In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The commentary series
on the book "Identification Cards
for the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"
by Dr. Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz Ibn 'Umar Nasif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah al-Mujadilah.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation,
and may peace and blessings be upon the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers,
and upon his family and all his Companions.
We continue with our commentary
on the Identification Cards,
and we have arrived at Surah al-Mujadilah.
I have three main points to make regarding it.
The first point concerns the opening of the Surah,
for it begins with an informative statement
affirming
the Hearing of Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He:
﴾Allah has indeed heard the speech of the woman who pleads with you...﴿
“Allah hath heard the saying of her that disputeth with thee (Muhammad) concerning her husband, and complaineth unto Allah. And Allah heareth your colloquy. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower.” (58:1)
﴾and complains to Allah,﴿
﴾and Allah hears your dialogue.﴿
Then He, Mighty and Majestic is He, said:
﴾Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing,﴿
﴾All-Seeing.﴿
And this opening,
as is typical of the openings of the Surahs,
gives an indication of the overarching theme of the Surah.
For even though this verse
speaks about an incident
that is not
encompassing the entire Surah,
but rather is an incident
related to the opening verses of the Surah,
nevertheless, this central meaning
contained within it—which is the affirmation of Allah's Hearing
and Allah's Sight,
both of which necessitate
the Knowledge of Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He—
I say:
this theme permeates
the entire Surah.
Numerous verses
appear throughout the Surah connected
to this reality:
that Allah knows everything and is fully watchful
over His servants wherever they may be;
“Hast thou not seen that Allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? There is no secret conference of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but He is with them wheresoever they may be; and afterward, on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Lo! Allah is Knower of all things.” (58:7)
“Hast thou not seen that Allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? There is no secret conference of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but He is with them wheresoever they may be; and afterward, on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Lo! Allah is Knower of all things.” (58:7)
﴾...but He is their sixth...﴿
“Hast thou not seen that Allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? There is no secret conference of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but He is with them wheresoever they may be; and afterward, on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Lo! Allah is Knower of all things.” (58:7)
“Hast thou not seen that Allah knoweth all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth? There is no secret conference of three but He is their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of less than that or more but He is with them wheresoever they may be; and afterward, on the Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Lo! Allah is Knower of all things.” (58:7)
This brings me
to the second point:
If the central theme of the Surah
is evident from its opening,
and from the recurring
mentions of the Knowledge of Allah,
Glorified and Exalted be He,
then this draws our attention to the fact
that creedal matters ('Aqidah)
were not restricted
to the Meccan Surahs alone.
It is widely known that Meccan Surahs
were
primarily focused on creed,
while Medinan Surahs contained
more legal rulings.
While this is true,
creedal themes
continued to recur
until the very last verse revealed:
“And guard yourselves against a day in which ye will be brought back to Allah. Then every soul will be paid in full that which it hath earned, and they will not be wronged.” (2:281)
“And guard yourselves against a day in which ye will be brought back to Allah. Then every soul will be paid in full that which it hath earned, and they will not be wronged.” (2:281)
﴾...every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be wronged,﴿
according to a well-known scholarly view
regarding the last verse revealed.
It is a verse that reminds us
of the Hereafter
and of standing before Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He.
Creed is something
that a Muslim needs
at the very beginning of his Islam,
and thereafter
his need for it continues
throughout
his life. Thus, for the Companions,
there was no cessation
of creedal verses
revealed to them
after the Meccan period;
rather, they continued to be revealed
until the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
met his Lord.
This is something we must remain mindful of.
Moreover, we must also realize
that the verses of legal rulings
themselves—and these verses are among them,
for we have multiple legal rulings in this Surah—
the verses of rulings themselves
contain mentions
of creedal matters
and attach hearts to the Knower of the Unseen,
Glorified and Exalted be He.
This is a point that should not be overlooked by any Muslim
in general, nor should it
be overlooked by a student
of sacred knowledge in particular,
and it should never be overlooked,
even more specifically, by the jurist
who provides people with legal rulings;
for he must inevitably connect that
to Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He,
and to His Wisdom
and Knowledge, Exalted is He in the Highest.
As for the third point,
it concerns a phrase repeated
in the Surah:
﴾Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger...﴿
“Lo! those who oppose Allah and His messenger will be abased even as those before them were abased; and We have sent down clear tokens, and for disbelievers is a shameful doom” (58:5)
﴾...before them.﴿
﴾Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger—﴿
﴾those will be among the most debased.﴿
This expression,
which denotes severe,
vehement opposition—when you say
"So-and-so opposes (yuhadd) Allah and His Messenger,"
it is a phrase that terrifies
and makes the skin of a believer shudder.
Yet if you look
at the legal rulings mentioned in the Surah,
they are rulings concerning
zihar—
the ruling of zihar, which was an expression
the Arabs used to unlawfully declare their wives
forbidden to them.
They were prohibited from doing so,
and specific boundaries were established,
clarifying the lawful manner of separation
and that this method was unlawful,
along with other such rulings.
One might not feel that these rulings belong to—
or so one might superficially perceive,
though this is a flawed view—
one might not perceive them as core fundamentals
of the religion that must never be violated,
yet Allah termed violating them
an act of opposing Allah and His Messenger.
Look at Imam al-Tabari,
when he
explains this verse:
﴾Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger...﴿
He said: "Indeed, those who transgress
against Allah regarding His boundaries and His obligations,
setting up boundaries
other than His boundaries—
that
is opposing Allah and His Messenger."
And commenting on the verse at the end
of the Surah—and whenever you find
a word or phrase at the beginning of a Surah
and at its end, it indicates the thematic coherence
between its opening and its conclusion—
he said regarding the second verse:
"Indeed, those who oppose Allah
and His Messenger regarding His boundaries
and what He made incumbent upon them
of His obligations, showing hostility..."
Imagine
the gravity of the matter
when a person sets boundaries
other than Allah's boundaries
that He has demarcated, thereby violating
Allah's boundaries; the matter is truly perilous.
How many matters do we look
upon as trivial, assuming they are
merely minor sins
in the record of deeds
that Allah might easily forgive,
when they may in fact constitute opposition
to Allah and His Messenger! A person must therefore
adhere strictly to the boundaries of Allah,
even if a matter seems minor to him, such as
an issue regarding inheritance,
or in dealing with women,
and the like; all of this is part of the religion.
A person must
abide by the boundaries of Allah
and never transgress them.
I ask Allah to grant me and you success
in doing what He loves and is pleased with.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation.