The eleventh section speaks of their objections to the Holy Prophet, and the twelfth refers to their great enmity and to their plans against him. The thirteenth states that former scriptures are abrogated and a better and more advanced code is given in Islam, the religion of entire submission. The next section points out that partial good is met with in all religions, but it is only in Islam that religion attains to perfection. The fifteenth reminds the Israelites of the covenant with Abraham, which required the raising of a prophet from among the Ishmaelites, being followed by another dealing with the religion of the great patriarch. The subject of the Ka‘bah, the house built by Abraham, as the new qiblah, is thus introduced, and the next two sections, while declaring the Ka‘bah to be the new centre of spiritual activity, also give reasons for the change. The nineteenth warns the Muslims that they must undergo hard trials to establish the Truth; and that it will ultimately triumph, is made clear in the twentieth section. Certain minor differences with the Jewish law are then introduced as against the common principle of the doctrine of Unity, and thus the laws relating to foods, retaliation, bequests, fasting, fighting, pilgrimage, wine, gambling, orphans, marital obligations, divorce and widowhood are discussed in the eleven sections that follow. The next two, the 32nd and the 33rd, make a reversion to the subject of fighting, which was necessary if the Muslims would escape national death, and illustrations are given from Israelite history. We are then told in the thirty-fourth section of the mighty power of Allah to give life to the dead, and the Muslims are told that they should not use compulsion in the matter of religion, as their opponents had done. Two instances are then quoted in the following section, one from the history of Abraham and the other from Israelite history, showing how dead nations are raised to life. But national growth and prosperity, we are immediately told in the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh sections, depend on acts of sacrifice, and every penny spent in the cause of truth yields seven hundredfold, and even much more, fruit. The Muslims, being thus promised abundance of wealth as the result of their sacrifices, are warned in the following section against usurious dealings which breed an inordinate love of wealth, for the amassing of wealth was not the goal of a Muslim’s life. They are at the same time told, in the thirty-ninth section, to guard their property rights by the employment of writing in their transactions and securing evidence. In conclusion, they are taught a prayer for the ultimate triumph of the Truth. Thus we find no break in the continuity of the subject, and the change, whenever necessary, is introduced quite naturally.
There is a clear connection between this chapter and the last one. There in the concluding words is a prayer for being guided on the right path (1:5), while here that guidance is afforded in the opening words: “This book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide” (v. 2). But though this chapter follows the Fatihah, it is really the first chapter, because the Fatihah is placed at the head, being the essence of the whole of the Qur’an. This affords very clear evidence of the wisdom displayed in the arrangement of the chapters of the Holy Book. For this chapter fittingly opens with a prelude as to the object which is aimed at in the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, and contains in its very opening verses the fundamental principles of the Islamic religion, which are also in fact the fundamental principles which can form the basis of the natural religion of man. These principles are five in number, three of them containing theoretical ordinances or articles of belief and two containing practical ordinances or principles of action. The theoretical ordinances are a belief in the Unseen, i.e. Allah, in Divine revelation to the Holy Prophet as well as to the prophets before him, and in the life to come, while on the practical side is mentioned prayer, which is the source from which springs true Divine love, and charity in its broadest sense. The result of the acceptance of these fundamental principles is mentioned in v. 5, being guidance in the right direction and success. Similarly, it is with a reiteration of the broad principles of the Islamic faith and with a prayer for the triumph of the Truth that the chapter ends, and the whole of the chapter is really an illustration of the truth of the principles enunciated in its beginning.
This chapter was revealed in Madinah, and belongs to the earliest Madinah revelations. The main portion of it belongs to the 1st and 2nd years of the Hijrah, but it also contains verses which were revealed later, some of them towards the close of the Prophet’s life.
SECTION 1: Fundamental Principles of Islam
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1 I, Allah, am the best Knower.
2 This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who keep their duty,
3 Who believe in the Unseen and keep up prayer and spend out of what We have given them,
4 And who believe in that which has been revealed to thee and that which was revealed before thee, and of the Hereafter they are sure.
5 These are on a right course from their Lord and these it is that are successful.
6 Those who disbelieve — it being alike to them whether thou warn them or warn them not — they will not believe.
7 Allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing; and there is a covering on their eyes, and for them is a grievous chastisement.
SECTION 2: Lip-profession
8 And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah and the Last Day; and they are not believers.
9 They seek to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they perceive not.
10 In their hearts is a disease, so Allah increased their disease, and for them is a painful chastisement because they lie.
11 And when it is said to them, Make not mischief in the land, they say: We are but peacemakers.
12 Now surely they are the mischief-makers, but they perceive not.
13 And when it is said to them, Believe as the people believe, they say: Shall we believe as the fools believe? Now surely they are the fools, but they know not.
14 And when they meet those who believe, they say, We believe; and when they are alone with their devils, they say: Surely we are with you, we were only mocking.
15 Allah will pay them back their mockery, and He leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on.
16 These are they who buy error for guidance, so their bargain brings no gain, nor are they guided.
17 Their parable is as the parable of one who kindles a fire, but when it illumines all around him, Allah takes away their light, and leaves them in darkness — they cannot see.
18 Deaf, dumb, (and) blind, so they return not:
19 Or like abundant rain from the cloud in which is darkness, and thunder and lightning; they put their fingers into their ears because of the thunder-peal, for fear of death. And Allah encompasses the disbelievers.
20 The lightning almost takes away their sight. Whenever it shines on them they walk in it, and when it becomes dark to them they stand still. And if Allah had pleased, He would have taken away their hearing and their sight. Surely Allah is Possessor of power over all things.
SECTION 3: Divine Unity
21 O men, serve your Lord Who created you and those before you, so that you may guard against evil,
22 Who made the earth a resting-place for you and the heaven a structure, and sends down rain from the clouds then brings forth with it fruits for your sustenance; so do not set up rivals to Allah while you know.
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