1. ALIF. LAM. MIM. Allah knows best what is meant by this.

2. That, meaning this is the Book which Muhammad recites, with -out any doubt, or uncertainty about the fact that it is from Allah. The use of the word “that” indicates great esteem. It contains guidance, in that the Book itself guides, for the god-fearing (muttaqün). They are those who have taqwa, meaning that they obey the commands of Allah and avoid His prohibitions in order to save themselves from the Fire.

3. Those who believe in the Unseen, affirming things they cannot see, such as the Resurrection, the Garden and the Fire, and establish the prayer, performing it with all its requirements, and spend from what We have provided for them, spending what they have been given in ways commensurate with obedience to Allah.

4. Those who believe in what has been sent down to you (the Quran) and what was sent down before you (the Torah, Gospel and other Revelations), and are certain about the Next World, meaning they know definitively that it exists.

5. They (those We have described above) are the people guided by their Lord. They are the ones who have success, meaning they will gain the Garden and be far from the Fire.

6. As for those who disbelieve, such as Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab and their like, it makes no difference to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe. Allah knows that about them so it is no good desiring them to believe. Warning someone means telling them about something while trying to give them fear of it to avert them from it.

7. Allah has sealed up their hearts, by stamping a coating on them and making them solid so that no good is able to penetrate them, and hearing, precluding them from benefiting from what they hear of the Truth, and over their eyes is a blindfold, a covering preventing them from seeing the Truth. They will have a terrible punishment which will be severe and everlasting.

8. This was revealed about the hypocrites. Among the people there are some who say, “We believe in Allah and the Last Day,” meaning the Day of Rising because it is the last of all days, when they do not believe.

9. They think they deceive Allah and those who believe by outwardly displaying something different from their concealed unbelief so as to avert worldly judgements from themselves. They deceive no one but themselves because the evil effects of their deceit come back on them and they are disgraced in this world since Allah has acquainted His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with what they are concealing; and they will also be punished in the Next World. But they are not aware of it. They do not know that they are deceiving themselves. Here the attempt at “deceit” (mukh da‘a) comes from one side, although the verbal noun can imply reciprocity.

10. There is a sickness in their hearts taking the form of doubt and hypocrisy. It is an illness of the heart because it weakens it. And Allah has increased their sickness through the Quran revealing their unbelief. They will have a painful punishment on account of their denial (read as yukadhdhibuna and yakdhibuna). The former means denial and refers to their denial of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; the latter means lying and refers to their lying when they said, “We believed”.

11. When they (these people) are told, “Do not cause corruption on the earth,” by unbelief and twisting away from belief, they say, “We are only putting things right.” They only reply that they were not causing corruption. Therefore Allah refutes them in the next ayat.

12 No indeed! This is a notification of the truth of the matter. They are the corrupters, but they are not aware of that.

13. When they are told, “Believe in the way that the people (the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) believe,” they say, “What! Are we to believe in the way that fools (the ignorant) believe?” So what they are saying is: “Do not do as they do.” The Almighty refutes them and tells us about them: No indeed! They are the fools, but they do not know that.

14. When they meet those who believe, they say, “We believe.” But then when they go apart and return to their shaytans, who are their leaders, they say, “We are really with you in your religion. We were only mocking them by making a display of belief.”

15. But Allah is mocking them to repay them for their mocking, and drawing them on by granting them a respite, as they wander blindly in their excessive insolence. They wander, bewildered, going to and fro in their overstepping of the proper bounds through their rejection and unbelief.

16. Those are the people who have sold guidance for misguidance, exchanging one for the other. Their trade has brought no profit; rather they have suffered a loss by going to the Fire for ever. They are not guided in what they have done

17. Their likeness in their hypocrisy is that of people who light a fire in the darkness, and then when it has lit up all around them, so they are able to see and can warm themselves and temporarily escape their fear, Allah removes (extinguishes) their light and leaves them in darkness, unable to see what is around them. They are fearful and bewildered, not knowing which way to turn. This is the case with those who make a false show of belief in this world. When they die, they will experience fear and punishment.

18. Deaf to the truth so they are unable to accept it; dumb to uttering good; blind to the Path of guidance so they unable to see it. They will not return from misguidance.

19. Now comes another metaphor for the hypocrites likening them to people in a thunderstorm. Or that of a storm-cloud (Bayyib from the verb Ba, yabuba, meaning to come down, meaning a dense black cloud which comes down out of the sky) in the sky, full of layers of darkness, thunder, which is the angel in charge of it or is also said to be the sound it makes, and lightning which reinforces the sound of thunder, by which they are rebuked. They put the tips of their fingers in their ears trying to protect them against the ear splitting thunderclaps so that they do not hear them, fearful of death. They fear death when they hear them. This is a metaphor for what happened with some people when the Qur’an was revealed. Their unbelief is likened to the darkness of the cloud, the Qur’anic threat to thunder, and the vivid clarity of its arguments to lightning. They block their ears so as not to hear it, out of fear that it might make them incline to belief and abandon their religion. They consider that to be tantamount to death. Allah encompasses the unbelievers with His knowledge and power and they cannot escape Him.

20. The lightning all but takes away their sight when it flashes on them suddenly. Whenever they have light from its flash, they walk in it, but whenever darkness covers them, they halt when it goes dark again. This is a metaphor of how what is in the Quran’ n alarms their hearts. They affirm things they like in it but stop at what they dislike. If Allah wished, He could take away their hearing and their sight, both outward and inward. Allah has power over all things and can do whatever He wills, including removing what was mentioned.

21. Mankind (here implying “People of Makka”)! Worship your Lord, meaning affirm His unity, who created you, originating you out of nothing, and created those before you, so that hopefully you will be god-fearing and by your worship of Him protect yourselves from His punishment. The word la‘alla (hopefully, perhaps) basically implies hope and expectation but when used by the Almighty it becomes definite.

22. It is He who made (created) the earth a couch for you, meaning something which is spread out and laid down (the earth is neither too hard nor too soft, either of which would make it impossible to live on), and the sky a dome like a roof. He sends down water from the sky and by it brings forth various fruits for your provision. Do not, then, knowingly make others equal to Allah by assigning partners to Allah in your worship when you know that He is the Creator and that they create nothing and that only the One who creates can truly be given the name of God.

23. If you have doubts about what We have sent down to Our slave, what has been revealed of the Quran’ n by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad, produce another sura like it, and bring its equal in respect of eloquence and structure and reporting about the Unseen. The minimum amount required for a sura would be three ayats. And call your witnesses (the gods you worship) besides Allah to help you, if you are telling the truth about Muhammad making this up by himself. Do the same thing yourselves: you are eloquent speakers of Arabic like him. Since they were unable to do so, Allah addresses them in the following ayat.

24. If you do not do that, emphasising their incapacity – and you will not do it, their incapacity will be perpetual – then fear, b y believing in Allah and that that this is not the speech of a mortal, the Fire whose fuel is people (unbelievers) and stones such as idols which, because its heat is so great, burn in it like firewood burns the fires of this world, made ready for the unbelievers who will be punished in it.

25. Give the good news (information) to those who believe in Allah and do right actions in the form of obligatory duties and voluntary good deeds that they will have Gardens with trees and dwelling places in them and there will be rivers flowing under them. They will flow under the trees and palaces there. A river (nahr) is a place where water flows because the water excavates (nahara) a channel. When they are given fruit there as provision, in other words eat the fruit of that Garden, they will say, “This is what we were give n before,” meaning that it resembles what they have had before in the Garden. But they were only given a simulation of it because the fruits are the same in colour and yet different in taste. They will have their spouses among the houris and others of perfect purity, meaning that they will be free of menstruation or any other kind of impurity, and will remain there timelessly, forever, never leaving it or passing away.

26. This ayat was revealed to refute the Jews, who had said, when Allah made an example of a fly in His words, “And if a fly steals something away from them” (22:73) and a spider, in His words, “that of the spider” (29:41), “What does Allah mean by mentioning these insignificant things?” Allah replies to them by saying: Allah is not ashamed to make an example of a gnat or of an even smaller thing. (“Smaller” can also mean “bigger”; the point being that Allah does not fail to make clear what can be learned from something, no matter what its size.) As for those who believe, they know that the analogy is the truth from their Lord and describes what actually occurs. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, “What does Allah mean by this example?” The question asked by the unbelievers is in reality a denial, meaning “There is in fact no purpose in it.” He misguides from the truth many by this example since they reject it and guides many of the believers by it through their affirmation of it. But He only misguides the deviators who have abandoned obedience to Allah.

27. Those who break Allah’s contract, going back on what has been agreed in the Books about believing in Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, after it has been agreed and firmly covenanted, and sever what Allah has commanded to be joined in respect of believing in the Prophet, maintaining ties of kinship and other such things, and cause corruption on the earth by perpetrating acts of disobedience and turning away from belief. It is those who warrant this description who are the lost since they will go to the Fire forever.

28. How, people of Makka, can you disbelieve in Allah when you were dead as lifeless sperm in your fathers’ loins and then He gave you life in the womb and in this world by breathing the spirit into you? The use of a question here is to show amazement at their unbelief when the evidence is so clear; or it might also be a question intended as a rebuke. Then He will make you die at the end of your allotted life-spans and then give you life again at the resurrection, and then you will be returned to Him after the resurrection for the reckoning of your actions. Allah is alluding to the fact of resurrection which the unbelievers deny.

29. It is He who created everything on the earth for you, for your benefit and for you to reflect on, and then, after creating the earth, directed His attention up to heaven and arranged it into seven regular heavens which is another sign. He has knowledge of all things in general and in detail. Do you not realise that the One who is able to create all that from nothing – and it is far greater than you – is able to bring you back to life again?

30. Remember, O Muhammad when your Lord said to the angels, “I am putting a regent (◊dam) on the earth to carry out My judgements in it.” They said, “Why put on it one who will cause corruption on it by acts of disobedience and shed blood in it by killing as the jinn had done, (they had been in the earth before man and when they caused corruption, Allah sent the angels against them who drove them to the islands and mountains) when we glorify You with praise, saying ‘Glory be to You and by Your praise,’ and proclaim Your purity, exonerating You absolutely from anything at all which is not fitting for You?” The angels were saying that they were more entitled to be regents than mankind. He said, “I know what You do not know.” Allah informs them that He knows why it is correct to appoint Adam and his descendants as regents even though among them are those who will obey and those who will rebel. For that reason justice will be manifested between them. They had said, “Our Lord will not create any creature nobler in His sight than us, nor any with more knowledge, since we existed before any such creature existed and have seen what he has not seen.” So Allah Almighty created Adam from the surface (adim) of the earth by taking from every type of soil and He mixed it with different kinds of water and fashioned man and breathed the spirit into him so that he became alive and sentient after having been an inanimate substance.

31. He taught Adam the names of all things by putting that knowledge into his heart. Then He arrayed them (the masculine plural (hum) is used for these things rather than the feminine singular ending (h) normally used for things in the plural because they include intelligent beings) before the angels and said to rebuke them, “Tell me the names of these if you are telling the truth, since you say that I have not created any with more knowledge than you and that you are more entitled to be regents.”

32. They said, “Glory be to You! Indicating “We do not oppose you! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are indeed the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” Nothing is outside of Allah’s knowledge and wisdom.

33. He (Allah) said, “Adam, tell them (the angels) their names, the names of all things.” So he told them their proper names and the wisdom behind their creation. When he had told them their names, He (Allah) said to rebuke them, “Did I not tell you that I know the Unseen of the heavens and the earth and what is hidden in them, and I know what you make known, referring to the angels‘words, “Why put on it…?”, and what you hide?” referring to their statement that Allah would not create any being with more honour and knowledge than them.

34. Remember when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam!” This prostration is a prostration of greeting by bowing. And they prostrated, with the exception of Iblis. Iblis, the progenitor of the jinn, was with the angels. He refused to prostrate and was arrogant, too proud to do prostrate to him, saying, “I am better than him,” and was one of the unbelievers in the absolute knowledge of Allah.

35. We said, “Adam, live in the Garden, you (the grammatical form of the expression “live” “askunanta” repeats the pronoun “anta” “you” in order to stress it. It is normally merely implicit in the imperative.) And your wife, (aww ’, who was created from his left rib) and eat freely (over a vast area without any restriction) from it wherever you will. But do not approach this tree by eating from it and so become wrongdoers (people of disobedience).” The tree was either wheat or grapes or something else.

36. But Shaytan (Iblis) made them slip up (read as faazal -lahum and fa-az lahum) by means of it and removed them from the Garden by saying to them, “Shall I direct you the Tree of Immortality?” and, by swearing by Allah to them that he was giving them good counsel, persuaded them to eat some of it, expelling them from where they were living in bliss. We said, “Descend t o earth, you and your descendants, as enemies to each other where your descendants will wrong one another. You will have residence (a place to live) on the earth and enjoyment of its fruits for a time (until you die).”

37. Then Adam received some words from his Lord, (one reading has the name of Adam in the accusative, Adama, and “words” in the nominative, kalimtun, so that the meaning becomes “words came to dam”) He inspired Adam with the words: “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves and if You do not forgive us and show mercy to us, we will be among the lost.”(7:23) and Adam made supplication using them and He turned towards him and Allah accepted his repentance. He is the Ever-Returning, always turning to His slaves, the Most Merciful, always showing mercy towards them.

38. We said, “Go down from it (the Garden), every one of you! “Every one of you” is added to include the rest of mankind with Adam. Then when guidance in the form of a Book or a Messenger comes to you from Me, those who follow My guidance and believe in Me and obey Me will feel no fear and will know no sorrow in the Next World because they will enter the Garden.

39. But those who disbelieve and deny Our Signs (Books) are the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, forever. They will stay there never emerging from it.

40. Tribe of Israel (descendants of Ya‘qub)! remember the blessing I conferred on you, meaning your ancestors, by rescuing you from Pharaoh, parting the sea, and sending the manna and quail and other things for which you should show gratitude by obeying Allah. Honour My contract which I made with you to believe in Muhammad and I will honour your contract which I made with you to reward you for that by admitting you into the Garden. Have dread of Me alone, meaning fear not fulfilling your contract with Me by preferring something else to it.

41. Believe in what I have sent down (the Qur’an), confirming what is with you (the Torah and what it says regarding tawhid and prophet hood). Do not be the first of the People of the Book to disbelieve in it because you will bear the sin of those who follow you. And do not sell and exchange My Signs in your Book containing the description of Muhammad for a paltry price, for the sake of gaining a few goods of this world, meaning do not conceal it fearing you will lose what you lent the Muslims. Have fear of Me alone. Fear only Me regarding that and do not fear anything or anyone other than Me.

42. Do not mix up truth which has been revealed to you with false -hood which you fabricate and knowingly hide the truth about Muhammad when you know it to be the truth.

43. Establish the prayer and pay zakat and bow with those who bow (Muhammad and his Companions). This was revealed about the Jewish scholars. They used to say to their Muslim relatives, “Remain firm in the din of Muhammad. It is the truth.”

44. Do you order people to devoutness, to believe in Muhammad, and forget yourselves by failing to do so yourselves, in which case you should not command it, when you recite the Book, the To r a h which contains the threat about people whose words are different from their deeds? Will you not use your intellect and understand that what you do is evil and so turn back from it?

45. Seek help in your affairs in steadfastness, which entails forcing the self to do what it dislikes, and the prayer, which is mentioned in the singular to exalt it. In hadith we find: “The company of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were commanded to hasten to the prayer.” It is said that this ayat is addressed to the Jews because they deviated from belief through avarice and love of leadership. Commanding steadfastness may mean fasting because fasting breaks the appetite, and the prayer is prescribed because it brings about humility and nullifies pride. But that, the prayer is a very hard thing, except for the humble, those who submit to obedience:

46. …those who are aware (certain) that they will meet their Lord after their resurrection and that they will return to Him and be made to account for their actions in the Next World.

47. Tribe of Israel! Remember the blessing I conferred on you by being thankful and obeying Me, and that I preferred you, meaning your ancestors, over all other beings in their time.

48. Have fear of a Day (the Day of Rising) when no self will be able to compensate for another in any way, no intercession be accepted (read as yuqbalu and taqbalu) from it so you will have no intercessors, no ransom (‘adl, which usually means justice but here means ransom) taken from it, and none will be helped against the punishment.

49. Remember when We rescued you, meaning your ancestors, although this ayat and what follows it is addressed to those Jews who existed at the time of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from the people of Pharaoh. This recalls what happened to their ancestors in order to remind them of Allah’s blessing to them so that they would believe. They were inflicting an evil punishment (the worst kind of punishment) on you – slaughtering your sons and letting your women live. The reason for the killing of their sons was that Pharaoh’s priests said that a boy would be born among the tribe of Israel who would be the cause of the loss of his kingdom. In that there was an immense trial from your Lord. “That” may refer either to the punishment or the rescue and so the “trial” either may be either an affliction or a blessing.

50. And remember when We parted the sea for you so that you could cross through it when you were fleeing from your enemies and rescued you from drowning, and drowned the people of Pharaoh along with him while you watched the sea cover them.

51. And when We allotted (read as w'adn and wa‘adn) forty nights to Musa. At the end of the forty nights the Torah was revealed to Musa so that the Jews could act on it. Then you adopted the Calf which the Samiri manufactured as a god when he (Musa) had gone to his appointment and you were wrongdoers by devoting your worship to what was not appropriate for it.

52. Then We pardoned you after that by wiping away your sins after that incident so that perhaps you would show thanks for Our blessing.

53. Remember when We gave Musa the Book (the Torah) and the Discrimination between truth and falsehood, the lawful and unlawful, so that perhaps you would be guided away from misguidance.

54. And when Musa said to his people who were worshipping the Calf, “My people! You wronged yourselves by adopting the Calf as a god, so turn towards your Maker who created you to worship Him and kill yourselves. This means to let those who are innocent kill the evildoers among you. That (killing) is the best thing for you in your Maker’s sight.” He made them prepare to carry that out, and then sent a black cloud over them so that they would not see one another and be moved by mercy until about seventy thousand had been killed. And He turned towards you and accepted your repentance. He is the Ever-Returning, the Most Merciful.

55. And when you went with Musa to apologise to Allah for worshipping the Calf and you heard what he said, then you said, “Musa, we will not believe in you until we see Allah with our own eyes.” So the thunder-bolt (the Divine Blast which caused them to die) struck you dead while you were looking at what happened to them.

56. Then We brought you back to life after your death, so that per -haps you would show thanks for Our blessing to you.

57. And We shaded you with clouds, causing thin clouds to give you shade and protect you from the heat of the sun in the desert, and sent down in it manna and quails which are truffles and small birds, to you and We said: “Eat of the good things We have provided for you and do not hoard them up and be ungrateful for the blessing you have been given.” However, they did hoard them up and so their pro-vision stopped coming. They did not wrong Us by that; rather it was themselves they were wronging, bringing ill fortune on them-selves by what they did.

58. Remember when We said to them after they left the desert, “Go into this town (Jerusalem or Jericho) and eat from it wheresoever’s you like, freely (without restriction). Enter the gate of the city prostrating (bowing) and say, ‘Relieve us of our burdens!’ This expression, hitta in Arabic, means “remove our sins from us”. Your mistakes will be forgiven. There are three readings for the word “forgiven”: “We will forgive” with nun (naghfir), “they (the mistakes) will be forgiven” with t’ (tughfar), and “He will forgive” with y’ (yaghfir). We will grant increase to all good-doers as a reward for their obedience.”

59. But those among them who did wrong substituted words other than those they had been given. It is related that they said, “A grain (ibba) of barley!” and entered the city on their buttocks. The grammatical form emphasises the ugliness of what they did. So We sent down a plague, rijz meaning plague and a punishment, from heaven on those who did wrong because they were deviators. This was sent down because of their deviation (fisq), meaning their failure to show obedience, and as a result of it something like seventy thousand of them perished within a very short period of time.

60. And remember when Musa was looking for water for his people after they became thirsty in the desert. We said, “Strike the rock with your staff.” The rock referred to is the same rock which had run off with Musa’s clothes when they accused him of having a deformity because he did not undress in front of them. It was square like a man’s head, made of marble or alabaster. He struck it and then twelve fountains gushed out from it, the same as the number of the tribes, and all the people knew their drinking place. Each tribe had their own drinking place which no one else shared. We said to them, “Eat and drink of Allah’s provision and do not go about the earth corrupting it.” This is repeated for emphasis.

61. And when you said, “Musa , we will not put up with just one kind of food (manna and quail), so ask your Lord to supply to us some of what the earth produces – its green vegetables, cucumbers, grains, lentils and onions,” he (Musa ) said to them, “Do you want to replace what is better with what is inferior? Musa asked them if they wanted what was inferior and the question implies disapproval. When they refused to retract, he prayed to Allah Almighty who said, Go back to Egypt, meaning go back down to one of the cities and then in it you will have what plants you are asking for.” Abasement (humiliation) and destitution were stamped upon them. Destitution was the effect of the poverty resulting from their abasement and disgrace, which continues to attach itself to them, even if they are rich, just as the minted dirham is stamped by its die. They brought down (returned with) anger and that stamp from Allah upon themselves. That was because they rejected Allah’s Signs and killed the Prophets (such as Zakariyya and Yahya) without any right to do so and so it was arrant wrongdoing. That was because they rebelled and went beyond the limits in disobedience to Allah. The repetition in the last sentence is used for stress

62. Those who believe in the previous Prophets, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans (a group of Jews or Christians), all of them who believe in Allah and the Last Day in the time of our Prophet and act rightly according to his Shari’a, will have their reward for their actions with their Lord. They will feel no fear and they will know no sorrow. This reverts back to the third person plural pronoun, as used in the beginning of the ayat in “those who believe.”

63. Remember when We made the covenant with you to act according to what is in the Torah and lifted up the Mount above your heads: Mount Sinai was uprooted and held over their heads when they refused to accept. We said, “ Take hold vigorously (with seriousness and effort) of what We have given you and pay heed to what is in it by acting on it, so that perhaps you will be god-fearing and so avoid the Fire or disobedience.”

64. Then after that covenant and promise to obey you turned away, and were it not for Allah’s favour to you and His mercy demonstrated by turning to you or delaying the punishment, you would have been among the lost (destroyed).

65. You are well aware of (know) those of you who broke the limits and the Sabbath by fishing on the Sabbath which Allah had forbid-den them to do. They were people of the town of Ayla. We said to them, “Be apes, despised, cast out.” They were cast out and died after three days.

66. We made it (that punishment) an exemplary punishment for those there then and those coming afterwards to deter others, both their contemporaries and those after them, from doing the same kind of thing, and a warning to the godfearing. Those who fear Allah are specified because they benefit from being warned whereas others do not.

67. And remember when Musa said to his people when one of them had been murdered and it was not known who had done it and they asked Musa to pray to Allah for them to solve it and he did so. He said, “Allah commands you to sacrifice a cow,” they said, “What! Are you making a mockery of us by giving such an answer?” He said, “I seek refuge with Allah from being one of the ignorant who mock!”

68. When they knew that he was serious, they said, “Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what it should be like by a detailed description of it.” He said, “He says that she should be a cow, not old or virgin (young), but somewhere between the two ages. So do as you have been told,” meaning “Slaughter it as you have been ordered to.”

69. They said, “Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what colour it should be.” He said, “He says that she should be a red cow, the colour of sorrel, a pleasure to all who look.” The colour should be very vivid and very pleasing to the eye.

70. They said, “Ask your Lord to make it clear to us what it should be like, whether it should be a grazing or working cow. Cows are all much the same to us. The genus of cows is similar to us and, because there are many different sorts, we are not sure which one is meant. Then if Allah wills, we will be guided.” According to a hadith, “If they had not said ‘if Allah wills’ it would never have been clear to them.”

71. He said, “He says that it should be a cow not been trained to plough or irrigate the fields – it should not be a working animal and “not being trained” is part of the prohibition – completely sound with no defects or marks from work, without a blemish, a trace of any other colour, on it.” They said, “Now you have brought the truth.” (“Now you have made it completely clear.”) So they looked for such an animal and found it with a pious youth and his mother and they bought it in exchange for filling the house with gold. So they sacrificed it – but they almost did not do it. They almost did not do it because it was so expensive. In hadith, “If they had sacrificed any cow, it would have been enough for them, but they made things difficult for themselves by their questions and so Allah made it difficult for them.”

72. Remember when you killed someone and violently accused each other of it (argued about it) and Allah brought out what you were hiding regarding the matter.

73. We said, “Hit him, the murdered man, with part of it!” He was hit with the cow’s tongue or tail and then he came back to life and said, “So-and-so and so-and-so killed me,” naming his cousins, and died again. So the two murderers were denied inheritance and were executed. Then Allah says, “In that way (bringing back the murdered man to life) Allah gives life to the dead, and He shows you His Signs (indications of His power) so that hopefully you will understand: in order that you may reflect and realise that the One who has the power to bring one soul back to life can also bring many souls back to life and so you should have faith.

74. Then your hearts, Jews, became hardened against the Truth after that, (this instance of bringing the dead to life and the signs before it) so they were like rocks in hardness or even harder still than stones. There are some rocks from which rivers gush forth, and others which split open and water comes out, and others which crash down from high to low out of fear of Allah, but you are neither affected, nor softened nor do you fear. Allah is not unaware of what you do (read as ta‘lamuna, “you do” and ya‘lamuna “ they do”); Allah defers you to your appointed time.

75. Do you (believers) really hope they (the Jews) will follow you in belief when a group of them (a group of their rabbis) heard Allah’s Word in the Torah and then, after grasping and understanding i t , knowingly distorted and altered it? They forged lies, so do not hold out any hope for them; they have already disbelieved. The question implies disapproval of what they did.

76. When they (the hypocritical Jews) meet those who believe, they say, “We believe that Muhammad is a Prophet and the good news about him is in our Book.” But when they return and go apart with one another, they (their leaders who did not behave hypocritically) say to the hypocrites, “Why do you speak to them (the believers) about what Allah has disclosed to you, about what the Torah says of the description of Muhammad, so that they can use it as an argument against you before your Lord in the Next World, saying that you did not follow Muhammad although you knew that he spoke the truth? Will you not use your intellect?” “Why do you not show more sense when you speak to them, and stop telling them this?”

77. Allah Almighty says, “Do they not know that Allah knows what they keep secret and what they make public? This is a question meant for confirmation and means: “Is the realisation of this not enough to make them cease doing it?”

78. Some of them (Jews) are illiterate, knowing nothing of the Book (the Torah) but wishful thinking, the lies they have learned from their leaders and have then believed. In their denial of the prophet hood of the Prophet and other things about which they disagree they only speculate. They have no real knowledge.

79. Woe (a terrible punishment) to those who write the Book with their own hands differently from what is in their possession a n d then say, “This is from Allah,” to sell it for a paltry price in this world. They are the Jews who removed the description of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which was in the Torah and the verse of stoning and other things which they wrote differently from how they were originally revealed! Woe to them for what their hands have written and forged! Woe to them for what they earn by the bribes they have received!

80. They say when they are threatened with the Fire, “The Fire will only touch us for a number of days.” claiming that it will only burn them for forty days, which was the period during which their ancestors worshipped the Calf. Then the revelation came, Say to them, Muhammad, “Have you made a contract and covenant with Allah –then Allah will not break His contract regarding that – or are you rather saying about Allah what you do not know?” You are indeed saying what you do not know.

81. No indeed! Those who persist and continue to accumulate bad actions by shirk and are surrounded on every side and overcome by their mistakes (read in both the singular, khati’atuhu, and the plural, khatı’atuhu) so that they die as idolaters, such people are the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, forever.

82. Whereas those who believe and do right actions, such people are the Companions of the Garden, remaining in it timelessly, forever.

83. Remember when We made a covenant with the tribe of Israel in the Torah: We said, “Worship (read as both ta‘buduna in the second person and ya‘buduna in the third person) none but Allah (although this is grammatically a report, it is actually a prohibition) and be good to your parents by being dutiful and to relatives as well as parents and to orphans and the very poor. And speak good (read as usn as well as asan) words to people, meaning command what is known to be right and forbid what is recognised as wrong and be truthful about Muhammad, and to be gentle with people. And establish the prayer and pay zakat.” But then you turned away (Allah is telling them that although they had accepted to do all that, they nevertheless did not fulfil it. The ayat changes from the third person to the second person, from “them” to “you”, but it is still their forefathers who are intended) – except a few of you. You turned aside just as your forefathers did.

84. And when We made a covenant with you and We told you not to shed your blood by killing one another and not to expel one another from your homes, evicting someone from his own home, you agreed and accepted that covenant and was all witnesses to one another.

85. Then you are the people who are killing one another and expelling a group among you from their homes, ganging up (read as taharuna and taharuna) against them in wrongdoing (disobedience) and enmity (injustice). Yet if they are brought to you as captives (read as usr), you ransom them (read as tuf duhum and tafduhum) from captivity with money and other things when it was forbidden for you to expel them in the first place! The expression, “when it was forbidden for you to expel them” refers back to the words to “expelling a group”, and what is said between the two expressions is in parenthesis. It means: In the same way that it is unlawful for you not to ransom them, so it was unlawful to expel them at all. The Jewish clan of Quraysh had an alliance with Aws and that of Nadir with Khazraj, and each party fought with their allies and destroyed the other’s homes and expelled them from them. But when they were captured they ransomed them. When they were asked, ‘Why do you fight them and then ransom them?” they replied, “We are commanded to ransom.” When they were asked, “But why did you fight them?” They replied, “To avoid embarrassment if our allies were defeated.” Allah then asks, “Do you, then, believe in one part of the Book (the command to ransom) and reject another (the command not to fight and not to expel and gang up)? What repayment will there be for any of you who do that except disgrace by humiliation and abasement in this world? Their disgrace was realised through the killing of Quraysh and expulsion of Nadir and the imposition of the jizya. And on the Day of Rising, they will be returned to the harshest of punishments. Allah is not u n aware of what you do (read as ta‘maluna “what you do” and ya’lamuna “what they do”).

86. Those are the people who trade the Next World for this world by preferring this world to the Next World. The punishment will not be lightened for them. They will not be helped. They will not be protected from the punishment.

87. We gave Musa the Book (the Torah) and sent a succession of Messengers after him, meaning one Messenger after another. We gave Isa , son of Maryam, the Clear Signs, referring to his miracles such as bringing the dead to life and healing the blind and lepers, and reinforced him (strengthened him) with the Purest Ruh (Jibril). Jibril is called the “Purest Ruh˛” because of his complete purity. He accompanied him wherever he went. Why then, whenever a Messenger came to you with something of the truth your lower selves did not desire or want, did you not go straight but grow too arrogant to follow the truth when it came to you, and deny some of them and murder others such as Zakariyya and Yahya? This is a question by which rebuke is intended. In “murder” the imperfect tense rather than the past tense is used because it describes a past state which continued over time.

88. They said to the Prophet in mockery, “Our hearts are uncircumcised.” This means that they did not pay attention to what the Almighty says. Ghulf is the plural of aghlaf and the meaning is that there is something covering their hearts, so they do not understand what you say. Allah Almighty says, “Rather, counteracting what they said, Allah has cursed them for their unbelief. He has removed them far from His mercy and disappointed their hopes of acceptance on account of their unbelief, not because of any defect in their hearts. What little faith they have! The paucity of their belief is stressed by the extra ma.

89. When a Book (the Quran) does come to them from Allah, confirming what is with them (the Torah) – even though before that, before it came, they were praying for victory over those who disbelieve saying, “O Allah, help us against them with the Prophet who will be sent at the end of time!” – yet when what they recognise of the truth does come to them (a reference to the sending of the Prophet), they disbelieve it out of envy and fear of losing their position of leadership. Allah’s curse is on the unbelievers.

90. What an evil thing they have sold themselves for (the loss of their portion of the reward), by disbelieving in (rejecting) what Allah has sent down (the Quran), outraged out of intense envy that Allah should send down (read as yunzila and yunazzila) His favour, referring to Revelation, down on whichever of His slaves He wills and desires to make a Messenger. They have brought down anger from Allah for their rejection of what was revealed upon anger on themselves. “Anger” is indefinite to stress its terrible nature. They deserved it for squandering the Torah and rejecting Isa. Those who disbelieve will have a humiliating punishment.

91. When they are told, “Believe in what Allah has sent down (the Quran’ n and other revealed Books),” they say, “We believe in what was sent down to us (the Torah),” Allah says, and they disbelieve anything beyond that, other than it or after it, referring to the Quran, even though it is the truth, confirming what they have. Say to them, “Why then, if you are believers in the Torah, did you previously kill the Prophets of Allah when the Torah forbade you to kill them?” This is addressed to the Jews present in the time of our Prophet but refers to what their forefathers did because they were happy with what their ancestors did.

92. Musa brought you the Clear Signs (his miracles such as the staff turning into a snake, his hand turning white and splitting the sea); then, after he left and went to keep his appointment with his Lord, you adopted the Calf as a god and were wrongdoers by doing that.

93. Remember when We made a covenant with you to act by the Torah and lifted up the Mount Sinai above your heads when you refused to do that, so that it was about to fall on them, and then We said: “Take hold vigorously (with seriousness and effort) of what We have given you and listen and accept what you have been commanded to do.” They said, “We hear what you say and disobey your command.” They were made to drink the Calf into their hearts, so that love for it became intermingled with their hearts in the same way that a drink permeates through the body, for their unbelief. Say to them, “If you are believers in the Torah as you claim, what an evil thing in the form of worshipping the Calf your belief has made you do!” This means that they are not really believers because true belief would never direct them to worship the Calf. Although it is their forefathers who are being directly referred to, they are included with them because they too do not believe in the Torah and have denied Muhammad. True belief in the Torah would in fact make them accept him.

94. Say to them, “If the Abode of the Next World (the Garden) with Allah is for you alone and exclusively, to the exclusion of all others as you claim, then long for death if you are telling the truth.” Allah challenges this wishful thinking, making it subject to two conditions: truthfulness in their claim and yearning for death.

95. But they will never ever long for it because of what they have done, referring to their rejection of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah knows the wrongdoers, those who disbelieve, and will repay them appropriately.

96. Allah begins this ayat with the letter l m of the oath and says: Rather you will find them the people greediest and most eager for life, along with those who attribute partners to Allah (those who deny the Resurrection). In fact the Jews are even greedier for life than the idolaters, because they know that they will end up in the Fire, whereas the idolaters deny it altogether. Any of them would love (wish) to be allowed to live a thousand years. But being allowed to live would not save him or put him far away from the punishment (the Fire). Allah sees everything they do. (read as ya’lamuna “they do” and ta’maluna “you do”). Allah will give them their just deserts.

97. Say to them, “Anyone who is an enemy to Jibril let him die in his rage and he should know that it was he who brought it (the Quran) down upon your heart, by Allah’s authority (command), confirming what came before of the revealed Books, and as guidance from misguidance and good news of the Garden for the believers. Ibn Suriya, a Jew, asked the Prophet or ‘Umar which angel brought the revelation. “Jibril,” was the reply. He said, “He is our enemy. He brings the punishment. If it had been Mikail, we would have believed. He brings fruitfulness and peace.” Then this ayat was revealed and the Prophet was instructed to tell them this.

98. “Anyone who is an enemy of Allah and of His angels, and of His Messengers and of Jibril (also read as Jibril) and Mikail should know that Allah is an enemy to the unbelievers.” Adding the names of Jibril and Mikail after the angels as a whole have been mentioned is an example of “adding the specific to the general”.

99. We have sent down Clear Signs to you, Muhammad, and no one disbelieves them except the deviators who reject them. They are clear and evident Signs which refute the words of Ibn Suriya to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “You have brought us nothing.”

100. Why is it that whenever they make a contract with Allah to believe in the Prophet if he appears and not to help the unbelievers against him, a group of them disdainfully tosses it aside and break it? It is a question implying denial. No indeed! Most of them do not believe.

101. When a Messenger (Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) comes to them from Allah confirming what is with them, a group of those who have been given the Book (the Torah) disdainfully toss the Book of Allah behind their backs b y not acting according to its orders regarding belief in the Messenger and other things, as if they did not know what was in it about him being a true Prophet or that it was the Book of Allah.

102. As well as tossing it aside, they follow what (the magic) the shaytans recited in the reign of Sulayman. The shaytan buried the magic under Sulayman’s throne when his kingdom was wrested away. It is also said that they used to listen and add lies to what they had heard and convey that to the priests who recorded it. When word spread that the jinn knew the Unseen, Sulayman collected the books and buried them. When he died, the shaytans directed people to the spot and they dug them up and found magic in them. So they gained power through the magic and rejected the books of their Prophets. Allah declared Sulayman innocent of their claims and refuted the claim of the Jews who said, “Look at Muhammad mentioning Sulayman among the Prophets when he was only a sorcerer!” Sulayman did not disbelieve and so could not have practised magic because it constitutes unbelief, but the shaytans did, teaching people sorcery and teaching them what had been sent down, by inspiring them with magic, to Harut and Marut, the two angels (read as malakayn, “two angels” and also malikayn, “two kings”) in Babylon (a town in Iraq), who taught no one without first saying to him, giving him good advice, “We are merely a trial and temptation from Allah to people to test them by teaching it to them, so that whoever learns it is an unbeliever and whoever abandons it is a believer, so do not disbelieve by learning it.” According to Ibn ‘Abbas, they were two sorcerers who taught magic. It is said that they are two angels sent down to test people. If someone refused to do anything but learn magic, then they taught it to him. People learned from them how to separate a man and his wife by making them hate one another, but they, the magicians, cannot harm anyone by it, magic, except with Allah’s permission and by His will. They have learned what will harm them in the Next World and will not benefit them. Such is magic. They (the Jews) know that any who deal in it, by choosing it or taking it in exchange for the Book of Allah, will have no share of the Garden in the Next World. What an evil thing they have sold themselves for, bartering away their portion of the Garden when they learn magic so the Fire becomes mandatory for them, if they only knew the truth of the punishment for what they do they would certainly not do it!

103. If only they (the Jews) had believed in the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace and the Quran and been god-fearing and shown fear of the punishment of Allah by abandoning their acts of disobedience such as sorcery, then they would have been rewarded. A reward from Allah is better for them than the evil they did, if they only knew. If they had realised that that was better, they would certainly have chosen it.

104. O you, who believe, do not say to the Prophet, “Ra’ina”; say instead, “Undhurn,” and listen well to what you are told and accept it. The unbelievers will have a painful punishment in the fire. This command came because the word “Ra’ina”, although it means “Look towards us,” in Arabic, was a curse in Hebrew derived from Ra’ina which had the meaning of flippancy; so the Jews were happy to use it when addressing the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The believers were forbidden to use it and were instructed to use another unambiguous expression meaning the same thing.

105. Those of the People of the Book who disbelieve and the idolaters among the Arabs do not like anything good, such as Revelation, to be sent down to you from your Lord out of envy towards y o u. But Allah selects for His mercy, here meaning Prophet hood, whomever He wills. Allah’s favour is truly vast. “Idolaters” are added to the People of the Book for clarification.

106. When the unbelievers attacked the possibility of abrogation and said, “Muhammad commands his companions to do something one day and forbids them it the next,” this was revealed. Whenever We abrogate (read as nansakh and nunsikh) an ayat by changing the judgement it contains, in expression or in recitation or cause it to be forgotten, meaning that We hold it back and do not send down its decrees and remove its recitation, or keep it in the Preserved Tablet, We bring one better than it and more beneficial for people in that it is easier or has a greater reward or equal to it in respect of obligation and reward. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things, meaning that He can alter, change or affirm as He likes?

107. Do you not know that Allah is He to Whom the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth belongs and Who does whatever He wills, and that, besides Allah, you have no protector and no helper? There is no one who is able to protect the unbelievers or to avert His punishment from them. This was in response to a request from the people of Makka to be made wealthy and for Safa to be turned into gold.

108. Or do you want to question your messenger as Musa was questioned by his people before? This was when they asked if he could show them Allah openly and other things. Anyone who exchanges belief for unbelief by not considering the Clear Signs but proposing something else instead has definitely gone astray from the level way. Such a person has strayed from the Path of the Truth and the Straight Path.

109. Many of the People of the Book would love it if they could make you revert to being unbelievers after you have believed, showing their innate envy, meaning that their corrupted selves have prompted them to act in this way, now that the truth is clear to them in the Torah about the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. But you should pardon them and leave them alone and overlook by turning away and not paying them attention until Allah gives His command to fight them. Truly Allah has power over all things.

110. Establish the prayer and pay zakat. Any good you forward for yourselves, such as maintaining ties of kin and sadaqa, you will find its reward with Allah. Certainly Allah sees everything you do and will repay you for it.

111. They say, “No one will enter the Garden except for Jews (Hud, the plural of h ’id) and Christians.” This ayat refers to an argument between the Jews of Madina and the Christians of Najr n in the presence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Jews said that only the Jews would enter Paradise and the Christians said that only the Christians would enter it. Such statements are examples of the delusions which they hold and are their vain hope. Say to them, “Produce your evidence of that if you are telling the truth about it.”

112. Not so because the truth is that others besides these two groups will enter the Garden! All who submit themselves completely to Allah (literally: “to the face of Allah” and the word “face” is mentioned here because it is the noblest part of the body and all the rest of the body follows it) and are good-doers by affirming the unity of Allah, will find their reward with their Lord, the reward for their actions in the Garden. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow in the Next World.

113. The Jews say, “The Christians have nothing to stand on,” and reject Isa, and the Christians say, “The Jews have nothing to stand on,” and reject Musa, and yet they both recite the Book. Both groups recite revealed Books and the Book of the Jews affirms and the Book of the Christians affirms Musa. Those who do not know (the idolaters among the Arabs and others) say the same as they say that anyone who has any religion other than theirs has nothing. Allah will judge between them on the Day of Rising regarding the things about which they differ in respect of the din and then those who affirm the truth will enter the Garden and those who affirm falsehood will enter the Fire.

114. Who could do greater wrong, meaning no one does greater wrong, than someone who bars access to the mosques of Allah, preventing His name from being remembered in them in prayer and glorification, and goes about destroying them by actual destruction or putting them out of use? This was revealed about the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem or the idolaters who prevented the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from going to the House of Allah in the year of udaybiyya (6 AH). Such people will never be able to enter them – except in fear. This is a report which conveys the meaning of a command, meaning “Make them fearful through jihd so that none of them enters it feeling safe.” They will have disgrace in this world through being killed, captured and made to pay jizya and in the Next World they will have a terrible punishment in the Fire.

115. This ayat was revealed when the Jews attacked the changing of the qibla from Jerusalem to Makka, or it may refer to doing supererogatory prayers while mounted on a journey, facing whichever direction the animal is going. Both East and West, meaning the entire earth, belong to Allah, so wherever you turn your faces in the prayer at His command, the Face of Allah is there in His qibla with which He is pleased. Allah is All-Encompassing, encompassing everything His bounty, All-Knowing about how to manage His creation.

116. This verse can be read with or without wa, “and”, at the beginning. They (the Jews and Christians and those who say that the angels are the daughters of Allah.) say, “Allah has a son.” Allah Almighty says, Glory be to Him! disassociating Him from all of that. No, everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him as His kingdom, creation and slaves. Absolute authority is not compatible with having children. It is not logical. Everything is obedient to Him in every way He desires of it to be. The masculine plural is used because of the dominance of rational beings in the group.

117. The Originator of the heavens and the earth who brings things into existence without any prior model. When He decides on some -thing and wants to bring it into existence, He just says to it, “Be!” and it is, comes into existence.

118. Those who do not know (the unbelievers of Makka) say to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “If only Allah would speak to us and tell us that you are His Messenger, or some sign come to us which will give us clear evidence that you are telling the truth,” just like those before them among the unbelievers of past nations who said to their Prophets the same as they say by wa y being stubborn and demanding miracles. Their hearts are much the same in respect of disbelief and stubbornness. This is meant to console the Prophet. We have made the Signs clear to people who have certainty; those who know that the Qur’anic signs (ayat) truly are Signs and believe in them.

119. We have sent you, Muhammad, with the Truth (Divine Guidance), bringing good news of the Garden to those who respond and giving warning about the Fire for those who do not respond. You will not be asked (read as l tus’alu “you will not be asked” and l tas’al, “do not ask”) about the inhabitants of the Blazing Fire, meaning the unbelievers who do not believe. You only have to convey the Message.

120. The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their religion. Say, “Allah’s guidance (Islam) is the true guidance and anything other than that is misguidance.” If, theoretically, you were to follow their whims and desires which they invite you to follow, after the knowledge that has come to you, which is Revelation from Allah, you would find no protector or helper to protect and defend you against Allah.

121. Those to whom We have given the Book, who recite it in the way it should be recited, in the way it was revealed, such people believe in it. This was revealed about a group of Abyssinians who came and became Muslim. As for those who reject it, who reject the Book by twisting its meaning, they are the losers because they will end up in the Fire.

122. Tribe of Israel! Remember the blessing I conferred on you, and that I preferred you over all other beings. This was already explained in the commentary on 2:40.

123. Have fear of a Day when no self will be able to compensate for another in any way, and no ransom be accepted from it, and no intercession benefit it, and they will not be helped or defended against the punishment of Allah or ransomed from it.

124. Remember when Ibrahim was tested and tried by his Lord with certain words which are certain commands and intentions which he discharged, which he carried out completely. It is said that they were the hajj rites, and it is also said that it refers to the ten attributes of the natural form (al-fitra) which are rinsing the mouth, snuffing water up the nose, using the tooth-pick, clipping the moustache, letting the beard grow, cutting the nails, plucking the hair of the armpits, shaving the pubes, circumcision, and cleansing oneself with water (in the lavatory). He carried them out in full. He (Allah) said to him, “I will make you a model (imam), meaning a model in the din, for mankind.” He asked, “And what of my descendants?” meaning “Will my progeny be imams too?” He said, “My contract for the imamate does not include the wrongdoers, those of them who disbelieve.” This indicates that those who are not wrongdoers will deserve it.

125. And when We made the House (the Ka‘ba) a place of return for people to resort to from every direction, a sanctuary for mankind, making it secure from injustice and raids which happen elsewhere, so that even if a man meets his father’s killer there, he may not attack him. “O mankind, take (read as attakhadhu and attakhidhu) the Maqm of Ibrahim, the place where he stood when overseeing the building the House, as a place of prayer, as a place to pray two rakats after Tawaf.” We contracted with Ibrahim and Ismail and commanded them: “Purify My House of idols for those who circle it, and those who stay there, and those who bow and who prostrate, those who pray (rukka is the plural of raki‘).”

126. And when Ibrahim said, “My Lord, make this a place of safety, and Allah granted his request and made it a sanctuary in which blood may not be shed, no one may be wronged, game may not be hunted, and whose plants may not be uprooted, and provide its inhabitants with fruits, the fruits being provided by the Ta’if caravan from Syria since Makka was barren, devoid of plants or water – all of them who believe in Allah and the Last Day.” They are singled as the beneficiaries of the supplication to accordance with Allah’s words above, “My contract does not reach the wrongdoers.” He (Allah) said, “I will let him who disbelieves enjoy himself (umti‘uhu and umatti‘uhu) a little with provision in this world during his lifetime and then I will drive him to the punishment of the Fire in the Next World from which there is no escape. What an evil destination to return to!”

127. And remember when Ibrahim built the foundations or the walls of the House with Ismail: They said, “Our Lord, accept this building from us! You are the All-Hearing of words, the All-Knowing of actions.

128. Our Lord, make us both Muslims submitted to You, who obey you, and make our descendants a Muslim community submitted to You. The preposition min here is partitive in this instance because Allah’s contract does not extend to the wrongdoers. Show us and teach us our rites of worship (our laws of worship or the hajj) and turn towards Us. You are the Ever-Relenting, the Most Merciful. They voiced repentance, in spite of their Prophetic protection from wrong-doing, out of humility and in order to teach their offspring to do the same.

129. Our Lord, raise up among them (the people of the House) a Messenger from them, from among themselves; and Allah answered their supplication with Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to recite Your Signs (the Quran) to them and teach them the Book (the Quran) and Wisdom (the judgements it contains) and purify them from shirk. You are the Almighty, the Overcomer, The All-Wise in what You produce.”

130. Who would deliberately renounce the religion of Ibrahim and abandon it except someone who reveals himself to be a fool, someone who is ignorant that his self is created by Allah and must worship Him or someone who makes light of it and demeans it? We chose him (Ibrahim) in this world for the Message and the close friendship of Allah and in the Next World he will be one of the righteous and he will have a very high rank.

131. Remember when his Lord said to him, “Become a Muslim and obey Allah and make the din sincerely His!” he said, “I am a Muslim who has submitted to the Lord of all the worlds.”

132. Ibrahim directed (read as wasa and awsa) his sons to this religion, as did Ya‘qub his sons: He said, “My sons! Allah has chosen this din (Islam) for you, so do not die except as Muslims.” They are commanded not to abandon Islam and to remain firm as Muslims until they die.

133. When the Jews said, “Do you not know that when he died, Ya’qub commanded his sons to follow Judaism?” this ayat was revealed which begins with is which makes it a question. Or were you present when death came to Ya’qub and he said to his sons, “What will you worship when I have gone (after my death)?” They said, “We will worship your God, the God of your forefathers, Ibrahim and Ismail (Ismail is counted as a forefather because the uncle is counted with the father) and Ishaq – one God (an appositive for “your God”). We are Muslims submitted to Him.” This is what actually happened. Those Jews were not present and they have ascribed to him something which he did not say.

134. That, referring to Ibrahim and Ya’qub and their sons, was a community which has long since passed away. It is past and gone. It has what it earned by their actions, meaning the repayment for that. You, O Jews, have what you have earned. You will not be questioned about what they did, as they will not be questioned about what you did. This sentence stresses what was said before it.

135. They say, “Be Jews or Christians and you will be guided.” “Or” marks the distinction between two separate statements. The first statement was made by the Jews of Madina and the second by the Christians of Najrn. Say to them, “Rather adopt and follow the religion of Ibrahim, a man of natural pure belief. A man of natural pure belief (hanif) is one who naturally inclines from all other religions to the Straight Den. He was not one of the idolaters.”

136. Say (addressed to the believers), “We believe in Allah and what has been sent down to us of the Quran and what was sent d own to Ibrahim of the Ten Scrolls and Ismail and Ishaq and Ya’qub and the Tribes, his sons, and what Musa and Isa were given, the Torah and the Gospel respectively, and what all the Prophets were given by their Lord by way of Books and Signs. We do not differentiate between any of them, making us believe in some and reject some as the Jews and Christians do. We are Muslims submitted to Him.”

137. If their belief (that of the Jews and Christians) is the same as yours then they are guided. But if they turn away from believing in it, they are entrenched in hostility and clear opposition to you. Allah will be enough for you, O Muhammad, against them and will deal with their hostility. He is the All-Hearing, hearing their words, the All-Knowing, knowing their states. That actually happened through the killing of Qurayza and the expulsion of Nadir and the imposition of the jizya on all the People of the Book.

138. The colouring (a verbal noun reinforcing “we believe” in 2:136 above which implies: “Allah has coloured us.”) of Allah –and what colouring could be better than Allah’s? (i.e. none is better.) What is meant is the din on which He naturally formed people so that its effect appears on the person who adopts it, as the dye shows in a garment. There is nothing better than it. It is Him we worship.

139. The Jews said to the Muslims, “We are the people of the first Book and our qibla is older, and there were no Prophets among the Arabs. If Muhammad were a Prophet, he would have been one of us,” and then this ayat was revealed. Say to them, “Do you argue with us about Allah who has chosen a Prophet from among the Arabs when He is our Lord and your Lord and so He can choose anyone He wills? We have our actions for which we will be repaid and you have your actions for which you will be repaid. It is not impossible that our actions may entitle us to ennoblement. We act for Him alone.” We are sincerely devoted to Allah in our actions and the din as you are not. So we are more entitled to be chosen. The question implies disapproval. The three sentences describe different states.

140. Or do you say (read as taqulun “you say” and yaqulun “they say”) that Ibrahim and Ismail and Ishaq and Ya‘qub and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say to them, “Do you know better or Allah?” This means, of course, that Allah knows better. Allah disassociated Ibrahim from them in saying, “Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian.” (3:67) Those mentioned with him follow e d him. Who could do greater wrong than someone who hides from people the evidence he has been given by Allah? This means that no one does greater wrong than someone who conceals the evidence they have, and refers to those Jews who concealed the testimony of Allah in the Torah about Ibrahim following the hanafiyya (natural din). Allah is not unaware of what you do. This is a threat.

141. That was a community which has long since passed away. It has what it earned. You have what you have earned. You will not be questioned about what they did. This has already been covered in the commentary on ayat 134 above.

142. The fools (the ignorant) among the people (the Jews and idolaters) will ask, “What has made them (the Prophet and believers) turnaround from the direction they used to face when the q i b l a changed from Jerusalem to Makka?” The fact that the future particle is used in “will ask” indicates that it is a report from the Unseen about something which had not yet occurred. Say, “Both East and West belong to Allah. All directions belong to Allah and He can command any direction He likes and cannot be opposed. He guides whoever He wills to a straight path (the din of Islam).” Some people are guided to that.

143. In this way, by guiding you to it, We have made you, community of Muhammad, a middlemost nation, good and just, so that you may act as witnesses against mankind on the Day of Rising that the Messengers conveyed the Message and the Messenger as a witness against you that he conveyed it. We only appointed the direction you used to face, which was the Ka‘ba towards which the Prophet had first prayed; when he emigrated, he was commanded to face Jerusalem as the Jews did, and he did so for sixteen or seventeen months, after which the qibla changed back, in order to distinguish manifestly those who follow the Messenger and confirm him from those who turn round on their heels and revert to unbelief, doubting the din and thinking that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was confused about that matter. One group reverted. Though in truth it (turning towards it) is a very hard thing and difficult for people except for those among them Allah has guided. Allah would never let your belief go to waste. Allah would not allow your prayers towards Jerusalem to be wasted. He will reward you for them. The reason for the revelation of this sentence was a question which was asked regarding those who had died before the change. Allah is All-Gentle, Most Merciful to mankind to the believers, in not letting their actions go to waste. Gentleness (raffa) means intense compassion.

144. We have certainly seen you looking up into heaven, turning this way and that, hoping for Revelation and yearning for the command to face the Ka‘ba, desiring that because the Ka‘ba was the qibla of Ibrahim and because the Prophet was calling on the Arabs to become Muslim, so We will turn and change you towards a direction which will please you and which you like. Turn your face in the prayer, therefore, towards the Sacred Mosque, the Ka‘ba. Wherever you are, O community, turn your faces towards it in the prayer. Those given the Book know it (facing the Ka‘ba) is the firm truth from their Lord because of what their Books say regarding the description of the Prophet and that he would turn towards it. Allah is not unaware of what they do (read as ya‘malun, “what they do”, and ta‘malun, “what you do”). The former implies that Allah is not u n aware of what the Jews do, who know the truth about the qibla and the latter that He is not unaware of the believers and what they do in respect of obeying the command to change the qibla.

145. If you were to bring every Sign confirming your truthfulness regarding the matter of the qibla to those given the Book, they still would not follow your direction out of stubbornness. You do not follow their direction. This stops any desire of his for them to become Muslim because they desire him to revert to their position. They do not follow each other’s direction. The Jews do not follow the direction of the Christians and vice versa. If, theoretically, you followed their whims and desires to which they call you, after the knowledge of Revelation that has come to you, you would then be one of the wrongdoers.

146. Those We have given the Book recognise him (Muhammad) as they recognise their own sons because they have his description in their books. Ibn Sal m said, “When I saw him, I recognised him as I recognise my son.” Indeed the recognition of Muhammad is eve n more immediate. Yet a group of them knowingly conceal the truth of his description despite their full knowledge of it.

147. The truth is from your Lord, so on no account is among the doubters. Do not be among those who doubt it in any manner. This is more intensive than just “Do not doubt.”

148. Each (community) person faces a particular direction (qibla) to which they turn in their prayer and remembrance of their Lord, so race each other to the good by hastening to acts of obedience and hoping for their acceptance. Wherever you are, Allah will bring you all together on the Day of Rising and repay you for your deeds. Truly Allah has power over all things.

149. Wherever you come from when you have been on a journey, turn your face to the Sacred Mosque. This is certainly the truth from your Lord. Allah is not unaware of what you do (read as ta‘malun, “what you do”, and ya‘malun, “what they do”). The instruction to face the Sacred Mosque is reiterated to clarify that the ruling to do this applies when travelling and in all other situations.

150. Wherever you come from, turn your face to the Sacred Mosque. Wherever you are, turn your faces towards it, a further repetition for stress, so that people (the Jews and the idolaters) will have no argument against you, no grounds for arguing with you about turning to another qibla. This is said to negate the position which had been taken by the Jews and idolaters regarding the qibla. The Jews had been saying, “He denies our din, but follows our qibla.” And the idolaters had been saying, “He claims to follow the religion of Ibrahim but faces a different qibla to it.” except for those among them who do wrong by their obdurate stubbornness. They then said that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, only chose Makka because he inclined to the din of his ancestors. The sentence means. “No one will speak against you except those people.” And then you should not fear them regarding their quarrelling about your change of qibla but rather fear Me by obeying My command – and so that I may complete My blessing upon you by guiding you to the salient points of your din, so that hopefully you will be guided to the Truth.

151. For this, to complete it, We sent a Messenger to you from among you, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to recite Our Signs (the Quran) to you and purify you from shirk, and teach you the Book (the Quran) and Wisdom (the judgements it contains) and teach you things you did not know before.

152. Remember Me by the prayer and glorification and other such things – I will remember you. It is said that this means “I will requite you.” In a hadith qudsi we find: “Whoever remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself. Whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in a better assembly than it.” Show thanks to Me by obeying Me and do not be ungrateful by disobeying Me.

153. O you who believe, seek help for the Next World in steadfastness in obedience and in the face of misfortune and the prayer. The prayer is mentioned because it is done repeatedly and has great stature. Allah is with the steadfast by helping them.

154. Do not say that those who are killed in the Way of Allah are dead. On the contrary, they are alive (According to a hadith their spirits are in the beaks of green birds going wherever they wish in the Garden) but you are not aware of it. You have no knowledge of that.

155. We will test you with a certain amount of fear of the enemy and hunger through drought and loss of wealth by destruction and life through fighting, old age and illness and fruits through pests. This is to test you to see if you will be steadfast. But give good news to the steadfast that they will have the Garden in return for the affliction they have suffered with patience:

156. Those who, when disaster strikes them, say, “We belong to Allah and to Him we will return.” Meaning: “We are the property and slaves of Allah and He can do what He wills with us. We return to Him in the Next World where He will requite us.” In the hadith, “If anyone says this in affliction, Allah will repay him and give him a better replacement.” It is reported that the Prophet’s lamp went out and he said this. A’isha said, “It is only a lamp.” He said, “Everything that annoys a believer is affliction.” (Abu Dawud)

157. Those are the ones who will have blessings of forgiveness and mercy and comfort from their Lord; they are the ones who are the guided to what is right.

158. Safa and Marwa (two rocky outcrops in Makka) are among the Sacred Landmarks of Allah (the signs of the Din of Allah, sha'a'ir is the plural of Shari’a), so anyone who goes on hajj to the House or does umra incurs no wrong (sin) in going back and forth (sa‘y) between them. The root meaning of “going on hajj” is to aim for and doing ‘umra means visiting. You go between them seven times. This was revealed when the Muslims disliked doing that because the people of the Jahiliyyah used to do it and there were idols on them which they used to touch. Ibn ‘Abbas said that sa‘y is not an obligation since removal of sin implies choice. Ash-Shafi and others said that it is a pillar and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made it clear that it is obligatory when he said, “Allah has prescribed sa‘y for you” (al-Bayhaqı). He said, “Begin with what Allah began with,” meaning start at Safa. (Muslim) I f anyone spontaneously does good (read as tatawwa‘ or yattawwa‘), meaning any good he does which is not imposed on him, such as Tawaf or anything else, Allah is All-Thankful and will show gratitude for his action by rewarding him for it, All-Knowing of what he does.

159. This ayat was revealed about the Jews. Those people who hide the Clear Signs and Guidance We have sent down, such as the ayat of stoning and the description of Muhammad, after We have made it clear to people in the Book (the Torah), Allah curses them by putting them far from His mercy, and the cursers curse them – The cursers are the angels and the believers, or everything which calls down the curse on them.

160. …except for those who repent and turn away from that and put things right by acting righteously and make things they had concealed clear. I turn towards them and accept their repentance. I am the Ever-Relenting, the Most Merciful to the believers.

161. But as for those who disbelieve, and die while still unbelievers, the curse of Allah is upon them and that of the angels and all mankind. They deserve that both in this world and the Next. The curse is said to be universal or that of believers.

162. They will be under it (the curse and the Fire) forever. The punishment will not be lightened for them for even the blink of an eye. They will be granted no reprieve, enabling them to repent or offer excuses.

163. This ayat was revealed when they said, “Describe your Lord to us.” Your God who deserves to be worshipped by you is One God since there is none like Him in His Essence or His attributes. There is no god but Him. He is the AllMerciful, the Most Merciful. They asked the Prophet for evidence and the next ayat was revealed.

164. In the creation of the heavens and the earth and all the wonders they contain, and the alternation of the night and day, their coming and going, shortening and lengthening, and the heavy ships which sail and do not sink in the seas to people’s benefit with regard to commerce and transport, and the water (rain) which Allah sends d own from the sky – by which He brings the earth to life with plants when it was dead and dry and scatters about in it creatures of every kind which grow by eating the plants – and the varying direction of the winds, which change and veer to north and south, and are both hot and cold, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth driven by the command of Allah wherever He wishes, there are Signs which indicate His Oneness for people who use their intellect and reflect.

165. Some people set up equals (idols) to Allah other than Him, loving and esteeming them and humbling themselves to them as they should love Allah. But those who believe have more love for Allah than the others have for their idols because they do not turn from Him at all in any state, whereas when the unbelievers are suffering hardship, then they turn to Allah. If only, Muhammad, you could see (know) those who do wrong by making others equal to Allah at the time when they see the punishment, then you would see something truly terrible, and that is because truly all strength (all power and sovereignty) belongs to Allah, and that Allah is severe in punishment. If only they knew in this world about the punishment of Allah and that power belongs to Allah alone – but that will only be seen on the Day of Rising – they would never have made anything else equal to Allah in their sight.

166. When those who were followed (the leaders) disown those who followed them and deny that they misguided them, and they see the punishment, and the connection between them is cut, the connection of kinship and love between them in this world being what is severed,

167. …those who followed will say, “If only we could have another chance to return to this world, we would disown them (those they followed) just as they have disowned us today.” In that way Allah will show them their evil actions, when they see the severity of His punishment and disown one another, as a cause of anguish and remorse and regret for them. They will never emerge from the Fire once they have entered it.

168. This ayat was revealed about those who forbade eating certain grazing animals. Mankind! eat what is good and lawful, stressing its enjoy ability on the earth. And do not follow in the footsteps of Shaytan: his way. He truly is an outright enemy to you. He is a clear enemy.

169. He only commands you to do evil (sin) and indecent acts which are considered ugly in terms of the Shari’a and to say about Allah what you do not know. shaytan causes you to make unlawful what is not unlawful and other such things.

170. When they (the unbelievers) are told, “Follow what Allah has sent down to you regarding tawhid and considering wholesome things lawful,” They say, “We are following what we found our fathers doing with regard to worshipping idols and making certain animals unlawful.” The Almighty says, What, do they follow them even though their fathers did not understand a thing about the din and were not guided to the truth? The question indicates the objection.

171. The likeness of those who are unbelievers in respect of the one who calls them to guidance is that of someone who yells out to something which cannot hear – it is nothing but a cry and a call, a noise whose meaning is not understood. When they hear the warning they do not take any notice of it, like sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd and do not understand what he says. They are deaf –dumb – blind. They do not use their intellect to understand the warning.

172. You who believe! Eat of the good (lawful) things We have provided for you and give thanks to Allah for what He has made lawful for you if you worship Him alone.

173. He has only forbidden you to eat carrion, spilled blood, as from cattle, and pork (lit. meat of pigs, which is specifically mentioned because it is the main thing and the rest follows it) and what has been consecrated to other than Allah, what is sacrificed in the name of anything else. Consecration refers to the words which are voiced to idols during sacrifice. It is eating these things which are forbidden, carrying on from the subject matter of the previous ayat. Then there are those animals which have not been slaughtered correctly. This is a general rule and the Sunna makes clear the specific rulings about fish and locusts. But anyone who is forced and compelled by necessity to eat it (one of these things) – without desiring it to rebel against the Muslims or going to excess in it with no intention of opposing them, as when he is involved in highway robbery –commits no crime and incurs no sin in eating. Allah is Ever -Forgiving, Most Merciful. Allah forgives His friends, and is merciful to people who obey Him in granting them this dispensation. It does not apply to rebels and aggressors, or to anyone on a journey whose aim is to go against the Shari’a, or to runaway slaves and collectors of illegal taxes. It is not lawful for them to eat any of these things as long as they have not repented, as ash-Shafi says.

174. Those, meaning the Jews, who conceal what Allah has sent down of the Book which includes the mention of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and sell it cheap in exchange for the things of this world and out of fear of being surpassed, instead of disclosing it, take nothing into their bellies but the Fire because that will be where they end up. On the Day of Rising Allah will not speak to them because of His anger at them or purify them of the filth of their sins. They will have a painful punishment which is the Fire.

175. Those are the ones who have sold guidance for misguidance, taking what is in this world in exchange for it, and the forgiveness prepared for them in the Next World if they had not done what they did for the punishment they will now receive. How steadfastly they will endure the Fire! How strong their endurance must be! This expresses the amazement of the believers at their committing things that make the punishment inevitable with no apparent concern.

176. That (which was mentioned about their taking Fire into their bellies and what is mentioned after that) is because Allah has sent down the Book with truth and then they differed with it, believing in some of it and disbelieving in some which they conceal, and those who differ with the Book in that way are entrenched in hostility and opposition and are far from the Truth. This is generally taken as referring to the Jews but it is also said to refer to the idolaters inasmuch as they claimed that some of it was poetry, some sorcery and some soothsaying.

177. Goodness does not lie in turning your faces in the prayer to the East or to the West. This was revealed to refute the Jews and Christians in their claim. Rather, those with true goodness (read as birr and barr) are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, the Angels, the Book (meaning Scripture generically) and the Prophets, and who, despite their love for it, give away their wealth to their relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to travellers and beggars and to set slaves free (those with a kitba contract and captives), and who establish the prayer and pay the obligatory zakat and voluntary almsgiving; those who honour their contracts, both with Allah and with people, when they make them, and are steadfast in poverty and in illness and in battle, times of hardship in general and fighting in the Way of Allah in particular. Those with this description are the people who are true in their belief or truly deserve to be called good. They are the people who are truly godfearing and fear Allah.

178. O you who believe! equal Retaliation is prescribed and obliged in description and action for you in the case of people killed: free man is killed for free man and not killed for a slave, slave for slave, female for female. The Sunna makes it clear that a man may be killed in retaliation for a woman. They are considered on a par in the din. A Muslim, even a slave, cannot be killed in retaliation for a free unbeliever. But if someone is absolved by his brother, for instance when a killer is forgiven by the brother of the dead person who thereby forgoes retaliation, blood-money (the fact that this is indefinite may imply forgoing some of it or that one or some of the relatives pardon the perpetrator) should be claimed by the dead person’s relative from the killer with correctness, without any harshness in asking for the blood money and it should be paid by the killer to the relative of the deceased with good will, without delay or diminution. Allah uses the term “brother” in order to encourage forgiveness and also to showing that even killing does not rupture the brotherhood of faith. The fact that “correctness” follows “absolving” means that either one or the other of them is obligatory. That is one of the positions of ash-Shafi. The second is that if the parents do not specify either, there is nothing. In that case the killer must pay the money to the dead person’s heir without delay or reduction. That judgement of retaliation and pardoning the killer in return for blood money is an easement and a mercy to you from your Lord since He gave you scope in that and neither of them is imposed on you in the way that retaliation is imposed on the Jews and blood money on the Christians. Anyone who goes beyond the limits – if the relative kills the murderer – after this (pardoning him) will receive a painful punishment in the Next World with the Fire or in this world by being killed.

179. There is life and great deterrence for you in retaliation, people of intelligence, people with intellects, because if someone know s that he will be killed then he be will deterred from killing and pre-serve his own life as well as that of the person he wants to kill, and it was prescribed so that perhaps you will be god-fearing and so that killing may be avoided out of fear of retaliation.

180. It is prescribed (obligatory for you) for you, when death approaches one of you for any reason and if he has some goods to leave, to make a will in favour of his parents and relatives, correctly and fairly with justice by not leaving away in excess of a third of your estate and not giving preference to the rich: a stressed duty for all who are godfearing and fear Allah. This was abrogated by the ayat of Inheritance (4:11) and the hadith in at-Tirmidhi, “There can be no bequest for an heir.”

181. Then if anyone (any witness or executor) alters it (the will) after hearing it and knowing what is in it, the crime for any alteration in what was dictated is on the part of those who alter it. Allah is All-Hearing, hearing the words, AllKnowing, knowing what was done and will repay the person for his actions.

182. But if anyone fears bias, inclining from what is right inadvertently, or wrongdoing, by deliberately exceeding the third he is allowed to leave apart from the prescribed shares or singling out someone wealthy, on the part of the person making the will (read as muwassin or mawsin), and puts things right between the people involved by commanding what is just, in that case he has not com -mitted any crime in doing that. Allah is Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.

183. You who believe! Fasting is prescribed and made mandatory for you, as it was prescribed for those nations before you – so that hopefully you will be god-fearing by avoiding acts of disobedience, because fasting subdues the appetites which are the beginning of such acts –

184. … for a specified number of days, of a determined number which is known: in other words, Ramadan, as will be mentioned. They are few in number in order to make it easy for those who are required to fast. But any of you who are ill when the time comes or on a journey, during which the prayer may be shortened and during which fasting is difficult for the traveller, he can break the fast and then he should fast a number of other days to make up those he missed. For those who are not able to fast on account of old age or an incurable illness, their fidya is to feed the poor, which involves feeding a poor person the amount normally eaten in a day, and that is considered to be a mudd of the staple food of the land for each day. At the beginning of Islam, people could choose between fasting and fidya, but then fasting became incumbent through His words, “Whoever of you is present in the month of Ramadan should fast it.” Ibn ‘Abba s said, “except for pregnant and nursing women” when they break the fast out of fear for their child. The ayat stands and is not abrogated in respect of them. And if someone does good of his own accord by paying a larger amount of fidya, it is better for him. But that you should fast is better for you than breaking the fast and feeding, if you only knew how much good you gain by those days.

185. Those days are the month of Ramadan which is the one in which the Qur’an was sent down from the Preserved Tablet to the lowest heaven on the Night of Power as guidance away from misguidance for mankind, with Clear Signs containing guidance which guide to the Truth about judgements and discrimination between truth and falsehood. Any of you who are resident for the month should fast it. But any of you who are ill or on a journey should fast a number of other days as mentioned before, and it is repeated so that no one should imagine that it is abrogated by the generality of the expression “is present”. Allah desires ease for you; He does not desire difficulty for you. That is why Allah allows you to break the fast on account of illness and travelling which is like an illness. You are commanded to fast and you should complete (read as tukammilu and tukmilu) the number of days of the fast of Ramadan and proclaim Allah’s Greatness when you have finished fasting for the guidance He has given you to the pillars of his din so that hopefully you will be thankful to Allah for that.

186. When a group asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Is our Lord near so that we may speak with Him?” this was revealed: If My slaves ask you about Me, I am near to them through My knowledge. So inform them that I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me by giving him what he asks for. They should therefore respond to Me when I call on them to obey Me and believe in Me and continue to believe in Me, so that hopefully they will be rightly guided.

187. On the night of the fast it is lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives. This was revealed to abrogate the prohibition at the beginning of Islam when it was forbidden to eat or drink after the ‘Isha’ prayer. They are clothing for you and you for them. The clothing metaphor alludes to their mutual embrace and the need of each of them for the other. Allah knows that you have been betraying yourselves by having intercourse during the night of fasting and other things. They apologised to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and He has turned towards you and excused you and accepted their repentance. Now it is lawful for you and you may have sexual intercourse with them and seek what Allah has written for you, meaning what Allah has allowed you of sexual intercourse or decreed for you of children. Eat and drink during the entire night until you can clearly discern the white thread from the black thread of the true dawn, referring to the black of night and the whiteness of dawn, then fulfil the fast from the first light of dawn until the night appears at the setting of the sun which marks the beginning of the night. But do not have sexual inter -course with them (women) while you are in retreat (doing i‘tikaf) in the mosques. No one in retreat is permitted to leave the mosque to have intercourse with his wife, and then return. These decrees are Allah’s limits which He has defined for fasting, so do not go near them. The words “do not go near them” are stronger than the words “do not exceed them” which we find in another ayat (2:227). In this way does Allah make His Signs clear to people so that hopefully they will be god-fearing and avoid the things He has prohibited.

188. Do not devour one another’s property by false means by consuming one another’s property by haram means, such as stealing and usurpation, nor offer it to the judges as a bribe, bribing them to give judgement in your favour, trying through crime to knowingly usurp a portion of other people’s property, taking it while knowing the claim to be false.

189. They will ask you, Muhammad, about the crescent moons (ahilla, is the plural of hill). The crescent moon is the moon when it first appears and then begins to increase in size, since the moon does not remain in one state as the sun does. Say to them, “They are set times (mawaqit is the plural of miqat) for mankind and for the hajj.” By them people know the time for their crops and trade, and women count their periods by them, and fasting and breaking the fast is done by them. The time of hajj is also known by them. If the moon was always in the same state, these things would not have been known. It is not devoutness for you to enter houses by the back in ihram. The Makkan custom before Islam was to make an entrance by which they entered and left from the backs of their houses without using the door. They did that claiming it was devoutness to do so. Rather devoutness is possessed by those who are god-fearing. (Or the truly devout person is the one who shows fear of Allah by not opposing Him.) So come to houses by their doors when in ihram and be fearful of Allah, so that hopefully you will be successful.

190. When the Prophet was barred from the Sacred Mosque in the year of Hudaybiyya, he made peace with the unbelievers on the basis that he would return the coming year during which they would leave Makka for three days. So when, the next year, he prepared for the promised umra, there was a fear that Quraysh would not abide by the agreement and would fight them. The Muslims disliked the idea of fighting the idolaters in the haram or while they were in ihram or in the sacred month and so the following ayats were revealed: Fight in the Way of Allah to elevate Allah’s din against those who fight you (the unbelievers), but do not go beyond the limits by initiating the fighting. Allah does not love those who go beyond the limits. Allah does not love those who exceed what is prescribed for them. This was abrogated by Sura at-Tawba or by Allah’s words in the following ayat.

191. Kill them wherever you come across them and expel them from where they expelled you (Makka). That happened in the Year of the Conquest of Makka. Fitna (shirk on their part) is worse than killing them in the haram or in ihram which they thought dreadful. Do not fight them in the Sacred Mosque, meaning in the haram of Makka, until they fight you there. But if they do fight you in it, then kill them in it. That is how (by killing and expelling them) the unbelievers should be repaid. The word qatalu, “fight’ in this ayat is also read as qatalu in some readings, in which case it means “kill”.

192. But if they cease disbelieving and become Muslim, Allah is Ever-Forgiving towards them, Most Merciful towards them.

193. Fight them until there is no more Fitna (shirk) in existence and the din (worship) belongs to Allah alone and none but Him is worshipped. If they cease committing shirk there should be no enmity by killing or in any other way towards any but wrongdoers. If someone is not a wrongdoer, there must be no aggression against him.

194. Sacred month in return for sacred month (if they fight you in a sacred month, retaliate by fighting them in the same way. This is to counteract those Muslims who thought it terrible to do so.) – sacred things are subject to retaliation. Sacred things entail retaliation when they are violated. So if anyone oversteps the limits against you by fighting in the haram, ihram or sacred months, overstep against him the same as he did to you. This is called equivalence since it should take a similar form. But be fearful of Allah by helping and not transgressing. Know that Allah is with those who are god-fearing. Allah will provide help and assistance to the god-fearing.

195. Spend in the Way of Allah in obedience to Him on jihad and other things. Do not cast yourselves into destruction. The destruction referred to is brought about by refusing to spend in jihad or abandoning it because that will make the enemy stronger against you. And do good by spending and other things: Allah loves good-doers. Allah will reward those who do that.

196. Perform the hajj and umra for Allah, meaning carry out their duties. If you are forcibly prevented by the enemy from completing them, make whatever sacrifice is feasible for you, which means a sheep. But do not shave your heads and come out of ihram until the sacrificial animal mentioned has reached the place of sacrifice where it is lawful to sacrifice them. Ash –Shafi considers that to refer to the place where someone is prevented from continuing and so he slaughters there. He comes out of ihram and distributes the meat to the poor and shaves his head. If any of you are ill or have a head injury such as head lice or a head wound, so that he has to shave while in ihram, the expiation for doing that is fasting for three days or sadaqa in the form of three sa’s of the staple food of the land to six people or sacrifice by slaughtering a sheep, or it may mean that there is a choice, when you are safe from the enemy when he goes away or is not there and well again. Shaving without excuse, however, entails full kaffara. The same ruling applies to people who have a valid excuse for breaking the conditions of ihram in other ways, such as by wearing perfume, clothes or hair oil. Anyone who comes out of ihram between umra and hajj, meaning someone who does a tamattu‘hajj, should make whatever sacrifice is feasible. It is called tamattu ‘because he enjoys (tamatta‘) doing things normally forbidden during the hajj by coming out of ihram after completing ‘umra and then re-adopting it for the hajj itself. The sacrifice to be offered for doing this is a sheep after coming out of ihram. It is best done on the Day of Sacrifice. For anyone who cannot find a sacrifice because there is none available or he does not have the necessary money, there are three days’ fast which he should do on hajj, while in ihram (So the person doing this must go into ihram before the 7th Dhü’l-hijja and it is best to do so before the 6th because it is disliked to fast the Day of ‘Arafa while on hajj. Nor is it permitted to fast during the days of tashrıq according to the soundest of two positions of ash-Shafi) and seven more on your return when one returns home from Makka after finishing the hajj –that is ten days of fasting in all. There is a change in the text from third to second person. That (the ruling mentioned about the obligation to sacrifice or fast for a tamattu‘hajj) is for anyone whose family does not live near the Sacred Mosque, those who live a distance of more than two stages away from the haram. According to ash-Shafi, those who live nearer than that owe neither sacrifice nor fast if they do tamattu‘. The mention of “family” indicates the precondition of residence. If someone arrives before the months of hajj and is not resident and does tamattu he must follow the ruling, according to one of two views of ash-Shafi; the second view is that he does not have to. “Family” alludes to the person on hajj. Alongside the tamattu‘hajj is what is mentioned in the Sunna about the qiran hajj, which is to go into ihram for both hajj and ‘umra together. Be fearful of Allah in respect of what He has commanded and what He has forbidden and know that Allah is severe in retribution against those who oppose Him.

197. The time of the hajj takes place during well-known months –Shawwal, Dhu’l-Qa‘da and the first ten days of Dhu’l-hijja or the whole of it. If anyone undertakes the obligation of hajj in them by going into ihram, there must be no sexual intercourse, no wrong -doing or acts of rebellion, nor any quarrelling during hajj. This is a firm prohibition. Whatever good you do such as giving sadaqa, Allah knows it and will reward you for it. And the following wa s revealed about the people of Yemen who used to make hajj without taking any provision and so relied on other people for their entire maintenance. Take provision for your journey, but the best provision is fearfulness of Allah which protects one from asking people and other things. So be fearful of Me, people of intelligence!

198. There is nothing wrong in seeking bounty (provision) f r o m your Lord by trading during the hajj. This was revealed to refute those who disliked doing that. When you pour down from Arafat after the Standing there, remember Allah, after the night at Muzdalifa, with talbiya, by saying “lailaha ila’llah” and making supplication at the Sacred Landmark. The “Sacred Landmark” is the other mountain at Muzdalifa called Qazih. According to a hadith the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood there invoking Allah and supplicating to Him until the sun was quite yellow. (Muslim) Remember Him because He has guided you to the pillars of His din and the practices of His hajj, even though before this (received this guidance) you were astray.

199. Then press on, Quraysh, from where the people press on, meaning go on from ‘Arafat to Muzdalifa and stand there together with the rest of the people, and ask Allah’s forgiveness for your sins. Quraysh used to stand at Muzdalifa above the place where the others stood. Allah is Ever-Forgiving to the believers, Most Merciful towards them.

200. When you have completed the rites, the acts of worship of your hajj by stoning the Jamra al-‘Aqaba, performing Tawaf and staying at Mina, remember Allah with takbir and praise, as you used to remember your forefathers because you used to boast and brag about your forefathers at the end of hajj before the coming of Islam – or even more than you used to remember them. There are some people who say, “Our Lord, give us a portion of good in this world.” They may be given it but they will have no share in the Next World.

201. And there are others who say, “Our Lord, give us good (blessings) in this world, and good in the Next World (the Garden), and safeguard us from the punishment of the Fire by our not entering it.” These two ayats illustrate the difference between the idolaters, who think only of this world, and the believers, who are aiming for the Next World as well, and encourage the quest for good in both abodes as a reward in both is promised.

202. They will have a good share (a reward) from what they have earned through their actions in the hajj and the supplication they have made. Allah is swift at reckoning. The reckoning of Allah over all of His creation will take, according to a hadith, about half a day going by the length of days in this world.

203. Remember Allah by calling out the takbir when stoning the jamras on the designated days, the three days of Tashriq. Those who hurry on from Mina in two days (those who leave on the second of the days of tashriq after stoning the jamras), have done no wrong by hurrying on, and those who stay another day, remaining for the third day and stoning the jamras, have done no wrong by doing that – people can choose regarding that matter. There is no sin for those of them who are god-fearing, who fear Allah on the hajj because only those who do are true hajjis. So be fearful of Allah. And know that you will be gathered back to Him in the Next World and He will repay you for your actions.

204. Among the people there is a man whose words about the life of this world excite your admiration, but you will not admire him in the Next World because of the difference in his belief, and he calls Allah to witness what is in his heart, that it is in harmony with what he says, while he is in fact the most hostile of adversaries. He is the strongest adversary to you and your followers because he is hostile to you. This ayat refers to al-Akhnas ibn Sharıq, who was a hypocrite but sweet in his words to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, swearing that he believed him and loved him. The Prophet brought him near but then Allah exposed him. Then he passed by some fields and donkeys belonging to the Muslims and burned the crops and killed the animals in the night, as is reported in the next ayat.

205. When he leaves you, he goes about the earth corrupting it, destroying crops and animals, which constitute great corruption. Allah does not love corruption and is not pleased with it.

206. When he is told to be fearful of Allah in what he does, he is seized by pride and arrogance and compulsion to behave sinfully overcome him, which drives him to wrongdoing which he has been commanded to avoid. Hell will be enough for him! What an evil resting-place!

207. And among the people are some who give up and sell every -thing, expending themselves in obedience to Allah, desiring the good pleasure of Allah. This refers particularly to Suhayb, may Allah be pleased with him. When the idolaters started to persecute him, he emigrated to Madina and left his property to them. Allah is All-Gentle with His slaves by guiding them to that which contains His pleasure.

208. This was revealed about ‘Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions when they continued to venerate Saturday as the Sabbath and disliked eating camels after becoming Muslim. O you who believe! Enter Islam (read as salam and silm) totally, meaning “follow all its laws”. Do not follow in the footsteps and paths of Shaytan which he has made seem attractive in order to divide you. He is an outright (clear) enemy to you.

209. If you backslide, inclining away from taking on all of Islam, after the Clear Signs and manifest evidence that it is the truth has come to you, know that Allah is Almighty in taking revenge against you, All-Wise in what He does.

210. What are they (those who do not enter Islam) waiting for but for the command of Allah to come to them, in a form such as the arrival of His punishment, in the shadows of the clouds, together with the angels, in which case the matter will have been settled and their destruction commanded? All matters return to Allah in the Next World and He will repay everyone for their actions.

211. Ask, Muhammad, the Tribe of Israel as a rebuke how many Clear Signs We gave to them, such as the dividing of the sea and the descent of manna and quail, and yet they exchanged them for disbelief. If anyone alters Allah’s blessing after it has come to him and changes the signs which are a means to guidance out of disbelief, Allah is severe in retribution towards him.

212. To those who disbelieve among the people of Makka, the life of this world is misrepresented by being painted in glowing colours so that they love it, and they laugh at those who believe because of their poverty, like Bilal, ‘Ammar and Suhayb; in other words, they mock the believers and vaunt themselves over them because of their wealth. But on the Day of Rising those who fear Allah and avoided shirk will be over them. Allah provides for whomever He wills without any reckoning. They will have vast provision in the Next World or this world when those who were mocked come to own the property and persons of the mockers.

213. Mankind was a single nation in respect of their belief and then they differed from one another so that some believed and some disbelieved. Then Allah sent out Prophets to them bringing good news about the Garden for those who believe and giving warning to those who disbelieve about the Fire, and with them He sent down the Book (all the Divine Revelations) with truth, to decide by it between people regarding their differences in respect of the din. Only those who were given it (the Book) differed about it so that some believed and some disbelieved, after the Clear Signs and manifest evidence of tawhid had come to them, envying one another (meaning the unbelievers). Then, by His permission (by His will), Allah guided those who believed to the truth of that about which they had differed. Allah guides whomever He wills to a straight path, the Path of Truth.

214. This was revealed about afflictions which beset the Muslims. Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without facing the same afflictions as were faced by those believers who came before you? So you should be patient as they were patient. Extreme poverty and illness afflicted them and they were shake n a n d alarmed with various type of affliction, to the point that the Messenger and those who believed with him felt that help was slow in coming to end their hardship and said, “When is Allah’s help coming which we were promised?” Allah answered them: B e assured that Allah’s help is very near and will definitely come.

215. They will ask you, Muhammad, what they should give away, meaning what they should spend. The enquirer was ‘Amr ibn al-Jamuh. He was an old man with wealth and asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, what he should spend, and on whom. Say to them, “Any wealth you give away, whether a little or a lot, should go to your parents and relatives and to orphans and the very poor and travellers.” This makes it clear who the recipients should be. Whatever good you do, in spending or anything else, Allah knows it and will reward you for it.

216. Fighting against the unbelievers is prescribed and hereby made obligatory for you even if it is hateful to you and it is dislike d because it entails hardship. It may be that you hate a thing when it is good for you and it may be that you love a thing when it is bad for you. This is because the self seld is naturally inclined to lower appetites which will bring about its destruction, and is averse to duties which make happiness mandatory for it. So you may dislike fighting, but it is good for you: either through winning victory and booty or by gaining martyrdom and its reward. There is evil in avoiding it because that entails abasement, poverty and loss of reward. Allah knows what is good for you and you do not know that. So hasten to what He commands you.

217. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent the first of his expeditions, which was led by ‘Abdullah ibn Jahsh; they fought the idolaters and killed Ibn al-Hadrami on the last day of Jumad al-Akhira and went on into the sacred month of Rajab. So the unbelievers blamed them for allowing fighting in a sacred month and then this was revealed. They will ask you about the Sacred Month and fighting in it. Say to them, “Fighting in it is a serious matter and a sin; but barring access to the Way of Allah (His din) and rejecting Him and barring access to the Sacred Mosque i n Makka and expelling its people, meaning the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the believers, from it are far more serious and a worse sin in the sight of Allah than fighting in it. The oppression of idolatry (Fitna on your part) is worse than killing you in it.” They (the unbelievers) will not stop fighting you (the believers) until they make you revert to unbelief from your din, if they are able. As for any of you who revert from their din and die unbelievers, their righteous actions will come to nothing in this world and the Next. There is nothing sent ahead by them and no reward for them. The fact that death is mentioned here as a limitation means that if he were to revert to Islam his actions would not be invalid and he would be rewarded for them and would not have to repeat them: such as having to repeat hajj, for instance. That is the position of ash-Shafi. They are the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, forever.

218. When the expedition thought that even if they were free of wrong actions, they still would not obtain a reward, the following was revealed. Those who believe and emigrate and leave their homeland and do jihad in the Way of Allah, striving to elevate the din, can expect Allah’s mercy and reward. Allah is Ever-Forgiving to the believers, Most Merciful towards them.

219. They will ask you about the judgement regarding intoxicants and gambling. Say to them, “There is great (read as kabir “great” and in one reading Kathir “much”) wrong in using both of them since they cause quarrels, mutual abuse and foul language and also certain benefits for mankind, including pleasure and joy in wine and getting money without effort in gambling. But the wrong and corruption in them is greater than the benefit.” The harm which originates from them is far worse than any benefit which accrues. When this was revealed, some people continued to drink while others abstained until the ayat of Sura al-Ma’ida forbade it absolutely. They will ask you what and how much they should give away. Say, “Spend whatever is surplus to your needs.” Do not spend what you need and harm yourselves by doing that. In this way as wa s explained to you, Allah makes the Signs clear to you, so that hope -fully you will reflect…

220. … on the business of this world and the Next and take what is the best for you regarding it. They will ask you about the property of orphans and difficulties they face in looking after it because if they consume it they commit wrong, but if they separate their own property from that of the orphans and prepare food for them alone from it those results in hardship. Say, “Managing it in their best interests is best.” Managing their property is for the sake of its growth and shared profit is better than leaving it untouched and unproductive. If you mix your property with theirs, mixing your outlay with theirs, they are your brothers in the din. Part of the business of a brother is to share with his brother, meaning that you may do so. Allah knows a squanderer who wastes their property through mixing with their own from a good manager who improves it for them. Both of them will be repaid. If Allah had wanted, He could have been hard on you, constricting you by forbidding the mixing of property. Allah is Almighty and has control of His command, All-Wise in what He does.

221. Do not, Muslims, marry idolatrous (unbelieving) women until they believe. A believing slave girl is better for you than an idolatress that is free, even though she may attract you by her beauty and wealth. The reason for the revelation of this ayat was the shame attached to marrying a slave and the desire to marry a free idolatress. This refers non-Kitabi women, by the ayat, “chaste women of the People of the Book. (5)” And do not give Muslim women in marriage to idolatrous men until they believe. A believing slave is better for you than an idolater, even though he may attract you by handsomeness and wealth. Such people (idolaters call you to the Fire by inviting you to actions which result in the Fire and so it is not proper to marry them, whereas Allah calls you on the tongue of His Prophets, with His permission, (by His will) to actions which result in the Garden and forgiveness. So you must respond by marrying His friends. He makes His Signs clear to people so that hopefully they will pay heed and be warned.

222. They will ask you about menstruation or about its status and what women should do during it. Say, “It is an impurity, or its status is that it is an impurity, so keep apart from women during menstruation and do not approach them (do not have sexual intercourse during menstruation or any sexual activity involving the place where it occurs) until they have purified themselves (read as yatahharna and yathurna) by having a ghusl after it has ended. But once they have purified themselves, then go to (have sexual intercourse with) them in the way that Allah has enjoined on you” which you avoided during menstruation, confining yourselves to kissing them instead and not exceeding that. Allah loves and He will reward and honour those who turn back from wrongdoing and repent of wrong actions and He loves those who purify themselves from impurity.

223. Your women are fertile fields for you, meaning the place of producing offspring, so come to your fertile fields, meaning the site for procreation, which is the vagina, however you like, standing, sitting or lying down, from the front or the back, to refute the statement of the Jews that if someone come to his wife from behind she will have a squint-eyed child. Send good ahead for yourselves by righteous actions like saying the basmala in intercourse and be fearful of Allah regarding His commands and prohibitions. Know that you are going to meet Him at the Resurrection and He will repay you for your actions. And give good news to the believers who fear that they will meet Allah.

224. Do not, by your oaths made using the Name of Allah, make Allah a pretext and barrier by swearing a lot of oaths by Allah to a void good action and being fearful of Allah and putting things right between people. It is disliked to make such an oath and it is a Sunna to break it. It is expiated by going against it and doing good and so breaking it is in fact an act of obedience. Do not prevent ourselves from performing acts of piety and the like by swearing not to do them. Such people should do kaffara because the reason for the revelation of this ayat was to prevent barring people from doing good. Allah is All-Hearing of what You say, All-Knowing of your states.

225. Allah will not take you to task for inadvertent statements in your oaths, meaning things which the tongue says without any aim of swearing like, “No, by Allah” and “Yes, by Allah” for which there is no kaffara, but He will take you to task for the intention your hearts have made in respect of oaths you truly intend to make. Allah is Ever Forgiving of what is inadvertent, All-Forbearing because He does not punish many who deserves it.

226. Those who swear to abstain from sexual relations with their wives, vowing not to have sexual intercourse with them, may wait for a period of up to four months in which they can retract the oath and have sexual intercourse with them. If they then retract their oath in that time and have sexual intercourse, Allah is Ever -Forgiving of the harm they did to the woman through the oath, Most Merciful towards them by deferring the punishment of those who deserve it.

227. If they are determined to divorce and do not retract, divorce occurs. Allah is All-Hearing of what they say, All-Knowing of their resolve. This means that after the waiting period mentioned, they only have the option of retraction or divorce.

228. Divorced women should wait by themselves and not marry any-one else for three menstrual cycles from the moment of the divorce; quru’, “menstrual cycles” is the plural of qar’, which can refer either to the period of purity between periods of menstruation or to the period of menstruation itself. This applies to women whose marriage has been consummated. If the marriage has not been consummated there is no ‘idda to observe, as shown by Allah’s words: “There is no ‘idda for you to calculate for them” (33:49) in another ayat. The ‘idda of a child is three months and that of a pregnant women ends when she gives birth, as is stated in Sura at talaq 65:4. The ‘idda of a slave is two menstrual cycles and it is not lawful for them (divorced women) to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs (menstruation or pregnancy) if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. Their husbands have the right to take them back within that waiting time, if they both desire to be reconciled, avoiding any harm to the wife. This is to encourage a good intention, not a precondition for the husband taking his wife back, since he clearly has the right to do so. This is the revocable divorce. No one else has any right to marry them while they are in their idda. Women possess rights from their husbands similar to those rights held over them by their husbands to be honoured with fairness as prescribed in the Shari’a: good treatment, lack of injury and other such things; but men have a degree above them. Men have a degree of excellence since they pay the mahr and support women financially. Allah is Almighty in His kingdom, All-Wise in how He manages His creation.

229. Divorce can be pronounced twice; this concerns the revocable divorce, in which case wives may be retained with correctness and courtesy, without inflicting any harm, or released (let go) with good will. It is not lawful, husbands, for you to keep anything you have given them of any dowry if you divorce them unless a couple fear that they will not remain within Allah’s limits, meaning that they will not perform the duties prescribed for them. If you fear that they will not remain within Allah’s limits, there is nothing wrong in a wife ransoming herself with some of what she has received. A wife can pay to be divorced and in such a case there is no harm in the husband taking it or the wife in paying it. These rulings which were mentioned are Allah’s limits, so do not overstep them.

230. But if a man divorces his wife a third time, she is not lawful for him after that, after the third divorce, until she has married another husband and consummates the marriage with him, as it says in the hadith in the two Sahih collections. Then if he (the second husband) divorces her, there is nothing wrong in the original couple getting back together after the end of the ‘idda provided they think they will remain within Allah’s limits. These are Allah’s limits which He has made clear to people who know and reflect.

231. When you divorce women and they are near the end of their ‘idda, then either retain them with correctness and courtesy, with-out harming them, or release them with correctness and courtesy, letting them go without inflicting any harm on them at the end of their ‘idda. Do not retain them by force, thus overstepping the limits by forcing them to ransom themselves and trying to drag things out. Anyone who does that has wronged himself and exposed him-self to Allah’s punishment. Do not make a mockery of Allah’s Signs by opposing them. Remember Allah’s blessing (Islam) upon you and the Book (the Qur’an) and Wisdom (the rulings in it) He has sent down to you to admonish you, by showing gratitude to Him through acting on it. Be fearful of Allah and know that Allah has knowledge of all things so that nothing is hidden from Him.

232. When you divorce women and they are near the end of their ‘idda, do not prevent them (this is addressed to the guardians of the women) from marrying their first husbands who have divorced them if they (the husbands and the wives) have mutually agreed to it with correctness and courtesy according to the Shari’a. The reason for the revelation of this ayat was that the sister of Ma‘qil ibn Yasar was divorced by her husband and then he wanted to take her back but Ma‘qil prevented him from doing so, as al-hakim related. This prohibition of preventing them from remarrying is an admonition for those of you who believe in Allah and the Last Day because you are the ones who will benefit from it. That (not preventing them) is better and purer for you because of the uncertainty which is feared for the couple because of the connection between them. Allah knows where your best interests lie and you do not know that. That is why you must follow His command.

233. Mothers should nurse their children for two full (“full” is for stress) years – for those who wish to complete the full term of nursing which is not more than that. It is the duty of the fathers (of the children) to feed and clothe them (the mothers while they are nursing) with correctness and courtesy according to ability – no self is charged beyond what it can bear. No mother should be put under pressure in respect of her child by forcing her to nurse when she refuses nor any father in respect of his child by making him spend more than he is able to. The child is ascribed to both parents because the affections of the child extend to both of them. The same duty is incumbent on the heir of the father, who is the child. The heir has a right to the money of his guardian. He has a similar entitlement to provision and clothing to the mother’s. If the couple (the parents) both wish weaning to take place before the two years are up after mutual agreement and consultation between them in respect of the best interests of the child, there is nothing wrong in their doing so and that is acceptable. The following is addressed to the fathers: If you wish to find wet-nurses other than their mothers for your children, there is nothing wrong in your doing so provided you hand over to them what you have agreed to give in payment to them with correctness and courtesy, cheerfully and correctly. Be fearful of Allah and know that Allah sees what you do, nothing being hidden from Him.

234. Those of you who die leaving wives behind: they should wait by themselves as an ‘idda after marriage for four months and ten nights. The end of the ‘idda of a pregnant woman, however, is when-ever she gives birth, as stated in the Ayat of Divorce (65:4). The ‘idda of a slave girl is half that according to the Sunna. When their ‘idda comes to an end, you guardians are not to blame for any -thing they do with themselves by way of adorning themselves and showing that they are ready for new marriage proposals with correctness and courtesy which is correct in the Shari’ah. Allah is aware of what you do, knowing your inward as well as the outward.

235. Nor is there anything wrong in any allusion to marriage you make to a woman, who is widowed and in ‘idda, as when a man says, “You are beautiful,” or “Who could find anyone like you?” or “By the Lord, I desire you”, nor for any you keep to yourself by concealing your intention to marry them. Allah knows that you will say things to them by proposals you make and what you allude to and that is permitted. But do not make secret arrangements with them to marry them; rather only speak with correctness and courtesy, in a manner which is correct in the Shari’ah. Do not finally decide on the marriage contract until the prescribed period (‘idda) has come to its end. Know that Allah knows what is in your selves of resolve and other things, so beware of Him and His punishment if you resolve on marriage! And know that Allah is Ever-Forgiving of the one He warns, Ever-Forbearing, deferring the punishment from the one who deserves it.

236. There is nothing wrong in your divorcing women before you have touched them (read as tamassu, “you have touched” and tumassu, “you have had intercourse with”) them or allotted a dowry to them. But give them a gift which they will enjoy – he who is wealthy according to his means and he who is less well off according to his means – and in this case the social rank of the wife is not considered – a gift to be given with correctness and courtesy in accordance with the Shari‘a: a duty for all good-doers, those who obey Allah.

237. If you divorce them before you have touched them but have already allotted them a dowry, they should have half the amount you allotted and you can take half back, unless they forgo it, unless the wife forgoes it, or the one in charge of the marriage contract forgoes it, in other words the husband allows her to take the entire amount. Ibn ‘Abbas said that this means the guardian should do this if the girl is secluded. To forgo it is closer to being god-fearing. Do not forget to show generosity to one another and be kind to one another. Allah sees what you do and will repay you for it.

238. Safeguard the five prayers by performing them at their proper times – especially the middle prayer. The middle prayer may be ‘Asr, Subh, Dhur or another. It is singled out for mention because of its excellence. Stand in the prayer out of obedience to Allah since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Every qanut in the Quran means obedience.” (Ahmad and others) It is said that it means silence, based on the Hadıth of Zayd ibn Arqam, “We used to speak in the prayer until this was revealed and we were commanded to be silent and forbidden to speak.” (al-Bukhari and Muslim).

239. If you are afraid of the enemy, flood or wild beasts, then pray on foot or mounted. Pray however you can, facing the qibla or not and indicating ruku‘and prostration. But when you are safe and free from fear, remember Allah in the prayer in the way He taught you when previously you did not know with all its obligatory elements and duties which you did not know before He taught you.

240. Those of you who die leaving wives behind should make a bequest of maintenance and clothing to their wives for a full year from their death and they are obliged to wait without having to leave their homes. But if they do then leave you, executor of the dead person, are not to blame for anything they do with themselves with correctness and courtesy, such as adorning themselves or abandoning mourning, or thereby putting an end to their maintenance. Allah is Almighty in His kingdom, All-Wise in what He does. This bequest was abrogated by the Ayat of Inheritance when waiting for a year was changed to four months and ten days which was revealed later. The widow’s right to a dwelling is confirmed by ash-Shafi. .

241. Divorced women should be given and receive maintenance given with correctness and courtesy according to one’s ability: a duty for all god-fearing people who fear Allah. Allah repeats “god-fearing” to make it general since the previous ayat was specific.

242. In this way Allah makes His Signs clear to you, making clear these mentioned rulings, so that hopefully you will use your intellect and reflect.

243. The following question is one of wonder and desire to hear the response. What do you think about those who left their homes in thousands, variously said to have been four, eight, thirty, forty or seventy thousand, in fear of death? They were people from the tribe of Israel who fled when there was a plague in their land. Then Allah said to them, “Die!” and they died and then brought them back to life eight or more days later, after the supplication of their Prophet Ezekiel. They lived for some time after being brought back from death wearing things which resembled shrouds, remaining in their tribes. Allah shows great favour for mankind, part of which wa s bringing those people to life, but most people are not grateful. They do not thank Allah. This meant to encourage the believers to fight, which is why the next ayat continues with the instruction to do so.

244. Fight in the Way of Allah to elevate His din. Know that Allah is All-Hearing, hearing your words, All -knowing, knowing your states and He will repay you.

245. Is there anyone who will make Allah a generous loan b y spending his wealth in the Way of Allah with a cheerful heart so that He can multiply (yuda ’ifahu and yuda‘ifahu) it for him many times over, from ten to more than seven hundred times? Allah both restricts and withholds provision from anyone He wishes as a test for him and expands the provision of anyone He wishes as a test for them. And you will be returned to Him in the Next World at the Resurrection, when He will repay you for your actions.

246. What do you think about the story and news of the nobles and the community of the tribe of Israel after Musa’s time (after his death), when they said to one of their Prophets (Samuel), “Give us a king and establish him for us, and we will fight together with him in the way of Allah!”? He will organise us and we will support him. He (this Prophet) said to them, “Is it not possible (read as ‘asaytum and ‘asitum) that if fighting were prescribed for you, you would not fight?” This is a question that confirms and records, because that is what actually occurred. They said, “How could we not fight in the way of Allah when we have been driven from our homes and children who have been captured and killed?” That was done by the people of Goliath. In other words, they said that there was nothing to impede them doing that if it became necessary. Allah Almighty continues: But then when fighting was prescribed for them, they turned their backs and were cowardly – except for a few of them who crossed the river with Saul as will be mentioned. Allah knows the wrongdoers and will repay them. The Prophet asked his Lord to send them a king and Allah responded to them by giving them Talut(Saul).

247. Their Prophet said to them, “Allah has appointed Saul to be your king.” They said, “How can he have kingship over us when we have much more right to kingship than he does? They asked this because he was not one of the scions of nobility or prophet hood. He was a tanner or a shepherd. He has not even much wealth to help him to establish the kingdom!” He (the Prophet) said to them, “Allah has chosen him to be king over you and favoured him greatly in expansion in knowledge and physical strength. At that time, he was the most knowledgeable of the Israelites and the handsomest and the one with the best physique. Allah gives kingship to anyone He wills and none can oppose it. Allah is All-Encompassing, vast in bounty, All-Knowing, knowing who is worthy to be king.”

248. Their Prophet said to them when they asked him for a sign of kingship, “The sign of his kingship is that the Ark will come to you, which contained images of the Prophets. Allah sent it down to Adam. When the Amlekites conquered the Jews they captured the Ark. The Israelites used to open it against their enemy and bring it to the front in fighting and it gave them tranquillity as Allah says: containing serenity, peace of mind for your hearts, from your Lord and certain relics left by the families of Musa and Harun. The relics referred to were the sandals and staff of Musa, the turban of Harun, a piece of the manna which came down, and pieces of the tablets Musa received from Allah. It will be borne by angels. There is a sign of his kingship for you in that if you are believers.” The angels carried it between heaven and earth while they were looking at it until it was placed with Saul. Then they affirmed his kingship and hastened to fight and he chose seventy thousand young men.

249. When Saul marched out with the army from Jerusalem when it was hot and they asked him for water, he said, “Allah will test you with a river to show who among you is obedient and who is disobedient. It was between Jordan and Palestine. Anyone who drinks from it is not with me, in other words not one of my followers. But anyone who does not taste it is with me – except for him who merely scoops up a little (read as ghurfa and gharfa) in his hand and is content with that without taking any more. Such are my followers.” But when they reached it, they, (most of them) drank from it –except for a few of them who were content with handfuls. It is related that it was enough for both them and their animals. They numbered around three hundred and ten. Then when he and those who had faith with him (those who confined themselves to a handful), had crossed it, they (those who had drunk from it) said, “We do not have the strength to face Goliath and his troops today and fight him.” They were cowardly and would not cross it. But those who were sure that they were going to meet Allah at the Resurrection and had crossed it said, “How many a small force has triumphed over a much greater one with Allah’s permission (His will). Allah is with the steadfast, giving them help and victory.”

250. When they came out against Goliath and his troops and they formed ranks to fight, they said, “Our Lord, pour down steadfastness upon us, make our feet firm by making our hearts strong in jihad, and help us against the people of the unbelievers.”

251. And with Allah’s permission (by His will) they routed them. Dawud, who was in Saul’s army, killed Goliath and Allah gave him kingship in the tribe of Israel and wisdom, meaning Prophet hood, after the death of Samuel and Saul and no one had had both of them before him, and taught him whatever He willed, such as making armour and the speech of birds. If it were not for Allah’s driving some people back by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted because the idolaters would have dominated and killed the Muslims and destroyed their mosques. But Allah possesses favour for all the worlds by driving them back by one another.

252. These Signs are Allah’s Signs which We recite to you, Muhammad, with truth. You are indeed one of the Messengers. This is stressed to refute the position of the unbelievers that he was not a Messenger.

253. These Messengers (or “These are Messengers”): We favoured some of them over others with a special trait which none of the others had. Allah spoke directly to some of them like Musa and raised up some of them in rank like Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with universal supplication, the seal of prophet-hood, and selecting his Community over all communities, miracles and many special qualities. We gave Clear Signs to Isa, son of Maryam, and reinforced him with the Spirit of Purity, Jibril, going with him wherever he went. If Allah had willed, He could have guided all people and then those who came after them, meaning the nations of the Prophets, would not have fought each other after the clear Signs came to them, but they differed and misled one another by Allah’s will. Among them there are those who believe — remain firm in their faith — and among them there are those who disbelieve, like the Christians after Isa. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought each other. The repetition is for stress. But Allah does whatever He desires. He gives success to whomever He wishes and leaves in the lurch whomever He wishes.

254. You who believe! Give away some of what We have provided for you as zakat before a Day arrives on which there is no trading, meaning ransom, no close friendship which benefits and no inter -cession without His permission. That means the Day of Rising. It is the rejecters of Allah or those who reject what He has imposed on them who are the wrongdoers by putting the command of Allah elsewhere than its proper place.

255. Allah. There is no god but Him, there is nothing but Him truly worshipped in existence, the Living, Constantly Abiding, the Self-Sustaining, the One who undertakes to manage His creation. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Kingdom, creation and slaves all belong to Him absolutely. Who can intercede, in other words none can, with Him except by His permission to do so? He knows what is before them (creation) and what is behind them (the business of this world and the Next World). And they cannot grasp any of His knowledge and do not know any known things save what He wills. They only know what He informs them of through His Messengers. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the earth… It is said that this means that His knowledge encompasses the heavens and the earth. It is also said that the Footstool (Kurs i) itself encompasses them in its immensity, according to the hadith, “The seven heavens are only like seven dirham’s thrown into the desert.” … and their preservation (that of the Heavens and the earth) does not tire Him (wear Him out). He is the Most High above His creation by His overwhelming power, the Magnificent and Immense.

256. There is no compulsion where the din is concerned to compel people to enter it. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error. Guidance is clear by the evident signs that belief is right guidance and unbelief is error. This was revealed about some of the Ansar who had children and wanted to force them into Islam. Anyone who rejects false gods taghut which means Shaytan or idols and can be singular or plural) and believes in Allah has grasped the Firmest Handhold which will never give way. Allah is All-Hearing of what is said, All-Knowing, of what is done.

257. Allah is the Protector and Helper of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness of unbelief to the light of belief. But those who disbelieve have false gods as protectors. They take them from the light into the darkness. The mention of removal is either to mirror the preceding words or about those among the Jews who believed in the Prophet before his mission and then rejected him afterwards. Those are the Companions of the Fire remaining in it timelessly, forever.

258. What about him who argued with Ibrahim about his Lord, on the basis that Allah had given him sovereignty? This is a reference to Nimrod who was moved to do this by his pride in the blessings which Allah had given him. He asked Ibrahim, “Who is your Lord to whom you call?” and Ibrahim said, “My Lord is He who gives life and causes to die.” He creates life and death in physical bodies. He said, “I too give life and cause to die by killing or pardoning people at will.” He called for two men and killed one and let the other live. When he saw that the king was stupid, Ibrahim moved on to even clearer evidence and said, “Allah makes the sun come from the East. Make it come from the West.” And the one who disbelieved was dumbfounded and confused. Allah does not guide wrongdoing people who disbelieve to conclusive evidence in the argument.

259. Or what about the one who passed by a town (Jerusalem) which had fallen into ruin? This was ‘Uzayr who was riding on a donkey and had with him a basket of figs and a cup of juice. The town was in ruins because of what Nebuchadnezzar had done to it. He asked, “How can Allah restore this to life when it has died?” He asked this question exalting the power of Allah, not out of doubt. Allah caused him to die a hundred years and then brought him back to life to demonstrate to him the answer to his question. Then He (Allah) asked him, “How long have you been here?” He replied, “I have been here a day or part of a day.” He said this because he went to sleep and died at the beginning of the day and was brought to life at sunset and so he thought that it was the same day. He said, “Not so! You have been here a hundred years. Look at your food (figs) and drink (juice) – it has not gone bad (read as yatasanna and yatasanna) or altered through time – and look at your donkey and how it is – and he saw that it was dead and its bones bleached. We did that so that you would know and so We can make you a Sign of the resurrection for all mankind. Look at the bones of your donkey – how We raise them up (read as nunshizuh , nanshizuh , and nunshiruh ) and clothe them in flesh.” He looked at it and the bones came together and had flesh and the spirit was breathed into it and the donkey brayed. When it had become clear to him by this witnessing, he said, “Now I know (read as a‘lamu “ I know” and a ‘ l a m, in which case the meaning becomes “Know that…”) that Allah has power over everything .”

260. Remember when Ibrahim said, “My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.” He (Allah) asked, “Do you not then believe that it is in My power to bring to life?” Allah asked this question, knowing that Ibrahim believed, in order to answer what he asked and inform listeners of what he meant. He (Ibrahim) replied, “Indeed I do believe! But I asked this so that my heart may be at peace through the actual eye-witnessing of proof.” He said, “Take four birds and train them to yourself (read as sirhum, meaning “make them incline to you”, and surhum, meaning “cut them up and mix up their flesh and feathers”) Then put a part of them on each mountain of your land and call them to come to you. They will come swiftly rushing to you. Know that Allah is Mighty, His power is unlimited, and Wise in what He does.” So Ibrahim took a peacock, eagle, crow and cock and did to them what he was told, and took their heads with him and called them; and their parts flew to one another until they were complete and then rejoined their heads.

261. The likeness of the expenditure of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah in obedience to Him is that of a grain which produces seven years, in every ear there is a hundred grains. That is how their spending is multiplied seven hundred times. Allah gives such multiplied increase, a n d even more than that, t o whomever He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing in His bounty, All-Knowing of what multiplication is merited.

262. Those that spend their wealth in the Way of Allah, and then do not follow what they have spent on someone by demands for gratitude by saying things like, “I was good to you,” or insulting words, by mentioning it, for instance, to someone who does not like it to be mentioned, will have their reward, for spending, with their Lord. They will feel no fear and know no sorrow in the Next World.

263. Correct and courteous words, good words when answering someone who asks for something, together with forgiveness w h e n someone is hard-pressed are better than sadaqa followed by insulting words by demanding gratitude and criticising his asking. Allah is Rich beyond need of Sadaqa, All-Forbearing in that He defers the punishment of those who harm and insult others.

264. O you who believe! Do not nullify the reward for your sadaqa by demands for gratitude or insulting words, like (in the way that it is nullified by) him who spends his wealth, showing off to people and not believing in Allah and the Last Day – in other words, a hypocrite. His likeness is that of a smooth rock coated with soil, which, when heavy rain falls on it, is left stripped bare, with nothing left on it. They have no power over anything they have earned. This example of a hypocrite illustrates those who spend to show off to people and the plural pronoun is used to show that it applies to all who do this. They act but will find no reward for their actions in the Next World, just as no earth is firmly attached to the stone and so the rain washes it off. Allah does not guide the people of the unbelievers.

265. The likeness of the spending of those who spend their wealth, desiring the pleasure of Allah and firmness for themselves, seeking to realise the reward for it as opposed to the hypocrites who do not hope for that since they deny it, is that of a garden on a hillside (read as rabwa and rubwa), which, when heavy rain falls on it, doubles its produce (read as aklah and ukulah ). And if heavy rain does not fall then there is drizzle. Drizzle is light rain which is enough because the garden is raised. So it gives fruit, whether there is a lot of rain or a little. It is like that with spending: it grows with Allah and He will repay them whether it is a little or a lot. Allah sees everything you do and will repay you for it.

266. Would any of you like to have a garden of dates and grapes, with rivers flowing underneath, containing all kinds of fruits, then to be stricken with old age so that you become too weak to earn because of that and have children who are weak, who are young and cannot earn, and then for a fierce whirlwind containing fire to come and strike it so that it goes up in flames? That leaves such a person more needy than he was and he is left with weak bewildered children who can do nothing. This is a metaphor for someone who shows off and seeks to molest people. He does not benefit here and is in even greater need in the Next World. The question implies a negative reply. Ibn ‘Abbas reported that it is about a man who performed good deeds and then Shay† n sent for him and he did rebellious acts until his good actions were burned up. Thus, by what was mentioned, does Allah make His Signs clear to you, so that perhaps you will reflect and take note?

267. You who believe! Give away some of the good things you have earned by paying zakat and some of what (good fruits and grains) the earth produces for you. Do not have recourse to bad things when you give zakat, things you would only take with your eyes tight shut if you were given them. They are such that you would not take them, so how can you pay the right of Allah with them? Know that Allah is Rich beyond need of your spending, Praiseworthy in every instance.

268. Shaytan promises you poverty and makes you fear it if you give sadaqa in order to make you refuse to do so, and commands you to avarice. He wants you to be stingy and refuse to pay zakat. Allah promises you forgiveness from Him in exchange for spending and abundance, provision which will replace what you have spent. Allah is All-Encompassing in His bounty, All-Knowing, knowing who spends.

269. He gives wisdom, useful knowledge which leads to action, to whoever He wills and he who has been given wisdom has been given great good. Such a person receives a lot of good because he will have eternal happiness. But no one pays heed but people of intelligence.

270. Whatever amount you spend of zakat or sadaqa or vow you make and fulfil, Allah knows it and will repay it. The wrongdoers, who do not pay zakat or who spend incorrectly in disobedience to Allah, have no helpers to protect them from Allah’s punishment.

271. If you make your voluntary Sadaqa public, that is good. But if you conceal it and give it to the poor, that is better for you and it will erase (read as yukaffiru, “it will erase” and nukaffiru, “We will erase”) some of your bad actions from you. Concealing voluntary giving is better than making it public it or giving it to the rich where-as in the case of the obligatory zakat, it is better to make it public so that it will be taken as an example, so that there is no suspicion and so that it will be given to the specified classes of needy. Allah is aware of everything you do, knowing the inward as well as the outward, nothing being hidden from Him.

272. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesses him and grants him peace, refused to give Sadaqa to the idolaters to encourage them to repent, this ayat was revealed. You are not responsible for their guidance, meaning you are not responsible for making people enter Islam, only for conveying the Message, but Allah guides whomever He wills to enter Islam. Whatever good (wealth) you give away is to your own benefit because there is a reward for it, when you give desiring only the Face of Allah, your giving being only for the sake of His reward and not prompted by the desires of this world. This is a report which in fact entails a prohibition. Whatever good you give away will be repaid to you in full. You will receive full compensation without lacking anything. You will not be wronged. The last two sentences reinforce the first.

273. It (Sadaqa) is for the poor who are held back by jihad in the Way of Allah, unable to travel in the land to travel for trade and livelihood because they were distracted from it by jihad. This was revealed about the people of the Suffa. They were four hundred Muhajirun (Emigrants from Makka) who wanted to learn the Quran and go out on expeditions. Because of their state the ignorant consider them rich because of their reticence to beg which they refrain from doing. You will know them by their mark. Their sign is humility and signs of striving. They do not ask people for something and swear insistently. They do not ask at all, let alone insistently. Whatever good you give away, Allah knows it and will reward you for what you give away.

274. Those who give away their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly, will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and know no sorrow.

275. Those who practise usury, those who take it (it constitutes any unjustified increase in any transaction in the form of money or goods in either amount or the length of the term) will not rise from the grave except as someone driven mad by shaytans touch. That, the reason for the revelation of this ayat, is because they say, “Trade is the same as usury in respect of its permissibility.” Allah then refutes what they said: But Allah has permitted trade and He has forbidden usury. Any who receive a warning from their Lord and then desist from consuming it, may keep what they received in the past before the prohibition, and do not have to return it, and their affair is up to Allah, whether such a person will be forgiven or not. But any who return to it and consume usury by making it comparable to l awful sales will be the Companions of the Fire, remaining in it timelessly, forever.

276. Allah obliterates usury, reducing it and removing its blessing, but makes Sadaqa grow in value, increasing it and makes its reward increase! Allah does not love any persistently ungrateful wrongdoer who makes usury lawful and is a deviant by consuming it, in other words He will punish him.

277. Those who believe and do right actions and establish the prayer and pay zakat will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and know no sorrow.

278. You who believe! Show fear of Allah and forgo any remaining usury if you are believers. This was revealed when one of the Companions asked after the prohibition about usury he had received before it.

279. If you do not do what you are commanded, know that it means war from Allah and His Messenger against you. This is an immense threat. When it was revealed, they said, “War with Him is inevitable.” But if you turn in repentance you may have your capital, without wronging by increase and without being wronged b y decrease.

280. If someone (a debtor) is in difficult circumstances, he should be granted a delay and there should be a deferral until things are easier (read as maysara and maysura). But making a free gift of it (read as tassaddaqu and tasaadaqu) and freeing the debtor would be better for you if you only knew so do it. We read in a hadith, “Whoever grants a delay to one in difficulty or reduces it for him, Allah will shade him on a day in which there is no shade but His shade.” (Muslim)

281. Show fear of a Day (the Day of Rising) when you will be returned to Allah. Then on that Day every self will be paid in full for what it earned whether its actions were good or evil. They will not be wronged. Their good deeds will not be decreased nor their bad deeds increased.

282. You who believe! When you take on a debt for a specified period, like a credit sale or loan, write it down to avoid any dispute. A writer should write it (the debt) down between you justly. Write it down correctly and do not add to the amount or term, nor decrease it. No writer should refuse to write when he is asked to do so; as Allah has taught him by being generous to him so that he can write, he should not be miserly with his ability to do so and so he should write. It is stressed that the one incurring the debt should dictate because he is the one against whom there is testimony and so he con-firms and knows what he owes, and should fear Allah his Lord and not reduce it (what he owes) in any way. If the person incurring the debt is incompetent or a wastrel or too weak to dictate because he is very young or old or unable to dictate because he is dumb or ignorant of the language or something similar, then his guardian, executor, translator or custodian should dictate for him justly. Two free, adult Muslim men among you should act as witnesses to the debt. But if there are not two men, then a man and two women should act as witnesses with whom you are satisfied as witnesses because of their din and integrity; then the reason that women are doubled is so that if one of them (the women) forgets the testimony owing to lack of intelligence or confusion, the other can remind (read as tudhakkira and tudhkira) her. She can remind her if the other is misguided or turning in that direction. Witnesses should not refuse when they are called upon to act as witnesses. Do not think it too trivial or be too lazy to write down the right to which you testify because that happens frequently, whether small or large, with the date that it falls due, the time when it must be repaid. Doing that (writing it down) is more just in Allah’s sight and more helpful when bearing witness, and more likely to establish justice, because it reminds people, and more likely to eliminate any doubt about the amount and the period it is due – unless it (the transaction) is an immediate transaction hand to hand, taken and given without delay. There is nothing wrong in your not writing that transaction down. Call witnesses when you trade to remove disagreement. This and what is before it is recommended. Neither writer nor witness should be put under pressure by the one who owes the debt or the one to whom it is owed to alter or attempt to prevent testimony or writing, or to harm them by forcing them to write or testimony to what is not correct. If you do that which you are forbidden, it is degeneracy (abandonment of obedience to Allah) on your part. Be fearful of Allah regarding His commands and prohibition and Allah will give you knowledge of your best interests. Allah has knowledge of everything.

283. If you are on a journey when you contract a debt and cannot find a writer, something can be left, with which all parties are satisfied, as a security (read as rih n and ruhun, the plural of rahn). It is clear that the Sunna permits leaving a pledge while at home eve n when there is a scribe available. The qualification mentioned here is because leaving a pledge when on a journey is a stronger priority. If you leave things on trust with one another as when a debtor leaves something with his creditor as a security for what he owes, the creditor may not pawn it and the one who is trusted must deliver up his trust and be fearful of Allah his Lord regarding returning it. Do not conceal testimony when you are asked to give it. If someone does conceal it, his heart commits a crime. The heart is singled out for mention, because when it sins, the other parts of a person follow it and will receive the punishment due to wrongdoers. Allah knows everything you do, nothing being hidden from Him.

284. Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs to Allah. Whether you divulge what is in yourselves of evil and resolve on it or keep it hidden, Allah will still inform you of it and call you to account for it on the Day of Rising. He forgives whomever He wills and He punishes whomever He wills. Allah has power over everything in respect of repayment and reward.

285. The Messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, believes in what has been sent down to him of the Qur’an from his Lord, and so do the believers. Each one believes in Allah and His angels and His Books (read as kutubihi, plural and kit bihi, singular) and His Messengers. They say: We do not differentiate between any of His Messengers, not believing in some and rejecting some as the Jews and Christians do. They say, “We hear what you have commanded us and accept it and we obey. We ask you to forgive us, our Lord! The final destination is to You.” The final destination refers to the Resurrection. When the ayat before it was revealed, the believers complained about the inner whispering they were subject to, and the thought of having to account for it was very difficult for them. So the following was revealed

286. Allah does not charge any self beyond what it can bear; only burdening it with what it is capable of fulfilling. For it is the reward of the good it did and what it has earned; against it is what it has warranted of the evil it did: in other words, the burden of that. No one will be punished for the sin of another, or for anything his nafs whispered to him but which he did not do. Say: Our Lord, do not take us to task by punishing us if we forget or make a mistake! Do not punish us if we inadvertently or deliberately abandon what is correct as You did those before us. Allah removed that from this community as in the hadith and so the request is an acknowledgement of the blessing of Allah. Our Lord, do not load us with such a burden which is too heavy for us to bear as You loaded onto those before us, meaning the tribe of Israel, such as a person having to kill themselves in repentance or having to pay a quarter of one’s property in zakat or cutting away anything with impurity on it. Our Lord, do not load us with that (with obligations or afflictions) which we have not the strength to bear! And pardon us for our wrong actions; and forgive us; and have mercy on us. Mercy is added to forgiveness. You are our Master and in charge of us, so help us against the people of the unbelievers. Establish the proof against the unbelievers and enable us to overcome them in fighting. The duty of the Master is to help those He protects against their enemies. We read in a hadith, “When this ayat was revealed, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited it, and after every sentence the words, ‘I have done it,’ were heard.”