خَبِيث

Important Words:

تیمموا (seek) is derived from یم or ام. They say یمه i.e. he sought it. یمم فلانابرمح means, he sought and singled out that person for attacking with his spear. تیمم الامر means, he sought and singled out the affair. تیمم للصلوة means, he performed what is termed تیمم for his Prayers, i.e. instead of performing the prescribed ablution with water he sought dust and touching it with his hands passed them over his face, etc. (Aqrab & Mufradat).

خبیث (bad) is derived from خبث i.e. he or it was or became bad or foul or abominable or wicked or filthy or impure (Lane).

تغمضوا (connive) is derived from اغمض which again is derived from غمض i.e. it became hidden and concealed. غمض فی الکلامmeans, he made his speech obscure, and abstained from making it clear in meaning. اغمض means, he closed, or shut his eyes; he connived at something so as to practically treat it as something unseen or hidden. اغمض فی البیع means, he demanded a lowering of the price of a thing owing to its badness. اغمض عنه فی البیع means, he connived at the bad quality of the thing and was not strict settling its price (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The verse implies that believers should not only spend in the cause of Allah but should spend what is good and pure; for even a lawfully-earned property might include things that are bad. They should not deliberately select worthless and worn out things for the purpose of charity. Old and second-hand things may indeed be given to the poor, but such things should not be specially selected or singled out for this purpose. Indeed, a believer can be said to have properly discharged his duty for "spending" in the cause of Allah only if he spends "good things".

8:38; 29:3-4.

72:27-28.

Important Words:

لیطلعکم (would reveal to you). یطلع is derived from طلع, which means, he appeared; he rose; he ascended. اطلعه علیه means, he revealed it to him or he made him acquainted with it; or lifted him high up so that he might have a clear view of it. The expression لیطلعکم علی الغیب therefore, would mean, that He should cause you to ascend the unseen; or lift you high up to have a clear view of the unseen, i.e. cause you to obtain mastery of the unseen; or in other words, reveal to you the secrets of the unseen in abundance. Elsewhere the Quran says لایظھر علی غیبه احدا God discloses not the unseen to anyone in abundance (72:27). Here, too, the word used, i.e. یظھر points to mastery of a thing or having a thing in abundance.

Commentary:

The sentence, Allah would not leave the believers as you are, signifies that the trials and tribulations through which Muslims have so far passed would not soon end. There are yet many more in store for them, and they will continue to come till true believers are distinguished from hypocrites and those weak of faith.

The expression, Allah chooses of His Messengers whom He pleases, does not mean that some of the Messengers are chosen and others not, but that of the persons whom He has ordained to be sent as His Messengers, He chooses the one suited for the particular age in which he is sent. Or the particle من (of) may be taken to give the sense of intensification or emphasis without restricting the sense to a specified section of the class. In that case the sentence will read as, Allah does choose as His Messengers whom He pleases. It must be remembered that all Messengers are raised under a special divine decree.

When it was stated that God intended to separate the wicked from the good by revealing His will to His Messengers, the question was asked by disbelievers, why did not God reveal Himself to them? To this question God has given the answer that He reveals His will only to His Messengers and the Elect. All are not pure or ennobled enough to receive His revelation.

4:11, 128; 6:153; 17:35.

Important Words:

حوبا (sin) is derived from حاب meaning, he sinned; he did what was unlawful. حوب means: (1) a great sin or simply sin or crime; (2) wrong or injustice; (3) perdition, destruction or death; (4) disease; (5) a trial, trouble or affliction (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

After mentioning two favours of God in the previous verse, viz. the multiplying of many men and women from a "single soul", and preserving them from destruction by instituting ties of relationship, the Quran proceeds to emphasize the need of protecting posterity by safeguarding the rights and interests of orphans.

The expression, and exchange not the bad for the good, means that if you do not give the orphans their property, the result will be that your own pure possessions will become impure and you yourselves will suffer in the long run.

The words, devour not their property with your own, contain a warning to guardians not to mix up the property of orphans with their own with the intention of misappropriating it. The clause also hints that if the guardian of an orphan possesses sufficient means of subsistence, he should not take anything out of the property of his ward as a compensation for his guardianship.

2:268.

Commentary:

Being naturally influenced by his environment, man is prone to follow and imitate what others do, particularly when they happen to be in the majority. This verse, however, is a warning against unthinking and blind following of the majority. The real criterion by which the worth of a thing is to be judged is not how many people do it, but what good it contains; and, God being the source of all good, the only true and unfailing test is, as the verse puts it, تقوی or God-fearingness.

3:180.

Commentary:

The words, separate the bad from the good, refer to the first part of the previous verse, giving the reason for the defeat and failure of the disbelievers. God would cause their war against Islam to end in their defeat so that He might distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous. Similarly, the latter part of this verse, viz. put the bad, one upon another, and heap them up all together, and then cast them into Hell, corresponds to the latter part of the previous verse, viz. that the disbelievers shall be gathered into Hell. The words, heap them up all together, imply that as the disbelievers made a common cause against Islam, they would, as it were, all be heaped up into a bundle and then thrown into the fire of Hell as one huge piece of fuel.

Important Words:

اجتثت (uprooted) is derived from جث. They say جثه i.e. he pulled it (i.e. a plant) out from its very root; he uprooted it; اجتثهalso gives the same meaning. الجثة means, the body or the dead body of a human being (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Unlike the good tree described in the preceding two verses, a book which is forged by the hand of man is like an evil tree. It possesses no permanence, nor even stability. Its teachings are supported neither by reason nor by the laws of nature. It cannot stand criticism and its principles and ideals keep on changing with the change in human conditions and circumstances. It is a hotchpotch of teachings collected from doubtful sources. It fails to produce men who can claim to have established a true and real connection with God. It receives fresh life from no divine source and is subject to decay and degeneration. Such is the inevitable fate of books forged by pretenders and false prophets. For a detailed and beautiful exposition of v. 25, 26 and 27 the reader is referred to "Tafsir-e-Kabir" by Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II, Second Successor of the Promised Messiah.

8:75; 22:51.

Commentary:

The word الخبیثات meaning evil deeds or obscene words, the verse purports to say that evil persons do evil deeds or indulge in obscene and foul talk and scandal-mongering, while nothing comes out of good and virtuous persons but righteous deeds and pure and ennobling words. The subject of calumny and slander is thus closed with this beautiful epigram and the verse itself ends with giving a certificate of righteousness to ‘A’ishah to whom the words: "they are innocent of all that which the calumniators allege" primarily refer.