Al Islam

a. 1:1. (close)

3439. Ilaf, being noun-infinitive from Alafa, means, sticking or making one stick to a thing; loving and making one love a person or thing; providing a person with a thing; a covenant or an obligation involving responsibility for safety; protection (Lane). (close)

3440. The word Quraish being derived from the root-word Qarasha which means, he collected it from here and there and attached one part of it to another (Aqrab), the Quraish tribe were so called because one of their ancestors, Qusayy ibn Kilab bin Nadr, had prevailed upon them to migrate from all parts of Arabia where they had lived a nomadic life, and to settle in Mecca. Of Banu Kananah, only the progeny of Nadr settled in Mecca and as they were a small group, they were called Quraish which means, a small group gathered from here and there. (close)

3441. As lam is a particle and in Arabic a new sentence never begins with a particle, a sentence or clause or expression, therefore, must be taken as understood before this verse. The verse prefixed by the understood expression may read something like this: 'Dost thou wonder, O Muhammad, at God’s great favour upon the Quraish that He has created in their hearts love for journey in winter and summer.' The Divine favour consisted in the fact that by taking trade caravans in winter to Yemen and in summer to Syria and Palestine, the Quraish brought necessities of life to Mecca. By this trading activity, they developed a certain prestige, added to the prosperity of their town and also became acquainted with the prophecies about the appearance of a great Prophet in Arabia by coming into contact with the Jews of Yemen and the Christians of Syria who knew those prophecies. The Quraish were so rooted in the soil and had such great attachment for the Ka‘bah that they would rather starve than leave it even temporarily. It was by the exhortation of Hashim, the Holy Prophet’s great grandfather, that they took to this calling. Thus it constituted a great Divine favour upon them that by their journeys to these places they, besides other advantages accruing from these journeys, were being prepared to accept the Holy Prophet whose appearance was expected to take place very soon. There is another explanation of the verses which fits in, perhaps more appropriately, with the context. The explanation is something like this: 'O Muhammad! thy Lord destroyed the Owners of the Elephant in order to attach the hearts of the Quraish to their journeying freely in winter and summer, which constituted a great Divine favour upon them.' It seems to be very plausible because if Abrahah had not been destroyed, the Quraish would not have loved journeying to these places and their journeys would not have been safe. The destruction of Abrahah thus, besides opening the way for trade-journeys for the Quraish, made the Ka‘bah all the more sacred in the eyes of the Arabs for whom it was already a place of pilgrimage. This in turn, gave added impetus to the trade of the Quraish. The verse may also mean, 'Thy Lord destroyed the Owners of the Elephant for the protection of the Quraish.' (close)

a. 3:97; 27:92. (close)

3442. The Quraish were granted security from fear, while all around them raged fear and insecurity. Besides, they were provided, round the year, with every kind of fruit and food. All this was not due to mere chance. It was in pursuance of a Divine plan and in fulfilment of a prophecy made by the Patriarch Abrahahm 2500 years ago (2:127, 130 & 14:36, 38). The verse drives home to the disbelieving Quraish their guilt of ingratitude by telling them that they had taken to the worship of gods made of wood and stone in preference to the Gracious and Merciful God Who had bestowed great favours upon them and had granted them security against fear and hunger. (close)