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Crunchy numbers

About 3 million people visit the Taj Mahal every year. This blog was viewed about 31,000 times in 2010. If it were the Taj Mahal, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 13 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 68 posts.

The busiest day of the year was October 13th with 244 views. The most popular post that day was PDF Files.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were en.wikipedia.org, corpus.quran.com, stumbleupon.com, study-arabic.info, and search.conduit.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for arabic grammar pdf, qasas un nabiyeen, pronouns, arabic nahw, and tradbdo.ttf.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

PDF Files August 2007
109 comments

Arabic Fonts July 2007
18 comments

Nahw – Singular, Dual, and Plural Nouns in Arabic July 2007
14 comments

Nahw – Attached Pronouns: their Grammatical States April 2007
3 comments

Sarf February 2007
7 comments

And those who disbelieve say: “Why is not the Quran revealed to him all at once?” Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages

Parts of the Holy Qur’ān were revealed considering the circumstances of its addressees. Therefore, when some of the directives were relaxed in some aspect or some others were complemented by new revelations, the new addition was put next to the original command. Sometimes these later revelations were placed at the end of the discussions they complemented. Since the shifts in the discourse have been marked by the rukū‘ division, people find it difficult to understand the interrelation of such complementary passages with the preceding discussions. We can study this interrelation between the two by the help of the following facts.

God Himself has explained that such verses are explanatory verses, revealed in accordance with His promise to the Prophet (sws) that He would explain whatever called for an explanation and would arrange it in a set order when He says (75:8-9):

When We have recited it to you follow that recitation of Ours and then We shall Ourself explain it

It is in accordance with this promise that whenever a complementary verse or verses were revealed it was pointed out that these verses are explanatory verses. Also, these complementary verses have been expressed in a different style: they do not follow the pattern of the verses that follow and precede them. This also serves as an indication to the fact that they are explanatory verses.

Some of the explanatory verses are betrayed in their style by the fact that they respond to an implicit question. Many such verses clearly indicate that they are pointing out towards a finer point within the discourse.

It needs to be appreciated that some Sūrahs have been transmitted via the tongue of the Prophet (sws) and some via the tongue of the Archangel Gabriel and many more by the Almighty himself. This is in agreement with the style found in the discourse of the earlier revealed Books . The Holy Qur’ān has clearly explained this fact (42:51):

It is not possible for any mortal that God should speak to him (face to face) except (that He does so) by revelation, or from behind a veil, or through a messenger sent and authorized by Him to make known His will

At another place God Almighty says (2:97):

Say, “Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel (must know) that he [Gabriel] has revealed it to your heart by God’s command.”

Yet at another place the same has been put thus (81:19-25):

This is a word of a gracious and mighty messenger, held in honor by the Lord of the Throne, obeyed in heavens, faithful to his trust. No, your compatriot is not mad. He saw him on the clear horizon. He does not grudge the secrets of the unseen; nor is it the utterance of an accursed devil

Still at another place the Almighty says (69:40-43):

This is indeed the utterance of a noble messenger. It is no poet’s speech: you seldom believe! It is no soothsayer’s divinations: how little you reflect! It is a revelation from the Lord of the universe.

This issue has been extensively discussed in my book ’Asālīb al-Qur’ān (Styles of the Qur’ān).

The above discussion, it is hoped, has made it clear that the Holy Qur’ān contains verses which have been incorporated later as required explanations or as complements to some earlier discussions. Many verses have been transmitted via the tongue of Gabriel; many others issue from the Prophet (sws). A major portion, however, is the direct speech of God. In order to understand the Holy Qur’ān and interpret it you have to make out which verse issues from whom and who it is addressing. Without successfully identifying the addressors and the addressees you will not be able to understand the coherence in the text. This can be explained through an example. In an allegorical story many characters are made to talk according to their role in the plot. If someone assumes that all these things have been told by a single character he will certainly fail to make out any connection between the parts of the whole story.
This example I have offered only in order to explain my point fully. The word of God, indeed, does not suffer from such limitations: His word is exalted and does not stand in need for such examples and analogies.

Contents

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

You alone we worship; You alone we ask for help

issues from a believer. Some scholars hold that the Almighty Allah has taught us this sūrah as though He started by saying, “say these words”. But we do not see the words ‘say’ etc. How can then one establish this view?

The same question applies to the addressees of the Holy Qur’ān. One has to determine who a particular statement addresses because every discourse has an addressor (one that addresses) and an addressee (one to whom something is being addressed). Sometimes both the addressors and the addressees are general whereas the address itself is directed at particular individuals. Similarly, the addressors and the addressees may sometimes be specifically identified while the message is general in nature. Change in addressors and the addressees, as well as taking the address as general or specific, greatly affects the meaning of a discourse. Therefore, we have to form some principles which can help us determine these entities. Erroneous identification of the addressors and addressees in the Holy Qur’ān sometimes leads us to believe in things which border upon polytheism. Mawlana Rūm has been led to say that when God commanded the Holy Prophet to call people by saying (39:53):

Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves…

He rendered the people worshippers of the Prophet (sws). I do not think that by saying this Mawlana Rūm intended committing himself to polytheistic beliefs but the view he has presented is identical to what a polytheist may believe. May Allah forgive him!

Coming to the explanation of the verse, we see that the statement,

“O My servants who have transgressed against themselves…

is directed to humans. It follows the qul (i.e. say, tell, declare) which is used by God to command the Holy Prophet (sws) to communicate this divine statement to the people verbatim.

The study of address, it should be appreciated, is the knowledge that enables us to interpret a discourse after discovering the specifically targeted members of the addressees from its general application. Whoever does not succeed in discerning who are the addressees and who is the addressor will not be able to get to the true interpretation of the text. This knowledge, therefore, is the key to correct interpretation of the text and proper understanding of its coherence. Lack of knowledge in this regard is one of the major causes of confused interpretations. People ignoring this principle may end up reaching at quite the opposite of the intended meanings of the words. One will identify A where B is meant and confuse D for E: nothing can owe more to erroneous interpretations.

I will devote a separate chapter in these preliminary discussions to the study of the general principles of interpretation. By the present discussion I only intend to create familiarity with the discussion before we take it up. Correctly understanding the issue of address leads us to the proper course and brings us to the right conclusion regarding verses where our exegetes have committed mistakes. This, therefore, necessitates that we elaborate upon it separately.

One needs to appreciate the point that when a statement is liable to be ascribed or addressed to more than a single specific entity it becomes like a homonym (mushtarak). We have to identify that single intended implication and leave out the other possibilities. The rules devised for ascertaining the true implication of a general word begin with identification of all of its significations. Then, we turn to see the context and the intended purpose of the statement and then identify the meaning. Similarly, in the case of address we have to identify, first of all, the addressor and the addressees from various possible options.

All parts of the Qur’ānic text, as in any discourse, involve an addressor and an addressee:

1. It either issues from God, Gabriel, the Prophet (sws) of God, or the people
2. Similarly, it is either addressed to God or to the Prophet (sws) or to the people
3. People in the above include, Muslims, the hypocrites, the People of the Book, children of Ishmael, or two or three or all of these entities
4. People of the Book include the Jews or the Christians, or both

All of these facts do not take much of research: they are quite obvious. However, there still remains the possibility that in a particular place any of the addressees are taken for another. This issue needs further detail which follows.

As regards the question of the source, mostly Allah, Gabriel, or the Prophet (sws) are confused with one another. A careless reader of the Holy Qur’ān may not be able to discern who the addressor is. The Prophet (sws) and Gabriel are two messengers of God who sometimes speak as though they are communicating someone else’s message and sometimes they simply speak out the words of God without indication. Another problem in this case arises when we see that Gabriel is also a messenger of God to the Prophet (sws) and in this capacity he sometimes addresses the Prophet (sws), but, since he is also the teacher of the Prophet (sws) he also addresses him directly. This last aspect of Gabriel being the teacher of the Prophet (sws) has been made clear by God in the Qur’ān (53:5):

He has been taught (this Quran) by one mighty in power [Jibrael (Gabriel)]

This problem is intensified when we see that all these positions of Gabriel frequently manifest themselves without indication. The context helps us properly identify the addressor and in which capacity he is addressing.

This difficulty is not peculiar to the Holy Qur’ān. The divine speech conveyed by the Prophets of God is inherently pregnant with such possibilities. See psalms 46:7-11, for example:

The Lord of hosts is with us.[…..] Let be then: learn I am God. […..] The Lord of hosts is with us

The guiding principle in this regard is that when the speaker is God, the discourse, characterized by grandeur and power, inspires awe. This kind of speech is only brought to serve specific points of wisdom. The following examples will help understand what we want to make clear:

The early verses of Sūrah ‘Alaq (96) have been addressed by Gabriel till the discourse reached a point where displeasure of God is reflected. From this point on it becomes obvious that God Almighty is the source (96:14):

Nay, if he does not desist We will surely drag him by the forelock

As for the question of addressees, the most common victims of confusion are the messenger and the Muslims. At occasions, apparently the addressee is the Messenger but actually it is the Muslims who are being addressed. Since the messenger is the representative of the ummah he becomes their tongue and their ears. Apparently, when the Almighty intends to address the ummah He directs the verses to the Prophet (sws). Torah is replete with such examples where the messenger, Moses, in second person singular, is addressed but the actual intended recipients of the message are the believers. In the Holy Qur’ān the context helps us discern the actual addressees when the address is apparently to the Prophet Muhammad (sws). In Sūrah Tawbah it has been said (9:50):

If good befalls you, it distresses them; but if disaster strikes you, they say, “We took our matter [in hand] before,”

It seems that second person singular is the Prophet (sws) whereas it is in fact the believers as is clear from the response in the following verse (9:51):

Say, “nothing will befall us except what God has ordained. He is our guardian. In God let the faithful put trust”

Similarly, the Prophet (sws) seems to have been addressed in the following verse (17:23):

If either or both of them reach old age in your presence, do not say fie to them, nor rebuke them; but speak to them respectfully

Here the verse actually addresses the believers. Examples of general address put in the second person singular abound in the Holy Qur’ān. For example the following verse addresses all the possible audience (2:107):

Do you not know that God alone has dominion over the heavens and the earth and besides God you have neither any friend nor any protector?

I think that the following verse too should be interpreted in the light of the above principle…^*

Contents

*This discussion too could not be completed by the author.

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

Filed under: 1. Quran, Arabic, Coherence, Farahi, Language, Tafsir Tagged: 1. Quran, Arabic, Coherence, Farahi, Language, Tafsir ]]> http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/09/25/muqaddimah-%e2%80%93-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-%e2%80%93-determining-the-addressees-and-the-addressors/feed/ 1 sheepoo http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/muqaddimah-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-names-of-the-surahs-and-their-central-themes/ http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/muqaddimah-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-names-of-the-surahs-and-their-central-themes/#comments Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:25:28 +0000 sheepoo http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/?p=681 ]]> Four factors seem to have been considered in naming the sūrahs of the Holy Qur’ān:

1. Some of the sūrahs have been named using incipits (i.e. the first few words of the sūrah) . Imām Suyūṭī has recorded that following sūrahs have been named this way:
   • Ḥamd (the Praise: 1)
   • Barā’ah (the Acquittal: 9)
   • Subḥān (Glorified: 17)
   • Ṭāhā (20)
   • Ḥawāmīm (40-46, collectively)
   • Yāsīn (36)
   • Iqtaraba (It approached: 21)
   • Raḥmān (the Merciful: 55)
   • Tabāraka (Exalted: 67)
   • Sa’ala (He enquired: 70)
   • ‘Amma (About what: 78)
   • Al-nāzi‘āt (Those that snatch away: 79)
   • ’Ara’ayta (Have you seen: 107)
   • Tabbat (Perished, 111)

and the like. Many books in the Hebrew Bible have also been named in Hebrew using incipits

2. Some sūrahs have been given names after some conspicuous words used in them, for example:
   • Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold: 43)
   • Shu‘arā’ (the Poets: 26)
   • Ḥadīd (Iron: 57)
   • Mā‘ūn (Neighborly Needs: 107)

   These words do not indicate the intended message of the sūrahs. They have been, however, conspicuously placed in the sūrahs as distinguishing marks. Arabs would sometimes name places and even people considering this element. Names like Mutalammis (the seeker) and Tābbaṭa Sharran (he carried a snake under his arm) have been given on this principle. Another analogical case is the practice of logicians. They sometimes relate the meaning of a thing to some of its specific condition which in fact has no bearing on its real meaning

3. Some names of the sūrahs allude to a conspicuous theme discussed in them. Sūrah Nūr Light: 24), for example, has been named considering the verse of Nūr (24:35). Sūrahs like ’Ᾱl-i ‘Imrān (Family of ‘Imrān: 3), Nisā’ (Women: 4), Ibrāhīm (Abraham: 14), and Yūnus (Jonah: 10) have been named this way
4. Names of some of the sūrahs however, reflect their ‘umūd (i.e. the Central Theme).
   • Sūrah Fātiḥah (The Opening: 1) has also been named Sūrah Salāh
   • Sūrah Barā’ah (Acquittal: 9)
   • Sūrah Banī Israel (Children of Israel: 17), and
   • Sūrah Muḥammad (47) which has also been referred to as sūrah of war

   The last two sūrahs of the Holy Qur’ān, referred to as Mu‘awwadhatayn (i.e. the two seeking refuge) (113 – 114), and Sūrah Ikhlāṣ (112), also provide an example of such names.

It is to be noted that this last method of naming the sūrahs takes into consideration their basic themes. Had all the sūrahs been named following this principle the coherence in all of them would have been discernible to the readers. I do not, therefore, see any problem in naming all the sūrahs considering their ‘umūd so that their basic purpose is highlighted, provided the Sharī‘ah does not prohibit us. Now let us take this issue…*

Contents

*This discussion too could not be completed by the author.

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

Filed under: 1. Quran, Arabic, Coherence, Farahi, Language, Tafsir Tagged: 1. Quran, Arabic, Coherence, Farahi, Tafsir ]]> http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/07/11/muqaddimah-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-names-of-the-surahs-and-their-central-themes/feed/ 3 sheepoo http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/muqaddimah-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-structure-of-the-qur%e2%80%99an/ http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/muqaddimah-tafsir-nizam-ul-quran-structure-of-the-qur%e2%80%99an/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:03:11 +0000 sheepoo http://sheepoo.wordpress.com/?p=660 ]]> Division of the Qur’ān in rukū‘ as well as in 30 distinct parts is a post-Prophetic innovation. A little deliberation shows that the basic purpose of the rukū‘ division is to mark a thematic shift. Those who marked the rukū‘s have indeed intended to highlight the thematic shifts in the text and have tried to mark such thematic shifts by putting the sign ع. These people intended to guide the reader that, while reciting the Qur’ān, they should not pause at a place where the text should be read jointly. They were indeed right in trying to determine such shifts. However, the need to highlight the knowledge of the arrangement is still demanding because the above mentioned division only helps the reader to ascertain a thematic shift. But we know that such shifts are not permanent in a single discourse: there has to be something that unifies the parts divided by the rukū‘. In some cases the rukū‘ division brings entire parts of the sūrah to a parallel status in terms of discourse. Whereas we know that sometimes a unit, apparently standing apart from the preceding one, is indeed dependent on it and builds upon it. This is the reason people divide their books in parts, then in chapters, then in sections and then in paragraphs. These subcategories are never supposed to be disjointed, independent, pieces of writing. Therefore, the role of rukū‘ is limited to highlighting the break and the division of rukū‘ has, by highlighting these thematic breaks, created the need to discover the interconnection between the divided parts. Hence, this interconnection has to be made visible before one marks the shifts. This I stress because before being divided in rukū‘, the text looked interconnected. In that shape it was easy to discover the coherence in the parts of the sūrahs for those who ponder over the text analytically. Contrarily, once the rukū‘ division has been marked, the divisions and breaks have been highlighted in the minds of the readers. This necessitates that such a division is carried out afresh, dividing the parts in one respect and highlighting their interconnection in another.

The division in 30 parts, on the other hand, has been done purely on quantitative basis. Sometimes it breaks off the discussion completely. I, therefore, prefer disregarding it. I believe that, for the purposes of quantitative division, the concept of manāzil (singular manzil, literally: station) is sufficient. Plus, it does not rend asunder the sūrahs as well.

When I say that those who divided the sūrahs in rukū‘s were right in determining the thematic shifts I do not mean that they have always got it right. Many of their judgments are obviously wrong. See, for example, their work on Sūrah Qamar (54). They have divided the sūrah into three rukū‘s without considering the style of expression or the quantity of discourse. They should have divided it in six parts:

1. The Hour has approached…..(1-7)
2. Before them, people of Noah rejected….(8-17)
3. ‘Ād rejected (their Messenger). Then how (strict) has been our recompense and warnings…. (18:22)
4. Thamūd rejected the warnings…. (23-32)
5. People of Lot rejected the warnings….ِ (33-40)
6. And warnings did come to the People of the Pharoah…. (41-55)

The Qur’ānic text itself is the most reliable guide in this regard. It contains both explicit and implicit indications towards this coherent ordering. Examples of explicit textual indicators are the expressions adopted in the beginnings of sūrahs like yā ayyuha ladhīna (O those who), yā ayyuha an-nāsu (O people), ’alam tara (have you not seen), ’ara’ayta (have you seen) and qul (declare, say) etc. The scholars who have introduced the rukū‘ division have also made use of these kind of indicators.

Other examples of explicit textual indicators include change in rhyme, length of the verses, similarity in style of expression, and kinship of meanings in different pieces of the text….*

Contents

*This discussion too could not be completed by the author.

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

For example, we see that Abū Bakr Siddīq, when he faced the crucial question of dealing with those who had refused to pay the zakāh, argued on the basis of the Qur’ān that the Almighty allowed fighting such rebels. He held that those who did not offer regular ṣalāh could not be, as per clear Qur’ānic assertion, considered part of the Muslim community and, on that account, the believers had been allowed to fight them. He drew the attention of the people to the fact that the Holy Qur’ān frequently mentions the obligation of paying the zakāh with the duty of offering the ṣalāh. Thus, a mention of the zakāh in the Holy Qur’ān adjacent to the ṣalāh reveals to us, he argued, its status in the Divine Law. This proves that if we do not consider the guidance provided by the given order and arrangement of the Book we will definitely lose many aspects of the meaning of the word of God.

Another example of the kind may not be out of place here: God has guided us to the fact that ribā (usury) in its essence is just opposite to the zakāh. God has declared war on those who devour ribā. Those, who refuse to pay the zakāh, by analogy, merit similar treatment.

Contents

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

At this point I intend to present some specimen of their poetry in an appendix*, to make it clear that they recognized as good and virtuous what is universally recognized as such. The Holy Qur’ān only complemented their moral values; it did not fundamentally change them. This is the reason the virtuous among them were immediately attracted to the Holy Qur’ān. The opponents of the Messenger were of two kinds: evil, recalcitrant factions of the society and the ones who saw him threatening their political and religious leadership. Just as the Jews, owing to the obstinacy and envy for Jesus, opposed him, Umayyah bin Abī al-Sallaṭ and the like obstinately opposed the Prophet Muhammad (sws) even though they claimed that they followed the creed of Abraham.

Another source of determining ma‘rūf and munkar is the pure soul of the person of the Prophet (sws) who, by the dint of his position as a divine guide, clarifies to the followers the status of the issues not dealt with in the divine revelation. This is part of his duty as a messenger and prophet. God commands him to teach people the ma‘rūf and to stop them form munkar. His ummah is required to follow whatever ma‘rūf he commands them and refrain from whatever munkar he forbids them. Remnants of the earlier revelations also served as a guide in the Prophet’s time. Examples of such remnants of the Sharī‘ah of Abraham include ḥajj, ritual sacrifice, and ṣalāh. These practices were temporarily adopted by the Prophet but were abandoned once the Divine Revelation was received which either corrected these practices or forbade them altogether .

Another worth considering point is that initially Almighty Allah did not reveal the specifics and details of the religious practices. Only well-known and established religious teachings were required to be followed, for example ṣalāh, zakāh, remembering God, showing compassion to orphans and maintaining excellent moral behaviour. However, once details of a prescribed matter were revealed, this fresh divine guidance assumed the status of original source in that particular matter and the previous concept of ma‘rūf was abandoned.

Sometimes the Almighty commanded to follow ma‘rūf in a particular matter. Later on, some part of that particular matter was detailed in a fresh revelation. The part this divine explanation covered was then to be followed abandoning the previous concept of ma‘rūf in that regard. The rest, which the revelation did not take up, was still governed by the previous concept of ma‘rūf.  The example of a matter partly qualified by the divine revelation and partly by the existing concept of ma‘rūf is the case of bequeathing wealth to parents and other relations. The right to leave a will in favour of one’s parents was later on abrogated, whereas one could still leave testamentary will in favour of the relations which have not been granted any share in the fresh ruling.

The principle guidance in this regard can be reduced to the fact that the details and applications of  those matters which human intellect can penetrate and can derive correct conclusions about have been left to the prevailing human concepts of ma‘rūf. Had the Almighty revealed such cumbersome details where human intellect suffices as a guide it would have caused the God-consciousness and virtue of the people to fade and die out.  Therefore, in many verses such matters have been left upon the human intellect to decide. Thus, by establishing the existent concepts of ma‘rūf and exhorting the adherents of the faith upon following them, the Holy Prophet (sws) has indeed added to the respect commanded by the national laws and good customs of the society. He did not aim at revolutionizing the society and toppling the existing setup. Rather, he adopted the method of gradual improvement, complementing the existing concepts of good and virtue. This is because he had to confirm the previous religious traditions in a specific way and to remove what wrong and unfounded things were mixed with them. He purified the religion of all human manipulations and got the people on the road to God’s guidance, the essence of which was always present in human nature (fiṭrah).

Contents

*Imām Farāhī could not include the referred to discussion to these introductions. He has, however, alluded to some useful facts in some of his other works especially in Jamharah al-Balāghah (A Manual of Rhetoric), (al-Dā’irah al-Ḥamīdiyyah, A‘zamgarh, India).

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

The teachings of Qur’ān can be divided into two major categories:

1. Beliefs
2. Practices

Practices are further divided in three sub-categories:

• Personal
• Familial
• Social

Similarly, beliefs can also be divided in three sub-categories:

• Unity of God
• Prophethood
• Accountability in the afterlife

(along with the line of arguments for each)

Practices include:

1. Salāh (prayer) and  Ḥajj (pilgrimage)
2. Zakāt and its individual-oriented branch, Fasting
3. Good moral behaviour, which consists of doing pious acts, adhering to good norms, and avoiding its opposite i.e. munkar (the evil)
4. Witnessing to the truth
5. Upholding justice and equity
6. Helping God and His cause.

The first four practices are personal in nature even when they are carried out communally.

The issues of free will and predetermination, and waḥdat al-wujūd (concept of unity of being or pantheism) are directly related to and come under tawḥīd (Unity of God). Concept of intercession comes under tawḥīd and Prophethood. Belief in resurrection covers the concepts of reward and punishment, and Heaven and Hell.
Laws of inheritance, marriage contracts, and related issues, plus other social affairs fall under the heading of upholding justice and fairness.
Helping the cause of Allah includes establishing the institution of khilāfah, political cannons of Islam, and Jihād.
Another fact that needs to be mentioned is that all the practices are rooted in ethics. Love, commitment, perseverance, patience, God-consciousness, justice and fairness are values which engender good acts taught by Islam.

Many of the above mentioned beliefs and practices are mutually interwoven and rooted in one another and require some explanation. In this regard, I will try to explain below whatever I have understood from the Book of God.

Jihād
Many of the commentators of Qur’ān from among the earlier generations held that the verse of fighting (9:5) repeals many Qur’ānic verses which enjoin wise counsel and exhortations to the non-believers and the polytheists. On the other hand,  some theologians of our time view that the verse did not abrogate the directives of good will but that Islam only permits defensive war. According to them, all the battles the Holy Prophet (sws) fought were defensive in nature; they were not initiated by the Messenger himself. The wars fought by the Successors of the Holy Prophet (sws) can therefore be best termed monarchical aggressions. They can no way be termed Jihād.

I believe that both of these views are untenable: the truth is quite the contrary. God sent the Prophet Muhammad (sws) in fulfilment of the promise He contracted with Abraham. The Prophet Muhammad (sws) was thus charged with the responsibility that was put on Abraham as mentioned in the following verse:

We enjoined Abraham and Ishmael to keep our House clean for those who circumambulate it, use it as a retreat, and kneel and prostrate themselves (2:125)

It needs to be appreciated that the Prophet Muhammad (sws) was the last Prophet of God. The religion he taught had to reign supreme over all other religions. In order to fulfill this divine scheme, the Prophet was first directed to preach the religion of God to the people around him so that they might adopt his teachings and improve their religious and moral behaviour. He was not allowed to wage war until he had explained his message fully and had established the veracity of the religion of God to the extent that no one was left with a valid excuse to reject it. It was only when the Prophet (sws) had fulfilled this duty of preaching and explaining the religion of God that he was commanded to liberate the house of God, the Ka‘bah, from the hold of the polytheists, and to revive the religion of Abraham in peninsular Arabia. He was allowed to use force if needed for the fulfilment of this objective. This permission of use of force, it must be noted, was granted after he had migrated to Madīnah. This point is important to consider because Jihād, before migration, unless it is in self-defence, undoubtedly becomes a form of coercion and nuisance in the land. Jihād was, therefore, not required only in self defence, rather the Almighty commanded fighting for the cause of liberating the House of God from the polytheistic powers and reviving the religion of Abraham in Arabia.

This Jihād, as is obvious, was to be launched against the children of Ishmael. The other nations whom the Muslims fought were subjected to similar use of force in order to establish justice and uproot iniquity and oppression from the earth. The People of the Book, and with them other nations, were given the choice to adopt any religion they preferred. They were free to follow any other religion but they had to pay jizyah (tax). The Ismaelites were, however, not left with any such choice. They had to choose between embracing the religion of God and death. This, it should be reiterated, was enforced after the truth was unveiled to them in its ultimate form and they were left with no legitimate excuse to reject it. Truth was explained to them in this manner by an individual from among themselves. The Prophet (sws) was their own heart and soul; he was not an alien imposed from the outside over them. He was a sound, exuberant tree rising in the middle of their natural grove of palms. He was born among them and grew pure in the same environment. He assimilated all the good that which the environment offered and shunned all the evil it was marred with. He was like pure oil ready to burn up even if not touched by the fire. He was the hub of their qualities, a criterion for them to choose from between good and evil, and a firm heart to help decide upon serious affairs. By guiding him to the truth, the Almighty Allah in fact made the entire ummah of the Holy Prophet (sws), of which he was a miniature and for which he occupied the stead of a heart, to submit before Him. Once the heart surrenders all the limbs of the body have to submit with it. This issue will further be elaborated upon under the discussion on prophethood.

Considering the issue in another approach leads us to the same conclusion i.e. the Arabs of the time were required to accept his call. The Quraysh were the religious leaders of the Arabs and the Family of Muṭṭalib held the seat of leadership amongst the them. Thus,  this right of leading the Arabs naturally passed over to the Prophet Muhammad (sws). Hence the Prophet’s (sws) saying:

I am son of Abdul Muṭṭalib.

I am a prophet, not an impostor (Bukhārī, No: 2709)

He was calling the Arabs to the millah (religion) of Abraham, which they already acknowledged. He was calling people to fulfil the contract God had sworn to Abraham. They had no excuse to reject him. In this perspective whatever he preached was right. The rejectors and the opponents of this call were the ones who rebelled and who created nuisance in the land.

Jihād is basically launched against oppression and nuisance. Those who take up arms for this purpose must first of all cleanse themselves of this evil. They must not bear even a trace of such hideous crimes. Unless a ruler, who intends to launch Jihād, and his subject as well, do not follow justice and fairness they have no right to force others to observe these values. Plus, if such an operation is deemed indispensable one has to first migrate to some other land and launch the offensive after having settled there. The story of Abraham and some other details regarding ḥijrah (migration in the cause of God) make this fact clear. This is further corroborated by the events of the life history of the Prophet Muhammad (sws). The reason for this is that Jihād, if not conducted by a sovereign power with full administrative control of the country on the offensive, is mere disruption and nuisance. It adds but to chaos and disorder in the land.
Jihād may not be waged until after this sovereign entity has acquired enough power to launch a successful offensive. The story of Prophet Shu‘ayb in the Holy Qur’ān contains arguments for this.

If a party among you has believed in the message I have been sent with, while another has disbelieved, then be patient until God shall judge between us (7:87)

If the above mentioned three conditions are fulfilled, Jihād becomes an obligation on Muslims till the Day of Judgment. The religion of God does not allow coercing people in religious matters and creating disorder in the land. But testifying to the truth, propagating it, and entering into a dialogue with the opponents in a wise and effective manner is a universal obligation.

Contents

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

The reason for conveying deep wisdom using such concise and eloquent style, as is the characteristic of smaller Sūrahs,  within the Holy Qur’ān can be attributed to the following factors:

1. First and perhaps the most important factor behind this practice is that the overwhelming human need for religious truth and its importance in human life demands that its fundamental principles are always kept alive and fresh in the minds of the believers. This, in turn, demands that such principles are put in such comprehensive and cogent expressions that they become part of one’s everyday language like proverbs. They must be easy to express by tongues in direct proportion to their weight and meaningfulness in the mind. Such principles, if expressed in lengthy discussions, are easily lost upon the audience
2. In the early stages of propagation of a message, the teachings being delivered do not appeal and attract people much. At this stage, minds are not usually receptive for the minute details of the directives commanded towards them, nor are people interested in elaborate discussions. This entails that at this early stage, the message which is taught is the one that can be briefly expressed in cogent, compact, and wise sayings. Once these seeds of cogent and comprehensive expressions sprout up, they are watered by the required details for, by that time, hearts and minds of the audience grow tenacious and ready to assimilate more knowledge
3. The Arabs were very fond of rhymed and rhythmical speech. To them, terseness and brevity were necessary characteristics of a fine discourse. Therefore, in the earlier phase, the Holy Qur’ān attracted them by employing their favourite style of expression
4. The soothsayers of Arabia usually composed their cadences in terse rhythmical prose. Arabs would give attentive ears to beautiful speech of the soothsayers. They would consider this mastery of expression a supernatural phenomenon. To them such beautiful expressions really gushed forth from some supernatural source. The Qur’ān adopted similar style of expression in the beginning so that the  Arabs did not find it strange and foreign

As regards the greatness of the shorter Sūrahs in terms of their being loaded and pregnant discourse…^*

Contents

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

*This all important discussion, too, could not be completed by the author. However, a careful study of Farāhī’s exegesis of the shorter Surāhs reveals that even one of the shortest ones, Al-Kawthar, is an ocean of meaning.

1. It will help us appreciate the excellence of Qur’ān over the previous Scriptures which, in turn, will lead us to thank God for blessing us with an unparallelled Book
2. It will also help us discern the points lost upon the commentators of the later generations of Muslims which made it impossible for them to get to the true purport of certain Qur’ānic passages.
3. This will also avail us with sound arguments against the People of the Book. This last point in itself  yields great benefits. (Our earlier exegetes have abundantly quoted from the stories of the People of Israel viz. isra’īliyyāt , yet they did not make use of the earlier Revealed Scriptures. Only a few, like Ibn Taymiyyah,  were those who employed the Divine Books of the earlier nations to make arguments against them, and I also stand with these scholars in this area)

With the earlier Scriptures already there, the Holy Qur’ān was revealed to serve two basic purposes:

1. First, parts of the Divine religion which were not yet revealed were divulged
2. Second, it clarified the religious issues which the followers of the earlier Scriptures had forgotten. Many matters were disputed among them and the Holy Qur’ān provided decisive commandments upon such differences. Some of the matters were no longer clear to them and they had lost the right course; Qur’ān revealed the true nature of  all such matters. Most importantly, they had manipulated and altered many parts of the Divine revelation. The Holy Qur’ān corrected such manipulations. The Almighty says:

Woe be to those who write the book with their own hands and then claim that it is from God, seeking to earn trivial benefits! (2:79)

These are the basic objectives which called for a fresh Divine revelation. Besides fulfilling these purposes the Holy Qur’ān helps us remember God, propagate His teachings, and disseminate His message, which, of course, is the basic characteristic of all Divine Books.
Since the Holy Qur’ān was revealed to fulfil a specific purpose, it does not discuss but teachings of the highest value, leaving out the details of narratives, dispensable explanations of the divine commandments , and events of micro-history. Moreover, the general addressees of the Qur’ān were fully aware of these things thus repeating such matters would have been futile and wearisome for such an audience. Therefore, the historical narratives which the Holy Qur’ān discusses have been put very cogently either to provide pointers towards historical events or to unveil any hideous cheating by the People of the Book. Similarly, it has also not dealt with the well-known religious practices the humans were obligated to carry out except for explicating those aspects which still needed to be completed and perfected.

Believers in the call of the Holy Prophet (sws) were either the People of the Book or those who had intermingled with them. The latter kind too was, owing to their acquaintance with the former, aware of the teachings of the earlier Books. Thus, they did not find it difficult to understand the Qur’ānic passages which alluded to the things mentioned in the earlier Books even though certain details were left out by Qur’ān. They noticed the gulf of difference between the Qur’ānic style of expression and that employed in the earlier books in spite of the unity of purport thereby raising the status of the Holy Qur’ān in their eyes.  Regarding such audience of the Holy Qur’ān the Almighty says (5:83):

When they listen to what has been revealed to the Apostle, you see their eyes fill with tears as they recognize its truth. They spontaneously say, “Lord, we believe. Count us among the witnesses”

The above discussion leads to the following conclusions:

1. Errors in the earlier Scriptures should be determined in the light of the Holy Qur’ān. Difficulties in deciphering the meaning of the complex passages of the previous scriptures should also be explained in the light of the Last Revelation. The only way for the People of the Book to learn the truth is to follow the final revelation of God
2. Since the Holy Qur’ān is a completely authentic and secure word of God it will serve as the final decisive word where the earlier Books differ with it on certain historical facts
3. Those having full exposure to the history of the Divine Revelations, starting from the first Prophet to the last, and thus having a clear understanding of the gradual evolution of the Sharī‘ah of God to mankind, will certainly be able to see clearly the excellence of the Muslim ummah
4. The contradictory isra’īliyyāt, intermixing truth with falsehood, will be explained away, guiding those amongst us who have been taken to error because of such narratives
5. The People of the Book will be able to learn that the Holy Qur’ān does not draw upon these Books, rather it removes errors they are replete with and guides their adherents out of the labyrinths of assumptions and conjectures to the way leading to the truth
6. Many of the Qur’ānic verses which refer to the Torah but the Muslim scholars take them to be referring to the Qur’ān will be correctly understood. The following two verses are examples (2:106) and (22:52):

Any verse which We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one

Every Prophet or Messenger that We sent before you, whenever desired something Satan interpolated with his desires. But God cancels the whispers of Satan and establishes His commands firm

Before concluding this discussion, I want to discuss a point which the Christians usually put before Muslims in order to deceive them, dubbing it as the most manifest argument against Muslims’ stance. They maintain that the Holy Qur’ān at one place clearly requires from the Muslims that they believe in the Gospels. Granted this, they say, the Qur’ān contradicts itself when, on any other occasion, it negates any of the evangelical statements, something it often commits. This, they assume, provides them with an opportunity to invite the Muslims to have faith in whatever falsehood they have inserted in their book. In this effort they usually present proofs from the Qur’ānic verses some of which are produced below……^*

Contents

This is a rendering of English translation of Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam ul Quran by the permission of the translator, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi. Original version available here.

*The author has left this discussion unattended. Perhaps he intended to discuss the verses which state that one of the characteristics of the Qur’ān is that it has come down confirming the Torah and the Gospels (musaddiqallimā bayna yadayhī). If the expression muṣaddiqallimā bayna yadayhī (confirming the earlier revelations), is interpreted the way most of the exegetes do, it validates the point raised by the Christians. We believe that the phrase whenever it refers to a characteristic of the Qur’ān does not mean that the Qur’ān confirms the earlier revelations including the changes and innovations introduced into them by their adherents. It, on the contrary, means that it has been sent down as a confirmation of the prophecies regarding the advent of the last messenger of God contained in the earlier scriptures. Some of these prophecies have survived the interpolation of the Jews and the Christians.