Indexed OCR Text

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 151 - 153
norms, take what they offer and look at them in conjunction with what
stands proved through other kinds of approaches and, then, give his
decision. Be it a witness, or be it a judgement, nothing should stop one
from saying what is right, true and just - not friendship and love, not
enmity and hostility, nothing. For this reason, added here was the sen-
tence: وَلَؤُ كَانَ ذَا قُرُبِى (even if there be a relative). It means: Even if the per-
son, in whose case you are appearing as a witness, or a judge, be a rel-
ative of yours - even then, you should not let truth and justice slip out
of your hands, neither in witness, nor in the judgement.
The purpose in this verse is to stop false witness and unjust judge-
ment. About false witness, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah have reported
: صلى الله عليه وسلم the following saying of the Holy Prophet
'False witness is equal to Shirk'. He said it three times and, then,
recited this verse:
فَاجْتَنِبُوا الرِّجْسَ مِنَ اْلْأَوْثَانِ وَاجْتَنِبُوا قَوْلَ الزُّورِ حُنَفَاءٌ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِيْنَ بِه
So, avoid the filth of idols, and avoid saying the false, being
upright for Allah, without being associators (of partners) with
Him - 22:30.
Similarly, about deciding against truth and justice, there is a say-
ing of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم which has been reported by Abu
Dawud on the authority of a narration by Sayyidna Buraydah ibn Hu-
sayb رضى الله عنه.It says:
'There are three kinds of Qadis (judges): One of them would go
to Jannah while the other two, to Jahannam. The one who ar-
rived at the truth by investigating into the case according to
the Shari'ah, then gave his decision in the light of the truth,
he belongs in Jannah - and he who investigated and did find
out the truth, but knowingly gave his judgement against it,
his place is in Hell. And similarly, a Qadi who did not know,
or fell short on investigation and deliberation, and gave a de-
cision in that state of ignorance, he too will go to Jahannam.'
The same subject has appeared in other verses of the Holy Qur'an
more explicitly and emphatically, enjoining that there should be no
trace or effect of friendship, kinship or any other relation based on mu-
tual interest - or enmity and hostility - in witness, or judgement. For

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 151 - 153
example, in Surah An-Nisa,' it was said:
وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْآَقْرَبِيْنَ
('O those who believe, be upholder of justice - witnesses for Al-
lah) 'even though against yourselves or the parents and the
relatives.' - 4:135.
In the same vein, there is another command given in Surah al-
Ma'idah which says:
وَلَا يَجْرِ مَنَّكُمْ شَنَاْنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى الَّ تَعْدِلُوا
(O those who believe, be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for
justice). 'And malice against a people should not bid you to not
doing justice' - 5:8.
It means that enmity with a people should not make you willing to
witness or to judge against the dictate of justice. Finally, as for up-
holding truth and justice in matters other than witness and judge-
ment, such as, mutual conversations referred to earlier, the best policy
is not to lie, not to speak ill of anyone behind his back, not to say any-
thing which would hurt others, or cause physical or financial loss to
anyone.
The Ninth Command: To Fulfill the Covenant of Allah - i.e.,
Breach of Pledge is Haram
The ninth command given in this verse is to fulfill the covenant of
Allah and avoid breaking the solemn pledge given. It was said: hing
pagi (and fulfill the covenant of Allah). The 'covenant of Allah' could
mean the pledge that was taken from every human being at the begin-
ning of life when all human beings were asked: " guff ('Am I not your
Rabb, your Lord?'). All of them said: [{ ('Bala':yes), that is, 'there is no
doubt that You are our Rabb, our Lord.' This pledge demands but that
we do not disobey any command given by our Lord, our creator, cher-
isher, nurturer and caretaker. Consider everything He has asked to do
at the level of the highest possible priority and take it to be the most
important of all that we do. And as for things He has asked us not to
do, we should not go even near them - even stay away from falling in
doubts about them. Thus, the essence of this covenant is that we
should obey Allah Ta'ala totally and perfectly.
It is also possible that 'covenant' here means the particular pledges

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 151 - 153
mentioned in the Qur'an on different occasions - out of which are these
verses the Tafsir of which is before you (and in which ten injunctions
have been described emphatically).
'Ulama say that, in this pledge, included there is the fulfilling of
vows (nadhr or mannat), a way through which one gives a pledge to Al-
lah Ta'ala that he or she would do something. In another verse of the
Holy Qur'an, this has also been mentioned more explicity by saying:
my 3 }? that is, 'the righteous servants of Allah fulfill their nadhr
(vow).'
In short, it can be said that this command is, though ninth in the
series, but in terms of its reality, it encompasses all imperatives and
prohibitions of Islamic legal injunctions.
It will be noticed that, at the end of this second verse (152) too,
ذُلِكُمْ وَشْكُمْ بِ. لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ:there appears a sentence of persuasion, that is
(This is what He has emphasized for you, so that you may observe the
advice).
Then comes the third verse (153) where the tenth injunction has
وَأَنَّ هُذَا صِرَاطِئٌ مُسْتَقِئْمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا الُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمُ عَنْ سَبِيلٍِ : been described as follows
(And: This is My path [headed] straight. So, follow it, and do not follow
the [other] ways, lest it should take you away from His way).
In this verse, the word: us (hadha:this) denotes the religion of Is-
lam, or the Qur'an. Also possible is that the reference may be to Surah
Al-An'am itself because, here too, the full range of the fundamentals of
Islam - Tauhid, Risalah and principles governing injunctions of the
Shari'ah - find mention. As for the word: wantz' (mustaqiman), it is a dis-
tinctive adjunct of this path of the religion of Islam and which has
been used as an adverb in the syntactical arrangement to indicate that
being 'mustaqim' (straight) is an integral attribute of Islam as a relig-
ion. After that, it was said: 24su (So, follow it). It means: 'When you
have come to know that the religion of Islam is My path, and that
alone is the straight path, you have before you the only path headed
towards the desired destination, therefore, this is the path you shall
follow.'
After that, it was said : وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبْلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمُ عَنْ سَبِيُله (and do not follow
the [other] ways, lest it should take you away from His way). The

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 151 - 153
word: J". (subul) is the plural form of sabil which also means 'way.' The
sense of the statement is that the real and true way of reaching Allah
Ta'ala, and achieving His pleasure (rida') is just one. But, people in
this world have carved out different ways on their own depending on
what they think it is, or should be. The advice being given is: You do
not follow any of these ways because these ways are really not the
ways to reach Allah and therefore, whoever walks these ways shall go
astray far away from the path of Allah.
It is said in Tafsir Mazhari that the purpose of sending the Qur'an
and the Prophet of Islam صلى الله عليه وسلم is to make people subordinate
their ideas, intentions and proposals to the Qur'an and Sunnah and
cast their lives into the blessed model offered by them. But, what is
happening is that people are bent on moulding the Qur'an and Sunnah
into the frame of their ideas and proposals. As a result, an Ayah of the
Qur'an, or a Hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم which does not meet
their fancy, or is found to be contrary to what they would like it to be,
would become the target of their so-called enterpretation until it fits
into the mold of their desires. This is the starting point from where
emerge other ways which lead people astray - ways which throw them
in doubts and innovations in established religion (shubhat and bid' at).
These are the ways from which people have been instructed to stay
away in this verse.
Based on a narration from Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud as dl ),
there is a report in Musnad of Darimi which says: 'Once the Holy
Prophet drew a vertical line and said: "This is the path of Allah."
Then, he drew other lines on its right and left and said: "These are
subul" (that is, the ways following which has been prohibited in this
verse) and, then, he said: "Set upon every one of these ways there is a
Shaytan who, after enticing people away from the straight path, wel-
comes them to this" (the ways under the charge of Shaytan, as shown
in the drawing). After that, as proof, he recited this verse (153).'
Then, once again towards the end of the verse, it was said:
SHEW + (That is what He has emphasized for you, so that you may be
God-fearing).
This completes the Tafsir of these three verses and the ten prohibi-
tions delineated therein. Finally, have a look at the significant style

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 151 - 153
the Holy Qur'an employs when described at this place were ten injunc-
tions. They do not appear here as ten Articles of Law, something mod-
ern law books would love to do. Instead of doing something like that,
first it describes five injunctions, then says: ◌َذُلِكُمْ وَضُكُمُ بٍِ لَعَلَّكُمُ تَعْقِلُون (That is
what He has emphasized for you, so that you may understand). Then,
after having described four more injunctions, it repeats the same sen-
tence with the difference that it says: 353% (observe the advice) in place
of : spass (understand) at the end. And after that, described there is the
last injunction in a separate Ayah (verse), and once again, repeated
there is the same core sentence with the difference that said here is:
3gs (be God-fearing) in place of: 5331 (observe the advice) at the end.
There are many elements of wisdom in this subtle style of the Holy
Qur'an:
First of all, the Holy Qur'an is not simply a coercive law like the
usual laws of this world. In fact, it is a law which is genuinely gener-
ous and patronizing in the essential sense. That is why, with every
law, suggestions are given which would make them come easy. Then,
knowing Allah Ta'ala and having the concern for 'Akhirah are the most
effective enforcers of law, in public or in private, and are the only solu-
tion human beings have in their problems with law. Therefore, at the
end of all the three verses, introduced there are words which would
steer human orientation away from the material world and fix it to-
wards Allah Ta'ala and the 'Akhirah.
There are five injunctions described in the first verse (151), that is:
(1) To avoid Shirk, (2) to avoid being disobedient to parents, (3) To
avoid killing children, (4) To avoid shameful acts, and (5) to avoid kill-
ing unjustly. What is used at their end is the word: 3% (understand)
because the people of Jahiliyyah just did not think that there was any-
thing wrong with them. Therefore, it was suggested that they would
do well by forsaking their blind following of ancestral customs and
their own whims, if they used a little reason.
The second verse (152) describes four injunctions, that is: (1) Not to
eat up the property of the orphan by false means, (2) not to weigh or
measure short, (3) to be true and just in speech, and (4) to fulfill the
covenant of Allah.

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 154 - 157
These are things, even these ignorant ones knew to be necessary -
some of them would even act likewise. But, mostly these were not
heeded to. The only remedy of heedlessness is what is called: &SU
(tazkirah:remembrance) that is, the remembrance of Allah and
'Akhirah. Therefore, at the end of this verse, the word used was: 3330
(observe the advice).
The third verse (153) contains the instruction to follow the straight
path and to avoid doing the contrary by following other ways. Since,
there is nothing more authentic but the fear of Allah which would tear
a human being away from the clutches of his misguiding thoughts and
desires, therefore, at the end of it, said there was: 3de kis (so that you
may be God-fearing).
Finally, at all these three places, the word used was: E .; (wasiyyah)
which is an order to do something. Therefore, as cited earlier, some no-
ble Sahabah رضى الله عنهم أجمعين said: Whoever wishes to see the sealed will
and testament of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم let him recite these
three verses.
Verses 154 - 157
ثُمَّ أَتَيْنَا مُؤْسَى الْكِتَبَ ثَمًا عَلَى الَّذِىَّ احُسَنَ وَتَفْصِيْلًا
لِكُلِّ شَرُ ؤَهُدَّى قَرَحْمَةٌ لَّعَلَّهُمْ بِلِقَاءِ رَبِّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٥٤)
وَهَذَا يكِتَابٌ أَنْزَلُنْهُ مُبُرَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَاتَّقُؤْاَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرُحَمُونَ
﴿١٥٥﴾ اَنْ تَقُولُؤْاَ إِنَّ أُنْزِلَ الْكِتْبُ عَلَى طَائِفَتَيْنِ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا ◌ٌ
وَإِنْ كُنَّا عَنْ دِرَاسَتِهِمْ لَغْفِيْنَ ﴿١٥٦﴾ أَوْتَقُؤْلُؤْاَ لَوْ أَنَّا أُنْزِلَ
عَلَيْنَا الْكِتْبُ لَكُنَّ أَهْدَى مِنْهُمْ فَقَدُ بََّ كُمْ بَيِّنَةٌ مِنُ تَّبِّكُمُ
وَهُدًى وَرَحُمٌَّ فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مُِّ كَذَّبَ بِئْتِ اللَّهِ وَصَدَفَ عَنْهَا"
سَتَجْزِى الَّذِيْنَ يَصْدِفُونَ عَنُ أَيْتِنَا سُوِّءَ الْعَذَابِ بِمَا كَانُوا
يَصْدِفُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾
Then We gave Musa the Book, complete for the one who
does good, and explaining everything in detail, and a

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 154 - 157
guidance and a mercy, so that they may believe in
meeting their Lord. [154]
And this is a blessed Book We have sent down. So fol-
low it and fear Allah, so that you may be favoured with
mercy, [155] lest you should say, "The Book was sent
down only upon two groups before us, and we were ig-
norant of what they studied." [156] Or you should say,
"If the Book had been sent down to us, we would have
been more adhering to the right path than they." Now
there has come to you a clear sign from your Lord, and
a guidance and a mercy. So, who is more unjust than
the one who belies the verses of Allah and turns away
from them? We will recompense those who turn away
from Our verses with an evil punishment, because of
their turning away. [157]
Commentary
The reason of being 'ignorant of (or heedless to) what they studied -
156' was not that the Torah and the Injil were non-existent in the Ara-
bic language because it is possible to become informed of the contents
through a translation, in fact, this happens. Instead, this is because
the people of the Book never took steps to educate and inform the peo-
ple of Arabia in the mores of monotheism. That something falls within
hearing distance casually is customarily ineffective as a meaningful
warning - though, this much note of warning makes search and consid-
eration obligatory, and on this basis, the coming of Divine punishment
against the abandonment of Tauhid (the belief in the Oneness of Allah)
was possible. However, this raises no doubts about the universal na-
ture of the prophetic mission of Sayyidna Musa and Sayyidna 'Isa Lade
XI, because the particularization of this universality of message is
with our master, may the blessing of Allah be upon him, and peace -
and this particularization is in terms of the totality of fundamentals
and subsidiaries, otherwise, in fundamentals, following all prophets is
obligatory on all peoples. So, the punishment would have been proper
on this basis. But, this would have been an excuse advanced initially.
Now that too is no more valid. The argument of Allah is already estab-
lished.
As for their second saying: ◌ْلَوَانًا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْكِتْبُ لَكُنَّا أَهُدَى مِنْهُم (If the Book
had been sent down to us, we would have been more adhering to the

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right path than they'), a question and its answer has already appeared
under the commentary on verse 19 of Surah A-Ma'idah earlier in this
volume. This concerns the hope of salvation during the period of Fa-
trah or gap between prophets.
Verse 158
هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّ أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمُلَّتِكَةُ أَوْ يَاتِىَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ بَاتِىَ
بَعْضُ أَيْتٍ رَبِّكَُ يَوْمَ يَأْتِىُ بَعْضُ أَيْتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا
إِيْمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنُ أُمَنَتُ مِنُ قَبْلُ اَوْ كَسَبَتُ فِىّ إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا"
قُلِ انْتَظِرُوْا إِنَّا مُنْتَظِرُونَ ﴿١٥٨)
They are waiting for nothing less than that the angels
come to them or comes your Lord or come some signs
of your Lord. The day some signs of your Lord come,
the believing of a person shall be of no use to him who
had never believed before, or had not earned some
good through his faith. Say, "Wait, of course, we are
waiting." [158]
Commentary
The major portion of Surah Al-An'am has been revealed to correct
the beliefs and deeds of the people of Makkah and the disbelievers of
Arabia and to remove their doubts and to answer questions raised by
them.
All through the Surah, specially in the previous verses, the people
of Makkah and the rest of Arabia were given to understand that they
had seen open signs and miracles at the hands of the Holy Prophet
Ade Jtl. They had heard about the prophesies of past books and
prophets about him. Then, they had themselves listened to the recita-
tion of the Qur'an from one totally unlettered (Ummiyy) - a standing
miracle on its own. Now the avenues of truth lay open before them.
The argument of Allah Ta'ala stood conclusively established against
them. Believing was all they needed to do. What else could it be they
were waiting for before they would do that?
This subject was eloquently put in the cited verse by saying:

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 158
هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّ أَنْ تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْلَفِكَهُ أَوْ يَأْتِىَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِىَ بَعُضُ أَيْتِ رَبِّكَ
(They are waiting for nothing less than that the angels come
to them or comes your Lord or come some signs of your Lord).
In other words, it means: 'Are these people waiting to believe only
when the angels of death reach them, or are they waiting to be on the
plains of Resurrection when Allah Ta'ala will come to decide destinies,
or are they waiting to see some last signs of the coming of the fateful
Day of Doom. That the most exalted Rabb of all shall appear on the
Judgement Day has been mentioned in several verses of the Holy
Qur'an. Speaking in the same terms, a verse from Surah Al-Baqarah
says:
هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّ أَنْ يَأْتِيَّهُمُ اللهُ فِىْ ◌ُلِلٍ مِنَ الْغَمَامِ وَ الْكَفِكَةُ وَقُضِىَ الْآَمُرُ
They are looking forward to nothing but that Allah comes
upon them in canopies of clouds with the angels and the mat-
ter is closed - 2:210.
The state in which Allah Ta'ala shall appear on the Judgement
Day cannot be conceived by human imagination. Therefore, in the case
of such verses, the standard creed of the noble Sahabah and righteous
elders of the Muslim Ummah is that one should believe in what has
been mentioned in the Qur'an, have faith in it, then resign the matter
of how it shall come to pass to Divine knowledge. For instance, in the
case of the verse quoted above, one should be certain that Allah Ta'ala
will be present on the Day of Judgement - without having to worry
about the state and orientation in which this would happen.
Next in the verse, it was said:
يَوْمَ يَأْتِيُ بَعْضُ أَيْتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيْمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ أُمَنَتُ مِنُ قَبْلُ أَوْ
كَسَبَتُ فِىٌّ إِيْمَانِهَا خَيْرًا"
(The day some signs of your Lord come, the believing of a per-
son will be of no use to him who had never believed before, or
had not earned some good through his faith).
The warning given here is that, as soon as some of these signs of Allah
appear, the doors of Taubah (repentance) will be closed. Anyone who
had not come to believe before this happens will find his or her declar-
ation of faith after that as unacceptable. As for a person who had be-

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lieved before but had done nothing by way of good deeds will find that
his or her act of Taubah and the resolve to be good in future deeds - af-
ter these signs - are not acceptable. In short, that will be ominous time
when the Taubah of a disbeliever from his disbelief and the Taubah of
a sinner from his sin and disobedience, even if offered, will not be ac-
cepted.
The reason is that 'Iman (faith) and Taubah (repentance) can be ac-
cepted only upto the time it remains within the choice of a person.
Once Divine punishment and the reality of the-life-to-come become
open to perception, every human being stands compelled to believe and
abstain from sin. A faith under duress and a repentance under threat
are not acceptable.
There are many verses of the Qur'an which mention how the peo-
ple condemned to Hell will start wailing on arrival there. They will
make big promises that should they be returned back to the mortal
world, they would do nothing but believe and be good in deeds. But,
the answer given to them will be: The time for belief and deed is over.
What you are saying now is because you have no other choice. This is
not valid.
Explaining this verse, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is reported to
have said : When comes the last among the signs of the Qiyamah and
the sun will rise from the West instead of the East seeing which the
disbelievers of the whole world will start saying that they now believe.
All those who had been disobedient will turn into the obedient ones.
But, at that time, no believing and no repenting will remain worth ac-
cepting. (Al-Baghawi on authority from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah)
However, what we do know from the Qur'anic explanation is the
fact that there will be the manifestation of some signs following which
the door of Taubah (repentance) will be closed - no Taubah from a dis-
believer or sinner will be accepted after that. But, the Qur'an itself has
not made it clear as to what that sign is.
In the Tafsir of this verse, there is a Hadith narrated by Sayyidna
Abu Hurairah &s Jl go, appearing in Sahih al-Bukhari where the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has been reported to have said:
'Qiyamah will not stand established until passes the event

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that the sun rises from the West. When people see this sign,
they will all believe. This will be the time about which the
Qur'an says - believing then will not benefit anyone.'
The following details about it have been reported in Şahin Muslim
as based on a narration from Sayyidna Hudayfah ibn Usayd ar Jl):
Once the Sahabah were talking among themselves about the signs of
Qiyamah when the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came in. At that time, he
said: Qiyamah will not come in fact until you have seen ten signs: (1)
The sun rising from the West, (2) a particular kind of smoke, (3) the
animal of the earth, (4) the coming out of Gog and Magog, (5) the com-
ing of 'Isa >JI ale, (6) the coming of Anti-Christ (Dajjal), (7) the sinking
of land at three places - in the East ... , (8) in the West, and ... (9) in the
Arabian Peninsula, and (10) a fire which will emerge from an abyss in
Eden and will move driving people ahead of it.
And in the Musnad of Ahmad, it has been reported on the authority
صلى الله عليه وسلم that the Holy Prophet رضى الله عنه of Sayyidna Ibn Umar
said: Out of these signs, the first to come will be the rising of the sun
from the West, and the appearance of the animal of the earth.
Imam Al-Qurțubi, in his Tazkirah, and Hafiz ibn Hajar, in Sharḥ al-
Bukhari, while citing a narration from Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar
:said صلى الله عليه وسلم have also reported that the Holy Prophet ,رضى الله عنه
After this event, that is, after the rising of the sun from the West, the
world will keep surviving for one hundred and twenty years. (Ruh al-
Ma'ani)
After these details, there is a question. According to authentic re-
ligious reports, when Sayyidna 'Isa W_I _ will return to the world, he
will invite people to believe. People would believe. Islam will become
the religion of the world. It is obvious that, should believing at that
time remain unacceptable, this call and the entry of people in the fold
of Islam would become meaningless.
In Tafsir Ruh al-Ma'ani, commentator Alusi answers this by saying
that the event of the sun rising from the West will take place after the
passage of a long time since the appearance of Sayyidna 'Isa Jul -le -
and that would be the time when the door of Taubah will close.
'Allamah Balqini and others say that it is not improbable that this

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 158
prohibition of faith and repentance being unacceptable, as tied with
the rising of the sun from the West, may not remain operative through
the last period. It could be that this restriction changes after the pas-
sage of some time, and faith and repentance start being acceptable
again. (Ruh al-Ma'ani) (Allah knows best)
To sum up, it can be said that: Though, the sign after the appear-
ance of which Taubah will not be acceptable has not been clarified in
the present verse, but, from the statement of the Holy Prophet Ji
duy dle, it has become evident that it means the rising of the sun from
the West.
Then, remains the question: Why has the Qur'an itself left it un-
clarified? According to Tafsir Al-Bahr Al-Muhit, the very ambiguity of
the Qur'an at this place is more suited to the task of putting heedless
human beings on alert so that they could draw their essential lesson
from all forthcoming events of ominous nature and hasten to repent
and correct their course of life.
In addition to that, in this ambiguity and brevity, there is the ad-
vantage that everyone will be alerted to the danger that the way the
door of repentance shall be closed when the sun rises from the West
for all human beings, the same way it happens in a miniaturized form
when, for everyone personally and individually, the door of Taubah is
shut close for one at the time of death. This phenomena has been de-
scribed in another verse of the Holy Qur'an clearly as well:
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِيْنَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَّرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمُؤْتُ قَالَ إِنِّىُ
تُبْتُ الْغَنَ
And Taubah is not accepted from those who keep committing
sins until death visits one of them and they say, 'now I repent
- 4-18.'
Explaining this, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
إِنَّ تَوْبَّةَ الْعَبْدِ تُقْبَلُ مَا لَمْ يُغَرْغِرْ
The Taubah of a servant of Allah continues being accepted un-
til comes the agony of death (when Ruh comes into the throat
and creates a recognizable, parting, hurtling, sound).
This tells us that at the time when man is taking his last breath

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 158
and the soul is about to depart from the body - since angels of death
come.in sight - even then, repentance is not accepted. It is obvious
enough that this state of affairs too is a significant sign from Allah.
Therefore, included under this verse is this time of death as well - as it
is also in the saying of some 'Ulama' and other pious elders reported in
Al-Bahr Al-Muhit: ◌ُمَنْ تَمَّاتَ فَقَدُ قَامَتُ قِيَامَهُه that is, 'whoever dies, his Day of
Doom (Qiyamah) has dawned at that very instant.' This is so because
the place and time of deeds is all over. What one expects in return for
his deeds in his mortal life, he would start seeing a sample from it
right from the time he has been lowered into his grave. The Persian
poet, Sa'ib has put it pithily in poetry:
توبه پارا نفس باز پسی دست زدست بیخبر دیر رسیدی درمحمل بستند
Your repentance after the last breath stands rejected
Unaware man, you are late, the door of the beloved is closed.
Worth noting here is the nuance of the Arabic language in that it
was first said in the verse: aych a quel (or come some signs of your
Lord) and then, by repeating the same sentence, it was said: Au
The day come some signs of your Lord, the believing) أيْتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفُسًا إِيْمَانُهَا
of a person shall be of no use to him). It will be noticed that no pro-
noun has been used here to make the statement brief. This seems to
suggest that: 'S( 22' (Ba'du Ayat: some signs) mentioned first are not
the same as those mentioned in: '9( 2x' (Ba'du Ayat: some signs) of the
second sentence, that is, they are different from each other. This may
be a hint towards the substance of the narration from Sayyidna Hud-
hayfah ibn Usayd au Ml », you have read a little earlier in which he
has enumerated ten important signs of the coming of Qiyamah, the last
of them being the rising of the sun from the West which is symbolic of
the discontinuation of the acceptance of Taubah.
At the end of the verse, it was said : ◌َقُلِ انْتَظِرُوا إِنَّا مُنْتَظِرُون (Say, "Wait, of
course, we are waiting"). The address here is to the Holy Prophet L.
tle Al. He is being asked to tell those people that they, despite the
arguments of Allah conclusively established against them, still wish to
wait for death or the Day of Doom (Qiyamah), then, they are welcome
to it. They can wait if they must. As for us, we too shall be waiting to
see what their Rabb decides to do with them.

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
Verses 159 - 160
◌ِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ فَرَّقُوا دِيْنَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا أَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِىْ شَهُْ
إَِّا أَمْرُهُمْ إِلَى اللّهِ ثُمَّ ◌ُنَيِّئُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ ﴿١٥٩) مُنْ
بَجَآءَ بِالْحُسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشُ اَمْثَالِهَا وَمَنْ جَاءَ بِالسَِّئَةِ فَلَا
يُجْزِّىِلَّ مِثْلَهَا وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ ﴿١٦٠)
Surely, those who have made divisions in their religion
and turned into factions, you have nothing to do with
them. Their case rests with Allah alone; then He will
tell them what they have been doing. [159]
Whoever comes with a good deed, receives ten times as
much, and whoever comes with an evil deed, he will
not be recompened by anything but its equal, and they
shall not be wronged. [160]
Commentary
As pointed out earlier, a major portion of Surah Al-An'am is devot-
ed to addressing the disbelievers of Makkah and answering questions
asked by them. They were told that the straight path to Allah was fol-
lowing the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . Before him, dur-
ing the time of past prophets, salvation depended on following their
books and code of laws. The same thing is true today. Today, salvation
lies in following nothing but the Shari'ah brought by him. So, they
were asked to become reasonable, take the straight path and avoid ex-
changing it with paths of error right and left. If they did that, they
were warned, these ways of error will throw them far away from the
way of Allah.
The first (159) of the two verses carries a general address included
wherein are the disbelievers of Arabia, the Jews and Christians and
Muslims, all of them. Addressing them, stated there is the sad end of
those who turn away from the straight path of Allah - and the instruc-
tion given to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is that he should have
nothing to do with those who take to the ways of error. Then, out of
these, there are those ways of error which take one in a direction total-
ly opposite to what the straight path is, such as the ways of the disbe-

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
lievers, polytheists and the people of the Book. Then, there are other
ways too, which do not, though, take one all the way in the opposite di-
rection, but misguide them any way by pulling them away from the
straight path and putting them on ways to the right and left. These
are ways of 'doubts' and 'innovations' in the true and settled faith
(Shubhat and Bid' at). They too lead one astray.
إِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ فَرَّقُوا دِيْنَهُمْ وَكَانُوا شِيَعًا لَّسْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِىٌ شَمُْ أَّ أَمُرُهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ ثُمَّ ◌ُنَبِّئُهُمْ: So, it was said
gick läuft (Surely, those who have made divisions in their religion and
turned into factions, you have nothing to do with them. Their case
rests with Allah alone; then He will tell them what they have been do-
ing).
In this verse, made clear first was that the Messenger of Allah was
free of any responsibility concerning those who land themselves into
the ways of error. The noble Prophet, may the blessings of Allah, and
peace be upon him, had nothing to do with them. Then, they were giv-
en the notice of warning that their case was, sufficient to say, in the
hands of Allah Ta'ala, and it was He who would punish them on the
day of Qiyamah.
As for 'having made divisions in religion and turning into factions'
mentioned in the verse is concerned, it refers to the practice of not fol-
lowing the basic principles of established religion, rather electing to
follow personal whims and desires, or become willing victims of Satan-
ic instigations and deceptions, as an outcome of which, one would add
something new to it, or leave some of that which is already there.
Stern Warnings against Making Additions in Established
Religion
According to Tafsir Mazhari, included here are the peoples of the
past communities as well, those who had abandoned their basic relig-
ion and had added to it things on their own - and with them, there are
the deviators and innovators (the partisans of Bid'ah) of this Ummah
too, who keep adding baseless things, on their own, into the Din of Is-
lam. About this, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:
'My Ummah will face the same conditions faced by the Bani
Isra'il. The kind of evil practices in which they got involved
will also affect the people of my Ummah. The Bani Isra'il had
split into seventy two sects. My Ummah will break up into

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
seventy three sects - all of them will go to Hell, except one.
The Sahabah asked about the group which would be so blessed
with salvation. He said: 'ُمَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ وَأَصُحَابِئ (ma ana 'alaihi wa
aşhabi : That on which am I and my Companions)' - that is,
the collective body of people which follows my way and the
way of my Sahabah will be blessed with salvation. (This
narration from Sayyidna ibn 'Umar as Uni >, has been reported by Tirmidhi
and Abu Dawud)
Al-Tabarani has reported on sound authority from Sayyidna Faruq
al-Azam رضى الله عنه that he told Sayyidah 'A'ishah رضى الله عنها that the
sects mentioned in this verse are the people of Bid'ah (innovators in
established religion) who, following their whims and desires, invent
new ways in religion. The same view has been reported from Sayyidna
Abu Hurairahar Ulu+, with sound authority. Therefore, the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has emphatically prohibited the invention and in-
troduction of new methods in religion on one's own.
Based on a narration from Sayyidna Al-'Irbad ibn Sariyah, Imam
Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and others have reported that the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
"Those who live after me will see many differences. Therefore,
(I order you that) you should, abiding by my Sunnah (way)
and the Sunnah of my rightly-guided successors (Khulafa' ar-
Rashidin) strictly, keep doing what you do while adhering to
nothing but these, avoid the temptation of falling for new
methods because everything introduced anew into the religion
is Bid'ah, and every Bid'ah is error and straying.'
In another Hadith, he said: 'One who stood separated from the
Jama'ah, even to the measure of a span between the extended thumb
and the little finger, he has taken out the band of allegiance to Islam
from around his neck. (Abu Dawud and Ahmad)
According to Tafsir Mazhari, 'Jama'ah' in this Hadith means 'the
Jama'ah of Sahabah,' that is, the collective body or group of the noble
Companions of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The reason is that Allah
Ta'ala sent our master, Muhammad al-Mustafa صلى الله عليه وسلم as His Ra-
sul, and gave him the Qur'an, and blessed him with another (kind of)
Wahy (revelation) - which is called the Hadith or Sunnah. Then, there

524
Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
are many difficult or brief or ambiguous verses in the Qur'an. For their
Tafsir or explanation, Allah Ta'ala promised that He shall have these
clarified through His Rasul. The statement: Ju Leu ff (After that, to
make it clear to you is on Us - 75:19) means exactly this.
So, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explained the difficulties and
ambiguities of the Qur'an and groomed his direct disciples, that is, the
Sahabah into the many modes of his Sunnah through his word and
deed. Therefore, the conduct of the Sahabah as a major collective enti-
ty (placed by Divine design into a trail-blazing role as mirrors of their
blessed master) is in itself the statement and the explanation of the
Divinely-ordained Shari'ah of Islam.
Therefore, it is the good fortune of a Muslim that he or she should
follow the Kitab of Allah and the Sunnah of the Rasul of Allah - and
whenever one faces a doubt in the meaning of an 'Ayah of the Qur'an
or the sense of a Hadith, one should go by the meaning and sense pre-
ferred by the noble Şahabah.
Unfortunately, as a result of people ignoring this sacrosanct rule of
conduct, Islam had to see the emergence of different sects which would
set aside the proven conduct and explanations of the Şahabah and take
the liberty of saying what they wished and declare it to be the very
meaning of the Qur'an and Sunnah. These are the ways of error the
Holy Qur'an has repeatedly warned against and the Holy Prophet L.
pu tle All has emphatically prohibited it throughout his blessed life, at
times, even castigated those acting against this rule with la'nah.
Sayyidah 'A'ishah As-Siddiqah Ls Ul+, reports that the Holy
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that on six persons he casts his la nah, and
may the la'nah of Allah be upon them: (1) The person who has added
something to the Book of Allah from his side (that is, whether added
some words, or carried the meaning to such excessive limits as is con-
trary to the Tafsir of the Sahabah), (2) the person who has denied the
Divinely-ordained destiny, (3) the person who hoists himself into a po-
sition of authority over the Muslim Ummah by force (or deceit) so that
he would honour the person disgraced by Allah, and disgrace the per-
son given honour by Allah, (4) the person who took as Halal what Al-
lah had made Haram, that is, indulged in killing at the sacred pre-
cincts of the Haram in Makkah, or, hunted there, (5) the person who

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
dishonoured my family and children, and (6) the person who aban-
doned my Sunnah.
مَنْ جَآءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ قَلَهُ عَشْكُرْ آَمْثَالِهَا وَمَنْ جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا : Said in the second (160) verse is
Whoever comes with a good deed, receives ten) يُجْزَى إِلَّ مِثْلَهَا وَهُمْ لَا يُطْلَمُونَ
times as much, and whoever comes with an evil deed, he will not be
recompensed by anything but its equal, and they shall not be
wronged).
Stated in the previous verse (159) was that the punishment for the
evil deeds of those who turn away from the straight path rested with
Allah alone.
In the present verse, the generous procedure of reward and punish-
ment in the Hereafter has been described by saying that a person who
does one good deed will get ten times more in return - and a person
who commits one sin, the return for him will be equal to that of one
sin.
As reported in the Sahih of Al-Bukhari and Muslim and in Nasa'i
and the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Most
Exalted and Very Merciful is your Rabb. A person who intends to do a
good deed has one good recorded in his Book of Deeds - even if he does
not get around to do it. Following that, when he gets to do that good
deed, ten good deeds are recorded in his Book of Deeds. And if a person
intends to do a sin, then stays back and does not do it, still a good is
recorded for him - and if he were to actually commit a sin, still what he
gets registered in his name is one sin, or that too is erased. With this
showering of grace and mercy in the presence of Allah, who can appre-
hend total destruction? Unless, of course, there be that rare person
who is determined to be destroyed. (Ibn Kathir)
In a Hadith Qudsi narrated by Sayyidna Abu Dharr as Ul +), it is
said:
'A person who does one good deed gets the reward of ten, even
more - and a person who commits one sin will get its punish-
ment equal to one sin only, or I shall forgive even that. And a
person who comes to Me with sins which would fill the whole
earth, and still seeks forgiveness, I shall treat him with
matching forgiveness. And a person who comes closer towards

526
Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 159 - 160
Me to the measure of one hand finger-span, I step one hand-
span towards him. And a person who steps one hand-span to-
ward Me, I come towards him by the measure of one Ba' (the
stretch of both hands). And the person who comes walking to-
wards Me, towards him I come running.'
From these Hadith narrations, we can see that the increase of ten
times for one good deed as mentioned in this verse is actually a de-
scription of its base limit - and Allah Ta'ala, in His mercy and generos-
ity, may give even more than that, and shall give, as proved by other
narrations which place it upto the level of seventy times or seven hun-
dred times.
In the words of the verse, it is noteworthy that the expression used
is : ◌ِجَاءَ بِالْحُسَنَة ('comes with a good deed') and not: ◌ِعَمِلَ بِالحَسَنَة (does a good
deed). According to Tafsir Al-Bahr Al-Muhit, this indicates that such
reward or punishment will not be awarded just on having done some-
thing good or bad. Instead of that, the condition is that to deserve re-
ward or punishment, a good or bad deed must survive as such until
the time of death. The outcome is that a person who has done a good
deed, but it gets destroyed because of the misfortune of some sin, then,
he no longer remains deserving of reward against this deed. An exam-
ple of it is, God forbid, that of Shirk and Kufr which, in fact, destroy all
good deeds. In addition to that there are many other sins which make
some good deeds turn false and ineffectual - as it appears in the Holy
Qur'an: لَا تُبُطِلُؤًا صَدَقْتِكُمُ بِالْمُنَّ وَأُلاَذِى (do not nullify your charities by boasting
about favour, and teasing -2:264).
This tells us that the good deed of charity (sadaqah) gets nullified
and wasted by boasting about the favour done or by causing hurt
through teasing and underrating the recepient. Similarly, it appears
in Hadith that sitting in the Masjid and talking about worldly things
eats up good deeds as fire eats up the wood. This tells us that good
deeds, such as, Nafl, Tasbih and Dhikr, go to waste by indulging in
mundane conversation.
Similar is the case of evil deeds which, if repented from, become
the cause of the sin being erased from the Book of Deeds - it does not
keep sticking to a person until the time of death. Therefore, not said in
the verse was something like: 'does any deed, good or bad, for which

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Surah Al-An'am : 6 : 161 - 165
there will be punishment or reward.' Instead, what was said, in effect,
was: Whoever brings to Us a good deed will get a reward ten times as
much and whoever brings to Us an evil deed, then, it will be only one
deed he will be punished for. The point is that this act of bringing to
Allah Ta'ala can become possible only when this deed remains intact
and unharmed right through the end. The crucial thing is that it sur-
vives, that nothing happens in between which will cause the good deed
to be spoiled or wasted - and of course, the method is to keep repenting
and seeking the forgiveness of Allah Ta'ala from falling into any evil
deed.
At the end of the verse, it was said: 321h 4 3; (and they shall not be
wronged). It means that this is no human court. This is the Highest of
the high. No probability of any injustice to anyone exists there, nor can
there be a decrease in the return for someone's good deed, nor is there
any possibility of an increase in the punishment for someone's evil
deed.
Verses 161 - 165
قُلُ إِنَّنِىُ هَذُنِىٌ رَبِّ إِلَى صِرَاطِ تُّسْتَقِيْمِهْ دِيْنًا قِيَمًا قِلَّةً
إِبْرُهِيُمَ حَنِيْفَاءٌ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِيْنَ ﴿١٦١) قُلْ إِنَّ صَلَاَنِىُ
وَنُسُكِىْ وَمَحْيَاتَ وَتَتِىٌ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعُلَمِيْنَ ﴿١٦٢) لَا شَرِيُكَ
لَهٌ وَبِذْلِكَ أُمِرْتُ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ ﴿١٦٣) قُلْ أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ
اَبُغِىُ رَّا وَّهُوَ رَبُّ كُلِّ شَىُْ وَلاَ تَكْسِبُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ إِلَّ
عَلَيْهَاء وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ قِزْرَ أُخْرَى ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمُ مَّرْجِعُكُمْ
فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنُمُ فِيْهٍ تَخْتَلِفُونَ ﴿١٦٤) وَهُوَالَّذِىُ جَعَلَكُمْ
خَلْفَ الْأَرْضِ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمُ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجْتٍ لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِىْ
مَّا أَتْكُمُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ سَرِيْعُ الْعِقَابٍ ، وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيْمٌ ﴿١٦٥﴾
Say, "As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight
path: the straight religion, the faith of Ibrahim, the up-
right; and he was not of those who associate partners
with Allah. [161]