Qur’an verses about killing

Ala-Maududi

(2:54) And recall when (on returning with this favour) Moses said to his people: “My people! Youhave wronged yourselves by taking the calf for an object of worship, so turn in repentance toyour Creator and kill yourselves.^[70] This will be best for you in your Creator’ssight.” Thereupon He accepted your repentance. Indeed He is Much-Relenting, Most Compassionate.

70. That is, they should put to death those of their own number who made the calf an object ofworship and actually worshipped it.

Ala-Maududi

(2:61) And recall when you said: “O Moses, surely we cannot put up with one sort of food, so prayto your Lord to bring out for us what the earth produces – its herbs and its cucumbers and itscorn and its lentils and its garlic and its onions.” Then Moses said: “Will you take a meanerthing in exchange for what is better?^[77] Go down to some city and there you shallget what you ask for.” And ignominy and wretchedness were pitched upon them and they were ladenwith the burden of Allah’s wrath. This was because they denied the Signs of Allah^[78]and slew the Prophets unrightfully.^[79] All this, because they disobeyed andpersistently exceeded the limits (of the Law).

77. This does not mean that their real fault lay in asking for things which entailed cultivationinstead of availing themselves of manna and quails which they received without any toil. What isemphasized here is that rather than being concerned with the great purpose for which they hadbeen brought to the Sinai they relished the foods which gratified their palates to such a degreethat they could not forgo them even temporarily (cf. Numbers 11: 4-9).

78. There are several ways in which one might deny the signs of God. First, one might refuse toaccept those teachings of God which one found contrary to one’s fancies and desires. Second, onemight know that something is from God and yet wilfully flout it. Third, one might know well theimport of God’s directives and yet distort them.

79. The Israelites recorded their crimes in detail in their own history. Here are just a fewexamples from the Bible:

(1) After the death of Solomon the state of the Israelites was split into two: the State ofJudah with its capital in Jerusalem, and the State of Israel with its capital in Samaria. Thiswas followed by a series of wars between the two States so that the State of Judah sought theassistance of the Aramacan State of Damascus against its own kinsmen. At this, Hamani the seerwent under God’s direction to Asa the king and rebuked him. Instead of rectifying his behaviour,Asa was so angry that he put the seer in the stocks. (See 2 Chronicles 16: 7-10.)

(2) When Elijah denounced the Jews for their worship of Baal and invited them to return tomonotheism, Ahab, the king of Israel pursued him for the sake of his pagan wife so that he hadto take refuge in the mountains of the Sinai peninsula. On this occasion, according to theBible, he said: ‘. . . the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars,and slain thy prophets with the sword., and 1, even 1 only, am left; and they seek my life, totake it away’ (1 Kings 19: 14).

(3) The same king Ahab imprisoned another Prophet, Micah, for no other reason than that ofspeaking the truth. King Ahab ordered that he should be given only bread and water. (See 1 Kings22: 26-7)

(4) When idol-worship and moral corruption became prevalent in Judah and the Prophet Zechariahraised his voice against them, he was stoned to death in the very court of the house of theLord. (See 2 Chronicles 24: 2l.)

(5) When the Israelite State of Samaria was wiped out by the State of Jerusalem, the ProphetJeremiah deplored the condition of the Israelites. He warned them that it was time they setabout mending their ways otherwise they would face an even more calamitous end than that ofSamaria. The response to this sincere preaching was abuse and curses: he was beaten, imprisoned,put in the stocks and lowered by ropes into a cistern, where he was left to die of hunger andthirst. He was also accused of various crimes, including treason and conspiracy. (See Jeremiah15: 10; 18: 20-3; 20: 1-18; 36-40)

(6) It is reported of another Prophet, Amos, that when he denounced the widespread errors andcorruption in the State of Samaria and warned of the evil consequences that follow suchmisdeeds, he was condemned to exile and told to pursue his prophetic task somewhere beyond itsfrontiers. (See Amos 7: 10-13.)

(7) When John the Baptist protested against the acts of moral corruption that were brazenlypractised in his court, Herod, the ruler of Judah, first put John into prison, then had himbeheaded at the request of a dancing girl, and had his head set on a platter and presented tothe girl. (See Mark 6: 17-29)

(8) The same hostility to Prophets is evident from the life of Jesus. The priests and politicalleaders of Israel ultimately became inflamed against Jesus, who criticized them for theirimpiety and hypocrisy and invited them to true faith and righteousness. It was this whichprompted them to prepare a false case against him and persuade the Romans to sign a deathsentence. Later, when the Roman governor, Pilate, asked them which of the two prisoners – Jesusor Barabbas, a notorious brigand – should be released on the occasion of the feast, they askedfor the release of Barabbas and for the crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27: 20-6). This is ashameful chapter in the record of the Jewish nation, to which the Qur’an refers here in passing.It is evident that when a nation chooses its most notoriously criminal and wicked people forpositions of leadership, and its righteous and holy men for gaol and the scaffold, God has noalternative but to lay His curse and damnation on that nation.

Ala-Maududi

(2:72) And recall when you killed a man and then began to remonstrate and cast the blame (ofkilling) upon one another even though Allah was determined to bring to light what you werehiding.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(2:85) And here you are, killing one another, turning out a party of your own from theirhomelands, aiding one another against them in sin and enmity, and if they come to you ascaptives you ransom them although the very act of expelling them was unlawful to you. Do youbelieve in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest?^[92] What else, then, could bethe retribution of those among you who do this than that they should live in degradation in thepresent life, and that on the Day of Resurrection they should be sent to the severestchastisement? Allah is not heedless of what you do.

92. Before the advent of the Prophet (peace be on him) the Jewish tribes who lived on theoutskirts of Madina had concluded an alliance with the Arab tribes of Aws and Khazraj. When theArab tribes fought against one another each Jewish tribe fought on the side of its allies, whichled to fratricide and so to a flagrant violation of the Book of God. Moreover, when the warended the captives were ransomed. This ransom was justified on the basis of scripturalarguments; they extolled the Word of God when it permitted the ransom of prisoners of war, butattached no significance at all to the same Word of God when it prohibited mutual feuding.

Ala-Maududi

(2:87) Surely We gave Moses the Scripture and caused a train of Messengers to follow him and thensent Jesus, the son of Mary, with Clear Proofs and supported him with the spirit ofholiness.^[93] But is it not true that every time a Messenger brought to you somethingthat was not to your liking, you acted arrogantly: you called some Messengers liars and killedothers?

93. The ‘spirit of holiness’ signifies the knowledge derived through revelation. It alsosignifies the angel Gabriel who brought this revelation. It also denotes the holy spirit ofJesus, the spirit which God had endowed with angelic character.

The expression ‘clear proofs’ refers to those signs which are likely to convince a truth-seekingand truth-loving person that Jesus is a Prophet of God.

Ala-Maududi

(2:91) When they are told: “Believe in what Allah has revealed,” they say: “We believe only inwhat was revealed to us (Israel).” They deny everything else even though it be the Truth whichconfirms what they possess. Say (to them): “If indeed you are believers, why is it that in thepast you killed the Prophets of Allah (who were from Israel)?”

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(2:191) Kill them whenever you confront them and drive them out from where they drove you out.(For though killing is sinful) wrongful persecution is even worse than killing.^[202]Do not fight against them near the Holy Mosque unless they fight against you; but if they fightagainst you kill them, for that is the reward of such unbelievers.

202. Here the word fitnah is used in the sense of ‘persecution’. It refers to a situation wherebyeither a person or a group is subjected to harassment and intimidation for having accepted, astrue, a set of ideas contrary to those currently held, and for striving to effect reforms in theexisting order of society by preaching what is good and condemning what is wrong. Such asituation must be changed, if need be, by the force of arms.

Bloodshed is bad, but when one group of people imposes its ideology and forcibly prevents othersfrom accepting the truth, then it becomes guilty of an even more serious crime. In suchcircumstances, it is perfectly legitimate to remove that oppressive group by the force of arms.

Ala-Maududi

(2:217) People ask you about fighting in the holy month. Say: “Fighting in it is an awesome sin,but barring people from the Way of Allah, disbelieving in Him, and denying entry into the HolyMosque and expelling its inmates from it^[232] are more awesome acts in the sight ofAllah; and persecution is even more heinous than killing.” They will not cease fighting againstyou till they turn you from your religion if they can.^[233] (So remember well) thatwhoever from amongst you turns away from his religion and dies in the state of unbelief theirwork will go to waste in this world and in the Next. They are destined for the Fire and it isthere that they will abide.

232. This relates to a certain incident. In Rajab 2 A. H. the Prophet sent an expedition of eightpersons to Nakhlah (which lies between Makka and Ta’if). He directed them to follow themovements of the Quraysh and gather information about their plans, but not to engage infighting. On their way they came across a trade caravan belonging to the Quraysh and ambushedit. They killed one person and captured the rest along with their belongings and took them toMadina. They did this at a time when the month of Rajah was approaching its end and Sha’ban wasabout to begin. It was, therefore, doubtful whether the attack was actually carried out in oneof the sacred months, that is, Rajab, or not. But the Quraysh, and the Jews who were secretly inleague with them, as well as the hypocrites made great play of this and used it as a weapon intheir propaganda campaign against the Muslims. (For this expedition see Ibn Hisham, Sirah. vol.1, pp. 601 ff; Ibn Ishaq, Life of Muhammad, tr. A. Guillaume. pp. 286 ff.) They pointed out thecontradiction between the claims of the Muslims to true religion on the one hand, and their nothesitating to shed blood in a sacred month on the other.

This verse aims to answer these objections. The essence of what is said here is that fightingduring the sacred months is without doubt an evil act. It points out that those people who hadcontinually subjected their kith and kin to untold wrong for thirteen years merely because theybelieved in the One God were not competent to make such an objection. Not only had the Muslimsbeen driven from their homes, they had had the way to the Holy Mosque closed to them, a barwhich had not been imposed by anyone during the course of some two thousand years. With thisrecord of mischief and misconduct it was not for them to raise such an outcry at a minor ambush,and especially so when the incident had taken place without the approval of the Prophet. Thewhole incident was in fact no more than an irresponsible act on the part of some members of theIslamic community.

It should be remembered that when on their return those people went, with captives and booty, tovisit the Prophet, he expressly pointed out to them that he had not permitted them to fight. Notonly that, he declined to receive the public exchequer’s share of their booty, which indicatedthat their booty was considered unlawful. The Muslims, in general, also severely reproached thepeople responsible for the incident, and in fact nobody in Madina applauded what they had done.

233. A few simple-hearted Muslims, whose minds were seized by a mistaken concept of righteousnessand pacifism, were influenced by the above objections which had been raised by the polytheistsof Makka and the Jews. In this verse the believers are being asked not to entertain the hopethat they might clear the air and promote understanding and goodwill by adopting an over-lenientstance towards their opponents. The objections of the latter were not motivated by the desire tofind out the Truth; their true purpose was nothing but vilification. What particularly irked theadversaries of the Muslims was that they believed in a religion of their own and were invitingthe whole world to accept it. Hence, as long as the Muslims continued to believe in Islam and aslong as their opponents remained stubborn in their disbelief, the existing chasm between the twogroups was bound to remain.

Moreover, the enemies whom they confronted were not to be considered ordinary enemies. Those whowanted to deprive a person of his belongings or land were in fact enemies of a relatively muchless dangerous kind than those who sought to turn him away from his faith; while the formersought to harm his worldly interests, the latter were bent upon hurling him into the eternaltorment in the Hereafter.

Ala-Maududi

(2:251) Thereupon by Allah’s leave they put the unbelievers to flight, and David killedGoliath,^[273] and Allah granted him dominion and wisdom, and imparted to him theknowledge of whatever He willed. And were it not that Allah repelled some people with another,the earth would surely be overlaid with mischief.^[274] But Allah is Bounteous to thepeople of the world (and thus extirpates mischief).

273. David was then in the early years of his youth. By chance he joined the army of Saul justwhen the mighty champion of the Philistine army had challenged the Israelite army to combat.None of the Israelites had the courage to take up the challenge. On seeing this, David took onGoliath in a duel and slew him. From then on, David could do no wrong in the eyes of theIsraelites. Saul gave him the hand of his daughter in marriage and ultimately he became theruler of the Israelites. (For details see 1 Samuel, chapters 17 and I8.)

274. This enunciates the principle according to which God treats the nations as a part of theDivine system governing the world. He allows various nations to attain power and strength withincertain limits. But when any nation begins to commit wrongs and exceed reasonable limits. Godbrings forth another nation as a counterweight, Were the dominion of one nation or party toendure for ever, and were its capacity to perpetrate wrongs granted in perpetuity, God’s earthwould become full of corruption and wickedness.

Ala-Maududi

(3:21) Give those who refuse to follow the directives of Allah, who slay the Prophets unjustly,and who slay those who enjoin justice, give them glad tidings of a grievouschastisement.^[19]

19. This is a sarcastic remark. Its purpose is to bring home to them that the misdeeds aboutwhich they are so jubilant, and which they regard as their proud achievements, will ultimatelylead them to a painful end.

Ala-Maududi

(3:112) Wherever they were, they were covered with ignominy, except when they were protected byeither a covenant with Allah or a covenant with men.⁹⁰ They are laden with the burdenof Allah’s wrath, and humiliation is stuck upon them – and all this because they rejected thesigns of Allah and slayed the Prophets without right, and because they disobeyed andtransgressed.

90. If the Jews have ever enjoyed any measure of peace and security anywhere in the world theyowe it to the goodwill and benevolence of others rather than to their own power and strength. Attimes Muslim governments granted them refuge while at others non-Muslim powers extendedprotection. Similarly, if the Jews ever emerged as a power it was due not to their intrinsicstrength but to the strength of others.

Ala-Maududi

(3:154) Then, after inflict-ing this grief, He sent down an inner peace upon you – a sleep whichovertook some of you.^[112] Those who were concerned merely about themselves,entertaining false notions about Allah – the notions of the Age of Ignorance – asked: ‘Have weany say in the matter?’ Tell them: Truly, all power of decision rests solely with Allah.’Indeed, they conceal in their hearts what they would not reveal to you, saying: ‘If we had anypower of decision, we would not have been slain here.’ Say: ‘Even if you had been in yourhouses, those for whom slaying had been appointed would have gone forth to the places where theywere to be slain.’ And all this happened so that Allah might test your secret thoughts and purgeyour hearts of all impurities. Allah knows well what is in the breasts of men.

112. A strange phenomenon was then experienced by certain Muslim soldiers. Abu Talhah, who tookpart in the battle, states that the Muslims were seized by such drowsiness that their swordswere slipping from their hands. (For several Traditions stating this incident, including onerelated by Abu Talhah, see Waqidi, Maghazi, vol. 1, pp. 295-6 – Ed.)

Ala-Maududi

(3:156) Believers, do not behave like those who disbelieved and say to their brothers (who meetsome mishap) in the course of their journey for fighting: Had they remained with us, they wouldnot have died nor been slain.’ Allah makes such thoughts the cause of deep regrets in theirhearts.^[113] For in truth it is Allah alone who grants life and deals death. Allahsees all that you do.

113. Such ideas had no solid ground. God’s decree regarding the time of one’s death cannot bedeferred. Those who lack faith in God and think that everything is dependent on their ownscheming and effort rather than on the overpowering Will of God become victims of perpetualremorse, since they never cease to reflect how a slightly different circumstance or slightlyaltered strategy could have led to an altogether different and wholesome result.

Ala-Maududi

(3:157) And were you to be slain or to die in the way of Allah, then surely Allah’s forgivenessand mercy are better than all the goods they amass.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(3:158) And were you to die or be slain, it is to Allah that you will all be mustered.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(3:168) These are the ones who stayed away, saying about their brothers: Had they followed us,they would not have been slain.’ Say: ‘If you speak the truth then avert death when it comes toyou.’

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(3:169) Think not of those slain in the way of Allah as dead.^[120] Indeed they areliving, and with their Lord they have their sustenance,

120. For an explanation see (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 154) note 155 above.

Ala-Maududi

(3:181) Allah has heard the saying of those who said: ‘Allah is poor, and we arerich.^[128] We shall record what they have said, and the fact of their slaying theProphets unjustly, and we shall say to them: Taste now the torment of the Fire.

128. This statement was made by the Jews. On the revelation of the Qur’anic verse (2: 245): ‘Whoof you will lend Allah a goodly loan?’, the Jews began to ridicule it and said: ‘Look, God hasnow gone bankrupt and has begun to beg of His creatures for loans.’ (For this statement made bythe Jews see the Tradition mentioned by Ibn Kathir in his comments on this verse – Ed.)

Ala-Maududi

(3:183) To those who say: ‘Allah has directed us that we accept none as Messenger until he makesan offering that the fire will consume’, say: ‘Other Messengers came to you before me with clearsigns, and with the sign you have mentioned. So why did you slay them, if what you say istrue?^[129]

129. The Bible mentions at several places that the token of Divine acceptance of a person’ssacrificial offering was the appearance of a mysterious fire which consumed the offering. (SeeJudges 6: 20-1 and 13: 19-20; 2 Chronicles 7: 1-2.) The Bible does not state, however, that theconsuming fire was an indispensable token of prophethood and that anyone not endowed with thatmiracle could not be a Prophet. The Jews in discussing the claim of Muhammad (peace be on him)to be a Messenger of God brought up the question of this miraculous sign, and used it as apretext for denying that claim. There was even clearer evidence of the Jews’ hostility to Truth:they had not hesitated to murder a number of Prophets who had been endowed with the miracle ofconsuming fire. The Bible mentions, for example, the Prophet Elijah who had challenged theworshippers of Ba’l to sacrifice a bull, promising that he too would sacrifice a bull. He statedthat the offering of the one who was truthful would be consumed by the miraculous fire. Theconfrontation took place before a large crowd and it was Elijah’s sacrifice which was consumedby the fire. This so antagonized the Ba’1-worshipping Queen that the henpecked King decided toput the Prophet Elijah to death. Elijah was forced to leave his homeland and take refuge in themountains of Sinai. (See 1 Kings 18 and 19.) The Jews are told in effect: ‘How dare you ask forthe miracle of the consuming fire when in the past you have not even refrained from murderingProphets who performed that miracle?’

Ala-Maududi

(3:195) Their Lord answered the Prayer thus: “I will not suffer the work of any of you, whethermale or female, to go to waste; each of you is from the other.^[139] Those whoemigrated and were driven out from their homesteads and were persecuted in My cause, and whofought and were slain, indeed I shall wipe out their evil deeds from them and shall certainlyadmit them to the gardens beneath which rivers flow.” This is their reward with their Lord; andwith Allah lies the best reward.^[140]

139. All humans are equal in the sight of God. God does not have separate criteria for judgingthe male and the female, the master and the slave, the high and the low.

140. It is reported that some non-Muslims came to the Prophet and said that Moses had producedhis staff and had been endowed with the miracle of the shining hand see (Surah Al-Aaraf, ayat 108); (Surah TaHa, ayat 22), and that Jesusrestored sight to the blind and cured the lepers. Other Prophets had also been granted miracles.What miracles, they enquired, could the Prophet perform? In response the Prophet recited all theverses from (Surah Al-Imran, ayat 190)to the end of this surah, adding that that was what he had brought.

Ala-Maududi

(4:29) Believers! Do not devour one another’s possessions wrongfully; rather than that, let therebe trading by mutual consent.^[50] You shall not kill yourselves.^[51]Surely Allah is ever Compassionate to you.^[52]

50. The expression ‘wrongfully’ embraces all transactions which are opposed to righteousness andwhich are either legally or morally reprehensible. By contrast, trade’ signifies the mutualtransfer of benefits between the parties concerned, such as that underlying those transactionsin which one person provides whatever satisfies the needs of another person and is paid inreturn. ‘Mutual consent’ means that the exchange should be free of undue pressure, fraud anddeception. Although bribery and interest apparently represent transactions based on mutualconsent, closer examination reveals that such consent takes place by constraint and underpressure. In games of chance, too, the participants seem to consent freely to the outcome. Thiskind of consent, however, is due to the expectation entertained by the participants that theywill win. No one takes part anticipating loss. Fraudulent transactions also seem to be based onthe mutual consent of the parties concerned. That kind of consent, however, is based on thefalse assumption that no fraud is involved in the transaction. Nobody who knew that he would besubjected to fraud would consent to be a party to that transaction.

51. This can be considered either as complementary to the preceding sentence or as an independentstatement. If it is complementary, it means that to consume the property of others by wrongfulmeans is tantamount to courting one’s own destruction; for such practices corrupt society onsuch a scale that even the most cunning are not spared their destructive consequences. This isin addition to the severe punishment that is bound to be meted out to such people in the NextLife. Taken as an independent statement, it can mean either that one should not kill others orthat one should not kill oneself. Both the words used and the sequence in which they have beenplaced by God in this verse make each of these three meanings feasible.

52. God wishes His creatures well; their well-being and salvation please Him, and it is out ofbenevolence that He has forbidden things harmful to human beings.

Ala-Maududi

(4:66) Had We enjoined upon them: ‘Slay yourselves’, or ‘Leave your habitations’, very few ofthem would have done it;^[96] yet if they had done as they were admonished, it wouldhave been better for them and would have strengthened them;^[97]

96. As these people are not prepared to endure even minor losses and inconveniences in order tofollow the law of God, they can never be expected to make big sacrifices. If asked either to laydown their lives or to give up their homes and families for the sake of the Truth they would flystraight back to unbelief and disobedience.

97. Had these people been able to free themselves of uncertainty, hesitation and ambivalence, andto resolve firmly to follow and obey the Prophet (peace be on him), their lives would have beenspared the instability from which they suffer. Their way of thinking, their morals and theirpractical dealings would all have found permanent and stable foundations, and they would haveenjoyed the blessings granted only to those who follow the one straight path with firmness andresolution. For one who is subject to indecision and hesitation, who keeps changing from onedirection to another in a state of uncertainty, life is a continuous exercise in futility.

Ala-Maududi

(4:74) Let those who seek the life of the Next World in exchange for the life of this world fightin the way of Allah.^[103] We shall grant a mighty reward to whoever fights in the wayof Allah, whether he is slain or comes out victorious.

103. The point stressed here is that fighting in the cause of God cannot be conducted by peopleengrossed in the pursuit of worldly benefits. This is the task of those who seek to please God,who have complete faith in Him and in the Hereafter, who are prepared to sacrifice allopportunities of worldly success and prosperity, and of all worldly interests, hoping thereby towin God’s good pleasure. Irrespective of what happens in the present world such sacrifices willnot be wasted in the Hereafter. Jihad (struggle in the cause of God) is not for those who mainlycare for worldly benefits.

Ala-Maududi

(4:89) They wish that you should disbelieve just as they disbelieved so that you may all bealike. Do not, therefore, take from them allies until they emigrate in the way of Allah, but ifthey turn their backs (on emigration), seize them and slay them^[118] wherever youcome upon them. Take none of them for your ally or helper,

118. This is the verdict on those hypocritical confessors of faith who belong to a belligerent,non-Muslim nation and actually participate in acts of hostility against the Islamic state.

Ala-Maududi

(4:91) You will also find others who wish to be secure from you, and secure from their people,but who, whenever they have any opportunity to cause mischief, plunge into it headlong. If suchpeople neither leave you alone nor offer you peace nor restrain their hands from hurting you,then seize them and slay them wherever you come upon them. It is against these that We havegranted you a clear sanction.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(4:92) It is not for a believer to slay another believer unless by mistake.^[120] Andhe who has slain a believer by mistake, his atonement is to set free from bondage a believingperson^[121] and to pay blood-money to his heirs,^[122] unless they forgo itby way of charity. And if the slain belonged to a hostile people, but was a believer, then theatonement is to set free from bondage a believing person.

And if the slain belonged to a (non-Muslim) people with whom you have a covenant, then theatonement is to pay the blood-money to his heirs, and to set free from bondage a believingperson.^[123] But he who cannot (free a slave) should fast for two consecutivemonths.^[124] This is the penance ordained by Allah.^[125] Allah isAll-Knowing, All-Wise.

120. The hypocritical confessors of Islam mentioned here are distinct from those whom the Muslimsmay kill. The reference here is to Muslims who are either residents of the Domain of Islam (Daral-Islam) or to those who live in the Domain of War or of Unbelief (Dar al-Harb or Dar al-Kufr)but against whom there is no proof of actual participation in the hostile activities with theenemies of Islam. In the time of the Prophet (peace be on him) there were many people who hadembraced Islam and yet, because of genuine difficulties, were living among tribes hostile toIslam. It occasionally happened that, in attacking a hostile tribe, the Muslims inadvertentlykilled fellow Muslims living in its midst.

121. Since the person killed was a believer, expiation of the sin required the emancipation of aMuslim slave.

122. The Prophet (peace be on him) had fixed the blood-money at either 100 camels, 200 oxen or2,000 head of cattle. If someone wished to pay this in another form the amount would bedetermined with reference to the market value of the articles mentioned above. For instance, forthose who wished to pay blood-money in cash, the fixed amount in the time of the Prophet (peacebe on him) was 800 dinars (8000 dirhams). In the time of Caliph ‘Umar the amount of blood-moneywas fixed at 1000 golden dinars (12000 silver dirhams). It should be noted, however, that thisamount relates to an unintentional rather than a deliberate homicide. (Regarding blood-money forunintentional homicide and injury see Abu Da’ud, ‘Diyat’, 14-17; Tirmidhi, ‘Diyat’, 1; Nasa’i,‘Qasamah’, 34; Ibn Majah, Diyat’, 6; Malik b. Anas, Muwatta’, “Uqul’, 4; Ahmad b. Hanbal,Musnad, vol. 1, pp. 384 and 450; vol. 2, pp. 178, 183, 186, 217, 224; vol. 4, p. 275. See alsoIbn Rushd, Bidayat al-Mujtahid, vol. 2, pp. 401 ff. – Ed.)

123. The legal injunctions embodied in this verse are as follows:

(1) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of Islam (Dar al-Islam) the killer is not onlyrequired to pay blood-money but also to emancipate a slave by way of expiation.

(2) If the victim was a resident of the Domain of War (Dar al-Harb) the killer is only requiredto emancipate a slave.

(3) If the victim was a resident of a non-Muslim country which had treaty relations with anIslamic state the killer is required to emancipate a slave and also to pay blood-money. Theamount of the blood-money, however, depends on the terms stipulated in the treaty between theMuslims and the territory of the victim. (See Jassas, vol. 2, pp. 238 f f. and 240 ff. – Ed.)

124. This means that he should observe fasting uninterrupted for the entire period. If a manbreaks his fast for just one day without a legally valid reason he will be required to resumefasting anew.

125. This shows that what has been prescribed is an act of repentance and expiation rather than apenalty inflicted on a criminal. Penalization is essentially devoid of the spirit of repentanceand of the urge to self-reform. A penalty is suffered under duress, usually with resentment, andleaves behind repugnance and bitterness. On the contrary, what God wants is that the believerwho has committed a sin should wash the stain of it from his soul by supererogatory worship, byacts of charity, and by a meticulous fulfilment of all the duties incumbent upon him. Such aperson is required to turn to God in remorse and repentance so that his sin may be pardoned andhis soul secured against the recurrence of similar errors.

The word kaffarah signifies that which either covers or hides something. To declare that certainacts of charity constitute kaffarah means that those acts overlay the sin and cover it up, justas stains on a wall are covered up when it is painted.

Ala-Maududi

(4:93) And he who slays a believer wilfully his reward is Hell, where he will abide. Allah’swrath is against him and He has cast His curse upon him, and has prepared for him a greatchastisement.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(4:155) (They have incurred Allah’s wrath) for their breaking the covenant, and their rejectionof the signs of Allah, and for slaying Prophets without right, and for saying: ‘Our hearts arewrapped up in covers’^[187] -even though in fact Allah has sealed their hearts becauseof their unbelief, so that they scarcely believe^[188]

187. This statement of the Jews has already been mentioned in (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 88). In fact,like all ignorant worshippers of falsehood, these people also boasted that their faith in theideas and prejudices, customs and usages of their forefathers was so firm that they could neverbe made to forsake them. Whenever the Messengers of God tried to admonish them, they have beentold point-blank that no matter what argument or evidence the latter might adduce in support oftheir message, they would never be prepared to alter their viewpoint. See (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 94)

188. This is a parenthetical statement.

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(4:157) and their saying: ‘We slew the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary’, the Messenger ofAllah^[191] – whereas^[192] in fact they had neither slain him nor crucifiedhim but the matter was made dubious to them^[193] – and those who differed about ittoo were in a state of doubt! They have no definite knowledge of it, but merely followconjecture;^[194] and they surely slew him not,

191. Their criminal boldness had reached such proportions that they attempted to put an end tothe life of the one they themselves knew to be a Prophet, and subsequently went around boastingof this achievement. The least reflection on the incident of Jesus talking in his cradle (seethe preceding note) makes it clear that there was no strong reason to doubt his prophethood.Moreover, the miracles of Jesus which they themselves witnessed – see (Surah Al-Imran, ayat 49) had firmlyestablished his claim to prophethood. Thus, whatever treatment they meted out to him was notbased on any misconception, for they were fully aware that the person whom they were subjectingto criminal treatment had been appointed by God as the bearer of His message. It seems strangethat a people should recognize a man to be a Prophet in their hearts and still try toassassinate him. The ways of degenerate nations are indeed strange. Such people are absolutelyunprepared to tolerate the existence of those who reproach them for their corruption and seek toprevent them from evil. Hence the reformers, including Prophets, who arise among corrupt nationsare always persecuted; they are imprisoned and even put to death. The Talmud mentions that:

Nebuchadnezzar laid waste the land of Israel. . . when the city had been captured, he marchedwith his princes and officers into the Temple … on one of the walls he found the mark of anarrow’s head, as though somebody had been killed or hit nearby, and he asked: ‘Who was killedhere?’ ‘Zachariah, the son of Yohoyadah, the high priest’, answered the people. ‘He rebuked usincessantly on account of our transgressions, and we tired of his words, and put him to death.’(The Talmud Selections by H. Polano, London, Frederick Warne & Co.)

The Bible also mentions that when the corrupt practices of Israel exceeded all limits, andJeremiah warned them that God would have them overrun by other nations in punishment for theirwickedness, his warning was greeted by the Jews with the accusation that he was a collaboratorwith the Chaldeans and hence a traitor. And under that pretext Jeremiah was sent to prison. Inthe same manner, about two and a half years before Jesus’ crucifixion, John the Baptist suffereda cruel fate. On the whole the Jews knew him to be a Prophet, or at least acknowledged him to beone of the most religious people in the nation. But when he criticized the royal court of Herod,the King of Judah, he was first thrown into prison, and then, in response to the demand of adancing girl, who was Herod’s favourite mistress’, his head was cut off.

If this record of the Jews is kept in mind, it does not seem surprising that, after havingsubjected Jesus – according to their belief – to crucifixion, they might have been overcome byjubilation and in a fit of self-congratulation might have boastfully exclaimed: ‘Yes, we haveput a Prophet of God to death!’ For similar incidents see (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 61) note 79.

192. This again is a parenthetical statement.

193. This verse categorically states that Jesus was raised on high before he could be crucified,and that the belief of both the Jews and the Christians that Jesus died on the cross is based ona misconception. As a result of a comparative study of the Qur’anic and Biblical versions we arepersuaded that, so far as the trial at the court of Pilate is concerned, it was probably Jesuswho was tried. Pilate sentenced him to death after the Jews showed their deep hostility to Truthand righteousness by openly declaring that, in their view, the life of a thief was of highervalue than that of a man with such a pure soul as Jesus. It was then that God raised Jesus up toheaven. The person the Jews subsequently crucified was someone else who, for one reason oranother, was mistaken for the person of Jesus. The fact that the person who had actually beencrucified was someone other than Jesus does not in any way detract from the guilt of those Jews,for in their minds it was Jesus whose head they were crowning with thorns, in whose face theywere spitting, and whom they were subjecting to crucifixion. We are not in a position now tofind out how and why such a confusion arose. As no authentic source of information is availableto us, it would be inappropriate to conjecture and speculate about the cause of themisapprehension which led the Jews to believe that they had crucified Jesus, the son of Mary,whereas he had already passed far beyond their grasp.

194. “Those who differed’ refers to the Christians. The Christians have dozens of differentversions, rather than one universally agreed view, regarding the crucifixion of the Messiah.This in itself is an eloquent testimony that the Christians were doubtful about the actualevent. Some of them held the view that the one who was crucified was someone other than-Jesusand that Jesus himself in fact remained standing somewhere nearby, laughing at their folly.Others were of the opinion that the one who was crucified was certainly Jesus himself, but thathe did not die on the cross and was still alive when brought down from it. Others asserted thatthough Jesus died on the cross, he later returned to life, met his disciples and conversed withthem about ten times. Again, some believe that the human body of Jesus suffered death and wasburied, while the spirit of godhead in him was taken up on high. Yet others believe that afterhis death the Messiah was resurrected physically and was subsequently taken up to heaven inphysical form. Had the truth been fully known and well-established so many divergent views couldnot have gained currency.

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(5:27) Narrate to them in all truth the story of the two sons of Adam. When they made an offeringand it was accepted from one of them and was not accepted from the other, the latter said: ‘Iwill surely kill you.’ Thereupon the former said: ‘Allah accepts offerings only from theGod-fearing.^[48]

48. God’s refusal to accept the sacrifice of one of the two brothers was not due to any wrong theother brother might have committed but to his own lack of piety. Hence, rather than attempt tokill his brother he should be concerned with cultivating piety.

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(5:28) Even if you stretch forth your hand against me to kill, I will not stretch forth my handto kill you.^[49] Surely, I fear Allah, the Lord of the entire universe.

49. This does not mean, that his brother assured him that when the latter stepped forward to killhim he would keep his hands tied and stretch out his own neck to be cut down rather than defendhimself. What this statement amounts to is an assurance on the part of the first brother that,even though the other was intent on killing him, he himself had no such intention. In otherwords, he assured his brother that even though the latter was busy planning his murder he wouldnot take the initiative in killing him despite his knowledge of the latter’s intent.

Righteousness does not demand at all that when a man is subjected to wrongful aggression heshould surrender to the aggressor rather than defend himself. Righteousness, however, demandsthat a man should not take the initiative and try to kill someone even though he knows him to bebent on killing him. He should rather wait for the act of aggression to be initiated by theother person. And this is exactly what was intended by the statement of the righteous son ofAdam.

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(5:30) At last his evil soul drove him to the murder of his brother, and he killed him, wherebyhe himself became one of the losers.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

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(5:32) Therefore We ordained for the Children of Israel^[53] that he who slays a soulunless it be (in punishment) for murder or for spreading mischief on earth shall be as if he hadslain all mankind; and he who saves a life shall be as if he had given life to allmankind.^[54] And indeed again and again did Our Messengers come to them with cleardirectives; yet many of them continued to commit excesses on earth.

53.Since the same qualities which had been displayed by the wrong doing son of Adam were manifestin the Children of Israel, God strongly urged them not to kill human beings and couched Hiscommand in forceful terms. It is a pity that the precious words which embody God’s ordinance areto be found nowhere in the Bible today. The Talmud, however, does mention this subject in thefollowing words:

To him who kills a single individual of Israel, it shall be reckoned as if he had slain thewhole race and he who preserves a single individual of Israel, it shall be reckoned in the Bookof God as if he had preserved the whole world. The Talmud also mentions that in trials formurder, the Israelite judges used to address the witnesses as follows:

Whoever kills one person, merits punishment as if he had slain all the men in the world.

54. This means that the survival of human life depends on everyone respecting other human beingsand in contributing actively to the survival and protection of others. Whosoever killsunrighteously is thus not merely guilty of doing wrong to one single person, but proves by hisact that his heart is devoid of respect for human life and of sympathy for the human species assuch. Such a person, therefore, is an enemy of all mankind. This is so because he happens to bepossessed of a quality which, were it to become common to all men, would lead to the destructionof the entire human race. The person who helps to preserve the life of even one person, on theother hand, is the protector of the whole of humanity, for he possesses a quality which isindispensable to the survival of mankind.

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(5:33) Those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and go about the earth spreadingmischief^[55] -indeed their recompense is that they either be done to death, or becrucified, or have their hands and feet cut off from the opposite sides or be banished from theland.^[56] Such shall be their degradation in this world; and a mighty chastisementlies in store for them in the World to Come

55. The ‘land’ signifies either the country or territory wherein the responsibility ofestablishing law and order has been undertaken by an Islamic state. The expression to wage waragainst Allah and His Messenger’ denotes war against the righteous order established by theIslamic state. It is God’s purpose, and it is for this very purpose that God sent HisMessengers, that a righteous order of life be established on earth; an order that would providepeace and security to everything found on earth; an order under whose benign shadow humanitywould be able to attain its perfection; an order under which the resources of the earth would beexploited in a manner conducive to man’s progress and prosperity rather than to his ruin anddestruction. If anyone tried to disrupt such an order, whether on a limited scale by committingmurder and destruction and robbery and brigandry or on a large scale by attempting to overthrowthat order and establish some unrighteous order instead, he would in fact be guilty of wagingwar against God and His Messenger. All this is not unlike the situation where someone tries tooverthrow the established government in a country. Such a person will be convicted of ‘wagingwar against the state’ even though his actual action may have been directed against an ordinarypoliceman in some remote part of the country, and irrespective of how remote the sovereignhimself is from him.

56. These penalties are mentioned here in brief merely to serve as guidelines to either judges orrulers so they may punish each criminal in accordance with the nature of his crime. The realpurpose is to indicate that for any of those who live in the Islamic realm to attempt tooverthrow the Islamic order is the worst kind of crime, for which any of the highly severepunishments may be imposed.

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(5:70) And We took a covenant from the Children of Israel and sent to them many Messengers. Butwhenever any Messenger brought to them something that did not suit their desires, they gave thelie to some of them and killed the others,

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

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(5:95) Believers! Do not kill game while you are in the state of pilgrimsanctity.^[110] Whoever of you kills it wilfully there shall be a recompense, the likeof what he has killed in cattle – as shall be judged by two men of equity among you – to bebrought to the Ka’bah as an offering, or as an expiation the feeding of the needy, or itsequivalent in fasting^[111] in order that he may taste the grievousness of his deed.Allah has pardoned whatever has passed; but Allah will exact a penalty from him who repeats it.Allah is All-Mighty. He is fully capable of exacting penalties.

110. When a person is in the state of pilgrim sanctity (ihram) it is prohibited for him both tohunt and to assist in hunting animals. Indeed, even if an animal has been hunted for him bysomeone else he may not eat it. However, if someone hunts an animal for himself and makes a giftof it to such a person, there is no harm in his eating it. There is an exception to thisinjunction and that is with regard to harmful animals. Snakes, scorpions, mad dogs and othersuch animals which cause injury to man may be killed even by one in the state of ihram. (SeeBukhari, ‘Talaq’, 24; ‘Sayd’, 2; Abu Da’ud, ‘Manasik’, 40, 41; Tirmidhi, Hajj’, 27; ‘Sayd’, 26 –Ed.)

111. It would also be ‘two men of equity’ (Surah Al-Maidah, ayat 95) to judge asto the number of persons one should feed or the number of days one should fast by way ofexpiation for killing a certain animal.

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(6:137) And, likewise, the beings supposed to have a share in Allah’s divinity have made theslaying of their offspring seem lawful to many of those who associate others with Allah in Hisdivinity^[107] so that they may ruin them^[108] and confound them regardingtheir faith.^[109] If Allah had so willed, they would not have done that. Leave themalone to persist in their fabrication. ^[110]

107. The word ‘partners’ is now used in a different sense. In this verse the word ‘partners’denotes those human beings and devils who had legitimized infanticide and even represented it asa commendable act.

The reason for calling such people ‘partners’ is that just as God alone deserves to beworshipped, so He alone has the right to make laws for His creatures and to determine the limitsof what is lawful and what is unlawful. Also, just as consecrating acts of devotion to anyoneother than God amounts to setting up partners with Him, so to follow man-made laws in the beliefthat human beings have the right to be their own law-makers amounts to acknowledging others aspartners of God. Both these acts amount to setting up partners with Him, irrespective of whetheror not man applies the word ‘God’ to those before whom he makes ritual offerings, or to thosewhose laws he considers to be essentially right and binding for men.

It is pertinent to recall that three forms of infanticide were practised among the Arabs, and theQur’an alludes to each:

(1) Girls were put to death either to forestall the intrusion of a son-in-law, to prevent themfrom falling into the hands of enemies in the event of an outbreak of tribal feuding or to stopthem from becoming a source of disgrace for any other reason.

(2) Both male and female children were killed if parents thought they would not be able tosupport them and that they would thus become an unendurable burden.

(3) Children of both sexes were placed as sacrificial offerings on the altars of the deities inorder to gratify them.

108. The use of the word ‘ruin’ in this verse is significant. It denotes, in the first place, themoral ruination of a people. A man whose callousness and cruelty reach the point where he beginsto kill his offspring with his own hands not only becomes bereft of the essence of humanity, buthas sunk even lower than the animals. Moreover, this signifies the ruin of a people and of thehuman race. This is because infanticide necessarily leads to loss of population which isdetrimental to the interests of mankind and also of each nation, since it prevents those whocould have carried the legacy of a nation from either being born or puts an end to their livesafter ,they are born. This rule also signifies the ultimate ruin, i.e. in the Hereafter. Forindeed anyone who treats innocent children with such high-handedness, who cold-bloodedlyslaughters the essence of his humanity, who acts so sordidly towards the human species as such,and even towards his own people, deserves severe punishment from God.

109. In the Jahiliyah, the Age of Ignorance, the Arabs both identified themselves with Abrahamand Ishmael and were quite convinced that they were indeed followers of Abraham and Ishmael.They therefore considered their religion to be one that had been prescribed by God. The fact,however, was that over the course of centuries a number of innovations had overgrown thereligion preached by Abraham and Ishmael. These innovations, which had been introduced by theirreligious leaders, the tribal chiefs and the elders of noted families, had become hallowed withthe passage of time, and were considered an integral part of their original religion. Noauthentic traces of this original religion, however, existed in the Arab traditions, nor inwritten sources nor in historical records as such. Hence, when innovations made their inroadsinto their religious life, they failed to perceive both the innovations and the innovators. Thisrendered the entire religious tradition of the Arabs unauthentic in the sight of the people ofArabia themselves. They could not assert with conviction which elements were part of theoriginal God-given religion, and which were mere innovations.

110. Had God not so willed, they could never have kept to their false ways. But God willed thateverybody should be allowed to pursue his own choice. Hence, if people do not believe in spiteof the Prophet’s admonition, and persist in their false ways, they must be allowed to do as theyplease. One need not hound such people and pester them into accepting the Truth.

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(6:140) Those who slayed their children in folly, without knowledge,.and forbade the sustenancethat Allah has provided them, falsely ascribing that to Allah, are utter losers; they have goneastray, and are certainly not among those guided to the right way.^[115]

115. It is put to them plainly that even though such practices had been introduced by theirforefathers, religious guides and outstanding leaders, the fact remained that those practiceswere inherently unsound. That those practices had come down from their ancestors and veneratedelders did not necessarily legitimize them. These callous people had introduced such inhumancustoms as infanticide, and, without any justification whatsoever, had prohibited to thecreatures of God food and drink which He had created. They had also introduced many innovationsthemselves, making them part of their religion and ascribing them to God. How could such peoplebe considered either to have attained salvation or to be rightlyguided? Even though venerated bythem as their ancestors, they were nevertheless misguided and were destined to see the evilconsequences of their misdeeds.

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(6:151) Say to them (O Muhammad!): ‘Come, let me recite what your Lord has laid down toyou:^[127] (i) that you associate nothing with Him;^[128] (ii) and do goodto your parents;^[129] (iii) and do not slay your children out of fear of poverty. Weprovide you and will likewise provide them with sustenance; (iv) and do not even draw to thingsshameful^[130] – be they open or secret; (v) and do not slay the soul santified byAllah except in just cause;^[131] this He has enjoined upon you so that you mayunderstand;

127. The restrictions which had shackled their lives were not those imposed by God. The reallyworthwhile restrictions are those prescribed by God in order to regulate human life. These havealways served as the essential basis of all God-given codes (cf. Exodus. chapter 20).

128. The first principle is that they should associate none with God in His divinity: neither inHis essence, nor in His attributes, nor in His powers and authority, nor in the rights He hasagainst His creatures.

To associate someone with God in His divinity is to declare that the former shares the essence ofGod’s divinity. Instances of associating others in God’s essence are the Christian doctrine ofthe Trinity, the belief of the pagan Arabs that angels are daughters of God, and the belief ofother polytheists in the divine character of their self-styled gods and goddesses and, in somecases, of their royalty. Likewise, a person associates others in the attributes of God when heconsiders someone other than God to be invested with those attributes which belong exclusivelyto God. One becomes guilty of this kind of polytheism if one believes somebody either to knowall the mysteries of the Unseen or to be all-seeing and all-hearing or to be free of all defectsand weaknesses and thus infallible. Again, a person associates others in the authority of Godwhen he recognizes someone to be possessed of authority which belongs to God alone by virtue ofHis godhead; for example, the power to either benefit or harm people in a supernatural manner,to fulfil the needs of people and rescue them from distress. to protect and shield them, to heartheir prayers, to make or mar their fate. A person is guilty of the same when he recognizessomeone as possessing the rightful authority to determine what is lawful and what is unlawful,and to make laws for the regulation of human life. Such authority belongs to God alone, andrecognizing anyone other than God as possessing it is tantamount to associating others with Godin His authority.

Moreover, to associate others with God in His divine rights means that one recognizes someonebeside God as legitimately deserving that which may he asked of man by God alone, viz. bowingand prostrating, standing in awe and reverence with folded hands, devotional greeting andkissing the earth, slaughtering animals and making any other offerings in thanksgiving for hisgrace and benevolence and in acknowledgement of his overlordship, vowing offerings in his name,calling him to rescue one from one’s affliction and misfortune, and all the other forms ofworship, adoration and reverence which are exclusively for God. In the same way, no one hasthe-right to be loved to the exclusion of all other attachments, or to be held in such awe thatone always fears his wrath and dreads the violation of his command, both openly and in secret.Likewise, it is God – and God alone – Who has the right to be obeyed unconditionally, and Whoseguidance should be considered the only criterion of right and wrong. In the same way, man shouldnot commit himself to obey any authority which is either independent of obedience to God orwhose command lacks the sanction of God.

If someone accords any of these rights to anyone other than God, he is guilty of associatingothers with God in His divinity. His guilt is the same whether or not he calls such beingsdivine.

129. Accordingly, good treatment of one’s parents includes showing them respect and reverence,obeying them, trying to keep them pleased, and serving them. The Qur’an always mentions thisright of the parents immediately after mentioning the duty one owes to God alone. This makes itquite clear that the rights of parents have precedence over those of other human beings.

130. The word fawahish applies to all those acts whose abominable character is self-evident. Inthe Qur’an all extra-marital sexual relationships, sodomy, nudity, false accusations ofunchastity, and taking as one’s wife a woman who had been married to one’s father, arespecifically reckoned as ‘shameful deeds’ (fawahish). In Hadith, theft, taking intoxicatingdrinks and begging have been characterized as fawahish, as have many other brazenly indecentacts. Man is required to abstain from them both openly and in secret.

131. This means that human life, which has been declared inviolable by God, can only be destroyedfor just cause. As for what is meant by ‘just cause’, we ought to remember that three cases areembodied in the Qur’an whereas two additional cases have been stated by the Prophet (peace be onhim). The cases mentioned by the Qur’an are the following:

(1) That a man is convicted of deliberate homicide and thus the claim of retaliation isestablished against him.

(2) That someone resists the establishment of the true faith so that fighting against him mightbecome necessary.

(3) That someone is guilty of spreading disorder in the Domain of Islam and strives to overthrowthe Islamic order of government.

The two cases mentioned in the Hadith are:

(1) That a person commits illegitimate sexual intercourse even after marriage.

(2) That a Muslim is guilty of apostasy and rebellion against the Muslim body-politic.

Except for these five reasons, slaying a human being is not permissible, regardless of whether heis a believer, a protected non-Muslim (dhimmi) or an ordinary unbeliever.

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(7:127) The elders of Pharaoh’s people said: ‘Will you leave alone Moses and his people to spreadmischief in the land, and forsake you and your gods?’ Pharaoh replied: ‘We will kill their malechildren and spare their female ones. ^[93] For indeed we hold irresistible sway overthem.’

93. There were two periods of persecution. The first was during the reign of Rameses 11 and tookplace before Moses’ birth, whereas the second period of persecution started after Moses’assumption to the office of prophethood. Common to both periods is the killing of the male issueof Israelites while the female was spared. It was a calculated design to rob the Israelites oftheir identity and to bring about their forcible assimilation. An inscription discovered duringthe archaeological excavations of 1896 probably belongs to this period. According to thisinscription, Pharaoh Minpetah rounds off the narration of his achievements and victories inthese words: ‘The Israel have been exterminated, and no seed of them is left.’ For furtherexplanation see (al-Mu’min 40: 25)

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(7:141) And call to mind when We delivered you from Pharaoh’s people who perpetrated on you aterrible torment, putting your males to death and sparing your females. Surely in it there wasan awesome trial for you from your Lord.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

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(7:150) And when Moses returned to his people, full of wrath and sorrow, he said: ‘Vile is thecourse you have followed in my absence. Could you not patiently wait for the decree of yourLord?’ And he threw down the Tablets [of the Law] and took hold of his brother’s head, dragginghim to himself. Aaron said: ‘My mother’s son, the people overpowered me and almost killed me. Solet not my enemies gloat over me, and do not number me among the wrong-doingfolk.’^[108]

108. The above Qur’anic verse absolves Aaron of the charge levelled against him by the Jews.According to the Biblical version of the story of calf-worship, however, it was Aaron who hadmade the golden calf for the people of Israel. To quote:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gatheredthemselves together to Aaron, and said to him, ‘Up, make up gods who shall go before us; as forthis Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has becomeof him.’ And Aaron said to them, Take off the rings of gold which are in the ears of your wives,your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the rings ofgold which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold at theirhand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made a molten calf; and they said, ‘These areyour gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’ When Aaron saw this, he builtan altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to theLord.’ And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peaceofferings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play (Exodus 32: 1–6).

The Qur’an, however, refutes the above account at many places and points out that it was Samirithe rebel of God rather than Aaron the Prophet who committed that heinous sin. For details see(Ta Ha 20: 90 ff.)

Strange though it may appear, the Israelites maligned the characters of those very people whomthey believed to be the Messengers of God. The accusations they hurled at them included suchheinous sins as polytheism, sorcery, fornication, deceit and treachery. Needless to say,indulgence in any of these sins is disgraceful for even an ordinary believer and decent humanbeing, let alone Prophets. In the light of the history of Israeli morals, however, it is quiteunderstandable why they maligned their own Prophets. In times of religious and moraldegeneration when both the clergy and laity were steeped in sin and immorality, they tried toseek justification for their misdeeds. In order to sedate their own consciences they ascribedthe very sins of which they were guilty to their Prophets and then their own inability torefrain from sins on the grounds that not even the Prophets could refrain.

The same characteristic is evident in Hinduism. When the Hindus reached the lowest point intheir moral degeneration, they produced a literature which presents a very perverted image ofHindu ideals. This literature portrayed their gods, hermits and monks as crass sinners. In doingso, they suggested that since such noble people could not refrain from indulging in grave sins,ordinary mortals are inevitably bound to commit them. Moreover, a person’s indulgence in immoralacts should not make him remorseful for the same acts were committed earlier by their monks andhermits.

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(8:12) And recall when your Lord inspired the angels: ‘I am certainly with you. So make firm thefeet of those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. So strikeat their necks and strike at every pore and tip.^[10]

10. In view of the general principle propounded in the Qur’an we presume that the angels did nottake part in the actual fighting. What we may suggest is that the angels helped the Muslims andas a result their blows became more accurate and effective.

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(8:15) Believers, whenever you encounter a hostile force of unbelievers, do not turn your backsto them in flight.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

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(8:17) So the fact is that it was not you, but it was Allah Who killed them; and it was not youwhen you threw [sand at them], but it was Allah Who threw it,^[14] (and the believerswere employed for the task) that He might cause the believers to successfully pass through thistest. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

14. This refers to the occasion wnen the armies of the Muslims and the unbelievers stood face toface in the Battle of Badr and were on the verge of actual fighting. At that moment, the Prophet(peace be on him) threw a handful of dust at the enemy saying: ‘May, their faces be scorched.’So saying the Prophet (peace be on him) made a gesture and the Muslims started their charge.(See Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 368; Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, p. 668; Ibn Kathir, commentson the verse – Ed.)

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(8:30) And recall how those who disbelieved schemed against you to take you captive, or kill you,or drive you away.^[25] They schemed and Allah did also scheme. Allah is the best ofthose who scheme.

25. Apprehending the Prophet’s migration to Madina, the Quraysh convened a high-level councilattended by all the tribal chiefs at Dar al-Nadwah (Council House) to decide on a decisivecourse of action against the Prophet (peace be on him). They realized that once the Prophet(peace be on him) left Makka, he would be beyond their reach, rendering them helpless in face ofa formidable threat. A group of them was of the view that the Prophet (peace be on him) shouldbe imprisoned for life and kept in chains. This proposal was, however, turned down on the groundthat the Prophet’s detention would not deter his followers from preaching Islam and that theywould seize the first opportunity to release the Prophet (peace be on him) even at the risk totheir own lives. Another group suggested that the Prophet (peace be on him) should be exiled,for this would remove the mischief and subversion far from Makka, and it would not matter wherehe spent his days nor what he did, for Makka would be immune from his influence. This proposal,too, was discarded for fear of the Prophet’s persuasiveness and eloquence, and his ability towin the hearts of the people of other tribes and thus pose a greater threat in the future.Finally, Abu Jahl suggested that a band of young men drawn from all the different clans of theQuraysh should jointly pounce upon the Prophet (peace be on him) and kill him. In such a casethe responsibility for his blood would rest upon all the clans of the Quray’sh. It would thusbecome impossible for ‘Abd Manaf, the Prophet’s clan. to take revenge on any one particularclan. Such a move would compel the Prophet’s relatives to drop their claims for retaliation andforce them to settle for blood-money. Accordingly, the young men charged with the execution ofthis plan were selected, and were advised of the exact place and time at which they wereexpected to carry out the crime. Not only that, the would-be assassins did indeed arrive at theappointed place at the appointed time. However, before they could harm him the Prophet (peace beon him) managed to escape safely. The Quraysh plot was thus frustrated at the eleventh hour.(See Ibn Hisham, vol. 1, pp. 480-2. See also Ibn Kathir’s comments on the verse – Ed.)

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(8:39) And fight against them until the mischief ends and the way prescribed by Allah – the wholeof it -prevail^[31] Then, if they give up mischief, surely Allah sees what they do.

31. This is a reiteration of the purpose, mentioned earlier in al-Baqarah 2: 193, for whichMuslims are required to wage war. The purpose is two-fold. Negatively speaking, the purpose isto eradicate ‘mischief’. The positive purpose consists of establishing a state of affairswherein all obedience is rendered to God alone. This alone is the purpose for which thebelievers may, rather should, fight. Fighting for any other purpose is not lawful. Nor does itbehove men of faith to take part in wars for worldly purposes. For further explanation seeTowards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. 1, (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 193) note204-205.

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(8:57) So if you meet them in war, make of them a fearsome example for those who followthem^[42] that they may he admonished.

42. The verse makes it lawful for Muslims to feel absolved of the obligations of a treaty with apeople who, despite that alliance, threw the obligations of the treaty overboard and engaged inhostile actions against the Muslims. It would even be lawful for the Muslims to engage inhostilities against them. Likewise, if the Muslims are engaged in hostilities against a peopleand the non-Muslims who are bound in treaties of alliance or friendship with the Muslims, arraythemselves on the side of the enemy and fight against the Muslims, it would he lawful for theMuslims to treat them as enemies and kill them. For by their brazen violation of the obligationsof the treaty concluded with their people, they had made it absolutely lawful for Muslims todisregard the terms of that treaty concerning the inviolability of the lives and properties ofat least those individuals.

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(8:59) Let not the deniers of the truth be deluded that they will gain any advantage. Surely,they, can never overcome Us!

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

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(8:67) It behoves not a Prophet to take captives until he has sufficiently suppressed the enemiesin the land. You merely seek the gains of the world whereas Allah desires (for you the good) ofthe Hereafter. Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(9:5) But when the sacred months expire^[6] slay those who associate others with Allahin His Divinity wherever you find them; seize them, and besiege them, and lie in wait for them.But if they repent and establish the Prayer and pay Zakah, leave them alone.^[7]Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Ever-Merciful.

6. Here “the sacred months” are not those four months during which war is forbidden for the sakeof Hajj and Umrah but the four months that were made unlawful for the Muslims to attack thosemushriks who were granted respite by Ayat 2.

7. That is, “Mere repentance from disbelief and shirk will not end the matter. But they shallhave to perform the prescribed prayer and pay Zakat dues. Without these it will not beconsidered that they had given up disbelief and embraced Islam.” Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleasedwith him) based his decision on this verse in the case of the apostates, after the death of theProphet (peace be upon him), who argued that they were not rejecting Islam, because they offeredSalat, even though they had refused to pay the Zakat dues. This argument roused doubts in theminds of the companions in general that they had no right to fight with such people as these.But Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) removed their doubts, saying, “Verse 5 enjoins usto let those people go their way who fulfill all the three conditions, repentance from shirk,the establishment of Salat, and the payment of Zakat. We cannot forbear them, because they donot fulfill one of these three conditions.”

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(9:29) Those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day^[26] – even though they weregiven the scriptures, and who do not hold as unlawful^[27] that which Allah and HisMessenger have declared to be unlawful, and who do not follow the true religion – fight againstthem until they pay tribute out of their hand and are utterly subdued.^[28]

26. Though the people of the Book professed to believe in Allah and the Hereafter, in fact theybelieved in neither. For only that person really believes in Allah who acknowledges Him as theonly one God and the only one Lord, and does not associate with Him any other, whatsoever, inHis Being, in His characteristics, in His rights and in His powers and authority. But accordingto this definition of shirk both the Christians and the Jews were guilty of shirk as has beenmade plain in the verses that follow: therefore their profession of belief in Allah wasmeaningless. Likewise they did not really believe in the Hereafter, in spite of the fact thatthey believed in resurrection. For it is not enough: one must also believe that on that Dayabsolute justice will be done on the basis of one’s belief and actions. One should also believethat no ransom and no expiation and no spiritual relationships with any saint shall be of anyavail on that Day. It is absolutely meaningless to believe in the Hereafter without this. Andthe Jews and the Christians had polluted their faiths because they believed that such thingswould protect them against justice on that day.

27. The second reason why Jihad should be waged against them is that they did not adopt the lawsent down by Allah through His Messenger.

28. This is the aim of Jihad with the Jews and the Christians and it is not to force them tobecome Muslims and adopt the Islamic way of life. They should be forced to pay jizyah in orderto put an end to their independence and supremacy so that they should not remain rulers andsovereigns in the land. These powers should be wrested from them by the followers of the truefaith, who should assume the sovereignty and lead others towards the right way, while theyshould become their subjects and pay jizyah. Jizyah is paid by those non-Muslims who live aszimmis (proteges) in an Islamic state, in exchange for the security and protection granted tothem by it. This is also symbolical of the fact that they themselves agree to live in it as itssubjects. This is the significance of “they pay the tribute out of (their) hand,” that is, “withfull consent so that they willingly become the subjects of the believers, who perform the dutyof the vicegerents of Allah on the earth.”

At first this command applied only to the Jews and the Christians. Then the Prophet (peace beupon him) himself extended it to the Zoroastrians also. After his death, his companionsunanimously applied this rule to all the non Muslim nations outside Arabia.

This is jizyah of which the Muslims have been feeling apologetic during the last two centuries oftheir degeneration and there are still some people who continue to apologize for it. But the wayof Allah is straight and clear and does not stand in need of any apology to the rebels againstAllah. Instead of offering apologies on behalf of Islam for the measure that guarantees securityof life, property and faith to those who choose to live under its protection, the Muslims shouldfeel proud of such a humane law as that of jizyah. For it is obvious that the maximum freedomthat can be allowed to those who do not adopt the Way of Allah but choose to tread the ways oferror is that they should be tolerated to lead the life they like. That is why the Islamic stateoffers them protection, if they agree to live as its zimmis by paying jizyah, but it cannotallow that they should remain supreme rulers in any place and establish wrong ways and imposethem on others. As this state of things inevitably produces chaos and disorder, it is the dutyof the true Muslims to exert their utmost to bring to an end their wicked rule and bring themunder a righteous order.

As regards the question, “What do the non-Muslims get in return for jizyah”, it may suffice tosay that it is the price of the freedom which the Islamic state allows them in following theirerroneous ways, while living in the jurisdiction of Islam and enjoying its protection. The moneythus collected is spent in maintaining the righteous administration that gives them the freedomand protects their rights. This also serves as a yearly reminder to them that they have beendeprived of the honor of paying Zakat in the Way of Allah, and forced to pay jizyah instead as aprice of following the ways of error.

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(9:30) The Jews say: “Ezra (‘Uzayr) is Allah’s son,”^[29] and the Christians say: “TheMessiah is the son of Allah.” These are merely verbal assertions in imitation of the sayings ofthose unbelievers who preceded them.^[30] May Allah ruin them. How do they turn awayfrom the Truth?

29. Uzair (Ezra) lived during the period around 450 B.C. The Jews regarded him with greatreverence as the revivalist of their Scriptures which had been lost during their captivity inBabylon after the death of prophet Solomon. So much so that they had lost all the knowledge oftheir law, their traditions and of Hebrew, their national language. Then it was Ezra whore-wrote the Old Testament and revived the law. That is why they used very exaggerated languagein his reverence which misled some of the Jewish sects to make him ‘the son of God’. The Quran,however, does not assert that all the Jews were unanimous in declaring Ezra as the son of God.What it intends to say is that the perversion in the articles of faith of the Jews concerningAllah had degenerated to such an extent that there were some amongst them who considered Ezra asthe son of God.

30. “Those who disbelieved before” were the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, etc.The Jews and the Christians were so influenced by their philosophies, their superstitions andfancies that they also invented erroneous creeds like theirs. (See E.N. 101 of Al-Maidah).

Ala-Maududi

(9:111) Surely Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their belongings and inreturn has promised that they shall have Paradise.^[106] They fight in the Way ofAllah, and slay and are slain. Such is the promise He has made incumbent upon Himself in theTorah, and the Gospel, and the Qur’an.^[107] Who is more faithful to his promise thanAllah? Rejoice, then, in the bargain you have made with Him. That indeed is the mighty triumph.

106. In this verse that aspect of the Islamic faith which determines the nature of therelationship between Allah and His servants has been called a transaction. This means that faithis not merely a metaphysical conception but is, in fact, a contract by which the servant sellshis life and possessions to Allah and in return for this accepts His promise that He would givehim the Garden in the life after death. In order to comprehend the full implications of thistransaction, let us first understand its nature.

We should note it well at the outset that, in reality, this transaction is not in regard to theactual selling of the life and possessions of the servant to Allah in the literal sense, forAllah is in fact the real Owner of man’s life and possessions. Allah alone has the right ofownership because He is the Creator of man and of everything he possesses and uses. Thereforethere is no question at all of selling and buying in the worldly sense; for man possessesnothing of his own to sell, and Allah has no need to buy anything because everything alreadybelongs to Him. However, there is one thing which has entirely been entrusted to man by Allah,that is, the freedom of will and the freedom of choice, and the transaction concerns that thing.

Of course, it is true that this freedom does not make any change in the real position of man withregard to the right of ownership to his own life and his possessions. They belong to Allah Whohas delegated to him only the authority to use or abuse these things as he wills, without anycoercion or compulsion from Him. This means that man has been given the freedom to acknowledgeor not to acknowledge that Allah is the owner of his life and property. The transactionmentioned in Ayat 111 is concerning the voluntary surrender of this freedom to Allah’s will. Inother words, Allah wills to test man whether he acknowledges the ownership of Allah over hislife and property, in spite of that freedom, and considers himself to be their trustee only, orbehaves as if he were their owner and so could do whatever he liked with them.

Thus, the terms of this transaction from Allah’s side are these: “If you voluntarily, and not bycompulsion or coercion, agree to acknowledge that your life, your property and everything inthis world, which in fact belong to me, are mine: And if you consider yourself only as theirtrustees; And if you voluntarily surrender the freedom I have given you to behave; And if you,in a dishonest way do not intend to become their master and owner; Then, I will give you inreturn, Gardens in the eternal life of the next world”. The one who makes this bargain withAllah is a believer, for faith is in fact the other name for making this bargain. On the otherhand, the one who refuses to make this bargain, or after making it adopts the attitude of theone who has not made the bargain, is a kafir. For, technically, kufr is the term applied to therefusal to make this bargain.

The following are the implications of making this transaction:

(1) Allah has put man to two very hard tests in this matter. The first is whether he acknowledgesthe real Owner as owner, in spite of the freedom of choice given to him. Or he refuses this andbecomes ungrateful, treacherous and rebellious. The second test is whether he puts his trust inhis God or not. And he surrenders his freedom and sacrifices his desires and wishes in thispresent world in return for His promise of the Gardens and eternal bliss in the next world. Eventhough the world were to proclaim, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush”.

(2) This matter helps to draw a clear line of demarcation between the legal conception of theIslamic faith and the higher and spiritual one according to which Allah will judge one in theHereafter.

According to its legal conception, the mere verbal profession of the articles of the faith is asufficient proof that one is legally a Muslim and after this no jurist is authorized to declaresuch a one to be a disbeliever or to expel one from the fold of the Islamic community, unlessthere is a definite and clear proof that the one made a false profession of the faith. But thisis not so with Allah. Allah considers the faith of only that person to be true, who makes thisbargain with Him and sells his freedom of thought and action to Him and gives up his entireclaim to ownership in His favor. That is why a man might profess the articles of the faith andobserve the prescribed obligatory duties, but if he considered himself alone to be the masterand owner of his body and soul, his heart and brain and his other faculties, his property andhis resources and other things in his possession, and reserved to himself the right of expendingthem as he willed, he shall be regarded a disbeliever in the sight of Allah, even though heshould be regarded a believer in the sight of the world. This is because such a man has not madethat bargain with God which is the essence of the faith according to the Quran. The very factthat a man does not expend his life and property in the way Allah approves of, or expends thesein the way He disapproves, shows that the one who claimed to profess the faith either did notsell these to Allah, or after having made the transaction still regarded himself to be theirmaster and owner.

(3) The above conception of the Islamic faith draws a clear line of demarcation between theattitude of a Muslim and that of a disbeliever towards life. The Muslim, who sincerely believesin Allah, surrenders himself completely to Allah’s will, and does nothing whatsoever which mayshow that he is independent in his attitude, except when he temporarily forgets the terms of thebargain he has made with Him. Likewise no community of the Muslims can collectively adopt anindependent attitude in political, cultural, economic, social and international matters andstill remain Muslim. And if sometimes it temporarily forgets its subordinate position and itsvoluntary surrender of its freedom, it will give up the attitude of independence and readopt theattitude of surrender, as soon as it becomes aware of its error. In contrast to this, if oneadopts the attitude of independence towards Allah and makes decisions about all the affairs oflife in accordance with ones own wishes, whims and caprices, one shall be regarded to haveadopted the attitude of disbelief, even though one was a Muslim or a non-Muslim.

(4) It should also be noted well that the will of God to which a man is required to surrenderhimself is that which is specified by Allah himself and not the one which the man himselfdeclares to be the will of God. For in the latter case one does not follow God’s will but one’sown will, which is utterly against the terms of the transaction. Only that person (or community)who adopts the attitude that conforms to the teachings of His Book and His Messenger, shall bedeemed to have fulfilled the terms of the transaction.

From the above implications of this transaction, it also becomes clear why the fulfillment of theterms by Allah has been deferred to the next world after the termination of the life of thisworld. It is obvious that the Garden is not the return for the mere profession that the buyerhas sold his life and property to Allah but it is the actual surrender of these things in theworldly life and their disposal by him as a trustee of Allah according to His will. Thus, thistransaction will be completed only when the life of the buyer comes to an end in this world andit is proved that after making the bargain, he went on fulfilling the terms of the agreement upto his last breath. For then and there alone, he will be entitled to the recompense inaccordance with the terms of the transaction.

It will also be worthwhile to understand the context in which this matter has been placed here.In the preceding passage, there was the mention of those people who failed in the test of theirfaith and did not make the sacrifice of their time, money, life and interests for the sake ofAllah and His Way, in spite of their professions, because of their negligence or lack ofsincerity or absolute hypocrisy. Therefore after criticizing the attitudes of different personsand sections, they have been told in clear words the implications of the faith they hadaccepted: “This is not the mere verbal profession that there is God and He is One, but theacceptance of the fact that He is the Owner and the Master of your lives and possessions.Therefore, if you are not ready and willing to sacrifice these in obedience to the command ofAllah, but expend these and your energies and resources against the will of Allah, it is a clearproof that you were false in your profession of the faith. For, the true believers are those whohave truly sold their persons and possessions to Allah, and consider Him to be their Owner andMaster, and expend their energies and possessions without any reservations, where He commandsthem to expend, and do not expend the least of these where He forbids them to expend.

107. Some critics say that the statement of promise in the Torah and the Gospel is not confirmedby these Books. Their objection in regard to the Gospel is obviously wrong for even in theexisting Gospels there are sayings of Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) that confirm this verse.For instance:

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom ofheaven.” (MAT. 5: 10).

“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”(MAT. 10: 39).

“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife,or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inheriteverlasting life.” (MAT. 19: 29).

It is, however, true that the matter of this transaction is not confirmed in its entirety by theexisting Torah. For instance, there is a mention of the first part of the bargain at severalplaces in one forth or the other: “Is not He thy father that hath bought thee? hath He not madethee, and established thee?” (DEUT. 32: 6).

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with allthine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (DEUT. 6: 4-5).

But as regards the other part of the bargain, that is, the promise of the Gardens, they appliedit to the land of Palestine:

“Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye mayincrease mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that flowethwith milk and honey.” (DEUT. 6: 3).

This is because the Torah does not give any conception of the life-after-death, the Day ofJudgment, rewards and punishments in the Hereafter, though this creed has always been aninseparable part of the right way. This does not, however, mean that the Torah did notoriginally contain this creed. The fact is that the Jews had become so materialistic during theperiod of their degeneration that they had no other idea of a reward from God than the wellbeingand prosperity in this world. Therefore they perverted all the promises made by God in returnfor man’s service and obedience to Him and applied those to the land of Palestine.

In this connection, it should also be noted that the abovementioned changes became possiblebecause the original Torah had been tampered with in several ways. Some portions were taken awayfrom it and others were added to it. Thus, the Torah in the existing form is not purely the wordof God but also contains the comments, etc. of the Jewish scholars mixed up with it. So much sothat at some places it becomes difficult to distinguish the word of God from the Jewishtraditions, their racial prejudices, their superstitions, their ambitions and, wishes, theirlegal interpretations, etc. all of which have gotten mixed with the word of God. (Surah Al-Imran, ayat 4) note 2.

Ala-Maududi

(12:9) So either kill Joseph or cast him into some distant land so that your father’s attentionmay become exclusively yours. And after so doing become righteous.”^[10]

10. This sentence depicts the true psychology of those people who give themselves up to the lustsof their hearts, and, at the same time, do not want to break away completely from faith andreligion. This is how a person of this type behaves. Whenever he is tempted to do a certain evilthing, he makes up his mind to do it first and puts off the demands of his faith for the timebeing. And if his conscience pricks him, he tries to soothe it, saying: Have a little patience.Let me first do this evil thing, which is an obstacle in my way. Then I will repent and becomeas good as thou desirest to see me. As the brothers of Prophet Joseph belonged to this type,they soothed their pricking consciences, saying: After doing away with Joseph, who is the chiefobstacle in our way, we will again become righteous.

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(12:10) Thereupon one of them said: “Do not kill Joseph, but if you are bent upon doingsomething, cast him down to the bottom of some dark pit, perhaps some caravan passing by willtake him out of it.”

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(17:16) When We decide to destroy a town We command the affluent among them, whereupon theycommit sins in it, then the decree (of chastisement) becomes due against them and thereafter Wedestroy that town utterly.^[18]

18. Here a definite form of divine procedure for the destruction of a people has been stated.When the affluent people of a habitation become disobedient, it is a portent that it is doomedto destruction. After their persistent and continuous transgression, the affluent people becomeso obdurate in their disobedience that they begin to discard the instinctive dictates of theirconscience. The same thing has been stated in this Ayat: And when We intend to destroy a town,We give commands to its affluent people and they show disobedience. This is because Allah hascreated conscience for the guidance of man. Therefore, the dictates of conscience are really thecommands of Allah. Thus it has become quite obvious that by “And when We intend to destroy atown” is not meant that Allah intends to destroy it without any reason. It is destroyed becauseafter their disobedience that habitation incurs Our just wrath and We totally exterminate it.The habitation deserves such a punishment because its common people follow the affluent peoplewho are the factual leaders of a community and are mainly responsible for the corruption of thecommunity. At first the affluent people commit acts of disobedience, wickedness, mischief,cruelty and tyranny and then the common people follow them and incur the torment of Allah.Incidentally, this is a warning for every community that it should be very discreet and prudentin choosing and electing its leaders and rulers, for if the latter are mean and wicked, theywill inevitably lead the community to destruction.

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(17:31) (vii) Do not kill your children for fear of want. We will provide for them and for you.Surely killing them is a great sin.^[31]

31. This verse cuts at the very root of the movement of birth control, which has been going onfrom ancient times to our present age. It was the fear of want that induced people to kill theirchildren or resort to abortion. In our age another plan has been added to these, i.e.contraception. This article of the Islamic manifesto prohibits the people from reducing thenumber of mouths by artificial means but exhorts them to increase the means of productionaccording to the natural methods enjoined by Allah. According to this article, it is one of thebiggest mistakes of man to check birth rate as a solution to the want and scarcity ofprovisions. Therefore, it warns him, as if to say: O man, it is not you who make arrangement forfood, but Allah, Who settled you in the land and has been providing for you and will provide forthose who will come after you. History tells us that the food resources have always expanded inproportion to the number of inhabitants of a country. Nay, often they have exceeded far morethan the needs of the inhabitants. Thus it is a folly on the part of man to interfere with thearrangements of Allah.

It is very significant that as a result of this teaching, no movement has ever been started tocontrol birth nor has there been any inclination to infanticide among the Muslims ever since therevelation of the Quran.

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(17:33) (ix) Do not kill any person whom Allah has forbidden to kill,^[33] except withright.^[34] We have granted the heir of him who has been wrongfully killed theauthority to^[35] (claim retribution);so let him not exceed in slaying.^[36]He shall be helped.^[37]

33. “And do not kill a person” includes not only the prohibition of the killing of other soulsbut also his own soul as well for it is also included in the prohibition that immediatelyfollows this command. Thus suicide is regarded as heinous a sin as murder. Some foolish peopleobject to the prohibition of suicide saying that they themselves are the masters of their souls.Therefore, there is nothing wrong in killing one’s own self or in destroying one’s own property.They forget that every soul belongs to Allah, and none has any right to destroy it, nay, even toabuse it. For this world is a place of trial, where we should undergo the test up to the end ofour lives in accordance with the will of Allah. It does not matter whether our circumstances arefavorable or adverse for trial. Therefore, it would be wrong to run away from the place of test,not to speak of committing such a heinous crime as suicide (which Allah has prohibited) toescape it. For it means that the one who commits suicide tries to run away from small troublesand ignominies towards greater affliction and eternal torment and ignominy.

34. When the Islamic state was established, “killing by right” was confined to five cases only,namely to punish, (1) A willful murderer for retribution. (2) Opponents of the true religionduring war. (3) Those who attempt to overthrow the Islamic system of government. (4) A man orwoman guilty of adultery. (5) An apostate.

35. We have translated the Arabic word sultan as “the authority of retribution”. Here it standsfor “a ground for legal action”. This also lays down the legal principle that in a case ofmurder, the real plaintiff is not the government but the guardian or the guardians of themurdered person who are authorized to pardon the murderer or receive blood money instead oftaking his life.

36. Exceed limits in killing would be to kill more persons than the murderer or to kill thecriminal by degrees with torment or to disfigure his dead body or to kill him after receivingblood money, etc. All these things have been forbidden.

37. It has not been defined how succor will be given because at the time of its revelation theIslamic state had not yet been established. After its establishment it was made clear that aguardian was not authorized to enforce retribution by murdering the criminal. The Islamicgovernment alone is legally authorized to take retribution; therefore, succor for justice shouldbe demanded only from it.

Ala-Maududi

(18:74) Then the two went forth until they met a lad whom he slew, whereupon Moses exclaimed:“What! Have you slain an innocent person without his having slain anyone? Surely you have done ahorrible thing.”

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(20:14) Verily I am Allah. There is no god beside Me. So serve Me and establish Prayers toremember Me.^[9]

9. This is the real object of Salat. It has been prescribed to remind people that they should notbecome neglectful of Allah by worldly diversions and that they should remember that man is notan unbridled free being but a servant of Allah. Salat has been prescribed five times a day toremind man of Allah’s presence.

Some people are of the opinion that it means:

Establish Salat, so that I may remember you. Incidentally, according to this verse, if oneforgets to offer a prayer in time, he should offer it when he recollects it. This is alsosupported by a tradition related by Anas: If one forgets to offer a certain prayer at the propertime, he should offer it whenever he recollects this, for there is no other expiation for thisomission. (Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmed). There is another tradition related by Abu Hurairah to thesame effect. It was inquired from the Prophet (peace be upon him): What should we do if weremained asleep during the time of prayer? The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: There is no sinif one remained asleep. The sin is that one should neglect his prayer intentionally while awake.Therefore if one forgets to offer a prayer or remained asleep, he should offer that prayer onremembering it or on awaking. (Tirmizi, Nasai, Abu Daud).

Ala-Maududi

(20:40) Recall, when your sister went along, saying: ‘Shall I direct you to one who will takecharge of him?’ Thus We brought you back to your mother so that her heart might be gladdened andshe might not grieve. Moses, recall when you slew a person. We delivered you from distress andmade you go through several trials. Then you stayed for several years among the people ofMidian, and now you have come at the right moment as ordained.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(22:58) As for those who migrated in the way of Allah, whereafter they were slain, or died, Allahwill certainly grant them a goodly provision. Indeed, Allah is the Best of all those whoprovide.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(25:68) who invoke no other deity along with Allah, nor take any life – which Allah has forbidden– save justly; who do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse^[84] – and whoso doesthat shall meet its penalty;

84. The true servants refrain from three great sins: shirk, murder and adultery. The Prophet(peace be upon him) himself warned of their gravity. According to Abdullah bin Masud, whensomeone asked him about the worst sins, he replied, (1) It is to set up someone as equal in rankwith Allah, Who has created you. (2) To kill your own child for fear of its sustenance. (3) Tocommit adultery with the wife of your neighbor. (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmizi, Nasai, Ahmad).Obviously this is not a complete list of the heinous sins. But these three instances have beencited because they were most prevalent in the Arab society of those days.

As regards to the inclusion of refraining from shirk among the excellences of the true servants,one may ask why it should be presented as virtue before the disbelievers who did not regardshirk as a vice. It is because the Arabs had doubts about the doctrine of shirk even though theyappeared to be deeply involved in it. This is amply supported by their history. For instance,when Abraha invaded Makkah, the Quraish did not invoke their idols to save the Kabah from him,but they begged Allah to save it. Their contemporary poetry bears sufficient evidence that theyregarded the destruction of the people of the elephant due to Allah’s power and supernaturalinterference and not due to any help of their idols. The Quraish and the polytheists of Arabiahad also come to know that when Abraha reached Taif on his way to Makkah, the people of Taif hadoffered him their services to destroy the Kabah and had even provided him guides to take himsafely to Makkah through the hills, for fear that he might also destroy the temple of Lat, theirchief deity. This event so much offended the Arabs that for years after this they continuedpelting the grave of the chief guide with stones for retaliation. Moreover, the Quraish and theother Arabs attributed their creed to Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and looked upon theirreligious and social customs and their Hajj rites as part of Abraham’s religion. They knew thatProphet Abraham (peace be upon him) was a worshiper of Allah and not of idols. They also hadtraditions to show as to when they had started idol worship, and which idol had been broughtfrom where, when and by whom. The fact is that the common Arab did not have much of reverencefor his idols. He would even speak insultingly of it and withheld his offerings when it failedto fulfill his wishes and prayers. For instance, there is the story of an Arab who wanted toavenge the murder of his father. He went to the temple of his idol, Zul-Khalasah, and wanted totake an omen. The response came that he should abandon his intention. At this the Arab becamefurious and cried out: O Zul-Khalasah! Had you been in my place, and your father was murdered,you would not have said that the murderers should not be punished. Another Arab took his herd ofcamels to the shrine of his god, named Saad, for seeking its blessings. It was a tall idol whichhad been smeared with sacrificial blood. On seeing it, the camels became terrified and startedrunning in all directions. The Arab was so filled with rage that he started pelting the idolwith stones, shouting: May God destroy you. I had come to you to seek blessings for my camels,but you have deprived me of all of them. There were certain idols about whose origin filthystories were current. For instance, the story about Asaf and Nailah whose images had been placedat Safa and Marwa, was that they were actually a man and a woman, who had committed adulteryinside the Holy Kabah and had been turned into stone by God as a punishment. When the deitieshad such reputation, no worshiper could cherish any reverence for them in his heart. From thisone can easily understand that the Arabs did recognize the value of true God worship deep intheir hearts, but, on the one hand, it had been suppressed by ancient customs and ways ofignorance, and on the other, the priestly class among the Quraish had vested interests, who werebusy creating prejudices against it among the people. They could not give up idol worshipbecause such a step would have brought to an end to their supremacy in Arabia. That is why,refraining from shirk and worship of One Allah has been mentioned as a mark of superiority ofthe followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him) without any fear of contradiction by thedisbelievers, for even they in their hearts knew that it was a weighty argument against them.

Ala-Maududi

(26:14) As for me, they hold the charge of a crime against me. I fear they will put me todeath.”^[11]

11. The allusion is to the incident of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) giving a blow to anEgyptian, who was fighting with an Israelite, and thus causing his death. Then as soon as Mosescame to know that the report had reached Pharaoh and his people and they were planning to takerevenge, he fled the country and took refuge in Midian. See (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayat 15-21). Now whenafter a period of almost ten years of hiding he was suddenly called upon and commanded to gobefore Pharaoh, who had already a charge of murder against him, with the message, Prophet Mosesrightly felt apprehensive that he would immediately be involved in the murder case even beforehe was able to convey the message as commanded by Allah.

Ala-Maududi

(28:9) The wife of Pharaoh said: “Here is a delight of the eye to me and to you. Do not kill him.Maybe he will prove useful for us, or we may adopt him as a son.”^[12] They wereunaware of the end of it all.

12. What one understands from this is briefly so: When the ark or the basket was carried by theriver to the place where Pharaoh’s palaces were situated, the servants of Pharaoh picked it upand took it before the king and the queen. It is just possible that the king and the queen wereat that time strolling along the river bank and might have noticed the basket and ordered it tobe picked up. When they saw a child in it, they could easily guess that it belonged to anIsraelite family. For it came from the quarters inhabited by the Israelites, whose sons werebeing put to death in those days. It was understood that somebody had hidden the child for sometime but when it could not be hidden any longer, it was cast to the river in the hope that itmight be picked up and rescued from death. With this in view, the most obedient servantssubmitted that the king order the child to be killed forthwith, for it might prove dangerous forhim. But the Pharaoh’s wife was a woman and might even be childless. Then it was a lovely child,as Allah has reminded Moses in Surah Ta-Ha: Ayat 39, thus: “I had cast on you love from Myself.”That is “I had made you such a lovely child that the beholders could not help but love you.”Therefore, the woman could not keep their feelings for him, and said to the king, “Do not killhim, but let us adopt him. When he grows up in our house as our son, he will not know that hewas an Israelite: he will rather think he is one of Pharaoh’s own kinsfolk, and he will beuseful for us as against the Israelites.”

According to the Bible and the Talmud, the woman who had counseled adoption of Moses wasPharaoh’s daughter, but according to the Quran his wife (imraat-u-Firaun). Obviously, the directword of Allah is more reliable than the verbal traditions which were compiled centuriesafterwards. Therefore, it is absolutely needless to translate imraat-u-Firaun as a woman ofPharaoh’s family against the Arabic idiom and usage only for the sake of seeking conformity withthe Israelite traditions.

Ala-Maududi

(28:19) And when Moses decided to lay his violent hands on the man belonging to theenemy,^[28] he cried out:^[29] “Moses, do you intend to kill me as youkilled a person yesterday?” You simply want to live in the land as a tyrant, and do not wish toset things right.”

28. Here, the Biblical version is different from the Quranic. The Bible says that the fight onthe next day was between two Israelites, but according to the Quran this fight also was betweenan Israelite and an Egyptian. This second version seems to be credible, for the manner in whichthe secret of the murder of the first day became known, as is being mentioned below, could bepossible only if a member of the Coptic community had come to know of the matter. An Israelite’sknowledge of it could not be so treacherous: he could not have gone to inform the Pharaonicgovernment of such a heinous crime committed by the prince, who was a great supporter of his owncommunity.

29. The one who cried out was the same Israelite whom the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him)wanted to help against the enemy. When after scolding and rebuking him, he turned to assault theEgyptian, the Israelite thought that Moses (peace be upon him) was going to strike him;therefore, he raised a hue and cry and disclosed the secret of the previous day’s murder by thisown folly.

Ala-Maududi

(28:20) Then a man came running from the farther end of the city^[30] and said: “OMoses, the nobles are deliberating about you that they may put you to death. So do be gone. I amone of your well-wishers.”

30. This happened when in the second day’s fight, the secret of the murder became known and theEgyptian informed the authorities about the case accordingly.

Ala-Maududi

(28:33) Moses said: “My Lord, I have killed one person from among them, and I fear that they willkill me.^[47]

47. It did not mean that he was hesitant to go there because of the fear, but it meant this:“Kindly make some such arrangement that I am not apprehended on the charge of murder just onarrival even before I may convey to them Your message, for in that case the very object forwhich I am being sent will be defeated.” The next verse makes it plain that the Prophet Moses(peace be upon him), by this submission, did not at all mean to reject the office of prophethoodand refuse to go before Pharaoh because of the fear.

Ala-Maududi

(29:24) The people^[37] (of Abraham) had no other answer than to say: “Kill him or burnhim.”^[38] But Allah delivered him from the fire.^[39] There are many Signsin this for those who believe.^[40]

37. From here the discourse again turns to the story of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).

38. That is, they had no answer to the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) rational arguments.The only answer they gave was: “Cut off the tongue that talks the truth and let not the personlive who points out our error and tells us to give it up.” The words, “Kill him or burn him”,indicate that the whole crowd was unanimous that the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) shouldbe put to death. However, they differed about the method. Some said that he should be killed,and others said that he should be burnt alive, so that no one in future should dare say the sortof the thing he said.

39. This sentence by itself shows that they had at last decided to burn the Prophet Abraham(peace be upon him) and he was cast into the fire. Here it has only been said that Allah savedhim from the fire; but in Surah Al-Anbiyaa it has been elucidated that Allah commanded: “O fire!Be cool and become safe for Abraham!” (Ayat 69). Evidently, if he was not at all cast into thefire, the command to the fire to become cool and safe would be meaningless. This proves thatproperties of all things are dependent on Allah’s command and whenever He pleases He can changethe property of anything He likes. Normally fire burns and every combustible thing catches fire.But this property of the fire is not of its own acquisition but given by God. And this propertyhas in no way tied up God that He may give no command against it. He is the Master of this fire.He can command it at any time to give up the property of burning. At any time, He can turn afurnace into a bed of roses. But events contrary to the course of nature occur only rarely toserve some great purpose or cause. However, the usual phenomena to which we are accustomed inour daily lives cannot be made an argument to say that Allah’s power has been tied up withthese, and nothing unusual can take place even by Allah’s command.

40. “Indeed, in that are sure signs for a people who believe”. Signs for the believers in thisthat the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) did not follow the religion of his family,community and country but followed the true knowledge through which he came to know that shirkis falsehood and Tauhid is the reality. And that he went on exhorting his people to accept thetruth and to desist from falsehood in spite of their stubbornness and prejudices. And that hewas even prepared to suffer the horrible punishment by the fire, but was not prepared to give upthe truth. And that Allah did not even spare the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), Hisfriend, from the trials and tests. And that when the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) gotsuccessfully through the tests set by Allah, then did come Allah’s succor, and in such amiraculous way that the bonfire was turned cool for him.

Ala-Maududi

(33:16) (O Prophet), tell them: “If you run away from death or slaying, this flight will notavail you. You will have little time after that to enjoy^[28] (the pleasures oflife).”

28. That is, this flight of yours will not add anything to your life. In no case will you liveforever and gain the whole wealth of the world. Hardly a few years will you live after yourflight and enjoy life only as long as it is destined for you.

Ala-Maududi

(33:26) Allah brought down from their fortresses those People of the Book who had supported theinvading confederates^[40] and cast such terror into their hearts that some of themyou kill and some of them you take captive.

40. That is, Jews of the Bani Quraizah.

Ala-Maududi

(33:61) They shall be cursed from all around and they shall be ruthlessly killed wherever theyare seized.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(40:25) When Moses brought them the Truth from Us they said: “Kill the sons of all the believerswho have joined him, but spare the women.”^[39] The guile of the unbelievers alwaysends in vain.^[40]

39. As already mentioned in (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 127), Pharaoh’s courtiers had said to him: Will you leave Moses and hispeople free to spread disorder in the land? And he himself had said: I will have their sonsslain and let their daughters live. This verse states that this order was at last issued fromPharaoh’s court. It was, in fact, meant to so terrify the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him)himself and his supporters and followers that they should abandon him out of fear.

40. Another meaning of this sentence can be: Whatever the disbelievers had plotted, was aimed atdeviation, tyranny and antagonism to the truth. That is, even after being convinced of the truthin their hearts, they continued to show stubbornness and did not hesitate to adopt any meandevice whatsoever in order to defeat and frustrate the truth.

Ala-Maududi

(40:26) One day^[41] Pharaoh said: “Let me go and kill Moses;^[42] then lethim invoke his Lord. I fear that he will change your religion or cause disruption in theland.”^[43]

41. The event which is being related here is a very important event of the Israelite history,which the Israelites themselves have totally forgotten. Both the Bible and the Talmud arewithout it, and no mention of it is found in the other Israelite traditions either. Only throughthe Quran has the world come to know that during the conflict between Pharaoh and the ProphetMoses (peace be upon him) this event had taken place at some time. Anybody who reads this story,provided that he has not been blinded by prejudice against Islam and the Quran, cannot butrealize that from the viewpoint of the invitation to the truth this story is very valuable, andthis thing by itself also is in no way against reason that a person from among the nobles of thekingdom of Pharaoh himself might have quietly believed in his heart, having been influenced bythe personality of the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), his preaching and the wonderfulmiracles shown by him, and might not have been able to restrain himself when he saw that Pharaohwas planning to kill him. But the way the Western orientalists, in spite of their tall claims toknowledge and research, try to repudiate the self-evident truths of the Quran, on account ofprejudice, can be judged from this that the author of the article “Musa” in the Encyclopaedia ofIslam writes in respect of this story:

“The Kuranic story of a believer at the court of Pharaoh who wants to save Musa is not quiteclear (xl, 28). Ought we to compare Jethro in the Haggada who advises clemency at Pharaoh’scourt?

In other words, these so called researchers have one thing settled with them: They must findfault with everything that the Quran presents. Now, if they do not find any ground forcriticizing a statement of it, they should at least say this much out of mischief that the storyis not entirely clear, and also should incidentally create this doubt in the reader’s mind thatthe Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) might have heard from somewhere the story of Jethromentioned in the Haggada taking place even before the birth of Prophet Moses (peace be uponhim), and inserted it here in this form. This is the type of literary research which thesepeople have adopted with regard to Islam and the Quran and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace beupon him).

42. In this sentence Pharaoh tries to give the impression as if some people were restraining himfrom killing the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him). Had they not stood in his way, he would havekilled him long ago, whereas in fact there was no external power to restrain him; it was thefear of his own heart which was preventing him from laying his hands on the Messenger of Allah.

43. That is, I fear a revolution from him, and even if he is unable to bring it about, there isat least the danger that he will cause mischief to appear in the country by his activities.Therefore, even if he doesn’t commit a crime punishable with death, he should be put to deathonly for the sake of the maintenance of public order. As for this whether there is a real dangerto the public order from him, the king’s satisfaction in this regard is enough. If his majestyis convinced that he is dangerous, it should be declared that he is really dangerous andpunishable with death.

Here, the meaning of “changing the religion” also should be understood well, on account of whichPharaoh wanted to put the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) to death. Deen here implies thesystem of government, and what Pharaoh meant to say was this: I fear that he will change yourking. (Ruhal-Maani, vol. xxiv, p. 56). In other words, the deen of the land was the religious,political, cultural and economic system that was prevalent in Egypt on the basis of Pharaoh’sand his family’s sovereignty, and Pharaoh was afraid that Moses’ message would change that verydeen. But like the cunning and deceitful rulers of every age, he also did not say that he fearedbeing deposed from his position of authority and, therefore, he wanted to kill Moses (peace beupon him), but he presented the case like this: O people, the danger is for you, not for me, forif Moses’ movement succeeded your deen would change. I am not worried for myself: I am worriedfor your sake as to what would become of you when you have been deprived of the protection of myauthority. Therefore, the wicked man who poses such a danger should be put to death, for he isan enemy of the state.

Ala-Maududi

(40:28) Then a man endowed with faith, from Pharaoh’s folk, who had kept his faith hidden, said:“Do you kill a person simply because he says: ‘My Lord is Allah’ even though he brought to youclear Signs from your Lord?^[45] If he is a liar, his lying will recoil uponhim;^[46] but if he is truthful, you will be smitten with some of the awesomeconsequences of which he warns you. Allah does not guide to the Right Way any who exceeds thelimits and is an utter liar.^[47]

45. That is, He has shown such manifest signs to you as have made it absolutely clear that he isa Messenger sent by your Lord. The Believer, from among the people of Pharaoh, was obviouslyreferring to the signs the details of which have already been given in (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 107-117), (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 130-133); (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 101-102); (Surah TaHa, Ayat 56-73); (Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat 30-51); (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 10-13).

46. That is, if in spite of such manifest signs as he has shown you, you regard him as a liar,you should leave him alone, for the alternative probability, and a very strong probability too,is that he is truthful, and therefore you may involve yourselves in God’s torment by laying yourhands on him. Therefore, even if you think that he is a liar, you should leave him to himself.For if he is lying, in the name of Allah, Allah Himself will take him to task. Similar words hadthe Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) himself said to Pharaoh before this: If you do not believein me, do not harm me. (Surah Ad-Dukhan, Ayat 21).

Here one should keep in mind that the Believer of the people of Pharaoh had not openly disclosedin the beginning that he had affirmed faith in the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him), but hespoke as if he also belonged to Pharaoh’s side, and was only wishing his people well. But whenPharaoh and his courtiers did not seem to see reason and continued to behave stubbornly, he atlast disclosed the secret of his faith, as becomes obvious from his speech in (Surah Ghafir, ayat 38-44).

47. This sentence can have two meanings and probably the Believer had intentionally employed it,because he did not yet want to express his belief openly. Its one meaning is: One and the sameperson cannot combine righteousness and lying and falsehood. You can clearly see that Moses is aman of very sublime and pure character. Therefore, how can you believe that, on the one hand, heshould be such a liar as to lay a baseless claim to prophethood in the name of Allah. And on theother hand, Allah should bless him with such high morals? The other meaning is: If you are bentupon taking the life of Moses (peace be upon him) by transgressing all limits and will executeyour evil designs by bringing false accusations against him, you should remember that Allah willnever show you the way to success.

Ala-Maududi

(47:4) When you meet the unbelievers (in battle), smite their necks until you have crushed them,then bind your captives firmly; thereafter (you are entitled to) set them free, either by an actof grace, or against ransom, until the war ends.^[8] That is for you to do. If Allahhad so willed, He would have Himself exacted retribution from them. (But He did not do so) thatHe may test some of you by means of others.^[9] As for those who are slain in the wayof Allah, He shall never let their works go to waste.^[10]

8. The words of this verse as well as the context in which it occurs clearly show that it wassent down after the revelation of the command for fighting and before the actual fighting began.The words, “So when you meet (in battle) those who disbelieve”, indicate that the fighting hasnot yet taken place and the Muslims are being instructed that when it does take place, what theyshould do.

The words of (Surah Muhammad, ayat 20)below testify that this Surah was sent down at a time when the command for fighting had alreadybeen given in (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 39)and (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 190), andthe hypocrites of Madinah and the people of the weak faith had been so upset that it seemed asif they were actually facing death.

Besides,(Surah Al-Anfal, ayat 67-69)also testify that this verse had been sent down before the Battle of Badr. There it has beensaid:

It does not behoove a Prophet to have captives until he has crushed down the enemies in the land.You desire the gains of this world, but Allah desires the Hereafter, and Allah is All-Powerful,All-Wise. Had not a decree already been issued by Allah, you would have incurred a severechastisement in consequence of what you have done. So eat of what you have taken as spoilsbecause it is lawful and pure.

A careful study of this passage shows that what had displeased Allah on this occasion was thatbefore crushing down the enemy completely in the Battle of Badr, the Muslims had started takingthe enemy soldiers as captives, whereas the instruction given to them in Surah Muhammad beforethe actual fighting was this: When you have crushed them completely, then bind the captivestight. However, as the Muslims had been permitted, among other things in Surah Muhammad, toaccept ransom from the prisoners, Allah declared the money taken from the captives of Badr aslawful and did not punish them for that. The words: Had not the decree already been issued byAllah, are clearly pointing to the fact that the command for permission to accept ransom hadalready been given in the Quran before this event, and obviously, there is no other verse in theQuran beside this verse of Surah Muhammad, which contains this command. Therefore, it will haveto be admitted that this verse had been sent down before the above cited verse of the SurahAl-Anfal For explanation, see (Surah Al-Anfal, ayat 69) note 49.

This is the first verse of the Quran in which preliminary instructions have been given about thelaws of war. Below is given a resume of the injunctions that are derived from this verse and theProphet’s (peace be upon him) and his companions’ practice according to it and the juristicinferences as based on this verse and the Sunnah:

(1) The real aim of the Muslim army in war is to break the fighting power of the enemy until itis crushed and the war lays down its arms. Under no circumstances, should the Muslim’s losesight of this aim and start taking the enemy soldiers as captives. Captives should be takenafter the enemy has been completely crushed and its numbers thinned down. The Arabs have been soinstructed at the outset lest in the greed for ransom and taking slaves they should forget andoverlook the real aim of the war.

(2) About the prisoners taken in war it has been said: You have the option whether you show themfavor or accept ransom from them. This gives the general law that the prisoners of war shouldnot be put to death. Abdullah bin Umar, Hasan Basri, Ata and Hammad bin Abi Sulaiman favor thisview, which is quite valid. They say that a man can be killed only during the war. When the waris over and one has been made a prisoner, it is not lawful to kill him, Ibn Jarir and Abu BakralJassas have related that Hajjaj bin Yousuf handed over one of the prisoners of war to Abdullahbin Umar and commanded him to put him to death. He refused to obey and cited this verse andsaid: We are not allowed to kill a man when he is a prisoner. Imam Muhammad in As-Siyat al-Kabiralso has related that Abdullah bin Amir had commanded Abdullah bin Umar to kill a prisoner ofwar, and he had refused to obey the command for this reason.

(3) But since in this verse it has neither been clearly forbidden to kill the prisoner, theProphet (peace be upon him) understood this intention of Allah’s command, and also actedaccordingly, that if there was a special reason for which the ruler of an Islamic governmentregarded it as necessary to kill a particular prisoner (or prisoners), he could do so. This isnot the general law, but an exception to it, which would be applied only when necessary. Thus,the Prophet (peace be upon him) put to death only Uqbah bin Abi Muait and Nadr bin al-Harithfrom among the 70 prisoners taken at Badr, and only the poet Abu Azzah from the prisoners takenat Uhud. Since the Bani Quraizah had surrendered on the condition that they would acceptwhatever decision Hadrat Saad bin Muadh would give in their regard, and he had decreed that allthe males of the Quraizah should be killed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) had them executed.From among the prisoners taken at Khaiber only Kinanah bin Abi al-Huqaiq was put to deathbecause of his violating the agreement. At the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace be uponhim) commanded in respect of only a few particular persons from among all the inhabitants ofMakkah that any one of them who was captured should be put to death. Apart from theseexceptions, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never killed prisoners of war, and the same alsocontinued to be the practice of the righteous Caliphs. During their times also killing ofprisoners of war was rare, which was resorted to only for a special reason. Umar bin Abdul Azizalso during his caliphate put to death only one prisoner of war for the reason that he hadpersecuted the Muslims very cruelly. On this very basis the majority of the jurists have heldthe view that the Islamic government can put a prisoner to death if necessary. But it is for thegovernment to take such a decision; a soldier is not permitted to kill any prisoner he likes.However, if there is the danger of a prisoner’s running away or of his committing a dangerousmischief, the guard can kill him. In this connection, the jurists of Islam have also made threeother points: (a) That if a prisoner accepts Islam, he cannot be killed; (b) that the prisonercan be killed only as long as he is in the government’s custody; if he has been allotted to, orgiven in somebody else’s possession by sale, he cannot be killed; and (c) that if the prisonerhas to be killed, he should be killed in a straightforward way; he should not be tortured todeath.

(4) The general command that has been given about the prisoners of war is: Show them favor, oraccept ransom from them. Favor includes four things: (a) That they should be treated well asprisoners; (b) that instead of killing them or keeping them in captivity for lifetime, theyshould be handed over to the individual Muslims as slaves; (c) that they should be put underjizyah and made dhimmis; and (d) that they should be set free without ransom.

There are three ways of ransoming them: (a) That they should be set free on payment of a ransom;(b) that they should be set free after taking some special service from them; and (c) that theyshould be exchanged for the Muslim prisoners of war who are in the possession of the enemy. TheProphet (peace be upon him) and the companions at different times acted in one or the other wayas the occasion demanded. The divine law has not bound the Islamic government to act in only oneparticular way. The government can take any action it deems appropriate on a particularoccasion.

(5) The practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the companions confirms that as long as aprisoner of war is in the government’s custody, the government will be responsible for his foodand clothing, and his treatment if he is ill or wounded. Islamic law does not permit prisonersto be kept without food or clothing, or be subjected to torture. On the contrary, instructionsalso have been given to treat them well and generously, and precedents of this very practice arefound in the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) distributed the prisoners of Badr in thehouses of different companions and gave the instruction: Teat these prisoners well. One of thoseprisoners, Abu Aziz, has reported: The Ansar Muslims, in whose house I was kept, gave me breadin the morning and the evening, but as for themselves they had only dates to eat. About anotherprisoner; Suhail bin Amr, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was told: He is a fiery speaker, andhas been making speeches against you: please have his teeth broken. The Prophet (peace be uponhim) replied: If I have his teeth broken, Allah will break my teeth, although I am a Prophet.(Ibn Hisham). When Thumamah bin Uthal, the chief of Yamamah, was brought as a prisoner, he wasprovided with good food and milk on the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) orders as long as heremained a captive. (Ibn Hisham). The same was the practice in the time of the companions. Noprecedent is found when a prisoner might have been mistreated in their time.

(6) Islam has not permitted that the prisoners be kept in captivity forever so that thegovernment may subject them to forced labor as long as it likes. If they are not exchanged forother prisoners of war, or ransomed, the method enjoined of doing them favor is that they shouldbe made slaves and given in possession of individuals, and their masters instructed to treatthem well This method was acted upon during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as wellas of the companions, and the jurists of Islam have unanimously upheld it as permissible. Inthis regard, it should be borne in mind that a person who might have accepted Islam before beingtaken as prisoner, and then is somehow made a prisoner, will be set free, but the acceptance ofIslam by a person who accepts it after being taken prisoner, or after being given in possessionof somebody, will not gain him freedom automatically. A tradition has been related in MusnadAhmad, Muslim and Tirmidhi on the authority of Imran bin Husain that a person from among theBani Uqail was brought as a prisoner and he said: I have accepted Islam. Thereupon the Prophet(peace be upon him) said: If you had said this when you were free, you would certainly haveattained to success. The same thing was said by Umar: When a prisoner becomes a Muslim afterfalling into the hands of the Muslims as a captive, he will not be killed, but will remain aslave. Oh this very point, the jurists of Islam have unanimously ruled that the prisoner whobecomes a Muslim after being taken captive cannot escape slavery. (Imam Muhammad, As-Siyaral-Kabir). And this also is quite reasonable. If our law had been that anyone, who embracedIslam after being taken a captive, would be set free, no prisoner would be so foolish as not towin his freedom by pronouncing the Kalimah.

(7) The third manner of doing favor with the prisoners according to the law of Islam is that theymay be put under jizyah and made dhimmi subjects of the Islamic state and allowed to live asfree citizens of dar-al-Islam (abode of Islam) just like the Muslims. Imam Muhammad writes inhis As-Siyar alKabir: Any person who can be made a slave, can also be made a dhimmi and putunder jizyah. At another place he says: “The ruler of the Muslims has the right to levy jizyahon them and a tax on their lands and set than absolutely free. This method has been practicedgenerally in the condition when the territory of the people who have been made prisoners, isconquered and annexed to the Islamic state. The Prophet (peace be upon him), for instance,practiced this method in the case of the people of Khaiber, and then Umar followed and practicedit extensively on the conquest of Iraq and other territories. Abu Ubaid writes in hisKitab-al-Amwal: After the conquest of Iraq a deputation of the leading men of that country camebefore Umar and submitted: O Commander of the Faithful, before this the people of Iran hadsubdued us: they subjected us to harsh treatment and committed all sorts of excesses against us.Then, when God sent you, we became very pleased, and we neither put up any resistance againstyou nor participated in the war. Now, we hear that you want to make us slaves. Umar replied: Youhave the option either to become Muslims, or accept to pay jizyah and remain free. They agreedto pay the jizyah and they were granted full freedom. At another place in the same book. AbuUbaid says: Umar wrote to Abu Musa al-Ashari: Set free every farmer and peasant from among thepeople who have been captured in the war.

(8) The fourth favor is that the prisoner be set free without ransom. This is a specialconcession that the Islamic government can give only in case the special conditions of aprisoner demand it, or when it is expected that the concession will win the prisoner’s gratitudeforever, and help turn him a friend from an enemy, or a believer from a disbeliever; otherwise,obviously it would in no way be a wise thing to set free a person of the enemy camp, who couldagain return to fight the Muslims. This is why the Muslim jurists generally have opposed it, andimposed the condition: If the ruler of the Muslims finds it expedient to set the prisoners, orsome of them, free as a favor, there is no harm in doing so. (As-Siyat al-Kabir). Manyprecedents of this are found in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and in almost everycase expediency seems to be the reason.

About the prisoners taken at Badr, he said: If Mutim bin Adi were alive, and had spoken to me inrespect of these treacherous people, I would have let them go for his sake. (Bukhari, Abu Daud,Musnad Ahmad). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said this because when he had returned from Taifto Makkah, Mutim at that time had given him refuge, and his armed sons had escorted him to theKabah. Therefore, he wanted to repay his debt of gratitude in this way.

According to Bukhari, Muslim and Musnad Ahmad, when Thumamah bin Uthal, the chief of Yamamah, wasbrought as a prisoner, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him: Thumamah, what do you say? Hereplied: If I am killed, then such a one would be killed, whose blood has some value: if I amshown favor, then favor would be shown to a person, who appreciates favor; and if you wantwealth, ask for it, you will be given it. For three days the Prophet (peace be upon him) askedhim the same thing and he gave the same reply. At last, the Prophet (peace be upon him) orderedthat Thumamah be set free. On attaining freedom, he went to a nearby oasis, washed himself andcame back, pronounced the kalimah and became a Muslim, saying: Before this day nobody was moredetestable than you and no religion more odious than your religion in my sight, but now for meno man is more lovable than you and no religion more lovable than your religion. Then he went toMakkah for Umrah and gave the people of Quraish a notice to the effect: After this no grain willreach you from Yamamah unless Muhammad (peace be upon him) permits it. So, he stopped the grainsupply and the people of Makkah had to request the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he shouldnot stop the supply of grain for them from Yamamah.

From among the prisoners of the Bani Quraizah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forgave Zabir binBata and Amr bin Saad (or Ibn Suda), the former because he had given refuge to Thabit bin QaisAnsari in the battle of Buath, in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance; therefore, he handed himover to Thabit that he may repay him for his favor. And he forgave Amr bin Sad because it was hewho was exhorting his tribe not to be treacherous when the Bani Quraizah were committing breachof the trust with the Prophet (peace be upon him).

After the Battle of Bani-al-Mustaliq, when the prisoners were brought and distributed among thepeople, the Prophet (peace be upon him) paid Juwairiyah’s ransom to the person to whom she wasallotted to secure her freedom and then married her to himself. At this all the Muslims settheir own prisoners free, saying: Now they have become the Prophet’s relatives. Thus, theprisoners of a hundred families became free. (Musnad Ahmad, Tabaqat Ibn Saad, Ibn Hisham).

On the occasion of the treaty of Hudaibiyah, at about dawn, 80 men came from the direction ofTanim with the intention of launching a sudden attack on the Muslim camp, but were all captured,and the Prophet (peace be upon him) set all of them free lest it became a cause of war on thatcritical occasion. (Muslim, Abu Daud, Nasai, Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad).

At the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forgave all the people of Makkahexcept only a few men, and did not kill more than three or four of even those who had been madean exception. The whole of Arabia was well aware of what atrocities the people of Makkah hadcommitted against the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims; yet he forgave them afterattaining complete victory over them, gave the Arabs the satisfaction that they had not beenoverpowered by a tyrant but by a merciful, affectionate and generous leader. That is why afterthe conquest of Makkah the Arabian peninsula did not take longer than two years to be completelysubdued.

After the Battle of Hunain, when the Hawazin deputation came to secure the freedom of theirprisoners, the prisoners had already been distributed. The Prophet (peace be upon him) calledthe Muslims together and said: These people have come with repentance, and I am of the opinionthat their men should be returned to them. He who would like to set the prisoner allotted to himfree willingly without ransom, should set him free, and the one who would like to take ransom,shall be paid it out of the first income that is received in the Public Treasury. Thus, sixthousand prisoners were set free, and those who wanted to take ransom, were given it by thegovernment. (Bukhari, Abu Daud, Musnad Ahmad, Tabaqat Ibn Saad). This also shows that thegovernment is not authorized to set the prisoners free after they have been distributed; thiscan be done by the willing approval of those in whose possession the prisoners have been given,or by paying them the ransom.

After the Prophet (peace be upon him), precedents of setting the prisoners free as a favorcontinue to be found throughout the period of the companions also. Abu Bakr set free Ashath binQais al-Kindi and Umar granted freedom to Hurmuzan and the prisoners of Manadhir and Maisan.(Abu Ubaid, Kitab alAmwal).

(9) The precedent of setting the prisoners free on payment of the ransom in the time of theProphet (peace be upon him) is found only on the occasion of Badr, when the prisoners were setfree on payment of one thousand to four thousand dirhams each. (Tabaqat Ibn Saad, Kitab al-Amwal). No precedent of this is found in the time of the companions; and the jurists of Islamhave generally disapproved it, for it means that we should take money and set a man free so thathe may again rise against us with the sword. But since taking of ransom has been permitted inthe Quran, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) also acted according to it once, it is notabsolutely forbidden. Imam Muhammad writes in his As-Siyar al-Kabir that if the need arises theMuslims can free their prisoners on payment of the ransom.

(10) The criterion of freeing a prisoner for a service rendered is also found in connection withthe battle of Badr. For those of the Quraish prisoners who had no ransom the Prophet (peace beupon him) imposed the condition that they should teach reading and writing to ten Ansar childreneach to win their freedom. (Musnad Ahmad, Tabaqat Ibn Saad, Kitab al-Amwal).

(11) Several instances of the exchange of prisoners are found in the time of the Prophet (peacebe upon him). Once he dispatched Abu Bakr on an expedition and he brought some captives,including a beautiful woman, who fell to the lot of Salamah bin Akwa. The Prophet urged him togive her back, then sent her to Makkah and had several Muslim prisoners released, in exchangefor her. (Muslim, Abu Daud, Tahawi Kitab al-Amwal of Abi Ubaid, Tabaqat Ibn Saad). Imran binHusain relates that once the tribe of Thaqif arrested two men of the Muslims. Some time later, aman of the Bani Uqail, who were allies of the Thaqif, was arrested by the Muslims. The Prophet(peace be upon him) sent him to Taif and got both the Muslims released in exchange for him.(Muslim, Tirmidhi, Musnad Ahmad). From among the jurists Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad, ImamShafai, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad hold the exchange of the prisoners as permissible. A ruling ofImam Abu Hanifah is that exchange should not be practiced, but according to another ruling ofhis exchange can be practiced. However, there is a consensus that the prisoner who becomes aMuslim should not be handed over to the disbelievers for the purpose of exchange.

This explanation makes it abundantly clear that Islam has formulated a comprehensive code inrespect of the prisoners of war, which contains provision for this problem in every age underall sorts of conditions. Those people who take this Quranic verse in its simple meaning that theprisoners of war should either be shown favor and set free or freed for ransom, do not know whatdifferent aspects the question of the prisoners of war has, and what problems it has beencreating in different ages and can create in the future.

9. That is, if Allah had only wanted to crush the worshipers of falsehood, He did not stand inneed of your help for this. He could have done this through an earthquake or a tempest in notime, But what He wills is that the followers of the truth among the people should enter into aconflict with the worshipers of falsehood and fight against them so that the qualities andcharacteristics of each are brought out clearly by means of the test and each is given the placeand rank that he deserves according to his conduct.

10. It means this: A person’s being slain in the way of Allah does not mean that he lost his lifeand as far as his person was concerned, all his lifework was wasted. It is wrong to think thatthe sacrifices of the martyrs are not beneficial for themselves but only for those who liveafter them in the world, and take advantage of their sacrifices. The fact is that even for themartyrs themselves it is a bargain of profit, not of loss at all.

Ala-Maududi

(47:35) So, be not faint-hearted and do not cry for peace.^[41] You shall prevail.Allah is with you and will not bring your works to nought.

41. Here, one should bear in mind the fact that when this discourse was revealed only a handfulof the Muslims consisting of a couple of hundreds of the Muhajirin and Ansar living in the smalltown of Madinah were upholding the standard of Islam and they were not only faced by thepowerful Quraish but also by the whole of pagan Arabia. Such were the conditions when they wereexhorted not to show weakness and not to beg (the enemy) for peace, but to make preparations forthe decisive conflict. This does not mean that the Muslims should never negotiate for peace, butit means that in a state like this it is not right to initiate peace negotiations when it showsthe Muslims’ weakness, for it will still further embolden the enemy. The Muslims should firstestablish their superiority in power and strength; then if they negotiate peace there will be noharm.

Ala-Maududi

(48:29) Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger, and those who are with him are firm with theunbelievers^[52] but compassionate with one another.^[53] You see themoccupied in bowing and prostrating and in seeking Allah’s bounty and good pleasure. They aredistinguished^[54] from others by the marks of prostration on their faces. Thus arethey described in the Torah.^[55] And their parable in the Gospel is thatof^[56] a tilth that puts forth its shoot, then strengthens it so that it becomesstout and stands firmly on its stem. This is a sight pleasing to the sowers and one by which theunbelievers will be enraged. As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, Allah has promisedthem forgiveness and a great reward.^[57]

52. The companions (of the Prophet) are hard against the disbelievers: They are not such that thedisbelievers may mold them as they like. They can neither be cowed nor purchased by anyinducement. The disbelievers have no power to turn them away from the great objective for thesake of which they have joined and followed the Prophet (peace be upon him) even at the cost oftheir lives.

53. That is, whatever their hardness and severity, it is only for the disbelievers, not for thebelievers. As regards the believers they are soft, merciful, affectionate, sympathetic andcompassionate. Their unity of aim and object has produced in them love and harmony and completeaccord among themselves.

54. This does not imply the mark that appears on the forehead of some people on account ofprostrations, but it implies the marks and traces of the fear of God, munificence, nobility andgoodness of manner that naturally appears on the face of a person on account of bowing downbefore God. Man’s face is an open book on the pages of which different states of a man’s selfcan be seen easily. A vain and arrogant person’s face is different from the face of a humble,modest and unassuming person; an immoral person’s face is clearly distinguished from the face ofa righteous and well mannered person; and there is a marked difference between the facialappearance of a wicked man and of a noble and virtuous man. What Allah means to say is: Thecompanions of Muhammad (peace be upon him) are such that one can recognize them on first sightto be the best of mankind, because their faces shine forth with the light of God worship and Godconsciousness. This is the same thing about which Imam Malik has said that when the armies ofthe companions entered Syria, the Syrian Christians remarked: These people possess the very samequalities and characteristics of the disciples of the Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him).

55. The allusion probably is to Deuteronomy, 33: 2-3, in which the Holy Prophet’s (peace be uponhim) advent has been foretold and the word saints has been used for his companions. Apart fromthis, if some other quality of the companions has been mentioned in the Torah, it is not foundin the existing, corrupted Torah.

56. This parable is found in a sermon of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) that has beenreported in the New Testament, thus:

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground: And shouldsleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. Forthe earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the fullcorn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle,because the harvest is come. And he said, Where unto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or withwhat comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sewnin the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it growethup, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shouted out great branches; so that the fowls ofthe air may lodge under the shadow of it.

The last portion of this sermon is also found in Matthew, 13: 31-32.

57. A section of the Muslims translates this verse, thus: Allah has promised forgiveness and agreat reward to those from among these people who have believed and done good works. Thus, theyinvent a way to vilify and slander the companions, and claim that according to this verse manypeople among the companions were not believers and righteous. But this commentary goes againstverses (4, 5, 18 and 26 ) of this very Sarah, and does not even accord with the initialsentences of this verse itself. In (verses 4-5), Allah has made mention of sending down sakinat(tranquility) and of effecting increase in the faith of all those companions who were presentwith the Prophet (peace be upon him) at Hudaibiyah, and given them without any exception thegood news of admission into Paradise. In (verse 18), Allah has expressed His good pleasure forall those who took the pledge to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and in this also there is noexception. In (verse 26), Allah has also used the word muminin (believers) for all thecompanions, has mentioned of sending down His sakinat to them, and obliged them to be righteousand pious, for they were most worthy and deserving of all mankind. Here also, it was not saidthat the news was being given only abut those who were believers among them. Then also in theinitial sentences of this verse itself the characteristics mentioned are of all those people whowere with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The words are to the effect that all thepeople who are with him have this quality and characteristic. After this, suddenly in the lastsentence there could be no excuse to say that some of them were the believers and others werenot.

Ala-Maududi

(51:10) Doomed are the conjecturers^[8]

8. Here the Quran is warning man of an important truth. To judge or make an estimate on the basisof conjecture and speculation in the ordinary matters of worldly life may be useful to someextent, although it would be no substitute for knowledge, but it would be disastrous to makeestimates and give judgments merely according to one’s own conjectures and speculations in aquestion of such fundamental nature and importance as whether we are, or are not, responsibleand accountable to anyone for the deeds and actions of our lifetime, and if we are, to whom arewe accountable, when and what shall be the accountability, and what will be the consequences ofour success and failure in that accountability. This is not a question on which man may form anestimate merely according to his conjecture and speculation and then stake his entire lifecapital on the gamble. For if the conjecture proves to be wrong, it would mean that the man hasdoomed himself to utter ruin. Furthermore, this question is not at all included among thosequestions about which one may form a right opinion by the exercise of analogy and conjecture,For conjecture and analogy can work only in those matters which are perceptible for man, whereasthis is a question which does not come under perception in any way. Therefore, it is not at allpossible that a conjectural and analogical judgment about it may be right and correct. As forthe question: What is the right way for man to form an opinion about the matters which are noperceptible and incomprehensible in nature? this has been answered at many places in the Quran,and from this Surah also the same answer becomes obvious, and it is this:

(1) Man himself cannot reach the reality directly.

(2) Allah gives the knowledge of the reality through His Prophets.

(3) Man can ascertain the truth of that knowledge in this way: he should study deeply thecountless signs that are found in the earth and heavens and in his own self, then considerseriously and impartially whether those signs testify to the reality that the Prophet baspresented, or to the different ideologies that the other people have presented in this regard.

This is the only method of scientific investigation about God and the Hereafter that has beentaught in the Quran. Doomed would be the one who discarded this method and followed his ownanalogies and conjectures.

Ala-Maududi

(60:8) Allah does not forbid that you be kind and just to those who did not fight against you onaccount of religion, nor drove you out of your homes. Surely Allah loves those who areequitable.^[12]

12. Here a doubt may arise in the minds. It is all right to treat the disbelievers, who are nothostile, kindly, but should only they be treated unjustly? And should the disbelievers, who archostile, be treated unjustly? The answer is that in this context, the word justice, in fact, hasbeen used in a special sense. It means: Justice demands that you should not be hostile to thosewho are not hostile to you, for it is not justice to treat the enemy and the nonenemy alike. Youhave every right to adopt a stern attitude towards those who persecuted you for embracing Islamand compelled you to leave your homes and pursued you even after your expulsion. But as forthose who were not partners in persecuting you, you should treat them well and should fulfillthe right they have on you because of blood and other relationships.

Ala-Maududi

(60:12) O Prophet, when believing women come to you and pledge^[18] to you that theywill not associate aught with Allah in His Divinity, that they will not steal,^[19]that they will not commit illicit sexual intercourse, that they will not kill theirchildren,^[20] that they will not bring forth a calumny between their hands andfeet,^[21] and that they will not disobey you in anything known to begood,^[22] then accept their allegiance^[23] and ask Allah to forgive them.Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.

18. As we have explained above, this verse was sent down some time before the conquest of Makkah.After the conquest the Quraish started coming to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in largenumbers to take the oath of allegiance. From the men he took the oath himself on Mount Safa. Asfor the women he appointed Umar to administer the oath to them on his behalf and to ask them topledge that they would refrain from the things mentioned in this verse. (Ibn Jarir, on theauthority of Ibn Abbas; Ibn Abi Hatim, on the authority of Qatadah). Then, on his return toAl-Madinah he ordered the Muslim women of Al-Madinah to be gathered together in a house and hesent Umar to take the oath from them. (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Marduyah, Bazzar, Ibn Hibban, on theauthority of Umm Atiyyah Ansariah). On the Eid day also, after his address to men, he went tothe assembly of women and in his sermon to them, he recited this verse and asked them to pledgethat they would refrain from the things mentioned in it. (Bukhari on the authority of IbnAbbas’s tradition). Apart from these occasions, at different other times also, the women camebefore the Prophet (peace be upon him) individually as well as collectively to take the oath ofallegiance, as mentioned in several Ahadith.

19. In Makkah, when the oath of allegiance was being administered, Hind bint Utbah, wife of AbuSufyan, asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) its explanation and said: Messenger of Allah, AbuSufyan is rather stingy. Will it be sinful if I take out something from his wealth without hispermission to meet my own and my children’s needs. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: Nay,but only, justly and lawfully; i.e. take only that much as may actually suffice for your needs.(Ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al-Quran).

20. This also includes abortion, whether it is abortion of the legitimate or of the illegitimatefetus.

21. This implies two kinds of calumny:

(1) A woman’s accusing other women of having illicit relations with other men and her spreadingsuch stories among the people, for the women are generally prone to spreading such things.

(2) A woman’s delivering a child by somebody else and making her husband believe that it is his.Abu Daud has related a tradition from Abu Hurairah saying that he heard the Prophet say: Thewoman who brings such a child into a family as does not actually belong to it, has no connectionwith Allah, and Allah will never admit her to Paradise.

22. In this brief sentence two important points of the law have been stated:

First, that obedience even to the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been restricted to “in what isgood”, although about the Prophet (peace be upon him) no one could imagine that he would ordersomebody to do an evil. From this it automatically follows that no one in the world can beobeyed outside the bounds of divine law. For when obedience to Allah’s Messenger himself isconditional upon “in what is good”, who else can have a position to demand unconditionalobedience and require the people to obey and follow each of his commands, laws, rules orcustoms, which are opposed to the law of Allah? The Prophet (peace be upon him) has stated thisprinciple, thus: There is no obedience in the disobedience of Allah; obedience is only in whatis good and right. (Muslim, Abu Daud, Nasai). Our great doctors have derived this very themefrom this verse, Abdur Rehman bin Zaid bin Aslam says:

Allah has not said that they should not disobey you (the Prophet) but that they should notdisobey you in what is good.

Then, when Allah Almighty has made obedience even to the Prophet himself conditional upon this,how can another person have the right that he should be obeyed in anything but what is good?(Ibn Jarir).

Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas writes:

Allah knew that His Prophet (peace be upon him) never enjoined anything but what was good. StillHe restricted obedience to him only in what is good, so that no one ever may find a provision toobey the kings when they enjoined something outside the obedience of Allah. The Prophet (peacebe upon him) has said: He who obeys a creature in disobedience to the Creator, Allah appointsthe same creature over him in power. (Ahkam al-Quran).

Allama Alusi says:

This command refutes the view of those ignorant people who think that obedience to the ruler isabsolutely necessary. Allah has restricted even obedience to His Messenger (peace be upon him)only in what is good, whereas the Messenger (peace be upon him) never enjoins anything but whatis good. This is meant to warn the people that obedience to no one is lawful in disobedience tothe Creator. (Ruh al-Maani).

Thus, this command in fact, is the foundation stone of the rule of law in Islam. The rule is thatanything which is opposed to the law of Islam is a crime, and no one has the right to enjoin anysuch thing on any one. Anyone who enjoins anything against the law, is a culprit; and the onewho obeys such a command is also a culprit. No subordinate can escape the punishment on thebasis of the excuse that his superior officer had ordered him to do something which was a crimein the law.

The other thing which has great legal import is that in this verse after enjoining fiveprohibitions only one positive command has been given, namely that the Prophet (peace be uponhim) will be obeyed in all good things. As for the evils, the major evils in which women of thepre-Islamic days were generally involved, have been mentioned and a pledge taken from them torefrain from them. But as for the good works, they have neither been mentioned nor any pledgetaken to observe them. The only pledge that has been taken is that they will have to obey theProphet (peace be upon him) in every good work that he enjoins. Now obviously, if the good worksbe only those which Allah Almighty has enjoined in the Quran, the pledge should have been to theeffect: You will not disobey Allah, or You will not disobey the injunctions of the Quran. Butwhen the pledge taken was to the effect: You will not disobey any good work that is enjoined bythe Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah, it automatically leads to the conclusion that theProphet (peace be upon him) has been given vast powers for the reformation of society, and it isobligatory to obey all his commands, whether they are found in the Quran or not.

On the basis of this very legal authority the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the women topledge that they would refrain from all those evils which were prevalent among the women of theArabian society at that time, and gave several such commands as have not been mentioned in theQuran. One may study the following Ahadith in this connection:

Ibn Abbas, Umm Salamah, Umm Atiyyah Ansariah and others have reported that the Prophet (peace beupon him) while administering the oath of allegiance to the women asked them to pledge that theywould refrain from mourning over the dead. These traditions have been related by Bukhari,Muslim, Nasai and Ibn Jarir.

A tradition reported by Ibn Abbas contains this detail: The Holy Prophet appointed Umar toadminister the oath of allegiance to the women and commanded that he should forbid them to mournover the dead, for in the days of pre- Islamic ignorance women used to tear their clothes andhair, scratched their faces and bewailed in aloud voice. (Ibn Jarir).

Zaid bin Aslam has reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him), while administering the oath ofallegiance forbade the women to scratch their faces, tear their garments, bewail and sing verseswhile mourning over the dead. (Ibn Jarir). Another tradition bearing on the same subject hasbeen reported by Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir from a woman who was among the women taking theoath of allegiance. Qatadah and Hasan Basri say that one of the things that the Prophet (peacebe upon him) had made the women to pledge also was that they would refain from talking with theother men freely. Ibn Abbas has explained it in a tradition, thus: That they would not talk withthe other men in private.

Qatadah has further explained it thus: Hearing this command Abdur Rahman bin Auf said: OMessenger (peace be upon him) of Allah, sometimes it so happens that we are not present in thehouse and somebody comes to see us. The Prophet replied: I do not mean this. That is, the womanis not forbidden to tell the visitor that the master of the house is not present. (Thesetraditions have been cited by Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim).

Abdullah bin Amr bin al-Aas has reported another tradition from Umaimah bint-Rugaiqah, maternalaunt of Fatimah, saying: The Prophet (peace be upon him) made me to pledge that I would neitherbewail the dead nor display myself like the women of the pre-Islamic paganism. (Musnad Ahmad,Ibn Jarir).

Salmah bint Qais, a maternal aunt of the Prophet (peace be upon him), says: I went before theProphet (peace be upon him) with some other women of the Ansar to take the oath of allegiance.He made us to pledge that we would abstain from the things mentioned in this verse, and thensaid: Do not defraud your husbands. When we were about to leave, a woman said to me: Go and askthe Prophet (peace be upon him) what is meant by defrauding the husbands? When I went and askedthe explanation, he replied: This that you should defraud him of his money and expend it onothers. (Musnad Ahmad).

Umm Atiyyah says: The Prophet (peace be upon him) after administering to us the oath commanded usthat we would attend the Eid congregational prayers, but the Friday prayer is not obligatory forus, and he forbade us to follow the bier. (Ibn Jarir).

The people who think that the constitutional powers and authority that the Prophet (peace be uponhim) possessed emanated from his position as a ruler instead of his position as a Messenger(peace be upon him) of Allah, and say that since he was also the ruler at the time, whatevercommands he gave in that capacity were only meant to be obeyed during his time, say an absurdthing. Consider the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) commands and instructions that we have citedabove. If these instructions given by him for the reformation of the woman had emanated onlyfrom his position as a ruler how could these reforms then be introduced and enforced among thewomen of the Muslim society of the entire world forever? Which ruler has there been in theworld, who might have had the position that a command issued by him just once for a reform mighthave become enforced in the Muslim society everywhere in the world forever? For furtherexplanation, see (Surah Al-Hashr, ayat 7)note 15.

23. Several authentic Ahadith show that in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) time the procedureof administering the oath of allegiance to the women was different from that to the men. For themen the procedure was that the ones pledging allegiance would give their hand in the hand of theProphet (peace be upon him) and take the oath. As for the women; the Prophet (peace be upon him)never took any woman’s hand in his own hand, but adopted other different methods. In thisconnection, the following traditions have been reported:

Aishah says: By God, in connection with the oath of allegiance the Prophet’s (peace be upon him)hand never touched any other woman’s hand. While administering the oath of allegiance to awoman, he would only say to her: I have accepted your allegiance. (Bukhari, Ibn Jarir).

Umaimah bint Ruqaiqah has stated: I along with some other women went before the Prophet (peace beupon him) to pledge allegiance, and ho made us to pledge according to this verse of the Quran.When we said: We will not disobey you in what is good and right, he said: As far as it is inyour power. We submitted: Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) are more kind to us thanwe could be to ourselves. Then we said: O Messenger of Allah, stretch your hand so that we maypledge allegiance. He replied: I do not shake hands with women: I only make them take thepledge. So he made us to pledge. In another tradition she has stated: The Prophet (peace be uponhim) did not take the hand of any of us in his own hand. (Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nasai, IbnMajah, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim).

Abu Daud in Marasi has related this from Shabi: While administering the oath of allegiance to thewomen, a sheet of cloth was stretched towards the Prophet (peace be upon him), which he took inhis hand and said: I do not take the woman’s hand in my hand. This same subject has been relatedby Ibn Abi Hatim from Shabi, by Abdur Razzaq from Ibrahim Nakhai and by Saeed bin Mansur fromQais bin Abi Hazim.

Ibn Ishaq, in Maghazi has related this from Aban bin Salih: The Prophet (peace be upon him) wouldput his hand in a vessel full of water and then the woman also would put her hand in the samevessel. In Bukhari, a tradition from Abdullah bin Abbas is to the effect: After giving the Eidcongregational sermon, the Prophet (peace be upon him) went through the rows of the men to theplace where the women were sitting. There, in his address, he recited this verse of the Quran,then asked the women: Do you promise to act according to it? A woman from the assembly replied:Yes, O Messenger of Allah.

In a tradition related by Ibn Hibban, Ibn Jarir, Bazzar and others, Umm Atiyyah Ansariah hasstated this: The Prophet (peace be upon him) extended his hand from outside the house and weextended our hands from inside the house. But this does not prove that the women might haveshaken hands with the Prophet (peace be upon him), for Umm Atiyyah has not made any mention ofthe shaking of hands. Probably on this occasion for the purpose of taking the pledge the Prophet(peace be upon him) might have extended his hand from outside and the women their hands frominside the house towards him without any of their hands touching his.

Ala-Maududi

(61:4) Allah indeed loves those who fight in His Way as though they are a solid wall cementedwith molten lead.^[3]

3. First, it shows that only those believers are blessed with Allah’s good pleasure and approval,who are prepared to fight in His way, disregarding every kind of danger. Secondly, that Allahlikes an army which has three characteristics:

(1) It fights in Allah’s way with full understanding, and does not fight for a cause disapprovedby Allah. (2) It is not undisciplined, but is well-organized and wellarrayed for battle. (3) Itoffers stiff resistance to the enemy as though it were a solid cemented structure. Then, thislast quality is by itself highly meaningful. No army can stand in the battle array like a solidstructure unless it has the following characteristics.

(1) Complete agreement in the faith and the objective, which should smite soldiers and officersin a well-knit body.

(2) Confidence in one another sincerity, which cannot be created unless everybody is genuinelysincere in his aim and free from impure motives; otherwise the severe test of war will not allowanyone’s insincerity to remain hidden, and when confidence is lost, the members of the armystart suspecting instead of trusting one another.

(3) A high standard of morality without which neither can the officers and soldiers of the armyhave love and respect for each other, nor can they remain immune from mutual clashes andconflicts.

(4) Love of the common objective and a firm resolve to achieve it, which should inspire, thewhole army with an invincible spirit of gallantry, devotion, and self-sacrifice, so that it mayactually face the enemy like a solid cemented structure in the battlefield.

Such were the foundations on which a powerful military organization was raised under theleadership of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Mighty powers of the day clashed with it and wereannihilated. No power of the world then could dare face it for centuries.

Ala-Maududi

(61:9) He it is Who has sent forth the Messenger with the Guidance and the True Religion that Hemay make it prevail over all religion, however those that associate aught with Allah in HisDivinity might dislike this.^[13]

13. The idolaters: The mushriks, those who combine the service of others with the service ofAllah and mix other religions in the religion of Allah. Those who are not prepared to see thatthe entire system of lift is established on the obedience and guidance of One God. Those whoinsist that they will worship any deity they like and base their their beliefs and morals andcivilization on any philosophy and doctrine they please. As against the ways of such people, itis being said that the Messenger of Allah has not been sent to make a compromise with than, butwith the object that he should cause the guidance and religion of truth which he has broughtfrom Allah to prevail over all religions, i.e. every aspect of the way of life. This mission hehas to accomplish in any case whether the disbelievers and polytheists like it or not, andwhoever they support it or resist it. This declaration has been made in the Quran at two otherplaces. In (Surah At-Taubah, Ayat 33)and(Surah Al-Fath, Ayat 28). Here it has beenre-iterated for the third time. For further explanation, see (Surah At-Taubah, ayat 33) note 32, and(Surah Al-Fath, ayat 28) note 51.

Ala-Maududi

(81:9) for what offence was she killed?^[9]

9. The style of this verse reflects an intensity of rage and fury inconceivable in common life.The parents who buried their daughters alive, would be so contemptible in the sight of Allahthat they would not be asked: Why did you kill the innocent infant? But disregarding them theinnocent girl will be asked: For what crime were you slain? And she will tell her story howcruelly she had been treated by her barbarous parents and buried alive. Besides, two vast themeshave been compressed into this brief verse, which though not expressed in words, are reflectedby its style and tenor. First that in it the Arabs have been made to realize what depths ofmoral depravity they have touched because of their ignorance in that they buried their ownchildren alive; yet they insist that they would persist in the same ignorance and would notaccept the reform that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was trying to bring about in their corruptedsociety. Second, that an express argument has been given in it of the necessity andinevitability of the Hereafter. The case of the infant girl who was buried alive, should bedecided and settled justly at some time, and there should necessarily be a time when the cruelpeople who committed this heinous crime, should be called to account for it, for there was nonein the world to hear the cries of complaint raised by the poor soul. This act was looked uponwith approval by the depraved society; neither the parents felt any remorse for it, nor anybodyin the family censured them, nor the society took any notice of it. Then, should thismonstrosity remain wholly unpunished in the Kingdom of God?

This barbaric custom of burying the female infants alive had become widespread in ancient Arabiafor different reasons. One reason was economic hardship because of which the people wanted tohave fewer dependents so that they should not have to bear the burden of bringing up manychildren. Male offspring were brought up in the hope that they would later help in earning aliving, but the female offspring were killed for the fear that they would have to be raised tillthey matured and then given away in marriage. Second, the widespread chaos because of which themale children were brought up in order to have more and more helpers and supporters; butdaughters were killed because in tribal wars they had to be protected instead of being useful inany way for defense. Third, another aspect of the common chaos also was that when the hostiletribes raided each other and captured girls they would either keep them as slave-girls or sellthem to others. For these reasons the practice that had become common in Arabia was that atchildbirth a pit was kept dug out ready for use by the woman so that if a girl was born, she wasimmediately cast into it and buried alive. And if sometimes the mother was not inclined to actthus, or the people of the family disapproved of it, the father would raise her for some timehalf-heartedly, and then finding time would take her to the desert to be buried alive. Thistyranny and hardheartedness was once described by a person before the Prophet (peace be uponhim) himself. According to a Hadith related in the first chapter of Sunan Darimi, a man came tothe Prophet (peace be upon him) and related this incident of his pre-Islamic days of ignorance:I had a daughter who was much attached to me. When I called her, she would come running to me.One day I called her and took her out with me. On the way we came across a well. Holding her bythe hand I pushed her into the well. Her last words that I heard were: Oh father, oh father!Hearing this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) wept and tears started falling from his eyes. Oneof those present on the occasion said: O man, you have grieved the Prophet (peace be upon him).The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Do not stop him, let him question about what he feels sostrongly now. Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him to narrate his story once again.When he narrated it again the Prophet (peace be upon him) wept so much that his beard became wetwith tears. Then he said to the man: Allah has forgiven what you did in the days of ignorance:now turn to Him in repentance.

It is not correct to think that the people of Arabia had no feeling of the harshness of thishideous, inhuman act. Obviously, no society, however corrupted it may be, can be utterly devoidof the feeling that such tyrannical acts are evil. That is why the Quran has not dwelt upon thevileness of this act, but has only referred to it in awe-inspiring words to the effect: A timewill come when the girl who was buried alive, will be asked for what crime she was slain? Thehistory of Arabia also shows that many people in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance had a feelingthat the practice was vile and wicked. According to Tabarani, Sasaah bin Najiyah al-Mujashii,grandfather of the poet, Farazdaq, said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): O Messenger ofAllah, during the days of ignorance I have also done some good works, among which one is that Isaved 360 girls from being buried alive: I gave two camels each as ransom to save their lives.Shall I get any reward for this? The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: Yes, there is a rewardfor you, and it is this that Allah has blessed you with Islam.

As a matter of fact, a great blessing of the blessings of Islam is that it not only did put anend to this inhuman practice in Arabia but even wiped out the concept that the birth of adaughter was in any way a calamity, which should be endured unwillingly. On the contrary, Islamtaught that bringing up daughters, giving them good education and enabling them to become goodhousewives, is an act of great merit and virtue. The way the Prophet (peace be upon him) changedthe common concept of the people in respect of girls can be judged from his many sayings whichhave been reported in the Hadith. As for example, we reproduce some of these below:

The person who is put to a test because of the birth of the daughters and then he treats themgenerously, they will become a means of rescue for him from Hell. (Bukhari, Muslim).

The one who brought up two girls till they attained their maturity, will appear along with me onthe Resurrection Day. Saying this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) joined and raised hisfingers. (Muslim).

The one who brought up three daughters, or sisters, taught them good manners and treated themwith kindness until they became self-sufficient, Allah will make Paradise obligatory for him. Aman asked: what about two, O Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah? The Prophet (peace be uponhim) replied: the same for two. Ibn Abbas, the reporter of the Hadith, says: Had the people atthat time asked in respect of one daughter, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would have alsogiven the same reply about her. (Sharh as-Sunnh).

The one who has a daughter born to him and he does not bury her alive, nor keeps her in disgrace,nor prefers his son to her, Allah will admit him to Paradise. (Abu Daud).

The one who has three daughters born to him, and he is patient over them, and clothes them wellaccording to his means, they will become a means of rescue for him from Hell. (Bukhari, Al-Adabal-Mufrad, Ibn Majah).

The Muslim who has two daughters and he looks after them well, they will lead him to Paradise.(Bukhari: Al- Adab al-Mufrad).

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Suraqah bin Jusham: Should I tell you what is thegreatest charity (or said: one of the greatest charities)? He said: Kindly do tell, O Messengerof Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Your daughter who (after being divorced orwidowed) returns to you and should have no other bread-winner. (Ibn Majah, Bukhari Al-Adabal-Mufrad).

This is the teaching which completely changed the viewpoint of the people about girls not only inArabia but among all the nations of the world, which later become blessed with Islam. 1