Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

CHAPTER 3 (Surah Āl ‘Imrān), VERSES 111 - 120

لَن يَضُرُّوكُمْ إِلَّا أَذًىۖ وَإِن يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ يُوَلُّوكُمُ الْأَدْبَارَ ثُمَّ لَا يُنصَرُونَ ﴿١١١﴾ ضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ أَيْنَ مَا ثُقِفُوا إِلَّا بِحَبْلٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَحَبْلٍ مِّنَ النَّاسِ وَبَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَسْكَنَةُۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّـهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ الْأَنبِيَاءَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا وَّكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ ﴿١١٢﴾ لَيْسُوا سَوَاءًۗ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّـهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ ﴿١١٣﴾ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ﴿١١٤﴾ وَمَا يَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَن يُكْفَرُوهُۗ وَاللَّـهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿١١٥﴾ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَن تُغْنِيَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُهُم مِّنَ اللَّـهِ شَيْئًاۖ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِۚ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿١١٦﴾ مَثَلُ مَا يُنفِقُونَ فِي هَـٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَثَلِ رِيحٍ فِيهَا صِرٌّ أَصَابَتْ حَرْثَ قَوْمٍ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ فَأَهْلَكَتْهُۚ وَمَا ظَلَمَهُمُ اللَّـهُ وَلَـٰكِنْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ ﴿١١٧﴾ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَتَّخِذُوا بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ لَا يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالًا وَدُّوا مَا عَنِتُّمْ قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُۚ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِۖ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ﴿١١٨﴾ هَا أَنتُمْ أُولَاءِ تُحِبُّونَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِبُّونَكُمْ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ كُلِّهِ وَإِذَا لَقُوكُمْ قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْا عَضُّوا عَلَيْكُمُ الْأَنَامِلَ مِنَ الْغَيْظِۚ قُلْ مُوتُوا بِغَيْظِكُمْۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ ﴿١١٩﴾ إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا بِهَاۖ وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًاۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ ﴿١٢٠﴾

They shall by no means harm you but with a slight distress; and if they fight you they shall turn (their) backs to you, then they shall not be helped (111). Abasement is brought down upon them wherever they are found, except under a protection from Allāh and a protection from men, and they have become settled in wrath from Allāh, and humiliation is stamped upon therm; this is because they used to disbelieve in the signs of Allāh and slew the prophets unjustly; this is because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limits (112). They are not all alike; of the People of the Book there is an upright party; they recite Allāh’s communications in the night-time and they prostrate (to Him) (113). They believe in Allāh and the last day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and they strive with one another in hastening to good deeds, and those are among the good (114). And whatever good they do, they shall not be denied it, and Allāh knows the pious ones (115). (As for) those who disbelieve, surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them in the least against Allāh; and these are the inmates of the fire; therein they shall abide (116). The likeness of what they spend in this life of the world is as the likeness of a wind in which is intense cold (that) smites the tilth of a people who have done injustice to their souls and destroys it; and Allāh does no injustice to them, but they are doing injustice to themselves (117). O you who believe! do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people; they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you; they love what distresses you; vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater still; indeed, We have made the signs clear to you, if you would understand (118). Lo! you are they who will love them while they do not love you, and you believe in the Book (in) the whole of it; and when they meet you they say: ‘‘We believe,’’ and when they are alone, they bite the ends of their fingers in rage against you. Say: ‘‘Die in your rage;’’ surely Allāh knows what is in the breasts (119). If a good befall you, it grieves them, and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it; and if you are patient and guard yourselves, their scheme will not injure you in any way; surely Allāh comprehends what they do (120).

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COMMENTARY

The verses, as you see, now revert to the original theme, describing the behaviour of the People of the Book - and particularly the Jews -

exposing their disbelief in the Divine Revelation, their going astray and their hindering the believers from the way of Allāh; the preceding ten verses were a talk within talk, a parenthetical speech. The verses are thus connected with the foregoing discourse.

QUR’ĀN: They shall by no means harm you they shall not be helped:

‘‘al-Adhā’’ (اَلْاَذي = slight distress) denotes a harm suffered by a creature, either to his soul or body or to those related to him, be it of this world or of the hereafter - as ar-Rāghib has said in Mufradātu ’l-Qur’ān.

QUR’ĀN: Abasement is brought down upon them wherever they are found, except under a protection from Allāh and a protection from men;: ‘‘adh-Dhillah’’ (اَلذِّلَّةُ = abasement) denotes here species of abasement; ‘adh-dhull’ (اَلذُّلُّ ) is the humiliation imposed by someone else; ‘adhdhill’ (اَلذِّلُّ ) is that which results from one’s own obstinacy - as ar-Rāghib has written. However, its general import is the condition of humiliation and degradation. Its opposite ‘al-‘izz’ (اَلْعِزُّ ) means honour, strength and pride.

The word ‘thuqifū’ (ثُقِفُوا ) means ‘‘are found’’; ‘al-habl’ (اَلْحَبْلُ ) literally means rope or cord which provides protection to one who holds fast to it; it is metaphorically used to everything that provides a kind of safety, security and protection, e.g., a covenant, guarantee or amnesty. The meaning is as follows - and Allāh knows better: Abasement is stamped on them as a design is stamped on a coin, or it encompasses them as a tent encompasses a man. Anyhow, they are either branded with, or overwhelmed by abasement and humiliation - except when they get a protection or guarantee from Allāh and a protection or guarantee from men.

The word ‘‘protection’’ is repeated when referring to Allāh and then to men, because the connotation differs from one place to the other. Protection given by Allāh is His decree and command, either creative or legislative; and that provided by men is their decision and action.

Abasement is stamped on them; it means that Allāh has ordained a law affirming their abasement. This meaning is supported by the proviso ‘‘wherever they are found’’. Obviously, it means that wherever the believers find them and subjugate them; this proviso is obviously more appropriate to legislative abasement, one of whose effects is the imposition of jizyah.

The meaning of the verse therefore is as follows:

They are abased and humiliated, according to the law of Islamic sharī‘ah, except when they come under the protection of an Islamic State, or somehow get protection from people.

One of the exegetes has said that the clause ‘‘Abasement is brought down upon them’’ is not a legislative order; it is rather a statement of fact describing what they had suffered by the Divine decree and measure - because when Islam came, the Jews were paying jizyah to the fireworshippers of Persia, and some of them were subjects of the Christians.

COMMENT: This meaning could be correct; and the end portion of the verse might even support this view, because it apparently explains the reason of their being branded with abasement and humiliation in terms of their misdeeds, e.g., their disbelief in the signs of Allāh, their slaying the prophets and their continuous transgression. But then we would have to apply this verse exclusively to the Jews - and there is apparently nothing in the verse to suggest such exclusiveness. We shall write some more on this subejct under the following verse: and We have put enmity and hatred among them till the Day of Ressurection (5:64).

QUR’ĀN: and they have become settled in wrath from Allāh, and humiliation is stamped upon them;: ‘‘Bā’ū’’ (بَاءوُا = they settled in; they returned with); ‘al-maskanah’ (اَلْمَسْكَنَةُ ) translated here as humiliation, literally means extreme poverty. Apparently it is used when a man finds no way of escape from a threatening poverty or need. Accordingly the end of the verse conforms with its beginning.

QUR’ĀN: this is because they disobeyed and used to exceed the limits:

They disobeyed, and, even before that, they were habitually and continuously transgressing the limits.

QUR’ĀN: They are not all alike; and Allāh knows the pious ones: ‘‘as-Sawā’ ’’ (اَلسَّوَآءُ = literally, to be equal) is a masdar which is used in the meaning of adjective, that is, equal, alike. The People of the Book are not all alike in their behaviour, nor in the rules applying to them; there is among them an upright group whose attributes the verse describes.

Obviously, the phrase ‘‘of the People of the Book there is ...’’ shows the reason as to why the People of the Book are not all alike.

Various meanings have been given for the word ‘qā’imah’ (قَآئِمَةُ = literally, standing; translated here as upright): It is said that it means ‘firm in obeying the command of Allāh’, or ‘just’, or ‘proceeding on straight path’. The fact is that the word is of a general nature which could be interpreted in any of the above meanings. But the mention of the Book and of their good deeds makes it certain that it has been used here in the meaning of being standing or firm in belief and obedience.

‘Ānā’ ’ (اَنَآء ) is plural of ‘inan’ (اِنًي ) or ‘anan’ (اَنًي ) or reportedly ‘anū’ (اَنُو ), all of which mean ‘‘time’’.

‘al-Musāra‘ah’ (اَلْمُسَارَعَةُ = to vie with one another in hastening); it is on paradigm of ‘al-mufā‘alah’ (اَلْمُفَاعَلَةُ ) from the root verb ‘as-sur‘ah’(اَلسُّرْعَةُ = to be fast, to make haste). It is explained in Majma‘u ’l-bayān as follows: ‘‘The difference between as-sur‘ah and ‘al-‘ajalah’ (اَلْعَجَلَةُ ) is as follows: as-Sur‘ah is to go ahead in a matter in which going ahead is allowed; it is a praiseworthy trait, and its opposite is ‘al-ibtā’ (اَلْاِبْطَآءُ = to be late) which is a disliked action. And al-‘ajalah is to go ahead in a matter in which one should not go ahead; it is a disliked trend, and its opposite is ‘al-anāh’ (اَلْاَنَاةُ = deliberateness) which is a good trait.

Apparently, as-sur‘ah is an attribute of movement, while al-‘ajalah shows an attribute of the one who moves.

‘al-Khayrāt’ (اَلْخَيْرَاتُ ) means good deeds in general - be it worship, or spending in the way of Allāh, or justice or looking after the needs of needy persons. It is a plural with prefix ‘al’ (اَلْ ) which denotes comprehensiveness. It is mostly used for monetary good deeds, as its singular ‘al-khayr’ (اَلْخَيْرُ = good) is mostly used for wealth and property.

In these verses, Allāh has enumerated most of the basic good attributes, i.e., belief, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and hastening towards good deeds; then He has praised them that they are among the good people. It means that they are the people of the straight path, and among the companions of the prophets, the truthful ones and the martyrs. Read, for proof, the following verses: Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favours, not of those inflicted with Thy wrath, nor of those gone astray (1:6 - 7); in conjuction with: And whoever obeys Allāh and the Messenger, these are with those upon whom Allāh has bestowed favours from among the prophets and the truthfuls and the martyrs and the good ones; and excellent are these as companions (4:69).

It has been said that the verses under discussion refer to ‘Abdullāh ibn Salām and his companions.

QUR’ĀN: And whatever good they do, they shall not be denied it: ‘‘Lan yukfarūh’’ (لَنْ يُكْفَرُوهُ = they shall never be denied it); the root word is ‘alkufrān’ (اَلْكُفْرَانُ = ungratefulness) which is opposite of ‘ash-shukr’ (اَلشُّكْرُ = gratefulness). Allāh will reward them for whatever good they do, they will receive its recompense from Allāh, He will not let it be lost; He says: and whoever on his own accord does good, then surely Allāh is Grateful, Knowing (2:158). Also He says: and whatever good thing you spend, it is to your own good; and whatever good thing you spend shall be paid back to you in full, and you shall not be wronged (2:272).

QUR’ĀN: (As for) those who disbelieve, surely neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them ...: The continuation of context apparently shows that the phrase ‘‘those who disbelieve’’ refers to the other groups of the People of the Book which did not respond to the call of the Prophet; those were the people who used to hatch conspiracies against Islam and had left no stone unturned in extinguishing the light of the truth.

Some people have said that this verse refers to the idol-worshippers; according to them, it paves the way for the story of the Battle of Uhud which comes after a few verses. But this explanation does not take into account the next statements, that is, and you believe in the Book (in) the whole of it, and when they meet you they say: ‘‘We believe’’... Obviously it describes the Jews’ behaviour with the Muslims, not that of the idolworshippers. It proves that the context is the same; it has not changed yet.

An exegete has tried to combine both explanations by applying the verse under discussion to the idolaters and the next one to the Jews. But it is a mistake.

QUR’ĀN: The likeness of what they spend ...: ‘‘as-Sirr’’ (اَلصِّرًُّ = intense cold). What they spend has been qualified with the proviso ‘‘in this life of the world’’ to indicate that they are completely cut off from the life of the hereafter; whatever they spend is related only to this life. The smitten tilth is qualified by the phrase ‘‘of a people who have done injustice to their souls’’ this proviso perfectly meshes with the coming statement, ‘‘and Allāh does no injustice to them’’.

The verse means that whatever they spend in this life (in order to better their conditions and achieve their evil goals) brings nothing to them except infelicity and unhappiness; it destroys what they ardently desire and which they think would bring happiness to them. It is like an intensely cold wind that smites the farm produce of an unjust people; it is because they had done injustice to their own selves - after all, an evil deed can bring only evil results.

QUR’ĀN: O you who believe! do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people; ...: Intimate friend has been called ‘al-bitānah’ (اَلْبِطَانَةُ = inner lining of a garment) - i.e., opposite of ‘az- zihārah’ (اَلظِّهَارَةُ = outer side of a garment) - because such a friend knows the inner thoughts and secrets of man; ‘‘they do not fall short,’’ i.e., they leave no stone unturned; ‘khabālan’ (خَبَالاً = harm, mischief); insanity is called ‘al-khabl’ (اَلْخَبْلُ ) because it harms or destroys understanding; ‘‘they love what distresses you’’: ‘‘what’’ in this sentence is for masdar, and it means: they love your distress, your grievous harm; ‘‘vehement hatred has already appeared from out of their mouths’’: it means that their enmity and hatred is very obvious from their way of talking, from slips of their tongues; it is a fine metaphor; the verse does not describe what they have kept hidden in their hearts, it just says: ‘‘and what their breasts conceal is greater still’’; this apparent vagueness indicates that the hatred hidden in their hearts is so varied and so great that it is beyond description - this vagueness puts even greater stress on the word ‘‘greater’’.

QUR’ĀN: Lo! you are they who will love them while they do not love you,... Allāh knows what is in the breasts: Apparently ‘ūlā’i’ (اوُلآء = they, these) is demonstrative pronoun, and ‘hā’ (هَا = lo!) is exclamatory particle, and between the two has been inserted the pronoun ‘‘you’’; the meaning thus will be, ‘you these’, as we say ‘Zayd this did so’, or ‘Hindah this did so’.

The article ‘al’ (اَلْ = the) in ‘‘the Book’’ denotes genes, i.e., you believe in all the Books which have been revealed by Allāh - your Book as well as their Books - while they do not believe in your Book.

The clause ‘‘and when they meet you they say: ‘We believe,’ ’’ shows that they are hypocrites; ‘‘and when they are alone, they bite the ends of their fingers in rage against you’’: ‘al-‘add’ (اَلْعَضُّ = to bite forcefully); ‘al-anāmil’ (اَلْاَنَامِلُ ) is plural of ‘al-unmulah, (اَلْاُنْمُلَة = fingertip); ‘al-ghayz’ (اَلْغَيْظُ = rage, wrath, anger); to bite fingertips against something proverbially expresses one’s anger or sorrow on that thing.

The clause ‘‘Say: ‘Die in your rage,’ ’’ is a curse against them in the form of command. It connects the foregoing sentences to the next one ‘‘surely Allāh knows what is in the breasts’’. The meaning together will be as follows: ‘‘O Allāh ! cause them to die in their rage; surely Thou knowest what is in the breasts, that is, what is in their hearts or souls.’’

QUR’ĀN: If a good befalls you, it grieves them ...: ‘‘al-Masā’ah’’(اَلْمَسَآئَةُ = to grieve) is opposite of ‘as-surūr’ (اَلسُّرُورُ = to make happy; happiness). The verse shows that the believers may protect hemselves only if they have patience and piety.

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