مَأْوَىٰ

8:13; 59:3.

Commentary:

The words, because they associate partners with Allah, signify that he who associates gods with Allah can never be truly brave, for he lacks complete devotion to anyone. It is only complete devotion that can inspire a person to make sacrifices. As a believer is completely devoted to the One God, therefore, he is ever ready to make every kind of sacrifice in His cause.

Moreover, it is through lack of perseverance that idolaters go from one god to another, and perseverance is an essential concomitant of bravery. Where there is no perseverance, there is no bravery. Again, idolaters are rebels in setting up gods with Allah and a rebel’s heart is never at rest; and a heart that is not at ease cannot be brave. Yet again, polytheism springs from superstitious fear and one possessed of that sort of fear can never be truly brave.

It should, however, be remembered that it is only relative bravery that is meant here; otherwise, even among idolaters and polytheists, there are men who possess bravery and courage, but their courage and bravery is inferior to that of true believers who put faith in One God and believe in His great powers and in the life after death.

2:208, 266; 3:16; 5:3, 17; 9:72.

Commentary:

The words, who follows the pleasure of Allah, apply to the Holy Prophet and his true followers who, undaunted by the defection of the hypocrites at Uhud, which considerably weakened their ranks, proceeded to fight the enemies of Islam. The hypocrites, on the other hand, by their act of desertion, drew upon themselves the wrath of God. They turned away from the fire of war, but a much worse fire awaited them in Hell. They retreated from the battlefield in order to seek security, but their retreat proved to be the gate of Gehenna for them.

The expression کمن باء بسخط من الله rendered as, like him who draws on himself the wrath of Allah, may also be translated as "like him who turns (or returns) with the wrath of Allah". The latter rendering would help further to clarify the explanation given above.

Commentary:

The prosperity of Christian nations is only temporary, and the verse hints at the dreadful punishment which is in store for them and which has now actually begun to overtake them.

16:29.

Commentary:

The words فتھاجروا (for you to migrate) show that the people referred to here were not so weak as not to be able to migrate from their homes. They were thus not truly "disabled ones" as mentioned in 4:96 above. The present verse, therefore, strongly condemns them. Islam would not be satisfied with a weak or passive belief, for it is neither good for the believer nor for the community. If the environment of a believer is not suitable for him, he should shift to a different environment more congenial to his faith; and if he does not do so, he is not sincere in his faith.

14:22.

Important Words:

محیص (way of escape) is derived from حاص. They say حاص عنه i.e. he turned away from, and escaped it. محیص therefore means, a way or place of escape; a place of refuge; a place to which one turns or flees (Aqrab & Lane).

4:172; 5:18; 9:30.

5:118; 19:37.

Commentary:

That Jesus taught the Israelites to worship God alone is apparent even from the Gospels in their present distorted form (e.g. Matt. 4:10; Luke 4:8). Also see 5:18.

Important Words:

متحیزا (turning) is derived from تحیز which is derived from حاز. They say حازہ i.e. he drew, collected or gathered it together. حاز الابل means, he drove the camels. تحیز or تحوز means, he or it writhed or twisted about and turned over and over; or he or it was restless, not remaining still on the ground; or he withdrew or retired to a distance; or he drew back. تحیز الیھم means, he turned or withdrew or retired or joined himself to them (company of men). تحیز also means, he turned aside or withdrew to his place or his proper place. حیز means, a place in which a thing is; the proper or natural place of a thing; the container or receptacle of anything (Lane).

فئة (company) is derived either from فاو i.e. he struck or smote or clove, or from فاء i.e. he returned, or he returned to a good state or condition. The word فئة means, a party, division or distinct body; or a company or congregated body of men; or a party or division of men; or a company of soldiers who fight in the rear of another party or company and to whom the latter has recourse in the case of fear or defeat; or a company of men who (in war) have recourse for aid, one to another (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse is important inasmuch as it defines and describes the circumstances in which an apparent retreat or withdrawal of a Muslim force against an enemy force is allowable. Such a retreat is allowed only on two distinct conditions: firstly, as a war strategy or a battle manoeuvre when a fighting force shifts its position not to fly but to hoodwink the enemy or to occupy a better position; secondly, when a force decides to fall back to join the main army or another Muslim force before giving battle to the enemy. No other retreat or withdrawal is allowed. Muslims must either win or die. Those who turn their backs incur the wrath of God and "Hell shall be their abode."

The words, and Hell shall be his abode, have a double significance: (1) that those who turn back from the battlefield, except in the circumstances stated above, shall be awarded the punishment of Hellfire in the Hereafter; (2) that although such runaways think that by turning back from the field of battle they will find security from danger, the truth is that they will thereby be running into the very jaws of fire, for such ignom-inious defeat will embolden the enemy against them and will open the doors of their persecution wider still.

A fight that begins with a single individual, (a Divine Messenger), arrayed against the entire forces of the world, cannot possibly allow at a later stage the retreat of a believing party against a disbelieving host on the basis of disparity in numbers. Where true faith comes in, numbers do not and indeed cannot count. It must be a fight to the finish, for what does a believer await except one of the two good things—victory or martyrdom (9:52)?

66:10.

Commentary:

The words, disbelievers and hypocrites, do not here refer to two different classes of men, but only to hypocrites who are also disbelievers. As a matter of fact, the word "hypocrites" as used here explains the meaning of the word "disbelievers" which precedes it, hinting that the hypocrites referred to here are disbelievers at heart, though outwardly they profess to be believers. See also the succeeding verse.

The words, be severe to them, may mean" be strict in your dealings with the hypocrites", i.e. you should no longer be lenient to them or condone their offences, as you did formerly, but you should now call them to account for their misdeeds. The words do not signify cruel treatment or even harshness of language or demeanour but simply strictness of attitude and treatment.

Commentary:

The words لتعرضوا عنھم (that you may leave them alone) mean, that you may pardon them and not call them to account, whereas the expression فاعرضوا عنھم (so leave them alone) means, turn yourselves away from them and have nothing to do with them. So the same word اعراض (leaving alone and turning away) has been used here in two different senses.

On his way back from Tabuk, one of those men, who had remained behind, met the Holy Prophet and offered excuses for not being able to go with him, but the Holy Prophet refused to listen to him. On the other hand, it is on record that in the case of some, he did accept their excuses on his return to Medina. This apparent disparity in the attitude of the Holy Prophet with regard to different persons may be explained by the fact that those who had stayed behind (hypocrites as well as believers) were of various types. The hypocrites were of three classes: (a) ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy and his party; (b) the hypocrites among the Arabs of the desert (9:90 above); and (c) the hypocrites who had built the Masjid Dirar with the intention of making it the centre of their activities against Islam (9:107 below). Similarly, the believers who had stayed behind were also of three classes: (1) those to whom the Quran has referred to in 9:91 above, i.e. the weak, the sick and the poor; (2) those who were not wholly inexcusable but who possessed no excuse valid enough to justify their staying behind (9:102 below); and (3) those who possessed no excuse at all. As these laggards belonged to different categories, therefore, they were treated differently.

Commentary:

The verse uses the words یکسبون (they earn) and not یعملون (they do) to point to the philosophy of sin. Only a wrongful act done deliberately or repeatedly deserves to be punished. He is not a sinner, delaying punishment, who in a state of passing forgetfulness and with no deliberate intention is guilty of a temporary moral lapse, nor is that person a sinner in the true sense of the word who falters and commits a sin but is immediately after seized with sincere remorse and repents of his action, and at once sets about mending his conduct. The subject has also been dealt with in 53:33.

Speaking of the punishment of sinners, the verse says, It is these whose abode is Fire. The word ماوی (abode) is used to signify a place which a person repairs to for lodging and which he looks upon as a refuge and an asylum (see 79:42). It seems strange that "Fire" should be spoken of as a refuge and an asylum, but the Quran has used this word in order to point to the real significance and true nature and purpose of Divine punishment, which is that the punishment of God is not meant to inflict pain but to heal. According to Islam, Hell is not a place of torture but a sort of reformatory or hospital. And just as a man, though disliking the pain caused by a surgical operation, submits to it gladly because he sees his own good in it. Similarly when sinners come to realize the real purpose of Divine punishment, they will look upon it as a place of refuge, i.e. a means of deliverance from the real punishment which is the displeasure of God and estrangement from Him. Thus, by using the word ماوی (abode) with regard to the fire of Hell the Quran means to point out that it is not with the intent of torture but a necessary means of purification.