5. Surah al-Maida, Medina 112 [late Medina]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Translation:

وَأَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمُهَيْمِنًا عَلَيْهِ ...

5: 48. To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety;

... فَاحْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءهُمْ عَمَّا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ ...

so judge between them by what God hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee.

... لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا...

To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way.

[[ Ali’s note 760.

Law: shirat, rules of practical conduct.

Open Way: Minhaj. The finer things which are above the law, but which are yet available to everyone, like a sort of open highway. The light in verses 44 and 46 though laws and rules may take different forms among different People. ]]

... وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً ...

If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people,

... وَلَـكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِي مَآ آتَاكُم فَاسْتَبِقُوا الخَيْرَاتِ...

but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues.

... إِلَى الله مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ ﴿٤٨﴾

The goal of you all is to God;

it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.

Asad’s Translation

5:48 “ To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way. If God had so willed, he would have made you a single People, but (His plan is) to test you in what he hath given you. So strive as in a race in all virtues, the goal of you all is to God; it is he that will show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute.”

And unto the [O Prophet] have We vouchsafed this divine writ, setting forth the truth, confirming the truth of whatever there still remains of earlier revelations and determining what is true therein (note 64). Judge, then, between the followers of earlier revelation in accordance with what God has bestowed from on high (note 65), and do not follow their errant views, forsaking the truth that has come unto thee.

Unto every one of you have We appoint a [different] law and way of life (note 66). And if God has so willed, He could surely have made you all one single community: but [He willed it otherwise} in order to test you by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie, then, with one another in doing good works! Unto God you all must return; and then He will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont to differ.

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Asad comments:

66: The expression “every one of you” denotes the various communities of which mankind is composed. The term ‘shirah’ signifies, literally, “ the way to a watering-place” (from which men and animals derive the element indispensable to their life), and is used in the Quran to denote a system of law necessary for a community’s social and spiritual welfare. The term ‘minhaj’, on the other hand, denotes an “ open road”, usually in an abstract sense: that is, “ a way of life”, The term ‘shirah’ and ‘minhaj’ are more restricted in their meaning than the term ‘din’ , which comprises not merely the laws relating to a particular religion but also the basic, unchanging spiritual truths which, according to the Quran, have been preached by every one of God’s apostles, while the particular body of laws (Shirah or shariah) promulgated through them, and the way of life (minhaj) recommended by them, varied in accordance with the exigencies of the time and of each community’s cultural development. This “unity in diversity” is frequently stressed in the Quran. Because of the universal applicability and textual incorruptibility of its teachings – as well as of the fact that the Prophet Muhammad is “the seal of all prophets” , i.e., the last of them – the Quran represents the culminating point of all revelation and offers the final, perfect way to spiritual fulfillment.

This uniqueness of the Quranic message does not, however, preclude all adherents of earlier faiths from attaining to God’s grace: for – as the Quran so often points out – those among them who believe uncompromisingly in One God and the Day of Judgment and live righteously “need have no fear, and neither shall they grieve”.

Amatulla’s comments –

Yes, we need to take the whole Quran into account as well as individual injunctions. However, it is dangerous to assume God has abrogated some of his injunctions. The confusion regarding the verse that says that - 2:106 “Any message which We annul or consign to oblivion We replace with a better or a similar one .” – stems from erroneous idea about God and Religion. Besides, no such declared annulment is there in the Quran regarding any of the existing Quranic verses , and if God had consigned any verses to oblivion then those must not be the existing verses that we know. Therefore, in the context of the existing Quranic verses the above injunction cannot be applicable. The above verse then must me related to the era of the preceding Prophets.

In that context a scholar of our time Assad said : ‘The principal laid down in this passage – relating to the supersession of the Biblical dispensation by that of the Quran – has given rise to an erroneous interpretation by many Muslim theologians. The word ‘ayah’

(“message”) occurring in this context is also used to denote a “ verse” of the Quran

( because every one of these verses contains a message). Taking this restricted meaning

of the term ‘ayah’ , some scholars conclude from the above passage that certain verses of the Quran have been ‘abrogated’ by God’s command before the revelation of the Quran

was completed. Apart from the fancifulness of this assertion – which calls to mind the image of a human author correcting, on second thought , the proofs of his manuscript, deleting one passage and replacing it with another - there does not exist a single reliable Tradition to the effect that the Prophet ever declared a verse of the Quran to have been ‘abrogated’. At the root of the so-called ‘doctrine of abrogation’ may lie the inability of some of the early commentators to reconcile one Quranic passage with another …..”

As far as the fundamentals of Religion is concerned, God with His absolute knowledge and Wisdom, has never changed his stand and God has made it absolutely clear in the Quran : 41:43 & 3:144 “(As for thee, O Prophet ) nothing is being said to thee but what was said to all (of God’s ) Apostles before thy time. “ With that understanding any individual who truly submits and complys with the True Nature of himself / herself is a muslim no matter what one calls himself / herself . By the same token Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and all other known and unknown messengers of God were muslims and followers of Islam. And they lived long before Prophet Mohammed , five times prayer, fasting, and all the detail ways of doing things.

The Quran clearly lays down the definition of that eternal True religion : 30:30 “ And so, set thy face steadfastly towards the [ one ever-true ] faith, turning away from all that is false, in accordance with the natural disposition which God has instilled into man : [for] not to allow any change to corrupt what God has thus created - this is the [purpose of the one] ever-true faith; but most people know it not. “

Again, here I would like to mention the fundamental verses related to these : 2:62 Verily, those who have attained to faith (in this divine writ), as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds – shall have their reward with their Sustainer and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.”

Mohammad Assad’s comment on these will further clarify the issue : ‘The above passage – which recurs in the Quran several times – lays down a fundamental doctrine of Islam. With a breath of vision unparalleled in any other religious faith, the idea of

“ salvation” is here made conditional upon three elements only : belief in God, belief in the Day of Judgment , and righteous action in life. …’.

In these fundamental matters, many muslims have misunderstood the universal message of the Quran. And throughout the history these misunderstandings had caused injustice and bloodshed. We need to have the courage and sincerity to address these fundamental issues, otherwise we remain responsible for changing God’s words, the greatest sin.

Ali’s comments:

759. After the corruption of the older revelations, the Quran comes with a twofold purpose:

1. to confirm the true and original Message, and

2. to guard it, or act as a check to its interpretation.

The Arabic word Muhaymin is very comprehensive in meaning. It means one who;

- safeguards,

- watches over,

- stands witness,

- preserves, and

- upholds.

The Quran safeguards "the Book", for it has preserved within it the teachings of all the former Books. It watches over these Books in the sense that it will not let their true teachings to be lost. It supports and upholds these Books in the sense that it corroborates the Word of Allah which has remained intact in them. It stands a witness because it bears testimony to the Word of Allah contained in these Books and helps to sort it out from the interpretations and commentaries of the people which were mixed with it: what is confirmed by the Quran is the Word of Allah and what is against it is that of the people. (R).

761. By origin mankind were a single people or nation: 4:1, and 2:213. That being so Allah could have kept us all alike, with one language, one kind of disposition, and one set of physical conditions (including climate) to live in. But in His wisdom, He gives us diversity in these things, not only at any given time, but in different periods and ages.

This tests our capacity for Unity (Wahdaniyat) still more, and accentuates the need of Unity and Islam.

762. Men are wont to make conflicting claims regarding Allah, the ultimate destiny of man, and other questions of vital importance.

No matter how vehement and eloquent the proponents of false doctrines might be, their efforts will prove fruitless and it will be indisputably clear on the Day of Judgment as to who entertained false notions and who cherished the truth. (Eds).