9. Surah At Tawbah
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
أَجَعَلْتُمْ
سِقَايَةَ
الْحَاجِّ
وَعِمَارَةَ
الْمَسْجِدِ
الْحَرَامِ
كَمَنْ...
9: 19. Do ye make the giving of drink to pilgrims, or the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque, equal to (the pious service of)
C1269. Giving drinks of cold water to thirsty pilgrims, and doing material services to a mosque are meritorious acts, but they are only external. If they do not touch the soul, their value is slight. Far greater, in the sight of Allah, are Faith, Endeavour, and self-surrender to Allah.
Men who practice these will obtain honour in the sight of Allah. Allah's light and guidance comes to them, and not to those self-sufficient beings who think that a little show of what the world considers piety is enough.
...آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ ...
those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and strive with might and main in the Cause of Allah?
...لاَ يَسْتَوُونَ عِندَ اللّهِ...
They are not comparable in the sight of Allah:
...وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿١٩﴾
and Allah guides not those who do wrong.
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُواْ وَهَاجَرُواْ
وَجَاهَدُواْ
فِي سَبِيلِ
اللّهِ بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ
وَأَنفُسِهِمْ
أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً
عِندَ اللّهِ...
9: 20. Those who believe, and suffer exile and strive with might and main, in Allah's cause, with their goods and their persons, have the highest rank in the sight of Allah:
C1270. Here is it good description of Jihad. It may require fighting in Allah's cause, its a form of self-sacrifice. But its essence consists in;
- a true and sincere Faith, which so fixes its gaze on Allah, that all selfish or worldly motives seem paltry and fade away, and
- an earnest and ceaseless activity, involving the sacrifice (if need be) of life, person, or property, in the service of Allah.
Mere brutal fighting is opposed to the whole spirit of Jihad, while the sincere scholar's pen or preacher's voice or wealthy man's contributions may be the most valuable forms of Jihad.
...وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَائِزُونَ ﴿٢٠﴾
They are the people who will achieve (salvation).
يُبَشِّرُهُمْ
رَبُّهُم بِرَحْمَةٍ
مِّنْهُ وَرِضْوَانٍ
وَجَنَّاتٍ
لَّهُمْ فِيهَا
نَعِيمٌ مُّقِيمٌ ﴿٢١﴾
9: 21. Their Lord doth give them Glad tidings of a Mercy from Himself, of His good pleasure, and of gardens for them, wherein are delights that endure.
وَعَدَ
اللّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ
جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي
مِن تَحْتِهَا
الأَنْهَارُ
خَالِدِينَ
فِيهَا...
Asad’s version
9:19 Do you, perchance, regard the [mere] giving of water to pilgrims and the tending of the Inviolable House of Worship as being equal to [the works of] one who believes in God and the Last Day and strives hard in God's cause? These [things] are not equal in the sight of God. 29 And God does not grace with His guidance people who [deliberately] do wrong. (9:20) Those who believe, and who have forsaken the domain of evil 30 and have striven hard in God's cause with their possessions and their lives have the highest rank in the sight of God; and it is they, they who shall triumph [in the end] !
9:21 Their Sustainer gives them the glad tiding of the grace [that flows] from Him, and of [His] goodly acceptance, and of the gardens which await them, full of lasting bliss, (9:22) therein to abide beyond the count of time. Verily, with God is a mighty reward!
[[ Asad’s notes - 29 Many commentators see in this verse an allusion to the boast of the pagan Quraysh, before the Muslim conquest of Mecca, that they were superior to all other people on account of their guardianship of the Ka'bah and their providing water (sigayah) to pilgrims; and on being taken prisoner by the Muslims in the battle of Badr, A1-' Abbas, the Prophet's uncle, excused on these very grounds his failure to accompany the Muslims on their exodus from Mecca to Medina (Tabari). It is probable, however, that this verse has yet another, deeper import. According to an authentic Tradition quoted by Muslim, Abu Da'ud and Ibn Hibban (as well as by Tabari), one of the Prophet's Companions stated in the mosque of Medina, "I would not care, after having accepted Islam, to do any good deed beyond providing water to the pilgrims! " - whereupon another of the Companions declared, "Nay, [I would rather take charge of] the maintenance of the Inviolable House of Worship." But yet another Companion declared, "Nay, struggle (jihad) in God's cause is far better than what you have mentioned! " A short time afterwards the above Qur'an-verse was revealed to the Prophet. It would, therefore, appear that what is meant here is the superior value of faith in God and struggle in His cause as compared with acts which, however meritorious, are concerned only with outward forms: in brief, the immense superiority of real self-surrender to God over mere ritual.
30 See surah 2, note 203, and surah 4, note 124. ]]