CHAPTER 3 (Surah Āl ‘Imrān), VERSES 81 - 85
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّـهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُم مِّن كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُّصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنصُرُنَّهُۚ
قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكُمْ إِصْرِيۖ
قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَاۚ
قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُم مِّنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ ﴿٨١﴾ فَمَن تَوَلَّىٰ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ ﴿٨٢﴾ أَفَغَيْرَ دِينِ اللَّـهِ يَبْغُونَ وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ ﴿٨٣﴾ قُلْ آمَنَّا بِاللَّـهِ وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ وَالنَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ ﴿٨٤﴾ وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ﴿٨٥﴾
And when Allāh made a covenant with the prophets: ‘‘Certainly what I have given you of Book and Wisdom - then a Messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him, and you must aid him.’’ He said: ‘‘Do you affirm and accept My compact in this (matter)?’’ They said: ‘‘We do affirm.’’ He said: ‘‘Then bear witness, and I (too) am of the bearers of witness with you’’ (81). Whoever therefore turns back after this, these it is that are the transgressors (82). Is it then other than Allāh’s religion that they seek (to follow), and to Him submits whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him shall they be returned? (83). Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Ibrāhīm and Ismā‘īl and Ishāq and Ya‘qūb and the tribes, and what was given to Mūsā and ‘Īsā and to the prophets from their Lord; we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit’’ (84). And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers (85).
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COMMENTARY
The verses are not disjointed from the preceding ones; they have been revealed in the same context. Earlier, Allāh had described that the People of the Book transgressed the limits by indulging in alteration of the Books they were given, creating doubts and confusion among the people, making differences between the prophets, and rejecting the signs of the truth of the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.w.a.); then He showed how impossible it was for a prophet like Mūsā or ‘Īsā (peace be on them both)
to tell the people to take him or some other prophets or the angels as their lords - as the Christians openly claimed and the Jews implied.
Now He puts more emphasis on the impossibility of such an idea.
How can any prophet give such an order to his people, when Allāh has made covenant with the prophets that they must believe in and help every prophet no matter whether he preceded them or came after them? They were to fulfil that promise by confirming the truth of the preceding prophets and giving good news of those who were to come after them - as ‘Īsā (a.s.) verified the prophethood of Mūsā (a.s.) and his laws, and foretold the advent of Muhammad (s.a.w.a.). Likewise, Allāh made a covenant with them that they should make a similar covenant with their people, and made them witnesses over them; and then declared that it was the Islam - submission - which dominates all those who are in the heavens and in the earth.
Then Allāh enjoins His Prophet (s.a.w.a.) to adhere to that covenant:
he is to believe in Allāh and all that was sent to His prophets - without making any distinction between them, and to surrender to Allāh. He was to enter into the covenant on his own behalf, and also on behalf of his ummah. That is why it is said that the covenant was made with him directly, and with his ummah through him, as we shall explain later.
QUR’ĀN:
And when Allāh made a covenant with the prophets:
‘‘Certainly what I have given you of Book and Wisdom - then a Messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him, and you must aid him’’: The verse speaks of a covenant that was made. ‘‘Mīthāqa’n-nabīyyīn’’ (مِيْثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ
= translated here as ‘‘covenant with the prophets’’), literally means ‘covenant of the prophets’. This covenant was taken for the prophets (as the clause, ‘‘then a Messenger comes to you you must aid him’’, points to), as well as ‘‘with the prophets’’ (as the clauses, He said: ‘‘Do you affirm ’’, and, Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh ’’, show). The covenant was therefore made for the prophets and with the prophets - although it was made with the prophets’ people too, through the prophets.
The phrase, ‘‘covenant of the prophets’’, may therefore refer to the covenant made ‘‘with’’ them and to that ‘‘for’’ them, while in fact it is the same covenant looked at from different angles. In other words, ‘‘the prophets’’, may refer to those prophets ‘‘for’’ whom the covenant was made, and`also to those ‘‘with’’ whom it was made. However, the import of the preceding two verses (It is not meet for a man after you are Muslims) which were revealed in the same context, gives rather more weight to the idea that, ‘‘the prophets’’, refers to those ‘‘with’’ whom the covenant was made. Looking in this context the verses have the following connotation: ‘It was not possible for the prophets, after Allāh gives them the Book, the Wisdom and Prophethood, to call the people to take someone other than Allāh as their lord or to worship him. How can it be possible while Allāh has made covenant with them to believe in, and help, other prophets of Allāh - who enjoin their peoples to believe in one God.’ It is for this reason that this verse begins with mention of the covenant - focusing our attention to it.
‘‘lamā ātaytukum min kitābin wa hikmah’’ (لَمَا اَتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ آِتَابٍ وَ حِكْمَةٍ
= Certainly what I have given you of Book and Wisdom): ‘lamā’ (with the vowel ‘a’ after ‘l’, and without putting emphasis on ‘m’) is in accordance with the well-known recital (of all the reciters except Hamzah).
Accordingly ‘mā’ (مَا
) is relative pronoun meaning, ‘‘what’’ or ‘‘whatsoever’’; ‘‘ataytukum’’ (اَتَيْتُكُمْ
= I have given you) is its ‘‘as-silah’’اَلصِّلَةُ
) = antecedent). Its another recital is ‘‘ātaynākum’’ (اَتَيْنَكُمْ
= We have given you). The objective pronoun that should come here is omitted because the phrase ‘‘of Book and Wisdom’’, points to it. The whole phrase is the subject, and, ‘‘you must believe in him, and you must aid him’’, the predicate. ‘la’, in ‘lamā’, denotes beginning of the sentence, while in ‘‘latu’minunna bihi’’ (لِتُومِنَنَّ بِهِ
= you must believe in him) it is for emphasis and oath. The whole sentence describes the covenant that was made, which would be as follows: ‘That which I have given you of Book and Wisdom, then a Messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you should believe in that Messenger and aid him without fail.’
There is another syntactical possibility: ‘ma’ in ‘lamā’ may be a conditional pronoun, meaning ‘‘when’’; and ‘‘you must believe in him’’, its answer. The meaning, in this case, would be like this: ‘When I have given you of Book and Wisdom and then a Messenger comes to you you must believe in him, and you must aid him.’ This explanation is rather more appropriate (because it is more common to add ‘la’ of oath on the ‘‘answer’’ of a conditional sentence), and the meaning in this case is cleareer; also it is more usual to put conditional clauses in covenants.
A reciter has recited ‘limā’ using the vowel ‘i’ (instead of ‘a’) for ‘l’. In that case ‘li’ would denote reason, and ‘limā ātaytukum’ would mean ‘because of that which I have given you’. But the first recital has more weight.
The second person plural pronoun ‘‘you’’ in ‘‘have given you’’ and ‘‘comes to you’’, apparently refers to ‘‘the prophets’’. But the speech, Do you affirm and accept my compact in this?, indicates that it includes the people of the prophets too; that is, the talk is directed to the prophets only but the order (i.e., covenant) covers their people too. The people are as much obliged to believe in and help the coming Messenger as are the prophets themselves.
The conjuctive ‘‘then’’ in the clause ‘‘then a Messenger comes to you’’, obviously shows a delay in time; in other words, it was incumbent on a preceding prophet to believe in and help a prophet who would come after him. On the other hand, the verse 3:84 (Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Ibrāhīm ...’’) , implies that the covenant was made with each of the preceding and the following prophets for the other - the following prophets too were required to believe in and help the preceding ones. But it is only an inference; the words are silent about this matter - as we shall explain later, Allāh willing.
There are two third person singular pronouns in the clauses, ‘‘you must believe in him, and you must aid him’’. Both may refer to the ‘‘Messenger’’ who was to come later; there is no difficulty in the idea of one prophet believing in another; as Allāh says: The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; everyone of them believes in Allāh and His angels and His books and His messengers (2:285). Nevertheless, it appears from the verse: Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Ibrāhīm ’’, that the first pronoun refers to the Book and the Wisdom that was revealed, and the second one to the Messenger.
The meaning therefore would be as follows: ‘You must believe in what I have given you of the Book and the Wisdom, and you must aid the Messenger who comes to you verifying that which is with you.’
QUR’ĀN:
He said: ‘‘Do you affirm and accept my compact in this (matter)?’’ They said: ‘‘We do affirm’’: The question was put for confirmation. ‘‘al-Iqrār’’ (اَلْاِقْرَارُ
= affirmation; acknowledgement); ‘‘alisr’’ (اَلْاِصْرُ
= compact, covenant), it is the object of the verb, ‘‘accept’’.
Literally, the clause means, ‘and take my compact in this’. The prophets were to take or make God’s covenant; obviously there should be a second party there to enter into covenant with them, and it could be none except their own ummah. The verse therefore means: ‘Do you affirm this covenant and have you made this compact of mine with your people? They said: ‘‘We do affirm.’’
An exegete has said: Taking God’s compact means that the prophets accepted that covenant for themselves. If so, then, ‘‘(Do you) take my compact in this (matter)’’, would be an explicative apposition of the preceding clause, ‘‘Do you affirm?’’ This explanation is stengthened by their response, as they only said, ‘‘We do affirm’’, without saying anything about taking the compact. Accordingly, the covenant would be restricted to the prophets; their ummah would not be included in it. On the other hand, the next directive, Then bear witness, goes against this explanation; obviously one bears witness for or against other than oneself. Also, the next directive (Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh ’’) uses plural pronoun, We, and not, I, apparently, it is a declaration of faith by the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.w.a.) for himself and on behalf of his ummah. Therefore, ‘‘taking of compat’’ would mean making the compact with the ummah. Although, it may be said that it is these two sentences, Then bear witness, and, We believe in Allāh, which prove the participation of the ummah with the prophets in this compact, while, ‘‘take my compact in this’’, is not related to this matter.
QUR’ĀN:
He said: ‘‘Then bear witness, and I (too) am of the bearers of witness with you’’; Obviously, the witness, as explained above, is borne for or against someone else; therefore, it is concerned both with the prophets and their people. As mentioned above, also the next directive, (Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh’’), proves it. And the context too supports this meaning: The verses were revealed to reprove the People of the Book for their rejecting the message of the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.w.a.) and for ascribing falsehoods to ‘Īsā, Mūsā and some other prophets (peace be on them all); and it is in this background that they have been rebuked: Is it then other than Allāh’s religion that they seek (to follow)?
Some exegetes have said that the order, ‘‘Then bear witness’’, refers to the prophets bearing witness for one another; others have written that this order was given to the angels who were to bear witness, and that it is not concerned with the prophets.
COMMENT:
These two meanings, although possibly correct in themselves, cannot be inferred from the verse without an association; and you have seen that the association goes against it.
One of the fine points in this verse deserves special attention. Read the words, Allāh made a covenant with the prophets, in conjunction with the clause, then a Messenger comes to you. You will see that the covenant was made with the prophets for the Messenger. And we have described in the Commentary of the verse 2:213 (Mankind was but one people ...) that messengership is more particular than prophethood, that every messenger is a prophet but not every prophet is a messenger. The verse therefore obviously means that the covenant was made with the rank of prophethood for the rank of messengership - but not vice versa.
Keeping this connotation in view, we may question the comprehensiveness of the explanation given by an exegete that the covenant was made with the prophets that they would believe in each other and would tell one another to believe in each other - the religion is one which all the prophets invite to.
The meaning in fact should be as follows: Allāh made a covenant with the prophets and their people that if Allāh gave them Book and Wisdom and then a messenger came to them, verifying that which was with them, they would surely believe in what he would bring to them and help him; a later coming prophet would help a preceding (or contemporary) messenger by affirming his truth, and a preceding prophet would foretell the coming of a later messenger and enjoin his ummah to believe in him (the coming messenger), affirm his truth and help him in his cause. This covenant thus implies and affirms the Oneness of Divine Religion.
Another exegete has explained the verse as follows: ‘‘Allāh made a covenant with the prophets that they would affirm the truth of Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) and give their people the good tidings of his advent.’’ This meaning is correct in itself; but it cannot be discerned from the wording of the verse. Of course, we may infer it from the context, as we have explained earlier: The verse is among the ones that argue against the People of the Book, admonishing and rebuking them for their tendency of altering the Books, hiding the signs foretold of the Holy Prophet of Islam, transgressing the limit and turning away from the clear truth.
QUR’ĀN:
Whoever therefore turns back after this, these it is that are the transgressors: It puts emphasis on the above-mentioned covenant. The meaning is clear.
QUR’ĀN:
Is it then other than Allāh’s religion that they seek (to follow), and to Him submits ?: The question arises from the preceding verses. Well, Allāh’s religion is one; it was about that religion that the covenant was made with the prophets and their people; it was incumbent upon the preceding prophets and their people to foretell the advent of the Messenger who was to follow and they had to believe in his message and help him. Well, is it not strange - in this background - the way the People of the Book are behaving? What do they want when they deny your truth? They show the desire to follow the religion. If so, then do they seek a religion other than Islam which is the only Divine Religion? There can be no other explanation why they do not accept your truth, why they do not hold fast to the religion of Islam. Undoubtedly, it was incumbent upon them to accept and follow Islam, because it is.the religion which is based on nature - a religion should not go against nature. Do they need a proof? Then see how all those inhabitants of the heavens and the earth (who have been endowed with sense and intelligence) submit to Allāh - on the level of creation - then let them also submit to him on the level of legislation.
QUR’ĀN:
and to Him submits whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly: This is the Islam - submission - that encompasses all who are in the heavens and the earth, including the People of the Book, who it says, are not Muslims. The word used here is ‘‘aslama’’ (اَسْلَمَ
= he submitted), in past tense, which shows that the action has already taken place; in other words, they have already submitted to Allāh.
Obviously, it can only refer to their submission in creative affairs - they cannot go against His decree in matters of creation. It does not refer to Islam in the sense of religion, or in the meaning of belief and worship.
The words, ‘‘willingly or unwillingly’’, support, nay, prove this explanation.
Keeping the above explanation in view, it appears that the words, ‘‘to Him submits’’, gives a proof, a reason, without mentioning, for the sake of brevity, its result and conclusion. The complete talk would be as follows: ‘Do they seek to follow a religion other than Islam? But it is the religion of Allāh; whoever is in the heavens and the earth submits to Him and obeys His order. If these People of the Book would accept it, their submission would be done willingly; if they disliked what Allāh has decreed for them and tried to seek something else, the Divine Decree would nevertheless be enforced, however they might dislike it.’
It appears from it that the conjunctive ‘wa’ (وَ
= or) in, ‘‘willingly or unwillingly’’, denotes division. The alternatives point to their willing acceptance of what Allāh has decreed for them of the things they like; and their resentment of Divine Decrees in matters they dislike, for example, death, poverty and sickness, etc.
QUR’ĀN:
and to Him shall they be returned: It is another reason why they must seek Islam as religion. They are bound to return to Allāh, their true Lord; they would not be able to hide from Allāh or to go to what their disbelief and polytheism leads them to rely on.
QUR’ĀN:
Say: ‘‘We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed to us:
Allāh enjoins the Prophet to adhere to the covenant which was made with him and the others. He should declare as follows, for himself and on behalf of the believers from his ummah: ‘‘We believe in Allāh and what has been revealed ...’’
It is a proof, as we have said above, that the covenant was made with the prophets and their people together.
QUR’ĀN:
and what was revealed to Ibrāhīm and Ismā‘īl and to Him do we submit’’: All those mentioned here were prophets from the progeny of Ibrāhīm. The verse implies that the word, ‘‘the tribes’’, refers to the prophets from the progeny of Ya‘qūb - from the Children of Israel - like Dāwūd, Sulaymān, Yūnus, Ayyūb and others. Then comes the phrase, ‘‘the prophets from their Lord’’; it makes the declaration comprehensive, as it covers Adam, Nūh and all the others. Then a reference is made to the whole group, saying, ‘‘we do not make any distinction between any of them and to Him do we submit.’’
QUR’ĀN:
And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam shall be one of the losers: It negates and nullifies all that is outside the purview of the said covenant. It further emphasises the obligation of following the terms of the covenant.
TRADITION
The Leader of the faithful (‘Alī, a.s.) said: ‘‘Verily, Allāh made covenant with the prophets (who came) before our Prophet that they should inform their people of his advent and his characteristics, give them his good news and enjoin them to affirm his truth.’’ (Majma‘u ’lbayān)
Ibn Jarīr has narrated from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib (may Allāh be pleased with him) that he said: ‘‘Allāh did not send any prophet - Adam and those who came after him - without making a covenant with him about Muhammad (s.a.w.a.): If he (Muhammad, s.a.w.a.) was sent when that prophet was alive, he must believe in him and help him; and He enjoined him to make a (similar) covenant with his people.’’ Then the Imām recited the verse, And when Allāh made a covenant with the prophets: Certainly what I have given you of Book and Wisdom ’’ (ad-Durru ’lmanthūr)
The author says:
These two traditions explain the verse keeping both the words and the context in view, as we have written above.
as-Sādiq (a.s.) explained this verse as follows: ‘‘When Allāh made a covenant with the people of the prophets - (with) every ummah - for affirming the truth of its prophet and following what they (the prophets) would bring to them; but (the people) did not fulfil it (i.e., the covenant) and neglected much of their laws and altered (it) to a great extent.’’ (Majma‘u ’l-bayān; al-Jawāmi‘)
The author says:
The above tradition applies the verse to a particular situation; it therefore does not conflict with the explanation given in the Commentary that the verse refers to a covenant made with the prophets together with their people.
The Leader of the faithful (a.s.) said explaining the words: He said: ‘‘Do you affirm ’’: ‘‘He (Allāh) said: ‘Do you affirm? And have you made this compact with your people?’ They (i.e., the prophets and their people) said: ‘We do affirm what Thou hast enjoined us to affirm.’ Allāh said: ‘Then bear witness over your people in this respect, and I too am one of the bearers of witness with you, over you and your people.’ ’’ (Majma‘u ’l-bayān)
Ibn Jarīr narrates from ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib that he said about the words, Then bear witness ...: ‘‘Allāh said: ‘Then bear witness over your people in this respect; and I too am one of the bearers of witness with you, over you and them. Then whoever turns away from you, O Muhammad, after this covenant taken from all the people, these it is that are the transgressors, they are the disobedient ones, (steeped) in disbelief.’ ’’ (ad-Durru ’l-manthūr)
The author says:
Its explanation has been given earlier.
as-Sādiq (a.s.) said: ‘‘(Allāh) said to them (when they were) in (the state of) particle: ‘Do you affirm and accept my compact in this matter?’
They said: ‘We do affirm.’ Then Allāh said to the angels: ‘Then bear witness.’ ’’ (at-Tafsīr, al-Qummī)
The author says:
The wording of the verse is not in conflict with this explanation, although, as we have said earlier, it is not inferred from its apparent meanings.
It is written in ad-Durru ’l-manthūr concerning the verse, And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam …: ‘‘Ahmad and at-Tabarānī (in his al-Mu‘jamu ’l-awsat) have narrated from Abū Hurayrah that he said: ‘The Messenger of Allāh (s.a.w.a.) said: ‘‘The deeds shall come on the Day of Resurrection. So the prayer will come and say, ‘O Lord, I am prayer,’ and He will say, ‘Surely you are on good.’ And the alms will come and say, ‘O Lord I am alms,’ and He will say, ‘Surely you are on good.’ Then the fast will come and say, ‘I am fast,’ and He will say, ‘Surely you are on good.’ Then the deeds will come (one after another) and Allāh will go on saying, ‘Surely you are on good.; (until Islam will come and Allāh will say:) ‘With thee shall I take today and with thee shall I give.’ Allāh says in His Book: And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers’’ ’.’’
as-Sādiq (a.s.) said about this verse: ‘‘It (i.e., Islam) means their believing in the Oneness of Allāh, the Mighty, the Great.’’ (at-Tawhīd; at-Tafsīr, al-‘Ayyāshī)
The author says:
The belief in monotheism requires that the servant should accept, and submit to, whatever Allāh wants him to do. It therefore implies the same thing which has been written in the Commentary. If on the other hand it is explained just as ‘‘not ascribing anyone or anything to Allāh’’, then the willingness and unwillingness (mentioned in a preceding verse) would imply voluntary and compulsory guidances.
There are several other traditions narrated by al-‘Ayyāshī and al- Qummī (in their books) and others, in explanation of the verse, And when Allāh made a covenant with the prophets In those traditions the words, you must believe in him, and you must aid him, have been explained as follows: You must believe in the Messenger of Allāh and you must aid the Leader of the faithful - blessings and peace be on them. Obviously, these tradtions refer the former pronoun, him, to the Messenger of Allāh (s.a.w.a.) and the later, him, to the Leader of the faithful (‘Alī, a.s.), without there being any proof or association for it in the wording of the verse.
Nevertheless, a tradition given by al-‘Ayyāshī may solve this problem. He narrates from Salām ibn al-Mustanīr, from Abū ‘Abdillāh (a.s.) that he said:
‘‘They have taken for themselves a name, that Allāh named no one with it except ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib - and there has not come its interpretation yet.’’ I said: ‘‘May I be your ransom ! When will its interpretation come?’’ He said: ‘‘When it comes, Allāh shall gather before Him the prophets and the believers, so that they should help him.
And it is the words of Allāh, And when Allāh made a covenant with the prophets and I (too) am of the bearers of witness with you.’’
This tradition solves the problem. The problem arises if we take those traditions as an exegesis or explantion of the verse [but this tradition shows that they do not purport to give the exegesis; they aim at pointing at its interpretation]. And we have described earlier that interpretation is not meaning of the word, nor a thing related to word. Vide for detail the discourse under the following verse: He it is Who sent down to thee the Book ...
(3:7).
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Author: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
