Sura-41, Fussilat, Mecca 61

The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:

مَا يُقَالُ لَكَ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِن قَبْلِكَ...

41:43. Nothing is said to thee that was not said to the messengers before thee:

...إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ ﴿٤٣﴾

That thy Lord has at His command (all) Forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty.

Transliteration Ma_ yuqa_lu laka il la_ ma_ qad qila lir rusuli min qablik in na rab baka lazu_ magfiratiw wa zu_ iqa_bin alim

Asad’s translation:

41:43 [And as for thee, O Prophet,] nothing is being said to thee but what was said to all [of God's] apostles before thy time." Behold, thy Sustainer is indeed full of forgiveness - but He has also the power to requite most grievously!

41: 43

Pickthall Naught is said unto thee (Muhammad) save what was said unto the messengers before thee. Lo! thy Lord is owner of forgiveness, and owner (also) of dire punishment.

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Ali’s comment:

4515 The gist of Allah's Message, now, before, and for ever, is the same: Mercy to the erring and repentant; just punishment to those who willfully rebel against Allah. (41.43)]

Amatulla’s comments:

This verse is fundamental in nature: the common factors of Messages to all the prophets – the Quran proclaims every community was given a prophet – is the essence and goal of religion [Din in Arabic].

The variation of ways [shirah or minhaj] to achieve it may differ among different people, see 2:48 and 5:48. This verse is clearly saying (in Mecca) that this prophet has not brought any new religion. This is the continuation of the same message God has sent humankind over and over again. Even though the ways and specific rites and rituals may differ among different people, the goal is the same: the submission to the Will and Law of God, . The Arabic term to express this state is ‘islam’, and the people that submit are called ‘muslims’. Muhammad Asad, a renowned contemporary scholar, who translated the Quran, said that the Arabic terms ‘islam’ and ‘muslim’ are universal in scope and are not exclusive to the followers of Prophet Muhammad. The notion that these are applicable to the followers of Prophet Muhammad is a post-Quranic development. The Quran uses the universal ideas behind ‘islam’ and ‘muslims’. [note 17 to 68:35, attached, see below].

The goal of submission has been the same: 1. to believe in One Unseen God, 2. to believe in Hereafter or the eternal existence, and 3. to do good in this life by submitting to and complying with God’s Laws: law of justice, law of balance, law of compassion toward God’s creation. To take care of God’s creation the way God does: with wisdom and compassion, with balance and restraint, with truth and justice. The concept of remaining purer and truer to the nature [fitra] God has created with so that we can achieve the highest success here and Hereafter. These are the fundamental ideas that has been brought to people over and over again down through the ages. This essence of the Message has never changed.

Asad’s translation:

68:34 For, behold, it is the God-conscious [alone] whom gardens of bliss await with their Sustainer:

(68:35) or should We, perchance, treat those who surrender themselves unto Us 17 as [We would treat] those who remain lost in sin?

Asad’s comments:

17 This is the earliest occurrence of the term muslimun (sing, muslim) in the history of Qur'anic revelation. Throughout this work, I have translated the terms muslim and islam in accordance with their original connotations, namely, "one who surrenders [or "has surrendered"] himself to God", and "man's self-surrender to God"; the same holds good of all forms of the verb aslama occurring in the 'Qur'an.

It should be borne in mind that the "institutionalized" use of these terms - that is, their exclusive application to the followers of the Prophet Muhammad - represents a definitely post-Qur'anic development and, hence, must be avoided in a translation of the Qur'an.