Surah Al-An'am, Ayah 154

Praising the Tawrah and the Qur'an

After Allah described the Qur'an by saying,

وَأَنَّ هَـذَا صِرَطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ

(And verily, this is My straight path, so follow it...) He then praised the Tawrah and its Messenger,

ثُمَّ ءاتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَـبَ

(Then, We gave Musa the Book...) Allah often mentions the Qur'an and the Tawrah together. Allah said,

وَمِن قَبْلِهِ كِتَـبُ مُوسَى إِمَاماً وَرَحْمَةً وَهَـذَا كِتَـبٌ مُّصَدِّقٌ لِّسَاناً عَرَبِيّاً

(And before this was the Scripture of Musa as a guide and a mercy. And this is a confirming Book in the Arabic language.) 46:12. Allah said in the beginning of this Surah,

قُلْ مَنْ أَنزَلَ الْكِتَـبَ الَّذِى جَآءَ بِهِ مُوسَى نُوراً وَهُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ تَجْعَلُونَهُ قَرَطِيسَ تُبْدُونَهَا وَتُخْفُونَ كَثِيراً

(Say: "Who then sent down the Book which Musa brought, a light and a guidance to mankind which you have made into paper sheets, disclosing (some of it) and concealing (much)") 6:91, and

وَهَـذَا كِتَـبٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ مُبَارَكٌ

(And this is a blessed Book which we have sent down. ..) 6:92 Allah said about the idolators,

فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ عِندِنَا قَالُواْ لَوْلا أُوتِىَ مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَى

(But when the truth has come to them from Us, they say: "Why is he not given the like of what was given to Musa") 28:48. Allah replied,

أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُواْ بِمَآ أُوتِىَ مُوسَى مِن قَبْلُ قَالُواْ سِحْرَانِ تَظَـهَرَا وَقَالُواْ إِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كَـفِرُونَ

("Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Musa of old" They say: "Two kinds of magic the Tawrah and the Qur'an, each helping the other!" And they say: "Verily, in both we are disbelievers.") 28:48 Allah said about the Jinns that they said,

يقَوْمَنَآ إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَـباً أُنزِلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَى مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِى إِلَى الْحَقِّ

("O our people! Verily, we have heard a Book sent down after Musa, confirming what came before it, it guides to the truth.") 46:30 Allah's statement,

تَمَامًا عَلَى الَّذِى أَحْسَنَ وَتَفْصِيلاً

(...complete for that which is best, and explaining all things in detail...") means; `We made the Book that We revealed to Musa, a complete and comprehensive Book, sufficient for what he needs to complete his Law.' Similarly, Allah said in another Ayah,

وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِى الاٌّلْوَاحِ مِن كُلِّ شَىْءٍ

(And We wrote for him on the Tablets the lesson to be drawn from all things. ) 7:145 Allah's statement,

عَلَى الَّذِى أَحْسَنَ

(for that which is best,) means: `as a reward for his doing right and obeying Our commands and orders.' Allah said in other Ayat,

هَلْ جَزَآءُ الإِحْسَـنِ إِلاَّ الإِحْسَـنُ

(Is there any reward for good other than what is best)55:60,

وَإِذِ ابْتَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ رَبُّهُ بِكَلِمَـتٍ فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ قَالَ إِنِّى جَـعِلُكَ لِلنَّاسِ إِمَامًا

(And (remember) when the Lord of Ibrahim tried him with (certain) commands, which he fulfilled. He (Allah) said (to him), "Verily, I am going to make you an Imam for mankind.") 2:124 and,

وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا لَمَّا صَبَرُواْ وَكَانُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا يُوقِنُونَ

y(And We made from among them (Children of Israel), leaders, giving guidance under Our command, when they were patient and believed with certainty in Our Ayat.) 32:24 Allah said;

وَتَفْصِيلاً لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً

(and explaining all things in detail and a guidance and a mercy) praising the Book that Allah sent down to Musa, while,

ثُمَّ ءاتَيْنَا مُوسَى الْكِتَـبَ تَمَامًا عَلَى الَّذِى أَحْسَنَ وَتَفْصِيلاً لِّكُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لَّعَلَّهُم بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَهَـذَا كِتَـبٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ مُبَارَكٌ فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَاتَّقُواْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ

(. ..that they might believe in the meeting with their Lord. And this is a blessed Book (the Qur'an) which We have sent down, so follow it and have Taqwa so that you may receive mercy.) This calls to following the Qur'an. Allah encourages His servants to follow His Book (the Qur'an) and orders them to understand it, adhere to it and call to it. He also describes it as being blessed, for those who follow and implement it in this life and the Hereafter, because it is the Firm Rope of Allah.

Commentary

The reason of being ` ignorant of (or heedless to) what they studied - 156' was not that the Torah and the Injil were non-existent in the Arabic language because it is possible to become informed of the contents through a translation, in fact, this happens. Instead, this is because the people of the Book never took steps to educate and inform the people of Arabia in the mores of monotheism. That something falls within hearing distance casually is customarily ineffective as a meaningful warning - though, this much note of warning makes search and consideration obligatory, and on this basis, the coming of Divine punishment against the abandonment of Tauhid (the belief in the Oneness of Allah) was possible. However, this raises no doubts about the universal nature of the prophetic mission of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) because the particularization of this universality of message is with our master, may the blessing of Allah be upon him, and peace - and this particularization is in terms of the totality of fundamentals and subsidiaries, otherwise, in fundamentals, following all prophets is obligatory on all peoples. So, the punishment would have been proper on this basis. But, this would have been an excuse advanced initially. Now that too is no more valid. The argument of Allah is already established.

As for their second saying: لَوْ أَنَّا أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا الْكِتَابُ لَكُنَّا أَهْدَىٰ مِنْهُمْ (If the Book had been sent down to us, we would have been more adhering to the right path than they' ), a question and its answer has already appeared under the commentary on verse 19 of Surah A-Ma'idah earlier in this volume. This concerns the hope of salvation during the period of Fatrah or gap between prophets.

The orphan is the least likely to receive good treatment, because he is the weakest member of any society. In his case, any of the factors which would predispose an individual to behave well towards others are unlikely to come into play. Shouldering responsibility in the case of an ‘orphan’ can be done only by one who has become a man of character purely out of principle and not on the basis of self-interest. Such a person who is the well-wisher of an orphan will also give exceptionally good treatment to other people. All things in the universe are so interrelated as to ensure that giving and taking are done on an equitable basis and are mutually beneficial. This very principle has to be adopted by man in his life. If an individual has to measure out something for others, he should measure it out properly and, if he has to weigh out something, he should weigh it out properly. It should never happen that he uses one scale for himself and a different scale for others. It happens from time to time that a man is required to express an opinion against somebody. On such occasions, the way to win God’s approval is to utter such views as meet the standards of justice. Whether the person in question is one of his own or a stranger; whether his relations with him are friendly or inimical, whether or not his interests are linked with him, he should remain uninfluenced by all these factors and should say only what is right and proper. Every man is bound by certain vows. Some are in writing and others are purely verbal. But a man’s Faith, his humanity and his nobility demand that right action should be taken in the fulfilment of pledges of any form. The Muslim is duty- bound to fulfil both the written and the verbal kind—all this is very clear. Heavenly revelation and man’s mind both bear testimony to this being proper. But, only that person will learn a lesson from divine revelation who himself wants to learn. These commandments (verses 151- 53) are basic sections of the divine Shariah. To follow these within their strict and direct meaning is in fact to follow the straight highway of God. But if, by means of hair-splitting, different by-ways are introduced and if all emphasis is laid on them, this amounts to going astray on various paths (other than the straight highway) which will never lead a man towards God.