Indexed OCR Text

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 130 - 132
The Ibrahimic Way
Verse 130 speaks of the superiority of the religion of Sayyidna
Ibrahim WJI ude , from which arises his own spiritual station and glory
in this world and in the other. This being so, anyone who turns away
from this religion only displays his own stupidity.37 Anyhow, the point
is that only he can turn away from this religion who does not possess
any understanding, or has totally lost it, for this alone is the religion of
"Nature", and no one can deny it so long as his "nature", in the
essential and integral sense of the word, remains intact. The
superiority of this religion is shown by the simple fact that Allah
conferred a special honour on Sayyidna Ibrahim WILLe in this world
and in the next on account of this very religion. As for the honour and
greatness he received in this world, everyone knows how Namrud
(Nimrod) with all his might failed to impress him, how he accepted
gladly to be thrown into the fire rather than give up the worship of the
One God, and how the Lord of the worlds changed the fire into a
garden for him, so that believers and non-believers alike finally came
to recognize his uprightness and his unalloyed faith. The associators of
Arabia were, after all, his progeny, and had, in spite of their
idol-worship, always continued to hold him in great esteem, and even
claimed to be his followers. Certain remnants of his religion were still
present among them, though somewhat distorted by their ignorance -
for example, the Hajj, the annual sacrifice of animals, hospitality etc.
These are the manifestations of the special divine grace which had
designated "the Friend of Allah" (Khalilullah) as the 'Imam' of people.
(2:124) So much for his greatness in this world. As to the next, Verse
130 has announced the exalted station Allah has granted him in the
Hereafter.
Verse 131 defines the basic principle of the religion of Sayyidna
Ibrahim WI ue . Allah asked him to submit himself, and he willingly
and gladly agreed to submit himself to "the Lord of the worlds." Let us
add that the word of command employed in this verse is Aslim, which
37. Let us note that the relevant phrase in the Arabic text of this verse can
be translated into English in three ways: (a) Such a man is stupid in
himself (b) he has besotted himself, and allowed himself to become
stupid (c) he is ignorant of his own self.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 130 - 132
comes from the same root as the word Islam. It is difficult to find an
exact English equivalent, for the word signifies "to obey, to submit
oneself, to surrender one's will." Anyhow, we should notice that in
reply to the divine command, he did not say, as one would have
expected, a &af : "I submit myself to you," but, more elaborately: 22i
wiey: "I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds." This particular
form of reply expresses the attitude of respect and awe proper to the
occasion, and includes the praise of Allah which the moment of
receiving the honour of divine address demanded. It also carries a
recognition of the fact that in submitting himself to the Lord of the
worlds he was only performing the essential duty of a servant towards
the Master of All, and doing it for his own benefit. The reply makes it
clear that the basic principle of the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim le
>JI , and its very essence is contained in one word, Islam, which
signifies total obedience and willing submission of oneself to Allah. It
was to show to the world his perfect adherence to this principle that he
was made to pass through all the trials before attaining his exalted
station. Islam, or submission to Allah, is what the world has been
created for; it is the end all the prophets and all the divine books have
been sent to serve.
We also learn from this verse that the religion common to all the
prophets >JI + and the point on which all of them come together is
Islam. Beginning with Sayyidna Adam upto the Last Prophet ,
every messenger of Allah and every prophet has called men to Islam
alone, and enjoined upon his followers to keep to this Straight Path.
: إِنَّ الدِّيْنَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الإِسلام : The Holy Qur'an is quite explicit on this subject
"Certainly, in the eyes of Allah the only religion is Islam" (3:19) and 36;
Whoso desires a religion other than Islam, it": سَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنٌ ◌ُقُبَلَ مِنْهُ
shall not be accepted of him." (3:85) In order to put the question in the
proper perspective as also to avoid the risk of misunderstanding let us
add a few remarks. All the religions which different prophets brought
to the world had a divine sanction behind them, were essentially
instituted by Allah Himself, and each of them was, in its own time,
"accepted" in the sight of Allah. Consequently, each of these religions -
whether one calls it Judaism or Christianity or something else - must
in its essence be Islam, in the general sense of the word - namely, total
submission to Allah.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 130 - 132
But the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim >>WILL is distinguished from
others by a peculiar characteristic - that is, he gave to his religion the
name of Islam, and to his followers the name of Muslims. We have al-
ready seen in Verse 128 how he prayed for himself, his son and his
progeny :َ◌َّنَا وَاجْعَلْنَا مُسْلِمَيْنِ لَكَ وَمِنْ ذُرِّمِنَا أُمَّةً مُسُلِمَةً لَّك :"And, our Lord, keep us both
obedient (Muslimayn) to you, and make of our progeny a people
(Ummah) obedient (Muslimah) to you." And now in Verse 132 we
find him advising his descendants not to die without being sure that
they have been Muslims. After him this distinction of being specifi-
cally called Muslims and "the Islamic Ummah" passed on, according to
his own instruction, to the Ummah of the Holy Prophet
. Addressing
: مِلَّةَ أَبِيْكُمْ إِبْرِهِتَمَ مُوَ سَتْكُمُ الْلِمِينَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَفِى هَذَا :the Muslims, the Holy Qur'an says
"Be steadfast in the religion of your father, Ibrahim. He named you
Muslims before this as well as in this (the Holy Qur'an)." (22:78) When
the Holy Qur'an was revealed, the Jews and the Christians, and even
the idol-worshippers of Arabia used to make the claim, each group on
its own part, that they were the followers of the Abrahamic religion,
but the Holy Qur'an and its followers have made it quite evident that
in this last phase of human history the religion of the Holy Prophet !
, and this alone, is the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim JI ale - the relig-
ion of quintessential "Nature" (Al-fitrah).
In short, the essence of all the divine books, all the Shari'ahs and
the teachings of all the prophets is Islam - that is, turning away from
one's desires in order to obey divine commandments, and giving up
individual opinion in order to submit oneself to divine guidance. But
we are grieved to see that there are thousands of Muslims today, who
have forgotten this basic truth, and wish to pursue their own desires
in the name of Islam. What appeals to them is that kind of
interpretation (rather, misinterpretation) of the Holy Qur'an and the
Hadith which should flatter their desires. In fact, what they strive to
do is to distort the Shari'ah to suit their fancies, and to do it so cleverly
that the idols they really worship should appear in the garb of religion.
Such men are, indeed, trying to be clever with Allah Himself who
knows every particle of the universe and who can look into the deepest

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recesses of the human heart - the Almighty before whom nothing
avails but complete surrender and total submission.
What Islam requires of man is that he should set aside all his
desires and inclinations, and seek, in everything he does, the pleasure
of his Lord. And he can find this pleasure only when he knows the
commandments of his Lord, and also performs these tasks exactly in
the manner He has prescribed. This is what 'Ibadah or worship is, in
the real sense of the word. It is the perfection of this total obedience
and submission and love which constitutes the final stage of man's
spiritual development, which is known as the Station (Magam) of
'Abdiyyah (" : Servanthood). This is the station where Sayyidna
Ibrahim WJI ule received from Allah the title of Khalilullah (the Friend
of Allah), and the Last of All the Prophets the title of une :'Abduna
(Our Servant). On the subsidiary levels of the Station of Servanthood
stand the Abdal, the Aqtal, the Awliya, the men of Allah - the 'saints' of
the Islamic Ummah, each in his own degree. This is the essence of
Tawhid (the realization of unicity), on attaining which all one's fears
and hopes become bound with Allah, and with no one else.
Thus, Islam signifies total obedience to Allah, and this obedience is
possible only when one follows the Sunnah, the Way of the Holy
Prophet . The Holy Quran has laid down the principle in very
explicit words:
فَلَّ وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُوْنَ حَتْى يُحَكِّهُوُكَ فِيْمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِىٌّ
أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجَامِماً قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيْمًا )
"By your Lord, they will never be true Muslims till they make
you the judge regarding the disagreements between them, and
find in themselves no resistance against your verdict, and sur-
render themselves in full submission." (4:65).
In the end let us clarify an important point. As reported in Verse
132, Sayyidna Ibrahim WJILL made his descendants promise that
before they died they should make sure that they had been Muslims.
It means that one should steadfastly follow the teachings of Islam
throughout one's life, so that one receives the grace of Allah and
remains a Muslim upto the last breath. A number of ahadith too say
that one would die in the state which one has maintained in one's life,

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 133 - 134
and one would, on the Day of Resurrection, rise from the grave in the
same state. This is the usual way of Allah with men - if His servant
makes up his mind to do good deeds and also strives in this direction
as best as he can, Allah helps him and makes the task easy for him.
This principle does not in any way stand in opposition to what has
been said in another hadith to this effect :-
A man keeps doing the kind of good deeds for which Paradise
has been promised and it seems that there is only an arms's
length between him and Paradise, and then all of a sudden
his destiny overcomes him, and he starts doing what would
lead him to Hell, and finally he reaches Hell; on the other
hand, a man keeps doing what would lead him to Hell, and it
seems that there is only an arm's length between him and
Hell, and then his destiny overcomes him, and he starts doing
what would make him worthy of Paradise, and finally he
enters Paradise.
We have said that there is no contradiction involved, for some texts
of this hadith mention a proviso too - "as it appeared to people." That
is to say, the first of these two men appeared in the eyes of the
onlookers to be performing good deeds, while in fact he was doing just
the opposite; similarly, the second man had from the outset been doing
what would make him worthy of Paradise, though people thought him
to be a sinner. (Ibn Kathir) We conclude this discussion with the remark
that the man who has been steadfast in doing good deeds, should trust
the divine promise, rely on the usual way of Allah with His creatures,
and hope that through the grace of Allah he would depart from this
world in this blessed state.
Verses 133-134
أَمْ كُنْتُمْ شُهَدَآءَ إِذْحَضَرَ يَعُقُوُبَ الْمَوْتُ إِذْقَالَ لِبَنِيْهِ مَاتَعْبُدُوُنَ
مِنْ بَعُدِىءُ قَالُوا نَعْبُدُ الْهَكَ وَإِلَّهَ أَبَائِكَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمُعِيلَ
وَإِسْحْقَ إِلُّهَا وَاحِدًا وَنَحْنُ لَهْ مُسْلِمُونَ ) تِلُكَ أُمَّةُ قَدْخَلَتُّلَهَا
مَا كَسَبَتٌ وَلَكُمْ تَّاكَسَبْتُمْوَلَا تُسْتَلُوُنَّ عَمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُوُنَّ 0
Or were you present when death approached Yaqub,
when he said to his sons: "What will you worship after
me"? They said, "We will worship your God and the God of

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your fathers, Ibrahim, Isma'il and Ishaq, the one God, and
to Him we submit ourselves." Those are a people who have
passed away. For them what they earned, and for you
what you earned. And you shall not be questioned as to
what they have been doing. (Verses 133-134)
The previous verses have defined the religion of Sayyidna Ibrahim
lule and the essence of Islam. Now, these two verses bring before
us another aspect of the question. Call it the religion of Sayyidna
Ibrahim WJI de or Islam, it is in any case meant for the whole world.
Then why have the descendants of Sayyidna Ibrahim and
Sayyidna Ya'qub >JI + been specifically mentioned here, and why
should have these two great prophets been so particular in giving this
counsel to their sons? We shall say that these specifications show that
love for one's progeny and solicitude for their well-being is in no way
incompatible with the station of prophethood or even with that of "the
Friend of Allah." For, Sayyidna Ibrahim >JILde, who was, on one
occasion, not only willing but happy to be sacrificing his son in
obedience to the commandment of Allah, did on a different occasion
pray for the well-being of his progeny in this world and the other, and
wished, while departing from this world, to offer them what was the
greatest blessing in his eyes - namely, Islam. Verses 132 and 133
suggest this very principle. So, even prophets love their children, the
only difference being that while ordinary men consider the good
things of this world alone to be worthwhile and wish to leave to their
children as much of these as they can, in the eyes of the prophets and
their genuine followers the only thing that counts is Iman (faith) and
good deeds - in one word, Islam - and it is this eternal wealth which
they wish and strive to transmit wholly to their descendants.
This practice of the prophets provides a special guidance to
parents: just as they are keen to secure the worldly comfort and
happiness of their children, they should pay equal, if not greater,
attention to the discipline of their external and internal behaviour
according to the requirements of the Shari'ah. Is it at all reasonable
that one should strain every nerve to protect one's children from the
heat of the sun, but leave them exposed to the fire of Hell?
From this example of the prophets we also learn that it is the duty
of the parents and the right of the children that one should first of all

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take care of the spiritual health of one's own children, and worry about
others only afterwards. This principle rests on three considerations.
Firstly, one's children are, on account of the special relationship with
the parents, likely to accept the counsel more easily and thoroughly
than others, and may later on be of great help in the efforts which one
makes in the service of Islam.
Secondly, the easiest and the most effective way of transmitting
the Truth to a whole people is that the head of each family should take
upon himself the responsibility of teaching and training the members
of his family. Employing a current and popular term, we may say that
this localized and decentralized method distributes the responsibility
over a large number of individuals, and teaching the families separate-
ly amounts finally to teaching the society as a whole. The Holy Qur'an
itself has laid down the principle: أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ أُمَنُوا ◌ُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَ أَهْلِيْكُمْ نَارًا ◌َ :"O be-
lievers, guard yourselves and your families against a Fire." (66:6) In
fact, the Holy Prophet & himself who is the Messenger of Allah for the
whole of humanity and whose guidance shall remain valid upto the
last day of the world, was commanded to convey the Truth first of all
to the members of his family. Thus, the Holy Quran says: 24 301,
Csi : "And warn your clan, your nearest kin." (26:214) and di zi,
And bid your family to offer Salah, and be regular in": بِالصَّلْوةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا
them yourself." (20:132) And the Holy Prophet always fulfilled
these commandments.
Thirdly, one can observe for oneself that if the close relations or the
members of his family do not support a man in what he wishes to
teach, or do not seem to be acting upon it, his teachings do not succeed
so well with others. When the Holy Prophet & took upon himself the
prophetic function, the usual reply of his listeners was that he
should first convince his own clan, the Quraysh, before turning to
others. But when his own clan accepted Islam and the process had
been completed at the time of the conquest of Makkah, the world saw,
as the Holy Qur'an reports يَدُخُلُونَ فِىْ دِيْن اللهِ أَفُوَاجًا :"People entering Allah's
religion in throngs." (110:2)
The main reason for the ignorance and the indifference towards
Islam which is wide-spread among the Muslims today, is that even
when the parents themselves are good Muslims in every way, they

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 133 - 134
leave their children to themselves and let the social environment
mould them in its own fashion. Their only worry is to see their
children doing well in this world, and they never think of what will
happen to them in the next. Let us pray that Allah, in His mercy,
grant all of us the solicitude for the other world, and help us to make a
genuine effort for acquiring the only wealth that can ever be: faith
and rectitude!
Injunctions and related considerations
Verse 133 reports that the sons of Sayyidna Ya'qub (Jacob) -Mullade
promised to worship ◌َإلهَ أبَاءِكَ إِبُرْهِيمَ وَ اِسْمُعِيْلَ وَإِسْحُق :"The God of your father,
Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq." This phrase indicates that the term
"father" includes the grand-father as well. The blessed Companion
'Abdullah ibn 'Abbase Algo, has deduced from this verse the rule
that in matters of inheritance the grandfather shall be treated like the
father.
Verse 134 tells us that the good deeds of one's forefathers shall not
suffice one, if one has not been performing good deeds oneself, and
that, similarly, one shall not have to suffer for the misdeeds of one's
forefathers, if one's own account is clean. It follows upon this principle
that children of mushrikin (associators) and Kafirin (infidels), if they
die before having come of age, shall not be punished in the other world
on account of the disbelief of their parents. The verse also refutes the
claim of the Jews that irrespective of what they had been doing they
would go to Paradise on account of the good deeds of their forefathers.
Let this be a warning to those Muslims who, being the descendants
of the Holy Prophet of or of a saint, delude themselves with the hope
that their sins would go unpunished in consideration of this privileged
position. In fact, the Holy Qur'an is very explicit and very insistent on
this point. For example:
وَلَا تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسِ إِلَّ ◌َلَيْهَا وَلَا فِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى
"Each man shall reap the fruits of his own deeds, and no one
shall bear the burden of another" (6:164).
Addressing his own clan, the Holy Prophet @ said:
"Beware, O Banu Hashim, let it not be that on the Day of

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 135 - 136
Judgment while others bring their good deeds with them, you
on your part, having neglected good deeds, bring with you
only the trust in being my relations, and so I have to tell you
that on that day, I cannot save you from the wrath of Allah."
Another hadith says: من بطابه عمله لم يسرع به نسبه :"He who has been pulled
back by his deeds cannot be pushed forward by his ancestry."
Verses 135 - 136
وَقَالُوا كُوْنُوْا هُوْدًا أَوْ نَصُرَى تَهْتَدُوْاءُ قُلُ بَلْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرُ جِسمَ
حَنِيْفَادَوَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ ا قُوْلُوَاَ أَمَثَّا بِاللهِ وَمَّا أُنْزِلَّ
إِلَتْنَا وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلىّ إِبْرِهِمَ وَإِسْمُعِيْلَ وَإِسْحْقَ وَيَعُقُوُبَ
وَاْلْأَسْبَاطِ وَمَّآ أُوْتِىَ مُوْسَى وَعِيسَى وَمَا أُوُتِىَ الشَّبِيُّونَ مِنٌ
سَبِهِمْلَا نُفَرْقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنُهُمُ نَوَنَحُنُ لَهْ مُسْلِمُنَ 0
And they said, "Become Jews or Christians, and you
will find the right path." Say: "Instead, (we shall re-
main) the followers of Ibrahim, the upright, - and he
was not one of the associators." Say (O, Muslims): "We
believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us,
and in what has been revealed to Ibrahim, Isma'il,
Ishaq, Ya'qub and his children, and in what has been
given to Musa and 'Isa (Jesus) and what has been given
to the prophets from their Lord: We make no difference
between any of them. And to Him we submit ourselves."
(Verses 135 - 136)
The earlier verses have defined the religion (Millat) of Sayyidna
Ibrahim WJILL and established that its present form is Islam. Now,
the Jews and the Christians, in spite of their pretension to be his
followers, did not in actual fact follow his religion. Each of these two
groups, instead of accepting Islam, used to ask the Muslims to accept
its own religion in order to find true guidance. No doubt, each of these
two religions was, in its own time and for its own time, a genuine
religion, but in its present form each had become distorted, and had
also been abrogated by Allah. So, in answer to them, Allah asks the
Holy Prophet & to declare on his own behalf and on that of his
followers that they are and shall remain steadfast in the religion of
Sayyidna Ibrahim >JI __ who shunned all kinds of association

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 137 - 138
(Shirk), who adored nothing but the One God and obeyed no one but
Him, and whose religion, therefore, did not have even a trace of
distortion. Then, in the second of these verses Allah asks the Muslims
to declare the basic tenets of this religion too, which are as follows :- (1)
Muslims believe in Allah and in the guidance which He has sent them
through the Holy Prophet . (2) They also believe in all the prophets
Allah has sent from time to time - some of whom have been mentioned
in this verse. (3) Some of the prophets may in some ways be superior
to others, but it is essential for a Muslim to believe in all the prophets
without making any distinction. (4) Muslims believe that the
Shari'ahs of all the prophets mentioned here were instituted by Allah
Himself, but they have now been abrogated. So, Muslims follow the
Shari'ah of the Holy Prophet , for this alone is now valid. (5)
Muslims ultimately obey Allah alone, and submit themselves totally to
Him.
In the second of these verses the progeny of Sayyidna Ya'qub
(Jacob WWJi ule) has been described as 'Asbat or "tribes." The reason is
that he had twelve sons, and the offspring of each son came to form a
tribe. Allah so blessed his seed that in Egypt, Sayyidna Yusuf (Joseph
JIuje) and his brothers made up a group of twelve men, but their
lineage flourished, and when the Israelites left Egypt along with
Sayyidna Musa (Moses), their number ran into thousands. Another
form of this blessing was that the progeny of Sayyidna Ya'qub .
included a large number of prophets.
Verses 137 - 138
فَإِنَّ أُمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا أَمَنْتُمْ بِهِ فَقَدِاهْتَدَوْاٌ وَإِنُ تَوَّلَّوَا فِنَّمَا هُمُ
فِىُ شِقَاقِّ فَسَيَكُفِيُكَهُمُ اللَّهُ وَهُوَ السَّمِيْعُ الْعَلِيمُ ) صِبْغَةً
اللّهِ وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ مِنَ اللهِ صِبْغَةَ(َوَنَحُنُ لَهْ عِبِدُوُنَ 0
So, if they believe in the like of what you believe in,
they have certainly found the right path. And if they
turn away, they are nothing but in antagonism. Then
Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the
All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. The colouring of Allah!
And who is better in colouring than Allah? And we are
to worship none but Him. (Verses 137 - 138)

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 137 - 138
The definition of 'Iman
From the beginning of the Surah Al-Baqarah upto this place,
different verses have been explaining the nature and essence 'Iman
(faith), sometimes succinctly and sometimes in detail. Verse 137
defines 'Iman in a simple and short phrase which is at the same time
so comprehensive that all possible details and explanations are
inherent in it. The earlier verses having established that the only
religion which is valid at present is Islam, this verse assures the
Muslims that the Jews and the Christians can find the guidance only
"if they believe just as you believe", or, in other words, "if they believe
in what you believe in." The immediate addressees of the phrase "you
believe" are the Holy Prophet and his blessed Companions. Thus,
in doctrinal matters above all, their 'Iman has been placed before us as
a model, and the verse is essentially a divine commandment, laying
down the fundamental principle that the only 'Iman acceptable to
Allah is the one which was adopted by the Holy Prophet and his
blessed Companions, and that any doctrines or beliefs that deviate
from it in the least are neither valid nor acceptable to Allah. That is
to say, one should believe in Allah and His attributes, in the angels, in
the Books of Allah, in the messengers and prophets of Allah and in
their teachings exactly in the same manner as the Holy Prophet
and the blessed Companions did, without adding or substracting
anything on one's own part and without advancing one's own
interpretations or distorting the authentic meanings of the doctrines.
Nor is one allowed to assign to the angels or the prophets a station
higher or lower than the one assigned to them by the word or deed of
the Holy Prophet . Moreover, one is also required to be sincere and
pure in one's faith, for the contrary would amount to hypocrisy (Nifaq).
This explanation helps us to see in its true proportions the situa-
tion of the heterodox sects among the Muslims - of those who make tall
claims as to the genuineness of their 'Iman, but do not possess 'Iman in
the full sense of the term. As for that, even the idolators of Arabia
used to proclaim the authenticity of their 'Iman as do the Jews and the
Christians even today, and as do even the heretics in every age, but
since their faith in Allah, in the prophets and the angels, and in the
Day of Judgment etc. did not conform to the 'Iman of the Holy Prophet
, it was not acceptable to Allah and was summarily rejected.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 137 - 138
To give a few examples, some of the associators of Arabia used to
deny the very existence of angels, while others considered them to be
the daughters of God. Some groups among the Jews refused to obey
the prophets and were so hostile to them that they came to assassinate
a number of them, while other groups among the Jews and the
Christians began to revere the prophets so extravagantly as to identify
them with God Himself, or to place them on the level of God or to
consider them the sons of God. These two attitudes are the two
extremes of deviation, and are clearly seen, in the light of this verse, to
be only two forms of misguidance.
According to the Shari'ah, it is, of course, obligatory for every
Muslim to respect and love the Holy Prophet , and if one lacks in
this respect and love, one cannot be said to possess 'Iman in the true
sense of the term; all the same, let it be clearly understood that it is
misguidance and association (Shirk) to make him the equal of Allah
with respect to an attribute like knowledge or power. For, according to
the Holy Qur'an, the essence of Shirk lies in making someone other
than Allah the equal of Allah with respect to a divine attribute, as is
indicated by this verse : ◌َإِذْنُسَرِيكُمْ بِرَبِ الْعُلَمِين :"And when we used to make
you equal of the Lord of the worlds." (26:98) There are some Muslims
who consider the Holy Prophet , to be omniscient and omnipresent
like Allah Himself, and, in doing so, congratulate themselves upon
showing the respect and love which is required of a Muslim, while they
are only disobeying the Holy Prophet and going against his
teachings. They should learn from this verse that the respect and love
for the Holy Prophet & which Allah demands from a Muslim is only
that kind of respect and love which his blessed Companions had for
him - neither more nor less than this, for either would be a deviation
and a sin.
The terms Zilli and Buruzi are not valid
On the other hand, there are people [like the group called the Qadianis or
. the Ahmadis of Lahore] who have been deying the unambiguous and clear
declaration of the Holy Qur'an that Sayyidna Muhammad @ is the
last of all the prophets, and trying to make room for a new prophet. In
order to serve this evil purpose, they have out of their own fantasy
manufactured exotic forms of prophethood, and given to them equally
fanciful names like Buruz (incarnation) or Zill (manifestation). The

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present verse exposes this fraud as well, for the 'Iman of the Holy
Prophet y and of his blessed Companions does not show any trace of a
belief in prophets of this genre, and anyone who pretends to such a
belief is an avowed heretic.
Similarly, there are people whose minds and hearts are so
befogged in modern materialism and the so-called "rationalism" that
they find it difficult to accept the idea of the other world and the
things that pertain to it, and then try to subject them to crooked
interpretations, which they suppose to be an effort to make Islam more
acceptable to the modern mind, and hence a great service to Islam.
But, insofar as these interpretations transgress the commandment
indicated in this verse - that is to say, they do not conform to the 'Iman
of the Holy Prophet س and of his Companions رضى الله عنهم أجمعين - they are
totally false, and must be rejected. It is obligatory for a Muslim to
believe without demur in what the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith tell us
with regard to the other world and all that pertains to it. For example,
it is quite inadmissible to maintain that on the Day of Judgment men
will be resurrected only "spiritually" and not bodily, or that the reward
and the punishment in the other world will be "spiritual" and not
physical, or that the "weighing of the deeds" is only a metaphorical
expression. Let us insist once again that all such interpretations are
doctrinally false and unacceptable to Allah - as the present verse has
established.
Having defined the 'Iman which is acceptable to Allah, Verse 137
also points out that the enemies of Islam may yet remain unconvinced
out of sheer obstinacy and malice. Allah asks the Holy Prophet @ not
to worry about them, for Allah will deal with them Himself, and pro-
tect His prophet. This promise has been made more explicitly in an-
other verse :ِوَاللهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاس :"And Allah will protect you against these
people." (5:67) Subsequent events showed the fulfilment of this prom-
ise.
The Colour of Allah
Verse 138 delineates Islam as the "colouring of Allah", and
explains this "colouring" as the unalloyed worship of Allah and total
submission to Him. Verse 135 has identified Islam with "the religion
of Ibrahim." If we put Verse 135 and 138 together, it becomes clear
that essentially Islam - or any authentic religion, for that matter - is

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 139 - 141
the religion of Allah, and that the association of a religion with the
name of a prophet can only be symbolised.
Verse 138 presents religion as "colouring" (Sibghah). The
expression carries within itself several levels of meaning. But the
immediate allusion is to a certain ceremony of the Christians. On the
seventh day of its birth, they used to bathe an infant in coloured
(probably yellow) water, which was supposed to be a substitute for
circumcision, and a sufficient guarantee for the external and internal
purification of the infant - the fast and indelible "colouring" of
Christian faith, so to say. The verse suggests that this colour is wasted
away with the water, without leaving a trace outside or inside, nor
does this kind of baptism serve the purpose of circumcision and
cleanse a man of physical impurity. And the verse declares that the
only colouring worth the name is the colouring of a genuine and
unabrogated religion - that is, Islam - the only colouring which can
guarantee physical and spiritual purification, and the only one which
shall remain. Then, the word Sibghah or "colouring" has a deeper
meaning too. Just as a certain colour is openly and clearly visible to
the beholder, the signs of genuine and pure 'Iman should shine
through the face, the movements, the habits and the behaviour of a
Muslim. In this sense, the verse is a commandment, asking Muslims
"to dye" themselves in the "colouring of Allah", outwardly and
inwardly by offering unalloyed worship to Him alone, by submitting
themselves totally to His commandments, and by gladly accepting His
will.
Verse 139 - 141
قُلْ أَنْحَاجُوْنَنَا فِى اللّهِ وَهُوَ رَبُّنَا وَرَبُّكُمْوَلَنَآ أَعُمَالُنَا وَلَكُمُ
أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُخْلِصُوْنَ ا أَمْ تَقُصُولُونَ إِنَّ اِبْرِهِتَم
وَإِسْمُعِيْلَ وَإِسْحْقَ وَيَعْقُوُبَ وَالْآَسْبَاطَ كَانُوا هُوْدًا أَوْنَصُرُىْء
قُلْءَ انْتُمْ أَعْلَمُ أَمِ اللَّهُ وَمَنْ آَظْلَمُ مِتَنْ كَتَمَ شَهَادَةً عِنْدَهْ مِنَ
اللَّهُ وَمَا اللهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُوْنَ ا تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدُخَلَتْ لَّهَا
مَاكَسَبَتْ وَلَكُمُ تَّاكَسَبْتُمْ وَلَا تُسْتَلُوُنَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُوْنَ ٥
Say: "Would you argue with us about Allah, when He is
.

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 139 - 141
our Lord as well as your Lord? For us our deeds, and
for you your deeds! And to Him we are faithful. Or,
would you say that Ibrahim Isma'il, Ishaq, Ya'qub and
their children were Jews or Christians?" Say: "Do you
know better or does Allah?" And who can be more
unjust than the one who conceals the testimony he has
from Allah? And Allah is not unaware of what you do.
Those are a people who have passed away. For them
what they earned, and for you what you earned. And
you shall not be questioned as to what they have been
doing. (Verses 139 - 141)
These three verses bring to an end the section of the Surah in
which certain claims of the Jews and the Christians have been refuted
-- for example, their assertion that Sayyidna Ibrahim (Abraham),
Sayyidna Isma'il (Ishmael), Sayyidna Ishaq (Isaac), Sayyidna Ya'qub
(Jacob) and the prophets in his lineage -- >I +Je -- were either Jews
or Christians, and the claim that they were the chosen people and
would have the exclusive privilege of being sent straight to Paradise
which would be denied to Muslims. The earlier verses have established
that the religion of all these prophets was Islam, in the general sense
of the term, but that the earlier Shari'ahs have now been abrogated,
and the title of "Islam" been specially given to the religion of Sayyidna
Muhammad . Should the Jews and the Christians still continue, in
their stubbornness, to deny, Allah asks the Holy Prophet , and the
Muslims to declare in plain and simple words that Allah, being the
Lord of All, cannot show any special favour to any particular group of
His creatures, and that on the Day of Judgment He will assess the
Jews and the Christians as well as the Muslims according to what
each has believed in and how each has been behaving - a principle
which was accepted by the People of the Book too. The Muslims have
also been asked to announce that they on their part recognize no other
god but Allah, and have purified their religion of all traces of
association (Shirk) - as against the Jews and the Christians who
consider Sayyidna 'Uzayr (Ezra JI e) and Sayyidna 'Isa (Jesus Je
>JI) respectively to be "the Son of God", and whose religions have,
moreover, been abrogated. In this respect at least, Muslims have a
superiority over them. If the People of the Book should, on account of
their affiliation with the earlier prophets, still keep insisting on their

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own rectitude, the Muslims may ask them a basic question - who
knows the truth better, Allah or the People of the Book? Allah has
definitely and finally announced the truth in the Last Revelation, and
the People of the Book themselves know that the religion of the earlier
prophets was Islam. Yet they are trying to conceal the truth, and
being unjust, in the gravest sense of the term. Allah knows what they
have been doing, and will judge them according to their own deeds,
and not according to the deeds of their ancestors. Thus, at the end of
this section, Verse 141, which is a repetition of Verse 134, warns them
against the consequences of their vanity and pretentiousness, and
advises them to take care of themselves rather than relying on
ancestral glory.
Verse 139 brings out the essential and peculiar characteristic of
the Islamic Ummah - it has purified itself of all possible admixture of
Shirk (association), and devoted itself, externally and internally, to
Allah. The Arabic word in the text is Mukhlisun, the plural of Mukhlis
which signifies "one who has purified himself", and which is allied to
the word Ikhlas, "the act of purifying oneself." According to Said ibn
Jubayr, Ikhlas consists in worshipping no one but Allah, associating no
one with Allah, and doing good deeds only for the sake of obeying
Allah, and not for the purpose of winning the admiration of the people.
Certain spiritual masters have said that Ikhlas is a deed which can be
identified neither by men, nor by angels nor by Satan, and that it is a
"secret" between Allah and His servant. 38
38. The word Ikhlas is usually rendered into English as "sincerity" and
Mukhlis as "sincere." It is to be doubted whether the word "sincerity" did,
at any time and in any Western language, carry the full gamut of the
meanings of the Arabic word Ikhlas. Anyhow, the sense of the word
'sincerity" has, in current usage, become not only perverted but some-
times actually inverted. The word used to imply a harmony between ex-
ternal action and inner inclination, along with the tacit assumption that
the external action concerned was, if nothing else, at least socially accept-
able to some degree. But "sincerity", as employed in our days, suggests a
compliance with one's emotions or even with one's instincts. As such, the
concept of "sincerity" is being used to justify and authorize fornication, or
even murder. It is easy to see that such an idea of "sincerity" is the exact
anti-thesis of Ikhlas. For, one cannot attain even the lowest degree of
Continued

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 142
Verse 142
سَيَقُولُ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا وَلْهُمْ عَنْ قِبَّلَتِهِمْ أَّتِى كَانُوا
عَلَيْهَاءُقُلْ لِّلَّهِ الْمُشْرِقُ وَالْمُغْرِبُ يَهْدِىُ مَنْ تَشَآءُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ
تُسْتَقِيْمِ ٥
The foolish among the people will say: "What has
turned them away from their Qiblah which they used
to observe?" Say: "To Allah belong the East and the
West. He guides whom He wills to a straight path."
(Verse 142) 39
Continued
Ikhlas without forming a clear intention to obey the injunctions of the
Shari'ah as against letting oneself be guided by one's instinctual urges or
emotional inclinations while the concept of "sincerity" in vogue requires
one to ignore the Shari'ah or even mundane considerations and to do the
bidding of one's impulse of the moment, thus reducing man to an automa-
ton at the mercy of his reflexes. Nor should we forget another serious as-
pect of the problem. There is another allied notion of "sincerity" which
has been disturbing the peace of many pious people even in the past, but
which has acquired a devastating intensity in our own days. This notion
of "sincerity" demands one to seek fixity and unrelieved continuity in an
emotional state, which is, of course, not possible for man as he is consti-
tuted. It so happens with some pious people that once they start seeking
this kind of "sincerity" in offering their enjoined prayers, they find that
they cannot keep up an unbroken concentration of mind, and are so
frightened by this lapse that they sometimes give up offering their
prayers, believing such worship to be "insincere" and hence invalid. Let
us make it clear once for all that the only thing the Shari'ah requires
from us is to have the correct intention and attitude when we begin our
prayers or perform any other good deed. This alone is the pre-requisite
for attaining Ikhlas, which, anyhow, is not a matter of emotions and af-
fective states. In short, Islam requires us to perfect the quality of Ikhlas
as defined by the Shari'ah, and not to seek "sincerity" in the Western
sense of the term, ancient or modern. For an elaborate treatment of the
subject, see Tarbiyyah al-Salik by Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanavi .
39. Some of the considerations arising from this verse have already been dealt
with under Verses 114 and 115. As one can see, the present verse deals
with taunts of the enemies of Islam - Jews, Christians and the mushrikin
(associators) - with regard to the change of the Qiblah (orientation) for
Salah .

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 142
The orientation of Qiblah
"Qiblah" signifies the direction to which one turns one's face. It
goes without saying that a true Muslim turns in every form of worship
towards Allah alone, and Allah is not limited to any particular direc-
tion but transcends all dimensions. The logic of this fact requires that
in worshipping Him everyone should be free to choose any orientation
that he likes, and that he should have the allowance to keep changing
his orientation as it suits him. But Divine Wisdom found it more in
the fitness of things that all the worshippers should turn to the same
direction, and have a fixed orientation. For, worship has several
forms, some of which pertain to a single individual, while others have
a collective aspect too. Among the first are included fasting, remem-
brance of Allah (dhikr) etc. which can be performed in privacy, while
the Salah and the Hajj are performed openly and in a congregation.
The latter, beside being forms of worship, have a secondary function as
well - that of providing a social and collective discipline to the Mus-
lims. Obviously, the basic principle of social organization is the unity
and integration of the individuals, on the firmness and solidity of
which depends the strength of the social organization, whereas an im-
proper emphasis on individuality encougages a disintegrating and fis-
siparous tendency.
As to what the principle of unity and integrity should be, different
people have chosen different ways at different times. For example,
some have adopted race or colour as the integrating principle, others
have opted for the homeland or the geographical region, still others for
language. But all these considerations are purely arbitrary and acci-
dental; instead of bringing men together, they divide them, and pro-
duce, (as the newspapers show us every day) world-wide concussions.
So, the revealed religions and the Shari'ahs of the prophets ,Je -
the collective name for which is "Islam" - have not shown unnecessary
regard to such arbitrary and accidental factors, but have, in determin-
ing the principle of integration and unity among men, established
themselves on the only basis which can possibly be valid - that is, the
unity of mind arising out of doctrinal unity.
In other words, Islam has called upon men not to become divided
in the worship of a thousand false gods, but to join together in the

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Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 142
worship of the True God, the One, the Incomparable - the only worship
which can draw men from the four corners of the world, men of the
past, of the present and of the future, all into a single body of the
Faithful. Then, in order to give this inner unity a visible form and also
to reinforce it, certain external expressions of unity have also been
prescribed. But in both the cases the basic principle has been that the
unity in view should not be imposed by circumstances, but arise from
an act of will and choice, and produce a spiritual brotherhood.
As to the accidental factors like race or colour or birth-place, Islam
has given them their proper place in the social life of man, but has not
allowed any of them to usurp the central position. It is only in the
field where human will can exercise its power to choose that Islam has
sought to establish unity among men, internal as well as external.
Moreover, the consideration inherent in the relevant injunctions and
regulations has been that the things which are to serve as the point of
unity should be of such a nature that every human being - man or
woman, literate or illiterate, townsman or rustic - can choose and
adopt them with equal ease.
It is hence that the Islamic Shari'ah has not imposed a single and
rigid mode of dress or food or housing on all the peoples of the world,
for, the climatic conditions and the needs and even the preferences of
people living in different regions being different, such a uniformity
would have made life difficult for them. Supposing that in making a
certain form of dress obligatory, a certain minimum had been pre-
scribed, such a regulation would, beside being inconvenient for some,
have gone against the principle of moderation, and amounted to a re-
jection of Allah's bounties; on the other hand, if a more elaborate dress
had been made compulsory, it would have been impossible for the poor
to fulfil the conditions. So, instead of prescribing a uniform for all the
Muslims, the Shari'ah has permitted the different modes of dressing
current among different peoples or regions, and has only laid down
certain necessary restrictions - for example, the dress should cover a
certain area of the body, specified separately for men and women; in
choosing a particular form of dress one should avoid being prodigal or
vain, nor should a dress be chosen for the sake of imitating non-
Muslims.

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In short, Islam has established as points of unity for the Muslims
only such things as can be the objects of a free choice, are easy to adopt
and do not entail undue hardship or expense - for example, keeping
the ranks straight in congregational prayers; following the movements
of the 'Imam in such prayers strictly; adopting a single form of dress
while performing the Hajj, etc.
Among these, one of the most important is the Qiblah or the
orientation for the Salah. As we have said, Allah Himself is free of all
dimensions whatsoever, but the establishment of a single and definite
Qiblah provides an easy and concrete unifying principle for men. Now,
had the matter of choosing a Qiblah been left to men to decide for
themselves, it would in itself have become a cause of dissension and a
conflict among them. So, it was necessary that a thing of such import
be determined by Allah Himself. In fact, the angels had already laid
the foundation of the Ka'bah, the House of Allah, even before Sayyidna
Adam WILL was sent down to the earth. This was the first Qiblah of
mankind.
إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتِ ◌ُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِىُّ ◌ِبَّةَ مُبْرَكَا ◌َّهُدَّى لِلْعَلَمِيْنَ )
"Certainly, the first House which was built for men is the
one at Makkah - blessed, and a guidance for the worlds" (3:96).
As we have pointed out above in our commentary on Verse 125,
this continued to be the Qiblah upto the time of Sayyidna Nuh (Noah
WJule ), when the Ka'bah was destroyed by the Deluge. It was
rebuilt, under divine command, by Sayyidna Ibrahim and Sayyidna
Ismail (Abraham and Ishmael >JI +Je), and became their Qiblah.
After that, the Baytul-Maqdis at Jerusalem was established as the
Qiblah for the Hebrew prophets and their people. Even so, these
prophets, according to Abu al-'Aliyah, used to offer their prayers in the
Baytul-Maqdis in such a way that they should be facing not only the
Rock (Şakhrah) but the Ka'bah also. (Qurtubi)
When Salah was made obligatory for the Holy Prophet , the
Qiblah appointed for him was, according to some scholars, the Ka'bah
which had already served as the Qiblah for his ancestor, Sayyidna
Ibrahim WJILe . Some time after the Hijrah (his migration from
Makkah to Madinah), or, as some scholars maintain, a little before