058- AL-MUJADILAH
SHE WHO DISPUTES
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# God has indeed heard the words of she who disputes with thee concerning her husband and complains to God. And God hears your conversation. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing. # Those among you who commit ẓihār against their wives, those are not their mothers. None of their mothers save those who gave birth to them. Truly they speak indecent words and calumny. And truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving. # As for those who commit ẓihār against their wives and then go back on what they have said, let them free a slave before they touch one another; to that are you counseled. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # And whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months before they touch one another. And whosoever is unable, let him feed sixty indigent people. That is so that you may believe in God and His Messenger. These are the limits set by God, and the disbelievers shall have a painful punishment. # Truly those who oppose God and His Messenger shall be abased, just as those before them were abased. We have indeed sent down clear signs, and the disbelievers shall have a humiliating punishment # on the Day when God resurrects them all together, then informs them of that which they did. God has kept account of it while they have forgotten it; and God is Witness over all things. # Hast thou not considered that God knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth? There is no secret converse among three, but that He is their fourth, nor among five, but that He is their sixth, nor less than that, nor more, but that He is with them wheresoever they are. Then on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of that which they did. Truly God is Knower of all things. # Hast thou not seen those who were forbidden from secretly conversing then returned to that which they had been forbidden, secretly conversing with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger? And when they come to thee and greet thee, they greet thee in a manner that God has not greeted thee and say within themselves, “Why does God not punish us for what we say?” Hell suffices them, burning therein. What an evil journey’s end! # O you who believe! If you converse in secret, then do not converse in secret with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger; converse in secret with a view to piety and reverence. And reverence God, unto Whom you shall be gathered. # Secret converse is only from Satan, so that those who believe may grieve; yet he harms them not a whit, save by God’s Leave. And in God let the believers trust. # O you who believe! When it is said unto you, “Make room for one another in the assemblies, # then make room, and God will make room for you. And when it is said, “Rise, # then rise, and God will raise in degrees those among you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # O you who believe! When you converse in secret with the Messenger, offer charity before your secret converse. That is better for you and purer. But if you do not find [the means], truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. # Are you apprehensive about offering charity before your secret converse? If you do not do so and God relents unto you, then perform the prayer, give the alms, and obey God and His Messenger. God is Aware of whatsoever you do. Ŋ Hast thou not seen those who befriend a people with whom God is wroth? They are not of you, nor are you of them. And they knowingly swear upon falsehood. # God has prepared for them a severe punishment. Evil indeed is that which they used to do. # They took their oaths as a shield and thus turned from the way of God; so theirs shall be a humiliating punishment. # Neither their property nor their children will avail them aught against God. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein. # On the Day when God resurrects them all, they will swear to Him just as they swear to you, supposing that they have some standing. Lo! Truly they are the liars. # Satan has overwhelmed them, and so made them forget the remembrance of God. They are the party of Satan. Lo! The party of Satan are losers. # Truly those who oppose God and His Messenger, they will be among the abased. # God has decreed, “I shall surely prevail, I and My messengers!” Truly God is Strong, Mighty. # You shall not find a people who believe in God and the Last Day loving those who oppose God and His Messenger, even if they be their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their tribe. God has inscribed faith upon their hearts and strengthened them with a Spirit from Him. He causes them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, to abide therein, God being content with them and they being content with Him. They are the party of God. Truly the party of God —it is they who shall prosper.
Commentary
# God has indeed heard the words of she who disputes with thee concerning her husband and complains to God. And God hears your conversation. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing.
# Those among you who commit ẓihār against their wives, those are not their mothers. None are their mothers save those who gave birth to them. Truly they speak indecent words and calumny. And truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving.
1–2 The majority of commentators agree that she who disputes refers to Khawlah bint Thaʿlabah, though some propose other names, which are, however, based upon different lineages of the same individual (Q). It is reported that after her husband said to her, “You are to me as my mother’s back,” Khawlah complained to the Prophet, saying, “He has worn out my youth and I let him enjoy me, but when I grew older and could no longer bear children, he put me away, saying that I am as his mother’s back. O God! I complain to Thee,” and that she did not move from her position until the Angel Gabriel came down with vv. 1–4 (IK, Q, Ṭ, W). In other accounts of this story, the Prophet is reported to have said, “You are [now] forbidden to him,” implying that there was no way they could reconcile. But she objected that he had not invoked divorce as such, making a distinction between divorce and ẓihār, and complained again of her situation. The Prophet, likely seeing ẓihār as tantamount to divorce, again said, “You are [now] forbidden to him.” And they went back and forth in this manner until Gabriel came down with vv. 1–4 (IK, Q, T). That God is Hearing, Seeing (see also 4:58, 134; 22:61, 75; 31:28) would seem to indicate here that God hears and knows the pleas of all people, as in the case of Khawlah. More generally, it reinforces the notion of God’s Omniscience; see 4:58c.
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# As for those who commit ẓihār against their wives and then go back on what they have said, let them free a slave before they touch one another; to that are you counseled. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do.
# And whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months before they touch one another. And whosoever is unable, let him feed sixty indigent people. That is so that you may believe in God and His Messenger. These are the limits set by God, and the disbelievers shall have a painful punishment.
3–4 After vv. 1–4 had been revealed, the Prophet said to Khawlah bint Thaʿlabah, “He should set free a slave.” She replied, “He cannot afford it.” He said, “He should fast for two consecutive months.” She replied, “Messenger of God, he is an old man; he cannot keep fasts.” The Prophet then said, “He should feed sixty poor people.” She replied, “He has nothing to give in alms.” At that moment an ʿarq (a date basket holding thirty measures of dates) was brought to the Prophet. Khawlah said, “I shall help him with another ʿarq.” The Prophet replied, “You have done well. Go and feed sixty poor people on his behalf, and return to your cousin [meaning her husband]” (Q, W). In other narrations, a similar conversation is said to have occurred between the Prophet and Khawlah’s husband, Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit; the final resolution was that the Prophet gave him half of the dates necessary to feed sixty people and attain expiation, and Aws furnished the other half (Q, Ṭ, W). Freeing a slave also serves as expiation for other offenses, such as slaying a person inadvertently (4:92) or breaking a pledge (5:89), and is considered a praiseworthy form of charity (90:13). A slave freed in expiation must be in good health, without physical deficiency (Q, Ṭ). If one does not own a slave, one may pay for the slave of another to be freed (Q). Before they touch one another means before they engage in sexual intercourse (JJ). For those who do not have the means, a fast of two consecutive months serves as expiation in place of freeing a slave, as it does in the case of killing another believer accidentally (see 4:92). For those whose health prevents them from fasting, feeding the indigent can then serve as expiation. Feeding the indigent is also a “ransom” from fasting the month of Ramadan for those who are unable, but fasting is considered preferable (see 2:184). There is some debate as to how much food one must give the indigent to satisfy this requirement. Most maintain that it is one mudd (JJ), which would be enough food to feed one person two full meals in one day. According to most schools of law, one must feed sixty people. But according to the Ḥanafī school of law, one can also feed a single indigent for sixty days or more, until one has given the equivalent to what one would have given for sixty people (Q). Regarding the requirements for feeding the indigent, see 5:89c. That is so that you may believe in God and His Messenger (cf. 48:9) indicates that God has revealed these rulings in order to clarify and teach His Decree, so that, knowing the Divine Decree, those who follow God and His Messenger can now act upon the rulings and cease to follow those of the preIslamic Age of Ignorance (R).
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# Truly those who oppose God and His Messenger shall be abased, just as those before them were abased. We have indeed sent down clear signs, and the disbelievers shall have a humiliating punishment
5 Those who oppose God and His Messenger, which occurs three times in this sūrah (vv. 5, 20, 22), can be understood as emphasizing the legislative dimension of the sūrah and the nine sūrahs that follow. In this context the phrase thus indicates those who choose to follow rulings that differ from those that God has established (Bḍ); see commentary on 33:36: Whosoever disobeys God and His Messenger has strayed into manifest error.
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# on the Day when God resurrects them all together, then informs them of that which they did. God has kept account of it while they have forgotten it; and God is Witness over all things.
6 The beginning of this verse is either a clause modifying humiliating punishment or the object of an implied verb, “mention” or “remember” (udhkur), which would mean, “Remember” or “make mention of the Day when God will gather every human being on an open, barren plain for judgment” (see 18:47c; 20:106; 39:69–70c; 79:14c). God keeps account of people’s deeds in a book or registry that is then presented to them on the Day of Judgment, whereupon the disbelievers say, “Oh, woe unto us! What a book this is! It leaves out nothing, small or great, save that it has taken account thereof.” And they find present [therein] whatsoever they did (18:49; see also 6:59; 17:13–14). For God is Witness over all things, see also 4:33; 5:117; 22:17; 33:55; 34:47; 41:53; 85:9. Elsewhere it is said that God is Witness over what you do (see, e.g., 3:98).
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# Hast thou not considered that God knows whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth? There is no secret converse among three, but that He is their fourth, nor among five, but that He is their sixth, nor less than that, nor more, but that He is with them wheresoever they are. Then on the Day of Resurrection He will inform them of that which they did. Truly God is Knower of all things.
7 Vv. 7–8 address the secret converse (najwā) of those who conspire against the Prophet, insult him, and attempt to divert others from following him, as in 21:2–3: No new Reminder came unto them from their Lord, but that they listened to it while they played, with their hearts diverted. And those who do wrong confide in secret converse, “Is this not but a human being like yourselves? Will you then yield to sorcery, while you see clearly?” Also see 43:80, where the disbelievers and hypocrites are warned that God knows and hears their secret and their secret converse (cf. 9:78). For a discussion of the manner in which God can be said to be “with” human beings, see commentary on 50:16: We are nearer to him than his jugular vein; and 57:4: And He is with you wheresoever you are. *** { Hast thou not seen those who were forbidden from secretly conversing then returned to that which they had been forbidden, secretly conversing with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger? And when they come to thee and greet thee, they greet thee in a manner that God has not greeted thee and say within themselves, “Why does God not punish us for what we say?” Hell suffices them, burning therein. What an evil journey’s end! 8 The first half of this verse is reported to have been revealed in connection with the Jewish tribes of Madinah and the hypocrites. The latter would reportedly speak secretly among themselves, then look at the believers and wink at each other. When the believers saw this, they thought the hypocrites had news about their relatives who went out on military expeditions, that they had been killed, wounded, or defeated. But when these secret conversations continued, they complained to the Prophet, and he commanded them not to converse in this manner. They did not heed his command and went back to secret conversations among themselves. God therefore revealed this verse (Q, Sy, Ṭ, W). The second half of the verse is said to have been revealed in response to some of the Jews of Madinah who, instead of saying, “Peace be upon you (al-salāmu ʿalaykum)” to the Prophet, said mockingly, “Death be upon you (al-sāmu ʿalaykum).” The Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah was present and responded, “Death be upon you. God has cursed you and is wroth with you,” to which the Prophet responded, “Go easy, O ʿĀʾishah! You must be kind.” In another account of this same incident, the Prophet is reported to have said, “God does not like indecency, nor the uttering of indecent words” (W). When ʿĀʾishah objected that she had only responded in kind, the second half of this verse, beginning with And when they come to thee, was revealed (Q, Sy, Ṭ, W). Within themselves could also be rendered “among themselves.” Their question, Why does God not punish us? indicates their position that, if Muhammad were a true prophet, God would punish them for greeting him as they did (IK, JJ). Hell suf ices them means that, although they may not be punished for abusing the Prophet in this life, in the Hereafter they will receive the appropriate punishment for their deeds (IK).
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# O you who believe! If you converse in secret, then do not converse in secret with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger; converse in secret with a view to piety and reverence. And reverence God, unto Whom you shall be gathered.
# Secret converse is only from Satan, so that those who believe may grieve; yet he harms them not a whit, save by God’s Leave. And in God let the believers trust.
9–10 Whereas vv. 7–8 discuss the secret converse of the disbelievers and the hypocrites, these verses clarify that, although secret converse is often of an insidious nature, private discourse is not evil in and of itself, as in 4:114: There is no good in most of their secret converse, save for him who enjoins charity or kindness or reconciliation between men. And whosoever does that, seeking God’s good pleasure, We shall grant him a great reward. In this vein, a ḥadīth states, “The speech of the Children of Adam always works against them, not for them, except when it is to command the right and forbid the wrong, or to remember God.” That Satan does not harm anyone save by God’s leave indicates that he is ultimately powerless, as in 14:22: And Satan will say, when the matter has been decreed, “Verily God made you the Promise of truth; and I made you a promise, but I failed you. And I had no authority over you, save that I called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves.”
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# O you who believe! When it is said unto you, “Make room for one another in the assemblies, ” then make room, and God will make room for you. And when it is said, “Rise, ” then rise, and God will raise in degrees those among you who believe and those who have been given knowledge. God is Aware of whatsoever you do.
11 Regarding the revelation of this verse, the early commentator Muqātil ibn Sulaymān (d. 150/767) is reported to have said, “The Prophet was at al-ṣuf ah [a veranda in front of the mosque in Madinah where many who were known for their piety and asceticism would congregate]. The place was not spacious, and it was a Friday. The Messenger of God had the habit of honoring those from among the Emigrants and the Helpers who had taken part in the Battle of Badr. Some of those who had participated in Badr came to the gathering and found that people were already there before them. They stood, therefore, facing the Prophet and waiting for people to make room for them. But no one made room for them. The Messenger of God was pained to see this; so he asked those who did not take part in Badr to get up, and he moved as many people as the number of those who were standing who had participated in the Battle of Badr. Those who were asked to vacate their seats were not pleased, and the Messenger of God saw the displeasure on their faces. Then the hypocrites said to the Muslims, ‘Did you not claim that your man deals fairly with people? By God, he has not been fair with these people. He removed people who wanted to be close to their Prophet from places in which they were already sitting and seated in their stead people who came late!’ God then revealed this verse” (Q, R, W). More broadly, this verse indicates that when one follows the example set by God and His Messenger and makes room for God and His Messenger, God makes room or “expands” matters for them, such as their provision and their accommodation, their knowledge and their breast—expansion of the breast implies psychological ease and spiritual understanding. It may also pertain to matters of the Hereafter, meaning that God expands the grave and the Garden for them (Aj), thus making them places of ease and joy. Al-Rāzī argues for the broad applicability of this verse, saying, “For one who opens the doors of goodness and ease (rāḥah) for God’s servants, God will expand for him what is good in this life and the Hereafter. Hence no reasonable person could restrict this verse to making room in an assembly. Rather, what is intended by it is extending good to Muslims and making happiness enter their hearts. In this vein, [the Prophet] has said, ‘God ceases not to aid the servant so long as the servant aids his Muslim brother.’” And when it is said, “Rise,” then rise means to rise to perform the prayer or other good deeds (JJ). In the words of Qatādah, “Whenever you are called upon to perform a good deed, respond to the call” (Ṭ). Both sentences in the present verse reflect the broader Quranic theme of reciprocity between the Divine and the human, most evident in 2:152: So remember Me, and I shall remember you. From an Islamic perspective, the sincere human effort to seek God is met by God with immeasurable compensation, as in a famous ḥadīth qudsī, “I am as My servant thinks of Me. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he mentions Me within himself, I mention him within Myself. If he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in a better assembly. If he comes near to Me by a hand’s length, I come near to him by the distance of a cubit. If he comes near to Me the distance of a cubit, I come near to him the distance of two outspread arms. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.” Though belief or faith (īmān) in and of itself is considered superior to knowledge in and of itself, the believer who has knowledge is considered superior to the believer who does not have knowledge. There are many aḥādīth to this effect, among them, “The superiority of one who has knowledge over the one who [merely] worships is as the superiority of the full moon over all the planets” (Aj, Q, Z). It is also said to have been revealed to Abraham, “I am Knowing, and I love those who know” (Aj, Āl, Z). Regarding knowledge in degrees, Ibn ʿAjībah writes, “There are different kinds of knowledge. Their nobility corresponds to that which is known [through each kind of knowledge]. The most superior kind of knowledge is knowledge of [God’s] Highest Essence (al-dhāt al-ʿulyā) by way of unveiling and eyewitnessing, then knowledge of the Divine Attributes and Names, then knowledge of the decrees (aḥkām), then knowledge of the bounties connected to Him.”
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# O you who believe! When you converse in secret with the Messenger, offer charity before your secret converse. That is better for you and purer. But if you do not find [the means], truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.
# Are you apprehensive about offering charity before your secret converse? If you do not do so and God relents unto you, then perform the prayer, give the alms, and obey God and His Messenger. God is Aware of whatsoever you do.
12–13 These verses were reportedly revealed about some wealthy members of the Muslim community who used to go to gatherings with the Prophet and monopolize the conversation with him, so that the poor had no opportunity, and the Prophet disliked this. God therefore revealed v. 12, commanding that alms be given before each conference with the Prophet. Those in straitened circumstances did not have anything to give for alms, while those who were well off were miserly. The Companions of the Prophet found this difficult, and so a dispensation was revealed in v. 13 (IK, Sy, W). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is reported to have said regarding v. 12: “There is one verse in the Book of God that no one has applied before me; nor is there anyone who applied it after me [58:12]. I had a piece of gold that I exchanged for silver pieces, and whenever I conferred with the Messenger, I spent one silver piece in charity until I spent them all. Then the verse was abrogated with another verse [58:13]” (Q, Sy, Ṭ, W). According to a minority, there was only one hour between the revelation of v. 12 and its abrogation or modification by v. 13 (IK). The Command in v. 13 to obey God and His Messenger (cf. 3:32, 132; 4:59; 5:92; 8:1, 20, 46; 24:54; 47:33; 49:14; 64:12; see also 7:156–57; 59:7) stands in juxtaposition to the condemnation in this same sūrah of those who oppose God and His Messenger (vv. 5, 20, 22). That the Command is combined with the injunctions to perform the prayer and give the alms (as in 33:33) implies that it is through prayer and almsgiving, among other things, that such obedience is achieved.
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# Hast thou not seen those who befriend a people with whom God is wroth? They are not of you, nor are you of them. And they knowingly swear upon falsehood.
# God has prepared for them a severe punishment. Evil indeed is that which they used to do.
14–18 These verses address the issue of hypocrisy among the Muslims of Madinah, which is dealt with more fully in Sūrah 63. The present passage is said to have been revealed with regard to a man of whom the Prophet said to a group of Muslims, “A man will come to you and look with the eyes of Satan. When he comes to you, do not speak to him!” A man of blue complexion then entered. The Prophet greeted him and said, “Why do you and your companions insult me?” The man said, “Let me bring them to you.” And he and his friends swore by God and made excuses. Then God revealed this verse (Sh, Sy, Ṭ, W). In another account, the man in question is identified as a hypocrite named ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nabtal, who used to keep the company of the Prophet and then report what he heard from him to the Jews of Madinah. When asked why he and his friends insulted the Prophet, he swore by God that he did not, but the Prophet said that he did. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nabtal went and brought his friends who then swore by God that they did not insult him. Then God revealed vv. 14–18 (Q, W, Z). This verse is also part of the general command to not take enemies of Muslims as protectors, as in 3:28: Let not the believers take the disbelievers as protectors apart from the believers. Whosoever does that has no bond with God (see also 4:139, 144; 5:51, 57; 9:23).
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# They took their oaths as a shield and thus turned from the way of God; so theirs shall be a humiliating punishment.
16 That the hypocrites took their oaths as a shield (cf. 63:2) indicates that they have used them deceptively, a practice also abhorred in pre-Islamic Arabia. The Quran thus extols those who keep their oaths (3:77; 38:44) and warns against using them to harm or deceive, as in 16:94: Take not your oaths to practice deception among yourselves, lest a foot slip after it had been firmly planted, and you taste evil for your having turned from the way of God, and yours should be a great punishment (see also 2:224; 5:53, 89; 6:109; 9:13; 16:38, 91–92; 24:53; 35:42). That they turned from the way of God is understood to indicate the manner in which they turn others away or block them from the way of God by disparaging the Muslims and sowing doubt (Sh). But it can also mean that they themselves turned away.
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# Neither their property nor their children will avail them aught against God. They are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.
17 This verse is almost identical to 3:10 and 3:116. In the Hereafter, nothing other than belief and good deeds can avail anyone. Thus Abraham is reported to have said that the Day of Resurrection is the Day when neither wealth nor children avail, save for him who comes to God with a sound heart (26:88–89).
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# On the Day when God resurrects them all, they will swear to Him just as they swear to you, supposing that they have some standing. Lo! Truly they are the liars.
18 The hypocrites swear to God that they are Muslims (Z), supposing that they have some standing because they think their outward declarations of faith will benefit them (Z). Such a sentiment also indicates the implacability of their duplicity, as nothing can convince them of their error. *** ƚ Satan has overwhelmed them, and so made them forget the remembrance of God. They are the party of Satan. Lo! The party of Satan are losers. 19 Satan rules over the hypocrites, so that their obedience is to him in all that he asks of them, they are among his flock, and they forget to remember God with their tongues and their hearts (Sh, Z). And as a famous ḥadīth states, “The likeness of one who remembers his Lord and one who does not remember is as the likeness of the living and the dead.”
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# Truly those who oppose God and His Messenger, they will be among the abased.
20 Those who oppose God and His Messenger refers to those who outwardly oppose and conspire against the Muslim community. Normal relations between Muslims and those non-Muslims who do not oppose them is allowed on an individual and communal level by verses such as 60:8: God does not forbid you, with regard to those who did not fight you on account of religion and did not expel you from your homes, from treating them righteously and being just toward them; and on a societal level by verses such as 8:61: And if they incline toward peace, incline thou toward it.
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# God has decreed, “I shall surely prevail, I and My messengers!” Truly God is Strong, Mighty.
21 Decreed could also be rendered “inscribed,” indicating that this has been written upon the Preserved Tablet (85:22; JJ, Sh, Z). The manner in which God and His messengers prevail is understood to be by means of both proof, which could refer to revelation, and the sword (Sh, Z).
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# You shall not find a people who believe in God and the Last Day loving those who oppose God and His Messenger, even if they be their fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their tribe. God has inscribed faith upon their hearts and strengthened them with a Spirit from Him. He causes them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, to abide therein, God being content with them and they being content with Him. They are the party of God. Truly the party of God —it is they who shall prosper. 22 This verse is in the second-person singular and can thus be taken as an address to the Muslims in general, as translated, or as an address to the Prophet himself, meaning, “Thou shalt not find” (Sh). The first sentence of this verse was reportedly revealed regarding several instances in which Muslims fought in battle against their own family members for the cause of Islam. Interpreted in this manner, their fathers refers to Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ, who killed his father, ʿAbd Allāh, a soldier in the opposing Makkan army, at the Battle of Uḥud (IK, Q, Sy, W); their sons refers to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, who challenged his son to a duel at the Battle of Badr, saying “O Messenger of God, let me be among the first [to fight or to die]” (IK, W); their brothers refers to Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr, who killed his brother, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, during the Battle of Badr (IK, Q, W); and their tribe refers to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, who killed his uncle al-ʿĀṣ ibn Hishām at the Battle of Badr (Q, W). Beyond these specific instances to which the verse may refer, it indicates that the bond of faith and belief overrides that of family and provides greater protection (Sh); see 49:10c. It also reflects the broader Quranic theme that one must not love anything of this world at the expense of one’s love for God and His Messenger, as when the Prophet is commanded: Say, “If your fathers, your children, your brothers, your spouses, your tribe, the wealth you have acquired, commerce whose stagnation you fear, and dwellings you find pleasing are more beloved to you than God, and His Messenger, and striving in His way, then wait till God comes with His Command.” And God guides not iniquitous people (9:24). That God has inscribed faith upon their hearts indicates that He has established it firmly in believers’ hearts and expanded their breasts for it (Z) or that He has consolidated faith in their hearts so that they believe in it fully, rather than believing some parts of it but not others (Q, R). That He has strengthened them with a Spirit from Him is understood in various ways. Some say it indicates the manner in which God aids believers in overcoming their enemies (Sh). Others say that a Spirit from Him refers to the Quran and its proofs; to light and faith; to clear proof and guidance; to the Mercy of God; or to the Archangel Gabriel (Q), all of which are profoundly interrelated. It can also be seen as a reference to the light of certainty (Aj). In this vein, the commentator al-Ālūsī writes, “What is intended [here] by Spirit is the light of the heart, which is the light that God casts into the hearts of whomsoever He will among His servants, and by which hearts attain peace [see 13:28] and ascend to the heights of realization (taḥqīq).” The pronominal suffix from Him (minhu), here interpreted as a reference to God, could also be read “from it,” in which case it would refer to the faith that He has inscribed upon their hearts (Aj, Āl, R, Z). God being content with them and they being content with Him (cf. 5:119; 9:100; 98:8) indicates that God is content with their obedience to Him and they are content with His Recompense for them in the Hereafter and with what He has ordained for them in the world (Aj, IK). According to al-Rāzī, the items mentioned in this verse can be seen as four blessings from God: faith in the heart, support through a Spirit from Him, being admitted to the Garden, and mutual contentment with God; he also says, “The blessing of contentment is the greatest of blessings and the most distinguished of [spiritual] ranks.” Regarding this state of contentment, a ḥadīth states, “Whosoever has submitted is provided for sufficiently, and whosoever God has caused to be content with that which He has given him has succeeded” (Bg on 98:8). Also see 5:119c. The party of God is also mentioned in 5:56, where it is used to describe those who avoid taking protectors other than God, the Messenger, and the believers, as enjoined in 5:51 and 5:55. Here it is placed in contrast to the party of Satan (v. 19), which in referring to the hypocrites mentioned in this sūrah indicates those who would compromise the Prophet and the Muslim community for the paltry gains of this world.
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.