| Chapter 42 : Surah Al-Shura |
(Revealed before Hijrah) Date of Revelation and Context Subject-Matter The Surah then refers to the invariable Divine practice that whenever differences arise among the followers of various Faiths on the basic principles of religion, God raises a Prophet to remove those differences and to lead them to the right path. But the basic principles of all religions being the same, all Divine Messengers followed the same religion-total submission to God. This "religion" found its best and completest exposition in the revelation of the Qur'an and, therefore, it received a specific name-AI-Islam. The Holy Prophet is enjoined to invite the whole of mankind to this most perfect and last Divine Teaching, and to let no persecution or persuasion stand in his way. Compliance with the Quranic commandments or their defiance, the Surah continues, constitutes good or bad action. It is their deeds which determine the destiny of nations and individuals and make or mar their future. In their lives there comes a day when their actions are weighed in the balance. If their good actions outweigh their bad actions, a life of bliss and happiness awaits them. If, on the other hand, their evil deeds exceed their good deeds, then they have a life of regrets and sighs. Next, the Surah says that the Holy Prophet has worked very hard and suffered much in the cause of truth, and this from no personal motives. Being full of the milk of human kindness his only concern and desire is that men should establish true and real relationship with God. Could such a sincere and honest wellwisher of mankind be capable of forging lies against God? Yet his people accuse him of this most heinous of sins. Why cannot they understand this simple fact that the forging of lies against God is a deadly poison which brings about the complete ruin of the forger? Instead of being ruined, however, the noble efforts of the Holy Prophet are producing excellent results and his cause is making uniform and rapid progress. The Surah then draws attention to the physical phenomenon that whenever dry earth needs water God sends down rain from the clouds. Similarly, when the spiritual earth had become dry, God had sent down heavenly rain in the form of the Qur'an. Then after briefly referring to the fundamental principle that the affairs of the Islamic State and other matters of national importance should be transacted by mutual consultation, the Surah lays down the basis of the penal laws of Islam. According to it the real object underlying punishment is the moral reformation of the guilty person. There is no place in Islam for the monastic Christian teaching of turning the other cheek under all conditions, nor the Jewish doctrine of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Towards its close the Surah tells disbelievers that the Holy Prophet has done his duty. He is but a Warner and he has warned them. He has not been made a guardian over them. He is the Life and the Light and his is the way that leads to the realization of the object of man's creation. At the end, the Surah mentions three forms of Divine revelation.
تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْ فَوْقِهِنَّ وَالْمَلاَئِكَةُ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ لِمَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ أَلاَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِتُنْذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا وَتُنْذِرَ يَوْمَ الْجَمْعِ لاَ رَيْبَ فِيهِ فَرِيقٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَفَرِيقٌ فِي السَّعِيرِ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَهُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلَكِنْ يُدْخِلُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ فِي رَحْمَتِهِ وَالظَّالِمُونَ مَا لَهُمْ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلاَ نَصِيرٍ
فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
شَرَعَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلاَ تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ كَبُرَ عَلَى الْمُشْرِكِينَ مَا تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَيْهِ اللَّهُ يَجْتَبِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يُنِيبُ وَمَا تَفَرَّقُوا إِلاَّ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَهُمْ الْعِلْمُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ وَلَوْلاَ كَلِمَةٌ سَبَقَتْ مِنْ رَبِّكَ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُورِثُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ لَفِي شَكٍّ مِنْهُ مُرِيبٍ فَلِذَلِكَ فَادْعُ وَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَقُلْ آمَنْتُ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَأُمِرْتُ ِلأَعْدِلَ بَيْنَكُمْ اللَّهُ رَبُّنَا وَرَبُّكُمْ لَنَا أَعْمَالُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ لاَ حُجَّةَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ اللَّهُ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ وَالَّذِينَ يُحَاجُّونَ فِي اللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا اسْتُجِيبَ لَهُ حُجَّتُهُمْ دَاحِضَةٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ
يَسْتَعْجِلُ بِهَا الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مُشْفِقُونَ مِنْهَا وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهَا الْحَقُّ أَلاَ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُمَارُونَ فِي السَّاعَةِ لَفِي ضَلاَلٍ بَعِيدٍ
مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ نَصِيبٍ أَمْ لَهُمْ شُرَكَاءُ شَرَعُوا لَهُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا لَمْ يَأْذَنْ بِهِ اللَّهُ وَلَوْلاَ كَلِمَةُ الْفَصْلِ لَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَإِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ تَرَى الظَّالِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا وَهُوَ وَاقِعٌ بِهِمْ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ فِي رَوْضَاتِ الْجَنَّاتِ لَهُمْ مَا يَشَاءُونَ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَضْلُ الكَبِيرُ ذَلِكَ الَّذِي يُبَشِّرُ اللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ قُلْ لاَ أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلاَّ الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَى وَمَنْ يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَزِدْ لَهُ فِيهَا حُسْنًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَإِنْ يَشَأِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ وَيَمْحُ اللَّهُ الْبَاطِلَ وَيُحِقُّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ
وَيَسْتَجِيبُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ وَالْكَافِرُونَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الأَرْضِ وَلَكِنْ يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ
فَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَمَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَظْلِمُونَ النَّاسَ وَيَبْغُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ أُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَتَرَى الظَّالِمِينَ لَمَّا رَأَوْا الْعَذَابَ يَقُولُونَ هَلْ إِلَى مَرَدٍّ مِنْ سَبِيلٍ وَتَرَاهُمْ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا خَاشِعِينَ مِنَ الذُّلِّ يَنْظُرُونَ مِنْ طَرْفٍ خَفِيٍّ وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ الْخَاسِرِينَ الَّذِينَ خَسِرُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَلاَ إِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ فِي عَذَابٍ مُقِيمٍ
اسْتَجِيبُوا لِرَبِّكُمْ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ يَوْمٌ لاَ مَرَدَّ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ مَلْجَإٍ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِنْ نَكِيرٍ فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا إِنْ عَلَيْكَ إِلاَّ الْبَلاَغُ وَإِنَّا إِذَا أَذَقْنَا الإِنسَانَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً فَرِحَ بِهَا وَإِنْ تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَإِنَّ الإِنسَانَ كَفُورٌ
وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلاَّ وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولاً فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا مَا كُنْتَ تَدْرِي مَا الْكِتَابُ وَلاَ الإِيمَانُ وَلَكِنْ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُورًا نَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ نَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا وَإِنَّكَ لَتَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ
2643. Ha Mim may stand for Hafiz al-Kitab (Guardian of the Book) and Munazzil al-Kitab (Revealer of the Book), because all the Chapters which open with these two abbreviatedletters deal particularly with the subject of revelation of the Qur'an and its protection andguardianship. 2643A. 'Ain stands for Al-'Ali' (the High); AI-'Alim (the All-Knowing); Al-'Azim (the Great); Al-'Aziz (the Mighty). Sin stands for Al-Sami' (the All-Hearing), and Qaf may represent Al-Qadir (the Possessor of Power and Authority). 2643B. Man's sin is great but greater is God's mercy which transcends all His attributes. God's mercy and the asking for forgiveness by angels for man combine to save him from Divine punishment and he is granted respite to make amends. 2644. God is watching over the blasphemous beliefs of men and is keeping an account of them and will punish them if they did not repent. 2645. The reference may be to Mecca, because Mecca was not only the commercial and political metropolis of Arabia at the time when the Qur'an was revealed but was destined for all time to be the spiritual centre of the whole world and from its breast the whole of humanity was to suck the milk of spiritual life. Geographically also Mecca is situated in the centre of the world. The Qur'an has also been called Umm al-Kitab (Mother of the Book) and Arabic in which it has been revealed Umm al-Alsinah (Mother of tongues) and Mecca has been called Umm al-Qura (Mother of towns or Mother-town). 2646. God multiplies mankind by the relationship that exists between husband and wife. 2647. The words, 'There is nothing whatever like unto Him,' remove a possible misunderstanding to which the sentence, 'God has made a pair of everything,' might have given rise, viz., that God also needs a consort to make a pair. The words signify that it is impossible to conceive of anything like God. He is far above human perception and comprehension. It is, therefore, foolish to try to find likeness between Divine and human attributes, though the two may possess some remote and incomplete resemblance. 2648. The Holy Prophet is here enjoined to tell the followers of earlier Prophets that he believes in all the revealed Scriptures that had come before him. There exists, therefore, no cause for them to quarrel with him. 2649. The truth of Islam has been established and people have begun to enter its fold in large numbers, so it is futile on the part of disbelievers to go on disputing and doubting its Divine origin. 2650. God has sent down two important things for man's guidance and benefit: (a) "The Book," i.e., the laws of the Shari'ah; (b) "The Balance," i.e., standards by which human actions are appraised, judged, measured and weighed. Or, "The Balance" may signify the faculty by which man can distinguish between right and wrong. In fact, in this life (and more so in the next life) all human actions are weighed in Divine scales. "The Balance" may also refer to the Qur'an itself, because it constitutes an infallible criterion (Mizan) to judge what is right and what is wrong. Elsewhere in the Qur'an (57: 26) the expression. 'He has sent down.' has also been used about "iron" which represents power that enforces Divine and human laws. 2651. As disbelievers do not believe in the Day of Judgment, they have no fear of it, so they demand its speedy coming; but believers know that on that awful Day they will have to render an account of their actions and, therefore, while they make every preparation for it, they are at the same time afraid of facing it. 2652. Those whose efforts are wholly directed towards acquiring the vain and paltry things of this life will be deprived of the bliss and blessings of everlasting life of the Hereafter, but those who prepare for the next life will have Divine blessings bestowed upon them without measure and diminution. 2653. In v. 19 disbelievers were stated as scornfully rejecting the very idea of a life after death and defiantly demanded its speedy coming, but the believers being conscious of their great responsibilities were mentioned as being afraid of facing it. In the present verse it is stated that on the Day of Judgment the tables will be turned upon disbelievers. They will be afraid of confronting the consequences of their evil deeds while believers will be happy in the Gardens of Bliss, basking in the sun of God's love. 2654. The words may also mean: (I) I ask of you no reward for calling you to the way of God except that, being related to you by ties of kinship, my solicitude for your spiritual wellbeing impels me to do so. (2) I ask of you no reward for the great work I am doing for your spiritual benefit except that you should learn to live and behave like blood relations. (3) I ask no reward or return for my solicitude and love for you except that in offering opposition to me you should at least have some regard for the ties of relationship that I have with you. (4) I want no reward from you except that you should learn to develop a liking for attaining nearness to God (the word, Qurba meaning Qurbah, nearness). This last meaning agrees with 25: 58 where the Holy Prophet is depicted as saying: I ask of you naught in return for it except that he, who will, may take a way to his Lord. 2655. The words may mean, 'If God had willed that your enemies should have been punished for calling you a liar and a forger, He would have sealed your heart, i.e., He would have made your heart devoid of all mercy and solicitude for them, so that instead of being solicitous for their spiritual well-being; you would have invoked God's curses upon them, but He has chosen not to do so.' Or, the meaning is, that had the Holy Prophet forged a lie against Allah, his conduct thereafter would have been that of a man who had rebelled against Allah. But the Holy Prophet advances continuously towards higher grades of virtue and righteousness which shows that he is under the care and protection of Allah and is kept immune from error. 2656. The verse embodies a unique testimony to the Divine origin of the Qur'an. It was not possible for any human being, much less for an unlettered son of the desert, to say, as far back as 1400 years, when the science of astronomy was yet in its infancy, that apart from our planet, life in some form or other existed in heavenly bodies. It was reserved for the Qur'an to disclose this great and marvelous scientific truth as the words of this verse, of whatever living creatures He has spread forth in both, show. The reference in the words, He has the power to gather them together may be to the possibility of the creatures living on earth and in the heavenly bodies becoming united in some future time. Recent archaeological investigations have revealed that "Dropas" or visitors from the heaven came down upon this earth 12,000 years ago' (The Pakistan Times, dated 13-8-1967). 2657. Disbelievers are told that God has decreed that Islam shall become victorious and they will not be able to frustrate Divine decree and that no obstacle or impediment will be allowed to stand in the way of its onward march. 2658. In this and several other verses the Qur'an points to the great part that ships were to play in international intercourse. This truth, revealed to a son of the desert, as far back as fourteen hundred years ago, speaks volumes for the Divine origin of the Qur'an. 2659. These words comprise all kinds of sins and moral lapses, but a separate mention is made of anger because many sins spring from anger when it exceeds legitimate bounds. 2660. The verse lays down Shura (mutual consultation) as the basic principle which should guide Muslims in the transaction of their national affairs. This simple word contains the nucleus of a representative form of government of which the West is so proud. The Khalifah or Head of an Islamic State is bound to take counsel with the representatives of the people when he is to take a decision of vital national importance. See also 621 and 622. 2661. The verse forms the basis of the penal laws of Islam. The real object underlying the awarding of punishment to the guilty person according to Islamic teaching, is his moral reformation. If forgiveness is calculated to do him some moral good, he should be forgiven. But he should be punished, if punishment is likely to lead to his reformation; the punishment, however, should in no case be disproportionate to the offence committed. Islam does not believe in the monastic teaching of turning the other cheek, nor in the Jewish doctrine of "an eye for an eye," under all conditions. It adopts the golden mean. 2662. Islamic principles about punishing an offender may not appeal to visionaries and unpractical idealists, but as a practical religion; Islam has laid down most wholesome and practical solutions for problems of law, economics and morals. It regards self-defense as the moral duty of a Muslim. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, 'He who is killed in defense of his property and honor is a martyr' (Bukhari; Kitab al-Mazalim Wa'l-Ghasab). 2663. The furtive glance is the glance of a guilty person who is hauled up for his crimes and is waiting to hear the sentence passed against him. 2664. In this and the preceding verse the disbelievers have been warned that God has decreed that whereas the followers of Islam will increase and multiply, they will decrease and become barren-their children joining the fold of Islam. 2665. The verse makes mention of the three ways in which God speaks to His servants and reveals Himself to them: (a) He speaks to them direct without the aid of an intermediary. (b) He makes them see a vision which may or may not be interpretable, or, sometimes makes them hear words in a state of wakefulness, when they are not seeing the person speaking to them. This is the significance of the words, 'from behind the veil.' (c) God sends down a messenger-an angel who delivers the Divine Message. 2666. The Qur'an has been called here Ruh, (breath of life, Lane), because through it a morally and spiritually dead people received a new life. 2667. Islam is the Life and the Light and the Way that leads to God and to the realization by man of the great and sublime object of his creation. 2668. The beginning and the end of all things is in the hand of Allah.
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