Ibisobanuro bya qoran ntagatifu - Ibisobanuro bya Qur'an mu rurimi rw'icyongereza - Dr Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Biracyasobanurwa.
وَمَا مَنَعَنَآ أَن نُّرۡسِلَ بِٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ إِلَّآ أَن كَذَّبَ بِهَا ٱلۡأَوَّلُونَۚ وَءَاتَيۡنَا ثَمُودَ ٱلنَّاقَةَ مُبۡصِرَةٗ فَظَلَمُواْ بِهَاۚ وَمَا نُرۡسِلُ بِٱلۡأٓيَٰتِ إِلَّا تَخۡوِيفٗا
[3623] As defensive strategy, the Makkan idolaters used to ask the Noble Prophet (ﷺ) to provide them with miracles. They were not obliged out of mercy, because if they were to be given what they asked for and still did not Believe, Punishment was sure to come as it did with the Thamūd tribe (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr).
The great Qur’anic exegete, ʿAbdullāh Ibn al-ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) gives the reason for the revelation of this aya as follows: “The Makkans asked the Prophet (ﷺ) to turn Mount Ṣafā into gold and that he should drive the mountains away from their town so that they may have more land for planting. He was told: “If you want you can delay them, but should you wish, you may give them what they ask for. But if they still Deny, then they shall be destroyed as those before them were destroyed”. He replied: “No! But I shall delay them”. Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) revealed this aya”. (Imām Aḥmad: 2333; al-Nasā’ī, al-Sunan al-Kubrā: 11226.)
[3624] Úalamū bihā (lit. they wronged through her) is that they committed an injustice by slaughtering the she-camel (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr. Al-Saʿdī): “They then slayed the she-camel, insolently rebelled against their Lord’s Command and said: “Ṣāliḥ, bring down on us what you promise us if ˹only˺ you are ˹truly˺ one of the ones who were sent ˹the Messengers˺”!” *Then the quake ˹soon˺ betook them and they became ˹dead˺ fallen prone in their ˹very˺ land” (7: 77-78).
[3625] Whatever, ‘Sign’ which should be a cause for cogitation, God makes perceptible, is meant to instil fear in people, so that they may Believe and/or mend their ways (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Rasʿanī, Abū Ḥayyān).
Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (رضي الله عنه) narrated: “The sun eclipsed and the Prophet (ﷺ) rose alarmed, fearing that the Hour had come! Then he went to the mosque and Prayed observing the longest standing and prostrating I ever saw him observe. Then he (ﷺ) said: “These signs that Allah sends are not caused by anyone’s death or birth. But through them Allah instils fear in His servants. When you see any of them, rush to remembering, invocating and asking Him for forgiveness” (al-Bukhārī: 1059; Muslim: 912).
وَإِذۡ قُلۡنَا لَكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ أَحَاطَ بِٱلنَّاسِۚ وَمَا جَعَلۡنَا ٱلرُّءۡيَا ٱلَّتِيٓ أَرَيۡنَٰكَ إِلَّا فِتۡنَةٗ لِّلنَّاسِ وَٱلشَّجَرَةَ ٱلۡمَلۡعُونَةَ فِي ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِۚ وَنُخَوِّفُهُمۡ فَمَا يَزِيدُهُمۡ إِلَّا طُغۡيَٰنٗا كَبِيرٗا
[3626] When their demand for tangible miracles was not answered, they slighted the Noble Prophet (ﷺ) for it, but God Almighty comforts Him with this (cf. al-Rāzī, Abū Ḥayyān). God Almighty is encompassing people with His Ability and Knowledge; they are in His Fist and under His Will. He will guard His Messenger (ﷺ) against their harm so that he may deliver the Message. There is no need for fear of anyone, and the Messenger (ﷺ) needs only to carry on with his mission (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān).
[3627] al-Ru’yā (the vision) is what the Noble Messenger (ﷺ) saw with his own eyes on the night he ascended to the Heavens and the wonders he came to witness. In his telling people of these, their faith was being tested. Essentially, those who Believe would be separated from those who Deny (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān): “The sight ˹of the Messenger˺ did not swerve, nor did it transgress ˹its limit˺. *He certainly saw ˹some˺ of the greatest Signs of his Lord!” (53: 17-18).
[3628] al-Shajarat al-malʿūnah (lit. the accursed tree) which is mentioned in the Qur’an is the infernal Shajarat al-Zaqqūm, which is mentioned time and again in the Qur’an (cf. 37: 62-67; 44: 43-46; 56: 51-56). The Associators who were warned against it said: “Muhammad tells us that there is a tree in Hellfire. Fire consumes trees. How then can a tree grow in fire!” (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr): “Is this ˹bliss˺ a better accommodation or the tree of Zaqqūm? *We have surely made it a test for the wrongdoers. * Indeed, it is a tree that grows in the bottom of Hell, * bearing fruit like devils’ heads. * They ˹the evildoers˺ will certainly ˹be left to˺ eat from it, filling up ˹their˺ bellies with it. * Then on top of that they will be given a blend of boiling drink. * Then they will ultimately return to ˹their place in˺ Hell!” (37: 62-68)
Belief is a matter of the heart. It is achieved through sincere Faith and not passing sensory effects no matter how ‘miraculous’ they are. If what the Noble Messenger tells them, such as his nocturnal journey and Ascension to the Heavens and the accursed tree which grows in Hell, has proven to be so difficult for them to Believe in, they would not really come to Believe in anything else. The stories of earlier nations who were provided with tangible miracles bear witness to this.
[3629] Through threats of Punishment (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “Surely what was sent to you ˹Muhammad˺ from your Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and Denial!” (5: 64)
وَإِذۡ قُلۡنَا لِلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسۡجُدُواْ لِأٓدَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ قَالَ ءَأَسۡجُدُ لِمَنۡ خَلَقۡتَ طِينٗا
[3630] To ease the Noble Messenger’s (ﷺ) mind at that very difficult time in the course of his mission, given the great opposition he was facing, God Almighty reminds him of the reason why the Makkan idolaters are being so adamant in their stand against the call of Faith; they are ‘chewed up’ by the Devil. He manages to get under their skin through envy and arrogance very much like what he felt when he saw God’s honouring of Adam (عليه السلام) (cf. al-Rāzī).
[3631] The command to the angels to bow down to Adam is an act of worship to God and reverence to Adam who was honoured by God Himself. (al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī.)
[3632] Iblīs is Satan. Etymologically, iblīs comes from iblās, i.e. having no hope in good things, grief and sadness caused by utter despair. (Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, p. 23; al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, p. 143.)
[3633] Clay is the original substance of human creation (cf. 15: 26, 55: 14, 37: 11); Adam, the father of humanity, was created from clay, processed earth. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, Abū al-Suʿūd, al-Saʿdī.)
قَالَ أَرَءَيۡتَكَ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِي كَرَّمۡتَ عَلَيَّ لَئِنۡ أَخَّرۡتَنِ إِلَىٰ يَوۡمِ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ لَأَحۡتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّيَّتَهُۥٓ إِلَّا قَلِيلٗا
[3634] Aḥtanikanna (lit. shall chew up) means to completely overtake. Originally it comes from locusts chewing up (yaḥtaniku) the herbage leaving the land totally barren in their wake, or tying cattle by the jawbone (ḥanaka al-dābbah) so that they are easily led on totally at one’s will (cf. al-Naḥḥās, Maʿānī al-Qur’ān, Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt).
This imagery so succinctly captures the essence of how far astray this greatest sworn enemy of humans is willing to go to, to sway the offspring of Adam and lead them far off course: “Indeed, Iblīs’ assumption about them has come true, so they ˹all˺ follow him, except a group of ˹true˺ Believers!” (34: 20)
He spares no effort to fulfil his life’s mission: “Allah Damned him, and he retorted: “I shall surely take to myself from Your servants my due share!” *“I shall surely mislead them, make them ever vainly wishful, and I shall command them to cut off the ears of livestock, and I shall command them to alter the creation of Allah!”” (4: 118-119); “He said: “Allow me respite ˹then˺ until the Day when they are resurrected”. *He said: “You are among those given respite”. *He said: “Then for Your misguiding of me, I shall certainly lie in wait for them on Your Straight Path!” *“Then I shall come to them from their fronts, backs, rights and lefts, and You shall not find most of them thankful” (7: 14-17); “He said: “Then my Lord grant me ˹time˺ until the Day when they are resurrected!” *He ˹Allah˺ said: “Then you are among the ones granted ˹time˺; *until the Day of the known time!” *He said: “My Lord! Then for Your misguiding of me, I shall make certainly ˹alluringly˺ adorned for them ˹life˺ on Earth and shall misguide them all, *except Your servants among them; the ones made ˹truly˺ devout!” (15: 36-40)
قَالَ ٱذۡهَبۡ فَمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنۡهُمۡ فَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ جَزَآؤُكُمۡ جَزَآءٗ مَّوۡفُورٗا
[3635] This command and the next ones are issued threateningly (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).
وَٱسۡتَفۡزِزۡ مَنِ ٱسۡتَطَعۡتَ مِنۡهُم بِصَوۡتِكَ وَأَجۡلِبۡ عَلَيۡهِم بِخَيۡلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ وَشَارِكۡهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَمۡوَٰلِ وَٱلۡأَوۡلَٰدِ وَعِدۡهُمۡۚ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا
[3636] Every call for sinful deeds is the Devil’s voice, every caller for sinful deeds is the Devil’s army, all sinful deeds regrading children (having and raising them sinfully) and wealth (earning and spending them sinfully) are the Devil’s share in them (cf. al-Saʿdī): “They professed for Allah a share in crops and livestock which He generated and said: “This is for Allah – so they claimed – and this is for our Associates”; whatever is allocated for their Associates does not reach Allah, but whatever is allocated for Allah reaches their Associates—sordid indeed how they judge. *Like so the Associates made alluring for many of the Associators killing their ˹own˺ children to ruin them and confound them in their religion. Had Allah wished, they would not have done it, so leave them ˹Muhammad˺ and what they concoct. *They also said: “These are prohibited livestock and crops which are only to be consumed by those whom we wish” – so they claimed – ˹other˺ livestock the backs of which were made forbidden, and ˹some˺ livestock over which they do not mention Allah’s Name, ascribing this falsely to Him; He will requite them for what they used to concoct. *They also said: “Whatever is in the bellies of these livestock ˹if alive˺ is reserved exclusively for our males and is forbidden to our ˹female˺ mates”. But if it is ˹born˺ dead then it is shared with them; He will requite them for their designation—verily He is Most Wise, All-Knowing. *Losers indeed are those who killed their ˹own˺ children out of foolishness with no basis in ˹proper˺ knowledge, and forbade what Allah provided for them, falsely ascribing it ˹all˺ to Allah; they have gone astray, and they were not guided!” (6: 136-140)
[3637] “He promises them and makes them ever vainly wishful; Satan promises them nothing but delusion” (4: 120).
إِنَّ عِبَادِي لَيۡسَ لَكَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ سُلۡطَٰنٞۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِرَبِّكَ وَكِيلٗا
[3638] “Verily, he has no authority over those who Believe and are reliant on their Lord. *His authority is over none but those who take him as ally and by him they are Associators” (16: 99-100).
[3639] Wakīl (lit. trustee); al-Wakīl is one of the most Beautiful Names of God Almighty. He is the One entrusted with being saved from the devils’ machinations and is the Helper and Aide of those who put their trust in Him (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr).
رَّبُّكُمُ ٱلَّذِي يُزۡجِي لَكُمُ ٱلۡفُلۡكَ فِي ٱلۡبَحۡرِ لِتَبۡتَغُواْ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦٓۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ بِكُمۡ رَحِيمٗا
[3640] In contrast to Satan, whose life’s quest is to ruin people, God Almighty, their Lord and Trustee, makes easy a life of prosperity for them and guards them with His Benevolence from the dangers they are prone to fall into (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar, al-Tafsīr al-Muḥarrar). Yet many are not grateful for all His limitless favours. These are sensitized to their folly and are told to be sure of not being the subject of Divine Wrath.
