Al-Ma'idah 5:13–18

Commentary

The first verse is telling us that Bani Isra'il were heedless to clear instructions given to them. Then, they broke the pledge for which they were punished. There were two kinds of punishment which visited Bani Isra'il because of their misdeeds and contumacy:

1. Manifest and perceptible, like the hail of stones and rocks or the overturning of land mass, which find mention in several verses of the Qur'an.

2. Intellectual and spiritual, as if their very minds and hearts were transformed in punishment for their contumacy which made them incapable of thinking and feeling and they went on sinking deeper in the curse of their sins.

The verse opens with the words: فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً. It means that it was because of their contravention of the solemn pledge that Allah made them far-removed from His mercy (that is, from its effects, which is the reality of 'La` nah' or curse - Hadrat Thanavi) and made their hearts hardened against any penetration of truth. This removal from mercy and the hardening of hearts has been likened to "Ra-'n " (stain or rust) by the Holy Qur'an in Surah al-Mutaffifin: كَلَّا ۖ بَلْ ۜ رَ‌انَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ. It means that the reason why they reject open verses of the Qur'an and all too manifest signs is that the stain of sins has settled down on their hearts. In a hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` said: When someone commits a sin for the first time, a black dot gets stamped on the heart. He feels the pinch of this evil presence all the time. It is like a black stain on a white cloth which is a constant sore of the eye. Now, if he gets chastened, repents and resolves not to do it again, that dot is erased; and should he become care-free and start a spree of other sins, a black dot for each subsequent sin will keep adding up, so much so, that the clean slate of his heart will turn jet black with these dots of stain. At that stage, the state of his heart will be-come very much like a pot placed upside down in which nothing goes in but to come out instantly. Therefore, nothing good settles down in his heart for he has fallen into a state of moral inertia - to him nothing good is good and no evil is evil. Rather, the opposite becomes his more likely approach - he starts taking defect as merit, vice as virtue and sin as reward. Thus armed with his crooked thinking, he goes on riding high in his rebellion and contumacy. This is a cash and spot punishment of his sin which he gets right here in this mortal world.

Some respected elders have said: اِن من جزاء الحسنۃ الحسنۃ بعدھا وان من جزاء السیٔۃ السیٔۃ بعدھا ، that is, the cash reward of a good deed is that one gets the Taufiq (the ability given by Allah) of doing another good deed. Similarly, the cash reward of a sin is that one's heart starts being attracted by other sins soon after the first. Thus, obedience and disobedience both have a pull of their own - one good invites another good and one evil attracts other evils and sins.

Referring back to the breach of trust committed by the Bani Isra'il, it can be said that the cash punishment due against it was that they were removed from Divine mercy - which is the greatest medium of salvation. And their hearts became so hardened that they stooped to the level of 'moving words away from their places' which means that they alter the Word of God - in words or meanings or recitation - all of which have been described in the Holy Qur'an and the books of Alhadith, some of which have been acknowledged by European Christians as well (Tafsir Usmni).

The result of the intellectual and spiritual punishment mentioned above was that they forgot to take advantage of the good counsel given to them: فَنَسُوا حَظًّا مِّمَّا ذُكِّرُ‌وا بِهِ. Then, this punishment stuck glued to them: وَلَا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَىٰ خَائِنَةٍ مِّنْهُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۖ that is, the Prophet of Islam would keep knowing about one or the other breaches, deceptions and treacheries committed by them. The exception is indicated in: إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ (but a few) which refers to people like Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn Sal-am and others who were followers of the faith of the People of the Book before they became true Muslims.

Upto this point, the description of the misconduct of the Ban' Isra'il was obviously demanding enough that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should hold them in contempt and never allow them to come to him. Therefore, in the last sentence of this verse, the instruction given to the Holy Prophet ﷺ was فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاصْفَحْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (So for-give them and forego. Indeed, Allah loves the good-in-deed). It means that, despite their peculiar condition being what it is, it is better that the Prophet of Islam abstains from doing what is otherwise quite natural. In other words, he should not treat them with contempt or hatred because after knowing what they are - hardhearted and cold - the chances that any good counsel would affect them are very remote. Granted. But, toleration and civility of morals are wonder virtues which could probe out some sense and sensibility from out of such in-sensate people. Even if this effort to drive some sense into them fails, something worth doing still remains - keeping one's own matters and morals correct is, after all, quite necessary. Allah Almighty likes what is done with good grace - and it will definitely bring Muslims closer to Him.

From the first verse, 5:13, which dealt with the breach of trust by Jews and their punishment for it, we now move to the next verse, 5:14, which refers to Christians: وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَ‌ىٰ. In this verse, the punishment described for Christians is mutual dissension. Being for their breach of trust, this wi11 continue right upto the Last Day.

Looking at the contemporary scene, one may have doubts about Christians who seem to be united. The answer is that the present statement covers genuine Christians, observing and abiding. As for those who have moved away from their own religion turning into non-conformist, secular or atheistic individuals or groups, they are, for all practical purposes, out of the list of Christians - even though, they may count them as Christians among the nationalities of a country. If, among such people, that religious dissension and mutual hostility does not exist, it would not be contrary to this verse - because the conflict was based on religion, once the religion is not there, conflict too would not be there. As said earlier, this verse describes people who profess and practice the religion of Christianity - and their division is well-known.

Given below is a brief reference from Taysir in the marginal notes of commentator, al-Baydawi which reports that there were three sects among Christians originally:

1. Fisturyah (Nestorians) who took Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as the son of God.

2. Ya'qubiyah (Jacobites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) himself as one with God.

3. Malka'iyah (Malkites) who believed in Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as one of the Trinity.

And it goes without saying that in the presence of such major divisions in matters of belief, mutual malice is inevitable.

Commentary

Refuted here in this verse is only one saying of the Christians - which is the belief of a sect among them - that Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) is God. But, the argument employed in the refutation virtually covers the false beliefs of all sects against the inalienable principle of Tauhid, that is the Oneness of Allah. This may be a belief in a son of God or a belief in one of the three Gods - the argument refutes all of them.

That Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and his blessed mother have been mentioned here jointly could be because of two wise considerations. Firstly, it is the humility of Sayyidna Masih before Allah Ta` ala that he could never think of saving himself against the will of Allah, or his mother whose care and service a good son considers dearer than his own life. Secondly, by doing so, the view of the sect which takes Sayyidah Maryam as one of the three Gods also stands refuted.

Also noteworthy at this point is the mention of the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidah Maryam, peace be upon both of them, as a supposition - although, the death of Sayyidah Maryam was no supposition at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an; it had already occured, in fact. The reason for this may either be the superimposition (Taghlib) of the desired subject, that is, since the real intent here was to describe the death of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) as a supposition, the mention of his blessed mother was also made as a corollary of the same subject, even though, her death had already occurred - or, it can also be said that the expression means: The way We have made death take away Sayyidah Maryam, it lies within Our power to make it overtake Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) and the rest of the creation as well. And the statement: يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ (He creates what He wills - 5:17), is there to refute this particular base which Christians use to deify Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) because they reason out that his birth came to pass, against all rules of nature operative in this world, without a father and from the mother alone - had he too been a human being, he would have been born through a mother and father both, very much in accordance with the natural law.

This one sentence answers the reasoning by saying that Allah has the most perfect and the most comprehensive power to create what He wills and how He wills. The same doubt has been removed in the verse: إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَىٰ عِندَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ (Surely, the case of ` Isa, in the sight of Allah, is like the case of Adam - 3:59) where it has been established that the creation of Sayyidna Masih (علیہ السلام) as separate from the habitual law of nature cannot become an argument in favour of his being taken as God.

The reason lies in pondering that Allah Ta` ala did create Sayyidna Adam (علیہ السلام) without a father and mother both. He has the power, all power, over everything. He is the Creator and the Master and the most worthy of worship. No one else can be associated with His Divinity as a partner or sharer.