Hypocrites’ leaning to Satan-the Apostle’s judgment shall be accepted, Reward for the obedience to God and the Apostle.

An-Nisa’ Verses 60 – 70

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يَزْعُمُونَ أَنَّهُمْ آمَنُوا بِمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ يَتَحَاكَمُوا إِلَى الطَّاغُوتِ وَقَدْ أُمِرُوا أَنْ يَكْفُرُوا بِهِ وَيُرِيدُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُمْ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا

“Hast thou not observed those who think they believe in what hath been sent down unto thee and what hath been sent down before thee? they intend to resort to the judgment of ‘Taghoot1’ (the Satan) though commanded were they to abjure2him; and Satan3intendeth to mislead them far astray. 4” (4:60)

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ رَأَيْتَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يَصُدُّونَ عَنْكَ صُدُودًا

“And when it is said unto them “Come (let us refer) to what God hath sent down (the Holy Qur’an) and to the Apostle (Muhammad)” thou seest the hypocrites turn away from thee with utter aversion.” (4:61)

فَكَيْفَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ جَاءُوكَ يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا

“But how then when some misfortune befalleth them on account of what their (own) hands have sent before (i.e. their own misdeeds), then will they come unto thee5swearing by God (saying) “We desired not but (to promote) good and concord.”” (4:62)

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُ اللَّهُ مَا فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَعِظْهُمْ وَقُلْ لَهُمْ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَوْلًا بَلِيغًا

“These are those God knoweth what is (concealed) in their hearts, therefore turn aside from them, and admonish them and speak unto them concerning themselves words effectual.” (4:63)

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ جَاءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا اللَّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا اللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَحِيمًا

“We sent not an Apostle, but to be obeyed by God’s leave; And if they, when they were unjust to themselves (sinned), had only come unto thee and sought pardon of God and the Apostle (also) had asked pardon for them, surely would they have found God Oft-returning and the Most Merciful.” (4:64)

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا

“So6, No! By thy Lord! they believe not (really) until they have set thee up their judge in all that they dispute about among themselves and thereafter find not in their selves any vexation (at all) against what thou decideth and submit (themselves) with total submission.” (4:65)

وَلَوْ أَنَّا كَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَنِ اقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ أَوِ اخْرُجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِكُمْ مَا فَعَلُوهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِنْهُمْ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ فَعَلُوا مَا يُوعَظُونَ بِهِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ تَثْبِيتًا

“And (even) if We had prescribed for them saying “Kill yourselves or go forth from your dwellings, they would not have done it but a few of them; and if they had done what they were exhorted (to do), it would certainly have been better for them and more efficacious7for strengthening (them in faith).” (4:66)

وَإِذًا لَآتَيْنَاهُمْ مِنْ لَدُنَّا أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

“And then We would certainly have given them of Our own accord a great recompense.” (4:67)

وَلَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ صِرَاطًا مُسْتَقِيمًا

“And certainly would We have guided them on the straight8path.” (4:68)

وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا

“And whoever obeyeth9God and the Apostle (Muhammad) these shall be with those, God hath bestowed favours upon them; of the Prophets, and the Truthful, and the Witnesses and the Righteous ones; and excellent are these as companions!” (4:69)

ذَٰلِكَ الْفَضْلُ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ عَلِيمًا

“This is the grace10from God; and sufficient is God (as the) Knower.” (4:70)

Commentary

Verse 60

‘Sent down to thee’ (i.e., the Holy Qur’an) and ‘sent down before thee’ (i.e., the other Scriptures like the Torah and the Evangel) given to the preceding Apostles of God.

‘Taghut’ though literally meaning a revolter, i.e., Satan, here owing to the extreme quality of revolt in him, against the truth (i.e., Islam) ‘Ka’b Ibn Ashroff, the Jew is compared to Satan and referred to in this verse.

Many translators have taken it to mean devil or idol but here it is clear, that nobody will seek the judgment or an unseen devil or a lifeless idol. Thus, ‘Taghoot’ here, will mean a living idol, i.e., the devil in human form as ‘Phirawn’ indicated as ‘Taghoot’ in 20:24. According to the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt ‘Taghoot’ mentioned in the Holy Qur’an invariably means any unauthorised claimant to power or authority to whom man may yield particularly such of those referred to in 2:256. (A.P.)

Verse 61

‘What God hath sent down’ (i.e., the Holy Qur’an).

Applicable to anyone who, in religious disputes refers to authorities other than the Book and the Tradition of the Holy Prophet, be it ‘Ijma’, i.e., the analogy or the general opinion of the unauthorised ones. (A.P.)

Verse 62

This indicates the conduct of the ‘Munafiqs’, i.e., hypocrites.

Applicable to those who introduce reforms unwarranted by the Holy Qur’an and ‘Sunnat’, among the Muslims, after any non-Islamic Tradition. When the unhealthy results of such unwarranted reforms confronts them, then they say that they intended only good and concord, and adopt compromising attitude. (A.P.)

Verse 63

‘Qaulan Baligha’-speech chaste, effective and penetrating through, impressive, the effect of the meaning enabling clear understanding.

Verse 64

Hasan al-Basri reports that this verse was revealed about Twelve hypocrites and their conspiracy.

If the Twelve stand up and repent he, (the Holy Prophet), would pray to God for forgiving them but none of them stood up. Then the Holy Prophet named each one of them with their parentage. Ultimately the Twelve got disgraced and implored for forgiveness. This verse was revealed. The Holy Prophet prayed for their forgiveness. (M.S.)

Amir Al-Mu’minin ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib reports that for three nights consecutively after the burial of the Holy Prophet, used to come a man and cry imploring the Holy Prophet to pray for him to be forgiven by God. On the third day the voice of the Holy Prophet was heard from his grave saying, ‘Go thou, God hath forgiven thee.’ (M.S.)

Verse 65

This verse starts with an oath, most solemn, meaning that the declaration is the final and the irrevocable decision of God. This verse is a very great, very important and a very useful guiding factor. If a student of the Holy Qur’an understands the implication of this ordinance correctly, he shall never get astray either by the blunders of his own fallible decisions or by the misleading verdicts of the other selfish or corrupt minds. It is clearly said in this verse that unless one abides by the directive given through this final declaration of God, the individual is not in truth, a true believer.

This verse lays down the universal law for every true believer in God to follow the judgment or the decision of the Holy Prophet in all matters, temporal as well as spiritual, personal or public, concerning this life or the hereafter.

‘Fima shajara bainahum’, is an indefinite term meaning in whatsoever (matter) they may dispute among themselves. There is no restriction to be applied either to the temporal or the spiritual aspects of the problems.

And then ‘Summa la yajidu fi unfusihim harajan’ seals the finality of the judgment of the Holy

Prophet against which none has any right whatsoever to differ, either in thought or action.

‘Yussallimu Taslima’, i.e., surrender an absolute surrendering.

A sincere seeker of knowledge and truth who comes across this declaration of the Lord, would naturally ask did the Muslims ever remember this declaration of God when they differed and disputed so much among themselves regarding their own created problem of the succession to the Holy Prophet, to rule the destiny of the Muslim people as a whole? Did the Mohajirs, the emigrants from Mecca and the Ansars, the helpers in Madina, ever think of referring the matter to the sayings of the Holy Prophet about the position of ‘Ali as his successor in the apostolic office? Were there not people who knew, and could never forget the historic event of the Holy Prophet while starting his ministry under the divine command to first warn his own kith and kin, ‘Wanzir Ashqratakal Aeerabin’ (26:214), invited the people and declared himself to be the Apostle of God and ‘Ali-Ibn Abi Talib to be his Vicegerent and his Kalif, his Successor and asked the people to listen to ‘Ali and to obey him? The Apostolic Command to listening to ‘Ali’s word and to obey him even from the very start of the ministry of the Holy Prophet clearly implies that the decision of the Holy Prophet and ‘Ali will Always be one11.

And at the conclusion of his ministry, while returning from the last pilgrimage, the Apostle of God held a special assembly at Ghadir Khumm and after a long and a historic sermon, he declared to the huge audience of the Hajees (the pilgrims).

“Of whosoever I am the Lord this ‘Ali is his Lord.”

The Apostle of God continued praying to God saying:

“Lord! Be a friend to the one who is a friend of ‘Ali, and Be an enemy to the one who is an enemy of ‘Ali.”

And ordered ‘Umar-Ibn Khattab that ‘Ali should thereafter be addressed as ‘Amirul-Mu’minin’ (or The Commander or the Ruler of the faithful)12.

Even Shibli in his well-known Urdu work ‘Siratun-Nabi’ has recorded this event.

The Holy Prophet had announced the full list of his rightful successors to the end of the world.

It has been reported on the following famous authorities on Islamic History that Muhammad the Last Apostle of God prophesied that there will be only Twelve successors after him. The authorities on which is based the report, and which are referred to hereunder are all Sunni scholars universally accepted and held in very high regard and esteem by the Sunni world. They are:

“Shifa of Qazi Ayaz, -Fathulhari of Ibn Hajr Asqalani, Tarikul Kulafa of Suyuti, -Sharhe Fiqah-Akbar of Mulla ‘Ali Qari, Izalatl-Khulafa of Maulvi Faliullah Shah13.

There are two groups of the Successors to the Holy Prophet:

“The Group which consists of the Twelve Divinely commissioned Imams who were all Divinely inspired, of unblemished and undoubtedly godly conduct and character, all from the seed of the Holy Prophet, the Divinity of whose personality is universally acknowledged alike, both by their friends and their foes, and all of whom were martyred with unparalleled patience and resignation to God’s will. This group consists of only Twelve, starting from Amirul Mu’minin ‘Ali Al Murtaza terminating with the Twelfth Imam Muhammad Al-Mahdi.

“The Group in which some are Diplomats, Crafty Statesmen, Despotic Monarchs, who were openly opposed and antagonistic to the Apostle’s holy family, mercilessly persecuted them and got them butchered along with their kith and kin and comrades and imprisoned them for their whole life, poisoned them to death, who were drunkards, gamblers, and habitual victims to their carnal desires. One of them Al-Walid made the Holy Qur’an a target of his arrows, rendered it into pieces ridiculing it, and yet he was hailed a Kalif. The strength of these Kalifs does not limit to twelve and there were several of them at one and the same time in the different countries under their sway viz., Spain, Damascus, Africa, Egypt etc., each one affixing for himself the title of the Kalif claiming himself to be the successor to the Holy Prophet14.

The question of following either the First Group of the Divines or the Second Group of the Diplomats and the assassins of the Holy ones and the breakers of the Islamic law, is left to the choice of every individual believer in the Holy Qur’an and the adherent of the Faith as preached and practised by Muhammad the Last Apostle of God.

“One unique distinction of the First Group of the Twelve holy Imams is that though they were ignored, persecuted and were also killed by the members of the Second Group of the Khalifah, but each and every one of the Holy Twelve was so unquestionably Divine in his personality that the whole of the Second Group could not help paying homage to the holy ones. Even to this day those who follow the Second Group of the kalifs could not but revere the members of the First Group as the Divinely Inspired ones and acknowledge their Imamah or Divine guidance and hold them as Venerable and Holy.

The unique and wonderful distinction which God has gifted only to ‘Ali and his holy family is that, while his wife the Holy Lady Fatimah was killed by the door of her own dwelling caused to fall on her side breaking her ribs, ‘Ali himself was assassinated while in prayers in the mosque at Kufa. ‘Ali’s first son Hasan was poisoned; his second son Husayn was the world- renowned Hero of the wholesale massacre at Karbala where he along with his faithful band of the seventy- two, was mercilessly massacred. ‘Ali’s third son, Mohsin, was killed while he was yet in the womb of his holy mother, by the fatal fall of the door on her side which she suffered, and every one of the eight succeeding Imams from the seed of ‘Ali were all martyred. Besides these divines of the family of ‘Ali being all of them martyrs, there had been innumerable other members of this holy family who were killed by the ruling authorities of the respective times, simply because they were the children of ‘Ali and Fatimah. Thus, ‘Ali’s family almost as a whole had been the Family of Martyrs.15”

The misfortune of the Muslims, as a people, started from their failure to accept the final parting declaration of the Holy Prophet.

When Muhammad the Last Apostle of God knew that he would be breathing his last, he ordered:

“Bring unto me pen and a paper, 1 shall gel written something so that ye may not be led astray after me.”

But alas! the people surrounding him, did not allow it to take place, giving an evasive answer: “Sufficient is for us the Book of God16.”

Will not an intelligent and an impartial mind hold those responsible for the blunder in dis-obeying the Holy Prophet in not carrying out his commands to give him the paper and pen, and to obstruct him from giving vent to what the Last Apostle of God wished to say before his departure and thus, depriving the Muslims for all times of the final blessings which the ‘Rahmatun li ‘l-’Alamin’ wanted to bestow upon his followers. Is the Holy Qur’an actually sufficient for anyone and everyone of us to draw the correct external as well as the internal meanings of the Final Word of God? Especially in view of the open declaration in the Holy Qur’an about its meanings:

بَلْ هُوَ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الظَّالِمُونَ

“But it is clear revelations in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge, and none deny Our revelations save wrong-doers.” (29:49)

The Holy Prophet Muhammad being the Rahmatun li ‘l-’Alamin or the Mercy unto the worlds did not leave mankind unguided by his final advice, though the selfish world wanted to deprive mankind of this final blessing. When pen and paper were denied to him, the Apostle of God pronounced his last advice to his faithful adherents:

“I leave behind me amidst you Two great things, the ‘Book of God’ (the Holy Qur’an) and my ‘Ahl Al-Bayt’ (or the members of the Holy Family, i.e., Fatimah, her husband ‘Ali, and her issues) Should ye be attached to these Two, never, never shall ye be misled after me, for verily these Two will never he separated from each other until they meet me on the Spring of Kauthar.17”

To know correctly the relationship of ‘Ali to the Holy Prophet or ‘Ali’s status in Islam, one must first view the Holy Prophet in the light of the guidance from the heavenly scriptures particularly as the Holy Qur’an introduces him to mankind. Unless one knows if the Holy Prophet is genuinely the Apostle of God or not, and what he utters is truth or falsehood, no individual can ever be correct in his belief or his practice. In the Old Testament it is said that in the mouth of the Prophet, with whom humanity was promised to be blessed, God will Himself put ‘His Word’ and every one of the mankind was commanded to hearken unto it, and whosoever will not hearken unto it, God has promised to demand it of him (Deut. 18/18, 19).

Again, we have been informed by the apostle of God, Jesus, through the Gospel of John 16/14 that ‘The Spirit of Truth’ or the ‘Comforter’ or the ‘Holy Ghost’ who will be sent by God shall not speak of himself: but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak; Concurrent with the prophecies made in the past, the Holy Qur’an once again introduces the Holy Prophet Muhammad saying:

وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ

“He (Our Apostle Muhammad) speaketh not of his own accord.” (53:3)

إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ

“Save that which is revealed unto him.” (53:4)

According to the above heavenly declarations, the Holy Prophet uttered anything but the Word of the Lord and implemented only the Divine Will revealed to him. With the acknowledgment of this position of the Holy Prophet it gets doubtlessly clear that all the announcements about ‘Ali and his Ahl Al-Bayt were nothing but the announcements of the Divine Will.

During the course of his Ministry on the occasion of his expedition to Tabuk, the Holy Prophet had left ‘Ali in his place in Madina, which clearly clarifies that ‘Ali’s position in relation to the Holy Prophet was that of Aaron’s with Moses, i.e., of the successor.

To be brief, instead of enumerating the several occasions on which ‘Ali earned his glorious titles, only a few of his very prominent epithets are given below which would be sufficient to hint the awakened minds among us about the wonderful personality that ‘Ali was. ‘Ali owned the following epithets exclusively for himself as none else before or after him could ever earn anyone of them.

1. Al-Murtaza - The Chosen one of God.

2. Amir Al-Mu’minin- The Commander of the Faithful.

3. Imam al-Muttaqeen - The Guide of the Pious.

4. Mazhar al-Ajaib - The Manifestor of Wonders.

5. Babe-Madinat al-ilm - The Gateway of the City of Knowledge.

6. Imam al-Auliya - The Guide of the Saints.

7. Saiyyid al-Ausiya - The Chief of Deputies (Muhammad) the Apostle of God.

8. Asadullah al-Ghaleb - The Ever Victorious Lion of God.

9. Lisanu Allah - The Tongue of God.

10. Yadu Allah - The Hand of God.

11. Wajhul Alah - The Face of God.

12. Nafs ar-Rasul Allah - The Soul of the Apostle of God.

13. Waliyu Allah - The Friend of God.

14. Siddiq ul Akbar - The Greatest Truthful.

15. Faruq ul Aazam - The Greatest Distinguisher.

16. Abu Turab - The Father of the Earth.

17. Fatehi Khaybar - The Victor of Khaybar.

18. Abu al-A’imma - The Father of the Holy Imams (the Apostolic Successors of the Holy Prophet).

19. Akhu ar-Rasul Allah - The Brother of the Apostle of God.

20. Abu al-Iitam - The Father of the Orphans and the Helpless.18

However, according to this verse a true Muslim is to abide by the decision of the Holy Prophet in all matters of doubt or dispute.

Verse 66

The Holy Prophet is informed of the actual position of most of his followers saying that if as it was done in the case of the children of Israel, these people had been commanded to fight and leave their homes, excepting a few, most of the people would not have done. Such a position of the faith of those who had joined the ranks of the Muslims for some selfish ends, was proved in the Battle of ‘Uhud’, ‘Badr’’ and ‘Khandaq’19.

This explains the implicit obedience to the divine or the apostolic authority commanded to the believers and points out the failure of the majority of the converts to reach the standard of the complete submission.

This supreme nature of the authority of the Holy Prophet and the standard of the implicit obedience required of the true believers and the results and the rewards referred to in verses 4:68-70, are not confined to any age or class but ever current to the end of the world.

Such an absolute submission to the order of the Holy Prophet is all that is required of a true believer in all times until the resurrection, and the order in 3:159 ‘Wa Shavirhum fil Amr’ is the sequence of the leniency which the Holy Prophet had to show to the new converts who were weak in faith like some of the disciples of Jesus, and were prone to revert to infidelity.

The verse expressively says that the final decision with the personal determination to endorse it, rests only with the Holy Prophet vide the concluding words of 3:159. Hence the consultation was in no way any honour for those with whom the Holy Prophet consulted. It rather indicates the weakness in faith and the mischievous and the troublesome nature of the consulted ones for the Holy Prophet used to consult even people like Abdullah Ibn Obay who was one of the notorious hypocrites. (A.P.)

Verse 67 & 68

‘Nabiyyeen’ stands for the Holy Prophet. ‘Siddiqeen’ for ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib. The whole of the Muslim world knows that ‘Ali was the first to believe in the Holy Prophet. Besides the miraculous birth of ‘Ali in the Holy Ka’ba, there are numerous traditions of the Holy Prophet declaring that ‘Ali had always been with the truth and a truth will always be with ‘Ali. The greatest falsehood is ‘Shirk’ associating others with God in Godhead or authority, i.e., belief in the false deities as gods. ‘Ali is the only one next only to the Holy Prophet who had never been a polytheist and had never worshipped any false deity.

All the companions of the Holy Prophet including the prominent ones viz. ‘Umar, Abu Bakr or ‘Uthman, all of them had lived the greater parts of their lives in idolatry. ‘Shuhada’ stands for Hasan and Husayn whom the whole Muslim world knows and unanimously hails as the ‘Shaheeds’ or the martyrs. ‘Saleheen’ for the rest of the ‘A’imma’ the other Nine Holy Imams. (F.A.)

If any others are brought under these terms, it will be to the degree or the limit they might possess the qualities, not equal to any of those mentioned above who were divinely gifted with the superb excellence to the maximum degree anyone besides the Absolute can hold.

Verse 70

The ability to bring the throne of the Queen of Sheba within the twinkling of an eye is shown there...as an instance of the divine grace bestowed on a person who had a partial knowledge of the Book. Here the reference is to the grace in its entirety bestowed on the Holy Prophet who has been sent to mankind as a whole with the whole of the Book (in its entirety).

Besides the Holy Prophet there is another one with whom is the knowledge of the Book in its entirety, and he is bearing witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet’s mission along with God 13:43 and that witness is of the Holy Prophet vide 11:17, and also the words about the restriction about the person to recite the Sura 920, (Viz. ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib) to be only the one of the Holy Prophet himself. (A.P.)

• 1. The Satan or the false deities.
• 2. Reject.
• 3. Often times Satan appears in human form: Thus, one should not submit to everyone who seems to be human. See Mathnavi of Roomi.
• 4. Refer to Verses 6:62, 33:36.
• 5. To the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
• 6. Explains the implicit manner and the extent of the obedience to the Holy Prophet-enjoined- Refer the conduct of the Muslims in their dispute at the ‘Saqifa’ for the Caliphate, under the Ordinance & in this Verse-How the Qur’an. The Word of God and the behest of the Holy Prophet was totally ignored in the madness to own the power, authority and glory.
• 7. Making more firm in faith.
• 8. Right.
• 9. This explains the result of the standards of faith.
• 10. Refer to Verse 27:40.
• 11. See Tabari, Ibn Athir, Abdul Fida, Gibbon, W. Smith, Amir ‘Ali.
• 12. See Mishkat, Khasais, N’isai, Rawdat al-Ahbab, Rawdat as-Safi, Musnad of Imam Hambal, Suyuti etc..
• 13. There are many other authorities also.
• 14. For details about the conduct and the character of these Kalifs-Omayyids as well as the Abbasides, refer to Hitti’s The History of the Arabs or to any original history of the rulers of the Caliphate.
• 15. See Murawaj uz-Zahab, Istiab and many others.
• 16. See Sahih Muslim, Sahih Bukhari, Fath al-Bari, Tabarani, Tarikh Ahmadi.
• 17. Tafsir al-Kabir, Tafsir Adh-Dhurr al-Manthurand others.
• 18. See Tarikh al-Khamis, Vol. II, p. 20 and many others.
• 19. For details see Tabari and the other Histories on Islam or the Muslims.
• 20. When Surah 9 was revealed, the Holy Prophet initially sent Abu Bakr to announce it to the people of Mecca, but later instructed ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib to take over the role, stating that only someone from his own household, Ahl Al-Bayt, should do so. This is often cited as evidence of Imam ‘Ali’s special position in Islam [Al-Islam.org’s note].