Jews preferring the idolaters to Muslims, Abraham’s seed blessed, Recompense for disbelief and faith, Obedience to God, the Apostle Muhammad and those vested with the authority.

An-Nisa’ Verses 51 – 59

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِنَ الْكِتَابِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَالطَّاغُوتِ وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَٰؤُلَاءِ أَهْدَىٰ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا سَبِيلًا

“Hast thou not observed those whom hath been given (a part) of the scripture? They believe in ‘Jibt1’ (idol) and ‘taghut’ (Satan) and say they about the infidels; “these2are better guided in the path than those who believe (in God)3.’’’ (4:51)

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَمَنْ يَلْعَنِ اللَّهُ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ نَصِيرًا

“Those are they whom God hath cursed; and whomsoever God curseth for him thou shalt not find any helper.” (4:52)

أَمْ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِنَ الْمُلْكِ فَإِذًا لَا يُؤْتُونَ النَّاسَ نَقِيرًا

“Or have they a share in the Kingdom (of the world)? But then they4would not give to the people even the speck in the date-stone.” (4:53)

أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَىٰ مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ فَقَدْ آتَيْنَا آلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَآتَيْنَاهُمْ مُلْكًا عَظِيمًا

“Or do they envy the people for what God hath given them of His grace; But indeed We have given to Abraham’s children the Book and the Wisdom and We gave them a Great Kingdom5.” (4:54)

فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ آمَنَ بِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ صَدَّ عَنْهُ وَكَفَىٰ بِجَهَنَّمَ سَعِيرًا

“So, of them is he who believeth on him (Muhammad) and of them is he who createth obstruction against him; and sufficient (to punish such) is the Burning Fire (of Hell).” (4:55)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا سَوْفَ نُصْلِيهِمْ نَارًا كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَزِيزًا حَكِيمًا

“Verily (for) those who disbelieve Our signs, soon We will cast them into fire; so oft as their skins shall be burnt away, We will change for them other skins, that they may taste the torment; Verily God is Mighty, Wise!” (4:56)

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا لَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُطَهَّرَةٌ وَنُدْخِلُهُمْ ظِلًّا ظَلِيلًا

“And (as for) those who believe and do good deeds We will admit them into gardens ‘neath which flow rivers, therein to abide for ever; therein shall be for them mates pure and We will make them to enter dense6shades.” (4:57)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَنْ تُؤَدُّوا الْأَمَانَاتِ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ أَنْ تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُمْ بِهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا

“Verily God doth command you to render back your trusts to their owners, and when ye judge between men, to judge with justice; verily, how excellent is what God exhorteth you; Verily, God is the Hearer and the Seer7.” (4:58)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا

“O’ ye who believe! obey God and obey the Apostle and those vested8with authority from among you; and then if ye quarrel about anything refer it to God and the Apostle if ye believe in God and in the Last day (of Judgment)’, This is the best and the fairest way9of ending (the dispute).” (4:59)

Commentary

Verse 51

‘Jibt’ and ‘Taghut’, the names of the two idols of the Quraish at Mecca (Siraj) (B.H.) ‘Taghut’ has been commonly used in the Holy Qur’an for devils or idols etc10. ‘Jibt’ is said to mean sorcery or enchantment. Thus, the words refer to the Jews who had been debased in believing in all kinds of enchantment, divination and sorcery and had long gone astray from the straight path of pure monotheism of Moses.

After the battle of Uhud ‘Ka’ab Ibn Ashroff went with seventy other Jews to convince the Quraishites of the sympathy of the Jews with their cause and had praised the idolatry of the Quraish being better than Islam of the Muslims, and it is said the Jews even adored their idols also. The commentators report that this verse refers to the event.

‘Jibt’ and ‘Taghut’, used in Qur’an. These two terms are used to signify any ungodly authority thus, applicable to anyone who claims spiritual powers viz. sorcery, or witchcraft etc., and also inspiration, intuition or any special communion with the unseen world, unrecognised or uncertified or not proved by Islam.

The terms are applicable to the temporal authorities without any Islamic sanction.

The terms include idols and all the powers which man may yield to, besides God. Hence the different meanings given by the commentators be taken as instances to which the terms may be applicable.

The concluding words of the verse are applicable to all those who join hands with the non-Muslims, who are the enemies of Islam, and those who appreciate and prefer the ideals of non-Islamic life and prefer them to the Islamic ways of living. (A.P.)

Verse 52

This verse clearly indicates that even God curses some kind of people. Hence cursing the tyrants who had inflicted miseries upon the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, which the Shi’as (i.e., the followers of the Islam-Original) do is no innovation of their own but a godly act.

The words with which this verse ends indicate that those whom God curses can never avail of any help from any of their helpers, i.e., no deeds seemingly good and no amount of blessings invoked on their behalf by their followers or friends can ever be of any avail for such cursed ones. All good deeds alone by the wicked, are made null and void11, as the unintentional evils of the good once are wiped out by God’s mercy12

Verse 53

The prophecy is that the Kingdom promised to the seed of Abraham, is for ever taken away from the Jews, meaning that the Jews are no more entitled to the granting of the Kingdom which the)’ alleged that it could not be granted to anyone except to their own people. For the transfer of the Kingdom from the Israelites to the Hashimites see Math. 21/41-45.

And even if abundant wealth is granted to the Jews, they would not give even the most trifling thing to anyone else, i.e., none else will at all be benefited by their holding any kingdom.

Verse 54

The Kingdom promised to the seed of Abraham though denied to the Jews who were also the children of Abraham, still remains in Abraham’s seed but transferred from the descendants of Israel (children of Isaac) to those of Ishamel in accordance with the covenant made with Abraham13. (Gen. 12/2, 3, 15/5; 17/8, 17/18):

“And I make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shall be a blessing:”

“And I mil bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 12/2, 3.

“And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Gen. 15/5.

“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession: and I will be their God.”

“And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!” Gen. 17/8, 18.

Regarding the Kingdom being transferred from the Israelites to the Hashimites see Math. 21/43:

“Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” Math. 21/43.

Note the three things gifted to Abraham’s seed Viz. The Book, Wisdom and the Kingdom. Hence, he whom God Himself grants the Book and Wisdom (the Holy Prophet) needed no education or training through any mortal teacher. And the Kingdom granted by God none else can ever take it away. The Kingdom Temporal as well as the Spiritual belongs to the Holy Prophet and his seed, the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, i.e., the seed of Abraham in whom it had to remain for ever. (John 14/16).

It is as much a directive to the Muslims that their temporal power according to the will of God must be with the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt and during the time of the Last Holy Imam, i.e., Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Kingdom as a whole, in fulfilment of the Covenant of the Lord with Abraham, shall be with him who will fill the earth with equity and fair play as it would have been filled with iniquity and falsehood. The Holy Prophet prophecies about the days:

“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16/8.

Abul-Hasan Maghazli reports from the Fifth Holy Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir that he said the people mentioned in this verse and those envied by the others, are the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt upon whom special blessings and bounties of God have been bestowed vide S.Mh.

This is a reference to what has been given to the Ishmaelite branch of the descendants of Abraham viz., the Book, the Wisdom plus the Authority over mankind in the sense that they are the foremost and topmost ones in absolute submission to God, which subjected them to the envy of the Jews and the others and it is enjoined by God, on mankind, to follow them, not meaning any de facto power which the Ishmaelite branch of the descendants never enjoyed except the incomplete rule of the Holy Prophet and ‘Ali over Arabia for a few years and none of the regimes could be termed as a Great Kingdom compared to what the other dignitaries of mankind held on the earth. And if the Authority be meant as the de facto power, there could be no room for the subsequent passage dividing the people into believers and disbelievers. (A.P.)

Verse 55

This refers to those of the Jews who rejected the Holy Prophet who was the true exponent of Abraham’s religion.

Verse 56

Relates the grievous nature of the punishment for those who reject the Holy Prophet and those who turn away from the Islamic path after adopting it, referring to the Jews who did it.

‘Jild’-the outer structure of the body.

This verse answers the question as to how the soul will be punished when the outer structure is burnt away (vanished). The verse clearly says that the outer structure will be renewed as in the same manner it is renewed by fresh nourishment.

The difference between the physical and the spiritual process of burning and renewing, is only the question of the speed and stuff of the outer structure, be it material or spiritual.

In any way the medium of communication of the feelings will be renewed continuously along with the result, i.e., the pleasure and pain.

Considering the outer structure of the body as the only media of the communication of the feelings to the soul, and not the subject of pleasure and pain, the question that the renewed outer structure committed no sin, why should it be tortured, will not arise, for the sinner or the virtuous one is the cognitive self which is not subject to any change. And this process has nothing to do with ‘Tanaasukh’, i.e., the transmigration of the soul which means return of the departed soul to another body after the interval of death. Whereas the verse refers to the continuity of the one and the same process of the outer structure.

In short, it should be known that regarding the pleasure and pain in the life hereafter, the Holy Qur’an asserts that none of the senses in man, which are the means of the various sensations, will ever be destroyed but they will be made further sharper to taste the pleasure and the pain, earned by the individual14 (A.P.)

Verse 57

Meaning an everlasting blissful life to be rewarded for the true believers who proved their faith in their practical virtues. But those who merely claimed to be the believers and however high a position they might have occupied in this worldly life, but were not faithful or good to the very family of the Holy Prophet i.e., the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt, can never reasonably be called as true believers or the faithful followers of the Holy Prophet, to entitle themselves to the recompense promised in this verse for the love of the Ahl Al-Bayt has been declared by God Himself as the wage of the ministry of the Holy Prophet.

ذَٰلِكَ الَّذِي يُبَشِّرُ اللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ قُلْ لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَمَنْ يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَزِدْ لَهُ فِيهَا حُسْنًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ

“This it is which God announceth unto His bondmen who believe and do good deeds. Say (O’ Muhammad), I ask of you no recompense therefore, save the love of (my) relations. And whoso scoreth a good deed We add unto its good for him. Verily, God, is Forgiving, Responsive.” (42:23)

And he who did not pay the wage for any labour can never lawfully avail of it.

Verse 58

This verse indicates the importance Islam attaches or the stress with which it demands Muslims to be faithful to the trust in them and to be just in their judgments when they are to judge over any matter.

An intelligent reader may question:

“Was Fatimah given her right over the property bequeathed to her by the Holy Prophet? Was ‘Ali given the position due to him as per the declared will of the Holy Prophet through the numerous traditions about his unique personality and position? or Were the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt regarded as ought to have been, as per the declaration of the Holy Prophet? And the injustice done to those godly souls has to be accounted for or not?”

For the importance of ‘Amanat’, i.e., Trust, there is the saying of the Fifth Holy Imam Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Al-Baqir who says: ‘One of the pillars of ‘Iman’ i.e., Faith, is the returning of the Trust ‘Amanat’ to its owner, be he the owner, even the murderer of the Holy Imam Husayn’ (Kafi). (A.P.)

Verse 59

The duty of the obedience to God and the Holy Prophet imposed on mankind is doubtless but the meaning of the word ‘‘Ul al-’Amri minkum’ is contested by the Sunni Commentators to make room for the rulers who they hailed as the Kalil’s, some of whom were of such worst conduct and character that even the Sunnies themselves abhor the personalities like Yazid etc. The obedience demanded for the ‘‘Ul al-’Amr’ being the same as for God and the Holy Prophet, demands the Uli! Amr to be of the conduct and character of highest order like that of the Holy Prophet manifesting through their practical lives the divine attributes of God.

Besides the words commanding the Muslims to refer their disputes to God and the Holy Prophet means that the ‘‘Ul al-’Amr’ who had been referred to above in the same verse, who are to be obeyed as God and the Holy Prophet should be done, must naturally be a part and parcel of the Holy Prophet, i.e., from his seed of identical purity of body and soul described in 33:33.

Under any circumstance mere common sense will suffice to say that the believers in God and the faithful adherents of his religion, Islam, can never under any circumstances be commanded to be the obedient subjects of any and every questionable character who by some means or other, might occupy the throne and be the head of a state. Leaving aside all the numerous questionable characters who ruled over the destinies of the Muslims, as the heads of the Muslim States, take for an instance Yazid, who the Muslim world as a whole hate and whose conduct and character, the human world cannot but abhor, can under circumstances God be expected to demand His devotees, to be the faithful subjects to such devilish characters who were nothing short of brutes in human form? No sensible man or woman in any part of the earth can ever accept such an interpretation of this verse.

“According to the Shi’as the ‘‘Ul al-’Amr’ are the “Twelve Imams after the Prophet, who being infallible can only speak the mind of the Prophet when they make any command of themselves. There can be no disagreement between the nature of obedience due to God and that due to His Prophet, the latter being not absolute but based on the authority of God. In the case of ‘‘Ul al-’Amr’ whose obedience stands on the same footing as that of the Prophet.

“So, it is the Twelve Imams only whose obedience the Shi’as acknowledge to be binding upon them. As to other men in authority whether Muslim or non-Muslim, the position is clear. If they have been appointed by the rightful Imam their very appointment is their authority, and we must submit Io it. Then the Imam would be seeing that they act properly. If these do not derive their title from that rightful source, we may still obey them if they are just, but we are in no sort of religious obligation to them. And in this there is no difference between Muslim and non-Muslim. The king of England and the Shah of Persia are the same to us. Even in case of tyranny we may remain obedient to avoid Jihad as far as possible, which is forbidden in the absence of an Imam.

“As to Sunni traditions corroborating the Shi’a view, it is sufficient to cite the tradition of Jabir ‘bn Abdullah Ansari who says that on revelation of this verse, he asked the Holy Prophet as to who were the ‘Ul al-’Amr has been ordained. The Prophet replied that they were his successors after hint, ‘Ali being the first, his two sons down to the Twelfth (i.e. present) Imam who were all enumerated with their names15. (By B.H. pp. 134-135, Vol. II).

It is a matter for common sense to seriously consider that all kinds of questionable and even worst characters are ruling in the various parts of the earth, and the command to obey is indefinite which includes absolute obedience in matters Material, i.e., worldly as well as Religious. If by ‘Ul al-’Amr be meant anyone who rules the state, none with his common sense intact, can ever accept God’s demanding His devotees to abide by the commands of the devilish characters in matters of doctrine of the faith and their being implicitly followed in the actual practical life.

• 1. Jibt lit. sorcery or sorcerer. ‘Taghut’ lit mean rebels.
• 2. The infidels.
• 3. Refer to Verses 2:256; 5:60.
• 4. Reference to the Capitalist class of the Jews-True of the capitalist of today. Refer to Verses 2:258; 5:20.
• 5. The Vicegerency of God which the Holy Prophet Muhammad, in the Seed of Abraham inherited and which passed on to the Ahl Al-Bayt. When God Himself had purified 33:33 -’’Ali declared ‘Mawla’- Lord, Master, Commander, Governor in the place of the Holy Prophet-at ‘Ghadir Khumm’ under the divine command. See Verse 5:67.
• 6. Blissful. Shadow of the divine attributes and the Holy Names. (AP).
• 7. Refer to Verses 3:75; 33:72.
• 8. By God through His Apostle-not the one, of the choice of the people or he who occupies a throne by any means other than the Godly authority from the Holy Prophet - as the appointment divinely effected at ‘Ghadir Khumm’ under 5:67, Other people like Yazid son of Mu’awiyah also occupied the throne See note. Refer to Verses 3:153, 42:33.
• 9. ‘Taweel’ Lit-Interpretation.
• 10. Refer to Verses 2:256; 4:51; 5:60.
• 11. Refer to Verses 3:20, 3:21.
• 12. Refer to Verses 29:7, 47:2, 64:9, 65:5, 66:8.
• 13. Refer to Verse 2:125.
• 14. Refer to Verses 50:20-22.
• 15. See Rowzat al-Ahbab.