The Holy Qur’an - the doubtless Word of God, Identification of the true believers, The Holy Qur’an - a guidance for the pious, Belief in God, Importance of regularity in prayers and charity, Belief in all the Apostles of God, the Holy Qur’an, and the Books revealed previous to the Holy Prophet, and the Day of Judgment incumbent, the stubbornness of the disbelievers.
Al-Baqarah Verses 1 - 7
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful.
الم
“Alif, Lam, Mim” (2:1).
ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“This is the Book, there is no doubt in it, (being the Word of God) (it is) a guidance for the pious (ones)” (2:2).
الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ
“Who believe in the unseen, and establish the prayers and of what We have provided them with, they give (in the way of their Lord)” (2:3).
وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
“And who believe in that which hath been sent down unto thee (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad) and that which hath been sent down (unto the other apostles) before thee, and of the hereafter, they are sure” (2:4).
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَىٰ هُدًى مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
“These are the ones on the guidance from their Lord, and these are the ones who shall be the successful ones” (2:5).
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَأَنْذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنْذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
“Verily (as for) those who disbelieve, alike is it for them, thou warneth them or warneth them not; (for) they will not believe” (2:6).
خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
“God hath sealed up their hearts and their hearing; and upon their sight is a covering; and for them is a great chastisem*nt” (2:7).
Commentary
Bismi-Llah. - Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim
Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim is a part of the Surah al-Fatiha and all the other Surahs save the 9th. It has been used obviously for the following important purposes:
To condition the mind of the reader with the sanctity of the purpose i.e. the Divine Guidance for which the Holy Word of God is recited.
By the meaning of the words ‘I begin in the Holy name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful’, means to invoke the Beneficence and the Mercy of the Lord to bestow upon the reciter, the guidance he needs.
By using Bismi-Llah before the very commencement of any good work, also means that the individual does it, not for any selfish motives of his own, but he does it on behalf of, and as commanded by the Lord. By this is meant that the individual had dedicated his life as a whole to be lived not as the selfish ego in him dictates, but as willed or desired by his Lord.
The use of Bismi-Llah at the start of every Surah of the Qur’an indicates the special importance and the special efficacy the recital of the passage possesses.
Verse 1
Alif Lam Mim (A.L.M.) the Letter symbols - the meaning of which is known only to God, the Holy Prophet and, his divinely chosen deputes and successors the Holy Imams. All these letters used as secret symbols in the Qur’an are called ‘Huroof al-Muqatta’at’, - the letters of abbreviation. These letter symbols used in the beginning of some Surahs, form a part of those Surahs. Interpretation of these letters by anybody by his own imagination or any personal discretion, is strictly ‘Haram’ (prohibited).
Many interpretations have been forwarded by commentators of various schools but not one is based on any definite authority. All are mere conjectures. There are traditions from the Holy Imams which attach a code of significance to these letters as symbols and keys to the latent knowledge of the higher truth accommodated in Qur’anic verses. They are of esoteric significance as keynotes to the higher secrets reserved for higher minds. (A.P)
Verse 2
‘Dhalika al-Kitab’ - ‘Dhalika’ synonymous to ‘that’ is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the remote object but sometimes the same is used for the object close at hand in reverence and respect indicating the lofty status of the object referred to. This Holy Book as the most comprehensive and complete Word of God, in the sphere of revelation, is the most sublime and the most revered one. For this reason, here and in many subsequent places to refer to this Holy Book, this demonstrative i.e. Dhalika is used and when a reference is made to its verses the pronoun ‘Tilka’ the feminine gender is used. In translation whether one uses this or that for ‘Dhalika’, it would mean to refer to what is in our hands. (A.P.)
‘Al-Kitab’. To have a proper understanding of ‘Al-Kitab’ (i.e. the Book) which here and in many other places in the Qur’an is referred to, the following points need to be remembered:
The Holy Book has been called ‘Qur’an’ and is derived from ‘Qra’ta’ which means to recite, or recitation and collection. The term Qur’an has been applied to this Book in both respects of recitation as well as a comprehensive summary or the synthesis of the revealed books1 Al-Qur’an2 etc.
‘Furqan’ i.e. Distinction i.e. the distinctive means, on account of its containing the principles of good and evil, the conditions for reward and punishment, the character of the righteous and the wicked ones. It is also called ‘Furqan’ with regard to its gradual delivery, part by part. Al-Furqan 25:1 etc.
‘Zikr’ i.e. Remembrance or Reminder 15:9 etc.
‘Kitab al-Hakeem’ i.e. Well established Book of Divine Wisdom etc., 13:37.
‘Kitab al-Aziz’ i.e. Book Unique in its Natural Beauty.
‘Kitab al-Hameed’ i.e. Book Worthy of all Praise.
‘Kitab al-Majeed’ i.e. Book Glorious.
Qur’an al-Kareem i.e. Book most Bounteous and well Honoured.
‘Kitab al-Mubeen’ i.e. Book well - Expressive.
‘Umm al-Kitab’ i.e. The Mother Book3. It should be remembered that the application of this title to the Qur’an is with regard to some of its parts () i.e. the well - established parts of universal nature which are beyond all ambiguity the ‘Aayate - Muhkamat’ are termed as Mother - Book in the light of which the rest of the Book is to be explained and the ambiguity is to be removed and the details of the articles of faith and the principles of the theoretical and practical value to be in complete conformity with them.
There are many other titles of this Holy Book mentioned in the various verses, but all are substitute expressions of the titles referred to above, viz. ‘Noor’ (i.e. the Light) ‘Hidayat’ (i.e. the Guidance) - ’Haqq’ (i.e. the Truth) - ‘Tibyaan’ (i.e. the Clear Presentation) - ‘Bayan’ (i.e. The Narration of the Explanation).
The Qur’an has been termed as the Book and as the Word of God or the Sentence of God. To understand the justification of these two usages viz., the Book and the Word, it is necessary to remember the difference between ‘Book’ and ‘Word’; both being vehicles of thought and will. ‘Book’ means the written expression in which the stability and the simultaneity of the parts are taken into consideration. In spoken expression the movements and successive parts are taken into consideration. Both the written and the spoken expressions are the work of the author and speaker and have no status of the attributes.
Of course, the work of an author owes its existence to the knowledge and the ability of its maker. The knowledge and the ability are the attributes but not their outcome. Hence the absurdity of the attempt to term the word or the writing of an author as his attributes besides knowledge and ability co - existing with them. Being clear in the meaning of word and book and their relation to the author in general, we may come to the question of the Word and the Book of God.
In common understanding, word is the outcome of the elaboration of the vocal organs in animal kingdom in general and the Book is the outcome of the elaboration of man’s hand and the writing implements (viz., pen, paper, and ink). But this cannot be the case with the Word and the Book of God. There is no such thing as the vocal organs and no such things as the hands and the writing implements as Hazrat Ali says:
“It is not with any sound striking any ear, nor a voice to be heard. Surely His Words are His Works originated by Him”.
His Work thus, originated has two different aspects of stability and the simultaneity of parts prior to the time of its gradual delivery to the visible world i.e. its appearance in the lowest sphere of its manifestation, and the stable and the simultaneous shape which assumes after its delivery and in this respect of it is His Book. The second aspect being that the aspect of its continuity in the order of the descent by the continuity of His Will.
Taking this in view, the whole realm of creation is His Word, the outcome of His Creative Will. If the creation is viewed from the angle of its stability and the simultaneity of its parts, it is a Book of God i.e. written expression of His Will and thought, but in common understanding a written expression in its survival does not depend upon the existence of its author or the continuity of his attention. The relation of the written expression to its author is the same as relation of the building to its engineer. But the Qur’an insists on the point that this is not the case with the relation of the Creator. The relation here is the relation of the ray of light to its source and the reaction to the action and the reflection to the radiation and the speech to the continuity of attention and the will for the speech or the relation of the mental process and sensation to the attention.
The relation of every finite being to the Infinite is such that it owes its genesis, survival, continuity and simultaneity of its parts to the continuity of the attention and Will of the Creator, as the relation of speech to the speaker. Viewing the creation from this angle, the whole and all its parts and particles, is the Word of God. Therefore, it is justified to term the outcome of the Divine Will and Knowledge as the Book from one aspect and His Word from the other aspect. Considering God as the Absolute and the Ultimate Authority in both realms of creation and legislation, in the realm of ‘what is’ and in the realm of ‘what ought to be.’ In the realm of ‘is’, i.e., the creation there is no place for the creature’s will and in the realm of ‘ought to be’ the creature’s will has some reactive value, (that is the realm where the creature’s will has no place and the realm where the creature’s will has some reactive value).
Thus, the Book and Word of God are divided into two kinds: if dealing with the former, it is termed as the Word of Creation ‘Kitab al-Takweeni’, and if dealing with the latter, it is called ‘Kitab al-Tashreeyee.’ Both, the ‘Takweeni’ and the ‘Tashreeyee’ under the process of ‘Tanzeel’, i.e., graduation and the source of both is with Him unmeasurable, and the revealed form is measured4.
In fact, ‘Nuzool’ or the revelation is a term applied in the Qur’an to the process of the descent from the Infinite to the finite, in both the realms of creation and legislation. It is to - be remembered that the Divine Revelation in the realm of legislation passes through the same stages of intellectual, angelical, and non-material agencies, as it does in the realm of creation.
The last stage of revelation in the latter is the realm which appears to our external senses and is termed as ‘Aalam al-Shahadat’, i.e., the visible world, and ‘Aalam al-Malak’, i.e., the world which is held without any holding faculty. The last stage of revelation in the realm of legislation is the heart of the imagination of the Holy Prophet prior to the utterance. Therefore, this revelation should be and is in utter conformity with the revelation in the realm of creation.
Taking the universe as the detailed Book of God the ‘Kitab al-Takweeni’ man’s position is the synthesis or the brief summary of the whole Universe. In other words, man is the ‘Microcosm’, i.e., man is ‘Aalam al-Sagheer’ and the universe is ‘Insan al-Kabir’. Hazrat Ali says:
‘Ata’zanu annaka jirmun sagheer ma feekantamal Aalamul Akbaru:
Wa ant al Kitab al-Mubeenallazi be’ahrufihi yazharul Muzmaru’,
i.e., Imagineth though, thyself as an insignificant germ, although in thee is summed up the great universe. Thou art that expressive book with the letters of which the secrets of the universe become evident.
Each can be interpreted in the light of the other. This is true only of a man who has reached the highest sphere of intellectual attainments to the extent of identifying his individual self in direct communion with the Absolute. This is the highest stage of ‘Uboodiyat’, obedience or submission. This is true only of the ‘Khatimun - Nabiyeen’ i.e., the Last Prophet and those whom he himself identified them with himself in these attainments. It is unanimously agreed and universally acknowledged by all schools in Islam that the Holy Prophet did not identify anyone with himself and himself with him, save Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn and the other nine Imams of his house. The Holy Prophet had said only about Ali:
‘Ana wa Ali min Noorin Waahid’, i.e., I and Ali are of one and same Divine Light.
The Sixth Holy Imam Ja’far Ibn Muhammad As-Sadiq said:
‘Awwaluna Muhammad - Ausatuna Muhammad - Aakhiruna Muhammad - Kulluna Muhammad’, i.e., The First of us is Muhammad, the Middle of us is Muhammad, the Last of us is Muhammad, every one of us is Muhammad.
There are many other similar announcements by the other Imams supporting the fact that the souls and spirits and the original or the essential matter of which their bodies had developed, to be one and the same and all of them had proceeded from one and the same Light and Source.
Next to the status of the Holy Prophet and the holy souls identified with him, is the status of the other prophets and the souls identified with them in attainments in various degrees. Having this in view that the prophets and the holy souls identified with them are the microcosms and expressive book of creation in their respective degrees, to each of them the Word and Book of God in the realm of legislation has been revealed.
The higher a prophet is in his attainment, the more comprehensive will be the Word and the Book revealed to him. The Last Prophet having been in Ascent, reached the highest stage of ‘Au Adna’, i.e., Even the nearest5, the Word and Book revealed will naturally and necessarily be the most comprehensive and the most expressive, as the Final Revelation: ‘Tammat Kalematu Rabbika Sidqan wa adla’ 6.
Dealing with the identification of the Book and the Word in both the realms in their origin and in the various stages of their revelation down to the ‘Aalam al-Shahadat’, i.e., the visible world, we have covered only the requirement of the Process of the Descent from the Infinite to finite and from the Absolute to the realm of Many, from the Absolute Unity to the utmost multiplicity, but as it has already been pointed out that the Process of Creation is of Circular nature in the sense that the creatures should return back to their Original Source.
It follows the necessity of the process of the ascent from the finite to the Infinite, from the multiplicity to Unity, covering the same stages in reverse7, which means that whatever happens in the lowest be it a substance, or an accident or an action appears in the highest in a refined form, all correspondingly reserve some refined impression in the higher realm8.
These impressions may be termed as the Divine Book of the Hereafter ‘Kutub al-ma - ba’d ut-Tabiya’, i.e., Books Post - Natural, in the same way, the impressions present in the process of revelation prior to the visible world, the Books of pre-natural stages. Judging from the point of view of the fact that the origin and the Absolute Reality behind the phenomenon which is called the Universe in all its stages and phases, is the Absolute one identified with the Infinite Excellence, it necessarily follows that the stages in both arcs of descent and ascent and their contents are closer to the Absolute or relatively more real than the stages which are farther from Him. In fact, the lower stages are the impressions and images and the reflections of the real entities in the higher stages9. A Persian mystic poet says:
‘Churkh ba’in akhtarane naghz wa khush zeebasti;
Soorati dar zeer daarad onche dar baalaasti
Soorate Zeereen agar ba nardabaane ma’rifat;
Janihc baalaa rawad ba asle khud yaktaasti’
When one in his intellectual observation and vision reaches the above view point, will realise the facts already viewed in the reverse.
The objects of the external senses which appear in the initial stages of contemplation, as real, and the ideas beyond that as imaginary, and a state of human mind now will appear to him as unreal and those ideas as real. From this, the conclusion follows that the things which appear in the sensual realm are merely of phenomenal nature and unreal and their reality lies in the realm beyond them. This is true of the Book of Creation ‘Kitab al-Takweeni’, i.e., the visible phenomenon of creation as well as the Divine Book of Legislation, i.e., the Revealed Holy Scripture.
To deny the existence of the Qur’an or the other sacred scriptures prior to their advent in their visible form, means the denial of the proceeding of the Universe from the infinitely perfect Absolute One. Such a denial will have no justification whatsoever but on the authentic point of view which starts its negative approach from the imperfect to the perfect from the unconscious to the conscious, which means the denial of the basic fact on which all the scientific investigation and development is based, that a thing cannot come out of nothing10.
Therefore, there is no alternative but to accept the statement of the Holy Book that whatever appears in the visible world has a pre - existence in some form in the Book or the stages ‘Aalam al-Ghaib’ the Unseen World11.
The other statement of the Qur’an which shows that for every fixed term ‘Ajal’ or period there is a divine book which is subject to change ‘le - kulle ajalin Kitab’12 (13:38; 13:39) and for every soul there is a fixed term or period and that for every ‘Ummat’, i.e., Community, there is a fixed term or period. It follows that for every soul (63:11) and for every community there is a book and each of them has two books, the book prior to his existence and the book, subsequent, i.e., copies from his own conduct and character13.
All these partial books i.e., books dealing with some part or the other, prior, or posterior to the ‘Aalam al-Shahadat’ (the visible world) are included in the other Book ‘Umm al-Kitab’ which is with Him (13:38; 13:39) which is represented here by the Qur’an which is styled both as ‘Ummul Kitab’ and ‘Kitab al-Mubeen’, i.e., the Book Expressive, and is unique in its nature and its contents. Therefore, wherever the reference is to ‘Al-Kitab’, it means the Qur’an either in its revealed form or in its form prior to revelation. The Qur’an is the sum total of the Word and the Book of God.
The Qur’an is the map of the Universe with each of its letters, words, clauses, sentences, paras, chapters, its symbols, jointly or severally, signify the facts of the creation in its circular process. It is obvious that no map without the fixed scale would lead to its significance which it bears. With no scale, a map would appear as dots and lines of no symmetrical value, unrelated and irrelevant, as it is the case with the Qur’an for those who are away from its real scale. Every measurable thing has its own fixed scale for the correct reading and the proper use of it, and first and last condition of the scale should be that it should be unmistakably correct, i.e., infallible, i.e., (Masoom). The Qur’an refers to these facts saying:
لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَنْزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ
“We send Our prophets with irrefutable clear evidence and sent down with them (revealed to them) the Book and the Scale that people may stand on justice” (57:25).
Now the question is what can be taken as a scale for the map of such a nature. Reason has undoubtedly its value as a scale but to the extent of its limitation which will be dealt with later. There is nothing to be taken as a scale complete in its guidance to the significance of the Last Revealed Book but only a person who could be in touch with the Book in the stages prior to its revelation. The Qur’an presents this idea in this way:
إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ
“Surely the Qur’an is the Honoured Word of God” (56:77).
فِي كِتَابٍ مَكْنُونٍ
“In the Hidden Book” (56:78).
لَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ
“None toucheth it but those who are the purified ones” (56:79).
It is obvious, to be in touch with the Qur’an in its pre-revealed form as it is in the Hidden Book, means that the purified souls should have been of the same status Otherwise, touch would not be possible. This touch is not of the physical nature in which one surface touches the other. The touch meant here is purely intellectual or of spiritual nature which necessarily means the total identification of the known, the knowing and the knower, hence inseparable. The Qur’an itself testifies and identifies the existence of such personalities who bear the testimony of their being purified by God to the perfect degree of it, and these are the Ahl Al-Bayt, People of The Holy House14.
The well-known and the most authentic declaration of the Holy Prophet in this regard is nothing but the confirmatory interpretation of these two passages of the Qur’an which form the minor and the major premises of the logical conclusion, that the Holy Book and the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt are identified with each other from the point of their origin down in the Arc of Descent and up again in their return to the presence of the ‘Maliki Yawm ad-Din.’
If it is so, then it makes no difference whether the term ‘Imam al-Mubeen’ (36:12) is interpreted either as the Ahl Al-Bayt or as the Qur’an for these are neither separate from each other nor be ever separable as one mirrors the other. Hence it follows:
‘Kulla shaiyyin ahsainahu fee Imamim - Mubeen.’
وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَاهُ فِي إِمَامٍ مُبِينٍ
“Verily We have summed up everything in the Clear, Expressive Guide” (36:12).
The difference is that the Revealed Book in its shape in our hands does not speak, whereas the Ahl Al-Bayt do: the former is ‘Samit’, i.e., Mute, whereas the latter is ‘Naatiq’ i.e. Speechful, or Speaking. This is no exaggeration whatsoever, so long as it is based on the Qur’an and the wording of the Holy Prophet; let people accept it or not. The point is insisted here so that the reader may know that these notes here and in the subsequent places are always based either on unambiguous verses of the Holy Book ‘Ayaat al-Muhkamat’, or on the authentic versions of the Holy Prophet and the Holy Imams of the Ahl Al-Bayt or on the pure reasoning to the extent of the logical limitation.
Having in view the statement as a whole about the Word and the Book of God, it is hardly necessary to point out the absurdity of the point of view held by some people of importance as an article of faith that the Qur’an is Uncreated, Eternal, Co-Existing with the Essence of God as His other attributes do. As has been pointed out that the Word or the Writing of God, stand for His Work and not His Essential Attribute to be subjected to the discussion with regard to their co - existence with His Essence which also is absurd. This notion was imported from the Christian origin regarding the Word of God which they borrowed from the Jewish Alexandrian School of Philosophy. The Qur’an repeatedly presents the whole creation and each and every one of its part and particle as the Word or the Work of God, in the sense that all are the outcome of His Creative Will and Attention or His Legislative Will and Attention.
By disclosing the correct significance of the term Word, which is applicable to every creature, the Qur’an discards the effort of the Christian theologists to attach undue importance to Christ as the Divine Word of God, for Jesus’ unusual birth according to the Qur’an does not exempt him from being a created obedient servant of God15. Jesus himself calls Adam as the Son of God16. It can be taken to be true in the sense of Adam being one of the chosen servants of God and in the same sense can Jesus be one such obedient servant of the Lord, and nothing more. (AP)
‘La - raiba fihi’ There is no doubt its (Qur’an) being the Work of God, as a whole, as in parts, and as in its arrangement, as the Qur’an puts it17. This clearly establishes that what is in our hands, there is no doubt in its being the same as revealed to the Holy Prophet, both in its quantity as well as in its arrangement. The Qur’an asserts its revelation in the shape of a complete book before ordering them to recite it part by part, verse by verse or chapter by chapter to the people. The gradual delivery to the people on the various occasions does not mean that the revelation to him, was also gradual or piecemeal. The Book as a whole was already with him. The revelation now after his commission was for a gradual delivery, and the revelation only regulated the delivery. He was commanded to deliver as and when the occasion demanded it. This is the reason that the arrangement of the verses was not made according to the chronological order of the time of delivery. It is historically proved beyond doubt that the passages delivered in the later period were put in, by the order of the Holy Prophet, in the respective chapters delivered in the earlier period.
This shows that the Holy Prophet knew beforehand to which chapter each verse belonged. This could not be without the revelation of the Book as a whole in its present arrangement being prior to its delivery. Of course, those who consider the Holy Prophet as an ordinary man of the Quraish*te tribe, who passed forty years of his life in ignorance and being astray, and then the apostolic relation was established by the coming down of the Holy Ghost i.e. Gabriel, to teach him ‘Bismi-Llah’ as it is started in the case of a child, the state of gradual revelation scattered with no proper arrangement may have its justification.
But those who hold the Holy Prophet in his true position asserted by the Qur’an repeatedly, that he never followed in his life but the Divine Revelation, the occasion of his ministry was nothing, but the period of his being commissioned to deliver what was already revealed to him. Of course, this delivery was also to be guided or regulated by the Divine Revelation. (The other details about this subject will be given in the subsequent places where they will be fitting. Tahreef in introduction) (A.P.)
Verse 3
‘Muttaqeen’ The description of the ‘Muttaqeen’ or the pious ones mentioned in 2:2-5.
Vs. 2-5 give very important guidance as to the correct identification of those who are in fact the pious ones meant by God. A similar description of the pious ones is given in verse 3.
It must also be remembered by those who seek to be led aright on the right path, that when a definition or description of any quality is used, the perfect degree of that attribute will be the object of the address. For instance, when ‘Muttaqeen’ or ‘Muttaqoon’ or ‘Mu’minin’ or ‘Mu’minoon’ is used, those meant can never be anyone and everyone who merely professes to be one such described in the words of the Holy Book. They who possess these qualities to the maximum point of perfection possible for a mortal, will naturally be those meant by the address. But the others will entitle themselves to that position to the extent they possess those qualities in themselves. Therefore, the really pious one is he who possesses all the qualities mentioned in the above verses, to the maximum limits possible for a human being. A dispassionate search among the people, will reach only the Holy Prophet and his Holy Ahl Al-Bayt who, on all hands have been accepted as the matchless ones in possessing every one of the qualities to the maximum imaginable degree of possibility, and who have never in their lives committed any minor or major sin. Besides, they are only those whom God Himself has announced in the Qur’an to have been duly purified by Himself and made them fully guarded against every kind of pollution by any kind of sin.
Therefore, the Vs. 2 - 5 infer that the Qur’an is a guidance to those Holy Ones, who have been by the Creator of Nature, made pure. No doubt, it will be a guidance to the others also but to the extent of every individual’s personal purity and to the degree of his possessing these qualities by following or copying the faultless and the infallible ones of the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt mentioned in 33:33.
Having in view the status of the Qur’an, it will not be difficult to know its guidance value. As the Qur’an, the Guidance Book, is itself the manifestation of the Absolute one the ‘Rahman’ and ‘Raheem’, its guidance is always universal as well as particular. Here emphasis has been laid on one aspect of its guidance, and when the Qur’an says, the Holy Prophet is sent as God’s Grace or the Blessing for the worlds, or the Book Revealed to His Servant so that he may warn the worlds, the reference is made to the universal aspect of its guiding nature.
The purpose of such references is just to show that God does not reserve His Bounty for a particular section or class of His Creation, and His Grace is Universal without any reservation but the recipiency on the part of the creatures itself is responsible for the creatures being benefitted in degrees or not being benefitted at all, or for getting even the reverse of it. Here the purpose of the restriction of the Qur’anic Guidance to the pious only, is to show the class of the people who will be benefitted according to the degree of the piety they possess. In the description of the pious ones here, the Qur’an gives a few qualities in the verses which immediately follow.
In other places it gives the other good qualities which mean that piety is a character of which the qualities are the properties, and Ali the authority next only to the Holy Prophet in one of his celebrated sermons gives the properties of piety in details. It shows how lofty and important is this character which contains so many aspects of personal excellence. Therefore, it is necessary to have a clear view of the nature and the significance of the piety meant by the Qur’an18.
The root of the word ‘Taqwa’ is ‘Waqiya’ i.e. protection and ‘Taqwa’ is the secondary form of it i.e. to adopt protection, which can be interpreted into, to be cautious against. As pointed out in ‘lyyaka Na’budu’ and ‘Ehdinas - Siratal Mustaqeem.’ man’s success is to be on the Right Path leading to God and the Right Path is nothing but complete submission to God’s Will, and it is so difficult that it has been described as finer than hair and sharper than sword, and unless man remains alive and vigilant, there is the danger of his falling out of the path, either in falling short or in exceeding the limits. This state of cautiousness and precaution is ‘Taqwa’ which is the loftiest state of god-mindedness. Wherever in the Qur’an ‘Taqwa’ is mentioned, God is the object, meaning to take shelter in Him by absolute submission to His Will against error and slipping away from the Right Path. In this submission lies Independence (wealth and power) as Ali says, ‘Taa’atahu Ghina’ i.e. Obedience to Him is Independence (wealth and power). Poor are they who revolt or go astray.
To interpret ‘Taqwa’ as fear is not proper. Acknowledging His All-Pervading Grace, there should be no fear of Him. One should be afraid of ungodliness, against its influencing him. Wherever ‘Taqwa’ is used in the sense of fear it is used with the prepositional form19. Taking ‘Taqwa’ in this sense one can easily understand and appreciate the interpretation of ‘Taqwa’ as ‘Taqiya’ by some of the Holy Imams of the Ahl Al-Bayt as ‘Taqiyya’ means precaution against the evildoers hurting the faith and faithful. ‘Taqiyya’ is to hide one’s faith or some article of the faith from the aggressive mischief - mongers or from those who are not fit to grasp the truth. This is nothing but godliness and vigilance to God’s Will and His Order. (A.P.)
‘Yuminoona bilghaib’: ‘Iman’, ‘Islam’ and ‘Deen’, These three words are the derivative forms which have been frequently used in the Qur’an. The literal meanings of these three words are very close to each other. ‘Iman’ means belief which implies submission of one’s mind and heart towards the object of belief. Islam means to surrender and to submit to somebody else’s will and might, it may be outwardly as well as inwardly. ‘Deen’ means approach towards some object submissively; it may be inwardly as well as outwardly. It (Deen) has been used in different meanings viz. judgment, subjugation, religion, to do good to, to obey, to advance a loan, to take one into account, to reward or to punish. All these usages are figurative, the root of which is what has been stated before i.e. approach to one submissively which implies all the meanings given above.
The word Islam, if used to mean submission inwardly becomes almost synonymous with Iman and if Iman is used meaning outward submission, it becomes synonymous with Islam, but usually Islam is used mostly to denote outward submission and Iman the Inward20. Whatever may be the justification for the usages of these three words, it will be dealt with in their respective places in the subsequent matters. Here the concern is with that state of mind which is termed as ‘Deen’ and ‘Iman’. To have a clear notion of this, the following facts should be taken into consideration. All the mental faculties, tendencies and the mental phenomenon is rooted in the human Ego or the conscious - self to which one refers as ‘I’. The Ego being conscious of itself, loves itself. This self-love is followed by the love of Self-Protection, Self-Expansion and Self-Perpetuation.
Lust and anger, love and hatred, emotions and feelings, imagination and thinking, owe their development to what is called Self-Love. The instinct of hunger is the outcome of the love for the preservation of one’s personality. This appetite and the lust for the nourishing stuff is responsible for the development of the sense of taste and the repulsive instinct against such stuffs which are harmful to its individuality, which in its highly developed form is termed as the sense of anger. The same lust and desire develop into sexual lust for the preservation of one’s self in the length of time through reproduction and it is due to this Self-Love that one loves whatever he feels to belong to him. The love of parents, children, relatives, community, and surroundings with which in some way or the other the individual sees himself in them, and can refer to them as ‘Mine’ i.e. (his own) emanates from self-assertion. Along with this love develops that repulsive instinct against things which he feels as not his own or opposed to his interest. Man’s activities are the expression of either his attractive or repulsive impulse, the object of attraction or repulsion may or may not be within the control of his will power.
With regard to these objects which are within the control of his will power, a lust for domination is developed. But if the object attractive or repulsive, useful, or harmful, is considered by him as beyond his will power and domination, a sense of awe and reverence associated with the desire for approach through surrender and submission and appeasem*nt, is developed. This is the state of mind which is termed as ‘Deen’ i.e. the submissive state of mind for approach towards the object viewed as useful or harmful with awe and reverence and the object is held as Sacred. The state of the mind towards the object is ‘Deen’ and the method adopted for the expression of that state is ‘Qurbani’ i.e. Sacrifice, or an offering. In this sense ‘Deen’ and ‘Iman’ are one and the same i.e. the bent of the mind and the heart towards the object believed to be effective in one’s destiny of life. ‘Iman’ is not mere belief or to be sure of anything but belief in something as a real and effective factor in one’s destiny of life, beyond the domination of his will power.
This is the subjective aspect of ‘Deen’ and ‘Iman’ which, hardly anyone can be without, and even those who may pose in their arguments as atheists, are not without ‘Deen’ and ‘Iman’ in this sense. The difference comes from the objective aspects of ‘Deen’ and ‘Imam’, and consequently the method of approach. People may differ in the object held as sacred and the way of their sacrifice and supplication, but none is without having something or other as sacred and bending towards it and adopting a method of approaching and adoring it. The changes in the objects and the sacrifice and the prayers are in correspondence with the development of man’s intellectual faculty and power of reasoning through experience, meditation, and instructions from the divinely inspired teachers.
As said above the religious tendency in man is almost natural as the result of Self-Love, and the necessary property of religious tendency is prayer and sacrifice. Sacrifice means an effort to break one’s limitations and coming in union with its surroundings and the Sacred Being held as the object of faith. This effort is necessarily followed by departing to some extent from the things possessed by him which he as a faithful one, regards as gifts received from the Sacred Being. In short, prayer means demand from the object of their veneration, and it is always followed by giving to others, i.e., (charity) to please that object. So take and give, in religious adoration go together; only the forms and the matter differ.
Now taking ‘Deen’ and ‘Imam’ in their highest degrees presented by the Quran, ‘Yuminoona bilghaib’, means the complete bent of the mind and the heart, caused by the force of sound reasoning towards the unseen and the inconceivable reality realised by all, as something beyond the grasp of the human intellect and all its means. The loftier the object the more intense will be the bent of the mind and the heart towards it, i.e., the faith in it. Therefore, though there are spheres of beings beyond the empirical knowledge and the intellectual grasp of man viz. the angels and the jinns etc. yet they are limited beings definable and hence within the conceptual capacity of man. These beings in comparison to the experimental realm, are unseen but are not totally out of the grasp of one’s understanding.
The reality lies in that One who is beyond all limitations and definitions, i.e., ‘Ghaib al-Mutlaq’, i.e., the Incomprehensible Absolute which is the loftiest object of ‘Deen’ and ‘Iman’. Therefore, these beings cannot be taken as the ultimate object of ‘Iman-bil-Ghaib’ as that which lies beyond them, i.e., the ‘Ghaib al-Mutlaq’ which alone can be the ultimate object of Iman. This ‘Iman-bil-Ghaib’ is the dynamic force which pushes man towards the Absolute in an unceasing and non-stopping effort and strive. Any unseen object below this ‘Ghaib al-Mutlaq’ taken as an object of the faith, will mean a stoppage, obstruction, and stagnancy which takes its effect and expression in idolatry. Islam condemns idolatry for this stagnancy and stoppage21. In this connection the Sixth Holy Imam Ja’far Ibn Muhammad As-Sadiq says:
‘Whatsoever your mind may grasp distinctly in its subtleties! sense, it would be your creation like unto you and that mill be rejected and returned unto you.’ (A.P.)
‘Bil-Ghaib’ means the unseen, meaning God, the Angels and the ancient apostles of God, the Day of Judgment, the Hell, and Heaven which are unseen, and one has to believe relying upon the truthfulness of the Qur’an and the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
‘Salat’: The word originally means, the middle of the backbone and taken into its verbal form means the bent of the backbone and loosening it. It is particularly used when she camel or any other animal is loosened down at the eve of delivery. Figuratively this word was used for a bending attitude to give or gain something, and from this sense it was used for prayer as demanded in a submissive manner, i.e., bending down. It should be noted that this word has been used in the Qur’an for man’s praying attitude towards God, and the same has been used for God in His turning towards His creatures. If the fact stated before that the activity of any conscious being is rooted in self-love and self-expression, and self-expansion and self-preservation, then can be understood the exact meaning of ‘Salat’ used by the Qur’an, for the creatures as well as for the Creator. Bending towards the Absolute on the part of the creature expresses the want for granting something from the Absolute, and the bending on the part of the Absolute would mean His Intention or Attention to bestow on, or grant to the supplicant what he deserves. In short prayer on the part of the creature is the expression of his quest for the grace of the Creator and the prayer on the part of the Creator is the extension of His grace towards His creatures22.
As stated before, prayer and charity is the essential property of Iman in every religion but in Islam having the object of Iman as the ‘Ghaib al-Mutlaq’ in view, which is the loftiest one, the method of prayer and charity should be in utter correspondence with the intensity of the desire to please the Absolute, i.e., God, and nothing pleases God but that which is the most beneficial to His creatures, both in intensity and extensity, and none can propose such a form of prayer or charity to suit this purpose but He Who is the Omniscient and the All-Gracious One. Hence no prayer or charity is approved by Islam save that which has been prescribed by God and nothing less or nothing more, as man has no right whatsoever of any innovation by way of any addition, omission, or alteration. Prayer in this sense becomes a purely Islamic term to denote what the Qur’an or the Sunnat prescribes.
And as regards the giving away to others of what has been provided with, should not be confined to the material possessions, but it includes everything which comes under the term provision viz. the intellectual gifts like knowledge etc. (A.P.)
Verse 4
The Universality of Islam being the Religion for the mankind as a whole, is testified by this part of the verse, which means that the pious ones are those who believe, not only in the truthfulness of the Qur’an which has been sent down to the Holy Prophet but also in the Holy Books sent down to all the apostles of God preceding him.
Islam alone and no other religion in the world enjoins as an article of faith, the belief in the truthfulness of the other apostles and the holy scriptures sent down to them, but only the names of all the other apostles of God are not given23. It is the unique characteristic of Islam that it enjoins upon its adherents to honour and revere every one of the prophets and not to make any difference in the degree of their truthfulness and their being faithfully devoted to God.
Verse 5
‘Wabil-Aakhirati - hum - youquinoon’.
‘Aakhirat’, i.e., Hereafter, literally meaning the End. This word has been used in the Holy Qur’an mostly in the sense of the Hereafter, (i.e., the life after death), but in some places it has been used in a wider sense viz., the world or the realm of being beyond the visible world (30:7) i.e., “they know of the lower life its apparent phase and of its other phase they are negligent” The use of the word ‘Zahir’, i.e., Apparent and ‘Ghafil’, i.e., negligent, testify the fact that the ‘Aakhirat’ referred to is something opposite to ‘Zahir’, i.e., apparent, meaning ‘Latent’, i.e., which is known to them and yet they neglect it. The use of the word ‘negligence’ is justified when something is known and yet unattended. The life after death is something to come and is neither the opposite of ‘Zahir’ i.e., the apparent nor the neglected known. Therefore, it should be interpreted as something beyond the termination of the object of the external senses, the realm which includes one’s ego and all his internal senses and their phenomena. Even the material world is not known to us through the external senses.
The object of the external senses is confined only to the qualities and the condition of the matter and not the matter itself. In this sense the justification for the use of the word ‘Ghafiloon’ and not ‘Jahiloon’ is obvious, because the cognitive self of our ego is closer to the other world than to the lower sphere which appeals to our external senses. Therefore, in interpreting this word which is frequently used in the Holy Qur’an, the context should be taken into consideration to know the sense it has been used in the different places.
However, it always implies that there is nothing without some end in the sense of purpose and the purpose lies beyond the apparent phenomenon graspable by our external senses. Here in this verse the word ‘Aakhirat’ has been used in the sense of ‘Hereafter’ meaning the realm after death or after the end of the material world. ‘Hum youqinoon’ - ’Yaqeen’ is the state of conviction and certainty reached through an unshakable evidence or proof. In giving the description of the ‘Muttaqeen’ begins with ‘Imam bil-Ghaib’, i.e., the state of complete submission of mind and heart towards the ‘Ghaib al-Mutlaq’ and ends with unshakably firm conviction and certainty that the ultimate purpose of life here (i.e., the present life) lies in the realm beyond it, in the direction towards the Absolute. (A.P.)
‘Olaika ala hudan mir Rabbihim.’ - ‘Olaika’ - The use of the verb ‘Olaika’, i.e., the demonstrative pronoun for the remote object as the subject of the sentence gives the sense of restriction, meaning ‘Those only’ are on the guidance, and are successful in their life - journey. The reason for the restriction is obvious as His guidance is always universal but people of such a character and none else can be benefited by it.
Verse 6
‘Kufr’ is to cover. It has been used in the Holy Qur’an to mean to cover the Truth or to cover the fault. Covering the Truth means turning the mind from it and to cover the fault means to redeem or to redress24 or to wipe it out. It is mostly used in the sense opposed to ‘Imam.’ It is obvious that those who lack faith as stated before will not be able to avail themselves of the guidance whether they are warned or not. But this passage should not be interpreted to mean to stop the Holy Prophet from carrying on his mission25. It is only to denote the state of the adamance on the part of the infidels, i.e., the reaction expected of the unbelievers towards the apostolic warnings due to the bent of their mind and heart against the Truth. This bent of mind tending from Real towards the unreal, when it gets rigid is termed in the Holy Qur’an as ‘Sealing.’ (A.P.)
‘Khatm’ or ‘Taba’ which is mentioned in the next verse. (A.P.)
Verse 7
Sealing the hearts of the reprobates is done as a natural consequence of their being abandoned to sin. Their senses get automatically blunt for lack of the proper or the correct use. If the edge of a sharp knife is rubbed on a stone or any such hard material the edge automatically loses it sharpness and gets blunt and useless for any use as a knife. As a natural penalty of themselves having lost in persistent sinning, their senses have been made blunt. This consequence is referred to in Verse 7:179, and against the disbelievers’ own statement reported in Verse 41:5 bears testimony to the penalty they had suffered.
According to the commentator of ‘Majma’ Al-Bayan seal means witness or testimony. God setting the seal means God bears testimony to their having lost the usefulness of their senses through which they could understand, hear, and see. This testimony on the part of God was given just to inform and convince the Holy Prophet that his hardest endeavours in his eagerness to bring back the disbelievers to the right track was in vain, for the reprobates had lost all the powers to understand, hear and even to see anything correctly. The significance of the seal or witness is the divine testimony to the fact that they would pay no heed at all to any amount of warning.
As regards attributing the act of sealing to God, refer to the note given to 1:4 the creature’s action whether good or bad, is nothing but the reaction of God’s action conditioned with the nature of the state of the being (i.e., the object) which reacts. Hence the Justification for attributing the reaction to the immediate cause i.e., the object that reacts or to the first cause as God’s action. (A.P.)
‘Quloob’, i.e., hearts - ‘Qalb’, i.e., heart - frequently used in the Holy Qur’an with functions identified with the cognitive self of the individual, i.e., the centre or the total of the human consciousness referred to, as first - person pronoun ‘I’, is termed in the Qur’anic language as ‘Qalb’ or heart in resemblance with the physical heart which is the centre of the blood circulation. The mental heart receiving its stuff through the external senses transformed into ideas with the mental operation which produce feelings which are translated into action and the actions return back to the mind undergoing the same process similar to the circular movement of the blood into the physical heart. Another justification for this metaphorical usage is the close relation of the feelings with the physical heart which is the first organ of the physical body to be affected by the feeling to express them into action. This heart is the ground or the subject which receives suggestions and guidance through various mediums i.e., the external and the internal senses and that it reacts to what it receives conditioned with its individual peculiarity. There are hearts more sensitive to the suggestions of spiritual value and there are hearts also more sensitive to the outward suggestions and the sensual pleasures. Each of these two opposites will react to the guidance received through the organs of hearing.
The one tending to the spiritual value will be in concord with the suggestion received and the reaction of the other one will be on the contrary. The one and the same suggestion may cause two different reactions due to the difference in the subjective realm of the receiver of the suggestion. The divine command may react in one heart duly and in the other, it may cause a revolt. This is the interpretation of the passages of the Holy Quran which attributes the act of guidance and misleading, to God.
The rhetorical justification of putting the ear with the heart as the object of the sealing and separating the sight as a subject for the predicate of ‘Ghishavai’ is that the immediate organ between the heart and the divine preaching is the ear, hence the sealing of the heart is the sealing of the ear also and this consequently produces a curtain on the proper vision or the observation of the Truth. The consequence of which would be a painful torture in the hereafter. (A.P)
- 1. Vide: 75:16-19; 17:106.
- 2. Vide: 2:185.
- 3. Vide: 13:39; 43:4.
- 4. Vide: 15:21.
- 5. Vide: 53:9.
- 6. And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in Truth and in Justice (6:115).
- 7. Vide: 32:4; 34:2; 30:11;7:29.
- 8. Vide: 2:116; 6:73; 6:157; 45:27.
- 9. Vide: 15:21.
- 10. Vide: 53:35.
- 11. Vide: 58:22.
- 12. For each period is a Book (revealed) (13:38).
- 13. Vide: 46:27-28, 17:14-15.
- 14. Vide: 33:33.
- 15. Vide: 19:17,4:171.
- 16. Vide: Luke 3/38.
- 17. Vide: 41:41-42.
- 18. Vide: 2:177.
- 19. Vide: 7:26.
- 20. Vide: 49:14-15.
- 21. Vide: 21:52-55.
- 22. Vide: 33:41-43.
- 23. Refer to: 35:24; 40:78; 4:152; 2:136; 2:285.
- 24. Vide: 4:155.
- 25. Vide: 25:1.
