Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Today’s Reading is quite challenging, so sit comfortably and have your favorite drink at hand!
COMMENTS:
1. We begin today’s Reading with a verse unlike any other, most famous because it holds the all-important final verses revealed to the Messenger Muhammad, peace upon him.
Verse 3 begins by continuing on the topic of Verse 2 (which spoke about what violations not to commit), here discussing different kinds of ‘meats,’ however, it then gives the ‘concluding statement to the entire Qur’anic Message,’ in which:
After 23 years of trial and sacrifice, God finally announces to all Those who had Attained Faith, who had been following the Qur’anic Message and the guidance of its Messenger, who had been making conscious effort to self-correct[1] and had been painstakingly setting their standard of accountability according to all that they were instructed… God finally announces to them that He is now -with THIS final revelation- bringing their standard to completion:[2]
“…At this point in time/this day, Those Who Have Denied have despaired of your Standard of Accountability دينكم,[3] so do not hold them in awe, but stand in awe of Me; on this day I have brought to completion for you (akmaltu lakum) your Standard of Accountability, and I have fulfilled upon you, my Favor, and I have approved, for you Islam as a Standard of Accountability…”
(See Blog Post Day 26 for definition of ‘Islam.’)
Readers are probably better acquainted with this statement (the latter part of Verse 3) as explained/ translated by Yusuf Ali or Muhammad Asad (quoted respectively here):
“…..This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your religion: yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…”
“….Today, those who , are bent on denying the truth have lost all hope of [your ever forsaking] your religion: do not, then, hold them in awe, but stand in awe of Me! Today have I perfected your religious law for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed that self-surrender unto Me shall be your religion….”
Note about AKMALTU: I brought to completion:
In the Qur’an, variations of the root verb ‘kamala’ occur 5 times, always related to completing a set amount (HQ2:185, 196, 233; 4:3; 16:25). When translations say ‘perfecting your religion,’ they automatically do two things:
· They sweepingly indicate that God has sent Humanity different ‘religions’ which He hasn’t. He has sent us all ONE Standard of Accountability, delivered in a progressive Compilation that began with His first Messenger and was concluded with His last.
· They reduce earlier Compilation to the status of ‘imperfection,’ which is neither true nor is it worthy of God Who sent it! Earlier Compilation was a stage of revelation perfect for its time. On the other hand, the Standard of Accountability God had set for a progressing Humanity was ‘completed’ with the Qur’an, so as to stand for ALL time.
2. Still on Verse 3, we note that, not only does it shed light on the preceding 2 verses of this Chapter, but indeed pulls all these verses together, to start drawing for us the identity-card of Those Who Attained Faith; what identifies a person as one who has attained Faith. We might add to this list as we go along, however, for now:
In today’s verses 1- 3 we note that Those Who Attained Faith are those who:
· Comply with and honor their contracts.
· Do not hunt or kill any wildlife during the publicly-known Forbidden Month(s).
· Do not violate what God had sanctified/ made inviolable, especially the rights of people who flock to the Inviolable House, and the gifts they bring as offerings.
· Do not let resentment or outrage lead them to aggression.
· Cooperate and remain supportive of one another in the Hastening/ Forthcoming of goodness البرand in Awareness التقوى.
· Do not cooperate or support one another in Hindrance الإثم or in Aggression العدوان .
· Remain aware of God, remembering that He is severe in meting out consequence.
· Abstain from consuming the ten substances listed, among which are blood, the flesh of swine, different ‘edible’ animals that have died without being slaughtered, or were slaughtered in the name of any other than God (however, in case of famine, one may partake of a minimal portion of any of the above, with no inclination towards hindrance.[4]
· Will not immerse in superstitious practices -similar to divination arrows- to help choose their next actions or influence their future (أن تستقسموا بالأزلام / ’an tastaqsimoo bil azlam)
· Will stand in awe ‘khashyah’ of God Alone- and none other than Him- (there is difference between ‘khashyah’ and ‘khawf’ and خوف- خشية, the latter being more about fear, but we often find both Arabic words explained as fear).
Amazing indeed.
3. Verse 4 gives a general statement that, when Those Who Have Attained Faith asked you (O Muhammad), what is ‘halaal/unbound/permissible’ for consumption, tell them that everything wholesome is allowed, as well as what your trained birds/animals of prey have hunted for you, so eat of the quarry, mentioning God’s name upon it, being aware of God, for He is swift in keeping count, and rendering to each his/her account-record.
Q. Some may wonder: Why the warning at the end of the verse?
A. Firstly, the last part of the verse relates to the first, in that when the Messenger ﷺ was asked what is ‘halaal/unbound/permissible’ for consumption, he is to tell them that everything wholesome is allowed. Wholesome. Period. This means that God will hold us to account when we knowingly consume -or distribute or promote- things which are NOT wholesome for human consumption. Think of the harmful substances that people knowingly consume, sell, promote, and abuse (the goal of promoting such substances is to get people hooked). This is where this verse ties in with all the verses on ‘khamr/ intoxicants,[5] and especially HQ5:90 which also speaks about ‘al azlaam/ divining of the future’ (fortune-telling methods). It is our duty not to allow anything to compromise our health and wellbeing. Our bodies are the physical mediums by which we can survive to fulfill our roles in life, to worship and do deeds of goodness, which is why we shall be held to account for knowingly damaging ourselves or others with ANY unwholesome substance. That, perhaps, was one reason for the warning at the end of the verse.
The second reason seems to be more subtle, related to the center part of the verse (your trained birds/animals of prey that are hunting for you). Now, sshould you realize that the intention of your bird/animal of prey had changed from hunting for you, to hunting for itself, you should let it have its quarry for itself and NOT partake of it because it isn’t yours! Hunters usually pay attention to this and notice when their trained bird or animal of prey starts eating of the quarry. SubHaanAllah! Which standard of accountability -other than Islam- would be aware of an animal’s intention?
What a noble, what a wonderful, what a high standard of Accountability is Islam!
That could be added reason for the warning at the end of this verse, and God knows best.
4. Verse 5 according to Yusuf Ali’s explanation:
“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).”
Verse 5 continues, but it is here more like a celebration of THIS PARTICULAR DAY OF REVELATION, highlighting that all things wholesome are being announced as halaal/unbound/permissible.’
Then it goes on to include the foods of the People of (earlier) Compilation. Please note that the verse also states that our food is ‘halaal’ to them, hinting at a relationship of reciprocity that should exist between us all, one of neighborliness, congeniality and the sharing of food; it indicates that we could –perhaps should– be inviting each other to our tables! This hint becomes more inclusive when, after mentioning the halaal/permissibility of marriage with ‘self-fortified/muHSanaat/محصنات ’ of the Faithful women, the verse then mentions the ‘self-fortified/muHSanaat/محصنات ’ women from Those of (earlier) Compilation (for definition of ‘muhsanaat’ see Blog Post Day 41). Now, self-fortification -as we said earlier- either meant that she was married or that she was a free person (at that time bondswomen/slave-girls were bought and sold and had no way of fortifying themselves).
Interestingly, whereas we found Yusuf Ali above explaining the verse to seemingly indicate that a Faithful man can only marry a chaste woman, Muhammad Asad speaks of women in general without referring -in any way- to the term ‘muHSanaat,’ saying:
…………..And [lawful to you are], in wedlock, women from among those who believe [in this divine writ], and, in wedlock, women from among those who have been vouchsafed revelation before your time – provided that you give them their dowers, taking them in honest wedlock, not in fornication, nor as secret love-companions.”
In their notes however, after elaborating on ‘permissible foods,’ both Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad spoke of the reasons why they thought the verse did not also give Faithful women the option of marrying men from among the People of (earlier) Compilation (Muhammad Asad/ Yusuf Ali). This omission seems mainly related to maintaining the dignity of a Faithful woman, in the view that she had more likelihood of being wronged by a husband or in-laws who had no respect for her faith due to the belief that it is their faith which upholds God’s Message, and not hers.
Such differences between exegetes is one reason why one should get Qur’anic explanation from several sources, and never consider one’s research completed!
ASIDE: On Chastity and ‘Bondswomen’ from works of several exegetes:
It is interesting to note how different exegetes explained this verse with outside references, of which I shall include a few below for any who seek in-depth information, although I advise Readers to continue at this stage and not get off-track (the issue of ‘slavery’ is one I have not tackled yet, and doubt that I shall in the near future due to other far more pressing topics).
Nevertheless, I shall show Readers a few places from where they could get further information for later research should they so desire:
Al Tabari (224–310 AH, 839–923 CE) tells us[6] that exegetes differed with regard to what the word ‘muHSanaat’ referred to here, some of them saying that it referred specifically to free women from among the Faithful as well as free women among the People of (earlier) Compilation, whether or not these women were chaste. Those who said this, explained that this verse was actually forbidding the marriage of a Faithful man to a bondswoman from among the People of (earlier) Compilation. They quoted HQ4:25, which specified that if a man had no means to marry a free Faithful woman, he could marry a bondswoman as long as she was Faithful.
Al Zamakhshari (467-538 A.H/1074-1143C.E.)tells us[7] that it is halaal to marry Faithful bondswomen -be they chaste or unchaste. As for bondswomen from (earlier) Compilation, Abu Hanifa says what applies to Faithful bondswomen applies to them, whereas Al-Shafi’i disagreed.
Al Razi (544-606 AH/1150-1210 CE) tells us[8] of differing opinions, and that according to one opinion the word ‘muHSanaat’ refers to free women, while according to another it refers to chaste women.
He also says that he doesn’t believe that this verse is related to bondswomen because bondspersons’ money is handed to their owners, not to them, while the verse here stipulates handing the dower to the women themselves, hence it must be referring to free women.
Interesting too is the elaboration in Arabic exegesis on a woman’s ‘chastity.’
Exegetes have explained that indeed one should marry a chaste woman, but that present ‘chastity’ is what was intended, unrelated to a woman’s prior behavior. In other words, if she had asked God’s forgiveness and remained chaste following previous illicit relationships, she is to be considered a ‘chaste’ woman (see narration in Al Tabari’s exegesis below).[9]
Such elaborations may sometimes feel confusing, but the differences in opinion serve to provide leeway; when one road seems closed another opens. These variations are interesting to young people of faith who try to navigate the ‘modern’ world while keeping their faith intact. This ‘predicament’ has always been that of young people of faith in any era, although now -with social media- everything is exposed as it never was and -unfortunately- everything is being recorded as it never ever has been!
To conclude, this verse had started with a celebration of ‘TODAY,’ in that all that is wholesome has become unbound for people of faith to partake of, in foods and interaction with other faiths, as well as in awareness in choice of spouse (and parent to one’s children).[10]
This verse too then ends with a warning underscoring the seriousness of all it discusses:
Whoever Denies the Faith will invalidate (painfully void/desolate) his deeds, and in the Hereafter will be among the Losers.
5. The first 3 lines of Verse 6 call upon Those who attained Faith, giving details for Ablution, the grammatical context indicating the ‘order’ in which it should be performed. There are two Readings of this instruction related to different conjugations:
· In the first reading, the diacritic mark on the word ‘arjul’ is a ‘fat-ha’ and reads as ‘arjul-a-kum,’ which ties the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ to the arms, indicating that the feet should be washed along with the arms………وأرجلَكم / wa arjulakum.
· In the second reading, the diacritic mark on the word ‘arjul’ is a ‘kasra’ and reads as ‘arjul-i-kum,’ which ties the coordinating conjunction ‘and’ to the head, indicating that the feet should be wiped along with part of the headوأرجلِكم/ wa arjulikum.
Mostly Sunnis usually follow the first reading and wash their feet, while mostly Shiites follow the second reading, and wipe them.
The next three lines deal with the issue of ‘symbolic/ dry ablution,’ also discussed in Blog Post Day 43.
6. The last line of verse 6 is a statement, (similar to what we read earlier in HQ2:185), translated by Yusuf Ali:
“….God does not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favour to you, that you may be grateful.”
It is interesting to note that in this verse, the instructions on Ritual Bathing as well as both forms of Ablution, are considered a completion of God’s Favor upon us, related directly to Verse 3, to the concluding statement of the Qur’anic Message! This is in part due to the importance of Prayer itself; ablution is performed for the specific purpose of approaching prayer, but there is more:
Remember verse 2:128 when we read the prayer of Abraham and Ishmael, peace upon them, two Prophets of God who were building a House for His worship, asking Him to accept their service, and to send their progeny a Messenger of their own who shall instruct them in the Compilation and in wisdom?
As the final verses of the Qur’anic Message just showed us in Verse 3, and now Verse 6, the answer to their prayer has just become full reality, with God completing His Favor upon Humanity, bringing the efforts of ALL God’s Messengers to fruition! The Qur’an is for all cognizant Humans; after other Messages had paved the way, THIS is the completed favor of God!
7. Verse 7 reminds Those Who Attained Faith of God’s Favor and their Covenant with Him, saying, “WE hear and we obey!” This verse is a shining record on their behalf, from their Lord, contrary to the grim record of the followers of Moses who had said, “We hear and we disobey,’ in HQ2:93; 4:46.
The beginning of Verse 8 is similar to the beginning of HQ4:135, but it then takes us to the concept of not allowing outraging resentment “shana’aan” to lead us to aggression, as in Verse 2. At the time, we spoke of Arabic grammar and said that nouns following the “fa’laan” form be emergent in meaning (emerging in this instant) and superlative (at the highest of its degrees):
﴾O you Who Attained Faith! Be persistently upstanding for/to God, witnesses in justice (between yourselves and another party), and do not permit (your emergent) resentment/outrage of a people to detract you from being fair (and impartial when judging between two sides). Be fair (and impartial), that is closer to Awareness, and be Aware of God, indeed God is well-acquainted with what you are doing﴿.
Please notice the concept of fairness/impartiality being closer to Awareness, which we hardly ever hear in common discourse amongst us when we speak of ‘Taqwa’ because the latter has always been described to by general terms of ‘piety.’ We would be exerting much effort as we try to reach a state ‘closer’ to Awareness, where we would be holding back currently emergent feelings and not permitting them to influence our behavior and our decisions! Remember, Taqwa/Awareness is the opposite of Udwaan/Aggression, and aggressive deeds usually take place in our interaction with one another. This verse highlights the fact that it is in conduct that unbiased behavior is demanded as we interact with others, and it is in conduct that we truly demonstrate our Awareness/Taqwa.
Do these instructions also show us how we should be careful whenever we think of ‘us versus them?’
Indeed. But there is more.
In both Verses 2 and 8 we encountered the Arabic word ‘yajrim’ which is about ‘jarm’ or ‘cutting off,’ where the instruction was not to let one’s resentment detract/cut off from fairness. The root verb ‘jarama’ always appears in the Qur’an in a highly negative context; the word ‘mujrim’ meaning someone whose criminal acts have cut him off, probably from Islam itself! That’s because ‘mujrim’ is a noun which stands in opposition to ‘Muslim’ in HQ68:35. Also, the root-verb ‘jarama’ denotes something which is cut,[11] or has dropped like flawed fruit off the tree, and none of us would like to see ourselves so described.
We shall end on this note today, recalling the word “shana’aan/شنآن” which speaks of emerging resentment as we realize the importance of fairness if we wish to ever come closer to Taqwa. F
It is quite fitting that this verse ends by telling us to be Aware of God Himself, Who Is Well-acquainted with what we are doing!
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ5: 9-17
Peace unto all!
[1] Constant self-correction, ‘bending towards what is right.’
[2] We must also note that: The Completion of our ‘Deen’ (Standard of Accountability), the Fulfillment of God’s Favor, and His acceptance of Islam as our ‘Deen’ are all directly related to, and are part and parcel of, the ‘true to the original’ ARABIC delivery of Qur’an. In other words, it is ONLY the correct understanding of the Arabic language that can ensure that our ‘Deen’ remains complete and God’s Favor remains fulfilled! How can we correctly carry out His directions otherwise and be the positive force for Human cooperation and advancement that the Qur’an envisages? So if we look at ourselves now and see ourselves lacking, it is because our forefathers have misunderstood and misrepresented what God had completed; His Favor was fulfilled, but we have departed from it.
[3] They’ve despaired of misdirecting or vanquishing it, perhaps -at that time- seeing how Islam and the Faithful had prevailed.
[4] Please note that Those Who Attained Faith will neither need -nor will the Qur’an provide- ANY grounds to justify this requirement (unlike the explanations provided for intoxicants which offer leeway for the use of medicinal drugs, see Blog Post Day 17). Therefore, with regard to these ten substances: Abstention is a Non-negotiable Act of Worship.
[5] Mentioned on Day 17.
[6] الطبري: ” واختلف أهل التأويـل فـي الـمـحصنات اللاتـي عناهنّ الله عزّ ذكره بقوله: { والـمُـحْصَناتُ مِنَ الـمُؤمِناتِ والـمُـحْصَناتُ مِنَ الَّذِين أُوتُوا الكِتابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ } فقال بعضهم: عنـي بذلك الـحرائر خاصة، فـاجرة كانت أو عفـيفة. وأجاز قائلوا هذه الـمقالة نكاح الـحرّة مؤمنة كانت أو كتابـية من الـيهود والنصارى من أيّ أجناس كانت، بعد أن تكونَ كتابـية فـاجرة كانت أو عفـيفة، وحرّموا إماء أهل الكتاب أن نتزوّجهنّ بكل حال لأن الله جلّ ثناؤه شرط في نكاح الإماء الإيـمان بقوله:{ وَمَن لَّمْ يَسْتَطِعْ مِنكُمْ طَوْلاً أَن يَنكِحَ ٱلْمُحْصَنَٰتِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ فَمِنْ مَّا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُكُم مِّن فَتَيَٰتِكُمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ } [النساء: 25]”.
[7] الزمخشري: “والإماء من المسلمات يصحّ نكاحهنّ بالاتفاق، وكذلك نكاح غير العفائف منهن، وأما الإماء الكتابيات، فعند أبي حنيفة هنَّ كالمسلمات، وخالفه الشافعي…”
[8] الرازي: “ثم قال تعالى: { وَٱلْمُحْصَنَـٰتُ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ } وفي المحصنات قولان: أحدهما: أنها الحرائر، والثاني: أنها العفائف، وعلى التقدير الثاني يدخل فيه نكاح الأمة، والقول الأول أولى لوجوه: أحدها: أنه تعالى قال بعد هذه الآية { إذا آتيتموهن أجورهن } ومهر الأمة لا يدفع إليها بل إلى سيدها…”
[9] Al Tabari speaks in his exegesis of a man who came to Ameer al Mu’mineen Umar Ibn Al Khattab asking his advice about his daughter. He had -at the time of Jahiliyya/Ignorance- buried her alive as per the tradition of wa’d/ وأد, but had then saved her and she grew up and entered Islam. She later committed adultery, and feeling repentant slashed her veins, but her father caught her in time and tended to her wound until it healed. Her father spoke of her sincere repentance, and said that he was being approached for her hand in marriage, but the question was: Should he tell her suitors of her history? Umar’s reply was both a question and a warning: Umar asked the man how he could bring himself to expose what God Himself had hidden, and then warned him that if he did, he’d make him an example far and wide. He told him to give her hand in marriage as a chaste Muslim woman.
[10] Al Zamakhshari speaks of the need for Faithful men to choose the best for their offspring ‘تخير المؤمنين لنطفهم’ (literally: where best to lay their sperm).
[11] The word ‘jram/gram’ was taken as a unit of the smallest trifling weight (see Etymology of ‘gram,’ and also ‘germ,’ which is said to be of uncertain origin. If only etymologists were honest or learned enough to look to the Arabic for possible origins!