The Qur’an and the previous scriptures, The correct knowledge of the verses of the Qur’an, Misinterpretation of the figurative verses, Prayer for correct guidance from God.

Aal ’Imran Verses 1 – 8

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

“In the name of God the Beneficent, the Merciful”

الم

“Alif Laam, Mim” (3:1).

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ

“God! there is no God but He, the Ever1Living the Se1f-Subsistent2(The Sustainer of all things)” (3:2).

نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنْزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ

“He hath sent down unto thee the Book3with Truth confirming what was before it; And He sent down the Torah4and the Evangel5” (3:3).

مِنْ قَبْلُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَأَنْزَلَ الْفُرْقَانَ ۗ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ ذُو انْتِقَامٍ

“Aforetime, a guidance for people and sent down the Distinction6(Furqan), Verily for those who disbelieve in the signs of God, for them is a severe punishment; God is Mighty, Lord of Retribution” (3:4).

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَخْفَىٰ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي السَّمَاءِ

“Verily, God, nothing hidden is there from Him, in the Earth and in the Heavens” (3:5).

هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ ۚ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ

“He it is Who fashioneth you in the wombs (of your mothers) as He liketh; There is no God but HE, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise” (3:6).

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ ۖ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ ۗ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ ۗ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنَا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

“He it is Who hath sent down to thee (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) ‘the Book7of it there are (some) verses8decisive9these are the Basis10of the Book, and others are ambiguous11; But those in whose hearts there is perversity, they are after that which is ambiguous therein seeking to mislead and 12seeking to interpret (to suit their selfish motives) while none knoweth13its (hidden) interpretation except God and those firmly rooted in knowledge; say they: “We believe in it, all is from our Lord” but none mindeth save those endowed with (Wisdom)” (3:7).

رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ

“(They pray) “Our Lord! Suffer not our hearts to perverse after Thou hast guided (aright) and grant us from unto Thee mercy, for verily Thou, and Thou (Alone) art the 14Ever- Bestower” (3:8).

Commentary

Verse 1

Alif, Laam, Meem, (Huraf al-Muqatta’at15).

Verse 2

See Note on the opening words of Verse 2:255.

‘Ibn Ishaq says that over 80 verses from the beginning of this Surah, were revealed about the Christians of ‘Najran’ whose embassy to the Prophet is described in the note to verse 54. The whole of the section 2 refers to the stress laid on the two attributes of God, the Ever-living (Hai) and the Self-Subsisting by whom all things subsist (Qayyum) which deals a death-blow to the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ, because his birth and his death, do not entitle him to claim these attributes, “i.e. one who was not, and came into existence by his birth, can never be ‘Hai’ i.e. self-existing or the Ever-living and the Ever-Subsisting one, and the one who suffered death, can never be ‘Qayyoom’ i.e. Self-Subsistent”

The obvious absurdity of the doctrine of the god-head of Jesus has led to subtle speculations, in which, the doctrine is vapourised or etherised by means of subtle distinctions and great deal of metaphysical jargons which it is presumptuous for them to pretend to understand, while they themselves do not claim to understand it. Moreover, there is no agreement in the thoughts of the various theologians of the School which may be read in various books, one of them is ‘The History of the Deity of Christ’ published by the Unitarian Association.

The most popular form of the belief is that which is sought to be vindicated in ‘God’ as ‘Triune’ by Gardiner (C.I.S. Madras) in which God is taught to be a sort of spiritual organism, having the living organism as its component members, which can be called organs only so long as united and inter-related to each other in the whole. And so God is said to be One, but has members, having different functions for each. Christ, it wants to be understood, has a mysterious double nature, only one aspect of’ which will be bestowed on him later in his life, as God or a member of God-head. None can conceive anything reasonable of this or any other of the ‘mysteries’ preached by Christianity. None can understand or form any notion at all of them, but whatever the conception may be, this verse is sufficient to give a ‘death blow’ to it. Besides, this or any such complicated or confusing doctrine of the religion formulated by the Church, is diametrically opposed to the simple and the plain teachings of their Holy Bible, about the absolute Unity of God:

Old Testament:

1. Deut. 6/4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,”

2. Ex. 6/3 “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, hut the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

3. Is. 44/6 “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God”

4. Jer. 10/10 “But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation”

5. Isa. 42/8 “I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will not give to another, neither my praise to graven images”

6. Isa. 44/8 “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a god beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any”

There is no God but He! He is the one. The Self-Existing - The Absolute One - The Essential Omnipotent and the All-Knowing One, to disprove whose Essential Existence ail arguments of logic and philosophy go only to end in a muddle of chaos and confusion which ultimately put the philosopher to shame and render him helpless to confess his foolishness to have laboured with the arguments which had been to fool none but himself. Any organism, it will be naturally finite as any other thing in the world of nature. The components of the whole will naturally be inter-dependent to function in a harmonious whole. The question arises, what is the wilful omnipotent factor which keeps the various and the variant components together without allowing them to get disunited to get the harmony and get the desired design duly effected, for without any such causative factor the unity and the harmony among the variant components, can never take effect or be maintained. If there is any Primeal Cause, as there should necessarily be, that cause is God and not the components or their whole which functions subject to the will of the Primeal Cause.

‘Hai’ i.e. Ever-Living, who is knowing and acting freely without any limitations on these functions. An organism cannot be called perfectly living, for whatever it does it is because of the parts which are not in themselves infinite and perfect.

‘Qayyoom’ is intensive of ‘Qiam’, and is used only for the self-subsisted. It means one self-subsistent and by whom others are subsisted. Now saying that God is self-subsistent, means that He is not subject to the Law of Sufficient Reason, else He would need a cause, not to be Self-subsistent. Anything having components with separate functions must be subject to the Law of Sufficient Reason, else it would need a cause and that which needs a cause cannot be Self-subsistent.

Verse 3

‘Taurat’, ‘Injeel’, and the ‘Books’ used here and elsewhere in Qur’an refer to what was revealed to the respective prophets. Hence the present gospels of the Christian church cannot be termed as the ‘Injeel’ revealed to Jesus, to which Jesus himself refers while he commands his disciples, saying, “Go and preach the Gospel”, and while he exhorts his people to believe in the Gospel16. The book called the Bible contains only some extracts from the utterances of Jesus and his experiences in Galilee, Jerusalem, and some other habitations of the Israelites. This book with the anecdotes contained in it, can be valued as only a book of traditions like the books of traditions of the Muslims, ‘Bukhari’ and ‘Muslim’. The question arises as to what happened to the ‘Gospel’ referred to in Mark 1/15 which Jesus commands his disciples to go and recite out to the children of Israel. Where has it gone?

Holding these four gospels as the only authentic ones and the other gospels edited by the other disciples as apocryphal or non-canonical documents, is not based on any historical documents, or any historical fact-finding, but on merely theological considerations, adhered to by the First Council of Venice. Thus, the position of the Holy Qur’an is unique being the one, the only unchanging and uncorrupted record containing nothing but the Word of God in its original purity as revealed to the Holy Prophet, as uttered by him and recorded then and there, duly preserved and handed to generation after generation, down to us, without any hand being able to tamper with it in any sense of the Word whatsoever:

لَا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِ ۖ تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ

“La yateenihil batil min baina yadaih mala min khalfeh, tanzeelun min Hakeemin al Hameed” (A.P.)

“Falsehood shall not come to it from before it nor from behind it; a revelation from the Wise, the Praised One” (41:42).

‘Kitab’ i.e. Book stands for the Word of God, revealed gradually i.e. the Holy Qur’an17.

‘Bil-Haq’ i.e. with truth, facts, right, and justice, in contrast to the false notions and fabricated dogmas in the other corrupted creeds.

‘Musaddiqan’ - verifying, testifying - confirming the unity of God and the righteousness demanded of man, already preached by the preceding apostles of God.

‘Taurat’ and ‘Injil’ - the ‘Torah’ and ‘Evangel.’ The ‘Taurat’ and ‘Injil’ mentioned in this verse refer to the scriptures given to Moses and Jesus and not the books of the Old and the New Testaments edited by the leaders of the Christian Church, from the corrupted, distorted and the tampered records of the Jewish scripts, and which were further added to and interpreted with selfish motives of catering to the desire and the anxieties of establishing a church of the imaginary Trinity of God. Besides ‘Taurat’, cannot signify the Old Testament because the latter is a collection of the several other books along with the Pentateuch. ‘Torah’ in the Hebrew language signifies the ‘Revealed Will of God.’ The word ‘Torah’ in Hebrew means ‘Light.’

Similarly, ‘Injil’ does not mean the present book, i.e., The New Testament of the Christian Church. The New Testament contains not only some fragments of some stories about Jesus and his teachings but also the stories and the teachings of some leading personalities of the followers of Jesus, whom the Christian Church holds as the apostles. The teachings of Jesus were called the Gospel, i.e., the Good News or the Glad Tidings because it gave the glad tidings or the prophecies about the advent of the Last of the apostles of God (i.e. the Holy Prophet Muhammad), which prophecy Jesus gave exhorting his followers saying:

“And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” Mark 50/15.

“When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” Math. 21/40.

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” John 14/16.

“When the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” John 14/17.

‘Furqan’ i.e. ‘The Distinction’ - This is another name of the Holy Qur’an referring to its quality of distinguishing the truth from falsehood.

Verse 5

The knowledge of everything in the world, be that manifest or hidden, belongs to none but God. Verse Mark. 13/32 clearly denotes that Jesus was nothing more than a man, a mortal and not God as conceived by the Christian Church. Jesus in this verse clearly says that he does not know what God alone knows: -

“But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but Father” Mark 13/32.

Verse 6

‘Kaifa Yasha’ i.e. As He likes or as it pleases Him. This indicates the Omnipotence and the absolute power and the absolute freedom of the divine will. God acts in whatever way or manner it pleases Him. He may create an issue in the ordinary or the usual course of the union of male and female matters, or He, if it be His will, create an issue out of a female element alone, as in Parthenogenesis which is common in insects and the bees, etc. The ignorance of this factor in the natural phenomenon working in some special species of creation, makes some semi-educated ones hold such a happening in men, as impossible even when the Almighty and the absolutely independent Author of nature wills it, and thus discredit the working of miracles when wrought on the occasions of proving the absolute potency of the Universal Will, to the arrogant disbelievers. There are freaks of nature abounding everywhere, crying aloud that God is not bound by nature, but nature works at God’s will, though ordinarily the laws of nature work subject to a fixed plane. The disclosures made by the present-day knowledge of the world of nature, inform us that a man becomes a woman and a woman developing the natural features of a man, an Oyster changing its colour18.

When we know it as a matter of an undeniable fact that by a merely acquired intensity of the will power, a hypnotist can exercise manifestly remarkable influence on the physical world how can any sensible and educated one among men, ever doubt about the Omnipotent will of the Almighty God effecting His desired change in the working of the biological functions in the womb of a woman. When we have to unquestionably acknowledge the power endowed in the will of a human mind, how can we reasonably restrict or limit the functioning of the unlimited potencies of the Omnipotent will of the Almighty Author of nature and the Regulator of its laws.

A thorough study of the development of the embryo of every specie from the specific protoplasm of the specie and the particular protoplasm of each individual, will no doubt prove that the development is not the outcome of mere accident. They are very well designed, carefully, and minutely; and the inter relation of the parts of one individual and that of the inter relation of the members of one specie and the inter relation of the species to each other; all as the component parts of the Universe as a harmonious whole, is a sufficient proof of the unity of the Designer, the Creator and the Architect of the whole as well as the parts of the phenomena of existence. And taking into consideration ‘Qayyoomiat’ by the hold of which the whole and the parts of the edifice of the universe stands, the contents of this passage would come into evidence, that He is All in All, and there is none else besides Him. Tolstoy was asked whether he does not see a miracle or the hand of God in the birth of Christ. He answered am observing miracles and the hand of God in the birth of every child’ and this is the case with every aspect, the bent and the turn of nature. Thus HE is the FIRST and the LAST; the APPARENT and the HIDDEN. This passage here can be taken as a foreword to the history of the birth of Christ in the subsequent passages. (A.P.)

Verse 7

This verse loudly sounds a clear warning against any imagination, that everything in the Holy Qur’an cannot be intelligible to everyone - as already said elsewhere in this work, the Holy Qur’an is not a revelation to anyone but the Holy Prophet. Most of its verses being open, clear, plain, and decisive about their meanings, of which there can be no doubt for those with average intelligence. They are called the ‘Muhkamat.’ These are the verses relating to the cardinal doctrines or the articles of faith viz. The Unity of God, the directions relating to the practice of the faith, the law governing the practical life of the faithful. These verses, the meanings of which is fully secured against being changed or altered.

The ‘Mutashabihat’ i.e. the dubious verses - are couched in allegorical or figurative language susceptible to different interpretations, i.e., having meanings other than the literal one, like

يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ

“The hand of God is on their hands” (48:10).

Verse 11:1 speaks of the Holy Qur’an, as the Book whose verses are clear and decisive, whereas Verse 39:23 refers to the same Holy Book which is confirmable in its various parts. The Holy Qur’an has established the basic principles of faith and its practice, in clear cut words of the ‘Muhkamat’ or the decisive verses, while the higher thoughts of further improvement upon the basic ones could not reasonably have been laid bare for one and all, irrespective of the individual differences among the people of the various levels of understanding, for it would have created perplexities and confusion in the ordinary minds. Hence the higher thoughts fit for the tested minds of higher intellect, were couched in dubious verses and the code of the ‘Huruf al-Muqatta’at’ or the letter-symbols with which this Sura and some other suras are begun with, and in the ‘Mutashabihat’ or the dubious verses.

‘Zaigh’ i.e. disease or perversity, evil or wicked intention.

‘Fitna’ i.e. dissension or to creating difference of opinion to mislead or to create mischief.

The Christians avail of the ‘Mutashabihat’ and the ‘Huruf al-Muqatta’at ’ and fabricate their own interpretations of the dubious meanings and by calculating the numerical value of the various letters in the Huruf al-Muqatta’at and assign divinity to Jesus.

The concluding clause of the verse declares that ‘Wama Ya’luma Taveelahu’, saying, ‘None knows the correct interpretation of them’, leaves no room for any of the ordinary scholars to ever claim to possess the knowledge of these verses, for those said here are the ones ‘rooted in knowledge’ to mean those who have been given the knowledge, by God Himself, and this meaning is given in Verse 29:49. None in the ranks of the Muslims, however learned he may be, could ever be imagined to possess knowledge unless it has been given to him by God.

The Ahmadi Commentator says: ‘And thus reading various passages in the light of each, discover the true significance of ambiguous passages’ (M.A.)

But this is quite opposed to what God has declared in 3:7.

The mention in the verse is of the persons who besides God, are by God Himself endowed with the knowledge or the interpretation of these verses and not about the method by which one can draw the interpretation. The ‘Huruf al-Muqatta’at’ at the beginning of the suras, are clear in their mysterious nature which none by any method whatsoever can ever give an acceptable interpretation. This indicates that for such classes of the passages of the Holy Qur’an, there are some beings specially endowed with the necessary knowledge and interpretation which the others cannot be entrusted to. The use of such passages totally obscure for the ordinary human mind, also indicates the serious nature and the extraordinary or the special value of the knowledge so carefully secured as close secrets and the specially trusted status of those who have been entrusted with them.

Verse 6, perusing the word ‘God’ as in the previous verses as ‘Qayyoom’ to whom nothing in the earth or the heavens is hidden, and Who is the Author of even the minutest part of the Book of Creation, such as the development of the embryo, He says that the same Author is the Author of this revealed Book of Legislation (The Qur’an) and in the same way that the Book of Creation (the Universe) contains different signs, some clear and firm in significance and some ambiguous, the Book of Legislation (the Qur’an) also contains signs of similar nature viz. the human structure in the Book of Nature the significance of every part of the body and the particle of it has been known to the scientist but there still remain some parts the significance of which is not yet known to them viz., the Appendix.

A balanced mind would read the significance of this part in the light of the significance of the known parts and would say, ‘as no part was without some significance of its own, this also must have some significance though I could not yet grasp it.’ And a mischievous or a perverted mind will take the reverse course of throwing the known in the darkness of the unknown saying ‘no reason or any significance is found in this part, hence no reason or any significance to be attached to the whole.’ Similar is the case with the Book of Legislation (the Qur’an), the balanced mind will always follow the passage, the significance of which is firm and clear and interpret the ambiguous passages in the light of the clear ones, in the logical process of going from the known to the unknown, or proceeding from the concrete to the abstract. And those whose heart is not clean would follow the ambiguous passage, interpreting as it suits them. And it is generally the case with the process of judging the doubtful in the light of the undoubtful, and vice versa.

‘Mohkam’ and ‘Mutashabeh’ in the sense of clarity and ambiguity should be taken as relative terms. A passage may be clear from one aspect and ambiguous from the other. A passage may be clear to one and may not be clear to the other. However, the ambiguous verse should always be interpreted in the light of the clear ones, or as explained by the Holy Prophet, or by those whose authority has been established by the Qur’an and the declaration of the Holy Prophet19. Which says that the collection, recitation, and the interpretation of the Qur’an should be done through the divine agency.

The term ‘Mohkam’ and ‘Motashabeh’ has been used as to apply to the Book as a whole and in parts20. Hence all the verses of the Holy Book have been presented as firm and well established, and 39:23 the whole of the Book is presented as ‘Motashabihath’ while here some have been termed ‘Mohkam’ and some as ‘Motashabihat’. The meaning of ‘Mohkam’ and ‘Motashabihat’ here is slightly different from the same term in these two passages. There, the term has been used with regard to the place and the sura, and every passage of the Qur’an has been termed as well established in the sense that the arrangement of the words in the verses and the verses in the suras are done so well and properly, that they all appear as a component whole though in revelation the parts were separately conveyed. This passage shows that Qur’an was already arranged and established before its revelation21, which shows the existence of the Book in the Qur’anic form (i.e. a Collective Book Form).

The Qur’an itself means a ‘Collected Recital’ though revealed in parts or piecemeal, and ‘Motashabihat’ in 39:23 the resemblance, miraculous beauty, eloquence, force, and guidance which applies to the Book as a whole and in parts. But here the term ‘Mohkam’ and ‘Motashabeh’ refer to the meanings, the implications, connotations, and the denotations of the various passages in which they differ in clarity some being self-evident and some ambiguous and complex. In that also the relativity should be borne in mind as has been said. However, as a revealed Book for the guidance of mankind, there should not be a passage in the Qur’an to remain entirely unknown to man as the revelation of such a passage will be purposeless, vain, and futile. Hence the ‘Rasikhoona fil Ilm’ be taken as conjuncted to Allah and the clause ‘Yaqooloona’ be treated as adverbial clause qualifying the state of the process of the knowledge as referred to ‘Rasikhoon.’

This is the interpretation of the ‘Ahl Al-Bayt’ and of many other commentators viz. ‘Majma’ol Bayan.’ But having in view that Qur’an implies the hidden significance and meanings latent, fold under fold of which some may remain unknown even to the sublime entities other than the Absolute, as already pointed out in the question of ‘Ilmul Ghaib’. To this aspect of the ‘Motashabihat’ Ali refers in the ‘Nahjul Balaghah’ that those well established in knowledge will believe in the unknown in the light of the known. Hence Ali’s statement cannot be taken as contradictory to what the Fifth Holy Imam Muhammad Ibn Ali Al-Baqir has said.

In short to say that the interpretations, implications, and the folds of the ambiguous passage (the ‘Motashabihat’) are not known to anybody but God, means the futility of such revelations and on the other hand to say that everything in its entirety is known to a finite being as in the sense, manner and the extent, known to the Infinite, would be impossible and absurd. A finite being knows only as much as God has made known to him; whatever may be the extent of his knowledge, it will be limited, capable of further increase or progress. There is always room for having faith in the unknown matter and the folds in the light of what is known. Therefore both the readings are justified.

The word ‘Zaigh’ i.e., the inclination and the bent of mind against what is right, and this is the source of blunder, leading men astray to revolt against the truth. (A.P.)

Evidently, they are matters of very great importance to be disclosed only to the tested higher minds of special or extraordinary intellect with some desired purity of heart and soul, essential to receive and hold the higher aspects of truth and use it profitably to themselves and for others.

Who are they? If the meaning of such obscure passages the ‘Mutashabihat’ and the signal or symbol letters the ‘Huruf al-Muqatta’at’ had to remain only in the knowledge of God and none else to ever know their interpretation there was no conceivable necessity of revealing such verses at all, unless it is acknowledged that the Holy Prophet was endowed with the knowledge or the interpretation. The Holy Prophet must essentially be the first of the “Rasikhona fil ilm’ (i.e. the well-rooted in knowledge). Otherwise, there cannot be any earthly use of an Apostle of God getting a book from God the meaning of some parts of which the Apostle himself did not know. Thus, there can never be any doubt about the Holy Prophet being the custodian of the fullest meaning and the correct interpretation of every letter of the Holy Qur’an. But the question arises as to who are the others along with him, or those who, in his absence should be resorted to, or who can be relied upon as regards the interpretation of such passages and symbols. If we ask the Holy Prophet, his guidance is always readily available. He says:

أَنَا مَدِينَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَعَلَىٌ بَابُهَا

‘Ana Madinatul Ilmi was Aliyun Babuha.’

“I am the City of Knowledge and Ali its Gate” (Hadith).

And before departing from among us, the Holy Prophet further declared about the other ‘Rasikhona fil ilm’ saying: -

“I leave behind me Two very important things: the Book of God (The Holy Qur’an) and my (divinely chosen) descendants, (the Ahl Al-Bayt), should ye be attached to These Two, never, never shall ye get astray after me, These Two (the Holy Book) and the descendants (the Ahl Al-Bayt) shall never be separated from each other, until they meet me at the Spring of Kauthar” (Hadith)

Thus the ‘Rasikhona fil-ilm’ are undoubtedly the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt.

Anas bin Malik relates that he asked the Holy Prophet as to who the ‘Rashikhona fil ilm’ are. The Holy Prophet in reply said: the ‘Rasikhona fil ilm’ are those whose hands have never wrought anything but righteousness, whose tongue uttered not but truth, whose hearts and mind are always on the right, whose stomachs have always been free from every prohibited or forbidden stuff” “All these qualities can be found only in the Holy Prophet and the Holy ‘Ahl Al-Bayt’ about whose purity and cleanliness God Himself has declared Verse 33:33 and none else.

The Holy Qur’an in Verse 31:13 The greatest iniquity is ‘Shirk’ polytheism, and it has been declared as impurity or uncleanliness. Who can deny the historic fact that while the Holy Qur’an was being revealed, except the Holy Prophet and his vicegerent Ali, everyone had once been a polytheist. All the prominent ones among the ‘Sahabas’ (i.e. the companions of the Holy Prophet) were sunk in polytheism, and the curses of the impurities of the heathenic life were there in them up to their advanced ages. Only a few years before their death they joined the ranks of the Muslims. Ali alone was there besides the Holy Prophet, who could rightly claim equal purity of body and soul with the Holy Prophet and this fact has also been vouched by the Holy Prophet in his saying: - (Ali thy flesh is my flesh, and thy blood is my blood)22.

With the knowledge of the sure inability of the people as a whole to know the meaning of the Holy Qur’an as a whole, the divine mercy guides, every sincere seeker of the truth, to resort to the ‘Ahliz Zikr’ (the people of the Zikr i.e. Holy Qur’an) as those divinely inspired ones of the scholars have been titled 16:43 and 21:7.

Verse 8

This is the prayer of those ‘Raasikhoona fil ilm.’

This is a precautionary prayer against the possible perversion (of the mind and heart, even after receiving the guidance. (A.P.)

• 1. Self-Living 2:255.
• 2. Sustainer of all things-or By Whom all things are sustained 2:255.
• 3. The Qur’an.
• 4. The Scripture given to Moses.
• 5. The Scripture given to Jesus.
• 6. Ar. Furqan i.e. Qur’an - The Distinctive Standard.
• 7. Qur’an.
• 8. Refer to: 13:39, 4:162, 29:49, 3:11, 38:11
• 9. Clear.
• 10. Mother or Essence.
• 11. Figurative.
• 12. Others.
• 13. This is why the Holy Prophet had said ‘I leave behind the book of God and my Ahl Al-Bayt and if ye be attached to these Two, never will ye get astray and never these Two will be separated from each other - And said ‘I am the City of knowledge and Ali is its Gate’ 2:69.
• 14. Ar. ‘Wahab’
• 15. See Note to 2:1
• 16. Mark. 1/15.
• 17. See note to 2:2.
• 18. Vide the issues of the Times of India Illustrated Weekly 1931
• 19. Vide 6:19, 16:43.
• 20. See 11:1 and 39:23.
• 21. See 17:106.
• 22. For a similar reference to those divine ones endowed with knowledge please refer to the following Verses: 3:18, 4:162, 29:49, 58:11.