly the denial of wrongdoing from God, by stating the majestic name explicitly at the start of the sentence, “And God does not will wrongdoing”; and the sentence “We recite them to you” repels the objection of whoever claims that the Qur’an was composed by the Prophet (s.a.w.).
3:109 — To Allah belongs whatever there is in the heavens and the earth
To Allah belongs whatever there is in the heavens and the earth, and to Allah all matters are returned.
Everything falls within God’s (s.w.t.) kingdom and His right, and submits to His will. The illusion that God is a wrongdoer has no basis; for no one other than Him owns anything, so that God could go beyond it with him and that be counted as wrongdoing.
God (s.w.t.) is the First and the Last, that is, the efficient and final Origin of all things. Everything is His possession, and there is nothing but it returns to Him; and nothing moves except in the shade of His grace. The Leader and the Guide of all is God, in whose hand is the forelock of every thing; and everything returns along the very way by which it went. What is meant is not returning in place or direction, but reaching a stage at which nothing other than God is able to act, whether independently, in partnership, or by way of backing and assistance. This meaning is not limited to the Return; but the Return will be the arena where those matters appear.
3:110 — You are the best nation [ever] brought forth for mankind
You are the best nation [ever] brought forth for mankind: you bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and have faith in Allah. And if the People of the Book had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them [some] are faithful, but most of them are transgressors.
The verse praises all who obeyed the call to good and commanded what is right and forbade what is wrong, and describes them as the best community brought forth for people, after He had blessed them and brought them out of hiddenness into openness, and out of non-existence into existence.
Those addressed in this verse are not the Helpers (al-Anṣār) and the Emigrants (al-Muhājirūn) at the dawn of Islam in particular, nor all the faithful in the age of the message, nor all the Muslims in every age absolutely; rather, they are those to whom the call to good, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong was directed in the previous verses. On this basis, the content of the verse includes all who meet the standard mentioned in every age, land, generation and community.
Besides these people being marked by personal perfection (faith in God), they enjoy relative good; and by the indication of the word “for people”, which points to the generality of this good and to these people’s being concerned with working with the whole mass of people (not with particular individuals or individually), they are without doubt the most beneficial of persons to people.
The Islamic community is the best of communities, because righteous action is the action that accords with the proof of the age; and since this age is the age of the Messenger (s.a.w.), the faith of his followers (s.a.w.) and their righteous action are better than the faith and action of others. The Islamic community believes in the best of the prophets with complete faith, following and obeying the best of the divine commands in the most perfect way, and obeying the command to command what is right and forbid what is wrong, acting on it in all its stages. The commanding of what is right and forbidding of what is wrong that the Messenger (s.a.w.) brought is more comprehensive than the commanding of what is right and forbidding of what is wrong that the earlier prophets brought; and since every community gains its perfection through following its prophet and the measure of its obedience to him, the following of the commanding of what is right and forbidding of what is wrong that the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.) brought will no doubt reach a loftier rank and a better station than the station of the command itself.
Commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong has ranks and degrees: some general, some particular, and some more particular.
There is no doubt that putting the branch (that is, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong) before the root (which is faith in God) in this verse shows how lofty this branch is after the root, and points to the reason for this community being the best of communities. And since it is necessary that this branch be caused by the best of roots (which is faith in complete tawḥīd), faith was mentioned at the end of the verse as the complete support.
The danger of commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong reaches a degree that can make the Islamic community a praiseworthy community; which points to the fact that those who neglect this duty do not deserve to be counted among the members of the Islamic community.
What is meant by faith in His words “and if the People of the Book had believed” is pure faith in the Origin and the principle of prophethood, and faith in every prophet of their prophets, as he is the proof in his particular age; and likewise faith in the message of the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.).
Of the People of the Book, none remained a believer applying the principle of commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong except a few; and most of them are transgressors.
3:111 — They will never do you any harm
They will never do you any harm, except for some hurt; and if they fight you, they will turn their backs [to flee], then they will not be helped.
God (s.w.t.) addresses the faithful, saying: “Your enemies, especially the Jews, will never be able to harm you while you hold fast to God’s rope, command what is right and forbid what is wrong, guide others and set the members of society right and refine them. But they may trouble you or hurt you, from the psychological side, with insults, accusations and lies. And if they want to fight you, they will flee before you and turn their backs on you. And know that those have no one to help them, whether in battle or outside it.”
There is no doubt that this report of the Unseen counts among the miracles of Islam; for the Jews in Medina were defeated in every war and battle. But the victory of the faithful is conditional on their helping God’s religion and keeping to His commands and His duties; and at the head of those religious duties is the call to good, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong.
3:112 — Wherever they are found, abasement is stamped upon them
Wherever they are found, abasement is stamped upon them, except for an asylum from Allah and an asylum from the people. They have earned the wrath of Allah, and poverty has been stamped upon them. That, because they would deny the signs of Allah and kill the prophets unjustly. That, because they would disobey and commit transgression.
God (s.w.t.) granted the Children of Israel many blessings and bounties, and gave them a station and a standing He had not given any other community. When they were ungrateful for His blessings and killed the prophets wrongfully, without right, God punished them and humiliated them as no community before them or after them was humiliated. So they became a humbled, submissive and enslaved people; humiliation, subjugation and abasement were written upon them (as a result of their disobedience), shame clung to them, and disgrace surrounded them on every side. But that shame and disgrace were not confined to a particular period of time or a particular historical stage; rather, God’s will decreed that humiliation and wretchedness be a mark for them over the passage of time. They today too are subject to the yoke of colonialism, even if some people submit to them. The wretchedness and humiliation of the Jews lie in their inability to rise up and revolt, and in sin always clinging to them.
It was written upon the Jews that they be humbled wherever they were and wherever they were found: humbled from the side of law, “humiliation has been struck upon them”, meaning their blood may be shed wherever they are found; and likewise humbled from the side of the order of creation, “wretchedness has been struck upon them”, so long as they do not hold to God’s rope, or enter Islam, or are in safe-conduct and live under the protection of the Islamic state paying the jizyah, or are refugees with a state tied to the Islamic states by a treaty of non-aggression or non-interference, or are colonised by a state that makes fighting and warring against them hard.
The rope of people, by which is meant the very principle of commitment and undertaking, not a definite amount of wealth, comes after the divine rope, not in place of it. So all human beings must hold fast to God’s rope only. If what is meant by “people” in His (s.w.t.) words “and a rope from people” is the pure family (al-ʿitrah al-ṭāhirah) (a.s.), then this rope too goes back to God’s rope; otherwise it is an instance of holding fast to the rope of people or concluding a treaty of non-aggression with the Muslims and the Islamic state, or taking refuge with a state tied to the Islamic state by a treaty of non-aggression. In that case the meaning of the verse is: the Jews are always humbled and subordinate to other states and governments; and even if they are outwardly independent, they are in reality slaves subject to the yoke of others.
Among the causes that made the Jews humbled and submissive are their persistence in unbelief, their killing of the prophets (a.s.), and the tendency to disobedience and rebellion that overwhelms them, and their aggression against others. On the basis of the verse, the stages of the decline and fall of the Jews are: 1) their continued unbelief in God’s signs; 2) their killing of God’s prophets knowingly, deliberately and without right, until that became the quality by which they are known over the passage of history; 3) their disobedience and committing sins; 4) aggression against the rights of others.
On this basis (from the point of view of reckoning the stages of the fall, and in the arc of ascent), aggression makes the human being disobedient and obstinate, and the like of this person will not slacken from killing, and then will be faithless in the Origin and the Return.
It is clear that this verse points to the Jews, by the indication of their killing of the prophets (a.s.); but humiliation is not confined to them. Rather, it includes everyone who disbelieves and is hostile to God, His religion and His Messenger; and the like of this person will return with anger from God and His displeasure.
Translator's note: The author ties this verse to a specific record (unbelief in God's signs, the killing of the prophets, disobedience and aggression), and he states that the humiliation it describes “is not confined to them” but “includes everyone who disbelieves and is hostile to God, His religion and His Messenger.” The verse itself names exceptions (“except by a rope from God and a rope from people”), which the author explains as holding to God's rope, entering Islam, or living under protection or a treaty. In the very next verse (3:113) the Qur’an adds that the People of the Book “are not all alike,” and praises “an upright community” among them.
3:113 — Yet they are not all alike
Yet they are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright nation; they recite Allah’s signs in the watches of the night and prostrate.
The noble verse above emphasises that the People of the Book are not all alike; rather, they are two groups: a group most of whose members are transgressors and faithless, and another group, which the verse names by way of praise “an upright community” (ummah qāʾimah), believing, reciting God’s signs and spending most of the night in prostration and night prayer.
The Qur’anic term “People of the Book” is used for the community of Moses and Jesus (a.s.) in particular; and there is no one righteous and Godwary among the Jews and the Christians unless he believes in the truth of the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.); and the successful one is whoever believed in the prophet of his age and acted on the rulings of his law. On this basis, what is meant by the upright community in the verse is those, most of them Jews or Christians, who then became Muslims; though it is not possible to ignore the relative difference among the People of the Book (while keeping the title).
As for what is meant by “upright” (qāʾimah), it is standing by faith and obedience to the divine commands, even if other meanings are possible given the use of the word “community”, such as justice and steadfastness on the straight path.
3:114–115 — They have faith in Allah and the Last Day
(114) They have faith in Allah and the Last Day, and bid what is right and forbid what is wrong, and they are active in [performing] good deeds. Those are among the righteous. (115) Whatever good they do, they will not go unappreciated for it, and Allah knows well the Godwary.
The previous verse counted standing by the truth and obedience, and reviving the night by reciting God’s signs, prostration and establishing prayer, among the qualities of the faithful. This verse continues counting other qualities of the faithful, such as their faith in the Origin and the Return, their commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and their hastening in good deeds. Given that the righteous hold a lofty station, this verse names those who are marked by the eight qualities mentioned the righteous: “And those are among the righteous”; and this particular expression points to their deserving the station of the righteous by essence, even if they are sometimes exposed to the affliction of error and falling into sin.
The People of the Book, even if they are called by this name, cannot be among the righteous without faith in the Noble Qur’an, which represents God’s proof in act. That is why God (s.w.t.) praises the faithful among the People of the Book and supports their faith in the Qur’an and in the Seal of the Messengers (s.a.w.), pointing out that this is righteousness, and that those who have entered the upright religion of Islam are the righteous.
The righteous, as is known, will never be denied the good they do; for ingratitude is among the negative attributes of God in the realm of act. On this basis, God will never leave unrewarded the deed of good of whoever does it, absolutely. God, the Appreciative, from whose knowledge and power nothing is absent (and “God” is a name gathering all the attributes), who values the deeds of good that His Godwary servants perform, will give them their rewards by His knowledge and His generosity.
3:116 — As for the faithless, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them anything…
As for the faithless, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them anything against Allah. They shall be the inmates of the Fire and remain in it [forever].
This verse sets out the punishment of all the obstinate faithless, especially the bigoted among the People of the Book, such as the Jews in Medina. This group, which disbelieved in the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.) and never ceased plotting against Islam, are unable to solve any of their problems; indeed, even their wealth and their children are unable to ward off God’s punishment from them. They are among the companions of the fire, abiding in it forever.
On the Day of Resurrection all deeds are in God’s hand alone; no one and nothing is able to make the human being independent of God (s.w.t.). And since people in the Ignorance and before Islam gave great importance to wealth and sons, and reckoned that all of that would protect them from the punishment, this verse confined itself to mentioning this side only. People suppose that wealth and children are among the greatest means that can benefit them when needed; so if wealth and children do not avail their owners, though they are the things nearest and dearest to them, then other things are all the more unable to do that. That is why the verse did not point to any of them, because of how little their danger is compared with wealth and sons.
Looking at the expressions used in this verse, which emphasise denying absolutely any conceivable possibility of availing, of independence, and stripping away any benefit or use, despair and hopelessness will inevitably surround the obstinate faithless from every side.
3:117 — The parable of what they spend in the life of this world is that of a cold wind that…
The parable of what they spend in the life of this world is that of a cold wind that strikes the tillage of a people who wronged themselves, destroying it. Allah does not wrong them, but they wrong themselves.
This verse, which includes the meaning of punishment and warning, describes what the faithless spend, who are content with this world as their aim, as a wind of severe cold, or heat, which when it strikes crops or tillage burns them and destroys them. It is clear that unbelief is the cause of the faithless’ spending being void; that is why their spending resembles crops that bear no fruit, or eaten straw, especially if the aim of the faithless’ spending is confronting the true religion; that will scatter all their deeds. Indeed, the spending of the faithless, even if it is on the truly needy poor person, is not accepted with God and is not a cause of his entering Paradise; for he did not intend nearness to God by his deed, and because his deed lacks goodness of the agent. This resembles doing good to be seen, which is a cause of the destruction of the deed and the doer together, even if the doer believes in God.
And since the basis of this tillage and crop is wrongdoing, that is, its sowing and watering were exposed to severe cold or severe heat, there is no doubt of its destruction and its death. So whoever does not protect his crop from blights and harmful insects is like one who harms himself by himself, and this is wronging oneself; so the like of this person is a wrongdoer and wronged at the same time.
3:118 — O you who have faith! Do not take your confidants from others than yourselves
O you who have faith! Do not take your confidants from others than yourselves; they will spare nothing to ruin you. They are eager to see you in distress. Hatred has already shown itself from their mouths, and what their breasts hide [within] is yet worse. We have certainly made the signs clear for you, should you exercise your reason.
Those responsible in the Islamic government ought not to disclose their political, military, cultural, economic, social or other secrets to strangers, nor take them as confidants in any form, whether they are of the People of the Book or of the hypocrites. That is why God (s.w.t.) warns the Muslims in this verse against befriending strangers or sincerely embracing them, making clear the most important dangers that lie behind ignoring this important matter. In giving the reason for the prohibition of befriending non-Muslims, the verse made clear some of the vices of those people, such as: 1) they use all their abilities and energies to corrupt the Islamic order on the social, political, doctrinal, cultural and economic sides, and they do not slacken from doing everything that harms the Muslims; 2) they strive to harm the Muslims and make them fall into hardship, and try to corrupt the Islamic order and break it from within; 3) the Muslims can notice their enmity and their rancour in their words, their conduct and their writings clearly; 4) their enmity towards the Muslims and their rancour against them is greater than what is seen in their words.
On this basis, befriending a person, taking him as a confidant and disclosing secrets to him is conditional on faith and complete tranquillity, and is forbidden where the opposite is possible; for complete faith, intense caution and wide experience in taking confidants is a vital matter, since that confidant can be considered in the position of the spirit to the body. That is according to God’s (s.w.t.) words: “Do not take as confidants (biṭānah) other than yourselves”; that is, whoever you take as a confidant must be in the position of yourselves in terms of tranquillity and safety.
God (s.w.t.) has made clear fully the qualities of the stranger who is not fit to be a confidant for the Muslims, and has guided them clearly to whom they ought to befriend and take as allies, and whom they must disown, making the analytical intellect and the sharp, rational person the axis of that: “We have made the signs clear to you, if you would use your intellect”, so that the Muslims can analyse the contents of the spirit that appear on the body, the slips of the tongue and the features of the face, by insight, knowledge of the soul and complete discernment: “Hatred has appeared from their mouths.”
A reminder: the verse forbids establishing any inner or outer tie that leads to disclosing the dangerous secrets of the Islamic community to enemies; likewise, the Muslims taking confidants from non-Muslims, or building relations with a state or a people that is Muslim outwardly but not inwardly and has base qualities like those mentioned in the verse. But that does not mean cutting off relations with the faithless absolutely. The basic principle in establishing international relations with non-Islamic orders is permissibility, unless an individual or a group is excepted, like those who do not hold back from hurting the Muslims or taking them in mockery. Likewise, the basic principle in appointing the faithless to important and sensitive posts is that it is not permitted; so the like of these ought not to hold the main and dangerous posts, and taking them as confidants of the secrets of the Islamic order is forbidden; and leniency in this matter is not permitted.
In sum: from the side of social rights, international relations ought, in any situation, to be good and peaceful and set on the basis of truth, humanity, righteousness and justice, so long as they do not interfere in the affairs of the Muslims. And since the faithless are known for their enmity to God, accepting their guardianship or their responsibility is not possible, just as building a friendly relation with them in any form is not possible.
3:119 — Ah! You are the ones who bear love towards them
Ah! You are the ones who bear love towards them, while they do not love you, though you believe in all the Books. When they meet you, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone, they bite their fingertips at you out of rage. Say, ‘Die of your rage!’ Indeed Allah knows well what is in the breasts.
Some Muslims look on the faithless as friends and set about building friendly, intimate relations with them, because of the good opinion of the Muslims about them and the purity of their inner selves, and perhaps because of family ties and the like; whereas those faithless hate them and answer this love and friendship from one side with enmity and dislike.
This verse continues the divine warning to the Muslims against establishing friendly, intimate relations with strangers, and is a kind of rebuke and objection, aiming to wake them, warn them of anxiety for them, and make them understand that, if they believe in all the contents of God’s Book (the Noble Qur’an), this Book forbids them to befriend the faithless, the wrongdoers, the traitors and the corrupters, because they are marked by the vices mentioned; and that those faithless do not love them but hate them and hide enmity from them, even though the Muslims believe in their Books. So you can imagine what they would have done had you not been believers in their Books!
The verse makes clear that those faithless have two faces: when they meet the Muslims they claim they are believers and accept the religion of Islam; and when some of them are alone with others, they speak of their rage and dislike of the Muslims, and bite their fingertips like the enraged and the remorseful.
Here God (s.w.t.) commands His noble Messenger (s.a.w.) to pray against them in his prayer and his intimate converse: “Say: Die in your rage.” There is no doubt that what is meant by this prayer is not dealing with the faithless violently and harshly, at least because of their claim, even out of hypocrisy, that they are Muslims: “They say: We believe”, when they meet the Muslims, despite their intense enmity and their buried rancour. So what is meant by the phrase mentioned is that preserving the principle of the unity and harmony aimed at for the Islamic community pushes the faithless to continue in their rage, which in the end will lead to their destruction. Besides God’s (s.w.t.) knowledge of what goes on in the gatherings of the faithless and what they engage in, He knows their intentions, their thoughts, their passing ideas and their hidden psychological qualities that dominate their hearts, and will call them to account for all of that.
3:120 — If some good should befall you
If some good should befall you, it upsets them, but if some ill befalls you, they rejoice at it. Yet if you are patient and Godwary, their guile will not harm you in any way. Indeed Allah encompasses what they do.
It is natural that the state of the bitterest enemies of Islam changes and their faces darken whenever they see a blessing come down on the faithful, however small; and they grieve and are sad if they see good spread among the faithful, however small. Against this, the rancorous faithless rejoice and are delighted when calamities come down on the faithful and misfortunes befall them.
After God (s.w.t.) informed the faithful of this matter, which counts as part of “what is in the breasts”, He made clear to them that if they are patient and Godwary, that is, patient in bearing the behaviour of the rancorous and Godwary in obeying God’s commands, especially what concerns political and social matters and others between them and non-Muslims, then He (s.w.t.) promises them that no harm or hateful thing will reach them because of the plotting of their enemies; for He (s.w.t.) encompasses their deeds.
3:121 — When you left your family at dawn to settle the faithful in their positions for battle…
When you left your family at dawn to settle the faithful in their positions for battle —and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.
Verses 121 to 129 of this sūrah remind of the events that took place in the battle of Uḥud before. This verse speaks to the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.), saying: Remember the day you went out in the morning from your house and began preparing the ranks of the faithful fighters and preparing them for war, and assigned each of them his place and his position. God was hearing what went on among you and knowing it; rather, He knew all your secrets, your conversations, and the different and conflicting intentions of your advisers about fighting, whether sincere or traitorous among them; and He knew that among the fighters were some who wanted to retreat and surrender, aiming to weaken the faithful and break their ranks.
As for the word “morning” (ghudwah), it is to emphasise the gravity of the root of the story of (Uḥud) and to remember it well. Some exegetes said: “What is meant is to remember the extended time for the beginning of going out and settling in, and what followed from it, since it is what is reminded of the story; it was expressed as the morning, which is going out in the morning, even though he (s.a.w.) went out after the Friday prayer.”
3:122 — When two groups among you were about to lose courage—though Allah is their guardian
When two groups among you were about to lose courage—though Allah is their guardian, and in Allah let all the faithful put their trust.
Two groups of the fighting faithful on the day of Uḥud were on the point of being struck by fear and terror of the enemy, and then by failure and weakness. That was because of what the hypocrites were spreading about it among the faithless, or other factors and causes. Some of them were carried along by those rumours, and some evil came upon them because of the weakness of their resolve and the frailty of their decision (not merely a passing thought or a temporary mental image). The context of the noble verse contains a reproach and a rebuke for weakness in resolve in general. But because of their earlier faith, God (s.w.t.) was gracious to the Muslims and did not leave them in their state; rather, He pardoned them and took them under His guardianship by His mercy. So divine kindness stood between those two groups and what they had intended, and saved them from falling into the pit of hypocrisy; and they were commanded to rely on their Lord. So God (s.w.t.) set at rest the hearts of the faithful who relied on Him and believed in what would be by God’s command, and they were reassured by His promise.
3:123 — Certainly Allah helped you at Badr
Certainly Allah helped you at Badr, when you were weak [in the enemy’s eyes]. So be wary of Allah so that you may give thanks.
God (s.w.t.) helped a group of the Muslims at Badr, when they were few and weak, with His support and His aid from the Unseen. In fact the faithful were victorious in that battle when they were few and outwardly humbled (adhillah). The humbleness mentioned is meant either from the viewpoint of the enemies of Islam, or in terms of outward strength and power, or by comparison with the essential might of God (s.w.t.). On the basis of the last possibility, God (s.w.t.) addresses the faithful at the dawn of Islam, saying: You lack essential might and strength; you are mighty only through divine might. So do not fear, and keep your political and military Godwariness so that you may be victorious; and thank God, who helped you and supported you when you were few and humbled.
Mentioning “thanks” as a fruit of Godwariness is only the result of the relation between thanks and the increase of blessing: Godwariness is a cause of the increase of blessings, and each of blessing and thanks is a cause of the other.
3:124 — When you were saying to the faithful
When you were saying to the faithful, ‘Is it not enough for you that your Lord should aid you with three thousand angels sent down?’
The faithful at the battle of Badr were not fully equipped to face the enemy, nor did they reckon that they would be victorious; rather, they were sure of their failure and their loss in that battle. But God (s.w.t.) promised them His help and planted hope in their hearts. Since the number of the faithless was great and the faithful few, and fear grew because of the confrontation, there was need of great encouragement and intense urging and stirring of hope in the souls of the faithful. So the emphatic Qur’anic negation came: “Is it not enough for you…?” It is an answer to the faithful’s question, and that God would reinforce them with His bounty from the Unseen and help them against their enemy despite his number and his equipment.
So the angels came down by God’s permission to help the faithful. But how the angels helped is not known to us: whether it was by way of causation or directly. God’s help may sometimes be by casting terror into the hearts of the obstinate.
The Noble Qur’an mentions that the number of angels who came down to help the faithful at Badr was a thousand, or three thousand, or five thousand. Their number may have been a thousand “following one another” (murdifīn), and then that number increased on condition of the faithful’s patience and Godwariness; or they may have come down in three stages, their total then being nine thousand; or those three stages may have taken place in succession and separately according to the fear of the faithful, in order to make their hearts firm, on condition of their persevering in patience and Godwariness. However it may be, the number of angels who came down during the battle of Badr was more than a thousand angels.
3:125 — Yes, if you are steadfast and Godwary
Yes, if you are steadfast and Godwary, and should they come at you suddenly, your Lord will aid you with five thousand angels sent in [to the scene of battle].
There is no doubt that God’s (s.w.t.) help, His sufficiency and His reinforcement depend on the faithful helping themselves, and on their patience and their Godwariness. God (s.w.t.) promised the faithful that if they are patient and Godwary, He will reinforce them with marked angels (musawwimīn), even if they are met by the violent attack of the faithless.
It is known that there is no objection to applying this verse (the conditional promise) to the battle of Uḥud as well, even though reinforcement from the Unseen and the coming down of the angels took place at the battle of Badr, not at the battle of Uḥud.
3:126–127 — Allah did not appoint it but as a good news for you and to reassure with it your hearts
(126) Allah did not appoint it but as a good news for you and to reassure with it your hearts; and victory comes only from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise, (127) that He may cut down a section of the faithless, or subdue them, so that they retreat disappointed.
God (s.w.t.) sends His marked angels to the faithful, whose hearts are set at rest when they see them, as signs of the truth bearing to them the glad tidings of opening and victory. This reinforcement represents glad tidings to the striving heroes; and the use of the pronoun of address “for you” is to honour those fighters and value them. But the main axis in the verse is tranquillity, which counts as a fruit of faith in God, of the glad tidings and of true divine love; just as the greatest tranquillity is the cause of the fulfilment of the divine promise and the realisation of hope.
Such help exists only from God (s.w.t.), and everything that is not from God is forsaking and failure, not help. He (s.w.t.) is the source of help; and the representatives of the causes of reinforcement from the Unseen, that is, the angels, like the representatives of helpers, are in reality manifestations of divine help, not things having an effect in themselves. Might and wisdom are the source of divine help and its foundation; so if He helps, He is not overcome, and no error touches Him.
3:128–129 — You have no hand in the matter
(128) You have no hand in the matter, whether He accepts their repentance or punishes them, for they are indeed wrongdoers. (129) To Allah belongs whatever there is in the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wishes and punishes whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
On the basis of the tawḥīd of acts (al-tawḥīd al-afʿālī), the coming down of the angels, the reinforcement from the Unseen and the other matters mentioned in this verse and the previous one issue from the divine will. No one other than God (s.w.t.) has a role in that, near or far, whether the helping angels or the helped Prophet. For this reason, and to prevent any excess or shortfall the Muslims might commit regarding the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.) in what concerns help or the occurrence of painful events, and likewise to defend the person of the Prophet (s.a.w.) against any accusation attributed to him, God (s.w.t.) said in a parenthetical sentence: The Prophet has nothing of the affair; and he has no role of his own, neither in the order of creation nor in the design of legislation, so that he would be praised at victory or blamed in failure and decline.
So the expression “You have nothing of the affair” prevents any excess or attribution to divinity, and any shortfall or illusion of ill omen regarding the noble Messenger (s.a.w.). It should be pointed out that what is meant by entrusting some rulings to him (s.a.w.), as came in some narrations, is the divine vicegerency and its manifestation, in coming to be and in continuing, such that no kind of independence is established for any contingent being at any moment.
If the faithless do not repent, punishment will take them and divine anger will include them, and in that they do not deserve mercy and divine kindness. Considering that the repentance of the one who repents is surrounded by two acts of turning from God (s.w.t.), what is meant by repentance in this verse may be God’s (s.w.t.) first turning, which is not preceded by the servant’s repentance but is followed by it.
God (s.w.t.) forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills, because to Him belongs what is in the heavens and what is on earth. As for the vagueness and obscurity in the matter of punishment and forgiveness in the noble verse, what is meant by it is that the life of the one under obligation is between fear and hope, so that he does not suppose himself safe from punishment or despair of God’s mercy.
3:130–131 — O you who have faith! Do not exact usury
(130) O you who have faith! Do not exact usury, twofold and severalfold, and be wary of Allah so that you may be felicitous. (131) Beware of the Fire, which has been prepared for the faithless,
Some usurers would extend the term of both the root of the wealth and the interest as a debt if the debtors were unable to pay the debt at the known time, in order to obtain usury many times over. This noble verse forbids such a hateful act; but the forbidding of usury goes back to its root nature, not to a particular restricting feature.
There is no doubt that Godwariness is an effective means of success and of freeing oneself from the inner enemy, from greed of the soul, miserliness, withholding and holding back, or multiplied usury. On this basis, one ought to observe God’s (s.w.t.) sanctity, be Godwary of Him and not consume usury: “And be Godwary of God, so that you may succeed.” The use of the particle resembling a verb, “perhaps” (laʿalla), in this verse, which points to the level of act and not to God’s essential knowledge, is meant to make the people of Godwariness understand that they live always between fear and hope, and do not feel certain because of their ignorance of their future.
As for the second verse, its meaning is: If you do not observe God’s sanctity, then at the very least fear the fire that has been prepared for the faithless; so do not consume usury.
There is no doubt that this painful end and bitter result depend on Godwariness of God on one side, and on the wrongdoing person himself on the other. On the basis of the noble verse: 1) there is a clear difference between Godwariness of God and fear of the fire of Hell; 2) Hell exists at the present time; 3) Hell was prepared originally for the faithless, just as the faithless in belief are those who will abide forever in the fire.
It is worth mentioning that consuming usury, which is forbidden with a threat, counts as practical unbelief and a major sin; it is wrongdoing and consuming the wealth of others by falsehood, since it exploits the scarcity of what the needy need and takes much in exchange for nothing, which will lead to the increase of the wealth of the hoarders and the crushing of the needy.
The ruling forbidding usury came down gradually and in stages, as is clear from the difference in the content of the verses bound up with it; just as the proofs of prohibition include all the kinds and divisions of usury in general. Islamic contracts such as sharecropping (muzāraʿah), silent partnership (muḍārabah), irrigation partnership (musāqāh) and others are counted as ways and solutions that guarantee trade by mutual consent, to free oneself from this great economic problem.
3:132 — and obey Allah and the Apostle so that you may be granted [His] mercy
and obey Allah and the Apostle so that you may be granted [His] mercy.
There is no doubt that the Muslims’ disobeying the commands of the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.) at the battle of Uḥud was disobeying the commands of God and His Messenger. That is why obedience to God and the Messenger were mentioned together in this verse. But here it is an obedience bound up with economic matters; and obedience to the Messenger in the commands he brought from God means obedience to God. On this basis, those who consume usury and are not content with not taking usury are in fact at war with God and His Messenger.
Because of the gradual drawing on of the soul that commands to evil to its owner, and the difficulty of attaining Godwariness, alongside the vagueness and obscurity surrounding a person’s future, which only the sharp-sighted critic can see, God (s.w.t.) says in this verse, “so that you may receive mercy”; and certainty in matters like these is easy and simple, given God’s encompassing knowledge.
3:133 — Hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth
Hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the Godwary
Paradise has been prepared for the people of Godwariness, and there is no way for others to enter it. So one must hasten to divine forgiveness. After a person obeys the commands, avoids what is forbidden and attains pure divine Godwariness, Paradise awaits him with longing. It is the Paradise whose breadth is the heavens and the earth; there are no limits or restrictions in it, no crowding and no conflict, and its doors are open to all; each of the people of Paradise enjoys that space. As for the bodily Paradise, it has dimensions with no likeness, neither in this world nor in the present natural order in the order of creation and the sky of nature; rather, it has dimensions that surpass this sky and this earth, in a place whose breadth is the heavens and the earth together. With the beginning of the Resurrection, the carpet of this order will be rolled up, and then no comparison can be made between the order of the Hereafter and the order of this world.
3:134 — —those who spend in ease and adversity
—those who spend in ease and adversity, and suppress their anger, and excuse [the faults of] the people, and Allah loves the virtuous;
This verse reviews some qualities and characteristics according to their order in the degrees of Godwariness, and points out that the Godwary person is the one who reaches those degrees. The Godwary do good in their dealings with people for God’s good pleasure; they do not covet people’s wealth, but spend their wealth in the way of God, in ease and in hardship. They also overlook their personal rights and pardon the wrongs people do to them; and God (s.w.t.) loves the doers of good.
Restraining rage, pardoning and doing good (in the order mentioned): each of them is better than the other, and each of them is a higher degree than justice and nearer to Godwariness.
Rage comes after anger and the stirring of the soul in the face of the vicissitudes of time. Restraining rage means curbing the intensity of anger at its first appearance; the one who restrains rage is the person who masters his rage at anger while being able to take revenge and remove the causes; so he controls himself and prevents anger and resentment against him from appearing.
But restraining in some situations is not counted a virtue of the soul and is not praiseworthy, since anger and force must be shown, and it is not permitted to hide them, as in the state of sacred defence.
Each of spending, restraining rage and pardoning people is counted doing good. But the noble verse speaks of encouraging doing good at a higher stage, whether doing good to others or what concerns the tie with God, that is, doing good deeds, or doing good in the terminology of the wayfarers, which counts as a special station of worship.
3:135–136 — and those who, when they commit an indecent act or wrong themselves
(135) and those who, when they commit an indecent act or wrong themselves, remember Allah, and plead [to Allah seeking His] forgiveness for their sins—and who forgives sins except Allah?—and who knowingly do not persist in what [sins] they have committed. (136) Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. How excellent is the reward of the workers!
Besides the Godwary, for whom the gardens have been prepared, those who repent of indecency and of wronging themselves and society also enter Paradise. In terms of the difference in the degrees of Godwariness, these too are called Godwary, other than the Godwary mentioned in the previous verses, for whom Godwariness was a settled trait (malakah). By the indication of the sentence “they remember God”, it appears that these people’s committing indecency or wronging themselves or others was in a state of their heedlessness of God or forgetting His remembrance in their hearts. On this basis, whoever sins while heedless, then remembers God with his heart, asks His forgiveness as a believer that God alone forgives sins, does not persist in his sin but leaves it completely, will be included in God’s promise; for on the basis of tawḥīd in forgiveness, God is the only Forgiver, and no other is forgiving by essence or originally.
By setting out the reward of those who repent, which is forgiveness and abiding forever in the gardens, God (s.w.t.) makes His servants eager to repent of sins and attain spiritual purity, saying: “There is no doubt that divine forgiveness is the greatest reward that can be granted to those who act, and those who repent obtain the best reward of those who act.”
3:137 — Certain [Divine] precedents have passed before you
Certain [Divine] precedents have passed before you. So travel through the land and observe how was the fate of the deniers.
God’s (s.w.t.) fixed custom shows itself in many patterns, political, social and others; and it is an active custom. This noble verse calls the children of Adam to cast a deep, examining look at the history of past communities, especially the states of the transgressors and the faithless, their fates and the causes that led to them. It also emphasises that the matters mentioned earlier about the faithful and the faithless, the obedient and the disobedient, are among the divine customs that can be noticed in human history, studied and taken heed of.
There is no doubt that learning those lessons and examples is apt to carry the individual and society beyond ignorance in knowledge to knowledge, from ignorance in practice to reason, and from atheism to tawḥīd.
It is known that that deep philosophical view and the journey in the outward realm (al-sayr al-mulkī) together with the journey in the inner realm (al-sayr al-malakūtī), from falsehood to truth, from lying to truthfulness, from evil to good and from ugly to good, fit the state of reflecting, since it ends in the theory of tawḥīd.
It is worth mentioning that knowing the customs and journeying in the way of divine creation requires using abstract reason and experimental reason together.
3:138 — This is an explanation for mankind
This is an explanation for mankind, and a guidance and advice for the Godwary.
God (s.w.t.) makes clear all matters to all people, their righteous and their wrongdoers, by reasoning and decisive proofs. But setting out the theoretical and practical dimensions of the states of those who have passed, and of the events and happenings that took place, and witnessing them, studying them and analysing them, is not the same for all people. So its effect includes only a few of them who take the explanation of the Qur’an, and what it contains of wisdom and sciences, as an admonition and a cause of their guidance; and these are the Godwary.
3:139 — Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand
Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, should you be faithful.
The bitter events in the defensive battle of Uḥud led to the worsening of the state of weakness among the Muslims, and to the appearance of grief and sorrow over them. So God (s.w.t.) willed to remove that from them, mend their hearts and comfort them; so He commanded them not to yield to weakness, and to be optimistic about life and ready to defend Islam. He told them that if they are truly faithful, they ought not to weaken or grieve (neither in their spiritual qualities nor in bodily resistance). For faith is an important factor in the removal of weakness and frailty, and a great cause of strengthening the spirit of zeal and alertness. If you are truly faithful, you are the uppermost, and the faithless are the lowest. The loftiness of religion and the elevation of the spirit of faith are two important factors in the loftiness of the believer; and by his servanthood to God he represents the manifestation of divine loftiness.
On the basis of this verse, one must be adorned with patience and resistance alongside striving and fighting, for the sake of everlasting felicity and the high gardens.
3:140 — If wounds afflict you, like wounds have already afflicted those people
If wounds afflict you, like wounds have already afflicted those people; and We make such vicissitudes rotate among mankind, so that Allah may ascertain those who have faith, and that He may take martyrs from among you, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.
After the events of the battle of Uḥud, the presence of the Muslims on the field of fighting was exposed to two dangers: one intellectual, and the other satanic suggestions from the enemies of Islam. In this noble verse God (s.w.t.) willed to treat the psychological wounds of the striving faithful, which were the result of the wounds that struck them on the battlefield, and likewise of a number of those who strove being martyred. The verse also paints a picture of the situation of the wounded enemies, then their decline and their destruction, when He (s.w.t.) said: “If you have been struck by some harm, your enemies too were struck by what struck you; among them were those killed and among them those taken captive. These are matters that happened to the Muslims and the faithless alike; but that does not mean the defeat of Islam and the Muslims.”
The occurrence of events, sweet and bitter, in a human being’s life is only one of God’s customs. Things go at times as the believer desires, and at other times in favour of the faithless. As for the battlefield, it is the best place for testing God’s sincere servants, bringing them up and raising them high. If the believer is exposed to harm while observing all individual and social rights, that means that trials and gifts differ: some saddening and some gladdening; and not all events are alike in every place and time. On this basis, the meaning of the alternation of days is the many or few heavenly good things and their strength or weakness, not fixing victory and defeat in the different stages. Both the righteous and the wrongdoers enjoy stage-by-stage, temporary rule, until in the end what is truth and righteousness settles. So the alternation of military events does not mean the stage-by-stage distribution of victory and defeat in the manner of: victory at one time for the believer and at another for the faithless. God’s will has decreed that falsehood does not overcome the pure truth. It is known that the final results of war, which is blazing, cannot be fixed; victory and defeat are identified after the war lays down its burdens, not while it is at its height. On the basis of the divine custom in what concerns the struggle between truth and falsehood, victory is inevitably the ally of the truth; and so the stage-by-stage alternation does not point to victory and defeat taking turns, for the truth is never defeated and falsehood never triumphs at all.
God (s.w.t.) is the first and last Director and Manager of the world; He changes states and alters them. If the alternation causes outwardly any harm to the believer, its inward side contains a training in the methods of striving and a preliminary to victory; and if the alternation is outwardly the ally of the faithless, it is in reality a drawing on and a respite for them, not victory and success.
As for the alternation of days (since what is meant by the day in the verse is the circumstance, not the night and the day or a period of time), behind it lie secrets that cannot be uncovered, and it is a means of distinguishing the faithful. Since God’s knowledge appears through causes and means, the matter of testing is counted a necessary principle. On the basis of this verse and the verse after it, the divine aim behind the battle of Uḥud is: 1) testing to identify the faithful who are firm in their faith and distinguish them from the hypocrites who claim Islam; 2) choosing a particular group of the faithful addressed by the verse, in order to bring them to the station of martyrdom, for God (s.w.t.) chooses only from His sincere servants to grant them the rank of martyrdom; 3) purifying the hearts of the faithful and bringing them to perfection, and then their reaching the station of sincerity; 4) the destruction of the faithless; for God (s.w.t.) does not love the wrongdoers, that is, the polytheists, the faithless, or those who wronged themselves by disobeying the commands at Uḥud; and it is known that God’s beloved, the faithful, are the victorious.
The coming down of the verse mentioned had the greatest effect, from the side of strengthening morale, in the victory of the faithful and the most important factor in the defeat of the faithless.
It is worth pointing out that, in the light of the painful events that took place at the battle of Uḥud, the continuance of the situations that arose from them, and since calling to mind the field of testing was a cause of taking heed and drawing out wisdom, the verse described the state of the faithful with the present verb, “If a wound touches you…”; and because the battle of Badr took place at an early time, God (s.w.t.) mentioned the state of the faithless with the past verb, “has touched…”.
3:141 — And so that Allah may purge [the hearts of] those who have faith and that He may wipe out…
And so that Allah may purge [the hearts of] those who have faith and that He may wipe out the faithless.
To the aims mentioned of the alternation of days, another aim is added, namely purging (tamḥīṣ) the souls of the sincere faithful, purifying and refining them, stripping them of every deficiency and fault, and cleansing them of fear, and supporting their morale to defend the being of Islam and draw near to God (s.w.t.); and finally entering Paradise, which they deserve because it is the dwelling of the pure, and the sincere human being alone is the one worthy of nearness to God. So testing is the best means of purifying the believer’s heart of doubt in knowledge and hesitation in practice, and then purging him and cleansing him of false beliefs, evil qualities and ugly deeds.
As for the other benefit of the alternation of days, it is the effacing (maḥq) of the faithless, either by removing their existence, or by stripping them of might, honour and authority, so that they live in humiliation and hypocrisy.
3:142 — Do you suppose that you would enter paradise
Do you suppose that you would enter paradise, while Allah has not yet ascertained those of you who have waged jihad and He has not ascertained the steadfast?
The verse contains a threat to those who suppose that entering Paradise is free, so that they may drive that from their minds; and it tells them that entering the sensible and the intelligible Paradise requires carrying out all the positive duties, such as striving and patience, and leaving all the negative acts, such as not taking part in striving, fleeing the battlefield and losing patience.
It also alerts them that holding to the true religion does not mean possessing the state and lasting victory over the enemies of religion, or that all forms of felicity are written for them, or that they will obtain their share of felicity and Paradise even when they lack the factors required for that, and without being among the people of striving and patience, and without the patient striver among them being distinguished. On this basis, some of the faithful will enter the test and the divine custom embodied in the alternation of days, and the one among them who is patient with problems in striving and firm in the bitterness of patience will be distinguished; and their purging, their cleansing and their purification will be completed.
Since knowledge is appearance and uncovering, and the non-existent is not open to appearance and uncovering, the non-existence of something in God’s knowledge, “and God has not yet known”, is evidence of the non-existence of that known thing. The noble verse means: “Had you been strivers and patient, God would have known that; but God, who knows all things, has not known that of you; so you are not strivers or patient.”
In some cases patience, that is, steadfastness in the face of tragic events and resistance against the wrongdoers, is distinguished by a special standing; and each of striving and patience has its own particular reward alongside the shared reward.
3:143 — Certainly you were longing for death before you had encountered it
Certainly you were longing for death before you had encountered it. Then certainly, you saw it, as you were looking on.
God says in blame of those who were not firm at the battle of Uḥud, abandoned their earlier wishes, weakened and let their resolve slacken at the stage of action: Were you not wishing for martyrdom in the way of God and defence of Islam and the Muslims before you witnessed death and its effects? Here is death: you have seen it with your own eyes, with its causes and its factors; but you were content to look at it without any effect or reaction. But victory over the enemy requires preferring others, striving and martyrdom; and entering Paradise does not come about merely by wishing without testing; that is nothing but supposition.
In sum: the wish of some of the Muslims of weak faith for death and martyrdom was nothing but a lying wish resting on desire, not on reason, resolve and truthfulness. As for the reason for this group fleeing the field of striving, it was the weakness of their faith and their fear of death and the like.
3:144 — Muhammad is but an apostle
Muhammad is but an apostle; [other] apostles have passed before him. If he dies or is slain, will you turn back on your heels? Anyone who turns back on his heels, will not harm Allah in the least, and soon Allah will reward the grateful.
During the battle of Uḥud, after the rumour spread that the Noblest Messenger (s.a.w.) had been killed, no breach occurred in the certainty in knowledge or the resolve in practice of the true Muslims, whose feet were firm. But the hypocrites were saying: Had he been a prophet he would not have been killed!
The Muslims of weak faith supposed that the polytheists would gain power over them anew, and regretted entering Islam, which had caused the cutting of their ties with the leaders of unbelief; so they decided to flee the battlefield.
This verse, which contains reproach and rebuke for the apostates and the fleeing, addresses them saying: If the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) has departed from the world (whether by natural death or by martyrdom), does that permit you to apostatise from God’s religion? If you were fighting for the Prophet’s sake, he will depart from the world one day; but if you were fighting for God’s sake and to make the pillars of His religion firm, then God and His religion are lasting and everlasting.
There is no doubt that this speech will make the Muslims ready to preserve their faith even if the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.) departs from this world, and not to apostatise from their religion.
Those who held back their hands and stopped striving merely on hearing the rumour of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) killing retreated, apostatised on their heels, did not return to see the way before them, and fell into the pit of unbelief.
The expression “you turned back on your heels” is a figure for apostasy from Islam, not for fleeing the battlefield, which is counted a great sin.
Despite all that, any individual who turns back on his heels will not harm God and His true religion in anything; indeed, even if all people disbelieved, they would not harm God’s religion. Nothing can put out the light of religion: not the weapons of the enemies, nor the apostasy of the hypocrites.
As for the answer to the hypocrites’ objection, it is: the real personality of the greatest Messenger (s.a.w.) and his noble existence resemble the personality of any human being in being subject to passing away and death in the end. But his real personality, that is, the lofty station of the message and of prophethood, remains living, everlasting and protected from passing away; as is the case with religion and the general lines of the messages of the earlier prophets (a.s.), who were martyred while their religion and their law remained protected in the hands of the monotheistic faithful in revelation and prophethood. So no prophet’s religion perished with his passing away and his departure; except, O God, for the branches of his religion, which were true within the framework of that religion, and then changed and were replaced with the coming of the later prophet bringing a new law and way.
3:145 — No soul may die except by Allah’s leave
No soul may die except by Allah’s leave, at an appointed time. Whoever desires the reward of this world, We will give him of it; and whoever desires the reward of the Hereafter, We will give him of it; and soon We will reward the grateful.
Some people supposed that taking part in fighting means death, and that fleeing the battlefield is salvation for the spirit and a continuance of life. It was said about the martyrs of Uḥud: Had they not gone to fighting, they would not have been killed, nor died at all. So God (s.w.t.) answered the objection of these people, and of those who supposed that the management of affairs was in the hand of the Messenger (s.a.w.) and the faithful, and that they were therefore partners in taking the decision, saying: On the basis of the tawḥīd of acts, and the impossibility of delegation (tafwīḍ) and the impossibility of suspension (taʿṭīl), no act issues from any person except after permission and leave from God and His will in the order of creation. So death and life are both in God’s hand, and no one has any role in that absolutely. Presence on the battlefield does not cause death, nor does fleeing from it lengthen the life of the one who flees; for the time of any creature’s death comes only at the time fixed for it. So the person who holds such a belief will not allow himself to flee from the front of truth against falsehood.
As for attributing death to the human being in this verse, it is a case of attributing the act to its place. Death, which means the departure of the spirit from the body, is not a voluntary or chosen act of the human being so that he would be its agent. The meaning of the verse is that the effect of material and ordinary factors, and the angel entrusted with taking the spirit carrying it out, and the human body being affected by that, and in sum the coming and occurrence of death to the human being, all of that is by God’s permission. So the human being is counted the object (even if he seems outwardly the agent) in the matter of death. Divine permission, by which is meant not only God’s knowledge but also His will which does not fail, has the first and last role in the causal order that rules the world of existence; and the death of any human being before his term has come is impossible; when his term comes, it becomes an inevitable matter.
The inevitability of death for all human beings represents the universal divine decree (qaḍāʾ), which is called the definite decree and the named term after it is established. This fixed period that is realised for the person through living is called the appointed Book. On this basis, given that the named term is not brought forward or delayed, fleeing from death is of no use. Yet divine ordaining (qadar) requires the human being to be careful of events; for the time of death in the world of nature is not decisive, and may change according to different circumstances and conditions.
The seekers of this world, whose will is confined to this world only, are deprived of the spiritual gifts in the Hereafter because they have no aim for the Hereafter. As for what concerns the goods of this world, they do not obtain all they desire in it; rather, each of them is given according to his striving and his work in which they did not cause corruption, and God (s.w.t.) gives whom He wills what He wills. But whoever wants the Hereafter and strives for it as it deserves, God will give him what He wills and will guarantee him his world at the same time. So his reward in the Hereafter is settled, and his goods in this world are preserved.
God knows best the recompense of the thankful, and He is the One who grants it to them; but He (s.w.t.) did not make clear the identity of that recompense, since it seems greater than can be described. As for the repetition of the phrase about the recompense of the thankful in this verse and the previous one, it is for variety in expression with the verb in the third person and the first person; and stating the majestic name explicitly and being content with the pronoun is a pointer to the importance of the subject of the particular recompense of some of the thankful who stood firm.
3:146 — How many a prophet there has been with whom a multitude of godly men fought
How many a prophet there has been with whom a multitude of godly men fought. They did not falter for what befell them in the way of Allah, neither did they weaken, nor did they abase themselves; and Allah loves the steadfast.
God’s prophets strove by every means to convey His religion, preserve its sanctities and apply the divine laws and rulings; and many of them were martyred, even if the Noble Qur’an did not mention many of them.
Those prophets and their faithful followers, who were brought up with a special upbringing and whose ties with their Lord were firm, were protected from weakness, frailty, humiliation and yielding. They strove patiently in the way of God, not fearing the attack of the enemies and not feeling fear because of their small number and the simplicity of their equipment against the great number of the enemies and the variety of their means; nor did they submit to their enemies or seek help from anyone other than God.
In sum: no weakness or frailty appeared on those striving heroes in facing the enemies of religion, or in calamities and terrors, nor did their resolve slacken. Rather, they took refuge in patience and steadfastness, and were a model of patience and striving and a manifestation of God’s name “the Most Patient” (al-Ṣabūr); and they became God’s (s.w.t.) beloved.
3:147–148 — All that they said was, ‘Our Lord
(147) All that they said was, ‘Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs, make our feet steady, and help us against the faithless lot.’ (148) So Allah gave them the reward of this world and the fair reward of the Hereafter; and Allah loves the virtuous.
The elite among the followers of the prophets were marked by the conduct of the believing and Godwary, and by words full of humility and entreaty to God (s.w.t.); and that was by the virtue of their special and continuous, blessed companionship in knowledge and in practice with the prophets (a.s.). After they finished striving in the arenas of fighting with courage and steadfastness, they had hours in which they prayed with sincerity to mend every deficiency in them and to make up for what had escaped them and correct their faults. After asking God for forgiveness and purity, they would ask Him for the firmness of their feet in the greater and the lesser striving, and for help against the faithless. Since God (s.w.t.) loves the doers of good, He helped them against their enemies and gave them what they asked of Him, giving them what was enough for them in this passing world and setting their state right; and He did not withhold from them their great and lasting reward in the Hereafter as well.
3:149 — O you who have faith! If you obey the faithless
O you who have faith! If you obey the faithless, they will turn you back on your heels, and you will become losers.
God (s.w.t.) warns the faithful against the plotting of the faithless and alerts them to the evil effects of the enemy’s propaganda and its dangers in their apostasy, pointing out that obeying the faithless can return them to the time of the first Ignorance and make them lose all the Islamic achievements they had obtained.
The events of Uḥud prepared the atmosphere for the polytheists, the faithless and the hypocrites, so they set about plotting against the Muslims to create division, disagreement and dispute among them. For this reason, after God (s.w.t.) commanded the Muslims in the previous verses to obey and to follow the godly men (ribbiyyūn) of past communities, as a basic element for achieving victory and obtaining reward and God’s love, He (s.w.t.) pointed in this verse to the danger of apostasy and returning to the time of the Ignorance, and warned the faithful against obeying the faithless and returning to unbelief, which may lead to the loss of their faith and their humanity, and to disgrace in this world and the Hereafter. It is known that leaving the yoke of Islam, whether to atheism, polytheism, Judaism, Christianity or other than that, means turning back on one’s heels and loss in this world and the Hereafter; and this is among the most prominent dangers and losses of this world: submission, yielding, humiliation and abasement.
3:150 — Indeed, Allah is your Master
Indeed, Allah is your Master, and He is the best of helpers.
This verse points to the necessity of obeying God, coming under His guardianship (wilāyah), believing in it and relying on Him, by setting out His (s.w.t.) tawḥīd in guardianship and His help; and it reminds those who rejoice at the help of the faithless that God (s.w.t.) is the best of helpers.
God (s.w.t.) is the true Master (mawlā), and obedience is not fitting except to the true Master. As for what concerns help, there may be many helpers; but God (s.w.t.) is the best of helpers and the owner of the sign. As for the others, they are nothing but His signs and a mirror of the sign of His help, and they own nothing apart from Him.
3:151 — We shall cast terror into the hearts of the faithless because of their ascribing partners…
We shall cast terror into the hearts of the faithless because of their ascribing partners to Allah, for which He has not sent down any authority, and their refuge shall be the Fire, and evil is the [final] abode of the wrongdoers.
The Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) commanded the wounded of the battle of Uḥud to pursue the faithless. Despite the strength of the polytheists and the outward weakness of the Muslims, divine help was on the side of the Muslims. For God (s.w.t.), and He is the best of helpers, sometimes grants His help to His friends by casting terror into the hearts of their enemies; at other times it may be by sending down tranquillity upon the faithful fighters, or by sending the angels, or the falling of rain, or making the winds subservient, and other divine means and lordly support. God is the Turner of hearts, and His control of His servants’ hearts is stronger and greater than the servants’ own control of their hearts. He is able to bring tranquillity into the hearts of the faithful and to cast terror and fear into the hearts of the faithless. Just as faith is the source of calm and peace of heart for the faithful, the terror of the faithless springs from their polytheism and their unbelief. For they have no support to support them and no helper to help them; they are ignorant of the source of the secrets of this world, and they are heedless of its signs. That is why you see them in constant fear and in a terror that never leaves them.
Had God not cast terror and alarm into the hearts of the faithless and the polytheists, who came with a vast army, strutting and swaggering, they would have gone further in their fighting in the battle of Uḥud and inflicted on the Islamic government harms whose consequences cannot be known. But after God (s.w.t.) brought terror into their hearts (in the strong Qur’anic expression, where the speech is in the first person and uses the plural of majesty), every possibility of danger passed away and went, and in its place came what the faithless had not reckoned on.
Tawḥīd is an essential necessity, needing no argument or proof. Against it stands polytheism, which is essentially impossible: it admits no proof, will not bear argument, and has no authority, evidence, or rational or transmitted proof. As for the phrase “for which He has not sent down any authority”, it is of the kind of negative proposition whose subject does not exist, not one whose predicate is denied.
Polytheism, as is known, is a great wrong; and the wrongdoing transgressors deserve to remain forever in the fire of Hell, which is their everlasting refuge.
The coming of the word “abode” (mathwā) after the word “refuge” (maʾwā) in the verse under discussion conveys the meaning of permanence, remaining and everlastingness in the Fire.
3:152 — Allah certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them with His leave
Allah certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them with His leave, until you lost courage, disputed about the matter, and disobeyed after He showed you what you loved. Some among you desire this world, and some among you desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you away from them so that He might test you. Certainly He has excused you, for Allah is gracious to the faithful.
God’s (s.w.t.) promise was fulfilled in the battle of Uḥud, especially in its first stages, thanks to the patience, Godwariness and steadfastness of the faithful. The Muslims were victorious over their enemies and defeated them utterly with unseen support. But they were deprived of divine help in the stages that followed, because they abandoned the conditions of help and did not follow the teachings of the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.).
Perhaps the most important factors that led to the defeat of the Muslims afterwards are:
- The weakness of their resolve and their failure to keep it. 2) Their disagreement over whether to stand firm in their positions or to leave them. 3) Their direct or indirect disobedience of the commands of the noble Prophet (s.a.w.). 4) Love of this world, which is a cause that draws in the other factors of defeat and rout. Love of this world and devotion to it lead to weakness of resolve; and whoever’s resolve weakens quarrels with the other side and is pulled about by arguments, and prepares for himself the factors of disobedience, instead of returning to the guardian of the affairs of the Muslims and seeking deliverance. There is no doubt that this will lead to his being deprived of divine kindness.
It must be pointed out here that the other cause of failure and weakness may be quarrelling and dispute. For each party to the quarrel will waste part of its energy and strength in the aim of overcoming the other party, which will lessen its ability and weaken its force, and then the ability and energy of each of them will be gone.
The Muslims had no excuse or argument to justify their weakness, their quarrelling, their disobedience and their love of this world, after God (s.w.t.) had given them everything they needed.
Among the Muslims were some who broke their covenant and disobeyed the divine commands after the initial victory in the battle, because of their greed to get the largest share of the spoils; and among them were some who remained firm in their places, fighting to the death and true to their covenant with God and His Messenger (s.a.w.). Taking spoils and fleeing from the battle fronts are both a face of seeking this world and loving it.
Because of the Muslims’ weakness, their faintness, their quarrelling among themselves, their disobedience of their Prophet’s (s.a.w.) commands, their love of this world and their being taken up with its glitter, God turned them away from fighting their main enemy in order to test them. That is, those conditions became a test for all the Muslims, so that God (s.w.t.) might distinguish the steadfast faithful from the hypocrites, the weak in faith, and those who fled from the battlefield.
The Muslims’ turning away from continuing the fight against the faithless is in itself a sin, since this sin is attributed to the human being himself and comes by the whispering of Satan. But since the most fitting recompense for that is affliction with weakness, quarrelling, disobedience and love of this world, and in reality the withdrawal of success from the human being, the loss of his blessing, his being left to himself alone, and so on, this can be attributed to God (s.w.t.).
There is no doubt that those who fled from the battlefield were nothing but faithful people weak in faith. When they returned, repented and turned back, God accepted their repentance and pardoned them. In this way God’s (s.w.t.) grace, not people’s desert, included those who stood firm in the battle of Uḥud. The indefinite form of the word “grace” (faḍl) is for magnifying it and showing the greatness of that grace.
3:153 — When you were fleeing without paying any attention to anyone
When you were fleeing without paying any attention to anyone, while the Apostle was calling you from your rear, He requited you with grief upon grief, so that you may not grieve for what you lose nor for what befalls you, and Allah is well aware of what you do.
After the Muslims saw the effects of the attack the polytheists made in the battle of Uḥud, a group of them fled from the battlefield and did not turn to anything behind them.
To deny what had been spread about his martyrdom and to reorganise the ranks of the Muslim fighters, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) was calling to those who fled and summoning them to return to their places. But it seems that those fleeing either did not hear his call because they were taken up with fleeing, or those in the last rank of the fleeing heard his call, while those who had gone a long distance no longer heard his voice because of the distance, or did not care for the call, or ignored it out of fear and alarm.
Those who fled committed a great sin by leaving the battlefield and abandoning the help of the Messenger (s.a.w.) and those with him who stood firm in their places. But after they returned, regretted and sought repentance, God pardoned them, and at the same time tried them with praiseworthy grief and continuous sorrow, so that they would not fall into the blameworthy grief represented by loss, defeat and being deprived of help. The (praiseworthy) grief with which they were tried was over the disagreement and quarrelling among them, since that led to weakness spreading among them, to their disobeying the commands of God (s.w.t.) and His noble Messenger (s.a.w.), to their leaving him and those who remained with him alone in the battle, and so to their ignoring one of the religious duties. Those who fled were faithful people, and for this reason they could not overlook this slip of theirs, or turn their eyes from the losses and evil results of that deed of theirs, without it causing them sorrow and grief. This praiseworthy grief was the reason the wounded Muslims gathered and rallied around the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.). Then he (s.a.w.) commanded them to pursue the polytheists.
3:154 — Then He sent down to you safety after grief—a drowsiness that came over a group of…
Then He sent down to you safety after grief—a drowsiness that came over a group of you—while another group, anxious only about themselves, entertained false notions about Allah, notions of [pagan] ignorance. They say, ‘Do we have any role in the matter?’ Say, ‘Indeed the matter belongs totally to Allah.’ They hide in their hearts what they do not disclose to you. They say, ‘Had we any role in the matter, we would not have been slain here.’ Say, ‘Even if you had remained in your houses, those destined to be slain would have set out toward the places where they were laid to rest, so that Allah may test what is in your breasts, and that He may purge what is in your hearts, and Allah knows well what is in the breasts.’
God (s.w.t.) poured out His care and His mercy on the faithful in the battle of Uḥud after those who fled had repented and returned to the battlefield. He also granted them security and a high degree of ease of soul, so that slumber (which is the lightest sleep) took them in that terrible and frightening place.
It is known that sleep is one of God’s (s.w.t.) signs and blessings, and for that reason the term “sending down” is used for giving it, as with all the other blessings and bounties. The sending down of any blessing is general and all-embracing, but those who benefit from it are limited. In the noble verse, the sending down of the preliminaries of sleep and security is expressed in a general way, but the sleep itself included a particular group: those who had the special readiness, in their concern for Islam, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) and the Muslims generally. As for the others, they were taken up with their personal concerns and their individual affairs, and had nothing else to think about.
As for not mentioning the qualifying pronoun (“of you”) in the case of the second group, and only mentioning their false thought, the thought of the Age of Ignorance, and making public what they were thinking: this is a pointer to their deficiency and their fault, even though they had the basis of faith. These people were taken up with material matters and animal desires, not with the human spirit and its true self. They believed that Islam and its Messenger (s.a.w.) had promised them unconditional victory. Since they had believed before this with this mentality of the Age of Ignorance and false thought about God, that drove them to object, in words or by the tongue of their state and their inner belief, saying: If the Messenger (s.a.w.) and his companions were in the right, they would not have been defeated in this battle!
There is no doubt that these individuals did not know God’s (s.w.t.) religion with true knowledge. This thought of theirs springs from the deposits of mind that had stayed with them since the Age of Ignorance, and from the weakness of their faith and their belief. Naturally, that did not fit with the meaning of tawḥīd, the breadth of God’s knowledge, and the divine test.
What the verse under discussion points to concerns those weak in faith, who had obtained only the lowest degree of faith, and for that reason were not safe from the weakest level of hypocrisy.
They objected to the very principle of war, and held that their coming to the battlefield was something ugly and unacceptable. They justified the hypocrites’ not taking part, and their own regret at coming to the fronts of fighting, by saying: Our coming to the front was not right, since we are not in the right; for if we were, the sons of our tribe and the members of our clan would not have been killed in this losing battle. Should not the initiative have been in our hands?!
The answer to these questions can be summed up as follows:
The reins of all affairs are in the hand of God (s.w.t.) alone. On this basis the rightness of the fighting becomes clear to us, and also the identity of the party that has the right to make the decision about it.
The rightness of revelation and of the divine religion, and also the rightness of the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.), is a clear matter with no ambiguity in it; and so protecting these principles and defending them becomes a necessary matter.
Martyrdom does not mean defeat or rout in any form, just as it does not conflict with victory and triumph. Added to that, neither Islam nor the Messenger of Islam (s.a.w.) promised anyone victory in this battle or in others without qualification or condition. The way of the past prophets (a.s.) too shows that they were sometimes victorious over their enemy, and at other times were tried, even if for a particular period, with all kinds of divine trial and testing; but they were the victors in the end. If temporary or passing defeat did not fit with prophethood, no prophet of the prophets (a.s.) would have died or been killed. On this basis, defeat or a limited retreat never conflicts with the rightness of the religion; rather, it is the result of the followers of that religion not holding to its principles fully and correctly.
God (s.w.t.) has appointed a group of the faithful to protect His religion and defend its domain, even if the hypocrites and those weak in faith remained in their houses. God (s.w.t.) addresses these people, saying: “If you are not ready to help My religion and support My Messenger, I have entrusted a group of the faithful to go out to the fields of fighting and defend in the way of God and help His religion: those whose hearts have drunk in striving, and who are content with their destined end, which is martyrdom and death, so that they may live an everlasting life after that!” In this way God makes His friends desire martyrdom in His way.
What is meant by the writing of being killed, or martyrdom, in this noble verse is the writing of creation, that is, a kind of divine provision and success. This does not conflict with the choice of those who strive in the way of God and their choosing this path; for the people of divine success chose martyrdom in the way of the truth by their own pure will.
There is no doubt that the all-inclusiveness of God’s (s.w.t.) knowledge and the breadth of His will exist while all principles and causes are preserved, and the actions of the human being are not excepted from this principle. God (s.w.t.) knows that a group of the faithful will choose martyrdom by their good choice and free will, and that others will prefer to sit and leave the fighting by their own bad choice.
God (s.w.t.) says: “Even if you stayed behind, O you whose own souls concerned you, and sat in your houses and did not take part in the fighting, God had already written martyrdom for those who were killed, so that He might test your intentions, purge your deeds and bring out what you hide in your hearts; for He knows well what is in the breasts.”
God’s testing of His servants and His trying of them is only by way of striving (jihād), which is one of the ways (sunan) of God (s.w.t.) for human perfection and for distinguishing the good from the bad. God (s.w.t.) knows the secret of His servants, their open state and the outward side of their affair. If testing and trial were not a divine way, and the faithless were always defeated, then chosen faith and chosen unbelief would have no meaning, the ground would not be prepared for the greater striving and the lesser striving, and the human being would not be able to walk the path of rising and perfection that God willed for him.
Some Muslims thought that they would not see in the battle anything that would trouble their minds, that victory and success would be their allies in every battle, and that the faithless would be defeated without fail. But they were heedless of the fact that God (s.w.t.) willed to try His servants and test them with the events that would happen in the battle, to distinguish the faithful among them from the hypocrite, the polytheist and the weak in faith, and to separate the sincere faithful from the insincere and from the faithless; so that this would be a cause of exposing and disgracing the intentions of the hypocrites and the weak in faith. For this reason God (s.w.t.) set about separating the faithful from the faithless and dividing them, by His words “that God might test what is in your breasts”. Then He melted away the impurities to draw out pure tawḥīd and to know the sincere faithful and distinguish him from the insincere; then to purify His friends, to cleanse and clear them of every attachment, and to polish their hearts and purge them: “and that He might purge what is in your hearts”.
In reality, testing and purging are among God’s (s.w.t.) secrets that everyone can understand and know. As for what is joined to these two matters (that is, testing and purging) and left unmentioned, these are the secrets that are not general, which only the perfect individuals grasp.
The main cause of the faithful’s slip in the battle of Uḥud was the fragility of the belief of those who panted after the spoils, “and God knows well what is in the breasts”. But God (s.w.t.) passed over this slip, and did not permit the accursed Satan to use this gap to creep into the ranks of the faithful and shake their pillars.
3:155 — Those of you who fled on the day when the two hosts met
Those of you who fled on the day when the two hosts met, only Satan had made them stumble because of some of their deeds. Certainly, Allah has excused them, for Allah is all-forgiving, all-forbearing.
Some of the Muslims left their places and positions during the battle of Uḥud and rushed to collect the spoils. So Satan made them slip and lured them on because of this wrong conduct, and the result was that they fled from the battlefield after the faithless surprised them with an attack from where they did not expect. In this way their vacating the positions the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) had appointed for them, their fleeing from the battlefield, their leaving the Prophet (s.a.w.) alone, their not standing with their brothers among the other Muslims, supporting them and strengthening their positions, and so on, was a sufficient cause for the bitter happening before it came, and an argument against them for what happened to them afterwards. Just as acts of obedience are linked to one another, so too acts of disobedience are linked to one another. When the human being enters the stage of committing sins and wrongs, Satan strips him of the gains he had obtained, because of what he had committed before, not because of sin as such. Yes, the work of the accursed Satan is confined to whispering; as for the human being, it is he who chooses the path of evil or of good by his own will, and it is he who accepts to submit to Satan’s causing him to slip, his misleading and his luring. All that is because he accepts Satan’s whispering and yields to his snares and plots.
In short, all the bitter events like what happened in the battle of Uḥud were the result of the evil deeds committed by those whom Satan lured and whose whisperings deceived them. It is worth mentioning that some of what those deceived people had earned before was the cause of their falling into Satan’s snares, because God (s.w.t.) pardons many evil deeds and forgives many sins.
Those who were pardoned in the battle of Uḥud were many and various, and the mention of the name “the Forbearing” (al-Ḥalīm) in the noble verse, as the reason for pardoning a group of the Muslims, is a clear statement that there are two kinds of pardon. The verse under discussion points to those who committed a great sin and fled from the battlefield, those whom the life of this world, its little enjoyment and passing material things concerned; and after they became certain that the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) had not been killed, they hurried back to the battlefield. This group cannot put right what it ruined and make up for what happened except through repentance and turning back, even though the noble verse also contains the possibility of their being pardoned without repentance. The pardon here is not confined to the Day of Resurrection.
Pardon comes before forgiveness, meaning that the traces of the sin and the marks of disobedience and the slip must be removed from the heart so that the person may be included in God’s special mercy. On this basis God first graciously wiped out the sins by His outpouring, His mercy and His special care, and after that clothed the hearts with the covering of His all-embracing mercy. Pardon may sometimes go together with forgiveness, so that their instance in the outside world is one.
God (s.w.t.) dealt with forbearance and mercy with those who left the most noble Prophet (s.a.w.) and his companions in the battle of Uḥud, and gave them time until they repented to Him; and their repentance was the cause of their being accepted and their returning. God (s.w.t.) is Forbearing, Merciful; it is He who gives His servants time, and does not allow Satan to take hold of them, lure them to slip, and leave them under his complete guardianship merely because they committed a sin. Even though a person may fall into a slip because of sins and wrongs he committed before, the final decision in that is in the hand of God (s.w.t.) alone.
As for stating the Majestic Name (God) explicitly and repeating it directly at the end of the noble verse, it is to show the gravity of the matter and to stress it, and also to give its reason.
3:156 — O you who have faith! Do not be like the faithless who say of their brethren
O you who have faith! Do not be like the faithless who say of their brethren, when they travel in the land or go into battle, ‘Had they stayed with us they would not have died or been killed,’ so that Allah may make it a regret in their hearts. But Allah gives life and brings death, and Allah watches what you do.
In this noble verse God (s.w.t.) addresses the faithful, warning them against following the customs of the first Age of Ignorance, and says to them: “Beware of being like the faithless in their conduct and their thinking. For these people think that their brothers or their relatives would not have perished naturally had they not travelled long in the land or taken part in the fighting. After hearing the news of their death on a journey or their martyrdom in battle, they would say: ‘Had they been with us, they would not have died or been killed!’”
This address is not directed to the brothers or relatives of the faithless, for they had died or been killed; nor is it meant to convey something to the faithful or to address them about it, for the noble verse does not say: “Do not listen to what the faithless say!” Rather, it states plainly: “Do not think as these people think, and do not suppose as they suppose!”
There is no doubt that the cause of this talk and thinking is the unbelief of those who said it, and their false judgment in this talk of theirs, which rests on their guessing at what they have no knowledge of and on thinking that is not true. In this way the faithless expressed their regrets and their remorse. There is no doubt that such talk counts as regret and the most intense remorse for the faithless if the faithful do not care for their words and do not think as they do, because they do not trust or rely on the doctrinal principles of those people. When the faithless saw the faithful ignoring them and closing their eyes to their affair, they were filled with regret and anger. If the lām in “so that He may make” is for purpose, then the result of the faithless’ unacceptable thinking, and the faithful’s lack of concern for them and ignoring them, will bring forth regret in their hearts. But if the lām is for outcome, what is meant is that the faithless repeated those words to relieve their distress and ease their grief; but that will not benefit them, rather it will increase their regret and their anger.
In His answer to the doubt of the faithless about those who travel long in the land or fight in the fields of battle, when they said “Had they been with us, they would not have died or been killed”, God (s.w.t.) says: “Then avert death from yourselves, if you are truthful! Death and life are in the hand of God (s.w.t.) alone. Whatever the cause or source of death, whether natural death, killing or unusual death, causing to die in all its kinds is only by the choice and will of God (s.w.t.). Neither long journeys, nor being present on battlefields and taking part in fighting, nor any other factor is the basic and decisive cause of death. Likewise, cancelling long journeys and fleeing from the battlefield do not grant a person life, so that those who flee from war, for example, would be safe from death.”
3:157 — If you are slain in the way of Allah
If you are slain in the way of Allah, or die, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are surely better than what they amass.
There is no doubt that whoever dies or is killed in the way of God (s.w.t.) is included in His mercy and His forgiveness. The words “mercy” and “forgiveness” come in the indefinite and singular form to magnify them, and to show that they are better than the passing enjoyment of this world in which the faithless and the hypocrites rejoice. Martyrdom, or death in the way of God (s.w.t.), is better than a life of unbelief and hypocrisy and attachment to the glitter of this world; and this superiority is stated as a fixed matter, not as a comparison.
As for the address coming at the start of the noble verse and being absent at its end, this is a pointer that those who seek God’s forgiveness and mercy and defend the domain of the religion deserve to be addressed by God (s.w.t.), while the slaves of gold and silver, who pant after the cheap enjoyment of this world and have turned from the straight path, do not deserve that God address them directly.
Putting “being killed” before “dying” in the verse under discussion is to show the prevalence of being killed and martyred on the battlefield in the way of God (s.w.t.), besides its superiority over natural death.
3:158 — If you die or are slain, you will surely be mustered toward Allah
If you die or are slain, you will surely be mustered toward Allah.
The noble verse above shows that all human beings will be gathered to God in their great migration, carrying with them everything connected with their reality, especially those who defend and strive in the way of God, at their death or their being killed. And God’s greatest Name, which contains all His beautiful Names, is the place of their gathering and their meeting; for God (s.w.t.) is the absolute and only Gatherer.
3:159 — It is by Allah’s mercy that you are gentle to them
It is by Allah’s mercy that you are gentle to them; had you been harsh and hardhearted, they would have surely scattered from around you. So excuse them and plead for forgiveness for them, and consult them in the affairs, and once you are resolved, put your trust in Allah. Indeed Allah loves those who trust in Him.
The Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) was of noble character, marked by every trait that draws people to him, especially those of sound souls; and he was also free of everything that drives people away from him, or causes them to break away from around him, to differ with him and to scatter from him. There is no doubt that God’s special mercy and His great grace upon His Prophet (s.a.w.) are the only factor in his having those positive qualities, such as gentleness, and his being free of all negative qualities and matters, such as harshness, roughness of speech and hardness of heart. They are also the only means of putting those qualities and traits into practice in his words and deeds (s.a.w.). All that naturally has clear manifestations, such as gentleness in word and deed, leaving harshness, pardoning what is due to him, asking forgiveness to fulfil what is due to God (s.w.t.), consulting his community, and resolve, will and determination in the matter and carrying it through to manage people’s affairs; then trusting in God (s.w.t.), obtaining His good pleasure and winning His love, because God loves whoever trusts in Him.
In this way God’s special mercy is manifested in the conduct of the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.), who is the manifestation of God’s (s.w.t.) kindness and mercy. He (s.a.w.) was not harsh, nor hard of heart; rather, his character, by the grace of God, gave off the fragrance of tenderness and love. So he had a place in the souls of the people of the worlds, whose hearts drank in his love, who preferred him with their esteem and loved him with a pure love.
But this tenderness of the noble Prophet (s.a.w.), and that gentleness, did not mean overlooking, ignoring or closing his eyes to matters; rather, it went together with enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with justice and balance.
There is no doubt that any leader’s dealing with his people with kindness and mercy will help to set society right. God (s.w.t.) commanded His noble Prophet (s.a.w.) to overlook what was due to him (that is, the right of the Messenger (s.a.w.)) and to pardon the slips and lapses of the faithful, and to ask forgiveness for them much to make up for their rebellion and their disobedience of His (s.w.t.) commands (that is, the right of God), and then to consult them in some matters.
There is also no doubt that the command to ask forgiveness points to the certainty of God’s answering and forgiving; otherwise He (s.w.t.) would not have commanded asking forgiveness at all.
As for the final aim of consultation, it is to reach the truth and uncover it, then to put it into practice soundly and resolve on that. The faint-heartedness and cowardice of a society, and the leader’s fear and dread of going forward with a matter and resolving on it, lead to defeat, retreat and falling back. It is known that the aim of the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) in consulting the community was not to seek help from their opinions or to rely on their ideas and plans. That is why we notice that God (s.w.t.) entrusted the matter of determining affairs and resolving to take decisions, in the end, to the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) alone.
Even so, the effect that consultation produced in the souls of the members of the community was great and large. Among this was the community’s sense of its distinct character in managing the affairs of the land and reflecting on its matters; distinguishing between its sound and unsound opinions; strengthening a competition mixed with brotherhood in putting forward opinions and reaching the good among them; and then the community and the Islamic society reaching the social and political maturity required, in the presence of its noble Messenger (s.a.w.); and after that his (s.a.w.) choosing and taking the final and right decision after weighing up the opinions put forward. It is well known that this consultation was only in what concerned the affair of the people, not the affair of God (s.w.t.); that is, in matters with a clear social colouring, not in what concerns the rulings of the law and the subjects derived by the law. For the rulings of the law belong to the will and wish of God (s.w.t.) alone, and no one at all has the right to interfere in them.
God entrusted the right of taking decisions and determining affairs to His noble Messenger (s.a.w.), and commanded him to carry out those decisions after trusting in Him and consulting the community, so as to prevent others from taking any decision that conflicts with what the Prophet (s.a.w.) wills.
The noble verse under discussion shows us that one must seek help through trust in God (s.w.t.) as one of the means connected with taking decisions, like consultation and other things. There is no doubt that trusting in God (s.w.t.) and seeking help from His power over all things is a great support and backing to make up for deficiency and to fill the spiritual gap when using means. In this case the one who trusts in God will enjoy special divine care, so that his abilities grow greater and his spirit rises high, because he is beloved of God (s.w.t.), and whoever is beloved of God must enjoy His special outpouring.
3:160 — If Allah helps you, no one can overcome you
If Allah helps you, no one can overcome you, but if He forsakes you, who will help you after Him? So in Allah let all the faithful put their trust.
Help, on the basis of tawḥīd in actions, comes only from God (s.w.t.) and is confined to Him (s.w.t.) alone, since it is the basic factor of victory and support. The help the faithful give, essentially, is theirs only derivatively, and comes only from God (s.w.t.); it is a help preceded and followed by two helps from Him (s.w.t.).
In the order of creation no being can escape or slip out of the commands of God, majestic is His affair; just as no being can gain power or prevail over one whom God wills to help and make victorious. The noble verse denies every individual by denying the whole kind. If God (s.w.t.) wills to forsake someone, he has no helper at all. Just as the one God helps is not overcome, so the one God forsakes and deprives of His help will find no one able to ward that off from him.
There is no doubt that patience and Godwariness are the most important conditions for winning divine help. Forsaking is holding back from helping someone who needs that help; on this basis the meaning of “forsaking” here is non-existence, that is, the person’s being deprived of God’s help, since there is no help except from Him.
There is also no doubt about the hard consequences and bitter results that come from being forsaken. Satan is counted among the means in creation of God’s (s.w.t.) forsaking. This Satan, who carries out the commands of God (s.w.t.) in the order of creation, not of legislation, stirs up despair, hopelessness and abasement in the souls of his friends, whom God (s.w.t.) wills to forsake.
Thus the faithful must follow the example of the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) and trust in God alone in all their affairs and concerns, even in matters in which they reckon themselves outwardly strong and able to carry out, alongside seeking help from the necessary means and causes. For there is no help except from God, the High, the Powerful; and trust does not conflict with preparation and making ready the causes particular to victory.
3:161 — A prophet may not breach his trust
A prophet may not breach his trust, and whoever breaches his trust will bring his breaches on the Day of Resurrection; then every soul shall be recompensed fully for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged.
This noble verse sets out one of the rulings of prophethood, which is that prophethood and betrayal never come together. In this way the prophets (a.s.) are free of any betrayal of their messages and are kept pure from committing any error. And if a prophet were to intend, God forbid, to commit an error, an evil deed or some betrayal, God (s.w.t.) would expose him and make him known before the witnesses at the first moment of his being raised alive on the Day of Resurrection, and he alone would carry the burden of that betrayal of his.
Ghulūl is betrayal in general. The noble verse’s mention of betrayal in the spoils of war in particular, and of the public treasury in general, contains a pointer to the ugliness of that altogether, especially when the Islamic community is suffering hardship from poverty and need.
On the Day of Resurrection, which is the setting for the inner side of deeds to appear and be exposed, the betrayal will be embodied and present with the betrayer, and the betrayer will appear as though he is dragging it with his hands and carrying it on his shoulders. The betrayer may sometimes be gathered in the form of his deed and in the shape of the betrayal he committed.
However that may be, there is no need for the wealth that was betrayed to be brought to the arena of reckoning; rather, the form of the betrayal of the wealth will be brought, as the betrayal of a particular wealth.
So every doer will be recompensed on the Day of Resurrection according to what he did in this world, and God (s.w.t.) “is not unjust to the servants”.
3:162–163 — Is he who follows [the course of] Allah’s pleasure like him who earns Allah’s displeasure…
(162) Is he who follows [the course of] Allah’s pleasure like him who earns Allah’s displeasure and whose refuge is hell, an evil destination? (163) They have ranks with Allah, and Allah watches what they do.
The human being in this world is either righteous or wicked, and the righteous and the wicked are never equal. Were it not for the Return and the reckoning, there would be no difference at all between them, and this does not agree with divine justice. On this basis, on the Day of Resurrection Hell with its levels and the Garden with its degrees were set up, just as the station of good pleasure (riḍwān) was set up, which is a spiritual rank that falls under the banner of the degrees of the Garden in general, and which is without doubt better by many degrees than the sensory gardens.
But the path of the wayfarers who reach the station of good pleasure does not end at this limit and measure; the station of good pleasure is not the end of the road. At the second blowing of the Trumpet every human being will have a particular becoming; as for the becoming of those with whom God is angry, it is Hell and the Fire.
The form of the disapproving question used in the noble verse above shows the manners of dialogue and is an instance of the perfection of kindness and gentleness of speech in the previous verses, besides having a special appeal in putting the subject in the form of a question.
In any case, in this noble verse God (s.w.t.), as a detailing of the content of the previous verse about every soul being paid in full what it earned, points to the degrees of the people of divine good pleasure and the levels of those with whom He is angry and whose deeds He is displeased with. He continues to declare the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.) free of ghulūl and betrayal, and praises him, pointing to his being among the people of good pleasure, and to his never having gone, and never going, beyond his bound; and that those who accused him of ghulūl and betrayal have drawn on themselves God’s anger and displeasure, and their refuge is Hell, an evil destination.
The faithful are in degrees; rather, they themselves are the degrees, on the basis of the unity of the station and the one who occupies it in that. And the faithless are levels. If we suppose that “degrees” includes the levels (by way of giving one the name of the other), then what is meant by that is the rising degrees of the faithful and the descending degrees of the faithless. Those with whom God is angry and the faithless are the degrees in the state of descent and fall, and their refuge is the Fire, and they themselves will become that Fire; just as the faithful are degrees in the state of ascent, and so they enjoy Paradise, and they themselves will become the Garden itself.
3:164 — Allah certainly favoured the faithful when He raised up among them an apostle from among…
Allah certainly favoured the faithful when He raised up among them an apostle from among themselves to recite to them His signs and to purify them and teach them the Book and wisdom, and earlier they had indeed been in manifest error.
God, the Bestower of favour, the Giver, who grants great blessings of knowledge and practice, confers favour on some of His servants and gives them a lofty station and the blessing of prophethood and the sublime message. But the absolute favour and the great blessing that God (s.w.t.) has granted to human beings is represented in sending the Seal of the Prophets, Muḥammad (s.a.w.), since He gave him favours and blessings He did not give to any of the prophets and messengers (a.s.) before him. There is no doubt that every sending of a prophet is great, and every heavenly Book is great too. But the noble Qur’an did not use the verb “conferred favour” (manna) or the noun “favour” (minnah), which speak of the special character of a blessing in general, about the sending of the other prophets (a.s.); just as the verse of favour here does not take up the mention of the sending of God’s (s.w.t.) other prophets.
God conferred this great and immense blessing on all human beings, especially the people of faith among them; which means that the faithful alone are the ones who attain this blessing, because they are marked by the fixed and settled quality of faith, not by their passing and impermanent act.
God (s.w.t.) chose the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) from among his people to guide them to the even path. What is meant by “the faithful” in the noble verse is the faithful Arabs, because they were living in polytheism, which represents “manifest error” in comparison with the unbelief of the People of the Book. Thus the most noble Prophet (s.a.w.) was sent with the message of Islam to a people astray, “though before they were in manifest error”; and by the grace of the message of Muḥammad they tasted the sweetness of the moral traits and qualities that give them a better and purer social life. The phrase “from among themselves” points to the fact that the noble Messenger (s.a.w.) was not sent to a particular people or a special geographical region, such as the Arabian Peninsula or elsewhere; rather, he (s.a.w.) represents the spirit and the selves of the faithful in every place and time. On the basis of the subtle expressions in this noble verse, and the attractive words that stir hope and give good news, the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.) is sent to all the worlds, even if he is counted as one of the faithful in particular and as being in the position of their own selves.
To guide people to the straight path, the noble Messenger (s.a.w.) set about reciting God’s clear signs to them. He hastened to explain the outward meanings of the Qur’anic verses to some of them according to their understanding, and explained and made clear the inner meanings of those verses in God’s Book to others of them. He also made clear to them, with the support of holy revelation, the conditions of the divine rulings, what prevents them, their particulars and their manners; and this is what the noble verse points to with the term “wisdom” after the term “the Book”. Or it is of the kind of mentioning the particular after the general and unrestricted; or, as we pointed out before, wisdom is an independent title representing the sunnah of the Infallibles (a.s.).
“Teaching” is mentioned after “purifying” in the order of the noble verse; but purifying and refining remain the main aim of that reciting and that teaching. On this basis the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) strove to rescue people from the claws of superstition and the snares of falsehood, to purify them of moral vices and prevent them from falling into decline and dropping into the abyss, to make known to them the pure belief, and to create the proper ground for purifying them and freeing them from the attachments of polytheism and unbelief.
There is no doubt, then, that each of the qualities mentioned (reciting, purifying, teaching the Book and teaching wisdom) is a supreme blessing and a great gift for all people. Together they represent the greatest divine blessing granted to human beings, and no blessing equals it at all. On this basis there is no difficulty in putting those qualities earlier or later in the noble verse.
3:165 — What, when an affliction visits you—while you have inflicted twice as much—do you say
What, when an affliction visits you—while you have inflicted twice as much—do you say, ‘How is this?’! Say, ‘This is from your own souls.’ Indeed Allah has power over all things.
In His answer to the doubts of the hypocrites, and also of the faithful weak in faith, and in reply to what they spread about the Prophet (s.a.w.) and their attributing ghulūl to him, God (s.w.t.) makes clear to all that the Muslims themselves were the cause of their falling into some of the problems and tragedies that happened in the battle of Uḥud. He makes clear that the rightness of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) message and the truth of his call to the true religion is an unconditional matter in which there is no doubt; and that the help of God (s.w.t.) is qualified and conditional on patience and Godwariness. As for what happened in the battle of Uḥud, its cause was the weakness of the Godwariness of some of the Muslims, and others of them being afflicted with alarm and the loss of resolve and patience; and perhaps both things happened to others together.
The noble Qur’an stresses that God (s.w.t.) is the first and last Cause of all events, bitter and sweet; but the direct factor of those events is the deed the human being does by his choice and his will. The human being’s choice is a link in the chain of links of causes particular to events. As for the divine measuring, it comes after the argument has been completed: either the person walks the path of righteousness and happiness by his choice and will, and so reaches good things and good deeds; or he is led astray by his bad choice, and so walks the path of evil and wretchedness, even though divine pardon is present even in this case. So the root of the misfortunes and problems that befall human beings is their deeds, which they do by their own choice.
On this basis this noble verse holds the Muslims themselves to be the main cause of their failure and their defeat in the battle of Uḥud, because they dealt badly with the divine outpouring, so their strength weakened and went, which led to their being broken. By their disobedience of their commander’s orders, their quarrelling and their failure, they lost with their own hands the key to their success and to their victory. After the battle of Badr ended, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) told them, on the basis of divine revelation, that if they set free the captives of the polytheists (and did not kill them), then in the following year (in the battle of Uḥud) there would be killed of the Muslims exactly the number that had been killed of them (that is, of the polytheists) in the battle of Badr. Even so, a group of the Muslims objected and did not agree to their being killed.
The Muslims’ opposing, at that time, the killing of the polytheists, especially the heads of sedition among them, and their releasing and freeing them after capturing them in the battle of Badr; their not accepting the advice of the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) and his view of staying in Medina at the time of the battle of Uḥud; the hesitation of others and their refusal to be present on the battlefield; their disobeying the orders of the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) to keep to their positions and stay where he commanded them; others of them being taken up with running after the spoils at the hardest moments and positions, which required their steadfastness and their staying in their positions; the outbreak of disputes and quarrels among them; and finally the flight of a group of them from the battlefield at the time of greatest need: the cause of all that was hypocrisy and weakness of faith. It was natural, by the rule of the well-known natural factors, that this should lead to the state the Muslims reached, and to the faithful among them falling into misfortunes and woes they had not expected. All of this was because of them and their own choice.
3:166–167 — What befell you on the day when the two hosts met
(166) What befell you on the day when the two hosts met, was by Allah’s permission, so that He may ascertain the faithful, (167) and ascertain the hypocrites. [When] they were told: ‘Come, fight in the way of Allah, or defend [yourselves], they said, ‘If we knew any fighting, we would have surely followed you.’ That day they were nearer to unfaith than to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah knows well whatever they conceal.
No event happens in this world except after it obtains creational permission from God (s.w.t.). The defeat of the Muslims in the battle of Uḥud, and the misfortunes that befell them after that, were not merely something that happened suddenly or by surprise; rather, they happened by divine planning and lordly permission.
Although the occurrence of any misfortune or evil deed is only “by God’s permission”, and both are “from God’s presence” (min ʿindi Allāh), they are not “from God”; rather, as He (s.w.t.) said, they are “from yourselves”.
As for the wisdom in this hard test and those alarming misfortunes, it is to distinguish the righteous from the wicked and to separate the faithful from the hypocrites at the social level. As comes at the end of the second noble verse, God knows what His servants hide and what they conceal, even the outward and hidden sides of the hypocrites, and of those who do not know what they are doing and are heedless of it. On this basis, the knowledge of God (s.w.t.) does not follow from the test and the trial; besides which, what is meant by His (s.w.t.) words “and that He might know” is God’s knowledge in action, not His essential or eternal knowledge.
However that may be, among the wisdoms we can draw out of the battle of Uḥud is the identifying of the patient faithful and distinguishing them from the lying hypocrites, when each of them faces hardships and problems.
From the joining of the phrase “and that He might know the faithful” to something left unmentioned, it becomes clear to us that the battle of Uḥud held other secrets and wisdoms besides those we have mentioned; secrets and wisdoms that cannot be announced to everyone, and for that reason the noble Qur’an mentions none of them. The ordinary human mind cannot understand the complex secrets in the world of creation or uncover its particular codes; but this lack of understanding does not affect the order of the world being the best.
The two verses mentioned point to the people of faith and describe them as “the faithful”, to show the settled disposition of faith and its continuity and firmness in their hearts. But they use the phrase “those who played the hypocrite” to describe the hypocrites, as a pointer to hypocrisy being renewed in their hearts and arising at every moment; for that was the first time they took up hypocrisy, and it had not yet become a settled disposition in them. In this there is a statement that the recompense of hypocrites new to hypocrisy differs from the recompense of those who “are obstinate in hypocrisy”.
The hypocrite claims Islam outwardly while denying everything inwardly, and there is no doubt that such a person is without fail faithless. As for describing these people as hypocrites (munāfiqīn), there are many possibilities, among them:
His walking two paths together: showing Islam and hiding polytheism and unbelief, so that he has before him room to slip away and escape.
He puts on the garment of Islam (outwardly) to take it as a pretext and a way to flee whenever he senses danger.
Describing a person as a hypocrite is taken from his having made for himself a tunnel and a way into Islam outwardly, so that he stays hidden and concealed in that tunnel, and his outward Islam is a shield that protects him and prevents his unbelief from appearing and being uncovered.
To complete His argument against the hypocrites, God (s.w.t.) invited them to take part in striving in His way and defending the domain of Islam. Since the prophets and the faithful are those who call to the sublime belief that surpasses the beliefs of the hypocrites in excellence and loftiness, the noble Qur’an used the verb “come!” (taʿālaw, literally “come up”) in addressing the hypocrites.
As for inviting the hypocrites to begin with by the phrase “or defend”, it may mean helping the faithful in the battle and increasing their number in the enemy’s eyes; or at least guarding the honour, wealth and equipment of the Muslims, if they feared plunging into war and taking part in the fighting. There is another possibility for His (s.w.t.) words “fight in the way of God, or defend”, which is that the noble verse proposes to the hypocrites to fight in the way of God, and if they did not wish to do that, then at least to protect themselves, their wealth and their honour against the enemy.
To cover their unbelief and their hypocrisy and their slipping away from the battlefield, the hypocrites answered the proposal to defend, saying: “If we knew there would be fighting, we would have followed you.” There are a number of possibilities about the meaning of this sentence, among them:
Perhaps the meaning of their words is: “If we knew that war would actually happen, we would have gone out with you.” These people used a sentence that bears two meanings: “we would have followed you”, instead of saying “we would have fought with you”; and so they left the door of flight and retreat from the battle open before them.
Or the meaning of those words of theirs is: “Fighting the enemy is only reasonable if the means of fighting, equipment and arms, are prepared, so that we are equal to him; otherwise, going forward with it is a kind of suicide and throwing oneself into destruction.”
The noble verse under discussion points to the hypocrites at that time being nearer to unbelief than to faith, and to their supporting the Muslims in word only and not in deed. But God (s.w.t.) uncovered their unbelief and exposed their hypocrisy openly. Since the hypocrite is in reality faithless, and there is no link at all between him and faith, the predicate “nearer” in the noble verse is of the kind of the elative that fixes, not the one that compares. These hypocrites were, on the day of danger, nearer to transparent unbelief, so that their plain and open unbelief could reach the level of actuality.
It is worth mentioning here that, although the hypocrite is faithless, as we said, and there is great likeness between the faithless and the hypocrite, and both deserve to enter Hell according to the theological ruling, the noble Qur’an, on the basis of God’s special mercy, did not name them faithless explicitly, for reasons hidden from us. Rather, He (s.w.t.) was content to say that they were nearer to unbelief.
3:168 — Those who said of their brethren
Those who said of their brethren, while they themselves sat back: ‘Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed.’ Say, ‘Then keep death off from yourselves, if you are truthful.’
The hypocrites in the battle of Uḥud had a word and a deed. As for their word, it was declaring the very presence in the fighting a mistake, the likelihood that those who took part in that war would meet harm and death, justifying their own absence from the front, and stirring up others and holding them back from taking part in the fighting. As for their deed, it was their absence from the battlefield. Since their word was uglier than their deed, this noble verse points to their word before their deed.
At the time when the leaders and chiefs of hypocrisy were absent from taking part in the battle with the Muslims, they were spreading some rumours among the people; among them, that their brothers by lineage or stock would not have been killed had they obeyed them and not taken part in that battle. They spread the same talk among their peers and their followers as well.
In answer to all those guesses, God (s.w.t.) says: “Then avert death from yourselves, if you are truthful.” But you will never be able to do that, because death is a decreed destiny whose occurrence cannot be prevented. Just as presence on the fields of fighting does not mean certain death for those present, so absence from them does not mean a sure cause of remaining and living as long as possible. On this basis, life and death do not run according to the whims of the hypocrites. Added to that, these hypocrites ought to know that martyrdom in war is only martyrdom in the way of God (s.w.t.), and not death in the sense these people knew.
3:169–171 — Do not suppose those who were slain in the way of Allah to be dead
(169) Do not suppose those who were slain in the way of Allah to be dead; no, they are living and provided for near their Lord, (170) exulting in what Allah has given them out of His grace, and rejoicing for those who have not yet joined them from [those left] behind them, that they will have no fear, nor will they grieve. (171) They rejoice in Allah’s blessing and grace, and that Allah does not waste the reward of the faithful.
The hypocrites thought that going to the fronts of fighting was nothing but throwing themselves with their own hands into destruction; that as soon as they died their life would end at that limit, and nothing could make up to them for that life. They also believed that the martyrs are dead, deaf, neither affecting nor affected. All that was because of the weakness of their faith and their not believing in life after death. In these noble verses God (s.w.t.) makes clear the reality of life after death, and that those martyred in the way of God are alive, not dead. He gives a clear picture of their life in the barzakh, and refutes the fancies and thoughts of the hypocrites about the martyrs and the uselessness of their martyrdom. These verses also made clear to the Muslims the reality of the life of the barzakh, which had not yet become clear to them, despite their faith in the basis of the Return.
In these noble verses God (s.w.t.) makes clear to the martyr’s family and to his companions on the path the state of the martyr and his standing with Him (s.w.t.), so that his family do not imagine otherwise or object to what he did; and to encourage the other fighters to give their utmost in the way of the truth and to be martyred in the way of God, so that they rejoice at what God has stored up for them and the gardens of everlastingness and eternal happiness He has prepared.
Life after death is a clear reality and a matter about which almost everyone has no doubt. But the martyr, and everyone who enjoys a rank like his rank and obtains a station like his station, will be granted an exceptional and special life in the barzakh, surpassing in its merits and the blessings it contains the life of the barzakh of ordinary individuals. All the martyrs enjoy a life in the barzakh which no other life matches, and they are provided from the abundant blessings of God (s.w.t.) and His great grace in their life in the barzakh, which is one of the meadows of the Garden.
The martyr may be dead or slain in the eyes of human beings in this world, but in reality he is alive in the barzakh. The martyrs are alive with their Lord, who does not stint them of His provision, His grace and His bounties. As for what is meant by the martyr being with God (s.w.t.) and near Him, it is his nearness in station and rank; for God (s.w.t.) is free of body, place and what resembles them. On this basis the spirit stripped of the body is near to God in the spiritual respect. The essence of this nearness can be drawn from putting the adverbial phrase “with their Lord” before the verb “they are provided”.
The life of the martyrs with God (s.w.t.) is an absolute reality, not merely that they are with God in respect of knowledge. Since everything with God (s.w.t.) is fixed, everything the martyrs enjoy is lasting and does not pass away; they enjoy those blessings because of the life and the provision they have been given with God (s.w.t.).
The martyrs are everlasting in the barzakh as in the Garden, and they enjoy bodily provision and spiritual provision alike, such as knowledge, witnessing and the sense of the delight of presence. The martyrs rejoice in what they have been given of rank, station and noble provision that does not perish or pass away, and the great divine reward, alongside the life-giving effects their martyrdom gave their societies. There is no doubt that the joy of the people of faith and their happiness are only by the grace of God (s.w.t.) and His giving, not by the glitter of this world, its finery and its treasures. No joy ever matches the martyr’s joy, and in the related verses there are some aspects of that joy.
There are real effects that follow from the martyrs being alive with their Lord, among them the extent of the great happiness and the size of the great, everlasting blessing that surrounds them. The martyr’s blood also has effects besides these, which are practical effects. Just as the martyr strove in his life and gave the dearest thing he owned to rescue others, so his pure blood that was shed has many effects and blessings too, because some people are guided and walk in the footsteps of the martyr.
The martyr is moved from this world to the other existence, having been given awareness and the practical effects of this world. For this reason he knows the affairs of this world, and every news from it that makes him happy and glad reaches him. You see him constantly asking God (s.w.t.) for good news and happy reports that keep him glad and happy; so He answers the martyr’s wish and commands His angels to carry the news of the state of the faithful wayfarers who walk his path and have not yet joined the martyr, and gives him good news of their coming soon.
There is no doubt that informing those who strive and walk the path of martyrdom of all that news will urge them to continue on their upright way. The mention of the martyr rejoicing at that news and those states comes as praise of his state and a statement of the greatness of his station and his rank; for he did not forget to think of others and to work for their deliverance and their salvation even when he is a martyr, just as he did in this world. He is not forgetting them or ignoring what they are in.
Since the martyr by his nature prefers others to himself, and since that virtue is what drove him to depart from this world, he is always asking about the state of his companions, his brothers in belief and religion, his companions on the path and the strivers who were with him. How happy is the news that tells him that they are still walking the same path he walked, and that they are halfway along the road to martyrdom, even if they have not yet reached the rank of martyrdom and have not come to the end of the road. But he gets no news of the state of those who do not walk the path of martyrdom and do not intend it, because they have not set out in the first place; and so they cannot be an instance of His (s.w.t.) words “those who have not yet joined them”, since they do not possess that virtue and disposition. The first happy news the martyr receives after his martyrdom is his being told of the situation and state of his other fighting brothers.
His (s.w.t.) words “they rejoice at good news” mean the martyrs’ asking for gladness and delight and their receiving the good news they are waiting for. God (s.w.t.) answers them, saying: Your companions, “no fear shall be on them, nor shall they grieve”. When the martyrs receive this good news, they become glad at it. It is known that the spiritual stations whose attainment brings joy and gladness into the hearts of their owners contain no kind of fear or grief; by that we mean grief over what has passed and fear of the future. The sincere faithful, like this martyr who has gone out of the circle of history and time, has lost nothing in the past that he should grieve over, and will be deprived of nothing in the future that he should fear the loss of what he owns.
God (s.w.t.) and His beautiful Names are all that the faithful love and long for, and that is something that never perishes or passes away. In other words, the hearts of the faithful are attached to everlasting matters, not to perishing and passing things. So they will not grieve or be sorry if those things pass them by, and fear will not seize them if they think they might lose them or that they might be taken from them. On this basis God (s.w.t.) has favoured the martyrs by removing fear from them and protecting them from falling into grief and sorrow: “that no fear shall be on them, nor shall they grieve”. But all that does not prevent the faithful from living in this life of the world always between fear and hope.
Besides that, the parting of the martyrs will not frighten their fellow strivers or move them to grief, because God (s.w.t.) has told them that they have lost nothing, and that the martyrs have been moved to a better life and a greater and grander happiness; even if they grieve and are saddened because they are deprived of the outpouring of martyrdom and of attaining and winning it, as happened with their companions who were martyred, or shed tears because of the strong affection that bound them to the martyrs.
Just as God, by the tongue of His honoured angels, forbade the faithful to grieve or fear, and promised them in that the good recompense and abundant reward they wish for, “Surely those who say, ‘Our Lord is God,’ and then go straight, the angels descend upon them: ‘Do not fear and do not grieve, and receive good news of the Garden which you were promised’”, so He urged them, by the creational effect of the martyr who has attained the station of honour, to persevere and obtain the rank and station the martyr obtained, to forget the past, and to look with insight to the future, where there is no fear and no grief after that.
The martyrs rejoice at good news, asking for good tidings and happy reports, and God (s.w.t.) gives them good news of good and happiness. His good news to them contains a complete report on the state of their companions in this world, and on His blessing and His grace upon them all. The good news, then, contains at times the news of the wayfarers on the path of God (s.w.t.) in this world who have not yet reached the final dwelling, and at other times what God has prepared for them of blessings and grace, and that He (s.w.t.) does not let the reward of the faithful who do good be lost.
On the basis of the second part of the good news, which is more general and wider than its first part, God (s.w.t.) promises the martyrs a great blessing and a great grace, and that He will deal with them by His grace, His bounties and His mercy with more than their deeds in this world. Grace here is not in exchange for deeds; for the title “grace” (faḍl) plainly means increase. On this basis what is meant by it in this noble verse is the extra and overflowing measure of it that will be given to the martyrs.
A reminder: The verses under discussion are general, including everyone martyred in the way of God; so the occasion of their revelation, the martyrs of Uḥud, is not a reason for restricting them.
3:172 — Those who responded to Allah and the Apostle [even] after they had been wounded—for those…
Those who responded to Allah and the Apostle [even] after they had been wounded—for those of them who have been virtuous and Godwary there shall be a great reward.
After his return from the battle of Uḥud, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) called all the Muslims wounded in that battle to consult with them about facing any possible attack by the polytheists and thwarting every attempt of the hypocrites and the spies. A particular group of the elite answered, despite their serious injuries and the deep wounds they had from the wars they had fought until then. They answered the call of the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) and took part with him in the campaign of Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad. The fruit of that obedience was that the army of Abū Sufyān was struck with terror, and they turned and fled to Mecca, leaving the battlefield empty for the Muslims.
Unlike what happened in the battle of Uḥud, where some of the Muslims disobeyed the commands of God (s.w.t.) and His great Messenger (s.a.w.), the strivers from among the wounded of that battle obeyed God and His Messenger (s.a.w.), even if the response of some of them was tied to their personal interests. But in general the Muslims in this battle obeyed God’s commands in all matters, especially in the matter of striving. They also answered the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.), did not oppose his leadership of the affairs of the battle, and listened to his guidance on marching, standing firm against the enemy and ordering their ranks in the way he commanded them; the opposite of what they did in the battle of Uḥud, when some of them stayed behind from taking part in the war and contributing to the striving, others of them fled, and a group of them left the positions the noble Messenger (s.a.w.) had commanded them not to abandon, and so disobeyed their Prophet (s.a.w.).
For all that, we notice in this noble verse the name of God (s.w.t.) and the name of His Messenger coming together in what concerns the response and obedience of the Muslims, although it would have been possible to be content with mentioning the name of God (s.w.t.) alone or the name of His Messenger (s.a.w.), given that God (s.w.t.) is obeyed in His own right and the noble Messenger is obeyed derivatively.
As for the preposition in “of them”, it is for indicating a part, not for explaining. The pronoun (“them”) here refers back to “those who responded”, not to “the faithful” in the previous verse. The explanation of that is that the companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.), and all those who took part with him in war, were not at one degree of pure faith; rather, many errors, lapses and slips came from some of them.
In the case of the campaign of Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad too, “those who responded” were two groups. One group acted with excellence and did the righteous deed completely without falling short, following in that the highest degrees of Godwariness until the last moment; it kept its military steadfastness and showed no faintness, weakness, abasement or surrender before the enemy, and the share of its members was the great reward from God (s.w.t.). A second group was used to falls and idle talk, and the rust of slackness had not been polished away from it; so it was affected by the plotting of the hypocrites and the schemes of the spies, and by that lost the success and the great divine reward that had been prepared for it.
On this basis, not all those who are mentioned in this event and were with the most noble Messenger (s.a.w.) enjoyed the divine promise represented by the great reward, even if they obtained the basic reward. Rather, God’s (s.w.t.) promise included a particular group of them, those who were true faithful, who went straight to the last moment, did good and were Godwary. Thus a person’s mere presence on the battlefield and his receiving wounds does not mean he deserves the great reward. Rather, he must be armed with pure faith, marked by righteous deeds, and not be swept along by seditions or affected by hypocrisy.
3:173–174 — —Those to whom the people said
(173) —Those to whom the people said, ‘All the people have gathered against you, so fear them.’ That only increased them in faith, and they said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us, and He is an excellent trustee.’ (174) So they returned with Allah’s blessing and grace, untouched by any harm. They pursued the pleasure of Allah, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace.
These two noble verses praise the faithful strivers who answered the call of God and His Messenger (s.a.w.), responded to his commands, and went forward to pursue the enemy with firm resolve and strong faith after trusting in God (s.w.t.), while the wounds they received in the battle of Uḥud had not yet healed. Nuʿaym ibn Masʿūd al-Ashjaʿī was sent by the polytheists to frighten the Muslims, shake their pillars, and turn them away from facing the faithless or thinking of fighting them.
The narrations indicate that this Nuʿaym came to the Muslims and told them: “The people have gathered against you, so fear them”, meaning Abū Sufyān and his companions, and that they could not face the army of the polytheists in any way at all. But instead of this rumour having its effect on the faithful Muslims or frightening them, it increased them in faith, resolve and firmness; rather, it increased their longing to meet their enemy. The human being who affirms tawḥīd fears no one but God (s.w.t.), because he believes that God is the source of every effect. That is why you see him affirming tawḥīd even in his fear; that is, he fears only God (s.w.t.) alone and pays no heed to any other thing or factor at all. Thus the Muslims did not care about what Nuʿaym al-Ashjaʿī said, and decided to stand and confront the plots of the spies and the psychological war the hypocrites stirred up; and that only increased them in faith and firmness in belief.
This increase in faith may mean the increase of the Muslims’ faith in the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) and in the truth of what he brought from God (s.w.t.) and its rightness, after they saw fulfilled the report of the unseen which the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) had told them, so that his words and his religion increased them in faith and firmness. Or it may mean that the Muslims’ longing and love for their religion, their faith and the root of their way and their path, which they had pledged to hold to, increased and grew, especially after they felt that all their religious gains and achievements were exposed to real danger and threat.
It is worth mentioning that the three parts of faith, that is, faith of the heart, action with the limbs, and showing faith on the tongue, have weak and strong degrees and ranks; they may increase and grow strong, or lessen and weaken. Just as unbelief, polytheism and misguidance have levels, which may increase or shrink.
However that may be, the faithful whose hearts were attached to divine help, and who saw no protector or defender for them other than Him, did not despair and did not grow faint; rather, their faith increased and their resolve grew strong. Since their logic rested on pure tawḥīd and trust in God (s.w.t.) alone, they answered that talk and those doubts by saying: “God is enough for us, and an excellent Guardian (al-wakīl) is He.” Their entrusting their affairs to God (s.w.t.) is a pointer to the strength of their faith and the force of their belief. Since they were people of excellence and masters of Godwariness, those words of theirs show the sincerity of their outward side and the purity of their inner side. Had that not sprung from the reality of their belief and the truth of their faith, God would have uncovered it and mentioned it in His firm Book. But He (s.w.t.) confirmed the increase of their faith and the strength of their trust in Him.
The will of God (s.w.t.) willed to put out the fire of the psychological war which the faithless had kindled against the Muslims, by His unseen support and the steadfastness and alertness of the faithful. And He (s.w.t.) named Himself “an excellent Guardian”; for He is the Knowing, the Powerful and the Trustworthy. He knows the problems of human beings and the difficulties they face, and also knows the solutions to those problems and the ways of overcoming every difficulty. On this basis He does not hand over whoever trusts in Him to anyone else. The work God (s.w.t.) does as “an excellent Guardian” is complete and perfect work; and so the fruit of trusting in Him is represented in the completeness and perfection that trust requires.
The reality of trust is that the human being lays his whole affair on God (s.w.t.) and relies on Him in all his concerns, even in what concerns preparing the ordinary and material means.
The fruit of the steadfastness of the wounded faithful and their trust in God was shown in a small group, still carrying its wounds from the battle of Uḥud, going forward to face the enemy and fight him, while it had nothing but little equipment and arms. So it returned from Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad victorious and triumphant, with a blessing from its Lord in whom it trusted, alongside other virtues and valuable lessons. In that way they were able to take from the faithless the elation of the victory they had won by stealth in the battle of Uḥud, and to force them to flee and fall back.
The terror and fear God (s.w.t.) sent down into the hearts of the Muslims’ enemies drove them to retreat, for fear of the Muslims’ might, before they began any hostile action. So the Muslims returned to their homes, God (s.w.t.) having clothed them with His blessing and His grace, materially and spiritually. They felt the delight of the lordly support that reached them at the right time and kept them from meeting any harm or injury; they obtained God’s good pleasure and His contentment, and returned to Medina carrying the good tidings of victory, honour and leadership.
There is no doubt that that faithful group followed the good pleasure of God (s.w.t.), who promised them the paths of safety and guidance to peace, so that they would become the manifestation of one of His beautiful Names, and be guides to the Abode of Peace, which is the Garden.
There is also no doubt that the main cause of those good fruits and fine results that came out of that striving group’s faith and its trust in God (s.w.t.) is the grace of God (s.w.t.). Since He is the Possessor of great grace, it is He who graciously gives His patient faithful servants, who trust in Him, many blessings and bounties.
3:175 — That is only Satan frightening [you] of his followers
That is only Satan frightening [you] of his followers! So fear them not, and fear Me, should you be faithful.
God (s.w.t.) names Nuʿaym ibn Masʿūd al-Ashjaʿī, or the other hypocrites who were trying to frighten the Muslims through a dirty psychological war, “Satan”. He warns all the faithful that Satan seeks to frighten them with his friends and followers, who are the polytheists and the faithless, and reassures them that they should fear no one and dread none but Him.
The word “Satan” can be applied to jinn and humans alike. On this basis, using this word for the hypocrites, in whom satanic conduct has become a settled disposition, is literal, not figurative.
God (s.w.t.) continues His speech in this noble verse, commanding the Muslims not to fear the polytheists but to fear Him, if they truly believe in Him. Fear of God (s.w.t.), as is known, goes inseparably with knowing Him; so fear and knowledge are like the necessary consequence and what entails it.
Fear has roots and principles that are chosen, and for that reason a person is charged with it. As for faith, it is what directs fear and plays an important role in bringing it about, balancing it and correcting it. If a person’s fear springs from his dread of not carrying out God’s commands, it is a fear of faith; and if his fear is because his enemies threaten him, that is not the fear of faith. For once the human being enters the safe refuge of tawḥīd, no danger at all can threaten him. So the faithful is marked by true fear, the fear of faith.
3:176 — Do not grieve for those who are active in unfaith
Do not grieve for those who are active in unfaith; they will not hurt Allah in the least: Allah desires to give them no share in the Hereafter, and there is a great punishment for them.
There is no doubt that the unbelief of some of the Muslims, and the disobedience of others to the commands of God (s.w.t.) and His noble Messenger (s.a.w.) during the battle of Uḥud, grieved the Prophet (s.a.w.) greatly. His (s.a.w.) grief and sorrow were natural, because of the many hardships he faced in that battle, especially the unbelief of a group of his followers, their rebellion and disobedience, and the creeping in of weakness, slackness and turning back in the ranks of some of the Muslims; something that would have threatened the foundation of Islam in general.
God did not abandon His dear Prophet (s.a.w.) at this difficult time, while he was distressed in soul and grieved at heart at what had passed before him. So He sent down this noble verse to set his mind at rest, calm his fear and remove the grief from his heart, assuring him that everything these people do comes back on them as evil, and that God (s.w.t.) wills by this to empty their quiver of any righteous deed and good deed on the Day of Resurrection, so that they deserve by it painful punishment and bitter chastisement.
Grief in the realm of beliefs of knowledge is something praiseworthy and commendable, and is not forbidden. But grief beyond the limit must be forbidden in the way of guidance. The divine forbidding of grief in this verse is only a forbidding by way of guidance, accompanied by consolation from sorrow; and that comes after the noble verse has made clear the cause of the noble Prophet’s (s.a.w.) grief and assured him that the unbelief and apostasy of these people will never harm the religion of God (s.w.t.).
Among people there are those whose hearts have drunk in unbelief and grown used to it; but perhaps some of them sank into the mud and fell into it gradually, and when the opportunity came to him he hastened to show his unbelief and bring out what had been hidden inside him. Here God (s.w.t.) cools the burning fear of His Messenger (s.a.w.), saying: These people’s hastening to unbelief should not grieve you or weigh heavily on you, because it will not harm God’s religion in anything, and they will not draw any benefit worth mentioning from this matter. Likewise the unbelief and deviation of some of them will not affect the root of Islam; and the martyrdom of the Muslims who defend the domain of Islam, or their being wounded, is in the interest of the Muslims and not to their harm. God (s.w.t.) is absolutely free of need, and His actions are not conditional on anything, nor prevented by anything, nor outside the scope of His control. On this basis this faithless group will not come between God (s.w.t.) and what He wills and wishes, and they will not harm Him in anything.
The matter of God’s religion not being exposed to any harm or loss was shown in the rising of the Messenger (s.a.w.) and the sincere strivers among the Muslims in the battle of Uḥud, and their hastening to defend God’s religion. The way (sunnah) of God (s.w.t.) has decreed that the Muslims rise up to defend His religion and protect its principles, and prevent the religion from being exposed to any harm: “O you who believe, if you help God, He will help you and make your feet firm.” And God willed that the light of His religion remain shining and radiant; on this basis no power can put out that light: “They wish to put out the light of God with their mouths, but God will complete His light, though the faithless be averse.”
The noble verse points to the fact that “those who hasten into unbelief” have no portion or share at all in the Hereafter. As for the use of the indefinite form in the context of negation, and of the divine will, “God wills”, it is only to establish this point and stress it, and that God (s.w.t.) willed to deprive these people themselves of obtaining any portion in the Hereafter, after they were content with the meanest share and sat back from what souls rise towards. The meaning of His (s.w.t.) words “God wills” is not that He decided to take the portion away from these people; rather its meaning is that He (s.w.t.) left them to plunge into their tricks and their scheming by their own choice, and so their portion was taken away and their share lost by their own choice too. On this basis the object of the divine will is something existent, not something non-existent; as for the object of the taking away, it is those faithless people’s not deserving, and then their being deprived of the divine outpouring.
These faithless people offered the Muslims no good worth mentioning; rather, they increased them in nothing but corruption and evil. So God (s.w.t.) held back His outpouring and His good from them, and deprived them of obtaining any portion or share.
However that may be, the punishment of these people is not confined to their being punished in the Hereafter; rather, God will not spare them punishment and retribution even in this world, even if their losing their portion concerns the Hereafter.
God (s.w.t.) promised this group a great punishment on the Day of Resurrection for what they did: plotting and gathering forces against the Muslims, fighting them, and causing them terror, fear and harm. For this, God (s.w.t.) prepared for them a great punishment in the Hereafter. The punishment mentioned is stated in a noun sentence to stress the continuance, remaining and everlastingness of that punishment. They are living in the punishment now, but this punishment will appear with all its qualities on the Day of Resurrection, at its most severe.
3:177 — Those who have bought unfaith for faith will not hurt Allah in the least
Those who have bought unfaith for faith will not hurt Allah in the least, and there is a painful punishment for them.
After God (s.w.t.) reassured His noble Messenger (s.a.w.) that those who hasten into unbelief, the hypocrites and some of the Muslims weak in faith, will not harm God in anything by their unbelief and their hypocrisy, He told His Prophet (s.a.w.) that this quality includes all the faithless in every age and place in this world. Those who bought unbelief and took it in exchange for the faith of their primordial nature (fiṭrah) or their established faith, who stood between the religion and its flourishing and development according to their natural disposition, or who put out the light of faith in their hearts after it had shone; in short, who left their faith and their religion behind their backs and preferred unbelief to them: they will not harm God in anything, and they will enter a painful punishment.
3:178 — Let the faithless not suppose that the respite that We grant them is good for their souls
Let the faithless not suppose that the respite that We grant them is good for their souls: We give them respite only that they may increase in sin, and there is a humiliating punishment for them.
The content of this noble verse is one of the examples of His (s.w.t.) words: “and He teaches you what you did not know”.
God (s.w.t.) grants many worldly blessings to the denying and obstinate faithless, so that he may take heed and wake up, and take that as a means to faith and a way to repentance. But this person may spend those blessings and use up those bounties in turning towards falsehood and leaning to unbelief; and so the result of his using those blessings is disobedience, the voiding of his deeds and his fall. That is why we see God (s.w.t.) threatening the faithless that what they obtain of His blessings is only a respite for them and a delay from Him, which pours into their harm and not their interest, so that they do not misuse those blessings.
The meaning of God’s granting respite to the faithless is that God (s.w.t.) leaves them wandering in the valley of sins, misguidance and transgression, to cut their way in confusion and recklessness. For that reason these people ought not to rejoice at this situation of theirs, if they understood; for it is only a respite, a delay and a postponement for them. God (s.w.t.) leads them on step by step by this and delays them so that their sins increase and their acts of disobedience grow greater, and so they deserve the humiliating punishment. The result of God (s.w.t.) giving the faithless time is nothing but an increase in their sins and their acts of disobedience, so that they are thrown on their faces into the great punishment. This respite is evil for them, not good for them. But the faithless, who imagine that happiness lies in enjoying worldly pleasures and social comfort, believe that their wealth and their children are good for them, and that God (s.w.t.) has singled them out for these blessings over others. The truth is that that wealth and those children are nothing but divine means by which the servant is tested; if he does not make good use of them, they turn against him and become an enemy to him.
Thus God (s.w.t.) warns the faithless against reckoning His giving them time and His delaying their punishment as good for them. Rather, it is among the things that add to the burden of their sins and the weight of their disobedience, and the great punishment awaits them in the Hereafter. So this respite is in reality a kind of punishment. But Satan makes it seem fair in the eyes of his followers by luring them and distorting the realities in their eyes: “Surely those who turned back on their heels after guidance had become clear to them, Satan has made it seem fair to them and given them long hopes.”
Since the verse speaks of the respite given to the faithless, which will end in the increase of their sins and the growth of their punishment, its focus turns in particular on those faithless who hasten into unbelief and plunge deeper and deeper into the sea of denial and obstinacy. Otherwise, there are among the faithless some who obtain some benefits during their life, and perhaps many of them have also come to believe.
On the basis of what has been said so far, the lām in the verb “so that they may increase” is for outcome, not for purpose. God (s.w.t.) does not make unbelief, transgression and disobedience a purpose and an aim; and the evil end of the faithless is nothing but a punishment for their bad conduct and the error of their path. On this basis, the more the factors of argument and the longer the respite, the more telling and complete the argument; and God (s.w.t.) will argue with it against the faithless on the Day of Resurrection.
On this basis, the Ashʿarīs (the determinists), who think that unbelief and disobedience and the like are among what pleases God, that they happen only by His will, and that the human being is compelled in that and nothing else, cannot rely on His (s.w.t.) words “We only give them respite so that they may increase in sin” to prove compulsion. For among the roots of the noble Qur’an and its firm verses are the falsity of compulsion and of delegation, and the stress on the freedom of the human being to choose his way to happiness or wretchedness, deliverance or destruction. Likewise, the noble verse which points to obedience and worship being the aim of creating jinn and humans is not restricted, even though the aim goes back to the creature, not the Creator.
3:179 — Allah will not leave the faithful in your present state
Allah will not leave the faithful in your present state, until He has separated the bad ones from the good. Allah will not acquaint you with the Unseen, but Allah chooses whomever He wishes from His apostles. So have faith in Allah and His apostles; and if you are faithful and Godwary, there shall be a great reward for you.
In this noble verse God (s.w.t.) addresses the Islamic community and the Islamic society, making clear to them that His way (sunnah) does not require leaving the faithful without test and trial from Him. Rather, His (s.w.t.) will decreed that they be tested, so that by that He might distinguish the bad (among people) from the good, and the faithful from the hypocrite; because society contains the true faithful, the faithful weak in faith, the hypocrite and others.
There is no doubt that bringing out abilities, showing capacities, perfecting souls and drawing out the potential hidden in individuals happen only through precise testing and hard trial. The good and the bad, the outward and the hidden, are only uncovered and rise to the surface through trial. Before it was tested and tried, the Islamic society was full of bad things and good things, and uncovering the badness of what is concealed in souls, and their goodness, was not possible except after carrying out that test and its passing through trial. God (s.w.t.) tells His chosen prophets and messengers the secrets of His servants; but He does not inform the Islamic society of that by way of the unseen, but by way of trial and testing, and so uncovers the secrets of the servants and their conduct. This is what He (s.w.t.) did during the battle of Uḥud, when He removed the veil from the faces of the true faithful whose feet are firm, and from those weak in faith and the hypocrites, and distinguished between them. As for the final stage of that distinguishing, it will be at the Greater Resurrection, when the truth will appear plainly and in full detail to all.
In short, God makes known each of the good and the bad and distinguishes between them at the level of action, by a command from Him, that command being marked by the quality of testing and trial, and not confined to the unseen alone. Since trial and distinguishing are necessary, the divine command was issued to be steadfast and to go straight in faith in God (s.w.t.) and His messengers, and the Godwary faithful were promised a great reward for that.
Notice that the noble verse points to God (s.w.t.) distinguishing the bad and separating it from the good, and not the reverse; because the good and fixed root remains and does not pass away. The pure, the sincere and the good each endure and remain, while impurities and bad things perish. On this basis the bad must be separated, set apart and distinguished from the good.
God (s.w.t.) knows a person’s secret and his open state; but showing those secrets and uncovering them to all the members of society is not possible and does not serve the general interest. And since the total denial of informing about the unseen requires denying revelation and rejecting prophethood, which is what those who deny the divine messages strive for, God (s.w.t.) chose His chosen messengers to inform them of the unseen, and said: “Nor is God going to acquaint you with the unseen, but God chooses of His messengers whom He wills.” Then He commanded all other people to believe in Him and His messengers, and did not allow those of His servants who are not qualified to come to know the unseen and to show their own secrets or the secrets of others.
Knowledge of the unseen, essentially and in its own right, belongs to God (s.w.t.) alone, and He does not allow anyone to know anything of it except those made sincere to Him (al-mukhlaṣīn), who are marked by exceptional traits and qualities and so have become qualified to come to know the unseen. In this there is a visible divine wisdom.
The faithful ought to believe in the message of the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.), and to believe in and affirm all the messengers and prophets who came before him. These faithful are the ones who deserve abundant recompense and great reward; for faith and Godwariness are two paths to obtaining reward and recompense.
It is worth mentioning that faith in any one of the messengers also represents faith in the messengers before and after, because their message is one and the root of the miracle is shared among them all. Every prophet who confirmed the prophets before him and gave good news of whoever would come after him is in fact telling of the prophethood of all the other prophets; so calling this prophet a liar is calling the other prophets liars. On this basis there is no escape from acknowledging the prophethood of all the prophets and messengers, because denying any one of them means denying them all.
Finally, repeating the Majestic Name “God” in this verse is to magnify the matter and honour it; otherwise the verse would have been content with mentioning the required pronoun.
3:180 — Let the stingy not suppose that [their grudging] what Allah has given them out of His…
Let the stingy not suppose that [their grudging] what Allah has given them out of His bounty is good for them; no, it is bad for them. They will be collared with what they grudge on the Day of Resurrection. To Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is well aware of what you do.
God (s.w.t.) usually tests the human being either by self-sacrifice and giving his own self, or through giving wealth and spending in His way. It is not permitted to leave spending and paying the financial dues owed to others because of miserliness, which is the ugliest of moral qualities. That is: first, because wealth is a gift from God (s.w.t.) to the servant; second, that gift is of the nature of divine grace; third, God has given every human being more than he really deserves; and fourth, the amount of the financial dues that must be paid is much less than that divine grace which exceeds the human being’s need.
We can draw out what the noble verse above means, which is paying the obligatory divine dues, from the indication of its mention of threat, warning and punishment; for neglecting and ignoring them is one of the sins for which a person is punished. For the person who does not pay the financial dues obligatory on him, they will turn on the Day of Resurrection into a collar of fire with which the miser is held, and the punishment will surround him from every place; for that collar will not be confined to his neck only, but will include his whole body.
The miser imagines that his holding on to wealth and not spending it is a proof of his cleverness and a sign of his shrewdness and cunning, not knowing that the intelligence and insight of the faithful lie only in obeying God (s.w.t.), carrying out His commands and spending the due that is obligatory on him.
Rather, it even seems to the miser that he is the owner even before God (s.w.t.), and so he is free and has the will to spend his wealth however he wishes. This is another heedlessness of his; for his ownership is measured in relation to his fellow human beings, not to God (s.w.t.). The human being owns nothing at all before God (s.w.t.), that he should dare to say: I do not wish to spend my wealth! God (s.w.t.) made the human being a successor and did not make him owner, just as He did not make him successor except in owning wealth only. On this basis no successor is permitted to be miserly within the limits of his succession. The human being made successor is merely a trustworthy agent, not an original owner; and that is why we see God commanding the human being to spend from God’s wealth.
In short, God the Wise, who granted the human being all those positions and stations, commanded him to spend some of the wealth that was made obligatory on him; and the human being’s miserliness in that has no ground and no right.
The inheritance of the heavens and the earth belongs to God (s.w.t.) alone; He is their only Heir, and everything the people of the heavens and the earth inherit among themselves is only God’s (s.w.t.) property and wealth. It is understood from the restriction in putting the Majestic Name before the inheritance, “and to God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth”, that no one has any share or portion in that at all, neither independently nor jointly. On this basis all wealth and things in the world of existence are counted as an inheritance belonging to God (s.w.t.). He has only favoured His creatures, among them the human being, with enjoying some of that wealth in the right and just way for an appointed term; then after that his wealth and all he owned will be taken from him. So the miser’s attachment, in this ugly way, to the wealth he was entrusted with will bring woes and punishment on him, and the parting between them will be hard and bitter.
As for the other danger lying in wait for the miser, it is that preserving the Islamic order is obligatory, and this depends on giving the wealth made obligatory on every Muslim. The miser’s refusal to fulfil that duty exposes the Islamic order, in which that miser lives, to danger and threat.
It should be pointed out that the unrestricted wording of this noble verse is not confined to miserliness with wealth only, but also includes what lies beyond that, such as miserliness with knowledge, kindness and the like. Likewise it is not confined to the obligatory zakāh, but goes beyond it to include all the other obligatory dues.
3:181 — Allah has certainly heard the remark of those who said
Allah has certainly heard the remark of those who said, ‘Allah is poor and we are rich.’ We will record what they have said, and their killing of the prophets unjustly, and We shall say, ‘Taste the punishment of the burning.
The previous noble verse dealt with the situation after the battle of Uḥud, and its focus was threatening the misers and warning them against miserliness; which can also include the People of the Book’s concealing the rightness of the prophethood of the Seal of the Messengers (s.a.w.) and their miserliness in making clear the matter of his divine message. As for this noble verse, it lifts the curtain on the Jews’ attack on Islam and the Muslims, and uncovers part of what these people used to repeat, especially attributing poverty and need to God, the Self-sufficient (s.w.t.). He (s.w.t.) tells people that He hears what the People of the Book say and will punish them for what they claimed, and that He is the Hearing, the Seeing. That does not mean that He (s.w.t.) only knows what is heard and what is seen; rather, He has presential and witnessing knowledge of the very thing heard and the very thing seen together.
Since the setting is one of threat and warning, God says that He has heard what these people said. Had He (s.w.t.) said that He knew what the Jews and others said, the speech would not have had the threat seen in the verse.
It is worth recalling that the Jews at that time were rich to a great degree compared with the Muslims. Because of the wealth they owned, their seeing the poverty and need of God’s friends, and the revelation of Qur’anic verses urging people to lend God (s.w.t.) a good loan; and also because of the outlook of delegation (that is, some people’s thinking that God (s.w.t.) is finished with the work of creation and has no need of creation), alongside false thoughts and opinions and mistaken conceptions: the People of the Book, especially the Jews among them, measured themselves and their wealth against God (s.w.t.), knowingly and deliberately, and said, in slander and unbelief, that God (s.w.t.) is poor, God forbid, and that they were the rich, the wealthy and the powerful. With the revelation of the verses of lending and of seeking help, the affair of these people was exposed and their secrets uncovered, and they began to fabricate false sayings about God, whose aim perhaps was to create problems and difficulties before the Muslims, or to mock and belittle them.
The noble verse under discussion points to these people’s attributing poverty to God being like their killing of the prophets (a.s.), and the punishment for that is nothing but the punishment of burning. God (s.w.t.) attributed to His holy Self the writing down of what they say and do, recording it and counting it, through an intermediary or without one: “We shall write down what they said.” And He (s.w.t.) attributed the killing of the prophets to the Jews living in the early days of Islam, even though they were not the actual killers of the prophets, and counted them partners in the deed and the act with their grandfathers and fathers who had killed their prophets before them, and as one group with them. That is because they were content with what their forebears had done, and walked the same way and conduct those forebears followed in killing God’s (s.w.t.) prophets.
The qualification in His (s.w.t.) words “without right” stresses that their killing of the prophets (a.s.) was certainly not by right and could not be so; besides which the phrase points to their having killed the prophets wrongfully, without argument or excuse, which made them deserve to be punished with the severest punishment, “the punishment of burning”.
There is no doubt that the phrase “and We shall say, ‘Taste the punishment of burning’” represents a stern and harsh divine warning, besides causing them great hurt in their ears and their souls.
3:182 — That is because of what your hands have sent ahead
That is because of what your hands have sent ahead, and because Allah is not tyrannical to His servants.’
God (s.w.t.) addresses the Jews, saying: This painful punishment you meet is only the harvest of what you sowed with your own hands before, and the yield of the evil deeds you invested. Had that humiliating punishment and stern chastisement not been the result of your deeds, it would have been right to describe the One who punishes as “unjust in the extreme” (ẓallām) rather than merely “unjust”.
As for what is meant by the phrase “what your hands have sent before”, it is the word of unbelief, and the killing of the prophets (a.s.) or being content with what the forebears committed. As for attributing the commission of sins, and what these people sent before, to their hands, it is because most of the human being’s actions are committed and done with his hands, and so is his sending something ahead.
However that may be, the faithless themselves are the cause of the punishment they deserved; and God is far above wronging any of His creatures, whether in this world, in the barzakh or on the Day of Resurrection. Were that true, it would also be right to name Him, God forbid, unjust in the extreme to the servants.
God (s.w.t.) originated this world and created it in a perfect way, such that if any atom in it moved from the place set for it, that would disturb the whole order of creation and inflict harm on it. If God (s.w.t.), God forbid, did wrong even the weight of an atom, being the Manager of the affairs of the whole world, it would be right to name Him unjust in the extreme; far be it from Him. In other words, if absolute and unlimited power were not just, that would be a strong reason to name its possessor unjust in the extreme. So denying the quality of being unjust in the extreme of such great and infinite power means denying the very root of injustice completely. There is no doubt too that denying all injustice of the holy court of Lordship points to God (s.w.t.) supporting His prophets and His righteous friends and defending them, besides being a statement of the reason these wrongdoing people deserve painful punishment. This means that God (s.w.t.) punishes the wrongdoers and the faithless with the aim of protecting tawḥīd and the wronged alike.
3:183 — Tell those who say, ‘Allah has pledged us not to believe in any apostle unless he brings…
Tell those who say, ‘Allah has pledged us not to believe in any apostle unless he brings us an offering consumed by fire,’ ‘Apostles before me certainly did bring you manifest signs and what you speak of. Then why did you kill them, if you are truthful?’
It seems that the quiver of the Jews was not yet empty of the doubts and objections they had raised so far against the Messenger of God (s.a.w.), for they came back and said: “God has made a covenant with us that we should not believe in any messenger or prophet until he brings us a clear miracle, which is bringing an offering that fire consumes; and we have made a covenant with Him on that!”
By this they meant that a fire from the unseen should come down from the sky and consume the offering, in the form of a miracle no one is able to do; not that the law of that prophet or messenger should contain a ruling to burn offerings in the ordinary way we see, or that this should be among the obligations of the law and the rulings of jurisprudence.
The offering presented in the way the Jews mentioned is in reality a miracle, and a miracle means a divine covenant. On this basis, those who believe in revelation and prophethood ought to acknowledge that prophet according to that miracle. But the Jews broke all their covenants and were not truthful in their covenant with God (s.w.t.), and not merely because they fabricated a lie against God in what they said here. In that case it can be said that such a covenant may actually have come in some of the books of the earlier prophets, so that their words would be correct in this respect; but their saying that they made a covenant with God (s.w.t.) on that is a lie and a fabrication. For this reason God (s.w.t.) said to them: “If you are truthful in what you said, then why did you kill the prophets who came to you with every miracle and clear proof you asked for? Rather, you will not believe in this Prophet even if he brings you the miracle, just as your forebears did when they called God’s prophets liars.”
As we pointed out before, the Jews who were contemporaries of the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.) did not kill any of the prophets mentioned. Even so, God (s.w.t.) attributed the killing of the prophets (a.s.) to them and accused them of it, because the hearts of all the faithless are alike, and because these Jews contemporary with the noble Messenger (s.a.w.) were content with what their wicked grandfathers and fathers had committed in killing the prophets. On this basis, who knows: perhaps these successors of theirs would commit the same deeds if the opportunity came to them and the circumstances were prepared for them.
As for the Supreme Prophet (s.a.w.), he did not answer the Jews about the miracle they asked for, because their intention was not to uncover the truth of his message and the rightness of his call; otherwise, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) brought many miracles to prove the truth of his message and his call. Rather, they meant by it mockery and ridicule of the Islamic call; and these people and their forebears were known for going forward to kill the prophets (a.s.) whenever they were able to do so.
3:184 — But if they deny you, [other] apostles have been denied before you
But if they deny you, [other] apostles have been denied before you, who came with manifest signs, holy writs, and an illuminating scripture.
The Jews did not stop calling the message of the noble Prophet (s.a.w.) a lie, and did not hold back from attacking his truthfulness and casting doubt on his prophethood. So God (s.w.t.) willed to calm His Prophet’s (s.a.w.) fear and reassure him, and told him that the prophets (a.s.) before him were called liars too, even though they came to their people with clear proofs, scriptures and the illuminating Book. By that God (s.w.t.) is calling His Messenger (s.a.w.) to patience and steadfastness, especially in the face of the Jews, following the guidance of the past prophets and messengers (a.s.), most of whom were killed, but who did not abandon their religious duties and divine charges.
As for His (s.w.t.) words “they came with clear proofs, scriptures and the illuminating Book”, perhaps what is meant is the distribution of those tasks among the messengers. That is, some prophets came to their people with clear proofs and dazzling miracles only; some of them came with clear proofs and scriptures (zubur), that is, books containing wise admonitions, books that include firm verses, clear proofs and evidences like a well-built structure, so that they contain restraint and forbidding of falsehood. At times what is meant by zubur is the resolve of the one who admonishes and warns, not the words in particular; for warning and threatening may be in fitting words and gentle, balanced language.
Among the prophets too there were those who brought a law and an illuminating Book, and what is meant by that is the Torah, the Gospel and the Psalms. Perhaps what is meant by the illuminating Book is itself the clear proof and the miracle, as is the case with the noble Qur’an.
“The Book”, in the usage of the noble Qur’an, is every scripture that contains legislative laws, including those of jurisprudence and rights; and such books were sent down only to the prophets of firm resolve (ulū al-ʿazm).
3:185 — Every soul shall taste death
Every soul shall taste death, and you will indeed be paid your full rewards on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is delivered from the Fire and admitted to paradise has certainly succeeded. The life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion.
This noble verse contains a warning to those who plot against the faithful and turn others from the way of God. It also contains admonition and counsel for those ready for righteousness and training, and reassurance for the faithful.
Death is a decreed divine judgment, and every being with life and spirit in this world will without fail die. Yes, the body dies and the spirit tastes death and takes it into itself; and with the putting to death of death and the crossing of this stage, the spirit becomes everlasting. On this basis the root of death is something existent that must be tasted.
As for the necessity of death and of migrating from this world to the Hereafter, it lies, first, in recompense itself being a necessity. Second, on the one hand, the worldly existence cannot be the setting for complete and final recompense, because it is only the setting for testing and charge, just as that existence cannot be lasting and everlasting. On the other hand, it is impossible for a worldly being to be of the Hereafter while keeping its worldly identity. For that reason the test must be ended and the charge sealed, so that those tested may leave the examination hall and learn the results of the examination: either happiness or wretchedness.
The concept of “paying the reward in full” is used with respect to the faithful, and it means paying their full rewards and recompense, which comes about in the world of the barzakh and the Resurrection. The Godwary receive the reward of their righteous deeds gradually, without loss or diminishing; rather, they may be given more than their due and their desert.
There is no doubt that the highest degree and the greatest triumph the human being attains is his deliverance from the fire of Hell at the Greater Resurrection and his entering the Garden, to remain in it forever.
To walk the right way that leads to the Garden, one must pass by the Fire and free oneself of what draws a person to it, and this requires exertion of mind, effort and resistance. No one can be delivered from the fire of Hell and be safe from its consequences unless he is able to keep himself far from sins in this world and guard it against being deceived by its passing enjoyment. The only way that guarantees the human being’s deliverance from the punishment of burning is to leave the love of this world and avoid infatuation with its glitter, because that is the cause of committing sins and falling into the abyss of destruction. The enjoyment and glitter of this world are nothing but delusion, and this world is full of delusion, which is a positive quality of it.
But the blameworthy world is the one that abounds only in conventional attachments, whose source is rivalry in increase; what is meant by it is not the creatures of God (s.w.t.) and the beings of the natural existence that carry out God’s commands.
3:186 — You will surely be tested in your possessions and your souls
You will surely be tested in your possessions and your souls, and you will surely hear much affront from those who were given the Book before you and from the polytheists; but if you are patient and Godwary, that is indeed the steadiest of courses.
This world is the place of divine testing and trial for all people. Its reality is made concrete by some event happening so that the inner side of the human being may flourish, the essence of his existence take shape and his abilities show themselves. The pivot of all that is the knowledge-in-action of God (s.w.t.). For this reason, attributing trial and testing to God (s.w.t.), who knows all things, is a real attribution, not a figurative one. Divine testing can be in the form of legislation and of creation alike; and its means may at times be some good and righteous matters and things, and at other times evil matters and things.
In this noble verse, which may have been revealed during the events of the battle of Uḥud or after it, the talk turns for the most part on legislative trials and tests, and on matters that may seem evil or take the form of ordeals outwardly.
Testing with wealth, “you shall surely be tried in your wealth”, points to the matter of obligatory and recommended spending. Testing with souls and selves, “and your selves”, is striving in the way of God (s.w.t.); and perhaps testing with souls and selves also includes psychological war, where the human being’s dignity and character are the object of testing and trial.
As for attributing wealth to the human being himself in this noble verse, it is by way of comparing human beings with one another, not comparing them with God (s.w.t.). Perhaps the reason for putting wealth before selves is that the human being is usually inclined to give and hand over wealth, while in contrast he is keen on his self and his soul and guarding them; even though the latter is of course graver, and giving and sacrificing it is rarer.
This noble verse tells us of the certain continuance of testing, especially what concerns individuals bearing the harm of others; particularly when we know that there was a strong bond and a close relationship tying the Jews and the polytheists together, and that both parties were waging a fierce psychological war against the Muslims, and did not fall short in using all kinds of low methods and means in this psychological war, such as casting accusations, showing insults of every kind, and the like.
The use of the phrase “those who were given the Book”, rather than (those who disbelieved) or the like, shows that some of the People of the Book were harming the Muslims and directing accusations at the noble Qur’an and the Islamic community, relying in that on religious and legal arguments, as they claimed; so its effect on the Muslims was deep and its weight greater and heavier.
By harming the Muslims through psychological and other methods, the People of the Book and the polytheists aimed to turn people away from believing in the new religion, to turn them from being guided to the straight path, and to make efforts to make the Muslims apostatise from their religion.
It should be pointed out that the phrase “and you shall surely hear from those who were given the Book before you and from those who associate partners much hurt” is of the kind of mentioning the effect instead of what causes it. A person may be pained by what he hears of being accused of lying and having false sayings thrown at him; what is meant is not physical or bodily harm.
The noble verse urges all the faithful to hold to patience and keep to Godwariness against the psychological war the polytheists wage, so that God (s.w.t.) may keep them from slipping and help them against weakness, and so that their will may remain strong and their resolve firm and steady. Steadfastness and Godwariness are the two main factors that bring a person to victory, success and good fortune in facing hardships, passing tests and trials successfully, and also taking the right decision. The noble verse describes keeping to patience and Godwariness, to preserve the religion and the being of society against accusations, fabrications and psychological wars, as one of the matters of firm resolve: “that is of the matters of firm resolve”. That is, among the matters God (s.w.t.) has made obligatory on the human being, and among the important matters that should be thought about and relied on, so that a person remains protected from slipping, doubt, hesitation, and harms that are hard to repair and to escape.
There is no doubt that everything that is basic, genuine and well made in respect of thought and planning, and everything that is pure, clean and accompanied by love and complete will in respect of motive and incentive, can be among the things resolved upon.
In short, whoever wishes to pass the divine test successfully and with distinction must be patient, careful, serious and resolute, and a person of firm and steady decision, so that he is victorious, preserves the religion and defends its domain; and he must not be miserly in giving wealth and sacrificing himself for that.
3:187 — When Allah made a covenant with those who were given the Book
When Allah made a covenant with those who were given the Book: ‘You shall explain it for the people, and you shall not conceal it,’ they cast it behind their backs and sold it for a paltry gain. How evil is what they buy!
Among the other wicked deeds and harms that the People of the Book practised against the Muslims and Islam was the breaking of God’s (s.w.t.) covenant by their evil scholars and priests. They had been commanded to make clear God’s Book, spread its teachings and not conceal that, according to the special covenant they had made with their prophets (a.s.). But they drew away from the Book of God (s.w.t.) and insisted on concealing the rightness of the Messenger of God (s.a.w.) and his prophethood, as it came in the Torah and the Gospel.
The covenant God (s.w.t.) took from the People of the Book consisted in reading His Book and reciting it, spreading its principles and teachings among their people, as well as making clear all its secrets and its contents, without their interpreting it away, explaining it by their own opinion, or concealing anything that came in it. In truth, the basis of that covenant included all the religious scholars of the People of the Book: “those who were given the Book”, the Jews and the Christians, and the Muslims too; for the apparent unrestrictedness of the word “the Book” includes the noble Qur’an as well. But the end of the noble verse, which speaks of casting away the pledge, breaking the covenant and betraying the trust, concerns those who broke the covenant mentioned.
Alongside His command to make clear the contents and clauses of the Book, and so as to keep the pledge and observe the principles of the covenant fully, God commanded that no passage or verse in it be concealed, that the text of the Book be recited openly and explained accurately and correctly, and that distorting anything of it, interpreting it away, or explaining it by opinion be avoided. Since presenting the religion in a false way, and explaining God’s Book by personal interpretation and distortion to suit their opinions, was more widespread than concealment, God (s.w.t.) mentioned making the Book clear before the matter of concealing it in the verse under discussion.
There is no doubt that concealing the sciences of revelation and not spreading them is forbidden and not permitted, and that making those sciences clear and spreading them among people is an obligation in their own right. For this reason religious scholars ought to draw out the teachings of the Book and uncover them for the Muslims who affirm tawḥīd, and also for the deniers, and then place those teachings within reach of everyone in an understandable and correct form. This obligation is not conditional on prior request; rather, religious scholars must teach the religion to people, just as the untaught and the ignorant must learn religious matters.
There is no doubt that some things tempt some religious scholars and drive them to explain by opinion and conceal the truth, such as economic ties and restrictions, and earning a living from rulers and governors who have no religion. Some corrupt religious scholars among the People of the Book used to read God’s Book and the covenant made between God (s.w.t.) and them, but they would cast all that behind their backs, deliberately and knowingly, and put those scriptures and books in places others’ hands could not reach; in this way they concealed what God commanded to be made clear and broke their pledge with Him.
It is clear that using the expression “casting behind the back” contains a greater emphasis than breaking or violating. The religious scholars from among the Jews who broke their pledge with God made their heavenly Book a means of distortion and innovations, and did not see in God’s covenant and His mighty Book anything that could be an enjoyment or benefit for them. Despite their urgent need of it, they began to sell and buy with it for a small price, made that a source of their livelihood and one of the trifling commodities, and saw nothing that could be an aim and an important interest for them except dealing with God’s Book like any other goods that are bought and sold. That is why God (s.w.t.) named what those people took in exchange for His Book a “price”, that is, a return, and described that price as small because of its worthlessness and smallness.
Thus those people lost a great aim and took a small and worthless price in its place. Whoever breaks God’s (s.w.t.) covenant and casts His Book behind his back, knowingly and deliberately, has lost a great loss, and the price he took in exchange for it is nothing but small, even if he were given this world and all it holds. In this way those scholars sold themselves in exchange for their religion and earning a living by selling it; and the result of this losing deal was nothing but the loss of their identity and the waste of their humanity, and the price was nothing but unbelief and misguidance.
Here two important points must be noted:
a) “Buying” (ishtirāʾ) means selling; but what is meant by it in such places is exchange in general, which is leaving the religion, casting away God’s (s.w.t.) Book, breaking His pledge and covenant, and taking a paltry and meagre return. By that they did not give the religion to others; rather, they left it and neglected it.
b) Although the People of the Book acted according to some verses and applied a number of divine rulings in their books, the noble Qur’an counted them among those who cast God’s Book behind their backs. That is because the divine pledge and covenant are the most important pillar in God’s (s.w.t.) Book; and on this basis, not fulfilling God’s pledge means refusing to follow the basis of the Book and breaking it. Added to that, one must not separate and divide between the verses of God’s (s.w.t.) Book; and calling any decisive ruling in it a lie, and not believing in it, means denying all the rulings and calling them lies.
3:188 — Do not suppose those who brag about what they have done
Do not suppose those who brag about what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done—do not suppose them saved from punishment and there is a painful punishment for them.
This is another picture and another side of the harm that those of the People of the Book who claimed knowledge, especially the corrupt and deviant scholars of the Jews, used to practise against the Muslims. Although they did not make clear to people the truths in God’s (s.w.t.) Book, and kept concealing the good in it, they expected people to praise them for their lying teachings and evil deeds, and for good they had never done at all.
The rational human being who has will does not approve of an ugly act, just as he is not content that people thank and praise him for acts in which there is nothing that can be called good. If he sets about committing such deeds by his will and knowledge, there is no doubt that he deserves blame and rebuke instead of thanks and appreciation.
There is no doubt that either of these two traits, that is, a person rejoicing at doing an ugly deed, and expecting others to thank him for doing what he ought not to have done, is enough by itself to make its owner deserve divine punishment. So how is it when he combines both traits together? It is known that a doubled sin deserves a like and harsher punishment on the Day of Resurrection; and this is what the indefinite form in the phrase “a painful punishment” points to, for it is to magnify the matter and make the calamity terrible.
In short, those of the People of the Book who do this will not escape punishment in this world, and a painful punishment awaits them in the Hereafter too.
It should be pointed out that this noble verse contains consolation for the most noble Prophet (s.a.w.), and a call to him to be patient with the harm of those people.
3:189 — To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah has power over all things.
Islam is the religion that is helped to victory, and neither the Jews nor the hypocrites are able to stop its course, because all existence is owned by God, the One, the All-compelling, who has power over all things.
God (s.w.t.) is powerful without limits and unrestricted without bounds, besides holding the keys of all things without rival. So there is no room for imagining poverty in Him, or attributing to Him what does not befit Him; just as no one can escape His punishment. This is what He (s.w.t.) threatened the transgressing scholars of the Jews with.
3:190 — Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day
Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day, there are signs for those who possess intellect.
Among the divine signs are the creation of the heavens and the earth, their essence and their qualities, and also the alternation of night and day, just like the basis of their creation! Day is a clear, visible sign, and night is a dark and hidden sign, and each gives its place to the other in a wonderful order and precise arrangement. Day is the root, while night is a shadow that follows it, even though it does not come later than day in time, and it cannot be determined which was created first. From the point of view of creation, and for reckoning night and day according to the relation between the earth and the sun, day comes before night. But from the point of view of legislation and the outlook of jurisprudence, according to the relation between the earth and the moon, night comes before day.
There is no doubt that the creation of the order of the world is a sign for all; but those possessed of minds (ulū al-albāb) are the ones who take a lesson from it. The people of intellect and reflection have sound judgment and discernment, and look at the inner side and depths of things in this world. They believe that all those things are lordly signs and mirrors that reflect their Creator, because they are all marks and signs whose only role is to be signs of God (s.w.t.) in creation, not conventional signs; and they are lasting and essential signs, not passing and seasonal; and that it is the care of God (s.w.t.) that made those creatures great signs.
It is the habit of the sound-minded and perceptive, who look into the depth of things and plunge into the inner side of beings, to reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, discover the wisdom, the aim and the firm and well-ordered system, and also to ponder night and day, so as to arrive at the divine attributes and beautiful Names and the three roots of religion (tawḥīd, prophethood and the Return).
3:191 — Those who remember Allah standing
Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying on their sides, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth [and say], ‘Our Lord, You have not created this in vain! Immaculate are You! Save us from the punishment of the Fire.
After those possessed of minds grasp the essence and core of the world of creation and the inner sides and substance of created things, they see nothing worth remembering except the remembrance of God (s.w.t.) and glorifying Him. So you see them never heedless of remembering their Lord, who has power over all things; rather, they call on Him and glorify Him standing, sitting, on their sides and from their beds.
But the remembrance of God (s.w.t.) in this verse, which at the same time points to matters and teachings of refinement for those possessed of minds, is not confined to the prayer alone, even though the states mentioned in it are the very ones the person praying goes through during his prayer: he is standing when he is sound and healthy in body, sitting if he is ill or has an ailment, and if his illness is severe and his ailment stubborn he is permitted to pray on one of his sides, lying down or reclining on his bed. In truth, standing, sitting and lying down each represent a bodily state and a special function that fall within the movements of the prayer. But the pillar and heart of the prayer, which is the remembrance of God (s.w.t.) and reflection on the unrestricted kingdom, are free of the body and the states particular to it.
The existence of the Origin is clear and manifest to those possessed of minds. They believe that the very creation of the heavens and the earth is the act of God (s.w.t.), and so they have no need to prove the Origin and His oneness. What occupies their thinking about the order of the universe is the aim of the order of existence and the understanding of the Return. After they go deep into the inner order of the world of creation and reflect on the wisdom and originality it contains, they are guided to the purposeful, aim-directed order of the whole world. Because they keep constantly to the remembrance of the Return, true faith takes root in them, and they speak of it constantly and keep on remembering it and whispering to Him, saying, in acknowledgment to God (s.w.t.): “Exalted are You, O Lord, and far above doing anything that is in vain. Rather, the world of existence has an aim; so guard us and protect us from evil and punishment in the Abode of permanence, which is the aim and end of this world.”
On this basis, unlike the belief of the faithless, who claim that the world is in vain and that there is no Return after this life of the world, the reflective people of remembrance look at the world of creation, and every pillar of this world, as created according to a special order and resting on a defined aim. For this reason they move along the path of reaching their aim and their goal, that is, the Abode of permanence and the seat of reckoning, reward and punishment. When the aim and goal become certain for them, they will without fail come to know the path and the guide that will bring them to them; because those possessed of minds listen to the call of God (s.w.t.) and believe that it is the best of words.
In short, the order of creation is not a vain, futile or aimless work. Rather, it is truth itself, and was created with the truth; which means that it is woven and interlaced in the truth, or that the truth looks after it and guards it. And whatever is truth has an aim and a purpose.
As for the repetition of the word “creation” in the noble verse, perhaps it is because the previous verse contained the proof of tawḥīd and the Origin, while this verse contains the argument for the Return. Likewise, repeating the explicit noun “the heavens and the earth” is meant to focus on the point and give it attention (even though using the pronoun for it would have been enough).
Those possessed of minds believe that the world of existence is nothing but a single unity, and so they apply to it the singular demonstrative “this”, not “these” or “those”; and the demonstrative “this”, as is known, is used for magnifying and honouring.
Then notice the mention of one of the divine attributes at the beginning of the prayer in the verse, which has come in its right place. Those possessed of minds, when they pray, begin first with glorification, and then ask God (s.w.t.) to guard them and protect them from the punishment of Hell. In this they use the most courteous expressions as a preparation and introduction for what they will ask of God (s.w.t.): forgiveness of sins, the covering over of evil deeds, being gathered with the righteous, and the fulfilment of His promise to them.
3:192 — Our Lord, whoever that You make enter the Fire will surely have been disgraced by You
Our Lord, whoever that You make enter the Fire will surely have been disgraced by You, and the wrongdoers will have no helpers.
There is no doubt that entering the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is the great disgrace, and the shame after which there is no shame. For this reason those possessed of minds make clear in their prayer, and in their asking God (s.w.t.) for mercy and deliverance from the fire of Hell, while of course keeping the manners of prayer, that whoever God (s.w.t.) brings into the Fire is disgraced and abased.
God, who is free of injustice, brings some individuals into Hell and disgraces them because of their wrongdoing. And since a person on the Day of Resurrection cannot seek help from means or ask the intercession of relatives and kin, no one can help the wrongdoers or rescue them from the punishment of that day.
Everyone who enters the Fire, whether faithless or a wrongdoer in God’s religion (that is, a polytheist) or a wrongdoer in other respects, and whether he enters the Fire to remain there forever or not, is among the disgraced on whom shame has fallen. Disgrace here means shame and exposure, not destruction, and it is measured by the length of a person’s stay in Hell. If he is, God forbid, to remain in it forever, his shame and disgrace will be everlasting too; and if his entering the Fire is temporary and for a particular period, his disgrace will be temporary as well. As for those who are protected from the Fire and whom God has forbidden to enter it, there is no shame on them and no disgrace.
In short, everyone who is included in the punishment, whatever the amount and length of the punishment, will be struck by disgrace and shame in that same amount; and there is no doubt that punishment accompanied by abasement and disgrace is harder and more painful.
A reminder:
a) This verse includes all the people of the Fire, except of course the angels in charge of Hell; on this basis there is no need for specifying or restricting.
b) There is no contradiction between the denial of help to the wrongdoers and intercession, since the unrestricted wording of this verse is restricted by the other verses of intercession. Added to that, intercession is a request and an entreaty to God (s.w.t.) with humility, and not of the kind of independent help or forcible lifting.
3:193 — Our Lord, we have indeed heard a summoner calling to faith
Our Lord, we have indeed heard a summoner calling to faith, declaring, ‘‘Have faith in your Lord!’’ So we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins and absolve us of our misdeeds, and make us die with the pious.
Those perfect ones possessed of minds are keen to bring together and reconcile reason and transmission, heart and hearing. They study the creation of the order of existence with utmost precision, and so are guided to its Origin and its Return, and that it is truth and free of anything vain; then they declare that and acknowledge it. According to the ruling of demonstrative reason, those possessed of minds persevere in finding a path and way of the heart, so that after that they may hear the call of the lordly caller whose echo resounds in their hearts. So they hasten to believe in him, and their faith in the message of the most noble Prophet (s.a.w.) leads them also to faith in the details of the rulings of faith; just as they reflected on the creation of the heavens and the earth and pondered them, and that guided them to the Origin, the Return, revelation and prophethood, and then they believed in the roots and general lines of the whole religion.
There is no doubt that the name “those possessed of minds” includes all nations and the prophets (a.s.). On this basis the title “the caller”, which is a comprehensive generic noun, points to God (s.w.t.), the most noble Messenger (s.a.w.), his pure family (a.s.) and the noble Qur’an; indeed, to all the prophets (a.s.), the heavenly books, the heirs of the prophets and the scholars of religion. But God is certainly the original and real Caller to faith. Then the other callers come in the following rank; they are those who call all human beings, especially the faithful, to the One, the Unique (s.w.t.), and to deliverance and success. Thus each of the hearers hears that call in the measure of his spiritual rising and his rank in faith. In this verse God (s.w.t.) speaks to His Prophet (s.a.w.) and at the same time addresses all people. His (s.w.t.) speech is fixed and does not change, and anyone can hear it now as well. But the Messenger remains the only one who hears the divine revelation.
Every part of the world of creation is perfumed with the call of the truth. Alongside the callers mentioned, whom the verse points to with the indefinite form for magnifying and honouring, the voice of the divine call comes out of every created thing, and can be heard and listened to with the heart and the inner self. The rational, discerning person, who does not allow himself to be certain that his deeds are accepted by God (s.w.t.), feels after hearing that divine call that he is in reality in debt to God (s.w.t.). Because he is rational and discerning, he hastens to take refuge in Him and seek His protection. The first thing he utters is to ask God (s.w.t.) to cover his faults, cover over his evil deeds and forgive his sins, which have covered his heart and veiled his inner self; and his Lord answers him and removes from him everything that veiled his heart and covered his inner self.
It is worth mentioning that the Infallible’s (a.s.) asking for forgiveness and the covering over of his evil deeds looks to the side of warding off, not of removing; that is, he asks God to keep him from falling into evil deeds. But that may also have the quality of removing, in respect of the Infallible asking not to stop at intermediate perfection, but to go beyond this rank and attain a higher and loftier rank.
After the people of remembrance and reflection ask God (s.w.t.) to forgive their sins and cover over their evil deeds, they ask to be gathered and raised with the righteous (al-abrār) and the virtuous among His servants. They also hope that God will place their spirits, when they are taken, with the company of the spirits of the righteous. Since every person dies in the same form in which he lived in this world, the meaning of this request of theirs is that the life of those possessed of minds is in harmony with the life of the righteous, their beliefs, their morals and their deeds, and that they will all be gathered together. On this basis, the main request of those possessed of minds is attaining perfection, completing it and keeping it until the moment of their death.
3:194 — Our Lord, give us what You have promised us through Your apostles
Our Lord, give us what You have promised us through Your apostles, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed You do not break Your promise.’
At the end of their prayer and their asking, those possessed of minds ask God (s.w.t.) to fulfil what He promised the earlier nations, and the faithful among the people of righteous deeds, by the tongues of His messengers and prophets and through His heavenly books, since they have been granted success in faith and righteous deeds; this alongside what they asked of Him (s.w.t.) in the previous verses. Perhaps the meaning of the prayer of those possessed of minds is also: Our Lord! Answer the prayer of the past prophets on our behalf.
There is no doubt that God will not break His promise and will not violate His pledge. On this basis, what is meant by fulfilling the promise and keeping the pledge is either a wholly devoted entreaty to God (s.w.t.) and complete servanthood in the court of His Lordship; or the meaning of the prayer of those possessed of minds is that He take them with the righteous, fulfil what He promised them, and that this promise include them; or that He (s.w.t.) make them among those He promised honour and abundant reward; or what they mean is hastening help and speeding His aid to them, so that by it they may triumph over falsehood and the people of falsehood.
In their prayer in the verses mentioned, those possessed of minds ask God (s.w.t.) twice explicitly not to disgrace them on the Day of Resurrection and not to expose them in it. The third time they repeat their request by implication, that He take them with the righteous.
It is known that all of God’s promises are decisive and certain by the grace of His mercy. But the performative texts concerning punishment and pardon, and the lightening of the warning and threat that come in the verses, are open to possibility; and the interest may sometimes require mentioning the threatening performative alone. But all the transmitted texts that are reports (not performatives), which take up the matter of Hell and tell us that some will enter Hell, are certainly true and match reality. So there is no doubt that some people will become people of the Fire, even if those texts contain an implicit threat and an indirect warning.
3:195 — Then their Lord answered them
Then their Lord answered them, ‘I do not waste the work of any worker among you, whether male or female; you are all on the same footing. So those who migrated and were expelled from their homes, and were tormented in My way, and those who fought and were killed—I will surely absolve them of their misdeeds and I will admit them into gardens with streams running in them, as a reward from Allah, and Allah—with Him is the best of rewards.’
Lordship is the source of the general principle of answering prayer. Through their faith in the Lordship of God (s.w.t.), and resting on it as their pivot, those possessed of minds set about praying; and God (s.w.t.) answers them in His quality of Lordship and grants them what they asked.
The most important things those possessed of minds asked of God are the forgiveness of their sins, the covering over of their evil deeds, the preserving of their honour and not exposing and disgracing them on the Day of Resurrection, then taking them with the righteous and the virtuous, and finally asking God (s.w.t.) to keep the pledge He made binding on Himself with the prophets (a.s.) concerning the righteous.
In His general, positive answer to the prayer of those possessed of minds, who have become an instance of the doer of righteous deeds, God says that He will not let the reward of any righteous doer among them be lost. Not letting a deed be lost means that the root and essence of that deed remain everlasting, not its natural outward side, which passes away and perishes. If a deed is not lost, its return will be a great reward worthy of that deed. Although the noble verse does not state whether what was fulfilled of the requests of those possessed of minds, and what was answered of their asking, is in the position of reward and recompense for righteous deeds, when God says that the Garden is the recompense of the deeds of the righteous faithful, there is no doubt that the people of the Garden will enjoy such merits and virtues.
For the righteous deed to be accepted, the coming together of two basic pillars is required: the goodness of the act (that is, the righteous deed) and the goodness of the doer (which is faith). Since those possessed of minds are the ones addressed in the noble verse, as the sincere faithful, the condition of faith is not mentioned separately from the righteous deed.
By denying the effect of a person’s sex, whether male or female, the noble Qur’an says: God (s.w.t.) does not let the reward of any doer among people be lost, whether man or woman. The denial of this difference of sex comes in the frame of a negative proposition whose subject does not exist; because the spirit is in reality the true self of the human being, and it is free of the quality of maleness and femaleness. Likewise neither maleness nor femaleness is a condition for gaining real perfections and righteous deeds, and the quality of femaleness is no barrier to gaining them. Man and woman are equal in this matter, and the true measure in it is human dignity and spiritual rising.
From the point of view of creation, there is no doubt that man and woman are of one kind and parts of one reality, and there is no difference at all between them. Woman is created from man and man is created from woman; both need each other and each relies on the other. Man cannot be without woman, nor woman without man. From the point of view of legislation, the Muslim man and woman likewise belong to one religion, one straight path and one divine way.
A human being’s leaving his home, giving up everything he owns, and abandoning the place where he cannot perform his religious rites and practise his acts of worship, and moving to other places that are safer and more stable, is an obligation in order to preserve the religion; while a person’s remaining in his homeland, where he is forced to give up his religious duties and the rulings of the law, is forbidden and not permitted. Thus the phrase “those who emigrated” includes all kinds of emigration: such as going out from one place to another to preserve the religion (and this is the lesser emigration); leaving defilement, sins and vices and holding to purity, obedience and virtues (and this is the middle emigration); and giving up acquired, mental reason and action and holding to love and witnessing knowledge of the heart (and that is the greater emigration).
The meaning of “emigration” (hijrah) is going out from one’s homeland by choice to preserve the religion; while “expulsion” is that a person leaves his homeland by force and against his will, and this is what the phrase “and were driven out of their homes” points to. In its general and comprehensive meaning it includes emigration imposed by compulsion.
Every quality and state in His (s.w.t.) words “those who emigrated, were driven out of their homes, were hurt in My way, and fought and were killed” represents a deserving of the forgiveness of sins, the covering over of evil deeds, the preserving of the honour of the faithful and their entering the Garden. Those phrases do not indicate that all the people of the Garden bear those qualities. On this basis the noble verse includes the Helpers (al-anṣār) of Medina who sheltered the Emigrants, just as it includes the Emigrants who died a natural death before the battles broke out between the Muslims and the faithless. The Emigrants who bore the burdens of being prevented from leaving, and those who suffered hardship during their emigration and were sincere in their religion and their belief, are of a higher degree than the others. Among them were those who could not emigrate with their Muslim brothers, or did not wish to emigrate at all, and then were forced to emigrate and were driven from their homeland; but they did not surrender to the enemies or yield to them, and bore the harm and torture of the faithless with all courage and sincerity. And among them too were those who excelled in fighting, fought the enemy with great valour, and attained the rank of martyrdom.
Being killed and martyred in the way of God fall under the heading of harm in God’s side and fighting in His way; but because of its gravity it was mentioned specially and with clear explicitness.
The repetition of the Majestic Name “God”, which gathers all the divine Names and attributes, in His (s.w.t.) words “a reward from God, and God, with Him is the best reward”, is only because of the gravity of the matter, and to show the honour of those possessed of minds and their rank with God, His protecting them from the disgrace of the Day of Resurrection, His fulfilling the promises God (s.w.t.) made to them and His answering their prayers; and that the outcome of their striving and the result of their righteous deeds are kept with God (s.w.t.), according to His words “and what is with God remains”; and that they will be brought into the Garden and will enjoy all its good things and delight in its orchards and great trees beneath which rivers flow.
3:196–197 — Never be misled by the bustle of the faithless in the towns
(196) Never be misled by the bustle of the faithless in the towns. (197) It is a trivial enjoyment; then their refuge is hell, and it is an evil resting place.
Those possessed of minds, by virtue of their excellent qualities, enjoy many divine blessings, such as victory and success in this world, alongside spiritual reward. As for the faithless, because they lack those qualities and qualifications, they spend their lives in constant affliction. In His answer to the implied question, which is: “Then what is the secret of the comfort and wealth the faithless possess?”, God (s.w.t.) says: “Let not the going to and fro of the faithless deceive you, nor their power and what they own in this world; for all that is only a temporary enjoyment that will not last. We gave them many blessings and good things so that they might thank God for His grace; but they persisted in unbelief and spent those blessings on falsehood.” The will of God (s.w.t.) decreed to delay them to an appointed term and leave them in their state of unbelief, comfort and ease; then they will be seized for their scheming suddenly, their affair in this world will end, and they will be called to account and punished with divine punishment in this world before they reach their final reckoning on the Day of Resurrection. Their end in this world will not be as they and the hypocrites love and desire. As for the faithful, especially the messengers, they are the victorious, the remaining and the everlasting. Thus the outward side of the faithless, in blessings and false comfort, may seem to be security for them; but its inner side is painful punishment. Their life is nothing but a Hell surrounded by outward pleasures, and such comfort is not what the human being wishes for, because these outward appearances and that husk will soon pass away, and God’s punishment and wrath will close in on them. On this basis, what the faithless boast of in blessings, despite their unbelief and their rejection of the counsel and guidance of the prophets, is only to lead them on step by step and to seize them later.
The result is that although the faithless enjoy ease and pleasure, and have the upper hand in the political, military, economic or social field for a few days and a known time, the outward side and the inner side of that superiority are not alike, and their outward and inner sides will soon be set ablaze. On this basis there is no reason for delusion and being deceived. Delusion is that the simple human being looks at the great order of creation with a superficial look, and knows nothing of the inner side of this world (which is the Hereafter), but only its outward side.
As is known, the Supreme Messenger (s.a.w.) is infallible and protected from being deceived, by the grace of the blessing of divine infallibility. But since he (s.a.w.) is charged like the other Muslims, and is the only party that receives divine revelation, God (s.w.t.) made him the one addressed in the noble verse, together with all the faithful.
We notice in this verse that Hell is named “the resting place” (al-mihād). What is meant by that is that the faithless have prepared for themselves in the Hereafter the dwelling and the bed that befits them, because of their unbelief and their attachment to material things, and that in this way they increase the blaze of their fires. If we take the meaning of mihād to be rest and calm, it becomes clear to us that using the word “resting place” is by way of irony and mockery of them.
3:198 — But those who are wary of their Lord—for them shall be gardens with streams running in…
But those who are wary of their Lord—for them shall be gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever], a hospitality from Allah; and what is with Allah is better for the pious.
The gardens, and the blessings and bounties they contain, are a hospitality (nuzul) from God (s.w.t.), that is, gifts and noble entertainment for the people of Godwariness. This promise of God (s.w.t.) is for the faithful of the middle rank, and it stands against the warning mentioned for the faithless in the previous verse.
Thus some of those blessings come down to the Godwary, while the other part of them remains with God (s.w.t.), for these righteous ones to attain after they rise up to Him (s.w.t.). Even so, the elect among God’s friends, and the people of the highest degrees and ranks among the Godwary and the righteous, are the only ones who rise, and they are the ones who obtain the blessings before they come down.
Because of the gravity and greatness of the matter, God (s.w.t.) repeated the Majestic Name twice in the noble verse.
As for the mention of Godwariness and the reward of the Godwary at the start of the verse, and then the mention of the righteous at its end, it is a pointer that the deeds of the Godwary can also be among the deeds of the righteous.
3:199 — Indeed among the People of the Book there are some who have faith in Allah and in what…
Indeed among the People of the Book there are some who have faith in Allah and in what has been sent down to you, and in what has been sent down to them. Humble toward Allah, they do not sell the signs of Allah for a paltry gain. They shall have their reward near their Lord; indeed Allah is swift at reckoning.
In the previous verses the noble Qur’an pointed to some blameworthy qualities of a group of the People of the Book, such as making distinctions between God’s prophets (a.s.), concealing God’s (s.w.t.) covenant concerning making the verses clear, and buying with it a paltry price. But the noble Qur’an describes others among the People of the Book as keeping themselves far from the deeds of their peers and of those followers of their religion and way who were afflicted with vices. God (s.w.t.) has declared them free of the blameworthy qualities of those others, praised them in this noble verse, and promised them His kindnesses, His abundant reward and swiftness in reckoning.
The verse under discussion points to the first of the five qualities of the righteous among the People of the Book being their faith in God (s.w.t.) and His oneness, on which the other perfections follow too. The faith of these people is guarded against every kind of hidden polytheism and false and incorrect claims.
The people of pure faith in tawḥīd also believe in the most important of God’s revealed books, the noble Qur’an, after their faith in God (s.w.t.), and then in the other heavenly books; since the noble Qur’an has authority over all the books and comes before them in rank. The noble Qur’an was not sent down to one nation or people in particular. As for His (s.w.t.) words “and what was sent down to you”, it is an address to a particular group at the beginning of the revelation of the noble Qur’an.
The followers of the other religions and of the past prophets ought to believe in all of God’s (s.w.t.) prophets and His heavenly books, as the Muslims do, especially the Seal of the Prophets (s.a.w.); and some of the People of the Book were guided to that.
The noble verse makes clear that the faith of the People of the Book mentioned is accompanied by humility and lowliness, and that their faith in the noble Qur’an and the one to whom it was sent down may mean their announcing the good news of the earlier books and prophets, after those who sold their religion had concealed all that. So these righteous ones of the People of the Book not buying a small price with God’s signs, even though it is in the form of a negative quality, counts as a positive disclosure and a hint at those gone astray who sold the truth and bought falsehood.
3:200 — O you who have faith! Be patient
O you who have faith! Be patient, stand firm, and close [your] ranks, and be wary of Allah so that you may be felicitous.
The blessed Sūrah Āl ʿImrān contains much of the roots and branches of religion. The counsel of God (s.w.t.) in this noble verse to patience, vying in patience, staying firm at one’s post (murābaṭah) and Godwariness comes within the frame of bearing the burden of learning the teachings and matters mentioned in this sūrah in general, so that the faithful may reach final success, which is the fruit of right reflection and good and righteous intentions.
Patience is in bearing the hardships and problems in this life, then in self-control and not complaining to anyone other than God (s.w.t.). The patient one is he who guards himself and keeps himself from falling into sins in the various trials, among them carrying out obedience to God (s.w.t.); and who is wide in the room of his patience in misfortunes and long in the rope of his forbearance in problems. Patience in obedience has precedence and priority over all the other known forms of patience, for it gives a person the strength and ability to bear misfortunes, to be patient, and to refrain from committing sins.
The unrestricted wording of the command to be patient, “be patient”, includes all the individual occasions of patience, just as the second command, “vie in patience”, contains the communal occasions of patience.
The imperative “be patient” points to the necessity of individual patience, and means that every individual is commanded to be patient; while the verb “vie in patience” commands communal patience, and means the patience of individuals with one another. He (s.w.t.) commands the faithful in particular to be patient with one another, not that each of them be patient on his own; because the patience of the human being alone is limited, and among people there are some who are hesitant and quick to anger, who soon lose their patience and endurance. On this basis, and according to God’s (s.w.t.) command “be patient and vie in patience”, each of us is commanded to be patient in what concerns his personal affairs, and also to be patient in what concerns social matters and to stand together with others, so as to set right their weakness by his patience and by counselling them to patience; just as the others set about removing his own weakness through their patience and their vying in patience.
Vying in patience before competitors (which is also called outward vying in patience) means steadfastness and standing firm against the resistance of the other side. Vying in patience in communal good (which is inward vying in patience) means joining together the energies of the group and its patience, helping one’s brothers to be patient, putting right any defect or weakness in individuals by the strength of the group, and mending the breaks in some of them with forbearance and resolve. Communal patience is a higher stage of patience; and when this comes about, it is a cause of firm resolve and the strength of the social order.
As for the meanings of murābaṭah, they do not differ from the meanings of vying in patience mentioned. If communal vying in patience takes the place of individual patience, and murābaṭah takes the place of individual guarding, it becomes possible to remove the deficiency that comes from the weariness and fatigue of some individuals by the strength and steadfastness of others.
The root of rabṭ is binding fast, and ribāṭ means keeping to a particular work and persevering in it. Murābaṭah has many examples, whether in the military field, the social field or others: such as waiting for the time of the next prayer after finishing the previous prayer; being prepared and ready in the way of God; guarding the borders and frontier posts and being constantly present to defend the Islamic lands; and strengthening the ties and relations with individuals within society. As for the most complete and clearest of those examples of murābaṭah, it is keeping up the bond with the friends of religion and the Infallible Imams (a.s.).
Thus God (s.w.t.) commands us to patience, vying in patience and murābaṭah under the shade of Godwariness of Him, which represents the basic support of all that and the fruit of the success of the faithful. The three divine commands are not confined to worldly benefit only; rather, patience, vying in patience and murābaṭah, together with Godwariness, are the causes of good and happiness in this world and the Hereafter, which is expressed as success (falāḥ).