6. [al-Anam, Cattle Mecca 55]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَلاَ
تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ
يَدْعُونَ
رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ
وَالْعَشِيِّ
يُرِيدُونَ
وَجْهَهُ...
6: 52. Send not away those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face.
C870. Face: wajh: see 2:112 and n. 114.
...مَا عَلَيْكَ مِنْ حِسَابِهِم مِّن شَيْءٍ وَمَا مِنْ حِسَابِكَ عَلَيْهِم مِّن شَيْءٍ...
Naught have they to gain from thee, and naught hast thou to gain from them,
C871. Some of the rich and influential Quraish thought it beneath their dignity to listen to Muhammad's teaching in company with the lowly disciples, who were gathered round him. But he refused to send away these lowly disciples, who were sincere seekers after Allah.
From a worldly point of view they had nothing to gain from them as they had no influence. But that was no reason for turning them away; indeed their true sincerity entitled them to precedence over worldly men in the kingdom of God, whose justice was vindicated in Muhammad's daily life in this as in other things. If their sincerity was in any way doubtful, it involved no responsibility for the Preacher.
...فَتَطْرُدَهُمْ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿٥٢﴾
that thou shouldst turn them away, and thus be (one) of the unjust.
وَلاَ
تَسُبُّواْ
الَّذِينَ
يَدْعُونَ
مِن
دُونِ
اللّهِ
فَيَسُبُّواْ
اللّهَ
عَدْوًا
بِغَيْرِ
عِلْمٍ...
6: 108. Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance.
...كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ...
Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings.
C936. A man's actual personal religion depends upon many things,
- his personal psychology,
- the background of his life,
- his hidden or repressed feelings,
- tendencies, or history (which psychoanalysis tries to unravel),
- his hereditary dispositions or antipathies, and
- all the subtle influences of his education and his environment.
The task before the man of Allah is:
1. to use any of these which can subserve the higher ends,
2. to purify such as have been misused,
3. to introduce new ideas and modes of looking at things, and
4. to combat what is wrong and cannot be mended:
all for the purpose of leading to the truth and gradually letting in spiritual light where there was darkness before.
If that is not done with discretion and the skill of a spiritual Teacher, there may be not only a reaction of obstinacy, but an unseemly show of dishonour to the true God and His Truth, and doubts would spread among the weaker brethren whose faith is shallow and infirm.
What happens to individuals is true collectively of nations or groups of people. They think in their self-obsession that their own ideas are right. Allah in His infinite compassion bears with them, and asks those who have purer ideas of faith not to vilify the weaknesses of their neighbors, lest the neighbors in their turn vilify the real truth and make matters even worse than before.
In so far as there is active evil, He will deal with it in His own way. Of course the righteous man must not hide his light under a bushel, or compromise with evil, or refuse to establish right living where he has the power to do so.
...ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٠٨﴾
In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did.
وَأَقْسَمُواْ
بِاللّهِ
جَهْدَ
أَيْمَانِهِمْ
لَئِن
جَاءتْهُمْ
آيَةٌ
لَّيُؤْمِنُنَّ
بِهَا...
6: 109. They swear their strongest oaths by Allah that if a (special) sign came to them, by it they would believe.
...قُلْ إِنَّمَا الآيَاتُ عِندَ اللّهِ وَمَا يُشْعِرُكُمْ أَنَّهَا إِذَا جَاءتْ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٠٩﴾
Say:
"Certainly (all) signs are in the power of Allah:
but what will make you (Muslims) realize that even if a (special) sign comes, they will not believe."
C937. If the Unbelievers are merely obstinate, nothing will convince them. There is no story more full of miracles than the story of Jesus. Yet in that same story we are told that Jesus said:
"A wicked adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas":
There are Signs given by Allah every day -understood by those who believe. A mere insistence upon some particular or special Sign meant mere contumacy and misunderstanding of the spiritual world.
وَنُقَلِّبُ
أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ
وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ
كَمَا
لَمْ
يُؤْمِنُواْ
بِهِ
أَوَّلَ
مَرَّةٍ...
6: 110. We (too) shall turn to (confusion) their hearts and their eyes, even as they refused to believe in the first instance:
C938. Where there is sheer obstinacy and ridicule of faith, the result will be that such a sinner's heart will be hardened and his eyes will be sealed, so that he cannot even see the things visible to ordinary mortals.
The sinner gathers impetus in his descent towards wrong.
...وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ﴿١١٠﴾
We shall leave them in their trespasses, to wander in distraction.
C939. Cf. 2:15.
Allah's grace is always ready to help human weakness or ignorance and to accept repentance and give forgiveness.
But where the sinner is in actual rebellion, he will be given none, and it will be his own fault if he wanders about distractedly, without any certain hope or refuge.
6: 52
Asad
Hence, repulse not [any of ] those who at morn and evening invoke their Sustainer, seeking His countenance. You are in no wise accountable for them –just as they are in no wise accountable for you – and
you have therefore no right to repulse them: for then you would be among the evildoers.
Pickthall Repel not those who call upon their Lord at morn and evening, seeking His countenance. Thou art not accountable for them in aught, nor are they accountable for thee in aught, that thou shouldst repel them and be of the wrong-doers.
Transliteration Wa la_ tatrudil lazina yad'u_na rabbahum bil gada_ti wal 'asyiyyi yuridu_na wajhah(u_), ma_ 'alaika min hisa_bihim min syai'iw wa ma_ min hisa_bika 'alaihim min syai'in fa tatrudahum fataku_na minaz za_limin(a).
[ Ruby’s note : This is a very important verse related to the non-Muslims
Neither Ali nor Asad’s notes expound the important underlying emphasis here:
First these people referred here are not Muslims, yet these same very people are described as very sincere who “morn and evening invoke their Sustainer” implying God is pleased with them with their sincerity and devotion. They may not be Muslims but they are described as righteous in their conviction and action, because the same expression is used in other places in the Quran to describe the righteous among the Muslims. The next sentence is more reflective of this emphasis, it is saying direct to the Prophet that if he would have repulsed these people and not treat them right in giving due importance and attention, the Prophet himself would have become “unjust” or “evildoer”. This is extremely important emphasis to note. Very few times the Quran expressed like this to warn the Prophet. ]
[ Ali’s note: 871 Some of the rich and influential Quraish thought it beneath their dignity to listen to Muhammad's teaching in company with the lowly disciples, who were gathered round him. But he refused to send away these lowly disciples, who were sincere seekers after God. From a worldly point of view they had nothing to gain from Muhammad as he was himself poor and he had nothing to gain from them as they had no influence. But that was no reason for turning them away; indeed their true sincerity entitled them to precedence over wordly men in the kingdom of God, whose justice was vindicated in Muhammad's daily life in this as in other things. If their sincerity was in any way doubtful, it involved no responsibility for the Preacher. (6.52)
872 Pursue the argument of the last note. The influential people who were not given precedence over the poor and humble but sincere disciples, were on their trial as to their spiritual insight. Their temptation was to say (and they said it in scorn): "We are much greater than they: has God then selected these lowly people for His teaching?" But that was so. And God knew best those who were grateful to Him for His guidance. (6.53) ]
[ Asad’s note 41: According to Traditions, this and the next verse were revealed when, several years before the Muslims’ exodus to Medina, some of the pagan chieftains at Mecca expressed their willingness to consider accepting Islam on the condition that the Prophet would dissociate himself from the former slaves and other “lowly” persons ………a demand which the Prophet, of course, rejected……………………..As the wording shows, it relates not to “lowly” followers of Islam but no to people who, while not being Muslims in the current sense of this word, believe in God and are always (“at morning and evening”) “seeking His countenance” (i.e., His grace and acceptance):
......................but to people who, while not being Muslims in the current sense of this word, believe in God and are always “seeking His countenance”.........…………Although primarily addressed to the Prophet, the exhortation voiced in this passage is directed to all followers of the Quran: they are enjoined not to repulse anyone who believes in God – even though his beliefs may not fully answer to the demands of the Quran -……………..]
6: 108 But do not revile those [beings] whom they invoke instead of God, lest they revile God out of spite, and in ignorance: for goodly indeed have We made their own doings appear unto every community. In time, [however] unto their Sustainer they must return: and then He will make them understand all that they were doing. See Asad and Ali’s notes
6: 109, 110 Now they swear by God with their most solemn oaths that if a miracle were shown to them, they would indeed believe in this [divine writ], SAY: “Miracles are the power of God alone.”
And for all you know, even if one should be shown to them, they would not believe
So long as We keep their hearts and their eyes turned [away from the truth], even as they did not believe in it is the first instance; and [so] We shall leave them in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro.
6: 51
Asad And warn hereby those who fear lest they be gathered unto their Sustainer with none to protect them from Him or to intercede with Him, so they might become [fully] conscious of Him [note 40].
Pickthall Warn hereby those who fear (because they know) that they will be gathered unto their Lord, for whom there is no protecting friend nor intercessor beside Him, that they may ward off (evil).
Transliteration Wa anzir bihil lazina yakha_fu_na ay yuhsyaru_ ila_ rabbihim laisa lahum min du_nihi waliyyuw wa la_ syafi'ul la'allahum yattaqu_n(a).
[[ Asad’s note 40 – It is obvious fro mthe context that this verse refers to followers of earlier scriptures – such as the Jews and the Christians – who share with the followers of the Quran the belief in life after death (Zamakhshari), as well as to agnostics who, without having definite beliefs on this point, admit the possibility of life after death.]]