Ali 'Imran 3:13–18

Sequence

In the previous verses, the disbelievers were informed that they will be overcome. Now, cited in this verse is an example of how the prophecy has been fulfilled.

Commentary

This verse refers to the Battle of Badr in which the disbelievers had about 1000 men, 700 camels and 100 horses, while the Muslim mujahidin were just over 300, having a total of 70 camels, 2 horses, 6 armours and 8 swords. The encounter was certainly strange as each combating group saw the opponent being twice its own numbers. The sighting of so many Muslims inspired awe in the hearts of the disbelievers, while Muslims who saw the disbelievers as twice of them turned to Allah more fervently. They had hopes of Allah's help, and ultimate victory, because they had placed their total trust in Allah, were steadfast and sincerely believed in the promise of Allah revealed to them in the following words:

إِن يَكُن مِّنكُمْ أَلْفٌ يَغْلِبُوا أَلْفَيْنِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ

If there be among you a hundred patient one, they shall over-come two hundred. (8:66)

If the actual number of disbelievers which was three times more than their own were to be realized by Muslims, they may have been overawed. This state of sighting the numbers of the other group as twice its own was at a particular time. At another time each of the two combating groups felt the other one as low in numbers, as it would appear later in Surah al-Anfal.

To sum up, it can be safely said that making a small group of people with very little to fight against a much stronger group and score a victory, as prophesied in Makkah, is an unusual event full of lessons for the observant and the discerning.

Sequence

That the hostility of disbelievers should be countered with Jihad against them was the theme in several previous verses. Now, in these verses the text explains the reason why the disbelievers indulge in hostility against Islam and Muslims. The reason for this and for all evil deeds is, in fact, the love of the worldly life. There are all sorts of people who line up against the truth - some driven by greed for wealth or power, some goaded by lust and some in defence of false ancestral customs: All this is just to grab a share in the temporal enjoyments of the present life which has been described in these verses.

Commentary

The limits of one's love for worldly enjoyments

The Holy Prophet ﷺ has said: حُبُّ الدئنیا راس کُلِّ خَطِیٔۃ It means that the love of دنیا dunya (worldly life or worldly enjoyments) is the main source of all errors. The first verse here names some of the most de-sired things and says that they have been made to look attractive and therefore, people go after them enticed by their glamour brushing aside any concerns for the life to come, if there be any.

It will be noted that things named here are the center of attraction for human beings, out of which, women come first and then the children. For whatever man goes about procuring is because of the needs of his family - wife and children - to share it with him. Then come other forms of wealth and possessions - gold, silver, cattle and tillage - which attract people secondarily.

Why has man been made in a way that he is temperamentally attracted to these things? The answer is that Allah has done so in His ultimate wisdom. Let us consider:

1. If man was not naturally inclined to and even enamoured with these things, all worldly business would have gone topsy-turvy. Why would someone sweat on farms and fields? Why would a wage-earner or an entrepreneur burn themselves out in an industry, or a business-man would put his capital and labour in buying and selling things? The secret was that the people of the world were made to grow and survive through this instinctive love for such things whereby they would go about collecting and preserving these. The worker goes out to earn some money. The well-to-do goes out to hire a worker for his job. The trader brings forth his best merchandise for display waiting for a customer to earn something from. A customer goes to the shopping mall to buy things he needs to live or be happy with. If we think about it, we shall realize that it was the love for what is desirable in this mortal world which brought them out of their homes, and in this silent process, gave the world a strong and ongoing social system.

There is yet another element of wisdom behind it. If man had no liking for the blessings he finds in the mortal world, he would obviously have no taste or desire for blessings promised in the world to come. That being the case, why would he ever take the trouble of doing what is good and thus become deserving of Paradise, and not doing what is evil and thus become safe from Hell?

There is still another element of wisdom which is more significant for consideration here. Is it not that man, with love for these things in his heart, has been put to a test as to who becomes engrossed in the enjoyments of the present life and forgets the life to come, and who comes to realize the real and temporal nature of these things, shows concern for them only in proportion to his needs, and then channels all his efforts into deeds that would make his next life good and safe? The wisdom behind the adornment of such things has been pointed out elsewhere in the Holy Qur'an:

إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا مَا عَلَى الْأَرْ‌ضِ زِينَةً لَّهَا لِنَبْلُوَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا

We made whatever there is on the earth its adornment so that We can test as to who among them acts best. (18:7)

The verse cited above clearly shows that the glamourizing of sue} desirable things is an act of God based on many wise considerations. However, as for verses where such glamorization of things has been attributed to شیطان Satan - for example, زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ (the شیطان Satan has made their deeds look attractive to them - 8:48; 16:63; 27:24; 29:38.) - there the reference is to things that are evil, religiously and rationally; or, the reference is to a false sense of adornment which is evil because it transgresses the limits set by Allah: Otherwise, it is not absolutely bad to adorn the lawful things. In fact, there may be a few benefits in doing so. Therefore, this act of placing attraction in things in some verses has been attributed to Allah, as stated above.

Let us summarize our discussion so far and see how it works for us in our practical life. We now know that Allah created, in His grace and wisdom, all good things of life in this world, made them look attractive and - worthy of man's effort to acquire them so that man can be tested. This is one of Allah's many acts of wisdom to see whether the man gets swayed by the glamour of the fleeting enjoyment of things, or remembers the Creator of these things, or the man forgets the very Creator of his own being as well. Aided by this realization, does man make these things a medium through which to know and love Allah; or, is it that he would elect to get totally lost in the love for these known transitory things, and forget all about the real Master and Creator before Whom he must appear on the Last Day and account for whatever he did.

On the one hand is a person who has the best of both worlds. He enjoys the blessings of the present life and uses its means for success in the life to come. For him, the enjoyments of the mortal world did not become a road-block; rather, they proved to be the milestones which led him safely into a prosperous Hereafter. But, for the other person these very things became the causes that led him to squander his chance of having a good life in the Hereafter, and also became the very cause of perennial punishment. Frankly, if we were to look a little deeper, we would realize that these things become a sort of punishment for him right here in this world as well. For such people, the Holy Qur'an says:

فَلَا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِ‌يدُ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُم بِهَا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا

So, their wealth and children should not attract you. Allah wants to punish them with these in this lowly life - 9:55.

Thus, the lesson is that we can seek good things of life with moderation and even store them in accordance with our genuine needs. In this lies the ultimate good of this life and the life to come. Using them in prohibited ways, or indulging in them so excessively that one forgets the post-death reality of آخرۃ Akhirah is nothing but self-destruction. The poet-sage, Maulana Rumi has illustrated this very eloquently when he said;

آب اندر زیر کشتی پشتی است

آب در کشتی ھلاک کشتی است

He says that things of this world with which we surround ourselves are like water, and the heart of man is like a boat in it. As long as the water remains beneath and around the boat, it is good and helpful, and certainly guarantees the very purpose of its being there. But, if water gets into the boat, it makes the boat capsize and destroys all that was in it. Similarly, man's wealth and possessions are means of convenience for his role in this world and in the life to come - provided that they do not enter into his heart, sit there, and kill it in the process.

Therefore, the verse under discussion, immediately after mentioning some especially desirable things of the world, presents the essential guideline for human beings by saying:

ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ

That is an enjoyment of the worldly life. And with Allah lies the beauty of the final resort. (3:14)

In other words, it means that all these things are there simply to serve a purpose in man's mortal life in the present world and certainly not to have him fall in love with things for their own sake, for the real beauty of the experience lies in one's ultimate resort with Allah in blissful eternity enjoying what would never perish, diminish or weaken.

In the second verse that follows (15), the same subject has been further cleared by saying:

قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيْرٍ‌ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمْ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا عِندَ رَ‌بِّهِمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِ‌ي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ‌ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَ‌ةٌ وَرِ‌ضْوَانٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ‌ بِالْعِبَادِ ﴿15﴾

Say: "Shall I not tell you what is far better than that? For those who fear Allah, there are with their Lord gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they shall live forever, and wives purified, and approval from Allah. And Allah is watchful over His servants."

Here, the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who is being asked to tell those who become obsessed with imperfect and perishable blessings they find in the present life that he is in a position to lead them on to far better blessings. These shall be the lot of those who fear Allah and are obedient to Him. These blessings are, 'gardens beneath which rivers flow, wives purified and favours from Allah' - the last being the ultimate man can and should aspire for.

It will be recalled that in the preceding verse (14), the total count of blessings that infatuate man was given as six women, children, heaps of gold and silver, fine horses, cattle and tillage. As compared to that, only three blessings of the Hereafter, that is, the gardens of Par-adise, wives purified and the approval from Allah have been identified. Out of the rest, children were not mentioned because man loves children during his life in the world as children help and strengthen him in what he does and through them his name lives on. But, in the Here-after he would not need such help, nor would he 'die' in which case he may have to look for an heir. Apart from this, whoever has children would have them all in the Paradise. Whoever has no children in the mortal world would, to begin with, just not have the desire to have them in the Paradise. Should someone desire that he may have children, Allah Almighty would bless him with children. According to a hadith in Jami` al-Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'If a dweller of Paradise wishes to have children, the process of pregnancy, birth and growth of the child will be completed in no time and he would have what he wished for.'

Similarly, gold and silver were not mentioned in relation to the Paradise because gold and silver are needed in the mortal world as material things are bought against them or anything else one-needs can be procured through them. In the Hereafter, there will be just no need to buy anything or sell anything or pay for anything. Instead of that, whatever the dweller of Paradise needs will be instantly provided. Incidentally, the Paradise itself is not without gold and silver.

Some sayings of the Prophet ﷺ mention that some places of Paradise will have bricks of gold and silver masoned one after the other. However, in view of the uniqueness of that life; gold and silver were not considered worth mentioning.

Now the horses. In the world of our experience, horses help cover distances. In the other world, there is no travel and no riding but, sound hadith reports do prove that fine horses will be presented before the dwellers of Paradise on Fridays which they will ride to go and meet friends and relatives. As is evident, horses were not worth mentioning in this context, which is also true about cattles and farms and their produce. The services they provide have already been provided in the Paradise by Allah Almighty without their medium.

However, should there be someone there who for some unnecessary reason wishes to try farming, he will have his wish granted. As it appears in some reports in al-Tabarani, everything needed for farming will be assembled instantly for such a person. Thereafter the whole process of ploughing, seeding, ripening and cutting will be accomplished in no time and he will have what he wished for before him. So, among the blessings of the آخرۃ Akhirah, the mention of 'wives purified' was considered sufficient because the Holy Qur'an has another promise for the people of Paradise: وَلَهُم مَّا يَشْتَهُونَ ﴿57﴾ And for them there is what they wish for). After such a comprehensive declaration, there remains no need to individually mention any particular blessing. Those that have been mentioned are blessings already there without any need to ask for these.

The last and most important blessing mentioned is the approval of Allah Almighty something one cannot easily conceptualize - after which there is no danger of displeasure from Allah. According to a hadith, when the people of Paradise would have settled down there, happy and content without having any desire remaining unfulfilled, Allah Almighty will speak to them asking if they are happy and if they need anything. They will say: Our Lord, You have given us everything, what else could we ever need. Allah Almighty would say: Now I give you the greatest of all blessings - you all have My approval that I will never be displeased with you, and nearness forever.

Since the danger of Allah's displeasure does not exist in Paradise, there is also no danger that the blessings of Paradise will ever be taken back or reduced.

It is the very subject of these verses that the Holy Prophet has summarized in the following hadith:

الدنیا ملعونۃ و ملعون ما فیھا الا ما ابتغی بہ وجہ اللہ وفی روایہ الا

زکر اللہ و ما والاہ او عالماً او متعلماً

'Wordly life is cursed and cursed is what is in there, except what is used to seek the pleasure of Allah'. According to another narration: ' except the Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah and what Allah likes and except ` Alim عالِم (religious scholar) and Talib ilm طالب العلم (student in religion).'

This hadith has been reported by Ibn Majah and al-Tabarani on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ .

The subject of توحید Tauhid (Oneness of Allah) which began with the opening of Surah 'Al-` Imran reappears in the first verse in a very special manner. Out of the three witnesses mentioned here, the evidence of Allah Almighty is in a figurative sense. It means that the being and the attributes of Allah and the manifestations of His power and creativity all over are open signs of His Oneness. Then there are the Messengers and Books sent by Allah, all confirming. that truth. The second testimony mentioned is that of angels who are close to Allah. They carry out His instructions and bear testimony (knowing and seeing) that Allah alone is worthy of worship.

The third witness is that of the men of knowledge. This expression, ulul` ilm, means the blessed prophets and men who have the knowledge of Islam. Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Kathir رحمۃ اللہ علیہم find this a matter of great honour for ` Ulama for Allah has mentioned their witness along with His, and that of angels. It is also possible that the term, ulul` ilm (the men of knowledge) may, in an absolute sense, be referring to those who, by conducting an inquiry based on sound intellectual principles, or by deliberating into this universe, could acquire the knowl-edge of the unity of Allah Almighty - even if they are not ` alim or 'men of knowledge' in the traditional sense, whose knowledge is acquired under a formal discipline from Islam's own original sources. The next verse (19) clearly settles that the only faith' (دین din) acceptable to Allah is Islam. Thus, totally excluding any other faith or religion as acceptable to Allah, the verse completes the subject of Allah's Oneness, any opposition to which is doomed.

Related considerations

Merits of the verse meaning "Allah bears witness"

The verse beginning with شَهِدَ اللَّهُ : 'shahidal-lahhu' has a special elegance. Imam al-Baghawi (رح) ، the renowned mufassir reports that two leading Jewish scholars came to Madinah from Syria. With the township of Madinah before them, they started talking to each other about the looks of the place which matched the prophecy in Torah that the last of the prophets would be living here. Later, they came to know that someone very pious lives here and whom people refer to as the prophet. They went to see the Holy Prophet ﷺ sight of him reminded them of all attributes which Torah had predicted he would have. They presented themselves before him and said: "You are Muhammad?" He said: "Yes." Again, they said: "You are Ahmad?" He said: "Yes, I am Muhammad and Ahmad." Then they said: We are going to ask you a question. If you answer it correctly, we shall embrace Islam." He ﷺ said: "Go ahead and ask." They asked: "Which is the greatest witness in the Book of Allah?" This verse of شَهِدَہ 'shahadah' (witness) was revealed as an answer to this question. He recited it for them. Both of them embraced Islam immediately.

According to a hadith in the Musnad of Ahmad, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse in ` Arafat, he said right after that:

و انا علیٰ ذلک من الشٰھدین یا رَبِّ

And to that, 0 my Lord, I too am a witness. (Ibn Kathir)

And a narration from Imam al-A'mash (رح) says: Whoever recites this verse and then says: و انا علیٰ ذلک من الشٰھدین یا رَبِّ ; (And to that, 0 my Lord, I too am a witness), Allah Almighty will say to the angels on the Last Day: 'My servant has made a promise while I am the Foremost to keep a promise when I make it, so let my servant be admitted into Paradise.' (Ibn Kathir)

Another hadith from Sayyidna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari ؓ narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Whoever recites Ayah al-Kursi (2:255) and the Ayah : شَهِدَ اللَّهُ Shahidal-lahu (3:18) and قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ : Qulil-lahumma malik al-mulki upto بِغَيْرِ‌ حِسَابٍ bighairi hisab (3:26, 27), Allah Almighty will forgive all his sins, admit him to Paradise and take care of seventy (i.e. plenty) of his needs, the simplest of these being his forgiveness.' (Ruh a1-Ma` ani with reference to Dailami)