In The Name of Allah,
the Beneficent and the Most Merciful
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Volume 7: Surah Ale-Imran,
Verses 130-138
O you who believe! Do not
devour interest making it double and redouble, and fear Allah, that you
may be successful (130). And guard yourself against the fire which
ahs been prepared for the unbeliever (131). And obey Allah and the
Messenger, that you may be shown mercy (132). And hasten to
forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is
(as) the heavens and the earth; it is prepared for the pious ones
(133). Those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in
straitness, and those who restrain (their) anger and forgive men;
and Allah loves the doers of good (to others) (134). And those who
when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls remember
Allah and ask forgiveness for their faults and who forgives the faults but
Allah? and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done
(135). (As for), these their reward is forgiveness from their Lord,
and gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and excellent is
the reward of those who act (righteously) (136). Indeed there have
been examples before you; therefore travel in the earth and see what was
the end of the rejecters (137). This is a clear statement for men, and a
guidance and an admonition for the pious ones (138).
COMMENTARY
The verses call to the good
and restrain from the vice and evil. Yet they are not without some
connection with the preceding and following verses dealing with the battle
of Uhud. They describe some undesirable conditions and reprehensible
traits which were found in the believers at that time and which Allah was
not pleased with. It were such things which had made them vulnerable to
weakness and infirmity and led them to disobedience of Allah and His
Messenger. The verses thus focus on the events of Uhud from another
angle.
Also, the verses guide the
believers as to how they can protect themselves from these devastating
entanglements and ruinous obstacles; they invite them to piety, fear of
Allah and trust in Him and exhort them to be firm in obedience of the
Allah's Messenger. These nine verses therefore contain exhortation and
warning: they awaken in the believers longing to hasten towards good, that
is, spending in the way of Allah in ease as well as in straitness,
restraining their anger and forgiving the people's faults; all is joined
together under the heading of spreading good in the society, patience in
face of grievance and injury, and refraining from repaying evil with evil.
It is the only way of preserving the society and making it strong and
energetic. Refraining from interest is a very important concomitant of
this spending benevolently and doing good to others. That is why the
verses begin with it; it paves the way for exhortation to good-doing and
spending. We have already explained — under the verses of spending and
interest in the chapter of The Cow — that spending in all its aspects is
the cornerstone of society; it is the virtue that vitalizes the human
society with the spirit of unity; it channels its scattered resources to
achieve happiness and felicity in this life, and strengthens it to ward
off every pernicious perversion. Interest is diametrically opposed
to benevolent spending in this respect.
Allah exhorts them to these
virtues. Then He encourages them to return to their Lord again and again
even if they have committed sins and errors; they should not lose hope of
His mercy even if they have done something which is not liked by Him; they
must repent and seek pardon from Him repeatedly without indolence or
negligence.
By doing good to others and
returning to Allah in time and again, they would proceed on the straight
path of happy life; they will never go astray nor will they stop at any
dangerous point.
This Qur'anic description is the
best way for guiding man to perfect himself when he finds some defects in
his life; the finest means of curing spiritual ailments which sometimes
creep into otherwise good souls and threaten man with downfall and
ruin.
QUR'AN: O you who believe! do
not devour interest . . . that you may be shown mercy:
We have explained how
"devouring" is used for "taking ". The phrase, "making it
double and redouble ", points to overriding characteristic of
interests; interest, per se, multiplies and increases the lender's
wealth many-fold by depleting debtor's money adding it to the creditor's
capital.
The sentence, "And guard
yourselves against the fire, which has been prepared for the
unbelievers", indicates that the interest-taker is unbeliever, as has
been explained under the verses of interest in the chapter of The Cow: And
Allah does not love any ungrateful sinner (2:276).
QUR'AN: And hasten to
forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden ....
"al-Musara
'ah" (to
rush, to make haste); it is commendable in good deeds and reprehensible in
bad ones.
The Qur'an, in most of the
places, joins forgiveness with the Garden. It is because the Garden is a
place of purity and cleanliness; the impurities of sins and filth of vices
cannot enter it, nor can a person tarnished by them except after
forgiveness and removal of that filth.
The forgiveness and the
Garden described in this verse run parallel to what is mentioned in the
following two verses. The forgiveness corresponds with the verse, "And
those who when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls
. . . "; and the Garden stands face to face with the verse,
"Those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in
straitness..."
The clause, "and a
Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the
earth ". "al-Ard " (lit: width) denotes here spaciousness,
extensiveness; it is a common usage; the expression metaphorically implies
that it is spacious to the utmost, or to an extent that human imagination
cannot reach it. Also, it has another meaning, which we shall explain
under the "Traditions ".
The clause, "it is
prepared for the pious ones", paves the way for description of the
characteristics of the pious ones which is given in the coming verses. The
main idea is to describe those characteristics of the believers which are
relevant to the present situation, i.e., after the battle of Uhud (when
they had displayed, and suffered from, weakness and disobedience), because
they were expected to participate in other similar battles and undergo
similar situations, where they would be in great need of unity, harmony
and solidarity.
QUR'AN: Those who spend
(benevolently) in ease as well as in straitness, and those who restrain
(their) anger, and forgive men; and Allah loves the doers of
good (to others):
as-Sarra' and
addarra (that which pleases man or displeases him) i.e., ease and
difficulty. al-Kazm literally means to tie the mouth of water-skin
after filling it; then it was metaphorically extended to a man filled with
anger or sorrow who restrains or suppresses his emotions. al-Ghayz
(translated here as "anger") denotes stirring of feeling of revenge, when
one faces many unpleasant things; it is different from al-ghadab (generally
translated as "wrath") which refers to the intention of revenge or
punishment. That is why we say "Allah afflicted them with His wrath", but
do not say, "Allah was angry with them".
The sentence, "and Allah
loves the doers of good (to others)", indicates that the preceding
characteristics define "the doers of good", i.e., to other people.
As for doing good in relation to Allah is concerned, it is defined in the
following verse: . . . and as good news for the doers of good. Surely
those who say, Our Lord is Allah, then they continue on the right
way, they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. These are the dwellers
of the Garden, abiding therein: a reward for what they did
(46:12-14).
The doing of good, mentioned
in the verse under discussion, is delineated by the preceding words,
"Those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in straitness . . . ";
these good characteristics have no value in the eyes of Allah if they were
not done "for Him", as has been described in many preceding verses, e.g.:
The likeness of what they spend in this life of the world is as the
likeness of wind . . . (3:117).
The above reality may also
be inferred from ch. 29, vr. 69: And (as for) those who strive hard for
Us, We will most certainly guide them onto Our way; and Allah is most
surely with the doers of good. One may be said to be striving hard
only if one does something against one's desires and natural instincts. It
may happen only when a man firmly believes in matters, which demand such
sacrifice and steadfastness in face of natural desires and longings.
It requires firm faith and true belief they must say, Our Lord is Allah,
and then continue steadfastly on it and demands relevant action, i.e.,
they must strengthen this belief by striving in sincere worship of Allah,
spending benevolently in His way and living in the society with good
conduct and irreproachable behavior. It appears from it that doing good,
means performing all actions in proper way by remaining firm and steadfast
in the divine faith, in the belief in Allah.
QUR'AN: And those who when
they commit an indecency. . . and excellent is the reward of those who act
(righteously):
"al Fahishah"
(indecent,
shameful action) it is generally used for fornication. As the word,
az-zulm (injustice) has been used parallel to indecency, it should
denote all other big or small sins. Alternatively, if "indecency" is taken
to mean big sins, then "injustice" would mean small sins only. The clause,
"remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their faults", indicates
that the plea for forgiveness should emanate from remembrance of Allah —
it should not be just a verbal repetition, based on habit. The sentence,
"and who forgives the faults but Allah?", encourages man to return
to Allah, and reminds him to take refuge, and seek shelter, in Him. The
proviso, "and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have
done", is an essential part of asking forgiveness from Allah.
Persistence in sins distorts the psyche to such an extent that remembrance
of Allah does not bring any benefit to it; such behavior shows that the
person concerned gives no importance to divine command, dishonors the
sanctity of religion and behaves arrogantly against Allah; in such a
situation neither servitude can survive nor remembrance can be of any use.
For the same reason was added another proviso, i.e., "knowingly". This
phrase indicates that "injustice" (in the preceding clause) includes small
sins too; persistence in sins — whether big or small — shows disregard to
the divine command, indifference towards His authority. The phrase,
"what they have done", therefore covers big as well as small sins,
and refers to the indecency and injustice mentioned in the beginning of
the verse: but small sin is not included in indecency, therefore it is
injustice to one's soul indeed.
Their great reward is
described in the next verse, "(As for) these their reward is
forgiveness from their Lord, and gardens . . ." It is the same things
which the believers are exhorted to hasten to: "And hasten to
forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden. . ." Looking at this
beginning and end, it may be seen clearly that they have been enjoined to
hasten to spending benevolently, restraining their anger, forgiving the
people and asking forgiveness for their faults.
QUR'AN: Indeed there have
been examples before you; therefore travel in the earth and see what was
the end of the rejecters:
"as-Sunan" is plural
of as-sunnah (the way or tradition followed by the society). The
believers have been told to travel in the earth, in order that they could
learn lessons from archeological remains of ancient people and bygone
generations. They should ponder about those pharaohs and nimrods, those
kings and emperors - where did all of them go to? Their towering palaces,
their accumulated treasures, their gilded thrones and their fully-equipped
armies - nothing could avail them in the least; now they are just a few
names to serve as examples and lesson for those who meditate, and as
tourist attraction for the carefree and oblivious persons.
As for protecting their
monuments, preserving their statues and endeavoring to find out how great
they were in their times and how magnificent their splendor was in that
era, it is a matter which the Qur'an does not care about. It is nothing
but idolatry in a new disguise. We shall explain this topic, God willing,
in a separate discourse in which we shall analyze the meaning of
idolatry.
QUR'AN: This is a clear
statement. . . for the pious ones:
The classification looks at
the degrees of its effect. It is just a clear statement, a faithfully
transmitted message for some people, while for others it is an admonition
and guidance.
TRADITIONS
The Prophet was asked about
the words, a Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and
the earth: "If the extensiveness of the Garden is as the heavens and
the earth. then where will the Fire be?" He (s.a.w.a.) said: "Glory be to
Allah! When the day comes, where does the night go?" (Majma'u
'I-bayan)
The author
says:
as-Suyuti has narrated in, ad-Durru 'I-manthur, from
at-Tanukhi that (the Byzantine Emperor) Heraclius had written to
the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) a letter in which, inter alia, he
had asked about this verse, and the Prophet had replied it as described
above. He has also narrated through another chain from Abu Hurayrah that
someone asked the Prophet this question and he replied as
above.
The above reply has been
interpreted as follows: The Fire is in the Knowledge of Allah as night
remains in the Knowledge of Allah when day comes.
COMMENT: If it means that the Fire
is not away from the Divine Knowledge, then it does not solve the problem,
because the question was about the place of the Fire, not about the
Knowledge of Allah. If, on the other hand, it means that possibly there
could be another place for the Fire beyond the heavens and the earth, then
it might be tenable, but then the comparison of the Garden and the Fire
with day and night would be out of place — because the night does not go
out of the heavens and the earth when the day comes. Obviously this
interpretation does not offer an acceptable explanation of the
hadith.
I believe that the tradition
points to another theme: The hereafter (with all its felicity and
infelicity) is similar to this world with all its happiness and sorrow.
Likewise, the man in the hereafter will be the same man who was in this
world — as appears from the Qur'an and traditions. Nevertheless, the
system governing the hereafter will be different from the ones permeating
this world. The hereafter is the place of eternity and infinity, while
this world is transitory and evanescent. That is why man would eat and
drink, marry and enjoy all comforts of the Garden but would not undergo
the consequences attendant to those enjoyments in this world. In the same
way, man would burn in the fire of the Hell and suffer pain and agony in
food and drink, abode and companions, yet would not be affected by it in
the way he would have been in this life. In the hereafter, he would live
eternal life without being affected by middle or old age or becoming
senile or decrepit. It is because these effects and concomitants are
products of the system of this world; they are not essential parts of
every system - they would not be found in the next world's system. It is
this world, not the hereafter, which is the place of conflict and
struggle, contrast and contradiction.
Now ponder on our own
observation of the events. When we look at current happenings, we cannot
see the previous events; if we see the night, then the day is absent from
us. But nothing is absent from Allah; past, present and future - all is
present before Allah, and there is no contrast or contradiction between
them on that level. It means that the day and the night and their
concomitant events contradict and cancel each other when they are governed
by material system and movement. But when the same day and night and their
concomitants are put under another system, there remains no contrast and
contradiction among them. It may be inferred from the words of Allah:
Have you not considered (the work of) your Lord, how He extends the
shade? And if He had pleased He would certainly have made it stationary;
then We have made the sun an indication of it; Then We take it to
Ourselves, taking little by little (25:45-46).
If it is possible in
contradictory things like day and night, it may equally be possible for
the heavens and the earth to house the Garden equal in size to themselves
and then accommodate another thing like the Hell of the same size; it will
be possible, not under this worldly system, but according to the system
prevailing in the hereafter. There may be found similar expressions in
traditions. For example: "Verily grave is an orchard from the orchards of
the Garden, or a pit from the pits of the Fire." Or, "The grave of a
believer is widened for him to the extent of his sight."
In the same way should be
explained these words of the Prophet. Otherwise, if it is taken to mean
that Allah is not oblivious of the night when He knows the day, it would
not dovetail with the question. Likewise, if it were to mean that
the night exists somewhere else when the day comes, it would invite
another objection: The night cannot co-exist with the day at any place;
and if we look at its reality then the night is a conic shade of the earth
resulting from the sunlight — the light and shade rotating around the
earth. Thus the day and the night are continuously revolving around the
earth without one merging into, or canceling, the other.
There are other traditions
of similar style. For example, it has been narrated about the Qur'anic
words: That Allah may separate the impure from the pure. . . (8:37): "When
the sun sets, where does this light, spread on the earth, go?" We shall
explain it later on.
It has been narrated in,
ad-Durru'l-manthur, about the words: and those who restrain
(their) anger and forgive men: al-Bayhaqi has narrated from
'Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) that a slave girl was pouring water on him in
preparation for prayer. The pitcher fell from her hand on his face
contusing it. He raised his head (looking) at her. She said: "Verily
Allah says: 'and those who restrain (their) anger.' " He said: "I
have restrained my anger. " She recited: "and forgive men." He said:
"Allah has forgiven you." She recited: "and Allah loves doers of good
(to others)." He said: "Go, you are free."
The author
says: It is
narrated also from the Shi'i chains. The tradition obviously shows that
the Imam (a.s.) interprets "good-doing" as something more than the
preceding two virtues, and in fact it is so in its general terms, although
the above virtues are concomitants of good-doing, and possibly they may be
used for defining the "good-doing".
There are very numerous
traditions on good manners and virtuous conduct, i.e., spending
benevolently, restraining anger and forgiving faults, narrated from the
Prophet and the Imams of the Ahlu 'l-bayt (a.s.); we shall quote
them later in a more appropriate place.
It is narrated from 'Abdu
'r-Rahman ibn Ghanm ad-Dawsi that the verse, And those who when they
commit an indecency . . ., was revealed about Bahlul, the
grave-digger. He used to dig graves (to steal shrouds). Once he dug the
grave of a girl from the Ansar, took out her body and removed her
shroud. She was beautiful and of fair complexion; so the Satan tempted him
and he committed fornication with her. Then he felt remorse and came to
the Prophet, but he turned him out. Then the people dissociated from him;
and he too secluded himself from others, spending his time in worship and
repentance in some mountains of Medina - until Allah accepted his
repentance and revealed this verse about him. (al-Majalis,
as.-Saduq)
The author
says: It is
a detailed tradition, which we have abridged here. If it is a correct
hadith, and then it would be a separate cause for the verse's revelation
apart from the general reason, which covers all the verses of the story of
Uhud.
al-Baqir (a.s.) said
concerning the words, and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have
done: "Persistence is that a sinner commits a sin and does not ask Allah
for forgiveness nor does he make up his mind to repent - so that is
persistence." (at- Tafsir, al-'Ayyashi )
Ahmad has narrated from the
Prophet that he said: "Iblis said: 'O Lord, by Thy Honor! I shall not
cease leading children of Adam astray as long as their souls shall remain
within their bodies.' Allah then said: 'By My Honor! I shall go on
forgiving them as long as they ask Me for forgiveness.' " (ad-Durru
'I-manthur )
as-Sadiq (a.s.) said: "There
is no small (sin) with persistence, and there is no big (sin) after
seeking (Allah's) forgiveness." (al-Kafi)
The same Imam (a.s.) said,
inter alia, in a hadith: " . . . and there is in the Book of Allah
a deliverance from ruin, an insight from blindness, and a healing for what
is in the breasts; (found) in what Allah has enjoined you to seek (His)
forgiveness and to repent. Allah says: 'And those who when they commit
an indecency or do injustice to their souls remember Allah and ask
forgiveness for their faults - and who forgives the faults but Allah? —
and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done.' And He says:
'And whoever does evil or acts unjustly to his soul, then asks forgiveness
of Allah, he shall find Allah Forgiving, Merciful'
(4:110). So this is what Allah has enjoined about asking
(His) forgiveness, and has put with it the condition of repentance and
refraining from what Allah has forbidden. (It is) because He says: 'To
Him do ascend the good words and the good deed lifts them up'
(35:10). This verse implies that the plea of forgiveness
is not lifted up to Allah except by good deed and repentance. "
(at-Tafsir, al-'Ayyashi)
The author
says: The
Imam (a.s.) has inferred abstinence from sin and not repeating it after
repentance from the word, do not knowingly persist; likewise the fact,
that repentance and plea of forgiveness require good deed afterwards, has
been inferred from the generality of "good words" in the verse,
To Him do ascend the good words.
as-Sadiq (a.s.) said:
"When the verse, And those who when they commit an indecency...,
was revealed, Iblis ascended a mountain in Mecca, Thawr by name, and
screamed very loudly to his afreets. They all gathered near him and
said: 'O our leader, why have you called us?' He said: 'This verse has
been revealed; now who would deal with it?' An afreet from among
the satans stood up and said: 'I will see to it with such and such means.'
(The Iblis) said: 'You cannot do it.' Then another (afreet) stood
up and said something similar (to the first one) and (Iblis)
said:
'You are not for it.' Then
the Whispering Slinking (satan) said: 'I shall deal with it. (Iblis) said:
'By what means?' He said: 'I shall promise them and tempt them until they
would commit a sin; and when they have committed it, I would make them
oblivious of asking for forgiveness.' (Iblis) said: 'You are (fit) for
it.' Then he entrusted this task to him up to the Day of Resurrection."
(al-Majalis, as-Saduq)
The author
says: This
tradition has also been narrated through Sunni chains.
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