Muhammad 47:19–24

Commentary

In this verse the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and he is, through an imperative verb, commanded to know that there is no object of worship besides Allah. It is quite obvious that every Muslim has the knowledge of this - let alone the leader of the Holy Prophets ﷺ who should have its knowledge more profoundly. Then why is he enjoined to acquire this knowledge? There can be two responses to this question: it can either mean that the Holy Prophet ﷺ is enjoined to be steadfast in his worship of Allah or it could mean that he must fulfill the demands of his knowledge. Qurtubi cites the incident of Sufyan Ibn ` Uyaynah (رح) who was asked about the significance of knowledge, he replied: Did you not read verse 19 of Surah Muhammad: فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لِذَنبِكَ " So know for sure (0 Holy Prophet ﷺ) that there is no god but Allah, and seek forgiveness for your fault. It is required in this verse that knowledge should be acquired before action. Similarly, on other occasions in the Qur'an, first it is enjoined to acquire knowledge and then to fulfill its corresponding demands. For example, in [ 57:20] the Holy Qur'an has said, اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ “ Know that the present life is but a sport and a diversion ... " Then it was said, سَابِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَ‌ةٍ مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ "Race to forgiveness from your Lord (57:21) ". In Surah Anfal, (verse) the Qur'an says: وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ "Know that your wealth and children are a trial..." The demand of this knowledge is mentioned in Surah At-Taghabun (Verse 14): فَاحْذَرُ‌وهُمْ "...so be fearful of Him.". Thus on these occasions first the knowledge of different things are imparted, and then it is enjoined to fulfill the demands of that knowledge.

In this context, although the Holy Prophet ﷺ had prior knowledge of the Oneness of Allah, the injunction here is for the Holy Prophet ﷺ to fulfill the demand of this fundamental knowledge, that is, " وَاسْتَغْفِرْ‌ لِذَنبِكَ and ask forgiveness for your faults (47:19) ". The Holy Prophet ﷺ is infallible and immune from sin, and therefore the possibility that he would commit sins is unthinkable. Despite this, the possibility of Allah's Holy Prophets ﷺ committing misjudgment in Ijtihad cannot be ruled out. But, according to the sacred law, such mistakes are not regarded as sins. In fact, they are rewarded, though the prophets (علیہم السلام) are told about the correct position, and keeping in view the high status of the prophets, such mistakes too are sometimes referred to as "dhanb" (fault or sin), as for instance in Surah ` Abasa [ 80] the Holy Prophets ] was criticized for his misjudgment. The details will be set out when discussing that Surah. The error of judgment referred to in that Surah was not really a sin. In fact, a reward was promised to him for that, but because it was not in conformity with his high status, Allah Ta` ala expressed His dislike. This type of "dhanb" (fault) is referred to in the current verse.

Note

Sayyidna Abu Bakr Siddiq ؓ reports that Allah's Messenger ﷺ said: Recite لا إلہ إلا اللہ la ilaha illallah and istighfar frequently because Iblis (Shaitan) says, 'I got people involved in sins and destroyed them, but they destroyed me by reciting إلا اللہ illallah, so I got them involved in false and baseless thoughts and notions which they pursue as true, authentic and righteous, (for instance, the common religious innovations (bid'at), because they treat them as righteous,) hence, they do not feel any need to repent for their practice of innovations.

مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَاكُمْ last line (your moving from place to place and your permanent abode.) The word متَقَلَّب mutaqallab lexically means "turning around or turning over". The word mathwa means "permanent resting place ". It is open to several interpretations. As a result, the commentators have assigned different meanings to the phrase. As a matter of fact, all the meanings attached to the phrase are correct, sound, authentic and true, because human beings are confronted by two types of conditions: in the one case their invovement in something is temporary, and other case it is permanent. Likewise, in some places man’ s stay is “ temporary” and in other places it is permanent. In the concluding phrase of the current verse, the word مُتَقَلَّبَ mutaqallab has been used to describe “ temporary” and مثوٰی is used to describe "permanent". Thus this verse signifies that Allah is fully aware of all conditions of human beings.

Commentary

سُورَ‌ةٌ مُّحْكَمَةٌ (an operative surah): The word مُّحْكَمَةٌ muhkamah lexically means "firm". In this lexical sense, every surah is muhkam, but here it is used in its technical sense. In the technical parlance of the sacred law, the term muhkam is used as an antonym of mansukh, ("abrogated" ). Here the word Surah has been qualified by the adjective muhkamah so that the eagerness of the believers for a new Surah is understandable only when it embodies an operative divine commandment that is not abrogated. Qatadah, says that all Surahs which contain the injunctions of Jihad and Qital are operative and not abrogated. As the main objective of this Surah is to enjoin fighting and to persuade people to carry out the injunction, the adjectival phrase is: Surah muhkamah - indicating the injunction of Jihad. (Qurtubi)

أَوْلَىٰ لَهُمْ (So, destruction is very close to them - 47:20] The Arabic word used in the text, according to Asma'i, means that the causes of destruction have approached or drawn near to them (Qurtubi).

فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَن تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوا أَرْ‌حَامَكُمْ (So, [ O hypocrites,] do you not apprehend that, in case you turn away (from Jihad), you will spread disorder in the land, and will sever your ties of kinship? 47:22). The word تَوَلّیٰ 'tawalla' used in the text lexically has two senses: it could mean I'rad that is, "turning away" and it could also mean to be placed in authority over the people. Some of the commentators of the Qur'an assigned the first meaning to this word in the context of this verse, and Abu Hayyan in his Al-Bahr-ul-Muhit prefers this interpretation, (and the translation given above is based on it.) From this point of view the meaning of the verse would be: If you turned away from Jihad [ struggling in the cause of Allah ] and other injunctions of Shari` ah, you would return to the ancient system of ignorance which Islam has abolished. In the Pre-Islamic Days, according to the practices of jahiliyyah, corruption and severed ties of kinship. For example, they practised injustice; they cut each other's throat; one tribe attacked another tribe; they committed carnage and massacre; and they buried alive their daughters with their own hands. Islam abolished and wiped out all these and other heinous practices of the Days of ignorance. In these heinous crimes of those days, Islam enjoined Jihad which apparently seems to be bloodshed, but in reality it is analogous to amputation of the diseased limb of a body, so that the rest of the body may remain healthy. Jihad establishes justice and equity and maintains ties of kinship and relationship.

Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani, Qurtubi and others take the second meaning of the word tawalli in this context, that is, to be placed in authority over people. From this point of view, the meaning of the verse would be: if your ambitions of being placed in authority over people and the affairs of the world are entrusted to you whilst you are morally unhealthy, you would cause corruption in the land and cut off ties of kinship and relationship.

Strict Maintenance of Kinship Ties

The word اَرحَام 'arham' is the plural of رَحَم 'rahim' (womb). This is a receptacle or repository in the mother where the young humans are conceived, held, protected and developed before birth. Because that is the source of all relationships and kinship, it is idiomatically used in the sense of human relationship and kinship. Tafsir Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani, on this occasion, has explained in detail the relations covered by the term dhawil arham or arham. Islam has laid great stress on fulfilling the rights of relationship. Bukhari records a Hadith on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ and two other Companions ؓ to the effect that whoever maintains good relations with the kith and kin Allah will keep good relations with him, but whoever severs his bonds of kinship, Allah too will sever His relations with him. This Hadith indicates how important it is to treat relatives kindly in terms of words, deeds and wealth. In the same Hadith, Abu Hurairah ؓ refers to the verse under discussion [ 47:22] and says "Read it if you wish to". In another Tradition, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that there is a sin for which one will be punished, not only in the Hereafter, but also in this world, that is, ... breaking kinship bonds. In Thawban ؓ Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: "Whoever wishes to have his life prolonged and his sustenance blessed should treat his relatives kindly." We come across the following Hadith in Bukhari:

لیس الواصل بالمکافی ولٰکِنّ الواصل الذی قطعت رحمہ وصلھا

"The person who perfectly maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who does it because he gets recompensed by his relatives for being kind and good to them, but the one who truly maintains the bonds of kinship is he who treats his kinsmen fairly, even though others have severed the ties of kinship with him." (Ibn Kathir)

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ (Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed - 47:23) In other words, people who cause corruption in the land and break bonds of kinship have been cursed by Allah, that is, Allah has driven them away from His mercy. On the basis of this verse, Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ regarded the sale of ummul-walad unlawful. Ummul-walad is a term used in Islamic law for a female slave who has borne a child to her master, and who is consequently free at his death. Thus the sale of the mother would result in separating the child from the mother, and this would lead to severing kinship tie between mother and child which necessitates the curse of Allah. Therefore, the sale of ummul-walad was declared unlawful23.

Law Relating to Cursing a Particular Person: The Issue of Cursing Yazid

When ` Abdullah asked his father Imam Ahmad about the permissibility of cursing Yazid, the Imam replied: "Why should we not curse a person whom Allah has cursed in the Qur'an?" ` Abdullah said that he read the Qur'an in its entirety but he did not find Yazid is cursed anywhere. The father recited the present verse and said, Who could be worse than Yazid in breaking up relationships? He did not even care for the Holy Prophet's ﷺ relations.' However, majority of the Ummah hold the view that it is not permissible to curse any particular person unless we know for sure that he died in the state of disbelief. We can nevertheless use cursing phrase with general characteristics, such as curse of Allah be upon the liars, curse of Allah be upon the mischief-makers, and curse of Allah be upon the breaker of kinship ]. Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani on this occasion has discussed this issue elaborately.

أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا (or do they have locks on their hearts? - 47:24) The meaning of this phrase is synonymous with similar phrases in other verses of the Qur'an where words like khatm or tab' "[ Allah ] has set a seal [ on their hearts ] have been used to describe how the disbelievers refuse to employ their hearts for the comprehension of truth, as a natural consequence their capacities to distinguish right from wrong have become atrophied. Carelessly, committing sins all the time is the main cause of this. Allah forbid!