Al Islam

a. 15:86; 38:28; 44:39. (close)

1875A. When the universe has not been created as a mere pastime and sport and a little reflection over its creation reveals the great wisdom underlying its creation, the creation of man, who is its axis and centre, must also have been designed to serve a grand and sublime object. The verse implies that man is God’s vicegerent on earth and that he has been created to serve as a mirror to reflect in his person the beautiful image of his Creator (2:31). (close)

a. 15:86; 38:28; 44:39. (close)

2357. Commentary:

The verse means to say that when the universe has not been created as a mere pastime and sport and a little reflection over its creation reveals the great wisdom underlying it, the creation of man who is its axis and centre must also have been designed to serve a grand and sublime object. At another place the Quran says that man is God’s vicegerent on earth and he has been created to serve as a mirror to reflect the beautiful image of his Creator (2:31). (close)

1876. It is inconsistent with the dignity, majesty and wisdom of God that He should have created this universe without a great object and thus should have done a purposeless thing. (close)

2358. Important Words:

لـھواً (pastime) is here taken by some (in the dialect of Yemen) to mean a 'son' or 'wife'. Taken in this sense of the word, the verse would mean, "If We had wished to take a son or wife, We should have made them of Our kind and not of human species." The verse constitutes an effective argument against the sonship of Jesus. The particle ان means both 'if' and 'not,' and the clause ان کنا فاعلین may mean (a) if We would do this; (b) We would not do this.

Commentary:

The substance of the verse is that it is inconsistent with the Dignity and Majesty of God that He should have created this universe without a great object. If its creation had not been intended to serve a great and sublime purpose, God would not have sent His messengers and prophets and would not have revealed His will to them. The very object of the creation of man demanded that when spiritual darkness spreads over the world, God should have sent a Messenger "to bring back the erring flock into the fold of the Master." It is implicit in the belief in the existence of God that the universe should have been created to serve a great and noble purpose. (close)

a. 17:82; 34:49, 50. (close)

1876A. Damagha-hu means, he broke his head so that the wound reached his brain; he overcame him (Lane). (close)

a. 17:82; 34:50. (close)

2359. Important Words:

نقذف (We hurl) is derived from قذف. They say قذفه i.e. he cast an accusation at him; he aspersed or he reviled; defamed or upbraided him; he cast or threw it. قذف بقوله means, he spoke without thinking or deliberation. یقذفون بالغیب means, they utter conjecture; they guess. یقذف بالحق علی الباطل means, God utters truth or hurls truth at falsehood (Lane & Aqrab).

یدمغه (breaks its head). دمغه means, he broke or struck his head so that the wound or stroke reached to the دماغ i.e. brain (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Truth must prevail in the world and falsehood is never allowed to succeed. It seems to prosper for a little while but ultimately it perishes. This irrefutable fact is writ large on the history of all religions. The verse purports to say that if the universe had been created without a great object, God would not have revealed Himself to man and Divine Messengers would not have appeared through whom truth is established in the world. It also embodies a prophecy that as a result of the Holy Prophet’s advent idolatry will disappear from Arabia never to return and truth will prosper and prevail and the worship and Unity of God will become firmly established in the land. (close)

b. 7:207; 41:39. (close)

b. 7:207; 41:39. (close)

2360. Important Words:

یستحسرون (they weary) is derived from حسر (hasira) or استحسر meaning, he was or became weary and tired. حسر الدابة means, the beast was fatigued so that it was left to remain where it was. حسر البصر means, the eye became weak and fatigued from looking too long. حسیر means, tired, fatigued or jaded by much travel; grieving or regretting most intensely (Lane & Aqrab). See also 17:30.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that because whatever is in the heavens and the earth belongs to God, it is inconceivable that He should have allowed His servants to suffer spiritual death for lack of heavenly guidance. No sane person would destroy his own handiwork, much less God, the Source of all wisdom. This is why from time immemorial He has been sending His Messengers to guide man to truth.

The verse further gives some marks of the true servants of God. They are not tired of serving God and humanity. They do not accept a prophet under a momentary impulse and then lose heart under the stress of hardships and privations. Once they accept the truth, they stick to it through thick and thin. Their zeal and enthusiasm for the service of truth never flag or fail. They never weary of serving God’s creatures and glorifying Him. On the contrary, the worship of God is a source of delight for them and a means of relief from worries and anxieties for them (13:29). "The cheer of my eyes is in Prayer," the Holy Prophet is reported to have said (Nasa’i). (close)

1877. The verse gives some marks of the true servants of God. They are not tired of serving God and humanity. They do not accept a Divine Prophet under a momentary impulse and then under the stress of hardships and privations lose heart. Once they accept the truth, they stick to it through thick and thin. Their zeal and enthusiasm for the service of truth never flag or fail. Worship of God is a source of delight to them and a means of relief from worries and anxieties (13:29). 'The cheer of my eyes is in Prayer,' the Holy Prophet is reported to have said (Nasa’i). (close)

2361. Important Words:

یفترون (they flag) is derived from فتر. They say فتر الشیء i.e. the thing remitted or became still after vehemence or it became gentle after vehemence. فتر من عمله means, he flagged or became remiss in his work. فتر الحر means, the heat abated or flagged after being intense and vehement. فتر الوحی means, the revelation stopped or its coming discontinued (Lane & Aqrab). See also 5:20. (close)

1878. Creating or raising the dead to life is the exclusive attribute and prerogative of God. Neither Jesus nor any other person can share this attribute with Him. The reference to this attribute is intended to smash the divinity of Jesus which, in particular, forms the subject-matter of these verses. (close)

2362. Commentary:

Creating or raising the dead to life is the exclusive attribute and prerogative of God. Neither Jesus nor any other person can share in this Divine attribute. The reference to this attribute is intended to smash the divinity of Jesus which, in particular, forms the subject matter of these verses. (close)

1879. The verse constitutes an effective and conclusive argument against polytheism. Even atheists cannot deny that perfect order pervades and permeates the entire universe. This order points to the fact that one uniform law governs it; and the uniformity of laws proves the Unity of the Maker and Controller of the universe. If there had been more than one God, then more than one law would have governed the universe—because for a god it is necessary to create the universe with his own special laws—and thus disorder and confusion would have been the inevitable result and the whole universe would have gone to pieces. It is, therefore, manifestly absurd to say that three gods, equally perfect in all respects are jointly the creators and controllers of the universe. (close)

2363. Commentary:

The verse constitutes a most effective and conclusive argument against polytheism. Even atheists cannot deny that perfect order pervades and permeates the whole universe. This order points to the fact that one uniform law governs it, and the unity of laws proves the Unity of the Maker and Controller of the universe. If there had been more than one God, then more than one law would have governed the universe because for a god it is necessary to create a universe with its own laws; and thus disorder and confusion would have been the inevitable result and the whole universe would have gone to pieces. Moreover, the very word اله (meaning a Being Who is the object of our utmost love, obedience and submission and Who possesses perfect powers and attributes) shows that such a Perfect Being can only be one at one time. It is manifestly absurd to say that three gods, equally perfect in all respects, are jointly the creators and controllers of the universe. The fact of the three gods doing, and should do, the same thing which One Perfect God can implies their imperfection and an imperfect being cannot be our اله (One Who is worthy of our adoration). (close)

1880. The verse points to the perfection and completeness of the order in the universe and, therefore, to the perfection of its Author and Controller and hence to His Unity. It also signifies that God’s authority is supreme while all other beings and things are subject to His authority. This constitutes another argument against polytheism. (close)

2364. Commentary:

The verse means to say that as God’s works are perfect and absolutely free from defect or blemish, therefore He must be faultless and being the One and undisputed Master and Controller of the whole universe He is answerable before nobody. The verse points to the perfection and completeness of the order in the universe and therefore to the perfection of its Author and Controller and hence to His Unity. It continues the argument begun in the previous verse. It also signifies that God’s authority is supreme while all other beings and things are subject to His authority. This constitutes another argument against polytheism. (close)

a. 18:16; 23:118; 27:65. (close)

1880A. The Qur’an is a source of honour and dignity for previous Prophets also, because it clears them of the charges of which their people falsely accused them. (close)

a. 18:16; 23:118; 27:65. (close)

2365. Commentary:

The verse gives another argument about the Unity of God. The Holy Prophet here is enjoined to ask his people to go through the Quran and other revealed Scriptures and then tell him whether they find in them any deferential reference to polytheism or to permission to worship other gods besides the One True God. "This is the constant doctrine of all the sacred Books," says Sale in his "Introduction to the Quran," "not only the Quran, but also those Scriptures which were revealed in former ages, all of them bear witness to the great and fundamental truth of the Unity of God."

Taking ذکر in the sense of honour, eminence etc. (see 15:7), the verse would mean that the Quran is a source of honour for those with the Holy Prophet and for those before him i.e. it will raise its followers from depths of degradation to great heights of honour and eminence, and it has cleared Divine Prophets and other righteous servants of God of the charges and accusations that were imputed to them in former Scriptures. (close)

2366. Commentary:

The verse gives a third argument in favour of the Unity of God. It purports to say that all the Divine Messengers and great religious reformers who appeared among different nations and countries at different times testified with one voice to the Oneness of God which was their common mission. In spite of the fact that with the passage of time the teachings of these Prophets became tampered with and were subjected to distortions and interpolations, the belief in the Unity of God continued to be the basic principle of all these teachings. These Prophets and Messengers appeared among all nations and peoples and the greatest of all, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, appeared at a time when the whole world was immersed in the Cimmerian darkness of moral turpitude, and idol worship was rife among every people and country in one form or another and was practised in its most heinous form in Arabia where the Holy Prophet preached his message of the Oneness of God. He carried on such an effective and relentless campaign against idolatry that it disappeared from Arabia never to return. Not only did he condemn and forbid idol-worship and enjoin and impress upon his people the worship of One True God but also gave unanswerable arguments in support of monotheism and against polytheism and he fully succeeded in engendering in the minds of his followers an invincible faith in Divine Unity and an equally implacable hatred for shirk—setting up equals with God. In four short sentences of one of its shortest Surah—Al-Ikhlas, the Quran has refuted and demolished in a most beautiful and effective manner four forms of polytheism. The first verse proclaims the absolute Unity of God. It says: "Say, He is Allah, the One." It means that out of ignorance and perversity man invents and indulges in most fantastic theories and ideas about God. But the central and pivotal fact about the Divine Being remains that He is absolutely One in every respect and manner. He is neither the beginning nor the end of anything and He is not like anything, nor any thing is like Him. To regard anything like Him is to impugn His absolute Unity.

In the words, "Allah, the Independent and Besought of all," the Quran has demolished the second kind of shirk i.e. to ascribe Divine powers and attributes to other beings and things. The verse says that God has need of nobody but all beings and things have need of Him. It is therefore foolish and futile to have recourse to beings and things which themselves are wholly dependent upon God. The third verse, viz. "He begets not, nor is He begotten" refutes and repudiates the third kind of polytheism i.e. the doctrine of God being the father or son of anybody. The verse means to say that God is eternal and everlasting. He has begotten no son who should take His place, nor is He begotten of anyone from whom He should have inherited His Divine powers and attributes. He was always Independent and Besought of all and will ever be so. So we should worship Him and call on Him alone for the fulfilment of our needs and requirements. The verse "And there is none like unto Him," exposes the folly and futility of the fourth kind of shirk. It signifies that it is beyond any created thing to be His partner in Divinity i.e. to be like Him in His person or attributes. God is far exalted and above that to which man can aspire. However high man may rise, he cannot even touch the fringes of the precincts of Divinity and will ever remain God’s servant.

This is the most sublime conception of absolute Unity of God as taught and inculcated by the Quran.

At another place (2:256) the Quran has shed further light on Divine Unity. It says: "There is no God but Allah, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. Slumber seizes Him not, nor sleep (i.e. no interruption ever takes place in His works). To Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that will intercede with Him except by His permission (i.e. God grants the prayers of His servants but no one should think that He can compel God to accept His prayer. It is after He has granted the permission to any of His servants that he can intercede with Him)? He knows what is before them and what is behind them (i.e. He knows the past and the future. His knowledge is complete and all-comprehensive because full control is not possible without complete knowledge and complete knowledge is the never-failing accompaniment of absolute Unity). And they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He pleases (i.e. man can accomplish nothing except with the help of the knowledge that he receives from God). His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth (i.e. not an atom moves in the heavens and the earth without His permission and every particle is subject to His control). And the care of them burdens Him not (i.e. the universe will continue to exist and function under the never-failing supervision and protection of God). And He is the High (i.e. every atom of the universe bears witness to His Almightiness and He is so exalted that human reason cannot attain to full comprehension of Him); and yet He is great (i.e. He is so manifest in His great works that every honest seeker after Him can attain to communion with Him)." This is the very high and noble conception of Divine Unity which the Holy Prophet gave to the world and for which he worked and suffered. He told the people of the world that Divine Unity consists in the fact that man should rise to such a high stage of spiritual exaltation as to become completely engrossed in One God and become at one with Him. It is when man reaches this high stage of moral and spiritual development that he can be said to have attained the great object of his creation. (close)