يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ بِطَانَةً مِّن دُونِكُمْ لاَ يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالاً وَدُّواْ مَا عَنِتُّمْ قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاء مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ  هَاأَنتُمْ أُوْلاء تُحِبُّونَهُمْ وَلاَ يُحِبُّونَكُمْ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ كُلِّهِ وَإِذَا لَقُوكُمْ قَالُواْ آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَوْاْ عَضُّواْ عَلَيْكُمُ الأَنَامِلَ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ قُلْ مُوتُواْ بِغَيْظِكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ  إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُواْ بِهَا وَإِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ لاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا إِنَّ اللّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ (١١٨-١٢٠)

وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّىءُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (١٢١)

إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلاَ وَاللّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ  وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ (١٢٢-١٢٣)

إِذْ تَقُولُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَلَن يَكْفِيكُمْ أَن يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِثَلاَثَةِ آلاَفٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُنزَلِينَ  بَلَى إِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ وَيَأْتُوكُم مِّن فَوْرِهِمْ هَـذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِخَمْسَةِ آلافٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ (١٢٤-١٢٥)

وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللّهُ إِلاَّ بُشْرَى لَكُمْ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُكُم بِهِ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلاَّ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ  لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنقَلِبُواْ خَآئِبِينَ  لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذَّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ  وَلِلّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاء وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ (١٢٦-١٢٩)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَأْكُلُواْ الرِّبَا أَضْعَافًا مُّضَاعَفَةً وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ وَاتَّقُواْ النَّارَ الَّتِي أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ  وَأَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ  وَسَارِعُواْ إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ  الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاء وَالضَّرَّاء وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ  وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُواْ اللّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلاَّ اللّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّواْ عَلَى مَا فَعَلُواْ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ  أُوْلَـئِكَ جَزَآؤُهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ (١٣٠-١٣٦)

قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ سُنَنٌ فَسِيرُواْ فِي الأَرْضِ فَانْظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذَّبِينَ  هَـذَا بَيَانٌ لِّلنَّاسِ وَهُدًى وَمَوْعِظَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ  وَلاَ تَهِنُوا وَلاَ تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنتُمُ الأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ  إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الأيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاء وَاللّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ  وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ  أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُواْ مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ  وَلَقَدْ كُنتُمْ تَمَنَّوْنَ الْمَوْتَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَلْقَوْهُ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ (١٣٧-١٤٣)

Believers!1 [they are not your friends, so] do not make those outside your own people [your] confidants.2 They will spare no opportunity to harm you. They desire hardships for you. Their enmity is evident from what they utter with their mouths and greater is what their breasts conceal. We have made evident to you these signs if you are sensible enough. It is you who want to befriend them while they do not want to be friends with you even though you believe in all the Books of God.3 And [it is their practice that] when they meet you they say: “we already are believers,”4  and when alone, they bite their finger-tips with rage –

Tell them: “Go perish in your rage! [God is aware of all your doings and] God even has knowledge of the secrets of the hearts,” – When you are blessed with success, they are aggrieved and when some calamity befalls you they rejoice. [They are not your friends; ignore them] and [remember] if you persevere and keep fearing God, none of their schemes will ever harm you because God fully knows what they are doing. (118-120)

[Make them understand this reality, O Prophet!] and [for this remind them of the incident] when [on the day of Uhud] you left your house to position the Muslims in their battle-posts.5 [At that time the Almighty was aware of your intentions and was listening to what you were saying] and God hears all and knows all. (121)

At the time when two of your groups6 became timid, even though God was there to help them and it is only in God the believers should put their trust. [Before this,] God had helped you at Badr when you were very weak. [Even then you express ingratitude!] so have fear of God that you may be grateful to Him. (122-123)

Remember when you were saying to the believers: “Is it not enough for you that your Lord should help you with three thousand angels sent down [for this very purpose]?7 Yes! If you have patience and the fear of God, God will send to your aid five thousand angels marked specially, if they suddenly attack you at this very instant.8 (124-125)

And God undertook this only to give glad tidings to you and that your hearts be assured and victory comes only from God, the Mighty, the Wise.9 [So that] He might sever one part of these disbelievers or humiliate them to such an extent they return in disgrace – You do not have any authority10 [that the Almighty deals with them such that] either He forgives them [if they repent] or punishes them because they are wrong-doers. [Only God has this authority] and to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. He will forgive whoever He wants to and punish whoever He wants to [according to His law]. And [in reality] God is forgiving and ever-merciful. (126-129)

Believers! [If in future also, you want God’s help] do not consume interest doubling it many times over11 and have fear of God that you may prosper. And protect yourselves against the Fire, which has been prepared for disbelievers. And obey God and the Prophet that you earn mercy.12 And compete with each other to earn the forgiveness of your Lord and a Paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous: those who spend in all circumstances13 whether they are in ease or in hardship and [even if they encounter any excesses from those upon whom they spend] they curb their anger and forgive people14 – [These are the righteous] and God loves such righteous people – who, if they commit a lewd act or wrong their souls, remember God and seek forgiveness for their sins – for who but God can forgive sin – and do not knowingly persist in their misdeeds.15 It is these who shall be rewarded with forgiveness from their Lord and with gardens beneath which steams flow. They shall dwell there forever. And what a grand reward this is for those who do righteous deeds. (130-136)

[Believers! The last victory shall be yours]. Numerous examples of this have went before you. So roam about in this land and see what was the fate of those who disbelieved. This is a clear warning to those [who are adamant in denying the Prophet (sws)] and a guidance and counsel the God-fearing. [So rest assured] and do not despair and be said [because of this defeat].16 If you are believers you will finally reign supreme.17 If you have suffered a wound [now], a similar wound18 was suffered [before this] by the enemy.19 And We alternate these vicissitudes20 among people [to test them21] and so that God may know the true believers and sift out those [who by even laying down their lives] bear witness to the truth22 – [try to understand these expediencies] and [remember that] God does not like those who wrong their souls;23 and24 [We alternate these vicissitudes] that God may separate the believers and destroy these disbelievers.25 – Did26 you suppose that you would enter Paradise before God has even seen the men who from among you waged jihād [and they who did not] – and [We alternate these vicissitudes] that God also knows the enduring among them.27 [Now you are giving up courage] and you were wishing for death before it manifested before you [in this manner]. So [now your wish has been granted because] you have stared death in its face.28 (137-143)

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1. Here those Muslims are being warned who were either simpletons and were not able to understand the schemes devised by the People of the Book or were those who because of their own weakness did not want to sever their old relationships with them.

2. The Qur’ānic word used is بِطَانَةً. It refers to close friends, associates and confidants.

3. Reference to the fact that Muslims believe in their Book and regard their religion to be their own religion; so apparently there should be no reason for enmity but still these People of the Book bear animosity with them. It is strange that still Muslims take the initiative in warmly welcoming them as friends.

4. What they meant by this was that indeed Muhammad (sws) was a Messenger for the Arabs and in this capacity they believed in him; however, it was not necessary for them to follow him and that their own prophets were sufficient for them in this regard.

5. The Arabic word used is مَقاعِدْ. It is the plural of مَقْعَدْ , which means “a place for sitting”; however, in the presence of some textual indication it can mean a battle-post. Here it is used in this very meaning.

6. According to historians, the two groups referred to here are the Banū Salamah of the Khazraj tribe and the Banū Hārithah of the Aws tribe. While explaining the background of the incident mentioned in this verse, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

Both these groups showed some cowardice because of pranks played by the Hypocrites, but later they shrugged it off. The Hypocrites in reality did not want to go out for this battle. The Prophet (sws) knew this weakness on their part. So he wanted that before setting off the real situation come to light. For this purpose, as test, he posed a question before the Muslims: should the Quraysh be fought while remaining in Madīnah or should they be combated by going outside the city? The answer to this question from true and staunch Muslims obviously should have been in the affirmative, and this is precisely the answer they gave; on the other hand, the Hypocrites started to present the benefits of fighting from within Madīnah. When the Prophet (sws) had fully assessed this situation and the weakness of the Hypocrites became evident to him, he gave them the same answer which was in his heart and which he had given to his true companions who were willing to lay down their lives for him. When the Hypocrites saw that their conspiracy had failed, they did at first set off with the Muslims; however, later their leader ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubayy allured them and by presenting the excuse that their suggestion had not been honoured, left the Muslim army with three hundred of his people. This incident naturally effected the morale of some groups among the Muslims because Muslims were just one thousand as compared to the disbelievers who were three thousand. Defection of three hundred people from these one thousand right at the beginning of the battle was obviously a very grave incident, and it was but natural for faint-hearts to be effected by it. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 170.

7. It is evident from various narratives that this was said by the Prophet (sws) to boost the morale of his people at the time when ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubayy deserted the Muslim army with his three hundred companions causing unrest among them.

8. They came into the battlefield with distinctive marks. The purpose behind this demarcation was to inform the Muslims that the Almighty will make elaborate arrangements to send these angels on this campaign.

9. The implication is that even without such glad tidings, the faithful should believe that help and victory always come from God alone.

10. Here some thought occupied the Prophet (sws) about the future of his people at which the ongoing discourse was halted to tell him in this parenthetical sentence that providing guidance and reward and punishment only rests with God. If He wants, He will bless the people of the Prophet’s nation with the urge to seek repentance, and if He wants He will punish them in the same manner as He punished previous nations. This decision is His sole prerogative, and whatever decision He takes will be based on His wisdom and law. No one can interfere with His decisions in any manner. However, He is forgiving and merciful; so one should hope that He will be gracious. At the end of the parenthetical sentence the discourse is linked to أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنقَلِبُواْ خَآئِبِينَ so that readers are able to understand the sequence and context of the discourse.

11. These words do not imply that only compound interest is forbidden; they are meant for a graphic portrayal of the situation and for depicting its disgusting nature. This style can also be seen in the verse: لاَ يَسْئَلُوْن النَّاسَ إِلْحَفاً (٢: ٢٧٣) (they are not insistent in begging, (2:273)). While explaining this verse, Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

… the real objective is a negation of begging; the qualification of being insistent is just meant to portray the situation and to depict its disgusting nature. For example, it is said in Sūrah Banī Isrā’īl: وَلاَ تَقْتُلُواْ أَوْلادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلاقٍ  (١٧: ٣١)(and do not kill your children for fear of poverty, (17:31)). The prohibition in this verse is actually for murdering someone. The words “for fear of poverty” only portray the horrific nature of the situation. Similarly, it is said in Sūrah Āl-i ‘Imrān: لاَ تَأْكُلُواْ الرِّبَا أَضْعَافًا مُّضَاعَفَةً (٣: ١٣0) (and do not devour interest doubling quadrupling it, (3:130)). Here too the real prohibition relates to devouring interest. The qualifying words “doubling quadrupling it” are only meant to delineate the awfulness of the enterprise. Still another example of this style can be seen in the following verse of Sūrah Nūr: وَلَا تُكْرِهُوا فَتَيَاتِكُمْ عَلَى الْبِغَاء إِنْ أَرَدْنَ تَحَصُّنًا (٣٣:٢٤) (and force not your slave girls to prostitution if they want to get married, (24:33)). Here too the prohibition is to force slave girls into prostitution. The qualification “if they want to get married” expresses the gravity of the situation. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 624.

Moreover, in this verse, since people are urged to outdo one another in spending in the way of God, so the objective is also to tell people that the real field of competition is the field of seeking forgiveness from the Almighty and seeking a place in His Paradise and not seeking as much interest as one can – an area in which these slaves of this world even put their life to risk to gain as much as they can and leave others behind them.

12. It is evident from this that if even after the warning, people remain adamant on devouring interest, they will become disbelievers and their fate will be no different from the fate mentioned in the Qur’ān for such people.

13. The implication is that in spite of this vastness, a person can buy Paradise by spending in the way of God. Not to mention the fact that this vastness of Paradise is only a parable. It’s actual expanse is beyond our imagination.

14. This is said because generally the rich who have money do not have the heart to spend it; so by scolding those who ask on their wrong attitude they earn punishment instead of reward even from such a generous act.

15. This is a mention of an important hindrance in the path of spending in God’s way. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes:

Just as the ailment of devouring interest creates such greed for money that it becomes extremely difficult for him to do good works, similarly a proclivity towards lewd and lustful activities stops a person from spending on virtuous acts. People who tread this path become so helpless at the hands of their desires that they do not get the time to even think of others. For this reason, here the Qur’ān, while urging people to spend in the way of God, has not only stopped people from consuming interest it has also stopped them from licentiousness and its obvious consequences: extravagance and spending on forbidden items. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, 2nd ed., vol. 2 (Lahore: Faran Foundation, 1986), 179)

16. The reference is to defeat suffered by the Muslims in the battle of Uhud because of their own fault.

17. This is an allusion to the established practice of God as per which people who deliberately deny their respective Messengers are faced with punishment in this world, while those who profess faith in Him are granted with supremacy in their lands. As a manifestation of this practice, the signs and remnants of the people of ‘Ād and Thamūd and of the followers of the Prophet Lot (sws) and Shu‘ayb (sws) existed in Arabia at that time. The Qur’ān has termed these signs and remnants as sunan (examples).

18. Reference is to the battle of Badr.

19. The Arabic word used is الْقَوْمَ. As per the conventions of the Arabs, this word is used for adversaries and enemies when used in this way.

20. The Arabic word used is الأيَّامُ. When it comes as plural the way it is here, it refers to historic days in which great incidents and happenings took place.

21. This is the conjugate clause (ma‘tūf ‘alayh) of the expression: وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ which has been suppressed as per linguistic principles of Arabic.

22. It is evident from this that among other expediencies in the set-back suffered in the battle of Uhud one was to give people who desired to become martyrs for the cause of truth the opportunity to do so. One can gauge from this how intense was the desire among Muslims to become martyrs: the Almighty in order to appease this desire deemed it necessary to provide them an opportunity.

23. Muslims should not think that the Almighty has now started loving these disbelievers; this is certainly not so; He never loves people who wrong their souls. It is only that He had some expediencies before Him because of which He put up with this defeat of the Muslims.

24. After the parenthetical sentence, discourse resumes from where this sentence had begun.

25. The implication is that it was only possible to destroy the rejecters when they had been isolated and pin-pointed. So it was necessary that people be put through strenuous tests so that their evil is sifted out. Consequently, the defeat of the Muslims was a measure in itself to destroy the disbelievers.

26. This once again is another parenthetical sentence in which the addressees are warned forthwith on a thought that crossed their minds in response to the previous verse: Why was not the existence of faith in Muslims a sufficient yardstick to distinguish them from the rejecters? Why was it necessary to put people through such a trial?

27. The Qur’ānic words are: وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ. It is obvious that they are conjugated to وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ and the sentence between it and وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ  is a parenthetical sentence which arose to warn instantly the believers of a thought that crossed their minds, as indicated earlier.

28. This is a sarcastic remark on the fervour for jihād and on the claims to even sacrifice life for the cause of God expressed by the addressees before the battle of Uhud.