An-Nahl 16:43–57

Commentary

According to Ruh al-Ma’ ani, it was after the revelation of the first verse cited above that the Mushrikin of Makkah sent their emissaries to the Jews of Madinah to find out if it was true that all earlier prophets had always been from the genus of men.

Though, included under the Qur'anic expression: أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ‌ (Ahludh-Dhikr) were the people of the Book and believers all together, but it was obvious that the Mushrikin (disbelievers) were to be satisfied only by the statement of non-Muslims - because they themselves were not satisfied with what the Holy Prophet ﷺ was telling them. So, how could they accept the statement of other Muslims?

The word: ذِکر (dhikr) in the combination of: أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ‌ [ Ahludh-Dhikr : translated here as 'the people (having the knowledge) of the Message'] is used to carry more than one meaning. One of these is or knowledge. It is in this sense that the Holy Qur’ an has identified the Torah too as Dhikr: وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ‌ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ‌ 'And verily We have written in the Zabur (Scripture, Psalms), after the Dhikr (the Message, Torah) ' - 21:105. Similar to this is the statement which follows next: أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ‌ We sent down the Message (The Qur'an) to you - 16:44]. Here, the word: الذِّكْرِ‌ (Adh-Dhikr) means the Qur'an. Therefore, 'ahludh-dhikr' literally means 'the people of knowledge' (as refined in the cited translation). And who are those referred to as Ahlul-` Ilm or 'the people of knowledge' at this place? As apparent in this case, they refer to the scholars among the people of the Book, the Jews and Christians. This is the view of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، Hasan and As-Suddiyy and others. Then, there are scholars who have taken 'Adh-Dhikr' at this place as well in the sense of AI-Qur'an, and thus explained 'Ahludh-Dhikr' in the sense of Ahlul-Qur'an. However, the clearest position taken in this matter is that of Rummani, Zajjaj and Azhari. They say:

المراد باھل الذکر علماء اخبار الامم السالفۃ کَایٔنا من کان فالذکر بمعنی الحفظ کانّہ قیل اسألوا المطلعین الخبارا لام یعلموکم بذلک

'Ahludh-Dhikr' means authentic historians of past peoples based on this investigative position, this definition includes therein the people of the Book, the Jews and Christians, and the people of the Qur’ an, the Muslims as well.

The word: الْبَيِّنَاتِ (al-bayyinat) in verse 44 means clear signs and miracles, the later being more aptly applicable here. The word: زُّبُر‌ (zubur) is the plural form of: زُّبُرہ‌ (zubarah) which means large pieces of iron as in: آتُونِي زُبَرَ‌ الْحَدِيدِ (give me pieces of the iron - 18:96). Because of the relevance of putting pieces together, writing is called: زَبَر (zabar), and a written book is known as: الزِّبر (az-zibr) with its plural as: الزَّبُورِ‌ (az-zabur). In short, at this point, it means the Book of Allah which includes Torah, Injil, Zabur and Qur’ an.

Non-Mujtahids must follow Mujtahid Imams: The Essence of Taqlid

Though, the sentence: [ So, ask the people (having the knowledge) of the Message, if you do not know - 43] has appeared at this place in relation with a particular subject, but its words are general and are inclusive of all other matters of concern. Therefore, given the way Qur’ an has with words, this is really an important rule of procedure based on reason and revelation both, that is, those who do not know injunctions revealed for them ask those who do, and act accordingly. It is as simple as that. So, it is the duty of those who do not know that they should act in accordance with what they are told by those who do. This is what Taqlid (to follow in trust) is. Not only that it is an explicit command of the Qur’ an, there is just no other way the mass practice of religion can be achieved, even if it was to be argued rationally. This rule has been in practice throughout the Muslim community right from the age of the noble Sahabah to this day without any division or difference. Even those who disavow Taqlid do not reject the kind of Taqlid under which those who are not ` Alim (knowledgable in religion) should take Fatwa from the ` Ulama' and act accordingly. And it is obvious that, even if the ` Ulama' were to give proof of their view from the Qur'an and Sun-nah to masses of people who are unaware, they would still accept these arguments and proofs on the authority of, and trust and confidence in the same ` Ulama'. They themselves do not have the ability to understand and assess arguments and proofs presented. And Taqlid is nothing but that one who does not know places his trust and confidence in some-one who knows and accepts the injunction in question as the injunction of the Shari’ ah, and acts accordingly. This is one Taqlid the justification of which - in fact, the necessity of which, leaves no room for any difference.

However, as for ` Ulama' who themselves have the ability to under-stand Qur'an and Hadith and know the places where consensus (Ijma`) exists, they are free to act, in the case of such injunctions as have been clearly and explicitly mentioned in Qur'an and Hadith - and in which there exists no difference among the learned Sahabah and Tabi` in as well - in these they can act directly according to Qur'an, Hadith and Ijma`. In these matters, ` Ulama' need not follow (Taqlid) any Mujtahid. But, there are particular injunctions and rulings which have not been explicitly spelt out in Qur'an and Sunnah, or wherein there appears to be some contradiction in the 'ayat (verses) of the Qur'an and the riwayat (narrations) of Hadith, or in which there has come up some difference among the Sahabah and Tabi'in in determining the meaning of Qur’ an and Sunnah - such rulings and injunctions are the object of Ijtihad. In the terminology of Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence), these are called issues and problems in which Ijtihad is possible. The rule which governs this is that an ` Alien who does not possess the class and rank of Ijtihad, he too must follow one of the Mujtahid Imams in these issues. Just relying on personal opinion, preferring one verse or narration and going by it while dismissing another verse or narration as less weightier is something not permissible for him.

Similarly, there are particular injunctions not mentioned explicitly in the Qur’ an and Sunnah. To deduce these out employing the principles provided by the Qur'an and Sunnah, and to arrive at and determine their precise Islamic legal operative order (al-hukm ash-shari, is the functional prerogative of only those Mujtahids of the Muslim Ummah who occupy the highest station of expertise in the Arabic language, its lexicography, idioms and modalities (turuq) of usage, and who possess an additional mastery over all fields of knowledge related to Qur'an and Sunnah, and above all, who are credited with a conduct of life marked by exemplary piety and god-fearingness. Such people are no less than the great Imam Abu Hanifah, Shafi` i, Malik, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, or Awza` i, jurist Abu Al-Laith رحمۃ اللہ علیہم and others like them. These were people Allah Ta’ ala had specially blessed. They lived closer to the age of prophethood, and that of the Sahabah and the Tabi'in. Under the canopy of this barakah, Allah Ta’ ala had bestowed upon them a very special taste of understanding the principles and objectives of the Shari’ ah and an equally special expertise of extracting textually non-prescribed (ghayr mansus) laws from the laws already prescribed in the sacred texts (mansus) by using the methodology of analogical deduction (qiyas). Now, in such issues and problem where Ijtihad efforts have been exhausted at the highest con-ceivable level, it is necessary even for the ` Ulama' at large that they must follow one of the Mujtahid Imams. Going by any new opinion contrary to that of the Mujtahid Imams is error.

This is why great men of learning, ` Ulama', Muhaddithin and Fuqaha' like Imam al-Ghazali, Razi, Tirmidhi, Tahawi, Ma'zini, Ibn Humam, Ibn Qudamah and hundreds and thousands of early and later men of learning of the same standard, despite their high expertise in fields of Arabicism and Islamic Religious Law, have always remained voluntarily restricted to following Mujtahid Imams invariably. They never considered it permissible to give a Fatwa following their own opinion, contrary to all Mujtahid Imams.

Nonetheless, these blessed souls did have that standard ranking in learning and piety that they assessed the sayings of the Mujtahid Imams on the anvil of proofs from the Qur’ an and Sunnah, after which they would go by the saying of the Imam which they found, out of the sayings of the Mujtahid Imams, closest to the Qur'an and Sunnah. But, they never thought it to be permissible either to depart from the approach taken by Mujtahid Imams or to hold some opinion contrary to all of them. The essential reality of Taqlid is no more than what has been stated here.

After that, came a gradual decline in the standards of knowledge and what was originally based on Taqwa and godliness came to be contaminated with personal interests and preferences. Under such conditions, given the kind of liberty that people could go by the saying of any one Imam in a religious problem of their choice and opt for the saying of some other Imam in some other problem they choose, the inevitable outcome would be that people would start following their worldly desires in the name of following the Shari'ah by opting for the saying of an Imam which is more conducive to the fulfillment of their worldly desire. This is, as obvious, no following of a religion or Shari'ah. In fact, this would be the following of one's own interests and desires - which is Haram by the consensus of the entire Muslim Ummah. In Muwafqat, Allamah Shatibi has dealt with this subject in great details. And Ibn Taymiyyah too, de-spite his opposition to Taqlid at large, has rated this type of following in his Fatawa as being Haram by the consensus of the Muslim Ummah.

Therefore, later day jurists of Islam considered it necessary that all those who act according to the precepts of the Shari'ah should be made to follow only one of the Mujtahid Imams. From here began what was to be known as 'personal following' (Taqlid Shakhsi) which, in reality, is a functional operative order to keep the system of religion in tact so that people do not succumb to following their own desires under the cover of religion. This is precisely what Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ did with the total agreement of the noble Sahabah when he restricted the seven versions (سبعَہ احرف) of the Quran to only one version - though all seven versions were reading of the Quran and were revealed through angel Jibra'il as wished by the Holy Prophet ﷺ . But, when the Holy Qur'an spread all over non-Arab countries, the danger that it might be altered or interpolated because of its seven readings became acute. So, it was by a total agreement of the Sahabah that Muslims were instructed to write and recite the Qur'an in one version only. Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ arranged to have all copies of the Quran written according to this one version which he dispatched to various parts of the world. The entire Muslim Ummah follows this Quran even to this day. This never means that other versions were not true or authentic. The fact is that this one version was taken to in the interest of a better management of religious affairs and so that the Quran stays protected against any possible alterations or interpolations.1 Similarly, all Mujtahid Imams are true. When one of them is chosen to be followed, it never means that other Imams are not worthy of being followed. Far from it, it is only a functional arrangement. One decides for himself in terms of his conveni-ence he has in following a particular Imam. But, while doing so, he also considers other Imams as worthy of the same respect.

1. All this discussion is based on the theory of Allamah Ibn Jarir (رح) about the "Seven Versions" (سَبعَۃ احراف). For a detailed treatment of the subject, please see my introduction at the beginning of volume I. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

This is totally similar to a situation where it is considered necessary that only one of the many physicians present in town be chosen and assigned particularly for the treatment of a sick person. The reason is that it is not advisable for the patient that he goes about following his personal opinion in using the prescription of one physician at some time and that of another physician at some other time. Such a method of seeking solutions to one's medical problem is patently fatal. It should be understood that the choice of a specific physician made by the patient for his treatment never means that other physicians are no experts, or lack the capability of proper treatment.

The reality of the different juristic schools Hanafi, Shafi’ i, Maliki and Hanbali that emerged in the Muslim Ummah was no more than what has been stated. As for giving it the touch of sectarianism and factionalism or increasing the heat of mutual confrontation and dissention is concerned, it is no valid mission of the revealed religion, nor have the discerning and far-sighted ` Ulama' ever considered it good. That which happened was that scholarly debate and research by some ` Ulama' became coloured with polemics which later reached the level of blames and satirical remarks. Then came ignorance-based confrontation which brought people to the outer limit where this state of affairs became the very indicator of being religious!

فالی اللہ المشتکی ولا حول ولا قوۃ اللہ باللہ العلی العظیم

So, before Allah is the complaint and there is no strength and there is no power except with Allah, the High, the Great.

Note of Caution

What has been written here on the religious question of Taqlid and Ijtihad is only a very brief summary of the subject, which is sufficient for Muslims at large. As for scholarly research and details of the subject, they are present in books of Usul al-Fiqh. Worth mentioning are: (1) Kitab al-Muwafqat by Allamah Shatibi, v. IV, Bab Al-Ijtihad; (2) Kitab Ihkam al-Ahkam by Allamah Saifuddin al-'Amidi, v. III, al-Qa` idah ath-thalitha fi al-mujtahidin; (3) Hujjatullahil-Balighah and ` Iqd al-Jid by Hadrat Shah Waliyyullah Ad-Dihlawi; and (4) Kitab al-Iqtisad fi at-Taqlid wa al-Ijtihad by Hadrat Maulana Ashraf All Thanavi. Interested scholars may wish to refer back to them.

Hadith is Necessary to Understand Qur'an : The Rejection of Hadith is Really the Rejection of the Qur'an

The word: اَلذِّکر (adh-dhikr) in verse 44: وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ‌ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ : "And We sent down the Message (adh-dhikr: The Qur’ an) so that you explain to the people," means, by consensus, the Holy Qur’ an - and, in this verse, the Holy Prophet has been given the assignment of explaining the meaning of verses revealed to him before people. Herein lies an open proof that the correct understanding of the realities, insights and injunctions of the Holy Qur'an depends on the statement of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ . If everyone, by simply acquiring the knowledge of Arabic language and literature, were to become capable of understanding the injunctions of the Qur’ an as Divinely intended, then, the mission of explaining assigned to the Holy Prophet would have been rendered meaningless.

In Al-Muwafqat, Allamah Shatibi has provided detailed proof that the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the whole of it, is the explanation of the Book of Allah because the Qur’ an has said about the Holy Prophet وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ : ﷺ (And surely you are at the height of a sublime nature - 68:4) and which was explained by Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ by saying: کَانَ خُلُقُہُ القُرآن (The Qur'an was his sublime nature). Thus, the outcome is that every word and deed which provenly issued forth from the Holy Prophet is nothing but what was said by the Qur’ an. Some of these are the explanation of a verse of the Holy Qur’ an in express and obvious terms, while in some cases there appears no express mention about them in the Holy Qur’ an, but they are nonetheless based on some kind of revelation, though it was not made part of the Holy Qur'an. Thus, that too, in a certain way, comes under the operative purview of the Qur'an itself. This is because according to the clarification of the Qur’ an nothing that he says is prompted by his personal desire, instead of which, it is a Wahy (revelation) from Allah Ta’ ala: وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ , (and nor does he talk from desire. It is nothing but a revelation revealed - 53:3-4). This tells us that all acts of worship, dealings with people, personal morals and habits of the Holy Prophet ﷺ were, all of them, through Divine revelation and have the same authority as that of the Qur’ an. Then, there are occasions when he has done something as based on his Ijtihad in which case it is ultimately - either through Divine revelation or through an absence of any restraining order - corrected and supported. Therefore, that too stands empowered with the authority of Wahy (revelation).

To sum up, it can be said that this verse has declared that the purpose for which the Holy Prophet ﷺ was sent is the explaining of the Qur'an. This purpose of his mission in this world has also been mentioned in several verses of Surah Al-Jumu` ah, and elsewhere too, where it has been referred to as the Ta` lim of Al-Kitab or Teaching of the Book. Now turn your attention to the great treasure of Hadith which one of the most talented and intellectually peerless people of our community, right from the Sababah and Tabi` in all the way to the Muhaddithin of the later period, have guarded more than their lives and delivered it to the Muslim Ummah as fait accompli. These were people who spent their whole lives sifting through this treasure and went on to establish the categories of Hadith narrations. As for narrations which they did not find matching enough in authority for the purpose of basing Islamic legal in-junctions on them, these they have separated from the treasure of Hadith. Instead, they have simply written standard books based exclusively on these narrations, which have proved correct and reliable after life-long criticisms and researches.

If today a person calls this treasure of Hadith unreliable under one or the other pretext or artifice, it plainly means that the Holy Prophet acted against this Qur’ anic injunction when he did not explain what the Qur’ an had said; or, that he had explained it but his explanation did not remain preserved for posterity. Under either of the two conditions, it is being suggested that the Qur’ an has not remained protected as to its meaning - the responsibility of protecting which has been undertaken by Allah Ta’ ala Himself: وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ [ We, Ourselves, have sent down the Dhikr (the Qur'an) and We are there to protect it - 15:9]. This claim or inference of such a person is contrary to this textual authority (nass) of the Qur’ an. From here it stands proved that a person who refuses to accept the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet as a binding authority of Islam is, in reality, a denier of the Qur'an itself. Na ‘udhubillah: May Allah protect us from it.

Commentary

In verses appearing previously: ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُخْزِيهِمْ (Then, on the day of Judgment, He will put them to disgrace - 27), disbelievers were warned against the punishment of the Hereafter. In the present verses, they have been further warned that it is also possible that they are caught in the punishment from Allah right here in this world much before the pun-ishment of the Hereafter, may be you are sunk into the earth you are sitting on, or you are seized by the punishment of Allah coming from a direction totally inconceivable for you. This is how it happened during the Battle of Badr when they received a punishment at the hands of some ragtag Muslims arrayed against their thousand strong armed young-men, something they would have never perceived as possible. Or, it was also probable that they be seized by some Divine punishment while roaming about freely, such as, they be hit by a fatal disease, or that they run into an accident by falling down from some height, or simply die by colliding against some hard object. Also possible is yet another form of punishment when punishment may not come all of a sudden, but a general decrease sets in causing wealth, health, fitness, means of sustenance and comfort and peace go on shrinking so much so that the day comes when the people so punished disappear from the face of the earth for/good.

The word: تَخَوُّفٍ (takhawwuf) appearing in verse 47 is obviously a derivation from: خَوف (khawf: fear, apprehension). Some commentators have explained this verse in terms of this very sense by saying that one group of people be seized in punishment so that the second group gets apprehensive. Similarly, the second group is seized in punishment which makes the third group become apprehensive. Finally, struck with dread sequentially, comes the end for all of them.

But, the early exegete of the Qur’ an, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ and Mujahid and other Imams of Tafsir have taken the word: تَخَوُّفٍ (takhawwuf) in the sense of: تَنَقُّص (tanaqqus). So, it is in accordance with this Tafsir that it has also been translated in the later sense of 'reducing or decreasing gradually.'

The noble tabi i Sa'id ibn al-Musaiyyab says: When Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ also faced some hesitation about the sense of this word, he addressed the Sahabah from the Minbar and asked them as to what they understood to be the meaning of 'takhawwuf? The audience at large remained silent. But, a person from the tribe of Hudhayl submitted: 0 Commander of the Faithful, this is a particular idiom of our tribe. We use this word in the sense of tanaqqus, that is, to decrease gradually. Sayyidna ` Umar asked: Do the Arabs use this word in the sense of tanagqus in their poetry? He said that they do, and cited a couplet by Abu Kabir al-Hudhali, a poet from his tribe, in which this word was used in the sense of decreasing gradually. Thereupon, Sayyidna ` Umar said: 0 people, learn about the poetry of Jahiliyyah because there lies the key to the explanation of your Book and the sense of your speech.

For the Understanding of Qur'an, a Passing Knowledge of Arabic is Not Sufficient

The first thing the report referred to above proves is that the ability to speak and write the Arabic language is not enough for the understanding of Qur'an. Rather, necessary for this purpose is a level of effeciency and awareness which could help one understand the classical work done during the early period of the Arabs of Jahiliyyah - because the Qur’ an has been revealed in that language and idiom. Learning Arabic literature on that level is incumbent on Muslims.

Reading Poets from Jahiliyyah is Permissible, Even if Full of Pagan Absurdities

This also tells us that, in order to understand the Qur'an and to understand the Arabic language and its usage during the period of Jahiliyyah, it is permissible to read and teach the poetry of that period. Though, it is obvious that such poetry will be full of pagan themes and customs highlighting pagan sayings and doings counter to Islam. But, such was the need to understand the Qur’ an that reading and teaching it was declared to be permissible.

Even the Punishment of the World is Mercy in Disguise

In the verses cited above, after having mentioned various punishments which could seize disbelievers within this world, it was said in the end: فَإِنَّ رَ‌بَّكُمْ لَرَ‌ءُوفٌ رَّ‌حِيمٌ (So, indeed your Lord is Very Kind Very Merciful).

First of all, by using the word: رَبّ (Rabb: Lord) here, the hint given is that all these punishments which overtake human beings in this world are there to warn them as part of the dictates of Divine mercy. After that, by introducing the word: رَ‌ءُوفٌ(Ra uf: Kind) headed by the intensifying particle lam) that is, the lam of ta'kid), and thus by placing stress on the fact that Allah Ta’ ala was Very Kind and Very Merciful, the hint given was that warnings sent during the life of the world were, in reality, called for by His intrinsic Kindness and Mercy so that heedless men and women would learn from the warning and correct their deeds (before comes 'the last spasm of mass extinction' they themselves are talking about at the closing of the twentieth century, but are still not ready to learn, believe and correct).