The Light of the Holy Qur'an Interpretation of Sura Al-furqan

Commentary : Verse 19

  1. فَقَدْ كَذَّبُوكُم بِمَا تَقُولُونَ فَمَا تَسْتَطِيعُونَ صَرْفاً وَلاَ نَصْراً وَمَن يَظْلِم مِنكُمْ نُذِقْهُ عَذَاباً كَبِير

19." (Allah will say to the idolaters:) 'So they shall indeed belie you of what you say, so you shall not be able to avert (your penalty) nor (get) help, and whoever of you be unjust, We will cause him taste a great torment."

Commentary:

A polytheist will be supported by no one in the Resurrection and cannot do any thing to rescue him. Thus, in this noble verse Allah addresses polytheists:

"(Allah will say): to the idolaters:) 'So they shall indeed belie you of what you say,..."

You said that they deviated you from the right path, but they count what you say as a lie.

And since the fact is such and they themselves committed their own deviation, therefore the verse says:

"... so you shall not be able to avert (your penalty) nor(get) help, and whoever of you be unjust, We will cause him taste a great torment."

Undoubtedly the Qur'anic word /zulm/ (oppression) has got an extensive concept. Though the subject of the verse is polytheism,which is one of the clear extensions of oppression, yet it does not abolish the generality of the concept of the verse. Meanwhile the purpose of 'deities' is whether humane deities such as Christ, or devil deities such as jinn or angels, each of which had been selected by a group of pagans for worshipping.

Since they have common sense and intellect, they can be questioned. So, in order to complete the argument and to prove the falsehood of the statement of the polytheists, saying that these invited us to worship them, they are asked whether this speech is right, and they explicitly reject the polytheists' statement. Some points:

1. The Motivation of Deviation from Monotheism:

Deities counted the main factor of this group of pagans' deviation as luxurious life. They say: ".. but you did provide them and their fathers to enjoy until they forgot the Message and they were a people in perdition", (instead of knowing blessings and thanking You for them, they have forgotten You).

Verily comfortable life is, on one hand, causing those who can not take welfare, and also their faith is weak, to feel conceited, for when they are given a lot of blessings, they get too big for their boots and forget Allah. Even sometimes, like Pharaoh, they cry: "I am the Lord".

On the other hand, such persons want to be as much as possible free and to face no boundary in gratification of their desires. They want that limitations and restrictions such as lawfulness, unlawfulness, legality and illegality do not prevent them from achieving their aims, thus they do not want to obey any rule or law and to accept the Resurrection and Reckoning Day.

Also now there are not many adherents of Allah's religion and prophets' teachings among rich people, this is the poor people who are willful supporters and faithful friends of religion.

Of course, there are some exceptions in each group, but the majority members of each group are as we said.

Meanwhile the above verse does not only put emphasis on their own prosperity, but also it emphasizes their ancestors' prosperity, for when a child grows up in affluence and wealth, it is natural that he mostly discriminates against others and he will not easily get rid of his interestand comfortable life.

While sticking with Allah's commands and religion programs need sacrificing, sometimes migration, even holy war and martyrdom and sometimes accepting kinds of deprivations and refusing to surrender themselves to the enemy, which goes with temperament of rich people less, unless their personality is superior to their material life. If one day everything is good, they thank Allah, and if it is not good, they do not get upset and unsteady. In other words, they dominate their material life and they are not its servant and slave.

  1. The Qur'anic word /bur/ is derived from the word /bawar/, which originally means severity of stagnation of something. Since severity of stagnation causes corruption, this word is also applied to mean corruption and then to mean destruction. Since a land, which has no tree, flower, and plant, is in fact corrupted and dead, it is called /ba'ir/ (fallow).

Therefore, the sentence "... and they were a people in perdition" refers to this matter that, because of luxurious life and forgetting Allah and Resurrection, this group has been corrupted and destructed. And, like a dried and fallow desert, the land of their heart gets empty of flowers of humane values and fruits of virtues and spiritual life.

Studying nations that are blessed with this world's goods and know nothing of Allah and other nations makes the vast meaning of this verse more clear that how they are wallowing in moral corruption, and humane virtues can no longer be found in weathered land of their entity.

Commentary : Verse 20

  1. وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلآَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِي الاَسْوَاقِ وَجَعَلْنَا بَعْضَكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ فِتْنَةً أَتَصْبِرُونَ وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ بَصِير

  2. " And We never sent any messengers before you but they certainly ate food and walked in the markets; and We have made some of you a trial for the others: will you bear patiently? And your Lord is Ever-Seeing."

Occasion of Revelation:

A group of commentators have said that some chiefs of polytheists came to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and said: "Oh Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)! What do you want us to do for you? If you want to be a chief, we make you our chief, if you like money and wealth, we will give you some of our wealth."

But when they saw that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) did not give up against their propositions, they started to cook up some pretexts and said: "What a messenger of Lord are you that eat food and walk in the market?"

They rebuked the holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) for eating food, because they wanted him to be an angel. They criticized him for walking in markets, for they had seen Caesars and tyrannical kings who had never gone to market, while the Prophet(p.b.u.h.) associated with and joined people and, at the same time, he declared divine bans and orders. The pretext-seekers criticized and said: "He wants to be our ruler,while his custom and approach is different from kings' traditions."

The above verse was sent down and made clear that the method of the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) has been the same as that of the former prophets. Commentary:

In the past several holy verses, one of the pretexts of the polytheists that why the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) eats food and walks in the market was mentioned and it was answered concisely. The concerned verse turns to that matter again and answers it more explicitly and in detail. It says:

"And We never sent any messengers before you but they certainly ate food and walked in the markets; and We ave made some of you a trial for the others:..."

This trail may be in this way that prophets are to be human and selected from oppressed people and this is a great test, for some people refuse to obey and take order from their fellow creature, especially one who is financially at a low level, and they are from this viewpoint at high level or older or more famous in society.

Another possibility is that its purpose is to test people generally by each other, for disabled people, the sick, and orphans are a test for those who are rich and healthy, and, on the contrary, healthy and rich people are a test for the poor and the sick. Are the members of the second group contented by Allah's will? Do the first group shoulder the responsibility for caring the second group?

Since these two commentaries are in line with each other, it is possible that both of them are included in the extensive concept of the verse.

Then, next to this statement, all people are addressed and are asked:

"... will you bear patiently? ..."

The most important pillar of victory and success in these trials is patience and resistance. Resisting unrestrained desires that prevent accepting the Truth, enduring difficulties that are faced at the time of doing duties and performing missions, and being patient with calamities and painful events, for man's life will not be empty of them.

In brief, in almost all cases it is only with the power of patience and endurance that one can succeed in passing this great test.

In the end of the verse under discussion, as a warning, the Qur'an says:

"... And your Lord is Ever-Seeing."

Never imagine that Allah sees none of your behaviors and deeds. His knowledge operates in minute detail and nothing is hidden from Him. He sees and knows everything precisely.

The End of Part 18