سَلٰم

6:13; 7:157.

4:18; 16:120.

Commentary:

The message conveyed in the words, Peace be unto you, is the Message of God which the Holy Prophet is bidden to convey to believers; the "peace" spoken of is to come from God Himself. It is with reference to this "peace" promised to believers in the present verse that they are enjoined to greet one another with the words السلام علیکم i.e. "may the (promised) peace be on you." The reader will have noted that whereas the verse uses the word salam (peace), the word used in the formula of mutual greeting is as-salam (the peace). This is to point out that the greeting of peace offered is in conformity with the peace promised in the verse under comment.

Important Words:

اعراف (elevated places) is the plural of عرف ‘urf (an elevated place) which is substantive from عرف. They say عرف الشیء i.e. he knew the thing; he was or became acquainted with the thing; he knew it by means of the five senses; or he knew it by mental perception or reflection. They say عرف علی القوم i.e. he was or became manager or superintendent of the affairs of the people, being acquainted with their circumstances. عرف (‘urf) means, goodness, favour, bounty and a thing freely given; good fellowship with others; an elevated sand; an elevated place; an elevated or overtopping back of anything high (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It is generally men of high dignity and distinguished position that are seated on elevated places. According to Hasan and Mujahid, the men on the elevated places will be the elite among the believers or the most learned among them; according to Kirmani, they will be the Martyrs. Some others think that they will be the Prophets and this appears to be the most correct view. The men seated on elevated places will not only command a better view, but on account of their high rank and position, will also be better informed. They will know the rank and station of every person from his very appearance.

The words, These will not have yet entered it, refer to those would-be dwellers of Heaven who will not have yet entered it, but will be hoping to do so soon. The people on the elevated places will recognize them as dwellers of Heaven even though they will not have yet entered it.

It is a commonly held, but nevertheless a wrong, view that the men on the A‘raf (elevated places) will be those middling persons whose case will not have yet been decided, it being, as it were, still under consideration. But if such had been the case, they could not have rebuked the inmates of the Fire in the manner in which they are represented to be doing in 7:49 below. There is also no sense in placing middling persons on elevated places while the true believers, including Martyrs, Prophets, etc., occupy the lower ones.

14:24; 36:59.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that on having been endowed with the rewards of Heaven and on experiencing its supreme bliss, the believers will at once cry out, Glory be to Thee, O Allah. This glorification will be spontaneous and instinctive, because in Heaven the true reality of things will become manifest to all. Even in this life a true believer praises and glorifies God whenever he sees a praiseworthy thing, the inward reality of which he does not know. He does so because he knows that no work of God is devoid of wisdom. But in Heaven, the reality of all things will become apparent to man. He will come to realize on the basis of his personal observation and experience that every work of God is founded in deep wisdom. The realization of this eternal truth will make him exclaim instinctively and involuntarily, Glory be to Thee, o Allah.

The verse proceeds to say that believers in Heaven will salute each other with the greeting of peace. In fact, all our sufferings (i.e. lack of peace) in this world are due to our ignorance of the true reality and properties of things and, as these will be disclosed to us in Heaven, we shall attain there complete and real peace, for we shall then become secure against all harm by knowing the true properties of all things and will get complete freedom from pain and suffering. Hence, after glorifying God on learning the realities of things and experiencing the complete bliss of Heaven, believers will go about exclaiming, "There is peace here, nothing but peace", for, after attaining perfect knowledge of things, they will no longer suffer by making wrong use of them.

Finally, when believers will see perfect peace reigning in Heaven and will have vented their happy feelings to one another, they will turn again to God and the conclusion of their prayer will be, "All praise be to Allah, Who has placed us in such a place of perfect bliss."

Commentary:

This verse shows that not only was the progeny of Noah saved from the Flood and was blessed by God and multiplied upon the earth, but the progeny of those believers who were with him in the Ark also prospered and multiplied. So the popular notion that only Noah’s progeny survived and multiplied in the earth has no basis in fact. This statement of the Quran establishes its superiority over the Bible. All educated Christians now believe that the inhabitants of the earth are not all descended from Noah; but in holding this view they, in fact, subscribe to the statement of the Quran and reject that of the Bible, for the Bible clearly says that only Noah and his sons survived the Deluge and that it was their progeny that dwelt and multiplied in the earth (Gen. ch. 9). Accordingly, Christian writers divide the human race into three groups, viz. the descendants of Ham, Sam and Yapheth, the three sons of Noah. But according to the Quran the children of those who believed in Noah also survived and multiplied in the earth, to say nothing of other races.

The clause, there will be other peoples whom We shall grant provision, may mean: (1) that even in the time of Noah there were other peoples who did not perish but who were given respite and then perished in due time; (2) that some of those who were saved with Noah and who received blessings became corrupt in due course and were then punished by God.

15:52; 51:25.

15:53; 51:26.

Important Words:

ابراھیم (Abraham), the Great Patriarch, was the son of Terah. He was born at Ur of the Chaldees. It is difficult to say when exactly he lived. He is said to have died at the age of 175. Abraham is the progenitor of the two great peoples, the Israelites and the Ishmaelites, who equally revere him. Abraham’s real name was Abram but after the birth of Ishmael, according to God’s own command, he came to be called Abraham which means the "Father of a multitude" or the "Father of many nations." One branch of his progeny, the Israelites, lived in Canaan and the other, the Ishmaelites, in Arabia. In fulfilment of his famous dream, Abraham took his son Ishmael and his wife Hagar to the desert of Arabia where the posterity of Ishmael grew and multiplied and where in fulness of time and in conformity with God’s promise to Abraham, the Holy Prophet of Islam, the greatest of all Prophets, appeared "to bring back the erring flock into the Master’s fold!" (Gen. 10:26–25:10, & Jew. Enc.). To this fact the Holy Prophet has himself referred in one of his famous sayings viz. انا دعوة ابراھیم i.e. "I am the prayer personified of Abraham". (‘Asakir).

Commentary:

There exists a difference of opinion as to who were the "messengers" to whom reference has been made in this verse. Some hold them to be human beings, while others think they were angels. The former view appears to be the correct one, though they have been called "angels" by some for their piety, as Joseph is called "an angel" in 12:32. In this connection see also 17:96.

The reason why God chose these men to convey news of the impending punishment to Lot (see vv. 75 & 78) is not clear from the context, but one explanation appears probable. Both Abraham and Lot, who were closely related, were strangers in that land, and it is quite possible that God sent His word to some pious men of that locality that they might take Lot to a safe place before the visitation actually overtook his people. It should also be remembered that these "messengers" did not come to give the first warning of the punishment. The people of Lot had already been threatened with punishment (15:13-15 & 15:65). The "messengers" came only to inform Lot that the appointed hour of the threatened punishment had arrived, and to take him to a place of safety.

The mention of Abraham has been made in this Surah only incidentally, to serve as an introduction to the account of the Prophet Lot which follows. It is the story of Lot that is primarily meant to be mentioned here, for this Surah gives an account of only those Prophets whose people were visited with Divine punishment. The reason why the story of Lot has been introduced with a reference to Abraham is that Lot was one of those persons who had believed in Abraham and had migrated to Syria with him; and, though he himself was a Prophet of God, he was subordinate to Abraham, as Ishmael and Isaac were subordinate to him and as Aaron was subordinate to Moses. Hence, when the "messengers" came with the news of the impending destruction of Lot’s people, it was only in the fitness of things that God should have first conveyed the news to Abraham, to whom Lot was a subordinate Prophet. As the news about the imminent destruction of Lot’s people was conveyed to Abraham in his capacity as the senior Prophet—he himself being not directly concerned with the matter—it was accompanied by glad tidings about the inauguration of a race of good and righteous people through the birth of a son to Abraham. This was done with a view to mitigating the severity of the shock Abraham was likely to feel at the news of the imminent destruction that was to overtake Lot’s people.

It is also worth noting that though Lot was a follower of Abraham before he was made a Prophet, he was invested with this rank not through the spiritual medium of Abraham but directly by God, as were also Ishmael and Isaac and Aaron. All those were subordinate Prophets, but the rank of prophethood was conferred upon them directly by God and not through the instrumentality of Abraham or Moses. It is a special privilege and prerogative of the Holy Prophet of Islam that his followers can attain to prophethood through his spiritual influence.

The verse also throws interesting light on the hospitality of Abraham, for he did not tarry to ask the strangers whether they had partaken of food but hastened to bring a roasted calf for them.

39:74.

Commentary:

The entering of the angels through every gate, referred to in the preceding verse, signifies that the angels will tell the inmates of Paradise that the latter had entered it through a particular gate on account of a particular good deed done by them and that their different virtues had been represented to them as different gates. By saying, Peace be unto you, as used in the present verse, the angels will remind believers that, as they practised every kind of virtue, they will enjoy every kind and form of peace from every side, the word سلام (peace) being repeated at every gate of Paradise separately.

The construction of the expression سلام علیکم (peace be unto you) is also intended to signify that the bliss of Paradise will be abiding and permanent because believers were "steadfast" i.e. displayed patience constantly and in all circumstances. The verse, therefore, purports to say to believers: "You stuck to virtue as long as you lived, thus you can rightly be regarded as having performed your duty. It was not in your power to avoid death. You adhered to virtue as long as it was in your power to do so. When, therefore, the hand of death put a stop to your good deeds, it became incumbent on God to grant you perpetual peace and everlasting bliss even as you would have ever continued on the path of virtue if you had lived." The verse thus contains an effective answer to the objection, "How can deeds of limited duration win unlimited reward?"

The verse also shows that those who lose heart under trials are not deserving of Paradise. Only those are deserving who maintain their connection with God in all circumstances and persevere in the doing of good deeds till the very end. See also v. 23.

15:43; 16:100; 17:66.

10:11; 15:47; 36:59; 50:35.

Important Words:

اذن (command) means, permission; knowledge; will; command, etc. (Aqrab & Taj). See also 2:280.

تحیة (greeting) means, prayer for peace and for long or everlasting life; greeting with such prayer; peace and good and long life; security from all evils. When used about God the word التحیةsignifies الاکرام والاحسانi.e. bestowal of honour and favours by God (Aqrab & Lane). See also 4:87.

Commentary:

Deriving their authority from the words, by the command of their Lord, commentators have generally held the view that man’s going to Heaven depends not on his own good actions but upon the grace of God. This is not a wrong inference, for even the Holy Prophet is reported to have once expressed the same view. To an enquiry of ‘A’ishah whether even in his case good actions would not establish the right of salvation, the Holy Prophet is reported to have replied that even his salvation depended on the grace of God (Bukhari, Kitabut-Tafsir). In fact, the reason why people will go to Heaven, not by dint of their good works, but through the grace of God, is that all the faculties and powers by means of which they are able to perform good works are the free gift of God; hence it is from the grace of God that men’s good works proceed, and therefore whatever they get as a reward of their good works they receive as a favour from God and not as something earned or acquired.

The verse, however, possesses another meaning also. A true believer really needs and seeks after no Paradise; the only desire of his heart is to win God’s pleasure and His nearness. So if he is placed in Paradise, that will be only in obedience to God’s command and His wish. This interpretation is supported by a saying of the Holy Prophet. He is reported to have said that the doers of good works are divided into three classes. Some of them do good works with a desire to enter Heaven, while others do so in order to escape the punishment of Hell. But there is yet another class of people whose good works proceed wholly and solely from a desire to win the pleasure of God, their Lord and Master (Kathir, v. 5, p. 122). For these fortunate lovers of their Creator, Paradise will be but an additional thing and not the object and goal of their life.

The words, Their greeting therein will be "peace," may mean: (a) that they will greet each other with the salutation of "Peace be on you"; or (b) that they will have their perfect peace and be safe from all harm and injury against one another; and (c) that their best gift in Heaven will be "Peace" i.e. they will receive the special favours of God and the angels will stimulate into action all their inherent and latent powers for good.

Commentary:

The words, Enter therein with peace in safety, seem to have been spoken to believers by angels. Just as angels encourage believers with the message of good cheer and divine pleasure in this life (10:65) they will come forward to convey the same message to them in the life to come.

The words "peace" and "security" signify, respectively, freedom from internal anxieties that eat into the heart of a person and from external pain and punishment.

The word سلام (peace) also points to the permanent promise held out to believers, and expressed in the clause سلام قولا من رب الرحیم 'Peace'—a message from your Lord, the Merciful (36:59).

The verse also shows that so long as the greeting of "peace" does not reach a man from God, he can enjoy no security. The verse further implies that in spite of the challenge of Satan that he would mislead believers (v. 40), the latter will not fail to enter the eternal abode of bliss.

11:70; 51:26.

11:71; 51:29.

Commentary:

Probably signs of grief and sorrow were apparent on the faces of these messengers who had brought the news of an impending catastrophe. Abraham understood, either from the troubled expression on their faces or from their refusal to partake of the food offered to them (11:70, 71), the anguish of their hearts and suspected that the message which they had brought might prove a source of pain for him. It is also possible that the refusal of the guests to partake of the offered food led Abraham to fear that he might have, inadvertently, neglected some rule of hospitality in entertaining them.

10:11; 13:25; 36:59; 39:74.

Commentary:

It may be noted here that whereas, as mentioned in verse 29, disbelievers will be the first to make overtures of submission at the appearance of the angels of death, in the case of the righteous it is the angels themselves who will receive them with the salutation of peace.