مَسۡـُٔوۡل

4:7, 11; 6:153.

5:2; 16:92.

Commentary:

Besides the every-day incidence of death, sudden and accidental happenings, among which may be included epidemics, murders, etc. leave children orphans. Hence, after having laid down the law about the punishment of murder, which leaves orphans in two families––in the family of the murderer and that of the murdered person—the Quran proceeds to give directions about the rights of orphans. One of the most important of these is with regard to their property.

The present verse clearly lays down that the property of orphans is to be handled in such a way that it may increase and produce the best results for them. In this as in many other respects the teaching of Islam is clearly superior to that of other religions. In no other religious system have such detailed instructions been given to safeguard the property of orphans as are given by Islam. The present verse institutes, as it were, a general Court of Wards, a department designed for the protection of the property of orphaned minors. It is generally considered to be a western institution, but it was conceived and brought into being by Islam no less than 1350 years ago.

The words, until he attains his maturity, signify that the guardianship of orphans’ property is not to be given up before they are physically and mentally mature enough to take proper care of it; nor is it to be retained a minute longer after that.

The word عھد (covenant) also means an obligation and it has been used here in this sense to emphasize the fact that taking proper care of orphans’ property constitutes no favour to them but is a responsibility and a duty to be discharged fully and honestly. Orphans are powerless to call their guardians to account if the latter are found to be guilty of fraudulence with regard to their property. So God has given their charge the status of a divine covenant the breach of which will be severely punished.

This word عھد, however, may possess a wider significance. It may refer to the responsibility that devolves upon a powerful nation which takes under its protection a weaker sister nation. Such a powerful nation is reminded that it can keep under its tutelage the weaker nation only till that time when the latter "comes of age" and is fit to take charge of its affairs. The weaker nation is here likened to an orphan whose period of tutelage is a sacred trust which the stronger nation is directed to discharge honestly "until it attains its maturity." The verse thus possesses an object lesson for the Western Mandatory Powers.

11:47.

24:25; 36:66; 41:21-23.

Commentary:

This verse cuts at the root of all sources of suspicion. These sources in their natural order are "the ear", "the eye" and "the heart". "The ear" is the first avenue through which most suspicions enter man’s mind. As a rule suspicions are caused by ill-founded reports which one hears about another person. Next to hearing comes the source of sight. A person sees another doing a certain act and interprets it wrongly and is led to suspect the latter’s motives and intentions. The last and most degraded kind of suspicion is that which a person entertains about another not as the result of a bad report which he might have heard about him nor in consequence of a bad act or deed which he might have seen him doing but which is purely the figment of his own diseased mind. Muslims are enjoined to steer clear of all these forms of suspicion. They are the enemy of all cordial social relations.

The verse draws attention to the fact that it is not only human life and property (to which a reference has already been made in the preceding verse) which are sacred and inviolable; human honour also is sacrosanct and an attack upon it also will have to be accounted for.

A person will be called to account for having listened to anything about another person which he had no right to do. Similarly, he will be brought to book for having seen something which he should not have seen. And so will he be punished for harbouring in his mind evil thoughts about other people. We are told that our impressions and opinions should not be based on mere hearsay and surmise but on sure knowledge. Mere evidence of the ear, the eye or the heart is not sufficient to condemn a person or form an adverse opinion about him but sure knowledge based on thorough enquiry. Mark the high moral tone of these teachings!

Commentary:

The words, "they had already covenanted with Allah," refer to the treaty that the Jews of Medina had made with the Holy Prophet that they would fight on his side against any enemy who invaded Medina. The verse holds out a solemn warning to these breakers of their plighted word that they will have to account for their treachery. The exact words of the above-mentioned treaty were:

و ان بینھم النصر علی من دھم یثرب

i.e. "and they take upon themselves to help the Holy Prophet against anyone who should attack Yathrib" (Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Part II, by Mirza Bashir Ahmad).