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Cf. 3:140 , where the verb 'alama has been rendered in the same way.
Lit., "your announcements" - i.e., all assertions relating to belief. The "test" consists in one's readiness to undergo any sacrifice - and, since most of this surah deals with the problem of a just war (Jihad) in God's cause - even the sacrifice of one's life.
Cf. xxxiv. 21, and n. 3821. The test and trial is for our own psychological development, to help in the exercise of such choice as has been given to us in our free-will. Cf. also iii. 154, and n. 467.
Akhbar: the things reported of you; reputation for courage and constancy, which has to be brought to the test of facts and experience. In an epigram of Tacitus we are told of a Roman Emperor that he would have been considered in every way to have been worthy of being a ruler if only he had never ruled! So in life people may think us courageous, true, noble, and self-sacrificing; and we may consider ourselves as possessing all such virtues; but it is actual experience that will bring them to the test.
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For the above rendering of shaqqu, see note [16] on 8:13 . The "cutting oneself off" from the Apostle signifies, of course, a rejection of his message, and, in this particular context, a refusal to follow the Qur'anic call to fight in a just cause, i.e., in defence of the Faith or of freedom (see note [167] on 2:190 ).
Cf. verse 25 above, and verse 34 below: in verse 25 was shown the source of the evil. viz., yielding to the deceptions of Satan; in this verse are shown the proximate consequences of such yielding to evil, viz., failure of all we do; and in verse 34 below are shown the eternal consequences, viz., our deprivation of Allah's Grace and Mercy.
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See last note.
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I.e., even if the fortunes of war go against them, the consciousness of having fought in the cause of truth and justice is bound to enhance the inner strength of the believers and, thus, to become a source of their future greatness: cf. 3:139 .
To those who are trying to root out evil, and have authority to do so, the question is not of peace or conflict, but of whether Good or Evil is to prevail. They must remember that Good must ultimately prevail, and Allah's help is with those who, as far as men can, are trying to further the universal Plan. Cf. n. 4847 to verse 22 above.
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Although the life of this world is "but a play and a passing delight", God does not want to deprive the believers of its rightful enjoyment: and so He expects them to sacrifice only a small part of their possessions in His cause. This passage evidently foreshadows the imposition of the obligatory annual tax called zakah ("the purifying dues"), amounting to about 22 percent of a Muslims's income and property, as pointed out by most of the classical commentators in connection with the above verse (hence my interpolation). The proceeds of this tax are to be utilized in what the Qur'an describes as "the cause [lit., "way"] of God", i.e., for the defence and propagation of the Faith and the welfare of the community; and its spiritual purpose is the "purification" of a Muslim's possessions from the blemish of greed and selfishness. (It is to be noted that the payment of zakah was made obligatory at the very beginning of the Medina period, that is, at approximately the same time as the revelation of the present surah.)
Cf. vi. 32, and n. 855; and xxix. 64, and n. 3497. Amusement and play are not bad things in themselves. As preparations for the more serious life, they have their value. But if we concentrate on them, and neglect the business of life, we cannot prosper. So we must use our life in this world as a preparation for the next life.
Complete self-sacrifice, if voluntarily offered, has a meaning: it means that the person's devotion is exclusively and completely for the Cause. But no law or rule can demand it. And a mere offer to kill yourself has no meaning. You should be ready to take risks to your life in fighting for the Cause, but you should aim at life, not death. If you live, you should be ready to place your substance and your acquisitions at the disposal of the Cause. But it is not reasonable to pauperise yourself and become a hanger-on for the Cause. Moreover, the inborn tendency to self-preservation in an average man would lead to concealment and niggardliness if all were asked for the Cause, by Law, and there would further be a feeling of bitterness and rebellion.
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Sc., "to divest yourselves of all your possessions".
For my rendering of adghan as "moral failings", see note [37]. In the present context. this term has more or less the same meaning as the term fujur in 91:8 . The implication is that since "man has been created weak" ( 4:28 ), the imposition of too great a burden on the believers would be self-defeating inasmuch as it might result not in an increase of faith but, rather, in its diminution. This passage illustrates the supreme realism of the Qur'an, which takes into account human nature as it is, with all its God-willed complexity and its inner contradictions, and does not therefore, postulate a priori an impossible ideal as a norm of human behaviour. (Cf. 91:8 , which speaks of man's personality as "imbued with moral failings as well as consciousness of God" - a phrase which is explained in the corresponding note [6].)
Cf. iii. 180.
Cf. above, verse 29. Rancour or ill-feeling, or any desire but that of devotion, should never be given a handle in a wise Law.
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Here the case of the special devotee and of the average man with his human foibles are distinguished. Stinginess is not a virtue: it hurts more the finer-nature of the individual practising it that it hurts the Cause. Allah is free of all wants and independent of any need that we can meet. His Cause is similarly independent of human aid. But it uses human agency for our own human advancement. The need to be able to serve Allah's cause is ours. We are the needy beggars who should claim the privilege before the Lord of Bounties unbounded.
If we desert the Cause, the Cause will not fail. Better men than we will uphold the flag. But we should fall, and others will take our place, who are not so timid, half- hearted, or stingy. In Wordsworth's words, "High Heaven rejects the lore of nicely calculated less or more."
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