Indexed OCR Text

304
Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 119
In reply to them, Allah puts this demand down as being no more
than a foolish custom which has all along been unthinkingly practised
by ignorant people even in the earlier ages. Then, the verse traces the
origin of this demand to a distortion of the heart, in respect of which
all the ignorant people, past or present, are alike, hence the parrot-like
repetition of the same demand throughout the ages.
The first of these demands was, on the face of it, silly enough, for,
with all the grossness of their minds and hearts, they had the audacity
to place themselves on the level of angels and prophets. So, the Holy
Qur'an dismisses it as being unworthy of a reply. But in answer to the
other demand, Allah reminds them that He has sent, not one, but a
number of clear signs and proofs to confirm and establish the
prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad . But these signs and proofs
can be of help only to those who sincerely wish to know the truth and
to attain certitude. As for those who are not in search of the truth, but
enjoy being stuck in their malice and obstinacy, there is no help for
them.
At this point, we had better say a word to resolve a difficulty that
is likely to arise. The Jews and the Christians were "the People of the
Book", and some of them were men of learning, and yet Allah calls
them ignorant. Why? The reason is that although Allah had sent
such a large number of clear signs and definite proofs to establish the
prophethood of Sayyidna Muhammad , yet they persisted in their
denial. This is the mentality and the conduct of the ignorant.
Verse 119
إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنُكَ بِالْحَقِّ بَشِبْرًا وَّنَذِيْرًا وَّلَا تُسْئَلُ عَنْ أَصْحُبٍ
الْجُحِيمِ ٥
Surely, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of
good tidings, and a warner, and you will not be asked
about the people of Hell. (Verse 119)
The implication of Verse 118 was that those who persisted in their
denial of the Holy Prophet & did so out of sheer malice and ignorance,
and could not be expected to reform themselves. Since he has been

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 120
sent as "the mercy for all the worlds", the thought of their being incor-
rigible was likely to make him sad on their account. So, in this verse
Allah offers him a consolation. He has been sent down to men, bearing
the truth and the genuine faith. His function is twofold -- to give glad
tidings to those who accept the truth, and warnings of dire punish-
ment to those who deny. Allah assures him that he will not be held re-
sponsible or taken to account for those who willingly pursue the way to
Hell. All that he is required to do is to keep performing his own func-
tion, and not to worry as to who accepts the truth and who does not.
Verse 120
وَلَنْ تَرْضَى عَنْكَ الْيَهُوَّدُ وَلَا النَّصْرِى حَتّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ، قُلْ
إِنَّ هُدَى اللَّهِ هُوَالْهُدَى وَلَئِنِ اتَّبَعُتَ آَهْوَآءَ هُمُ بَعْدَ الَّذِى
جَاءَكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ مَالَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنُ وَّلِيٍ وَلَا نَصِيْرِ )
And the Jews will never be pleased with you, nor will
the Christians, unless you follow their faith. Say:
"Guidance of Allah is, indeed, the guidance." And were
you to follow their desires after what has come to you
of the knowledge, there shall be no friend for you
against Allah, nor a helper. (Verse 120)
Being anxious to save as many men as possible from misguidance
and damnation, the Holy Prophet & took great pains to convince the
deniers, and was specially lenient and gentle with the People of the
Book. In this verse, Allah informs him that their denial is not due to
lack of convincing arguments and proofs, but is motivated by pride and
self-satisfaction, for each of the two groups -- namely, the Jews and the
Christians -- believes its own religion to be the only genuine religion,
and there is no likelihood of pleasing either of them until and unless
the Holy Prophet accepts their religion. The religions of the Jews
and the Christians, no doubt, were once genuine and had been
instituted by Allah. But each had since distorted its religion out of
shape; moreover, in sending down Islam as the final Shari'ah, Allah
had abrogated all the earlier ones, and hence Islam had by now
become the only Shari'ah acceptable to Allah, and in this sense the
only genuine and veritable "guidance" possible in this last of all the
ages.

306
Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 121
It is on account of the present distorted state of the earlier
religions, and specially because of their having been abrogated by
Divine Commandment that Verse 120 equates them with Ahwa' (the
plural of Hawa) -- that is to say, personal desires, or individual
opinions and baseless conjectures. Since the deniers are not willing to
extricate themselves from their desires and fancies, it is not possible to
please them without accepting their opinions -- a thing which a
Messenger of Allah can never do. Should they affect a more friendly
stance towards the Holy Prophet , Allah asks him to say to them in
plain and simple words that the only guidance worth the name is that
which comes from Allah -- and He has already made it clear enough
that Islam is now the only form of "guidance" acceptable to Him.
Now, supposing just for the sake of supposing that he should
accept their fancies in spite of having received the Truth from Allah
through revelation, the verse informs him that in such a case he would
find no helper to save him from divine wrath. Other verses of the Holy
Qur'an, of course, definitely establish the fact that Allah is pleased
and will always remain pleased with the Holy Prophet & , and thus he
can never be the object of divine wrath. Since divine wrath necessarily
follows upon the acceptance of baseless fancies, it is logically
impossible for him to follow the opinions of the Jews and the
Christians, as divine pleasure and divine wrath cannot be combined
with each other. On the other hand, they can never be pleased with
him unless he follows their wishes. Consequently, one cannot expect
from them any change of heart. Hence, the purport of Verse 120 is to
advise the Holy Prophet & not to worry too much about them. 32
Verse 121
الَّذِينَ أُتَيْنُهُمْ الْكِنُبَ يَتْلُوْنَهُ حَقَّ تِلَاوَتِهٍ أُولِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ،
وَمَنْ تُكُفُرُبِهِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْخِسْرُوْنَ )
32. Let us add that the warning is apparently addressed to the Holy Prophet
, but is really intended for deniers, the purpose being to make them
realize the dire consequences of their vanity. In fact, divine wrath is
already visible, for the warning has been administered to them, not
directly but obliquely, which shows the contempt in which Allah holds
them -- Translator]

307
Surah Al-Baqarah 2: 121
Those to whom We have given the Book and they recite
it observing the rights of its recitation, it is they who
believe in it. And those who disbelieve in it, they are
the losers. (Verse 121)
Verse 120 dealt with the hopeless condition of the opponents of
Islam among the People of the Book. Now, the present verse turns, in
the usual manner of the Holy Qur'an, to the other aspect, and speaks
of those Jews and Christians who were honest and just, and, having
recognised the truth, affirmed the Holy Prophet and accepted
Islam.
The verse tells us how it has been possible for these men to effect
a radical change in themselves. Allah has given a Book to the
Christians as well as to the Jews. But, unlike most of their
co-religionists, these men have been reading the Book "observing the
rights of its recitation." That is to say, they have distorted neither the
words nor the meanings, nor have they tried to misinterpret or conceal
the prophecies about the coming of the Holy Prophet . In other
words, they have used their intellect in trying to understand the
meanings, and their will in accepting the truth and in following it. It
is they who acknowledge the Holy Qur'an, and have faith in it. In
doing so, they are actually affirming their own Books too and acting
upon them insofar as their Books explicitly foretell the coming of the
Last Prophet y and of the last Book of Allah. As for those who persist
in their denial, they are bound to suffer the greatest loss, for they have
refused to believe in the Last Revelation, and have, in fact, not shown
much of a belief in their own Books, and not followed the guidance
provided by them in this matter. 33
33. The commentary we have here is based on a report from the blessed
Companion Ibn 'Abbas, according to whom this verse was revealed on the
occasion of the arrival of forty Christians from Abyssinia who had
accepted Islam. But other commentators believe that "those to whom We
have given the Book" are the blessed Companions, and "the Book" is the
Holy Qur'an. As for reading the Book "observing the rights of its
recitation", it means enunciating each word correctly and clearly, and
keeping the fear and love of Allah present in one's heart while reading,
and also the resolve to follow divine guidance and to obey divine
commandments. The blessed second Khalifah 'Umar At All yo, has said
that reading the Holy Qur'an "observing the rights of its recitation"
requires that when one comes to a description of Paradise, one should
pray to Allah for granting one this abode, and when one finds a
description of Hell, one should seek Allah's protection from it. (Ibn Abi
Hatim) ]

308
Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 122 - 123
Verses 122 - 123
لِبَنِىٌ إِسْرَاءِيُّلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَنِىَ الَّتِىَّ أَنْعَمْتْ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ أَنِّئُ
فَضَّلْتُكُمْ عَلَى الْغُلَمِيْنَ ا وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِى نَفْسَ عَنُ
نَّفْسِ شَيْئًا وَلَا ◌ُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا عَدُلٌ وَّلَا تَنْفَعُهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَاهُمُ
مُنْصَرُوْنَ ١
O children of Isra'il, remember My blessing that I
conferred upon you, and that I gave you excellence
over the worlds. And guard yourselves against a day
when no one shall stand for anyone for anything, nor
shall ransom be accepted from one, nor shall
intercession be of benefit to him, nor shall they be
given support. (Verses 122 - 123)
A large section of this Surah, ending with the previous verse, has
been dealing with different aspects of the conduct of the Israelites
(that is, the Jews) in the course of their history. This account had
begun with the statement which has been repeated at the end in these
two verses. The statement is of a general and principal kind, and the
verses which come in between the beginning and the end are, so to
say, a detailed demonstration of the statement. On the one hand, it
encourages the Israelites to come back to the Straight Path by
reminding them of the blessings which Allah has bestowed on them;
on the other hand, it warns them of the consequences of their lapses
by depicting the Day of Judgment. The purpose of repeating the
statement at the end of the discussion is to make the two ideas sink
deep into their minds. For, what is aimed at in a discussion is the
affirmation of certain basic and general principles -- being succinct,
they are easily kept alive in the mind, and, being comprehensive and
readily applicable to particular situations, they make it easy for one to
remember the details too. In the art of writing and speaking, it is
considered to be one of the most effective means of carrying conviction
that, before starting on a long analytical discussion of a subject, one
should define the basic ideas very briefly and clearly which are always
helpful in comprehending the details and the particularities, and that,
in concluding the argument, one should repeat these ideas by way of a

309
Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
summary. The repetition of the introductory statement here is of this
very nature.
Verse 124
وَإِذِ ابْتَلَىَ اِبْرُهِمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمِتٍ فَاتَمَّهُنَّ قَالَ إِنِّيْ جَاعِلُكَ
لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامَاء قَالَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّتَنِىُ ◌ِقَالَ لَا يَنَالُ عَهْدِى الْظُلِمِينَ ﴾
And when his Lord put Ibrahim to a test with certain
Words! And he fulfilled them. He said, "I am going to
make you an Imam for the people." He said, "And from
among my progeny?" He replied, "My promise does not
extend to the unjust." (Verse 124) 34
عليه السلام The great trials put to Ibrahim
The section dealing with the story of Sayyidna Ibrahim MILde
begins with Verse 124. It recounts how he was tried by Allah in
different ways, how he came out of these trials successfully, and how
he was rewarded. It also tells us that when Allah promised to make
him a great guide to men, and their chief, (by conferring prophethood
34. So far a whole section of this Surah has been dealing directly with the
conduct of the Jews in the course of their history, and their present
hostility to Islam, delineating the inner motives and mainsprings of
this rabid opposition. As we have seen, they were proud of being the
children of Jacob and of Abraham (Sayyidna Ya'qub and Sayyidna
Ibrahim >JI +c), and believed that, being the chosen people of God,
they had the exclusive privilege of being the leaders of humanity, and
hence the station of prophethood could not be conferred on anyone who
did not belong to their race. Now, the Holy Qur'an proceeds, in the
present section of the Surah, to refute this line of thought in an indirect
manner, by telling the story of Sayyidna Ibrahim WILL and of his
elder son Sayyidnā Isma'il (Ishmael >JI e). This section is going to
suggest some essential considerations in answer to the denial of the
Holy Prophet g on the part of the Jews :- (1) He alone can be a guide to
humanity who is not unjust and not a transgressor, and has
successfully gone through the trial imposed on him by Allah -- and
these qualifications the Jews do not fulfil. (2) The Ka'bah, towards
which the Muslims turn in Salah and which is not acceptable to the
Jews, had actually been built by Sayyidna Ibrahim WJIale , and hence
Continued

310
Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
on him, or by giving him a huge number of followers), he prayed for
this reward to be bestowed on some from among his progeny too.
Allah granted this prayer, but on one condition, which is also to serve
as a general principle in this matter -- namely, that this dignity shall
never be conferred on those who are disobedient and unjust, but on
some of those from among his progeny who are obedient and just.
Now, Verse 124 gives rise to a number of very fundamental
questions :- The purpose of a trial is to test the aptitude and
worthiness of a man for a certain function, but Allah is all-knowing
and knows every existent inside out. Then, what was the purpose of
this trial? (2) What were the different forms of this trial? (3) What
kind of success did Sayyidna Ibrahim >JI Je attain? (4) What is the
nature of the reward he received? (5) What are the various aspects of
the principle which defines the conditions necessary for receiving this
reward ?
As for the purpose of the trials which Sayyidna Ibrahim WILL
was made to undergo, we shall point out that the Arabic word ) :
Rabb (Lord) occurring in this verse provides the clue to the problem. In
saying that it was Allah Himself who put him through the trials, the
verse chooses to employ, out of all the Divine Names, the title Rabb
Continued
the orientation (Qiblah) of the Muslims is the same as was his. (3) The
way of Islam is the Way of Ibrahim , WJI ale , and the Muslims alone are
his real followers. (4) It was Sayyidna Ibrahim >JI _Je himself who had
prayed for the Last Prophet to be sent down to humanity, and hence
one who at all wishes to follow his way cannot but affirm the Holy
Prophet _ and accept Islam. (5) It is wrong of the Jews to deny the
Holy Prophet merely on account of his not belonging to their race, for
Sayyidna Ibrahim WII ude had two sons, Sayyidna Isma'il and Sayyidna
Ishaq (Ishmael and Isaac JI(+), and he had prayed for divine grace
to descend on both of them (Genesis, ch. 17), so that the superiority
enjoyed by the children of Isaac WI u in their own time had now been
transferred to the children of Isma'il WJILL . What these indications
aim at is to show the Jews that if they wish to have a share in the grace
of Allah, they had better acknowledge the Holy Prophet g and accept
Islam, the last and now the only valid form of the Abrahamic Way --
Translator.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
which indicates a specific Divine Attribute -- namely, that of making a
thing attain the state of its perfection gradually and stage by stage. In
other words, the trial of Sayyidna Ibrahim JI was not the
punishment for a crime, nor was it intended to uncover a hidden
aptitude, but was a manifestation of this particular Divine Action, and
a necessary part of the process of "nurturing" the prophet and making
him reveal his inherent qualities to the world, so that he may be led,
stage by stage, to assume his final station, already chosen for him by
his Lord. We may note, in passing, that the Arabic text of the Verse
places the object (Ibrahim) before the subject (Rabb), thus indicating
the glorious position of Sayyidna Ibrahim WJI ul among the prophets,
We may also add that although it is Divine Knowledge and Will that
chooses a man for prophethood, yet he is not allowed to assume this
station until his aptitude and worthiness has openly shown itself for
all men and angels to witness. This is just what had happened, as we
have already seen in this Surah, in the case of the trial of Sayyidna
Adam عليه السلام before the angels.
As for the particular form in which Sayyidna Ibrahim ->I de was
tried, the Holy Qur'an only refers to certain "things" (Kalimah -- liter-
ally, "word"). According to most of the commentators, the "things" or
"words" mean certain divine injunctions. But there is some difference
of views among the blessed Companions and their immediate succes-
sors as to what these injunctions were, and how many. According to
some, they were ten, and, according to others, thirty. But basically
there is no opposition among these views, for all the injunctions which
have been mentioned in this context were, in one way or another,
meant to serve as trials and tests. This is what the great commenta-
tors like Ibn Jarir and Ibn Kathir believe to be the truth of the matter.
One thing is, however, quite clear. These trials were not like academic
tests, nor were intended to gauge mental capacities or the grasp of
mere theories; the purpose, on the other hand, was to test the readi-
ness in obeying Allah and the steadfastness in submitting oneself to
divine commandments. This helps us to see that what really has a
value in the eyes of Allah is not theoretical hair-splitting, but actual
deeds, within and without.
Let us now relate the story of some of the more important trials.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
Since Allah intended to raise Sayyidna Ibrahim WI to a
specially exalted station among the prophets, and to confer on him the
title of Khalilullah (the Friend of Allah), he was made to go through
very severe trials. Not only his people, but his own family also was
sunk deep in idol-worshipping; in opposition to their creed and
customs, he was given "Al-Din al-Hanif", "the Pure Religion", and was
asked to go out to his people, and to bring them back to the Straight
Path. Unflinchingly he obeyed the divine command, and, with the
courage and determination of the prophet that he was, he set out to
wage a war against idol-worship and to call them to the unalloyed
worship of the One God. This obviously drew upon him the ire of his
people and of their king Namrud (Nimrod), who finally decided to
burn him alive in a blazing fire. Seeking, as he did, nothing but the
pleasure of his Lord, he gladly let himself be thrown onto the pyre.
Since he had succeeded in this test, Allah commanded: Baggett
O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrahim" (21:69). As":"َسَلُمَا عَلى إِبْراهِيمَ
one can see, the command was given to fire as such, and not to any
particular one. Consequently, all fire, wherever it was present in the
world, grew cold, and the fire set ablaze by Namrud did so, too. Now,
excessive cold is equally painful and killing - there is a region of
extreme cold in Hell itself, called Zamharir. So, in commanding fire to
grow cold, Allah in His grace added the word Salama (be safe).
The second trial was that Sayyidna Ibrahim WJILe was asked to
leave his homeland, and to migrate to Syria along with his family.
Then, he was commanded to leave even this country -- which he
readily did, accompanied by his wife Hajirah (Hagar - L Jl ) and
his infant son Sayyidna Isma'il (Ishmael >JIle), and led by the
archangel Jibra'il (Gabriel ,>JI e). (Ibn Kathirl Whenever they passed
through a fertile land, Sayyidna Ibrahim WJILde would wish to be
allowed to settle there, but the archangel would inform him that Allah
did not want him to do so. Finally, when they reached the barren
desert which was destined to be the site of Makkah and where the
Ka'bah was to be built, he was commanded to stay there. But now
began a new trial, much more difficult for man to bear. He was
ordered to leave his wife and son in the desert, and to go back to Syria.
"The Friend of Allah" had so annihilated his own will and desire, and

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
was so anxious to obey his Lord that he did not allow even a moment
to lapse between the command and its execution, and started on his
journey without informing his wife. When she noticed that he was
going away, she called after him -- but received no reply. Not even
when she demanded why he was forsaking them in such a vast and
lonely desert. But she was, after all, the wife of "the Friend of Allah", .
and could now see for herself how the matters stood. So, she asked if
he had received a divine command. Only now Sayyidna Ibrahim de
>JI replied that it was so. Having understood the situation, she calmly
remarked, "Alright, go. The Lord who has commanded you to part
from us shall Himself look after us, and not let us be destroyed."
And she sat back in the desert, full of trust and peace, with the
infant on her lap. But as time passed, thirst, her own and specially
that of her suckling son, compelled her to leave it behind and to go in
search of water. She climbed up and down the hills of Safa and
Marwah, but had, after seven attempts, to come back unsuccessfully.
It is to commemorate this event that running seven times between the
two hills has been made an obligatory part of the rites of the Hajj. As
she returned to her son, the mercy of Allah descended in the form of
the archangel Jibra'il >JI ue who made a spring of fresh water spout
forth from the parched ground -- the same spring which is now called
Zamzam. In a day or two, the water began to draw animals towards
itself, and the sight of animals brought men to the place. By and by,
the provisions necessary for human life became regularly available,
and the future city of Makkah began to take shape.
The infant -- who was to become Sayyidna Isma'il, WI -le -- began
to grow up, and was soon able to take upon himself the usual functions
of human life. Under divine permission, Sayyidna Ibrahim LJILde
came now and then to see how his wife and son were doing. It is now
that Allah chose to submit him to the greatest of all possible trials.
The son had grown up in such unpromising circumstances, and been
deprived of constant fatherly care and affection. Now, the father
received the command to slaughter his son with his own hand. Says
the Holy Qur'an:
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ الَّعُىَ قَالَ لِبْنَىَّ إِنِّيَّ أَرْىٍ فِى الْمُنَامِ آَنِّىَّ أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرُ مَاذَا

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
تَرْىُ قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ أَفْعَلٌ مَاتُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِىَّ إِنْ شَاءَ اللّهُ مِنَ الضُّبِرِيْنَ 0
-
When he had reached the age of being able to help his father
in his work, the latter said, 'My son, I see in a dream that I
am slaughtering you. Now, say, what do you think?' He re-
plied, 'My father, do as you have been bidden; you shall find
me, if Allah so wills, one of the patient'. (37: 102)
Sayyidna Ibrahim WILL took his son to the wilderness of Mind,
and fulfilled, so far as he himself was concerned, the divine command-
ment. But Allah did not really mean to have the son slaughtered, but
only to test the father. If we consider the words of the Holy Qur'an
just cited, we shall find that in his dream, he had not seen the accom-
plishment of the slaughter, but only the act of slaughtering. And this
much he did perform. In this respect, revelation came to him in the
form of a dream, picturing the act, perhaps for this very reason - that
is to say, Allah did not want to give him a verbal command to sacrifice
his son. Hence, Allah commended him for having Graf. : "confirmed
the dream" (37:105). In recompense for this total submission to divine
will, Allah sent down a ram from heaven to be sacrificed in place of
Sayyidna Isma'il WJIale . Now, the annual sacrifice of sheep or goats
etc. has been made a regular form of worship in commemoration of
. عليه السلام the way of Sayyidna Ibrahim
In addition to those rigorous trials, a number of other restrictions
were imposed on him in the shape of certain injunctions, which too, he
fulfilled as devotionally. Ten of these commandments are known as
the characteristics of the Fitrah and are concerned with the cleanliness
and purification of the body. These ten have been made permanent
injunctions for all the later Ummahs (or communities of believers) too,
and the Last Prophet & has insistently commanded his followers to
fulfil them.
Ibn Kathir has reported from the blessed Companion 'Abdullah ibn
'Abbas that thirty elements make up the whole of Islam, ten of which
have been mentioned in Surah, ("Al-Bara'ah, or "Al-Tawbah"), the oth-
er ten in Surah 33 ("Al-Ahzab"), and the last ten in Surah 23 ("Al-
Mu'minun"). These two had formed a part of the trials of Sayyidna Ib-
rahim JI ule, and he fulfilled these conditions with equal faithful-
ness.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
Sūrah 9 lays down these ten qualities as being characteristic of
true believers:
التَّائِبُوْنَ الْغِبْدُوْنَ الُمِدُوْنَ السَّائِحُوْنَ الرُّكِعُونَ الشُّجِدُوْنَ الْأُمِرُوْنَ بِالْمُعْرُوْنِ
وَالَّاهُوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَالحَّفِظُوْنَ بِحُدُوْدِ اللّهِ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْ مِنِينَ )
"Those who repent, those who worship (Allah), those who
praise (Allah), those who keep a fast, those who bow down and
prostrate themselves (before Allah), those who invite others to
good deeds and forbid evil deeds, those who keep within the
bounds fixed by Allah. And give good tidings to the true be-
lievers." (9:112)
And the ten qualities mentioned in Surah 23 are:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ المُؤْمِنُوْنَالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ فِىُّ صَلَاتِهِمْ خَشِعُونَ ) وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ عَنِ اللَّغُِ
مُعْرِضُوْنَ ) وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمٌ لِلَّكْوةِ فُعِلُونَ ) وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ لِفُرُوُجِهِمْ حِفِظُونَ ) إِلّ
عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْمَا مَلَكَتْ آَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيرْ مَلُوُمِيْنَ ) فَمَنِ ابْتَغِى وَرَآءَ
ذُلِكَ فَأُولِئِكَ هُمُ الْعُدْوُنَ ا وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمْ لِآَمْنَتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رُعْوُنَ هَ وَالَّذِيْنَ هُمُ
عَلَى صَلَوْتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ ) أُولَئِكَ هُمْ الْوُرِتُوُنَهَالَّذِيْنَ يَرِتُوُنَ الْفِرُدَوْسَ هُمْ
فِيُّهَا خُلِدُونَ 0
"Those true believers shall certainly prosper who show
humility in their Salah, and turn away from idle activities,
and are keen to purify themselves, and guard their private
parts except from their wives and what their right hands own
(bondswomen) - which is not blameworthy, but whoever seeks
after more than that is a transgressor - and those who
preserve what has been entrusted to them and also their
covenant, and who are regular in performing their Salah.
Those are the inheritors who shall inherit Paradise, and they
shall live there forever." (23:1-11).
And the ten qualities mentioned in Surah 33 are as follows:
إِنَّ الْلِمِيْنَ وَالمسْلِمِتِ وَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْؤُمِنْتِ وَ الْقُنِيْنَ وَالْقُنِتِ وَ الصُّدِقِينَ
وَالُّدِقْتِ وَ الصُّبِرِينَ وَالضِّيِرُتِ وَ الْخُشِعِيْنَ وَالْخُشِعْتٍ وَ الْمُتَصَدِّقِيْنَ
وَالمُصَدِّقْتِ وَ الصَّائِمِيْنَ وَالضُّئِمْتِ وَ الْخَفِظِيْنَ فُرُوُجَهُمْ وَ الُخْفِظْتِ وَالَّذِّكِرِيْنَ
اللّهَ كَثِيْرًا وَالذَّاكِرِتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهَ لَهُمْ تَغْفِرَةَ ◌َّأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا )
"Men and women who perform what Islam enjoins upon them,

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men and women who are true believers, obedient men and
obedient women, truthful men and truthful women, men and
women who are patient, men and women who possess humili-
ty, men and women who give in charity, men who fast and
women who fast, men and women who guard their private
parts, men and women who remember Allah abundantly - for
them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward."
(33:35)
A third question with regard to Verse 124 still remains to be
answered - what degree of success did Sayyidna Ibrahim WJI ule attain
in these trials? The Holy Qur'an defines his accomplishment in these
words : وَابْرَاهِيمُ الَّذِيُ وفّى :"And Ibrahim who paid his debt in full." (53:37)
As for the reward he received, Verse 124 itself has announced it: JG
He (Allah) said - "I am going to make you an Imam" إِنِّيُ جَاعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا
for the people." The Arabic word Imam, which we have not translated
here, lexically signifies "leader or chief or guide." Since the present
verse is related to Sayyidna Ibrahim WILJe , the word 'Imam in this
context means, above all, "a prophet", though it includes the general
sense of "leadership", too, as also of the title "Patriarch" which the
Jews and Christians have given to him. Prophethood, let us repeat,
cannot be won through personal effort; all the same, a prophet has to
display his perfection in the thirty qualities we have just referred to,
and even people of a lower scale must, in order to be worthy of
leadership in a general sense, possess these qualities in their own
degree. The Holy Qur'an makes it quite plain in another place:
وَجَعَلُنَ مِنْهُمْ إِئْمَّةً تَّهُدُوْنَ بِأَصْرِنَا لَّ صَبْرُوا وَكَانُوا بِأَلِتْنَا يُوْقِنُونَ )
"And from among them We appointed some as leaders to
guide men by Our command, when they were patient (in re-
straining themselves from disobedience), and had a sure faith
in Our commandments." (32:24).
This verse gives a resume of the thirty qualities in the two words,
Sabr (patience) and Yaqin (sure faith, or certitude) - the second refers
to the perfection of knowledge, and the first to the perfection of actual
practice.
The last question pertains to the law which lays down that the
station of a guide and leader would not be granted to the unjust and
the disobedient. To hold this station is, in a way, to be a viceregent of

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 124
Allah, and hence this rank cannot be given to a rebel. It follows from
this that Muslims, insofar as they have a choice in the matter, should
not appoint as their ruler or representative a man who is a rebel
against Allah or disobedient to Him.
The word zalim ("unjust") also shows us - and very explicitly, too -
that each and every prophet is totally sinless before becoming a
prophet as much as after becoming a prophet. Certain words in the
Holy Qur'an, which seem to suggest the contrary, have been employed,
not in a literal or technical sense, but only metaphorically - for
example, in the case of Sayyidna Adam WJIJe . To interpret such
expressions in the sense of technical "sin" constitutes a very grave
doctrinal error, and an insistence on such an interpretation opens the
way to further errors.35
35. We may add a few words for the benefit of those who are anxious to
adopt unquestioningly the literary and philosophical mores of the West.
Since the Second World War, the writings of the Danish man of letters
and thinker, Kierkegaard (who was a dilettante in theology too), have
been casting a sort of paralysing fascination over the men of sensibility
in the West. Particularly his book "Fear and Trembling", which deals
with the trial of Sayyidna Ibrahim WJI ale avowedly in the manner of a
psychological novel, is supposed to have triggered into action a number
of Existentialist philosophies, and even to have furnished the point of
departure for all modernistic Christian theology, specially of the
Protestant persuasion.
Now, Sayyidna Ibrahim ,WJI ale was, even according to the admission
of Jews and Christians, a prophet, and not "l'homme moyen sensuel"
which is the subject matter of the novel, of psychology, and, not the
least, of the theology of the Dane.
Secondly, he did not merely have to go through emotional stress and
strain, or through a problem of the conscience, or through a "crisis of
identity" - the fear and the trembling, as the philosopher maintains -,
but was equally tried in the matter of faithfully observing divine
injunctions.
Thirdly, when he knew that Allah had chosen him to be a prophet, he
did not grow silent and secretive and lonely - as the fancy of our literary
artist would have us believe -, but proclaimed the fact to others. Without
such a proclamation, he would not at all have been able to perform the
function of a prophet. In fact, it has been said that "the Friend of Allah"
would not take his daily meals until he had found a guest to share it
with him. In short, all we wish to point out is that the nature of
prophethood is a degree of reality which we can understand only
partially, and that too only with the help of Divine Books, and hence it
is not a sphere in which human fantasy may be allowed to roam at its
sweet will.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 125
Verse 125
وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا الْبَيْتَ مَثَابَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَأَمْنَاءَوَاتَّخِذُوا مِنْ تَقَامِ
إِبراهيمَ مُصَلّى وَعَهِدُنَا إِلَى إِبراهيمَ وَإِسْمَعِيْلَ آَنْ طَهِّرًا بَيْتِىَ
لِلْطَائِعِيْنَ وَالْغِكِفِيْنَ وَالرُّكَّعِ السُّجُودِ ٥
And when We made the House a (sacred) resort for
men, and a place of peace! And make from the station
of Ibrahim a place of prayer. And We gave direction to
Ibrahim and Ismail: "Purify My House for those who
are to circumambulate (make Tawaf) or stay in
seclusion (do I'tikaf) or bow and prostrate (in prayer)."
(Verse 125)
The History of Ka'bah
In the course of the story of Sayyidna Ibrahim M.JIde , we now
come to the building of the "House of Allah" - the Ka'bah. An answer
is thus being given to the Jews who used to deny the Holy Prophet
on the ground of their assumption that prophethood could not be given
to anyone outside their own clan, and who used to scoff at the
Muslims for turning towards the Ka'bah in their prayers, and to
believe that the Hajj was no more than a custom of the ignorant
Arabs. The earlier verse had made it clear that prophethood could not
be given to the unjust and the disobedient, even if they belonged to the
progeny of Sayyidna Ibrahim WI ue - a rule which destroys the very
basis of the presumptuousness and vanity of the Jews. The present
verse reminds them that the Ka'bah was built under divine
· commandment by Sayyidna Ibrahim >JI Le himself with the help of
his son Sayyidna Isma'il WJILe, and thus suggests that the
performance of the Hajj and the orientation towards the Ka'bah have
both been instituted by divine decree, and that the Holy Prophet & is
a direct descendant of Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Ismail >JI Le
, and is reviving the Abrahamic Way, which the Jews too must follow.
Verse 125 briefly outlines the history of the re-construction of the
Ka'bah, the characteristic qualities of the "House of Allah" and the city
of Makkah, and the injunctions with regard to the respect which has
to be paid to this sacred place. The Holy Qur'an returns to the subject
again and again in different chapters, providing more details. We shall

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cite Verses 26 and 27 from the Surah "Al-Hajj" which deals particular-
ly with the annual pilgrimage:
وَإِذٌ بَّأْنَ ◌ِإِبْرُهِمَمَ مَكَانَ الْبَيْتِ أَنْ لََّتْشْرِكُّ بِيُ شَيْئًا ◌َطَهْرُ بَيْتِىَ لِلطَّائِفِيْنَ وَ
الْقَاتِمِينَ وَالرُّكَعِ السُّجُوْدِ ) وَ أَذِّنُ فِى النَّاسِ بِالْحَّ يَأْتُوْكَ رِجَالاً ◌َرَّعَلَى كُلِّ
ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِيْنَ مِنْ كُلّ فَجّ عَمِيْقٍ 0
"And when We appointed for Ibrahim the place of the House:
"You shall not associate anything with Me. And keep My
House clean for those who circumambulate it, who stand there
for the prayers, and who bow and prostrate themselves. And
proclaim the pilgrimage among men, and they shall come to
you on foot and on every lean camel too, coming from every
deep ravine .. " (22:26-27)
Ibrahim عليه السلام migrated to Makkah
Ibn Kathir reports from Mujahid etc. that Sayyidna Ibrahim de
>JI was living in Syria when he received the revelation that Allah was
going to indicate to him the site of the Ka'bah, which he was required
to build and keep clean for those who should assemble there for
performing the Hajj and offering the Salah. In connection with the
earlier verse, we have already told the story how he was led by the
archangel Jibra'il JI Le to the desert where the city of Makkah is
now situated and where the remains of the earlier structure of the
Ka'bah stood only in the shape of a mound, and how he was
commanded by Allah to leave his wife and infant son behind and to
return to Syria. He immediately started on the journey, but was
naturally anxious about his wife and child. So, when he was out of
ear-shot, he prayed to Allah for them, as has been reported in the
Surah "Ibrahim":
رَبِّ اجْعَلُ هَذَا الْبَلَدَ أُمِنَّا وَاجُسْنِىٌ وَبَنِتَ أَنْ تَعْبُدَ الْأَصُنَامَ )
"My Lord, make this city a place of peace, and keep me and
my sons away from worshipping idols." (14:35)
And he prayed further:
◌َبَّنَاَ إِنَِّ اسْكُنْتُ مِنْ ذُرِّيَِّْ بِوَادٍ غَسْبِرٍ ذِيُ زَرْعٍ عِنْدَ بَيْتِكَ الْهُحَّمِ رَّنَاَ
لِيُقِيمُوا الصَّلُوَةَ فَاجْعَلْ أَفْئِدَةً مِّنَ النَّاسِ تَهْوِىَّ إِلَيْهِمْ وَارْزُقُهُمْ مِّنَ الْقُّمَرَتِ
لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُوْنَ 0

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 125
"Our Lord, I have made some of my offspring dwell in a
valley which is incultivable, close to Your Holy House that
they may, Our Lord, be steadfast in the prayers. So, make the
hearts of men tender towards them, and provide them with
fruits, so that they may be thankful." (14:37)
In the earlier commandment which had brought him to his place,
Allah had asked him to keep His House clean. He knew that Allah
intended the House to be kept clean not only from external dirt but
also from internal filth - namely, association (Shirk) and infidelity
(Kufr). So, while departing from this barren desert where he was
leaving his family but where a town was to grow, he prayed to Allah,
firstly, to make it a place of safety and peace, and, secondly, to protect
him and his children from idol-worship and association. "The Friend
of Allah" had attained that degree of knowledge where one sees oneself
as a mere nothing, and one makes no movement without a full
realization of the truth that nothing happens independently of Divine
Will, and that all one's actions and even inclinations rest in the hand
of Allah. So, he turned to Allah Himself for help in being able to carry
out the command to keep the House of Allah clean from association
and infidelity. There is another subtle suggestion in this prayer. Allah
had commanded that due respect should be paid to His "House." Now,
there was a likelihood that some people might begin, out of sheer
ignorance, to worship the Ka'bah itself. That is why Sayyidna Ibrahim
I ue specially prayed for him and his children to be protected from
association (shirk). Then, out of his love for his wife and son, he
prayed to Allah to provide them, in His grace, with fruits in this
barren and uncultivable land where he was leaving them under divine
command.
A hadith in Al-Bukhari's collection of the Traditions (Ahadith) tells
us in detail how the archangel Jibra'il appeared and made the spring
of Zamzam flow in the desert, how some people from the tribe of Ju-
rhum came and settled there, and how Sayyidna Isma'il WILL was
married to a lady of this tribe. We also learn from different Traditions
(Ahadith) of the Holy Prophet & that the command to settle near the
Ka'bah and to keep it clean (mentioned in Verse 26-27 of the Surah

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 125
"Al-Hajj") was at that time addressed only to Sayyidna Ibrahim de
>JI , for his son was yet an infant. And in those circumstances the in-
tention of the command was not to start the reconstruction of the
Ka'bah but only to place the wife and the son of Sayyidna Ibrahim Lle
>JI in this locality so that a human settlement should begin to take
shape. On the other hand, the verse we are dealing with (2:125) re-
peats the same command to keep the House clean, but is addressed as
much to Sayyidna Isma'il WJI ule as to his father, for the son had now
grown into a young and married man, and could be included in the
command to rebuild the Ka'bah.
A hadith reported by Al-Bukhari says that, on one of his periodic
visits to his wife and son at Makkah, Sayyidna Ibrahim JI found
his son sitting under a tree, making arrows. He informed the son that
Allah had entrusted him with a special task, and asked him if he
would help his father. The son was, of course, as ready to obey and to
serve as ever. Allah had already indicated the spot and also the area
where the Ka'bah was to be rebuilt. When they started digging the
ground, the earlier foundations became visible, and it was on them
that they began to raise the walls. The next verse speaks of this event
When Ibrahim was raising up the": وَإِذْ يَرْفَعُ اِبْرْهِمْ اُلْقَوَاعِدَ مِن الْبَيْتِ وَإِسُلمُعِيْلُ -
foundations of the House, and Isma'il (too)." The order of the names
indicates that the builder of the Ka'bah is Sayyidna Ibrahim Wul de ,
while the role of Sayyidna Isma'il WILL is that of a helper.
All the verses of the Holy Qur'an on the subject of the Ka'bah
either say that the location had been indicated by Allah Himself, or
report the divine command to keep the House clean, but never suggest
that a new House was to be built in a new place. This in itself shows
that the Ka'bah already existed in some form. Indeed, the Hadith, and
history too, confirms this fact, and from these sources we learn that
the earlier structure of the Ka'bah had either been destroyed at the
time of the Deluge of Sayyidna Nuh (Noah >Je) or raised into the
heavens, leaving the foundations buried in the ground. Hence,
Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna Isma'il WILLe were not the original
founders of the Ka'bah, but had raised a new building on the earlier
foundations.

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As to who founded the Ka'bah for the first time and when, there is
no fully authenticated Hadith which could clarify this point. Certain
narrations coming from the people of the Book, however, tell us that it
was founded by the angels even before Sayyidna Adam WILL came
down to the earth. He built the Ka'bah a second time, or renovated it.
This structure remained intact upto the time of the Deluge, which
destroyed it, and left it a mere mound - the shape in which Sayyidna
Ibrahim and Sayyidna Isma'il JI Ale found it. And they constructed a
new building on the site. Since then, the Ka'bah has undergone
certain alterations, but has never been demolished completely. Before
the Holy Prophet assumed the prophetic functions, the Quraysh of
Makkah built the Ka'bah afresh, and he himself took part in this
renovation.
Some injunctions related to the Haram
(1) The word Mathabah, used in this verse, comes from the root
Thaba (signifying "to come back"), and thus denotes a place to which
one returns again and again. This shows that Allah has given a
position of privilege to the Ka'bah - it shall always remain a place
where people will assemble from the four corners of the world, and
would long to return to it again and again. Al-Qurtubi reports the
great commentator Mujahid to have said that one never has enough of
visiting the Ka'bah, but comes back every time with a greater longing
to return, and to see it again. Certain scholars have remarked that
one of the signs of one's Hajj having been accepted by Allah is that, on
one's return, one should find in one's heart a greater desire to present
oneself in the House of Allah again. This is borne out by the
experience of those who have had the good fortune to be there - each
visit, instead of slaking the thirst, rather increases it. Considering
that Makkah has nothing to offer by way of a beautiful landscape or
easy access or mundane comforts, yet, its power to draw millions of
people to itself every year is nothing short of miracle.
(2) This verse says that Allah has made "the House" a place of
peace. "The House" refers not only to the Ka'bah itself, but also to the
whole area of the Mosque which surrounds it, and is called the Haram.
There are other instances in the Holy Qur'an where the word "Ka'bah"
or the expression Baytullah ("House of Allah") connotes the whole

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area of the Haram. For example, the phrase: ou'u .. : "an offering to
reach the Ka'bah" (5:95) refers to the Haram, for the verse deals with
the subject of animal sacrifice, while it is not legitimate to offer such a
sacrifice inside the Ka'bah. So, Verse 125 means that the whole of the
Haram has been made a place of peace - that is to say, people have
been forbidden from shedding blood or taking revenge within these
precincts (Ibn al-'Arabi). In fact, this commandment was one of the
residues of the Way of Ibrahim WILL which were still alive in the
Age of Ignorance (Al-Jahiliyyah), and all kinds of bloodshed or battle,
individual or collective, were held to be forbidden inside this
sanctuary, so much so that a man would never let himself take his
revenge, even if he came upon the murderer of his brother or father in
the Haram. The Islamic Shari'ah has preserved this injunction. The
ban was lifted only for the sake of the Holy Prophet , on the day of
the conquest of Makkah, and that too only for a few hours, and was
reimposed for ever immediately after - the Holy Prophet & himself
announced it in his address on the occasion. (Al-Bukhari)
Now, as for the man who commits, within these precincts, a crime
for which the Shari'ah has laid down a specific physical punishment
(Hadd) or allowed the victim to be revenged (Qisas), the Haram will
not provide sanctuary to him - the consensus holds that such a
criminal will be duly punished. (Al-Jassas and Al-Qurtubi) For, the Holy
Qur'an itself says: ''30 ' Qu gu : "If they fight you [inside the Haram],
you may kill them." (2:191) There is, however, a difference of views
among the masters of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) on one point. What
is to be done with the man who commits a crime outside, and then
seeks a sanctuary in the Haram? Even in this case, some masters
would have the criminal punished in the manner prescribed by the
Shari'ah. On the other hand, Imam Abu Hanifah, believes that if such
men are allowed to save themselves from punishment in this manner,
the Haram would become an easy refuge for all kinds of criminals and
disorder would prevail, but in view of the sanctity of the place, the
criminal would not be punished inside the Haram, but forced to come
out, and then the punishment prescribed by the Shari'ah would be
duly given to him.
(3) The present verse mentions "the Station of Ibrahim." It is a