| Surah al-Baqarah, 62
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ
وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
"Surely, those who believed in Allah, and those who became Jewish, and Christians, and the Sabeans -- whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day, and does good deeds -- for them, with their Lord, is their reward, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve." (2:62)
The previous verse spoke of how the Israelites drew upon themselves the wrath of Allah through their habitual insolence and disobedience. Now, this account may lead the listeners, or the Jews themselves, to suppose that, in view of such transgression, their Taubah (repentance), if they agree to offer it, would not be acceptable to Allah.
In order to dispel such a misgiving, the present verse lays down a general principle: no matter how a man has been behaving earlier, so long as he submits himself fully to the commandments of Allah (azza wa jal) in his beliefs and in his deeds both, he is acceptable to Allah, and will get his reward. It is obvious enough that after the revelation of the Holy Qur'an, which is the last message of Allah, perfect obedience to Allah can only mean accepting Islam and following the Last Prophet Muhammad (salallahu 'alayhi wasallam).* The verse, in effect, assures everyone that once a man has accepted Islam, all his former transgressions, whether in the matter of beliefs or in that of deeds, will be forgiven, and he will become worthy of receiving the rewards of the other world.
(*Note: Contrary to the flaccid fancies of some "modernizers" who are very happy with themselves over their "liberalism" and "tolerance", the present verse does not open the way to salvation for each and every "man of good will" irrespective of the creed he follows. If one reads the verse in its proper context and along with other relevant verses of the Holy Qur'an, one will easily see that the verse, in fact, promises salvation in the other world only to those who accept Islam. It is an invitation to Islam extended to the Jews, the Christians, the Sabeans and, as a matter of fact, to the followers of all possible religions, and even to non-believers -- specific names only serve as examples.)
Let us note, in passing, that nothing is definitely known as to the beliefs and the practices of the Sabeans, and different opinions have been expressed on the subject. (Most probably they used to worship the stars).
One might also ask why the verse mentions the Muslims, for if it is an invitation to Islam, there is no need to extend the invitation to those who have already accepted Islam. But if we keep in mind the richly concentrated style of the Holy Qur'an, and try to look beyond the literal sense of the words into the implications and suggestions contained in the verse, we would find that the inclusion of the Muslim factor has added a new dimension to the meaning. It is es if a king should, in a similar situation, say that his laws are impartially applicable to all his subjects, and that whosoever obeys them shall receive his reward for obedience irrespective of whether he has earlier been a friend or a foe. Obviously, the friend has always been loyal and obedient, and the warning and the promise have really been addressed to the foe. But the suggestion contained in such a formulation is that the favours of the king do not proceed from any personal attachment to the friends, but depend on the quality of obedience and loyalty, and hence the foes too will become worthy of his favours if they acquire the necessary quality. This is the raison d'etre of mentioning the Muslims along with the non-Muslims in this verse, which should never be taken to imply that salvation can be attained without accepting Islam.
We had better dispel another misunderstanding which is likely to arise from the wordings of the present verse -- and, which is actually being promoted by certain 'modernizers'. The verse mentions only two articles of faith of the Islamic creed -- faith in Allah and faith in the Day of Judgment. This should not be taken to mean that in order to attain salvation it is enough to have faith only in Allah and in the Day of Judgment. Fcr, the Holy Qur'an repeatedly declares that he who does not believe in the prophets, in angels and in the Books of Allah is not a Muslim. Faith in Allah is the first article in the Islamic creed, while faith in the Day of Judgment is the last. By mentioning only these two, the verse intends to say in a succinct manner that it is necessary to have faith in all the articles of the creed, from the first to i the last. Moreover, it is through the prophets and the Books of Allah alone that man can acquire any knowledge of the essence and the attributes of Allah and of what is to happen on the Day of Judgment, while the Books of Allah are revealed to the prophets through an angel. So, it is not possible to have faith in Allah and the Day of Judgment until and unless one has faith in the angels, in the Books of Allah and in the prophets (alayhimus sallam). (Ma'ariful Qur'an)
» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 2nd February 2011
3 Comments
|
moslehuddin wrote on 06/10/2011:
Also, from style of your writting it is evident that you have problems with mordenizers based on you/your teachers views. Is this how our prophet(PBUH) used to prophessed? think please...
moslehuddin wrote on 07/10/2011:
I know its BY Shafi. Thanks for clarification though.
But the problem with us is we focus more on what Shafi or Hanifa says than what Quran says or our prophet(PBUH) says.
One can easily daviate from original path by following blindly these rules. Example, Our prophet never beaten any of his wives where as Abu Bakr and Umar did. Now some of the Imams have views that husband can beat wife following abu Bakr etc. One who has sound knowledge on history knows why the prophet very relactantly did not oppose to it. BUt if we follow our prophets way...we will never beat our wives. but if you follow what Shafi says..y may end up in beating wife.
another example: Shafi was against the idea that Sunnah can abrogate Quran. But is Risalah he declared punishment for adultery is stoning to death and thus permitted sunnah to abrogate quran-which is against his own view.
we need to understand that Imams are not Prophets, tey are scholars of their time...they have limitations too. We should not follow them blindly. If we have to follow someone blindly--That should be Quran and our Prophet.
Correct me if I am wrong.
May Allah bless us with knowledge and wisdom.
abdullah wrote on 08/10/2011:
Mariful Quran is a well known tafseer. Yes Allah knows best, true. But why relax in the commentary when Allah is clear in other verses. The mordernizers you want to support have ruined the translation and tafseer of even Shaykh ibn Katheer. Please wake up and read the real deal and not the UN approved version being pumped out to the masses.if you are true to yourself, then get a tafseer by ibn Katheer which hasn't been touched by the Saudi regime and compare it with one that has. You will be in for a shock.
And if you are shia, then please don't insult the book of Allah.