COMMENTARY ON THE QUR`AN
Chapter 3: Surat Al-'Imrān
The Family of 'Imrān
(Selected Verses)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

66. Behold! You disputed about that of which you had knowledge. Why then do you dispute about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows while you do not know.

The People of the Book argue and dispute amongst themselves according to their knowledge of the 'Book' of Judaism and Christianity, but it benefits no one to argue and dispute over knowledge which has been renewed and updated. Their knowledge is limited to what they have inherited. Real knowledge is with Allah and the last Messenger.

67. Abraham was not a Jew or a Christian, but he was [an] upright [man], one who submitted; and he was not among those who associate with Allah.

The word translated as 'upright' comes from a verb which means 'to turn' (hanafa) or 'to bend sideways, to bend away from that which is not straight'. Abraham bent away from that which was not right, implying that he was on a straight path. He was in Islam, in perfect submission, not associating partners with Allah. He was neither a Jew nor a Christian, as the People of the Book understand these terms today, but a man of Allah, inclining away from anything that deviated from the straight path to Reality.

68. Surely, the nearest of people to Abraham are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe; and Allah is the guardian of the believers.

'Nearest' (awlā) also means 'worthier, more entitled'. It is related to a word which means 'friend' (walī) and implies connectedness or closeness to Allah. Those who most deserve to belong to the way of Abraham are those who followed him, having imbibed his teaching and believed in his message. They include those who follow the Prophet Muhammad, for his teaching is an extension and expansion of the Abrahamic way. Generally, those who absorb the message of a prophet are those who are knowledgeable of its purpose and goal.

'And Allah is the guardian of the believers.' Allah is the guardian of those who embrace the true faith by recognizing His sovereignty (wilāyah; from the same root as awlā and walī). Allah is the Friend and Protector of each one of us, but we do not recognize that. Everyone, in actual fact, is in submission to Allah, but until that submission has become sacrosanct, recognized and translated into action, we are unified neither inwardly nor outwardly.

69. A group of People of the Book desire to lead you astray. They lead no one astray but themselves, while they do not perceive.

70. O People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in the signs of Allah while you witness them?

The term 'People of the Book' refers specifically to the Jews who follow the Torah given to Moses and to the Christians who follow the Gospel given to Jesus. It is well known that the four accounts contained within the presently accepted New Testament were selected from a large number of similar narratives, almost all of which were compiled by people who had never seen the Prophet Jesus. There is no doubt that these books are personal interpretations and accounts, and not the words of Allah; contained within them are some truths along with some misinterpretations. Further doubt is cast upon the present New Testament because Jesus is known to have spoken Aramaic, the language of the land in which he dwelt, whereas the New Testament was originally written down in Greek.

The Qur`an stimulates the faculties of intelligence and reason to show the People of the Book that what they claim as true has been abrogated by the Qur`an. What is now in their hands in the form of the Qur`an contains what came before, and more. This is the primary message addressed to the People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitāb). Allah, in the Qur`an, rhetorically asks why the People of the Book deny the signs of Allah that confirm the prophecy of Muhammad and the truthfulness of the Qur`an. If they had read their own books correctly, they would have come to recognize therein the promise of a final, perfect book for all mankind to follow.

71. O People of the Book! Why do you clothe the truth with falsehood and hide the truth while you know?

The People of the Book dress up (labisa) the truth even when they know it. They are in a state of hypocrisy, because they know what is right and what is wrong.

72. And a party of the People of the Book say at the beginning of the day: Believe in that which has been revealed to those who believe; then, at the end of the day they disbelieve that perhaps they may return.

Some of the People of the Book took the way of Allah at their own convenience and desired only to appease the Muslims. One of the inward meanings of this verse is that the first part of the day, when light appears, is a metaphor for the confrontation with truth, from which there is no escape. When the sun is up, man must accept what he sees. When darkness sets in again, however, doubts may return.

This verse describes the plight of one who doubts. His heart is not established in the right place, and he vacillates. Only when he is confronted with the inescapable truth does he accept it; however, if the slightest opposition within him arises, he will return to his doubts. As a result of these doubts, he is in a profoundly unsettled state. Yet no one wants to be uncertain and insecure; we all seek to know and experience the security of certainty.

73. Believe only in one who follows your religion. Say: Surely, the true guidance is the guidance of Allah, that one may be given [by Him] the like of what you were given, or that they would contend with you in the presence of your Lord. Say: Surely, the bounty is in Allah's hand. He gives it to whom He pleases, and Allah possesses vast knowledge.

Man desires confirmation of his beliefs, therefore he wants to be in an environment in which his habits are shared by the majority. For example, people who smoke prefer to do so with other smokers because they seek confirmation and acceptance of this habit. Those who share common values club together to enhance those values and establish them more deeply within their existing life pattern. When confronted with someone who differs from them, they feel that their security is threatened. They fear that their beliefs may be changed through such a confrontation. To retain one's security in the face of an ever-changing world, one must trust in Allah, and trust that all one chooses in good faith will be for one's ultimate good.

At first glance this verse and the previous one look like the dissimulation practiced when necessary by the Muslims. The difference is that the Muslim does not contradict his knowledge although he may hide it (though only for a while) from those who cannot accept it. Artificial codes of behavior other than Islam are systems merely for appeasement and expedience. It is incumbent upon every Muslim to speak the truth. Silence prevails only if a person knows that the situation will overcome him because he is not strong enough to stand up to the results of his pronouncements. Also, our pronouncements must not be mere criticisms or judgments which result from our personal opinions. If one is certain of the truth of one's convictions, then one's duty is to propagate them.

Nobody can come to Islam unless their heart turns toward the truth. With this turning, one will begin to experience complete freedom from one's self-imposed veils and prejudices, and will be guided by the heart. That is the true path to Islam. Joy and blessedness are for every human being who has the potential to see nothing other than the glory of Allah's perfection in creation, and to move toward his or her own perfection.

'Say: Surely, the true guidance is the guidance of Allah.' Allah will guide those who have true, secure trust and faith. Whoever has that trust and faith (īmān) confirmed in him will never deviate from the path, nor will he give it up. The more he is afflicted, the more he will see the perfect laws of the Creator, even at the cost of personal suffering.

'Say: Surely, the bounty is in Allah's hand.' One who seeks the bounty or grace of Allah will surely receive it, provided one seeks it while being willing to give up all that one has. The process begins when a person gives up something that dissatisfies him. We cannot step on to a train heading in a new direction unless we step off the one we are on now; some people try to be on two trains at once, which is not possible. We must give up falsehood before the truth will come to us.

'He gives it to whom He pleases.' The Qur`an is the subtlest of teachers. Though under Allah's will, man must nevertheless develop his intellect, for by using reason and logic he eventually draws so close to Allah that his will becomes Allah's. Drawing close to Allah is no mere mental act, nor is it pure inspiration; but it begins with the intellect through the tethering of reason.

74. He specially chooses for His mercy whom He pleases; and Allah possesses great bounty.

To see the pervasive nature of mercy (rahmah) is to receive the great bounty of Allah. If one really wants to know the Book, one will certainly come to know it. Many Muslims today think that because they were born into a Muslim family, they automatically have a deeper understanding of the Qur`an than those who were not. But 'Ali said, 'You are the evident book. By your hidden signs the secret becomes evident.' If the reading of Allah's written Book, the Qur`an, does not lead them to uncover and absorb their own inner book, then the written book will not have been read and absorbed.

75. And among the People of the Book are some who will return a treasury full of wealth if you entrust it to them. Others will not pay back a dinar unless you continually demand it from them. This is because they say: We are not obliged (to be honest) with illiterate people. They knowingly speak lies about Allah while they know the truth.

A dīnār was a large coin made of gold: its paper equivalent of that name is still used in the Middle East. The origin of the word is 'home of fire' (dār al-nār), because love of money is a source of increasing trouble. Unless people are constantly reminded, few will honor their agreements more than rarely.

The credit systems of today take full advantage of man's greed. The feeling of not having to pay for something immediately, coupled with the belief, encouraged by retailers, that their products are desirable, if not necessary, causes people to buy more and more. Individual and governmental debt increases, based upon the false notion that economic growth has no limit. But people of knowledge warn about such false notions. Every creational system is subject to cyclical growth and decline and has its limits. Veiled from the truth by his greed for material security, man arrogantly supposes that he will circumvent the inevitable downward cycle, and by this very arrogance he increases his carelessness and hastens his ultimate fall.

This verse unequivocally explains man's rationalization of his injustice to his fellow man. He reasons that the goal of life is the acquisition of material goods, and uses his knowledge to subjugate others less aware and more vulnerable.

76. Allah loves whoever fulfils his promise and guards carefully against wrong action.

Everyone must fulfill his promises, as long as these were not extracted under duress. Difference of religion must not be used to justify greed. The teaching of the Qur`an helps us to recognize and control our greed.

77. As for those who exchange their pledges to Allah for a small price, surely, they shall have no portion in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them, nor will He look upon them on the Day of Resurrection. He will not purify them, and they shall have a painful chastisement.

Those who exchange their submission and love for Allah for worldly power or wealth, or any other such distraction, are at a loss. Their share of this world is bound to be very small and in the Hereafter they are doomed. The man of Allah takes what he needs from this world in order to prepare himself for the next.

Man's forgetfulness makes him address only rarely the vital questions of the meaning of life, such as why it ends and what comes next. And yet he fears death and the unknown to come.

What does 'Allah will not speak to them' mean? Silence is often used as a sign of conflict or disconnection, because it indicates that there is no relationship between the two parties concerned. Those to whom it appears Allah does not speak have no relationship with Reality, for in their lives they have cultivated no relationship with truth. Though the entire message of life concerns the oneness of the Creator Who has created all things and Who sustains them through His grace, they were not connected with this message. Everything -- every seen or unseen creational manifestation -- is permeated by the eternal power of that Reality. If Allah does not speak to us, it is because we have turned a deaf ear to Him.

We have to prepare ourselves in this life to be ready for the next. Pure actions have their rewards here and now. Even if one hesitates over belief in a next life, logic clearly reveals that one who follows Allah's indicated path will be given everything needed in this life as well as the next.

78. Most surely there exists a party amongst them who recite the Book in order that you may consider it to be from the Book; but it is not from the Book. They say it is from Allah, while it is not from Allah; and they lie about Allah even though they know the truth.

Often the Qur`an or a tradition is taken out of its context and thus distorted or limited, or even rendered meaningless. For example, part of a tradition says, 'Allah has created Adam in His form.' But are we in the form of Allah? Taken out of context, this tradition is confusing, because the Qur`an says, 'There is nothing like Him' (112:4). How can a tradition contradict the Qur`an, and how can it be said that man is like Allah? The tradition comes from an incident in which the Prophet overheard two men quarrelling; one of them cursed the other, saying, 'The curse of Allah be upon you and everybody who is like you.' The Prophet turned to that man and said, 'Do not say this. Allah has created Adam in his form', meaning in the form of the man that he was cursing, not in the form of Allah!

Another example of a frequently used tradition which leads to much misunderstanding when not quoted in its entirety is this: 'Marriage is half of the life-transaction (dīn).' This tradition concludes with the phrase, 'So that you may complete the other half.' That is to say, we can pay attention to the other, more important half, the spiritual half, of ourselves by challenging our physical and human needs through marriage. By marrying, we free ourselves to devote our attention to other requirements which are subtler and higher.

'And they say it is from Allah while it is not from Allah.' Everything is from Allah, including the freedom to forget partial truths, a freedom which will imprison a man more and more within the domain of his self-constructed fantasy. It is in man's nature to find evidence to support himself in fulfilling his desires; therefore he must always be on guard not to twist the truth, and interpret according to his own whim.

Man brings about injustice through his covetousness and greed, for he is able to justify to himself every action and make it seem attractive. Even the act of murder is attractive to the murderer, because he is so desirous of attaining his goal that he can justify his own violence. It is in the nature of the mind and the ego to concoct partial truths and lies, but to propagate a lie against Allah is to distort the perception of reality within the creational experience, and to ignore the criteria established by Allah.

79. It is not possible that Allah would give a mortal the Book, wisdom, and the prophethood, and then that mortal would say to other men: Serve me instead of Allah. Rather, [he would say]: Worship the Lord, because you study and teach the Book.

The Qur`an refers here to the Prophet Jesus, explaining that it is impossible for a prophet, a man selected by Allah because of his purity and wisdom and one who has been given the Book, to order his people to worship him. How could he tell them anything other than 'Be worshippers of the Lord'?

The word 'to study' (darasa) as used in this verse also means 'to wipe out, to obliterate'. By studying something very carefully, one can obliterate all traces of ignorance concerning it. Man is born in order to obliterate ignorance within him, for once ignorance is destroyed, knowledge appears. Obliterate darkness and light will appear. Obliterate the impulse which causes us to remain in ignorance and distraction from the remembrance of Allah (ghaflah), and we will enter into the effulgent light of awareness and knowledge.

80. Neither would he enjoin that you take the angels and the prophets as lords. Would he enjoin unbelief upon you when you are people of submission?

No man of knowledge, and certainly no Prophet, would tell us to take the angels or messengers as Lords. How could such beings encourage others to deny, by the very affirmation of unity (tawhīd), the one and only Truth? This verse describes submission as the way to unity. The way to the understanding of unity in its universal sense is the path of submission and adherence to its laws.

81. Allah made a covenant with the prophets: Behold, I have given you the Book and wisdom. Then a messenger came, verifying what was with you. Believe in him and aid him. He said: Do you affirm and accept Allah's covenant in this matter? They said: Yes, we affirm. He said: Then bear witness, and I will bear witness with you.

Ali commented about this verse, 'Allah did not send a prophet without making a covenant ('ahd) with him.' And in the Qur`an the Prophet Jesus says, 'I give you the good news that there will be a Prophet coming after me' (61:6). In the New Testament (John 14:16) Jesus says, 'And I shall pray to the Father, and He will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever.'

All the prophets were given the essence of knowledge, and knowledge of essence, and it is impossible that this total view lacked the knowledge that their systems of divine law were as yet incomplete. The process of unfolding the fullness of divine law throughout time is similar to bringing up a child: what he is instructed to do at the age of six will be changed when he reaches the age of fifteen. Moses tightened what was lax in the Law; Jesus revived the spirit of the Law. Any increase in the restrictions that the prophets brought was in essence an increase of real freedom to the followers of the path of submission, because as the path became more clearly defined the chance of going astray decreased.

All the Prophets took the covenant (isr) and bore witness to it; yet the fact remains that most Jews and Christians do not accept this. Man usually seeks to remain a passive slave to his habits and inherited customs; he rarely makes the effort to shake himself loose from what binds him. It is easy to shirk the responsibility for his intellect and power of reason.

82. So whoever turns back after this is a transgressor.

83. Do they seek to follow other than Allah's way when whatever is in the heavens and the earth submit to Him willingly or unwillingly, and to Him all will return.

How can it be that anyone wants other than the way of Allah when all things in the heavens and earth, willingly or unwillingly, submit to Him? The secret of submission lies in recognizing and understanding the will of the Creator. Once this is done, it is possible to know the correct direction of travel and to know how to use one's individual will in accordance with the multitudinous laws of this existence. When we truly perceive the laws that govern this existence, we will not desire what is not in line with the Creator's will, and therefore we will meet with nothing but success. When one's will submits to the decree of Reality, one has truly attained freedom. Then one fully recognizes the laboratory of life, and discovers through disappointment and failure what follows the line of the Creator's will. The person who meets with his failures before the end of his life is very fortunate, because through failure he is able to discover what is wrong.

The greater the spiritual aspiration of a man, the greater is his affliction. Ultimately, through continued learning from suffering, the only affliction that will remain is that which is the result of others' ignorance and heedlessness. What higher affliction could there be than the suffering of the Prophet Jesus when he saw the ignorance and resistance that enveloped the people around him? It is a tremendous affliction for a teacher to find that the people around him are not interested in learning, just as it is an affliction for a father to find that his children are not responding to his love, care and attention. Knowledge is power, but it cannot be imposed on others. Every heart, every individual, must want it, for if it is not desired it can never be obtained. Once desired, its acquisition becomes easy. Ultimately, a time will come when every being in existence will have united his will with the will of the Creator. At that time peace will prevail on the earth. There can be no peace on earth while man seeks anxiously to justify his wrong actions. Peace and love need justice.

84. Say: We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us, and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes; and what was given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit.

The command is for all who believe in Allah -- the Unitarians, the followers of the Prophet Muhammad, and the true followers of all the prophets -- to say, 'We believe in reality, we believe in Allah and what has descended upon us, in what we found in our heart. We believe in all the prophets without differentiation (as to their standing with Allah).' In our ignorance we differentiate between the prophets. Culturally, linguistically and historically, each people's messenger differs from the others, but essentially they are all the same, for the message they bring is the timeless, divine message of submission and awakening to the truth. This verse reaffirms that Muhammad confirmed everything that had gone before him, while pointing out the areas which had become corrupted or needed clarification or updating.

The religion of the Prophet Abraham was Islam and the followers of Abraham were Muslims. The religion of the Prophet Moses was also Islam, but later named Judaism. At the time of Jesus, again, Islam as Judaism was revived as Christianity and later distorted and confused. Islam is Allah's unique path and message, but appears historically as different religions. In reality they are part of one continuum in the spiritual evolution of man.

The Qur`an calls upon us to open our eyes so that we do not fall into the trap of dispute and argumentation (jidāl). 'There is no argument concerning the path to Allah' (la jidāl fī aI-dīn), the Prophetic tradition says. There can be no argument because there is only one truth, which leads to itself via itself. The path is from Allah, to Allah, via Allah. Through struggle we become the instrument of Allah realizing that all action is from Him and that there is no permanent reality other than Him. As man dives deeper within himself he finds that there is no end to the inner domain, because the end is the other side of the beginning. Allah is the First, Allah is the Last; all creation has emanated from Allah, is sustained by Him, and returns to Him.

Man must reflect. He will gain freedom, and will understand its meaning only by reflecting upon and truly recognizing his constriction. Should he then be placed in a tiny prison-cell, he would still remain free within his soul. To use one's intellect is to work within creational limitations. Man's spirit is a reflector of the entire truth.