Al Islam

2765. Commentary:

The people of Noah had rejected only one Messenger—Noah. But they have been represented in this verse as having rejected all the Messengers of God. This shows that the rejection of one Divine Messenger is in reality equivalent to the rejection of all of them. This is so because they are all commissioned as Messengers by the same Divine Authority and their Messages proceed from the same Source and are identical in fundamentals and basic principles. (close)

2124. The words, So fear Allah and obey me, which have been addressed to his people from the mouth of every Prophet in this Surah, show that apart from the general commandments embodied in Divine revelation, the believers are enjoined to obey the commands and instructions issued from time to time by their own Prophets. (close)

2765A. Commentary:

The words, So fear Allah and obey me, which have been addressed to his people from the mouth of every Prophet show that apart from the commandments embodied in Divine revelation, the believers are enjoined to obey the orders and instructions issued from time to time by the Prophet and to follow his precept and example. (close)

a. 10:73; 11:30. (close)

a. 10:73; 11:30. (close)

b. 11:28. (close)

b. 11:28. (close)

2766. Commentary:

It is an established fact of history that in the beginning of their missions only poor people follow the Messengers of God. This is quite in keeping with Divine plan. In this way God wants to show that the subsequent triumph of the Prophets predicted long before by them was due solely to God’s help and not to any combination of worldly circumstances. The acceptance of the Divine Message by poor people not only does not add to the material strength of the new Movement but also repels the wealthy and the powerful from it, inasmuch as they refuse to associate with those whom they regard as lowly and humble. But such has always been the Divine practice that these very humble and lowly people eventually prevail upon the wealthy and the powerful disbelievers. (close)

2125. The Qur’an has used five different words at different places and in different contexts to suit the particular occasion and to explain fully the meaning thereof; in a general sense they are all alike but as regards their finer shades of meaning they are different. The words are Shu‘ur, i.e. perceiving a thing by means of any of the senses to know its minute particulars (2:155); ‘Aql, i.e. withholding or restraining a person from adopting an evil course (12:3); Fikr, i.e. reflecting upon and calculating a thing (6:51); Tafaqquh, i.e. applying oneself to the acquisition of knowledge and becoming well-versed in it (9:122); and Tadabbur, i.e. considering, examining or studying a thing repeatedly in order to know it (4:83). (close)

2766A. Commentary:

The Quran has used five different words at different places and in different contexts to suit the particular occasion and to explain fully the meaning. In a general sense they are all alike but as regards their finer shades of meaning they are different. The words are شعور i.e. perceiving a thing by means of any of the senses to know its minute particulars (2:155); عقل i.e. withholding or restraining a person from adopting an evil course (12:3); فکر i.e. reflecting upon and calculating a thing (6:51); تفقه i.e. applying oneself to the acquisition of knowledge and becoming well versed in it (9:122), and تدبر i.e. considering, examining or studying a thing repeatedly in order to know it (4:83). (close)

a. 11:30. (close)

2125A. God’s Prophets and worldly men have different standards to judge the values of life. Whereas the former judge the worth and value of a man by his actions and deeds, the latter judge it by his material means and his social status. (close)

a. 11:30. (close)

2767. Commentary:

God’s Prophets and worldly men have different standards to judge the values of life. The former judge the worth and value of a man by his actions and deeds while the latter judge it by his material means and his social status. Noah’s enemies called his followers low and mean because of their material poverty and lack of social influence, but Noah himself refused to judge them by that standard. According to him the real criterion by which a man’s worth should be judged were his good deeds. So he says that he does not know what his followers have been doing in the past. Their past actions are God’s concern alone and what he (Noah) knows of them is that they have believed in him and that is sufficient to establish their righteousness. (close)