The Light of the Holy Qur'an Interpretation of (sura An-nur)

Commentary : Verse 48

  1. وَإِذَا دُعُوا إِلَي اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِذَا فَرِيقٌ مّـِنْهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ

  2. "And when they are summoned unto Allah and His Messenger in order that he may judge between them, behold, some of them are averse;"

Commentary:

The sign of real faith is the acceptance of the Prophet's judgment (p.b.u.h.), and the sign of hypocrisy is rejecting his judgment. So, in this noble verse, as one obvious reason for their disbelief, the Qur'an implies that when they are invited to the Book of Allah and His ordinance and religion as well as to the judgment of His Messenger (p.b.u.h.) so that he judges between them, a part of them turn away. The holy verse in this regard says:

"And when they are summoned unto Allah and His Messenger in order that he may judge between them, behold, some of them are averse;"

That the Holy Qur'an mentions the name of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) after the name of Allah is because of the fact that the Prophet's judgment is ordered by Allah and Allah's judgment and that of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) are the same.

Commentary : Verse 53

  1. وَأَقْسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَانِهِمْ لَئِنْ أَمَرْتَهُمْ لَيَخْرُجُنَّ قُل لاَّ تُقْسِمُوا طَاعَةٌ مَّعْرُوفَةٌ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

  2. "They have sworn by Allah the most earnest oaths (that), if you order them, they will certainly go forth. Say: 'Do not swear; (better than this is) honourable obedience. Verily Allah is aware of what you do'."

Commentary:

Do not trust any swear and oath, because hypocrites often abuse the sacred things, and prevent hypocrites' abuse by not accepting their oath and swear.

The occasion of revelation that is mentioned about this verse and the next one in some commentaries denotes that some hypocrites became very upset after the descending of the pervious verses and their severe reprimand. They went to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and swore their oath of obedience to his command, and then the holy Qur'an answered them decisively by saying:

"They have sworn by Allah the most earnest oaths (that), if you order them, they will certainly go forth. Say: 'Do not swear; (better than this is honourable obedience. Verily Allah is aware of what you do'."

Many commentators think that the purpose of the Qur'anic phrase /layaxrujunna/ ("... they will certainly go forth ...") is going out for Holy Struggle, while some others think that it means: leaving one's house and family, or going with the holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) everywhere and to be at his service'.

Of course, the Arabic word /xuruj/ or its derivatives are used in the holy Qur'an in the sense of: both going out for Holy Struggle and leaving home,affairs, and family. However, consistency with the previous holy verses, that mentioned the judgment of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) about the conflicting issues, necessitates that we accept the second commentary;

meaning that: they came to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and declared their yielding to his judgments and they swore that they not only would give a part of their property, but also they would leave all their property and family entirely, if command was issued. Nevertheless, it causes no problem if both of the meanings are included in the verse, that is, they are ready both for leaving family and property with the command of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and for going to Holy Struggle.

But, in view of the fact that those who are hypocritical sometimes change their appearance when they encounter unfavourable atmosphere of society and resort to very strong oaths and sometimes their oath itself indicates their falsehood, the holy Qur'an answers them explicitly, indicating that they need not swear, it is better they do sincere and frank obedience in action. By the way, Allah is informed of what they have in their mind and He knows that whether they are swearing false oath or they have really changed their way.

Commentary : Verse 54

  1. قُلْ أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فإِنَّمَا عَلَيْهِ مَا حُمّـِلَ وَعَلَيْكُم مَا حُمّـِلْتُمْ وَإِن تُطِيعُوهُ تَهْتَدُوا وَمَا عَلَي الرَّسُولِ إِلاَّ الْبَلاَغُ الْمُبِينُ

  2. "Say: 'Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, then on him is only what is imposed (on him), and on you is what is imposed on you; and if you obey him, you shall be on right guidance; and nothing is on the Messenger but the clear conveyance (of the Message)."

Commentary:

The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) is commissioned to call hypocrites for obedience; "Say: Obey Allah...", because obeying the commands and orders of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) is obligatory like obeying Allah's orders and commandment. Therefore, in this noble verse, this concept is emphasized where it says:

"Say: 'Obey Allah and obey the Messenger. ..."

Then the Holy Qur'an implies that there are two positions against this command, when it continues saying:

"... But if you turn away, then on him is only what is imposed (on him), and on you is what is imposed on you; and if you obey him, you shall be on right guidance; and nothing is on the Messenger but the clear conveyance (of the Message)."

He was commissioned to convey Allah's commandment to all people, whether they accept it or not. Detriment and benefit of accepting or rejecting it would influence them. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) was not obligated to force and compel people to go on the right path and accept the call.

It is interesting that in the above verse, the duties are referred to as being 'heavy loads'; it is in fact so. Both the commission of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and frankly obeying his call were a burden on the shoulder that had to be carried out and except sincere people no one could carry out this duty.

Therefore, we read in a narration by Imam Baqir (a.s.), about the Prophet (p.b.u.h), who said: "Oh those who recite the Holy Qur'an! Be in awe of Allah, Almighty. Be pious toward His Book that is a burden on your shoulder, because both you and I are responsible. I am responsible for conveying His message to you and you are responsible before Allah's Book and my practice (Sunnah) that are on your shoulder." Some Points:

  1. The repetition of the Qur'anic phrase /'ati'u/ (Obey) indicates that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) has got two missions: one is declaration of revelation (Obey Allah) and the other one is declaring governmental rules (obey the Messenger).

  2. In the holy Qur'an, we encounter some instances that contain two commandments from the side of Allah mentioned with together, and both of them must be carried out and doing one of them is not enough and is not acceptable, including:

A) Faith and deeds; "... those who believe and do righteous deeds ..."[^1]

B) Ritual prayer and alms-tax; "... And keep up the prayer, and pay the poor-rates (Zakat).. ."[^2]

C) Expressing gratitude to Allah and parents; "...Be grateful to Me and to both your parents ... "[^3]

[^1] Sura Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 25

[^2] Ibid, verse 43

[^3] Sura LuqmAn, No. 31, verse 14

D) Obeying Allah and His Messenger;"... Obey Allah and obey the Messenger ... "[^1]

  1. In the holy Qur'an, the sentence/wa 'in tawallau/ (But if you turn away) is used many times. In all cases it is used for sympathizing with the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) so that he would not get discouraged about his mission concerning people's inattention and heedlessness.

[^1] The verse under discussion