Al Islam

c. 2:159. (close)

690. Shukr on the part of God consists in forgiving a person or commending him or regarding him with satisfaction, goodwill or favour and hence necessarily recompensing him or rewarding him (Lane). (close)

c. 2:159. (close)

611. Commentary:

شکر (gratitude) on the part of man is to have a due sense of the favours of God and render thanks for them both by words of mouth and by action; and on the part of God, it is to give proper rewards to men for their obedience and righteousness. See also 1:2. (close)

691. Islam does not allow Muslims to speak ill of other people in public, but he who is wronged may cry aloud when he is actually being transgressed against, so that other men may come to his help. He may as well seek redress in a law court, but should not go about complaining to all and sundry. (close)

612. Commentary:

Islam does not allow Muslims to speak ill of a man in public, but he who is wronged may cry aloud when he is actually being transgressed against, so that other men may come to his help. He may as well seek redress in a law court. But he should not go about complaining to all and sundry, because that is calculated to create ill-will and bad blood and may disturb public peace which the Quran in no case countenances.

The words, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing, have been added to point out that even for a man who is wronged, it is better to act patiently and refrain from speaking ill of anyone. He may either go to a law court or pray to God and seek justice and solace from Him. (close)

613. Commentary:

The verse further enlarges on the idea contained in the preceding verse, at the same time hinting that as far as possible man should try to pardon the wrongs done him by his brethren; for is not God, before Whom all of us will one day stand, the great Pardoner and the Effacer of sins? (close)

d. 4:137. (close)

692. The verse means that they accept God and reject His Prophets; or accept some Prophets and reject others; or accept some claims of a Prophet and reject other claims. True faith lies in total submission, accepting God and all His Messengers with all their claims. No middle course is permissible. (close)

a. 4:137. (close)

614. Commentary:

This verse provides clear proof of the fact that belief in all the Messengers of God is essential. The expression رسله (His Messengers) comprehends all Messengers of God and admits of no exception, demanding belief in all Prophets, whether old or new.

The words, We believe in some and disbelieve in others, condemn those people who would believe in some Messengers of God and reject others. The idea is further explained by 4:153 below which says, those who believe in Allah and in all of His Messengers, and make no distinction between any of them. Here the expression, any of them, clearly refers to "the Messengers" and not to God and the Messengers combined, which shows that the present clause, We believe in some and disbelieve in others, refers to the distinction some people seek to make between the different Messengers, and not to the distinction they make between God and His Messengers, which has already been referred to in the preceding clause of the present verse, i.e. make a distinction between Allah and His Messengers.

Ibn Kathir, the famous expositor of the Quran, explains this verse as follows: "What is meant here is that he who rejects any of the Prophets of God really rejects all of them, for God has made it obligatory on man to believe in every Prophet whom He has raised for any people at any time on the earth" (vol. iii. 224). In fact, if a people reject a Prophet of God out of envy or bigotry or self-will, it becomes clear that their faith in the Prophet in whom they profess to believe is also not sincere and true but is mere make-belief. For, if they had really believed in him as a Messenger of God, they would have believed in that other one also who was his like and whose claim was supported by similar arguments.

The expression, desire to take a way in between, means that such people "seek a middle course between faith and disbelief", i.e. they accept God and reject His Prophets or accept some Prophets and reject others, or accept some claims of a Prophet and reject others or regard the claims of a Prophet to be true but do not consider themselves bound to join his fold. True faith lies in total submission, accepting God and all His Messengers with all their claims. No middle course is permissible. See also the two succeeding verses. (close)

615. Commentary:

Those who seek to take a middle course, as explained in the previous verse, are "veritable disbelievers" in the sight of God and shall be awarded "a humiliating punishment." (close)

a. 2:137: 2:286; 3:85. (close)

a. 2:137; 2:286; 3:85. (close)

616. Commentary:

The verse 4:151 above dealt with four classes of disbelievers: (1) those who disbelieve both in Allah and His Messengers; (2) those who profess to believe in Allah but reject His Messengers, i.e. those who believe that there is indeed a God but that He sends no Messengers, or those who think they are bound to accept only that which God sends down by His revelation but do not look upon the behests and precepts of the Prophet as binding on them; (3) those who accept some of the Messengers of God and reject others; and (4) those who accept some claims of a divine Messenger and reject others, or those who, though declaring a claimant to prophethood to be true in his claims, do not think it to be binding on them to enter his fold. In continuation of the above, the verse under comment says that only those people can hope for reward from God who spurn all the above different forms of disbelief and whose faith in God and in all His Prophets is full and unqualified. (close)

b. 2:109. (close)

c. 2:56. (close)

693. See 96. (close)

d. 2:52, 93; 7:149, 153. (close)

b. 2:109. (close)

c. 2:56. (close)

d. 2:52, 93; 7:149, 153. (close)

617. Important Words:

For the meaning of صاعقة (destructive punishment) see 2:56.

Commentary:

For an explanation of the words "show us Allah openly" see 2:56. (close)

a. 2:64, 94. (close)

b. 2:59; 7:162 (close)

c. 2:66; 4:48; 7:164; 16:125. (close)

694. See 4:48. (close)

a. 2:64, 94. (close)

b. 2:59; 7:162. (close)

c. 2:66; 4:48; 7:164; 16:125. (close)

618. Commentary:

See and compare 2:59, 64, 66 & 4:48. (close)

d. 5:14. (close)

e. 3:182. (close)

f. 2:89. (close)

g. 2:89; 16:109; 83:15. (close)

695. See 27. (close)

d. 5:14. (close)

e. 3:182. (close)

f. 2:89. (close)

g. 2:89; 16:109; 83:15. (close)

619. Important Words:

طبع (sealed) is similar to ختم for which see 2:8. طبع means, he sealed, stamped, imprinted or impressed (Lane).

غلف (wrapped in covers). See 2:89.

Commentary:

See 2:8; 2:62; 2:89. (close)

696. The Jews accused Mary of fornication ("Jewish Life of Jesus" by Panther). The fact that the Jews uttered "a calumny" against Mary constitutes clear evidence of the fatherless birth of Jesus. For, if Jesus had a father, what "calumny" was it that the Jews uttered against Mary? Merely taunting her for the claims made by Jesus could in no sense be called a calumny. Elsewhere, the Qur’an refutes this charge by saying that the mother of Jesus was a righteous woman (3:43; 5:76). (close)

620. Commentary:

The fact that the Jews uttered "a calumny" against Mary constitutes a clear evidence of the fatherless birth of Jesus. For if Jesus had a father, what "calumny" was it that the Jews uttered against Mary? Merely taunting her for the claims made by Jesus could in no sense be called a calumny. Elsewhere the Quran says that the mother of Jesus was a righteous woman and that Satan had no share in his birth (3:37:5:76). (close)