Relationship

The discussion of messengership is ongoing from the beginning of the Surah. The story of Ashab al-Kahf was presented to strengthen this very theme. In the upcoming verses as well, some rights and etiquettes of messengership are being mentioned. The fundamental meaning of these verses is to propagate the deen self-sufficiently and to give preference to the poor, in spite of their poverty-stricken state, over the rejecters, in spite of their affluence. Hence, the circumstances behind this revelation are narrated similarly: the elite from the disbelievers before entering the Prophet’s gathering requested the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to excuse the poor and destitute believers. The details of this have passed under the Tafsir of “… وَأَنذِرۡ بِهِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ” and “… وَلَا تَطۡرُدِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدۡعُونَ رَبَّهُم “, which occurred slightly after the half-way point of the seventh juz.

Some Etiquettes of Propagation

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

And the extent of your task is to simply recite the book of your Lord before the people, which has come to you through revelation. Do not concern yourself with more than this. Nor should you be worried that if these elite remain antagonists, and their wishes are not upheld then how will the Deen flourish? Its flourishing has been promised by Us, and there is no one to alter His words, meaning His promises. That is to say, when Allah decides to fulfill a promise, none from the antagonists are capable of standing in His way. Allah, azza wa jalla, himself, though fully capable of altering, will not do so due to being established through other proofs. How, then, can the opposition from anyone be harmful; and if you are to uphold their wishes in such a manner that it leads to the neglect of sacred injunctions, then you will never find in other than Him a place of refuge. Although, based on sacred proofs, the occurrence of this is impossible in relation to the Noble Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the purpose here is to exaggerate in illustrating the effects of such an action; and just as you are being commanded to be self-sufficient from these elite, similarly you are instructed to be more considerate and pay further attention to the state of poor believers. Hence, confine yourself in sitting with those who worship their Lord day-in and day-out, (meaning perpetually) sincerely seeking His pleasure and have no worldly motive thereby, and in consideration of the splendour of the worldly life, let your eyes (meaning your thoughts) not swerve away from them.

What is meant by consideration of splendour is the thought of the elite bringing faith as a result of which Islam will receive increased beauty and perfection. It is being said here that the perfection and beauty of Islam is not through material things. Rather it is based on sincerity and complete obedience, even if found in the poor; and with respect to banishing the destitute believers do not follow the one whose heart on account of his own obstinacy We made neglectful of Our remembrance. Consequently, he does not accept the true faith, and he follows his base desires and his state (meaning this following of desires) has exceeded the limits; and in clear terms say to these leaders from among the Kuffar, This religion of truth is coming from your Lord, so whoever wishes let him believe, and whoever wishes let him disbelieve. We are not harmed or benefitted in any way. Rather, in disbelieving he harms his own self and in bringing faith he benefits his own self.

In what follows, Allah azza wa jalla illustrates both respectively. The harm in not believing is such that indeed we have prepared for punishing such oppressors a Hell-fire whose pavilion will envelope them; meaning the pavilion itself will be of fire also as mentioned in the Hadith. They will not be able to exit it, and if they beg for help, they will be helped with water, which in terms of repulsiveness will be like oily dregs and will be so blisteringly hot that upon bringing near will scald the faces to the extent that the skin of the face will drop off – as also mentioned in the Hadith.

How vile a drink, and how terrible is the Hell-fire as a resting-place!

That was the harm of not believing. The benefit of believing is that surely those that bring faith and do righteous deeds, indeed we will not waste the reward of those who are good in deeds. Therefore, for such people are gardens of eternity; beneath their homes rivers will flow. Therein, they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and they will wear green clothing of fine silk and thick silk, reclining therein on couches. How great a reward, and how beautiful is Paradise as a resting place!

Benefits

The meaning of “… وَٱصۡبِرۡ نَفۡسَكَ” is not that he should remain seated with them as long as they are seated. Instead it means continue honouring them with your prolonged presence in the majlis. Prolonged presence has been termed restraining here. Hence, in al-Durr al-Manthoor, the tafseer from Ibrahim (RH), “لا تطردهم عن الذكر”, and the saying of Abu Ja’far, “أمر أن يصبر نفسه مع أصحابه يعلمهم القران”, is quoted.

Some are confused that these leaders promised to bring faith if granted a special gathering; this request should have been fulfilled. The reply is: Allah azza wa jalla knew that they would not bring faith. Secondly, if a disbeliever conditions his faith on a permissible matter, fulfilling such a condition does not become obligatory – let alone a matter which is disliked. For instance, if one promises to embrace Islam if given $1000, there is no obligation on any Muslim to fulfill this request.

Some are confused with respect to يُحَلَّوۡنَ that bracelets on the wrists of men are displeasing. The reply is: in this world it is not displeasing among people who find it customary, however, sacred prohibition forbids it. In the Afterlife, there will be no such prohibition.

Where it says they will wear green clothing, this is not for the purpose of exclusion, since other verses are explicit, in that the people of Paradise will be granted whatever their hearts desire.

Here, sundus and istabraq are mentioned unqualified, but in Surah al-Rahman, it is mentioned, بَطَآٮِٕنُہَا مِنۡ إِسۡتَبۡرَقٍ۬‌ۚ , that the internal portion will be of thick silk. From this it can be understood that the outer layer will be of sundus, i.e. thin silk. This is also customary among many peoples in this world, and Allah knows best.

اللغات قوله ملتحدا ملجأ قوله لا تعد لا تتجاوز قوله فرطا افراطا قوله السرادق معرب سرابرده وقيل سراطاق وقيل سرادر ما أحاطه بموضع من حائط أو مضروب أو خباء ١٢ قوله المهل فسر في الحديث بعكر الزيت وأيضا ذكره في القاموس قوله المرتفق في الروح المقر والمجلس اه وقيل مجلس الراحة خاصة فعليه يكون فيه المشاكلة أو التهكم ١٢ قوله العدن الإقامة قوله الأساور جمع أسورة جمع سوار قوله سندس واستبرق معربان ما رق من ديباج وغلظ ١٢

النحو قوله تريد حال فلا اشكال قوله من أساور من ذهب الأولى إبتدائية والثانية بيانية ١٢

البلاغة قوله يريدون وجهه أي رضاه قال السهيلي إن الوجه إذا أضيف إليه تعالى يراد به الرضا والطاعة المرضية مجازا لان من رضي على شخص يقبل عليه ومن غضب يعرض عنه كذا في الروح ١٢ قوله يحلون مبنيا للمفعول ويلبسون مبنيا للفاعل إشعاراً بأنهم لا يتعاطون التحلية بأنفسهم وانما يفعله الخدم وكذلك سائر الملوك في الدنيا يلبسهم التيجان ونحوها خدمهم وأسند اللبس اليهم لان الانسان يتعاطى ذلك نفسه خصوصاً إذا كان فيه سترة العورة كذا في الروح ١٢