• To Seek Means To Approach God,

• To Strive In The Way Of God, Hypocrisy Of The Jews

Al-Ma’idah Verses 35 – 43

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَابْتَغُوا إِلَيْهِ الْوَسِيلَةَ وَجَاهِدُوا فِي سَبِيلِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

“O’ ye who believe! Fear God and seek ye an approach1unto Him, and strive hard in His way, that ye may be successful.” (5:35)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَهُمْ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ لِيَفْتَدُوا بِهِ مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَا تُقُبِّلَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

“Verily, those who disbelieve, if they had what is in the earth all together and the like of it with it, so that they ransom with it from the torment of the Day of Resurrection; (it shall) not be accepted from them and for them; there is a painful torment2.” (5:36)

يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَخْرُجُوا مِنَ النَّارِ وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنْهَا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُقِيمٌ

“They would desire to get out from the (Hell) fire, but they shall not get out (of it); and for them shall be a torment lasting3.” (5:37)

وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَسَبَا نَكَالًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

“As for the man who stealeth and the woman who stealeth, cut ye off their (right) hands; as a recompense for what they (two) have earned; as an exemplary punishment from God; And God is Mighty, Wise.” (5:38)

فَمَنْ تَابَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ظُلْمِهِ وَأَصْلَحَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“And he who turneth (to God, repent) after his iniquity, and reformeth (himself); then, Verily, God turneth unto him (mercifully, pardons him); Verily, God is Oft-Pardoning, Merciful.” (5:39)

أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ يُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“Dost not thou know that God, to Him belongeth the Dominion of the heavens and the earth; He punisheth whom He pleaseth, and pardoneth whom He pleaseth; And Verily, God over all things hath power.” (5:40)

يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ لَا يَحْزُنْكَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْكُفْرِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا سَمَّاعُونَ لِلْكَذِبِ سَمَّاعُونَ لِقَوْمٍ آخَرِينَ لَمْ يَأْتُوكَ يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوَاضِعِهِ يَقُولُونَ إِنْ أُوتِيتُمْ هَٰذَا فَخُذُوهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ تُؤْتَوْهُ فَاحْذَرُوا وَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ فِتْنَتَهُ فَلَنْ تَمْلِكَ لَهُ مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُطَهِّرَ قُلُوبَهُمْ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

“(O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) Let not those who hasten in infidelity grieve thee, of those who say “We believe” with their mouths and their hearts believe not; and of those who are Judaised (they are) listeners to (the) lie4, listeners5for other people (who have) not come unto thee; they distort the words from their (original) places (in the law)6saying (to the people) “If ye are given this (by Muhammad) take ye, and if ye are not given this, beware! (Be aloof)’’’ and (as for him) whom God desireth to try, thou canst never prevail with God in anything; Those are they whom God willeth7not that He purifieth their hearts; for them (shall be) in this world disgrace, and for them in the hereafter (shall be) a great punishment.” (5:41)

سَمَّاعُونَ لِلْكَذِبِ أَكَّالُونَ لِلسُّحْتِ فَإِنْ جَاءُوكَ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ أَوْ أَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَإِنْ تُعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ فَلَنْ يَضُرُّوكَ شَيْئًا وَإِنْ حَكَمْتَ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْقِسْطِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ

“(They are) listeners to (any) lie, devourers of the illicit gain8therefore if they come unto thee (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) (thou art at liberty to) judge between them or turn aside from them; And if thou turneth aside from them, then never shall they harm thee in any way, but if thou judge, judge thou between them with equity; verily God loveth those who deal equitably.” (5:42)

وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِنْدَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ وَمَا أُولَٰئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“But how shall they make thee their Judge, while with them is the Torah9wherein is (the clear) judgment of God, and yet they turn away (even) after that; and (in fact) these are not believers.” (5:43)

Commentary

Verse 35

‘Wasilah’, i.e., means of approach. To seek the pleasure of God by obeying His commands and abstaining from everything forbidden.

‘Wasilah’ i.e., means of approaching a personality of very high position or status, a king or a Minister or the means to reach a high position or an unapproachable height which otherwise could not be accessible. In the case of reaching God or any position of divine excellence there cannot be any doubt about the means to it, being the Holy Prophet and the Holy’ Imams. If God had willed, He could have guided mankind by inspiring each one individually. But in His infinite wisdom. He had not deemed it desirable. He deputed His emissaries to express His will to His creation, through angels as intermediaries and sometimes directly addressing those chosen by Him. His will was revealed to His apostles and the chief of the apostles being the Holy Prophet Muhammad, the chief ‘Wasilah’ or means to approach Him, can be none but the Holy Prophet and those whom God did commission to be his successors, the Holy Imams. The Holy Prophet had declared:

“The likeness of my Ahl Al-Bayt (the Holy ones of the family) is like the Ark of Noah, whosoever got into it, is saved and whosoever stayed away from it, is drowned and lost.” (Hadith).

Thus the ‘Wasilah’ or the means to reach God, is to faithfully follow the Holy Prophet and the Holy Imams who had always been on the right path for they are the ones purified by God Himself10, who were always guided by the revelation from God and the divinely inspired knowledge, who never in their lives yielded to falsehood - whose lives have always been beacon lights of knowledge and the divine guidance for mankind.

It is not without justification and a purpose that the Holy Prophet seconded his parting caution to his followers saying: -

“I leave behind me Two great things: the Book of God (i.e., the Holy Qur’an) and my progeny, i.e., my Ahl Al-Bayt. If ye keep yourselves attached to These Two, never, never will ye get astray. These Two, i.e., (The Holy Qur’an and the Ahl Al-Bayt) will never be separated from each other until they meet me at the cistern of Kauthar.”

Verse 38

Like adultery, the crime of theft has been severely dealt with by Islam. If adultery deprives people of the purity of conduct and character and spoils the health of the human society, theft carries away the life-interest of the individuals and even of families together and brings a change in the economic life of the people from happiness to misery and destitution. Cutting off of the hands of the thief, might sound to be as heartless and barbarous but it makes the individual amend the criminal attitude to life, and the gravity or the seriousness of the punishment makes the new entrants to the criminal trait, immediately return to conscientious thinking.

If one compares the number of crimes like adultery and theft, committed in the olden days when such offences were treated by such drastic steps, and in the modern days of the modem laws, one will be convinced that such severe laws, could wipe out or at least control, these major crimes effectively. No amount of the kind of the imprisonment in the modern jails with the modern amenities giving the criminals with better living than in their own homes, can ever effectively or quickly reform the criminal attitude of the seasoned delinquents in the society.

A modern commentator as usual gives his own interpretation and draws his own inferences suggesting certain amendments unwarranted by the definite wording of the law. It is quite obvious his intention is to reconcile the Islamic phenomena with the modern principles of life to which Islam is definitely opposed.

Verse 39

The repentance on the part of the criminal, after his being caught, does not exempt him from the prescribed punishment. But if the criminal repents and amends before he gets into the grip of the law a pardon can desirably be expected.

Verse 40

This Verse clearly asserts that the Kingdom Absolute of the Universe as a whole belongs to none but God.

Verse 41

“This and the following Verses up to Verse 5:50 prelate to the disputes of the Jews of Bani Nazir and Bant Quraiza in which the former sought the Prophet to support in their unjust dealings with the latter. The former being the stronger of the two clans and being in alliance of the powerful Medina Chief Abdullah Ibn Obay, had forced the latter (Bani Quraiza) to sign a contract whereby if a man of Bani Nazir tribe killed a man of Bani Quraiza, he would not be killed in ‘Qisas’ but would pay half the blood-wit and would be paraded on a camel with his face towards the tail. On the other hand, if one of the Bani Quraiza, killed anyone of Bani Nazir, he would pay the full blood-wit and also be killed for his act”.

“So, things went on till the Prophet came to Medina, and large numbers of the people having embraced Islam, the power of the Jews was much weakened. Now it happened that a man of Bani Quraiza killed a man of Bani Nazir, and the latter demanding the penalty from the offender tribe. The former protested that it was against the law of Torah, they could have either the murderer or the blood-wit. The quarrel not ending, they suggested that the Prophet may be asked to decide the matter”.

“Whereupon the Bani Nazir approached their ally Abdullah ‘bn Obay requesting him to induce the Prophet to maintain the validity of the contract. He consented, and went with some Jews to hear the conversation, and advised them not to accept the arbitration of the Prophet, in case he does not agree to their contention. It was on this occasion that this Verse was revealed. If you are given this, i.e., if the Prophet accedes to your wishes.” (B.H. Vol. II, p. 194.)

A pair from the Jews of Khaybar were caught in adultery. Since they were wealthy ones, the Jewish priest did not like to enforce the law of Torah which was to stone the pair to death. They sought to know if there was a lighter punishment in Islam. When the case was referred to the Holy Prophet, he also ordered the pair to be stoned to death. The Jews said it is against the law laid down in Torah but the Holy Prophet said that he knew that Torah also prescribed the same punishment. The Jews denied it. At last, when ‘Sooriya’, one of the greatest Jewish scholars, was appointed the third party to witness the Jewish law. When the Holy Prophet asked Sooriya to declare on oath what the law in Torah was about the crime. The Jewish scholar confessed that Torah also lays the same punishment. The adulterous pair was at last stoned to death. (F.A., M.S.)

The words “Among those who say with their mouth, we believe, and their hearts do not believe” disclose the position of some of the people in the faith that they had made a verbal profession of the faith with their mouths and in fact they were not believers at heart. Hence everyone who professed belief in Islam during the time of the Holy Prophet was not also actually a believer by conviction. It was such) hypocrites who immediately as the Holy Prophet departed from this world, turned against the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt and inflicted upon them the worst miseries and usurped their rights and subjected them to all sorts of sufferings.

Verse 43

How can the Jews submit themselves to the judgment of the Holy Prophet when they do not submit themselves to their holy scripture the Torah itself.

• 1. Arabic – ‘Wasilah’.
• 2. Nothing can be of any avail for the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement.
• 3. Ar. ‘Muqeem’ i.e Everlasting.
• 4. Falsehood.
• 5. On behalf of others.
• 6. The Law or the Pentatueeh the Scripture given to Moses.
• 7. The will here is creative and not legislative. Otherwise, the legislative will of God regarding the purification of the hearts of the people is universal including every human being.
• 8. Rotten Bribery.
• 9. The Book of Moses.
• 10. Refer to Verse 33:33.