It
is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the
West, but righteousness is the one who believes in Allah and the last day
and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives away wealth out of
love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the
wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the
captives, and keeps up prayer and pays the zakat, and the
performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in
distress and affliction and in time of conflict ‑ these are they who are
true and these are they who are the pious (177).
COMMENTARY
It is said that when the
qiblah was changed from Baytu 'lMaqdis to the Ka'bah, there
ensued a long drawn out controversy and conflict in the public. It was
then that this verse was revealed.
QUR’AN: It is not
righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West:
al‑Birr
(= righteousness); al‑barr (= righteous), it is a perpetual
adjective. Qibal (= towards, in the direction of),
al-Qiblah (= a certain direction) is derived from it. Dhu
'l‑qurba (= relative); al‑yatama is plural of al‑yatim
(= orphan; he who has lost his father); al‑masakin
is plural of al‑miskin (miserably poor, one who suffers
a worse condition than al‑faqir =poor). Ibnu 's‑sabil (= one
stranded in journey); ar‑riqab is plural of ar‑raqabah
(=neck; it refers to slave). al‑Ba’sa' is
a masdar like al‑bu's, both having the same meaning:
hardship, poverty. A-Darra’ too is a masdar like ad‑darr
and both mean affliction with injury or loss, for
example, when a man is afflicted with a disease, injury, or loss of
property or child. al‑Ba's (= intensity of war).
QUR’AN: but
righteousness is the one who believes in Allah:
Instead of
defining righteousness, the verse turns to describing the righteous ones;
thus it introduces the people in the light of their attributes. In this
way, it points to the fact that abstract ideals and abstruse ideas have no
value in Islam unless they appear in concrete shape in the character of a
man. It is a well‑known style of the Qur’an that it explains and defines a
condition and a rank by introducing the people having that rank and
condition; it is never satisfied with mere theoretical explanations of
good and bad, virtue and vice.
The words,
"the one who believes in Allah and the last day…” define the righteous
ones, and explain their real state. The verse introduces them with all
three aspects of belief, deeds and morals, in three stages. The first
stage begins with the words, "the one who believes in Allah;" the second
is the sentence, "these are they who are true;" and the third is, "and
these are they who are the pious." Allah begins the first stage, saying:
"the one who believes in Allah and the last day and the angels and the
Book and the prophets". It is a comprehensive description of all the true
gnosis which Allah wants His servants to believe in. The belief referred
to in this verse is the perfect belief which can never fail to produce its
effect. When a believer attains to this stage of faith, his heart is never
assailed by any doubt or confusion; he does not take a dim view of
whatever befalls him, nor is he offended if afflicted with a misfortune.
Likewise, his morals and actions are safe from adverse influences. This
interpretation is further supported by the phrase, "these are they who are
true". Truth, in this verse, is general and unconditional; it is not
restricted to any condition of man's heart or any activity of his limbs.
It means, they are real believers, true in their belief; as Allah says:
But no! by your Lord! they do not believe until they make you a judge
of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do
not find any straitness in their hearts as to what you have decided and
submit with total submission (4:65). Thus, their condition fits the
fourth stage of the belief, described under the verse: When his Lord
said to him, Submit (yourself), he said: "I submit myself to the
Lord of the worlds" (2:131).
After
description of belief, Allah mentions some of their deeds: "and gives away
wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the
needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for (the emancipation of) the
captives, and keeps up prayer and pays the zakat". Here
their prayer is mentioned, and it concerns the Divine Worship. Allah
says: . . . surely prayer keeps (one) away from indecency and
evil ... (29:45); also, He says: and keep up prayer for My
remembrance (20:14). It is followed by mention of zakat; and it
is a financial obligation promulgated for economic good of the society.
And before it all, the verse refers to their giving away wealth to various
groups; this habit of theirs spreads the good and enlarges the circle of
non‑obligatory munificence, in order that the need of the poor may be
fulfilled and their condition improved.
Lastly, the
verse cites some of their excellent moral characteristics: "and the
performers of their promise when they make a promise, and the patient in
distress and affliction and in time of conflict". al‑Ahd (= to
promise; to commit oneself to something). The verse mentions "their
promise” unconditionally. Yet, it does not cover the belief and the
resulting obligation of following the laws of the shari’ah (as some
people have said). Why? Because on going further we find the proviso,
"when they make a promise"; and clearly acceptance of true faith and
sub mission to its concomitants is an unconditional obligation; and
is obligatory on all the people at all the times. It does not depend on
one's commitment. However, the “promise", by its generality, covers every
commitment made by man. For example, when he says: I'll surely do it; or,
I'll never do it. It includes every deal made in business transactions,
every word spoken in social and family circles.
Patience is
steadfastness in face of hardship, be it a series of benumbing misfortunes
or a fight against formidable adversaries.
These two
excellent virtues ‑ fulfillment of promise and patience ‑ do not cover all
the necessary virtues; but when they are found somewhere, the other
virtues invariably always follow suit. One of these two virtues (patience
in hardships) has a passive quality, while the other (fulfilling the
promise) has an active role. By mentioning them, Allah in effect says that
when they say something they surely proceed to do it, and do not withdraw
from it even if they have to face difficulties.
The second
stage of introduction is contained in the phrase, "these are they who are
true". Truth is a comprehensive virtue, encompassing all attributes of
knowledge and action. Truth is an inseparable concomitant of all basic
virtues ‑ continence, bravery, wisdom and justice ‑ and of their
branches.. Man's life is made up of his belief, words and actions. When he
is true, all the three aspects conform to each other. He does not do
except what he says, and does not say except that which he believes.
Man by
instinct accepts the right and truth; and even if he pretends otherwise,
he submits to it in his heart. When he believes in the right truthfully,
his word conforms with his belief, and his action with his word. It is
then that he reaches the perfection in all three aspects of belief,
morality and deeds. His faith becomes pure, his character virtuous and his
deeds good. Allah says: O You who believe! Fear Allah and be with the
true ones (9:119). The restrictive style, "these are they who are
true", puts emphasis on the description of the righteous. It means ‑ and
Allah knows better ‑ that if you want to find the true ones, then these
are the righteous.
The third
and final stage of their introduction is the phrase, "and these are they
who are the pious": This restrictive style looks at the level of
perfection. Piety cannot be complete and perfect, unless righteousness and
truth have attained their completion and perfection.
The
attributes ascribed here to the righteous are the same which Allah has
described in other places. Allah says: Surely the righteous shall drink
of a cup the admixture of which is camphor. A fountain from which the
servants of Allah shall drink; they shall make it to flow a (goodly)
flowing forth. They fulfill vows and fear a day the evil of which shall
be spreading far and wide. And they give food out of love for Him to the
poor and the orphan and the captive. We only feed you for Allah's sake; we
desire from you neither reward nor thanks; surely do we fear from our Lord
a stern, distressful day. Therefore Allah will guard them from the evil of
that day and cause them to meet with radiance and happiness; and reward
them, because they were patient, with garden and silk (76:5‑12). These
verses, about some righteous personalities, describe their attributes of
belief in Allah and the last day, their spending for the sake of Allah,
their fulfilling the vows and their patience. Again, Allah says:
Nay! Most surely the record of the righteous shall be in the 'Illiyyin.
And what will make you know, what the 'Illiyyin is? It is a written book;
see it those who are near (to Allah). Most surely the
righteous shall be in bliss, on thrones, they shall gaze. You will
recognize in their faces the radiance of bliss. They 3re made to
quaff of a pure drink that is sealed. The sealing of it is (with)
musk; and for that let the aspirers aspire. And the admixture of it is
a water of Tasnim, a fountain from which drink they who are drawn nearer
(to Allah) (83:18 ‑28).
If you
meditate on these verses in conjunction with those quoted above, you will
see the reality of their attributes and their final destination. These
verses praise the righteous that they are servants of Allah, and are drawn
near to Him. Now, Allah describes His servants in these words: Surely
as regards My servants, thou hast no authority over them (15:42);
and He says about those drawn near to Him: And the foremost are the
foremost; these are they who are drawn near (to Allah), in the
gardens of bliss (56:10‑12).
It is now
clear that the righteous are the foremost in this world in reaching nearer
to Allah, as they are foremost in the next world in attaining to the
bounties of the garden.
If you
continue looking at the condition of the righteous in the light of these
verses you will unearth many hidden nuggets of spiritual reality.
The above
discourse shows that the righteous are in the highest, that is, the
fourth, stage of belief, as we have explained earlier. Allah says:
Those who believe and do not mix their faith with iniquity, those are
they who have the security and they are those who go aright
(6:82).
QUR’AN: and the
patient in distress:
The word
"patient" in the Arabic text is in accusative case while the other
attributes are in indicative. This change has been effected to point out
its excellence, to show its importance.
Also, it
has been said that when a speech becomes a bit lengthy, several adjectives
following each other, then the Arabs break the monotony by interposing
negatives between the positives, or by exchanging accusative and
indicative cases.
TRADITIONS
The Prophet
said: "Whosoever acted in accordance with this verse, he surely perfected
(his) faith."
The
author says: Its reason is clear from the explanation written above.
az‑Zajjaj and al‑Farra' are reported to have said: "This verse is reserved
for the sinless prophets, because nobody, except the prophets,, can
perform these things as they should be."
But this
comment shows that they had not pondered on it properly. They seem
confused regarding spiritual ranks. The verses of the Chapter of the Man
(76:5‑12) quoted above, were revealed about the family members of the
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.); Allah in those verses has named them "the
righteous", although they were not prophets.
Of course,
the rank of the righteous is very high, and their position is of very
great importance, Allah praises the men of understanding saying that they:
remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and
reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Then He quotes
their prayer, which shows that their highest aspiration was that their
Lord should join them to the righteous: and make us die with the
righteous (3:190‑3).
al‑Hakim
at‑Tirmidhi narrates from Abu ‘Amir ash‑Sha'bi that he said: "I said: 'O
Messenger of Allah! What is the completion of righteousness?' He
said: 'That you should do in private what you do in public."' (ad‑Durru
l‑manthur)
Abu Ja'far
and Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said: "The near of kin are the relatives of the
Prophet." (Majma'u 'l‑bayan)
The
author says: It is an application of this verse, keeping in view the
verses of near relatives (42:23).
as‑Sadiq
(a.s.) said: "al‑Faqir (poor) is he who does not ask from the
people; and al‑miskin is of more straitened circumstances than the
"poor"; and al‑ba'is is the most wretched of all."
(al‑Kafi)
Abu Ja'far
(a.s.) said: "The wayfarer is the one stranded in the way." (Maima’u
l‑bayan)
as‑Sadiq
(a.s.) was asked about an al‑mukatib* who, after making a partial
payment was unable to pay (the balance of the stipulated money of) his
al‑mukatabah
He (a.s.)
said. "It will be paid on his behalf from the money of as‑sadaqah (=
charity money; also zakat), because Allah, the Mighty, the
Great, says: and for (the emancipation of) the captives."
(at‑Tahdhib)
The same
Imam said about the words of Allah, and the patient in distress and
affliction: "In hunger, and thirst and fear." And he (a.s.) said about
the word, and in time of conflict: "In the fighting."
(at‑Tafsir, al‑Qummi)