-->
The word al-jibt - rendered by me as "baseless mysteries" - is probably, as the Lisan al-'Arab points out, of non-Arabic origin. It denotes, according to some authorities, "something which is worthless in itself" or "something in which there is no good" (Qamus, Baydawi); according to others, it signifies "enchantment" ('Umar ibn al-Khattab, Mujahid and Sha'bi, as quoted by Tabari; also Qamus); others, again, interpret it as "anything that is worshipped instead of God" (Zamakhshari), and consequently apply it also to idols and idol-worship (Qamus, Lisan al-'Arab) and - according to a Tradition quoted by Abu Da'ud - to all manner of superstitious divination and soothsaying as well. Taking all these interpretations into account, al-jibt may be defined as "a combination of confusing ideas (dijl), fanciful surmises (awham) and fictitious stories (khurafat)" (Manar V, 157) - in other words, abstruse mysteries without any foundation in fact. - As regards the expression "the powers of evil" (at-taghut), it seems to refer here to superstitious beliefs and practices - like soothsaying, foretelling the future, relying on "good" and "bad" omens, and so forth - all of which are condemned by the Qur'an. See also surah {2}, note [250].
i.e., the polytheists.
Cf. iii. 23 and n. 366. The phrase also occurs in iv. 44.
The word I have translated Sorcery is jibt, which may mean divination, sorcery, magic, or any false object of belief or worship, such as an idol. The word I have translated Evil (here and in ii. 256) is Taguit, which means the evil one, the one who exceeds all bounds, Satan: or it may refer to some idol worshipped by the Pagan Arabs, with whom the Jews of Madinah were intriguing against the Holy Prophet. The Jews had taken much to sorcery, magic, divination, and such superstitions.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The Jews were then seeking the aid of the Makkan Pagans against Muhammad, but far from getting any help from them, they and the Pagans were both overthrown. That was the immediate occasion, but the words have a perfectly general-a universal-meaning.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
An allusion to the Jewish belief that they occupy a privileged position in the sight of God.
The word I have translated farthing is naqir, the groove in a date stone, a thing of no value whatever. Close-fistedness and envy are among the worst forms of selfishness, and appear specially incongruous in people of power, authority, or influence, from whom is expected generosity in giving and generosity in seeing other people's prosperity or happiness.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
I.e., revelation, which - according to the Jews - has been reserved to them alone.
Such as the kingdoms of David and Solomon, for they had international fame.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
I.e., in Abraham - implying that they are faithful to his message. It is to be borne in mind that the Prophet Muhammad, too, was a direct-line descendant of Abraham, whose message is confirmed and continued in the Qur'an.
i.e., Abraham (ﷺ) or Muḥammad (ﷺ).
Cf. iv. 97, viii. 37, ix. 95, ixx. 68.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
This awesome allegory of suffering in the life to come is obviously meant to bring out the long-lasting nature of that suffering (Razi).
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The primary meaning of zill is "shade", and so the expression zill zalil could be rendered as "most shading shade" - i.e., "dense shade". However, in ancient Arabic usage, the word zill denotes also "a covering" or "a shelter" and, figuratively, "protection" (Raghib); and, finally, "a state of ease, pleasure and plenty" (cf. Lane V, 1915 f.), or simply "happiness" - and in the combination of zill zalil, "abundant happiness" (Razi) - which seems to agree best with the allegorical implications of the term "paradise".
See footnote for 2:25.
Cf. ii. 25 and n. 44.
The Garden is contrasted with the Fire: the shade is contrasted with the roasting, Evil grows with what it feeds on. So goodness and felicity grow with their practice.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
I.e., in the judicial sense, as well as in the sense of judging other people's motives, attitudes and behaviour. - The term amanah denotes anything one has been entrusted with, be it in the physical or moral sense (Razi). If one reads this ordinance in the context of the verses that precede and follow it, it becomes obvious that it relates to the message or - in view of the plural form amanat - to the truths which have been conveyed to the believers by means of the divine writ, and which they must regard as a sacred trust, to be passed on to "those who are entitled thereto" - i.e., to all mankind, for whom the message of the Qur'an has been intended. This, of course, does not preclude the ordinance from having a wider scope as well - that is, from its being applied to any material object or moral responsibility which may have been entrusted to a believer - and, in particular, to the exercise of worldly power and political sovereignty by the Muslim community or a Muslim state, to which the next verse refers.
This verse was revealed right after Mecca had peacefully surrendered to the Muslims. ’Ali ibn Abi Ṭâlib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, took the Ka’bah’s key by force from Othmân ibn Ṭalḥa, the non-Muslim keeper of the Ka’bah. The verse was revealed to the Prophet (ﷺ) inside the Ka’bah with the order to give the key back to its rightful owner. He (ﷺ) ordered Ali to return the key to the keeper immediately along with an apology. Othmân was also promised that his family would keep the key forever. The keeper was so touched by the Quranic sense of justice that he decided to accept Islam.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
I.e., from among the believers.
I.e., to the Qur'an and to the sunnah (the sayings and the practice) of the Prophet. See also verse {65} of this surah.
Read in conjunction with 3:26 , which speaks of God as "the Lord of all dominion" - and therefore the ultimate source of all moral and political authority - the above passage lays down a fundamental rule of conduct for the individual believer as well as the conceptual basis for the conduct of the Islamic state. Political power is held in trust (amanah) from God; and His will, as manifested in the ordinances comprising the Law of Islam, is the real source of all sovereignty. The stress, in this context, on "those from among you who have been entrusted with authority" makes it clear that the holders of authority (ulu 'l-amr) in an Islamic state must be Muslims.
Ulu-l-amr = those charged with authority or responsibility or decision, or the settlement of affairs. All ultimate authority rests in Allah. Prophets of Allah derive their authority from Him. As Islam makes no sharp division between sacred and secular affairs, it expects governments to be imbued with righteousness. Likewise Islam expects Muslims to respect the authority of such government for otherwise there can be no order or discipline.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
Lit., "who summon one another to the judgment [or "rule"] of the powers of evil (at-taghut): an allusion to people like those mentioned in verse {51} above, who, by their deference to what the Qur'an describes as at-taghut (see surah {2}, note [250]), nullify all the good that they could derive from guidance through revelation.
The immediate reference was to the Hypocrites (Munafiqin) of Madinah but the words are general, and the evil of hypocrisy has to be dealt with in all ages. The type of these men is what is called Mr. Facing-both-ways in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." Such men declare that they are always with the Right, but calmly intrigue with Evil and Injustice, and even make Injustice their judge if their personal interests are served in that way.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The classical commentators see in verses {60-64} a reference to the hypocrites of Medina who, at the time of the Prophet, outwardly professed to be his followers but did not really believe in his teachings. It seems to me, however, that this passage goes far beyond the possible historical occasion of its revelation, inasmuch as it touches upon an often-encountered psychological problem of faith. People who are not fully convinced that there exists a reality beyond the reach of human perception (al-ghayb, in the sense explained in surah {2}, note [3]) find it, as a rule, difficult to dissociate their ethical views from their personal predilections and morally questionable desires - with the result that they are only too often "willing to defer to what the powers of evil tell them". Although they may half-heartedly concede that some of the moral teachings based on revelation (in this case, the Qur'an) contain "certain verities", they instinctively recoil from those teachings whenever they conflict with what their own idiosyncrasies represent to them as desirable: and so they become guilty of hypocrisy in the deepest, religious connotation of this word.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
Lit., "what their hands have sent ahead": an allusion to their ambivalent attitude and the confusion which it may have created in others.
I.e., they will plead that their aim was no more than a harmonization of the Qur'anic ethics with a "humanistic" (that is, man-centred) world-view: a plea which the Qur'an implicitly rejects as being hypocritical and self-deceptive (cf. {2:11-12}). As regards the phrase "whereupon they will come to thee", see verse {41} of this surah.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
How should hypocrites be treated? To take them into your confidence would of course be foolish. To wage unrelenting war against them may destroy the hope of reforming them and purging them of their hypocrisy. The Prophet of Allah keeps clear of their wiles, but at the same time, does not hesitate to show them the error of their ways, nor to put in a word in season, to penetrate their hearts and win them back to Allah.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
The expression "by God's leave" is to be understood, in this context, as "with God's help" or "by God's grace" (Zamakhshari, Razi). As so often in the Qur'an, the sudden change, within one and the same sentence, from the pronoun "We" or "I" to "He", or from "We" to "God", is meant to impress upon the listener or reader of the Qur'an the fact that God is not a "person" but an all-embracing Power that cannot be defined or even adequately referred to within the limited range of any human language.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.
This verse lays down in an unequivocal manner the obligation of every Muslim to submit to the ordinances which the Prophet, under divine inspiration, promulgated with a view to exemplifying the message of the Qur'an and enabling the believers to apply it to actual situations. These ordinances constitute what is described as the sunnah (lit., "way") of the Prophet Muhammad, and have (whenever they are authenticated beyond any possibility of doubt) full legal force side by side with the Qur'an: see verse {80} of this surah.
The test of true Faith is not mere lip profession, but bringing all our doubts and disputes to the one in whom we profess faith. Further, when a decision is given we are not only to accept it, but find in our inmost souls no difficulty and no resistance, but on the contrary a joyful acceptance springing from the conviction of our own faith.
No translation has been selected yet. Please click on the (Compare) link at the top and enable the translations of your choice.