Sūrat al-Baqara — Juzʾ 2 (Sa-yaqūlu)

سورۃ البقرہ — پارہ ۲ (سیقول)

Sūrat al-Baqara — Juzʾ 2 (Sa-yaqūlu)

[al-Baqara 2:142 — The Change of the Qibla (Direction of Prayer)]

سَيَقُولُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ مِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَا وَلَّىٰهُمْ عَن قِبْلَتِهِمُ ٱلَّتِى كَانُوا عَلَيْهَا ۚ قُل لِّلَّهِ ٱلْمَشْرِقُ وَٱلْمَغْرِبُ ۚ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ

Sa-yaqūlu l-sufahāʾu min al-nāsi mā wallāhum ʿan qiblatihimu llatī kānū ʿalayhā, qul li-llāhi l-mashriq wa-l-maghrib, yahdī man yashāʾu ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīm.

"The foolish among the people will say: 'What has turned them from the qibla they were following?' Say: 'To Allāh belong the East and the West; He guides whom He wills to a straight path.'" (al-Baqara 2:142)

Lexical notes: The word sufahāʾ — "the foolish," "the light-minded" — is the plural of safīh. In this context it refers both to the hypocrites among the Muslims and to the adversaries among the Jews and some of the idol-worshippers (mushrikūn) of Makka, all of whom seized upon the change of qibla as a pretext for attack. Wallāhum — "what has turned them," from tawallā, to turn away. Qiblat — the direction of prayer, the sacred orientation. Min al-nāsi — from among the people. Yahdī man yashāʾu — He guides whom He wills; ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīm — to the straight path.

Translation (2:142): "Certain foolish people will say: 'What has turned the Muslims from the qibla they were following?' Say: 'To Allāh belong the East and the West; He guides whom He wills to the straight path.'"

Commentary on the Qibla: Let us now address a few important questions: What are the benefits of a single qibla? Does facing a particular direction have spiritual significance? Why was Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) first established as the qibla, and then the Kaʿba?

The communal prayer of Muslims — the jamāʿa — is a supreme act of collective worship; its profound purposes include the unification of souls and the marshalling of a whole community toward a single point of focus. When all of humanity — regardless of east, west, north, or south — converges upon one sacred centre, an immense spiritual energy is generated. The qibla is the outward expression of this inner unity. The Kaʿba has been the sanctuary of Allāh since the earliest times — its origin in the age of Ādam (upon him be peace) and rebuilt by Ibrāhīm (upon him be peace) and Ismāʿīl (upon him be peace) after the Flood. After Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl, Bayt al-Maqdis became the qibla for the prophets of the Children of Israel, suited to the spiritual conditions of that age. Then when the culminating Messengerﷺappeared — whose spiritual centre was Makka — the qibla was restored to the Kaʿba.

Commentary (continued): The ḥadīth has come down in authentic transmission: the Prophetﷺsaid that the Kaʿba is the direction of prayer not only for the living but even for the deceased. Allāh says:

إِنَّ أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ لَلَّذِى بِبَكَّةَ مُبَارَكًا

Inna awwala baytin wuḍiʿa li-l-nāsi la-lladhī bi-Bakkata mubārakan.

"Indeed, the first House established for mankind was that at Bakka (Makka), full of blessing." (Āl ʿImrān 3:96)

After the Flood, when the Kaʿba had been lost, Ibrāhīm and Ismāʿīl (upon them both be peace) rebuilt it. For the Children of Israel, Bayt al-Maqdis served as qibla and remained so for the duration of the Israelite prophetic cycle. Then, when the final and supreme Messengerﷺ— whose spiritual merkaz (centre) was Makka — appeared, the qibla was restored to the Kaʿba. What is the deeper significance? Allāh bestowed upon Ibrāhīm (upon him be peace) the highest spiritual station; and upon the Prophet MuḥammadﷺHe bestowed a perfection of that same station — indeed, the very summit and completion of all prophethood. The Kaʿba is the qibla of Ibrāhīm; Bayt al-Maqdis was the qibla of the Israelite prophetic cycle; and the Kaʿba is now the qibla because the supreme station of Muḥammadﷺhas been manifested.

The qibla is not a goal in itself. The purpose is obedience to Allāh and submission of the will. Allāh is not contained in the Kaʿba nor in Bayt al-Maqdis; He is everywhere:

فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ ٱللَّهِ

Fa-aynamā tuwallū fa-thamma wajhu llāh.

"Whithersoever you turn, there is the Face of Allāh." (al-Baqara 2:115)

The purpose is riḍāʾ (pleasure of Allāh), not mere physical orientation. The qibla is the discipline of obedience; turning toward it is an act of islām — self-surrender. Allāh made Bayt al-Maqdis the qibla for a season, for hidden wisdoms. Then He changed it to the Kaʿba — also for hidden wisdoms, not merely sentiment. The Prophetﷺsaid in effect: "The Kaʿba is my centre; the light of guidance proceeds from here; all paths of Islām and prophetic legacy lead here." The qibla is the direction of our hearts' inclination and our love. We face it because Allāh has commanded us to face it; and our Masterﷺis our centre.

Address to the spiritually deaf: "O deaf one, O mute one, O blind one — ṣummun bukmun ʿumyun fa-hum lā yarjiʿūn" — you follow the direction of your own inclination yet you mock the obedience of the believers?

وَكَذَٰلِكَ جَعَلْنَٰكُمْ أُمَّةً وَسَطًا لِّتَكُونُوا شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ وَيَكُونَ ٱلرَّسُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ شَهِيدًا

Wa-kadhālika jaʿalnākum ummatan wasaṭan li-takūnū shuhadāʾa ʿalā l-nāsi wa-yakūna l-rasūlu ʿalaykum shahīdā.

"And thus We have made you a middle (wasaṭ) community, so that you may be witnesses over the people, and the Messenger may be a witness over you." (al-Baqara 2:143)

Lexical notes: Ummatan wasaṭan — a balanced, moderate, middling community; wasaṭ with fatḥa on the wāw and sīn means the middle or centre; with sukūn on the sīn it is an adverb meaning "in the middle." Shuhadāʾ ʿalā l-nās — witnesses over the people; shahīd and shāhid share the same root. The one who testifies must witness (mushāhada) — seeing with the eye of the heart. Wa-yakūna l-rasūlu ʿalaykum shahīdān — and the Messengerﷺwill be a witness over you, testifying to your state and your deeds.

Jaʿalnākum — "We have made you"; ummatan — a community, a group, a congregation. Wasaṭan — the best, the most balanced, the most just; the Arabic proverb says: awsaṭu l-ashyāʾ wa-khayruhā — "the middle course is the best." Those who follow the way of the Prophetﷺand the divine guidance, who act with the discipline of the Kitāb and the Sunna, who undertake ijtihād in upholding its principles — these are the wasaṭ community.

Li-mā yaqlibu ʿalā ʿaqibayhi — "turning back on one's heels" — refers to one who abandons the faith after having accepted it; here the context is the change of qibla.

Translation (2:143): "Thus We have made you a community of the middle way, so that you may be witnesses over humanity, and the Messenger may be a witness over you. And We appointed the qibla you were formerly upon only to distinguish those who truly follow the Messenger from those who turn back on their heels. Indeed, this change was a weighty matter, except for those whom Allāh has guided. Allāh would never let your faith go to waste. Indeed, Allāh is, to the people, Full of Kindness, Most Merciful."

Commentary: Every human being has a khilāfa (vicegerency) from Allāh. Allāh reveals Himself through His own names and attributes to the creation, and the true khalīfa (viceregent) makes these attributes known among the people. By the blessed hand of the Prophetﷺ, Allāh declared: Yadu llāhi fawqa aydīhim — "The Hand of Allāh is above their hands" (al-Fatḥ 48:10). For the expression of this divine khalāfa across time and among the people — that they may distinguish good from evil, and that the khalīfa of Allāh and His Messenger may also become apparent — therefore Allāh arranged matters thus. This is ordered by divine wisdom in relation to time; in itself (in the divine knowledge) there is no sequence or priority, but in relation to the creation and the temporal order, there is.

Commentary on Ummat-e-Wasaṭ (the Middling Community) — continued:

Among the indicators that this community is to be shuhadāʾ ʿalā l-nās — witnesses over the whole of humanity — is the profound responsibility of amr bi-l-maʿrūf wa-nahy ʿan al-munkar (enjoining right and forbidding wrong). Some scholars explain this thus: some members of the community will testify on behalf of other communities before Allāh on the Day of Resurrection — this is the inner meaning of the shahāda. Others say that this umma will encompass the entire spectrum of humanity in its testimony: Muslim and non-Muslim, northern and southern, by commanding what is good and forbidding what is evil, with the Messengerﷺpresiding over this entire process of testimony.

The characteristic that is lāzim (inseparable) from this community is stated in the verse:﴿كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ﴾— kuntum khayra ummatin ukhrijat li-l-nāsi taʾmurūna bi-l-maʿrūfi wa-tanhawna ʿan al-munkar — "You are the best community brought forth for humanity; you enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil." (Āl ʿImrān 3:110). The meaning of being placed "in the middle" between the peoples of the world, as witnesses and exemplars, requires this active engagement with good and evil.

The phrase wa-jaʿalnā l-qiblata llatī kunta ʿalayhā — "We appointed the qibla you were upon" — may have two referents. The first explanation is that qiblata here refers to Bayt al-Maqdis (which was the qibla at that time); the second, that it is the Kaʿba — which has been the qibla since the time of Ādam and Ibrāhīm — that is being spoken of as a pre-existing, original direction that was only temporarily set aside.

Commentary (continued) — Divine Knowledge and Its Divisions:

The author here enters into a scholastic digression on the nature of Divine Knowledge (ʿilm ilāhī), prompted by the phrase wa-mā kāna llāhu li-yuḍīʿa īmānakum — "Allāh would never let your faith go to waste" — and the related theological question of how Allāh's changeless eternal knowledge relates to contingent events in time. This is a significant discussion in Sunnī Maturīdī theology:

(1) ʿIlm dhātī — Knowledge of the divine Essence itself; this is Allāh's self-knowledge, and it is the source of all things. All of creation is, in one sense, the externalisation of what was already present in the divine knowledge.

(2) ʿIlm fiʿlī — Active knowledge; knowledge in relation to the creation — distinguishing the known from the knower, the object from the subject.

(3) ʿIlm takwīnī — Knowledge in relation to bringing-into-being (takwīn). This knowledge has two dimensions: one facing the divine Essence, one facing the creation. The coming-into-being of contingent things does not in itself cause any ḥudūth (origination) in the divine knowledge. Hence divine ʿilm in its essential sense remains eternal and uncreated, even while its objects (the creatures) come into existence in time. Some have mistakenly thought that the knowledge of contingent things must itself be contingent — but the masters of ʿilm al-kalām have established that the eternal divine ʿilm encompasses all contingents without itself being contingent.

The change of qibla was thus not for the information of Allāh — He knew eternally who would follow the Messengerﷺ— but rather for the manifestation (iẓhār) of this knowledge in the temporal realm, so that human souls themselves might come to know the level of their own faith.

قَدْ نَرَىٰ تَقَلُّبَ وَجْهِكَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ ۖ فَلَنُوَلِّيَنَّكَ قِبْلَةً تَرْضَىٰهَا ۚ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚ وَحَيْثُ مَا كُنتُمْ فَوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ شَطْرَهُۥ

Qad narā taqalluba wajhika fī l-samāʾi fa-la-nuwalliyannaka qiblatan tarḍāhā, fa-walli wajhaka shaṭra l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi, wa-ḥaythu mā kuntum fa-wallū wujūhakum shaṭrah.

"We have certainly seen the turning of your face toward the heavens; We will surely turn you toward a qibla that will please you. So turn your face toward the Masjid al-Ḥarām. And wherever you all are, turn your faces toward it." (al-Baqara 2:144)

Lexical notes: Narā taqalluba wajhika fī l-samāʾ — "We see the repeated turning of your noble face toward the sky" — the longing of the Prophetﷺfor the qibla to be restored to the Kaʿba, his repeated and yearning gaze heavenward awaiting the divine command. Fa-la-nuwalliyannaka qiblatan tarḍāhā — "We will certainly turn you toward a qibla that will please you" — the divine fulfilment of this longing. Wajhaka shaṭra l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi — "your face toward the Masjid al-Ḥarām," i.e., toward the Kaʿba, which stands within it. The Masjid al-Ḥarām is the grand mosque of Makka; within it is the Kaʿba — the qibla. To cut down a tree in its sacred precincts, to engage in quarrel or strife (qitāl wa-jidāl) within it, is ḥarām. Wa-ḥaythu mā kuntum — "wherever you may be"; fa-wallū wujūhakum shaṭrah — turn your faces toward it. For those in the direction of Makka, facing the Kaʿba directly is obligatory. For those in distant lands — such as those in Hyderabad facing roughly north — the direction (jihāt) rather than the precise angle is required; if one faces the general direction and this is confirmed after prayer, it is valid.

Translation (2:144): "We have indeed seen you turning your face repeatedly toward the sky (awaiting revelation); We will now certainly turn you toward a qibla that will please you. Turn your face toward the Masjid al-Ḥarām; and wherever you are, turn your faces toward it. Those who were given the Book know well that this is the truth from their Lord, and Allāh is not unmindful of what they do."

وَلَئِنْ أَتَيْتَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا ٱلْكِتَٰبَ بِكُلِّ ءَايَةٍ مَّا تَبِعُوا قِبْلَتَكَ ۚ وَمَآ أَنتَ بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَتَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا بَعْضُهُم بِتَابِعٍ قِبْلَةَ بَعْضٍ

Wa-la-in atayta lladhīna ūtū l-kitāba bi-kulli āyatin mā tabiʿū qiblatak, wa-mā anta bi-tābiʿin qiblatahum, wa-mā baʿḍuhum bi-tābiʿin qiblata baʿḍ.

"Even if you brought every sign to those who were given the Book, they would not follow your qibla; and you are not a follower of their qibla, nor do they follow each other's qibla." (al-Baqara 2:145)

Lexical notes: Alladhīna ūtū l-kitāb — those to whom the Book was given; yatlunahū — they read it (yatlū, to recite, to follow); mā tabiʿū — they would not follow; wa-mā anta bi-tābiʿin qiblatahum — you will not follow their qibla; wa-mā baʿḍuhum bi-tābiʿin qiblata baʿḍ — the Jews and Christians do not even follow each other's qibla.

Translation (2:145): "Even if you brought every sign to those who have been given the Book, they would not follow your qibla; and you are not going to follow their qibla; nor indeed do they follow one another's qibla. If after the knowledge that has come to you you were to follow their desires, you would then surely be among the wrongdoers."

Commentary: The Jews and Christians differ among themselves on this very question of qibla and indeed on much else. To accuse the Muslims of inconsistency while disputing among themselves is the height of inconsistency. The response to all such objections is clear: the truth comes from your Lord — follow it and do not be among those who distort it.

وَلِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ هُوَ مُوَلِّيهَا ۖ فَٱسْتَبِقُوا ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ ۚ أَيْنَ مَا تَكُونُوا يَأْتِ بِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Wa-li-kullin wijhatun huwa muwallīhā fa-stābiqū l-khayrāti, aynamā takūnū yaʾti bikumu llāhu jamīʿan, inna llāha ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr.

"And for every community there is a direction toward which it turns; so race toward all that is good. Wherever you are, Allāh will bring you all together. Indeed, Allāh is over all things Capable." (al-Baqara 2:148)

Lexical notes: Li-kullin wijha — for each community or people there is an orientation, a direction; huwa muwallīhā — Allāh turns them toward it, assigns it to them. Fa-stābiqū l-khayrāt — so race, compete, hasten toward all that is good; aynamā takūnū — wherever you may be; yaʾti bikumu llāhu jamīʿan — Allāh will gather you all together on the Day of Resurrection; ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr — He is capable over all things.

Translation (2:148): "And every community has a direction toward which it turns; so compete with one another in doing good. Wherever you are, Allāh will bring you all together; indeed, Allāh has power over all things."

Commentary: The qibla is not the ultimate goal; the purpose is the obedience and pleasure of Allāh. Different communities have been assigned different sacred orientations in different ages, suited to their spiritual conditions and the demands of divine wisdom. Now the qibla has been fixed for this community — toward the Kaʿba — and the command is: race toward all that is good. Do not waste time in argument; invest your energy in deeds of righteousness.

وَمِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚ وَإِنَّهُۥ لَلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

Wa-min ḥaythu kharajta fa-walli wajhaka shaṭra l-masjidi l-ḥarāmi wa-innahu la-l-ḥaqqu min rabbika wa-mā llāhu bi-ghāfilin ʿammā taʿmalūn.

"And from wherever you depart, turn your face toward the Masjid al-Ḥarām; it is indeed the truth from your Lord. And Allāh is not unmindful of what you do." (al-Baqara 2:149)

Commentary: Concerning the qibla, several issues have been clarified. The qibla is ultimately an act of obedience, and obedience without question is demanded. The change from Bayt al-Maqdis to the Kaʿba was accomplished, and there is no room for the believers to harbour reservations. Now that the qibla of Ibrāhīm has been restored, and the prophetic seal of Muḥammadﷺis established, the duty of every Muslim is to face that sacred direction in prayer. The Jews and Christians will continue to object; but their objection has already been answered by their own scriptures, and those among them who persist in opposition do so knowingly and from injustice.

The question of the qibla for one who is praying in a distant land: if the direction is known with certainty, it must be followed precisely. If it is uncertain, one strives to determine it to the best of one's ability (taḥarrī), and the prayer is valid provided the uncertainty is genuine. The requirement is to face the jiha (general direction) rather than the exact point of the Kaʿba's wall.

كَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا فِيكُمْ رَسُولًا مِّنكُمْ يَتْلُوا عَلَيْكُمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا وَيُزَكِّيكُمْ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُم مَّا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ

Kamā arsalnā fīkum rasūlan minkum yatlū ʿalaykum āyātinā wa-yuzakkīkum wa-yuʿallimukumu l-kitāba wa-l-ḥikmata wa-yuʿallimukum mā lam takūnū taʿlamūn.

"Even as We sent among you a Messenger from yourselves, who recites Our signs to you and purifies you and teaches you the Book and wisdom and teaches you what you did not know." (al-Baqara 2:151)

Translation (2:151): "Just as We sent a Messenger from among you, who recites Our verses to you, purifies you, teaches you the Book and wisdom, and teaches you what you did not know."

Commentary: O Muslims! Your qibla is divine; it has been prescribed for you with the same divine care with which your Messengerﷺwas sent. Your Messenger recites the revealed signs to you; you hear them and are moved. He purifies you both inwardly and outwardly. He teaches you the Book of Allāh and thereby you are illumined. He teaches you wisdom and maʿrifa (gnosis) — you grow in insight. He teaches you what was completely unknown to you; he plants seeds of spiritual life in you, and within you a radiance of rūḥāniyyat (spirituality) is kindled.

Now when your blessed Messengerﷺis taken from your midst, you need one who embodies the prophetic heritage — a khalīfa of the Prophet in knowledge, in purification, in teaching. Ḥadīth and the Qurʾān are the lifeline; without them you cannot survive spiritually.

فَٱذْكُرُونِىٓ أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا لِى وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ

Fa-dhkurūnī adhkurkum wa-shkurū lī wa-lā takfurūn.

"So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not be ungrateful." (al-Baqara 2:152)

Lexical notes: Fa-dhkurūnī — "so remember Me"; adhkurkum — "I will remember you"; wa-shkurū lī — "and give thanks to Me, acknowledge My blessings"; wa-lā takfurūn — "and do not be ungrateful, do not conceal or deny My favours."

Translation (2:152): "Remember Me; I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and do not be ungrateful."

Commentary on Dhikr (Remembrance of Allāh): Dhikr is the opposite of ghafla (heedlessness). The remembrance of Allāh does not require formal utterance of specific words in every situation. A true friend is present with his friend; he is in constant contemplation of him, needing no formal announcement. Yet the formal stations and degrees of dhikr are many, each with its own opening and fruits:

(1) Dhikr-e-lisānī — verbal remembrance; (2) Dhikr-e-qalbī — remembrance of the heart; (3) Dhikr-e-qālibī — remembrance of the body (posture and gesture); (4) Dhikr-e-sirr — remembrance of the innermost secret; (5) Dhikr-e-fikr — remembrance through contemplation (fikr); (6) Dhikr-e-dam — remembrance with every breath; (7) Dhikr-e-dāʾimī — perpetual, continuous remembrance in all states; (8) Dhikr-e-aḥwāl — remembrance through the spiritual states (aḥwāl).

The dhikr-e-lisānī (verbal remembrance) requires first a bodily dhikr — a movement and orientation of the whole physical being. Through verbal dhikr, intrusive thoughts (khawāṭir) arise and are dispersed; through dhikr-e-qalbī (remembrance of the heart), tranquility and repose (ṭumaʾnīna wa-sukūn) are born. The master of dhikr-e-jarr (the dhikr of the "drawing" — i.e., breath-based dhikr) is like one on fire; the master of dhikr-e-nafy (the dhikr of negation, lā ilāha) is overwhelmed by a flood of light. And the traveller of dhikr-e-rūḥ is like one bit by a serpent or drowned in the ocean — he cries out, he trembles, he gives his life for the Beloved. The essence: through the dhikr-e-qalbī the threats and distractions of all that is other than Allāh are removed, and a true independence from all save Allāh (istighnāʾ) is born. Through Ism-e-Jalāl (Allāh, Allāh), a longing and intoxication with the Divine, a self-annihilation (bī-khudī), descends.

On contemplating the image of a loved one: The author cites the tradition that Sayyidunā Muḥammadﷺonce asked about the power of the imagination, and one scholar responded that to contemplate the image of a living friend (taṣawwur-e-shaykh) in one's heart is like being with that friend. Wa-mā kāna llāhu li-yuʿadhdhibahum wa-anta fīhim (al-Anfāl 8:33) — "Allāh would not punish them while you are among them." Contemplation of the Prophetﷺis the opening of the door of grace (bāb al-futūḥ) and the door of wilāya (sainthood). True ʿishq (love) with the beloved of Allāh is the bridge between the lover and the Divine.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا ٱسْتَعِينُوا بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ

Yā-ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū staʿīnū bi-l-ṣabri wa-l-ṣalāti inna llāha maʿa l-ṣābirīn.

"O you who believe! Seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allāh is with the patient." (al-Baqara 2:153)

Lexical notes: Staʿīnū — seek help, seek assistance, draw strength; from istaʿāna, to seek support; bi-l-ṣabr — through patience, endurance, steadfast bearing of trials; wa-l-ṣalāt — and through prayer (ṣalāt is also called duʿāʾ in the broader sense); inna llāha maʿa l-ṣābirīn — indeed Allāh is with the patient.

The types of ṣabr (patience):

• Ṣabr ʿalā l-ʿibāda — patience in performing worship
• Ṣabr ʿan al-maʿṣiya — patience in refraining from sin, bearing the pull of the lower self (nafs)
• Ṣabr ʿalā l-balāʾ — patience in enduring calamity, trials, and afflictions; and this is further divided into: (a) badanī (bodily) — further subdivided into fiʿlī (active endurance of imposed suffering) and infiʿālī (passive endurance of involuntary suffering); (b) nafsānī (of the soul) — endurance of the soul's own agitations and temptations.

Further sub-categories include: riḍā (contentment with what is), which is to accept divine decree cheerfully; qanāʿa (frugality, satisfaction with little); ʿiffat (moral restraint) — protecting oneself from what corrupts; and ṣilat al-dīn (connection to the faith) — preserving one's relationship with Allāh and the Messengerﷺthrough all conditions.

Translation (2:153): "O believers! Seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allāh is with the patient."

Commentary: O Muslims! Do not be troubled by the change of qibla. Far greater trials await you. Arm yourself with patience and prayer. He is with you. In every difficulty He will grant you success.

وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَن يُقْتَلُ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَمْوَٰتٌ ۚ بَلْ أَحْيَآءٌ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تَشْعُرُونَ

Wa-lā taqūlū li-man yuqtalu fī sabīli llāhi amwātun, bal aḥyāʾun wa-lākin lā tashʿurūn.

"Do not say of those who are slain in the path of Allāh that they are dead. Rather they are alive, but you do not perceive it." (al-Baqara 2:154)

Lexical notes: Man yuqtalu fī sabīli llāh — those who are killed in the way of Allāh; amwāt — plural of mayyit, dead; bal aḥyāʾ — rather they are alive, from ḥayāt (life); lā tashʿurūn — you do not perceive it, you have no awareness of it.

Translation (2:154): "Do not call those who are slain in Allāh's path 'dead'. Rather, they are alive — though you do not perceive it."

Commentary: The companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Prophetﷺ— may Allāh be pleased with them all — loved their Masterﷺwith absolute devotion. They were ready to sacrifice their lives for him; indeed, the life of this world meant little to them compared with eternal life in his proximity. The martyr (shahīd) does not die in the true sense; he dies once, yet lives eternally. As the poet has said:

Mardon ki maut ek bār hai — "The brave die but once." 懦夫 — But the coward dies a thousand deaths in his own fear.

The one who has truly surrendered himself to the love of Allāh and His Messengerﷺfears death not, because he knows: death is the door to the Beloved. The worldly person clings to this life because his heart is invested in it — in its attachments, its familiar comforts — and he dreads losing them. But the believer's yaqīn (certainty) of the hereafter liberates him.

Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allāh be pleased with him) said:«مَا تَرَكَ قَوْمٌ الْجِهَادَ إِلَّا ضَرَبَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِالذُّلِّ»— mā taraka qawmun al-jihāda illā ḍarabahumu llāhu bi-l-dhull — "No people abandoned jihād except that Allāh inflicted upon them humiliation." (Abū Dāwūd) When you no longer strive in Allāh's path, your spirit of independence and dignity withers; you become abased and others control your destiny.

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوٓا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ

Wa-la-nabluwan-nakum bi-shayʾin min al-khawfi wa-l-jūʿi wa-naqṣin min al-amwāli wa-l-anfusi wa-l-thamarāti, wa-bashshir al-ṣābirīna lladhīna idhā aṣābathum muṣībatun qālū innā lillāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.

"And We will certainly test you with something of fear, hunger, and loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; and give glad tidings to the patient — those who, when a calamity strikes them, say: 'Indeed, to Allāh we belong, and to Him we are returning.'" (al-Baqara 2:155–156)

Lexical notes: Wa-la-nabluwan-nakum — "We will indeed test you"; bi-shayʾin — with something; min al-khawf wa-l-jūʿ — of fear and hunger; naqṣin min al-amwāl — a diminution in wealth; wa-l-anfus — and in lives, souls; wa-l-thamarāt — and fruits (literal produce, but also understood broadly: children, prosperity, the fruits of one's labour); wa-bashshir al-ṣābirīn — "give glad tidings to the patient ones"; muṣība — a calamity, a trial, an affliction; qālū innā lillāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn — "they say: indeed, we belong to Allāh and to Him we are returning."

Translation (2:155–156): "We will certainly test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; give glad tidings to the patient — those who, when affliction befalls them, say: 'We belong to Allāh and to Him we return.'"

Commentary: O Muslims! You are servants of Allāh. All that you own, all that you are, belongs to Him. When a calamity comes — whether illness, loss of wealth, bereavement — and you return to the consciousness that everything belongs to Allāh and everything returns to Him, then the terror of loss dissolves. The greatest gift of this verse is that it transforms the orientation of the soul: from clinging to the world, to being at peace with the return to Allāh. The martyrs, the ṣābirīn, the ones who say innā lillāh — these are the ones who win the peace (salāwa) and mercy (raḥma) of their Lord, and they are the ones who are truly guided.

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَٰتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُهْتَدُونَ

Ulāʾika ʿalayhim ṣalawātun min rabbihim wa-raḥmatun wa-ulāʾika humu l-muhtadūn.

"Those are the ones upon whom are the blessings of their Lord and mercy, and it is those who are the rightly guided." (al-Baqara 2:157)

Commentary: The spirit is a single, simple, immaterial substance that is not material. Through the intermediary of the body, the spirit governs the physical. Death means the spirit departs and the body is left lifeless. For the martyrs (shuhadāʾ), the spirit ascends to the realm of the souls (ʿālam al-arwāḥ) in a state of fullness and joy; they retain their faculties in the world of souls. The separation of the spirit from the body is what constitutes death for all — Muslim and non-Muslim alike. And the martyrs, in the world of souls, retain a form of spiritual perception (tasarruf) that enables them to be present in the gatherings of those who remember them.

إِنَّ ٱلصَّفَا وَٱلْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَآئِرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنْ حَجَّ ٱلْبَيْتَ أَوِ ٱعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا

Inna l-Ṣafā wa-l-Marwata min shaʿāʾiri llāhi fa-man ḥajja l-bayta aw iʿtamara fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhi an yaṭṭawwafa bihimā.

"Indeed, al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa are among the symbols (shaʿāʾir) of Allāh. So whoever makes ḥajj (ḥajja) to the House or performs ʿumra, there is no sin upon him in walking between them." (al-Baqara 2:158)

Lexical notes: Al-Ṣafā — a hill on the southern side of the Masjid al-Ḥarām, smooth and slightly elevated; al-Marwa — a hill on the northern side, in the valley of Minā between the hills. Min shaʿāʾiri llāh — among the symbols and sacred markers (shaʿāʾir, singular shaʿīra or shaghra) of Allāh; those places, times, and acts through which the consciousness (shuʿūr) and remembrance of Allāh is awakened — among them: the Kaʿba, ʿArafāt, Muzdalifa, al-Ṣafā, al-Marwa, the masājid, the mosques.

Historical background: Sayyida Hājar (may Allāh be pleased with her), the mother of Ismāʿīl (upon him be peace), ran seven times between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa in a state of desperate longing, searching for water. Allāh caused the spring of Zamzam to burst forth through this act of ṣabr (patient steadfastness) and sincere seeking. Islam enshrined this practice as a permanent rite — the saʿy (running between Ṣafā and Marwa) — because it embodies the qualities of truthfulness (ṣidq) and patient trust (ṣabr). The pre-Islamic Arabs had later placed idols upon these hills, which led some early Muslims to feel reluctance about performing saʿy there; this verse was revealed to remove that scruple.

Sa-y is seven circuits (going = one circuit; returning = another circuit — they are not counted as one). The jurists differ on whether saʿy is fard (obligatory) — as held by Imām al-Shāfiʿī and those who make it obligatory — or wājib — as held in the Ḥanafī school. One who omits it must offer a dam (compensatory sacrifice).

Translation (2:158): "Indeed, al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa are among the symbols of Allāh that evoke His remembrance. Whoever performs ḥajj of the House or ʿumra, there is no sin upon him in walking between them. And whoever does additional good voluntarily — Allāh is Grateful, All-Knowing."

The author notes: All communities ultimately trace their worship back to the same source — Allāh. All the apparent differences arise from distorted interpretations and intellectual corruption born of desire and ego. For this reason Allāh follows this passage with the severe warning concerning the concealment of truth.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَآ أَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ وَٱلْهُدَىٰ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّٰهُ لِلنَّاسِ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ ۙ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يَلْعَنُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمُ ٱللَّٰعِنُونَ

Inna lladhīna yaktumūna mā anzalnā min al-bayyināti wa-l-hudā min baʿdi mā bayyannāhu li-l-nāsi fī l-kitābi ulāʾika yalʿanuhumu llāhu wa-yalʿanuhumu l-lāʿinūn.

"Indeed, those who conceal what We have sent down of clear signs and guidance, after We made it clear to the people in the Book — those are the ones whom Allāh curses, and whom the cursing ones curse." (al-Baqara 2:159)

Lexical notes: Yaktumūna — they conceal, suppress, hide; mā anzalnā min al-bayyināt — what We have sent down of clear proofs, manifest rulings, irrefutable arguments; wa-l-hudā — and the guidance; min baʿdi mā bayyannāhu li-l-nāsi — after We made it plain and clear for the people; fī l-kitāb — in the Book; ulāʾika yalʿanuhumu llāh — such people are cursed by Allāh; wa-yalʿanuhumu l-lāʿinūn — and the entire creation that is capable of cursing curses them. The curse and blessing of the whole world falls upon them.

Translation (2:159): "Indeed, those who conceal what We have sent down of clear proofs and guidance, after We made it clear to the people in the Book — those are the ones whom Allāh curses, and all those who curse, curse them."

إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا وَأَصْلَحُوا وَبَيَّنُوا فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ أَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنَا ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Illā lladhīna tābū wa-aṣlaḥū wa-bayyanu fa-ulāʾika atūbu ʿalayhim wa-anā l-tawwābu l-raḥīm.

"Except those who repent and make amends and make clear — those I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepter of Repentance, the Merciful." (al-Baqara 2:160)

Lexical notes: Illā lladhīna tābū — except those who repent; wa-aṣlaḥū — and reformed themselves, took corrective action, adopted the better course; wa-bayyanu — and made the truth clear, stated the matter openly. Fa-ulāʾika atūbu ʿalayhim — for such people I turn toward them in mercy, I accept their turning. Wa-anā l-tawwābu l-raḥīm — and I am the greatly-turning (ever-accepting of repentance), the merciful.

Translation (2:160): "Except those who repent and reform and make things clear — those are the ones whose repentance I accept, and I am the Ever-Relenting, the Most Merciful."

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَعْنَةُ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Inna lladhīna kafarū wa-mātu wa-hum kuffārun ulāʾika ʿalayhim laʿnatu llāhi wa-l-malāʾikati wa-l-nāsi ajmaʿīn.

"Indeed, those who disbelieved and died while they were disbelievers — upon such people is the curse of Allāh, the angels, and all of humanity." (al-Baqara 2:161)

خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۖ لَا يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ وَلَا هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

Khālidīna fīhā lā yukhaffafu ʿanhumu l-ʿadhābu wa-lā hum yunẓarūn.

"Abiding therein — the punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be given respite." (al-Baqara 2:162)

Commentary: The author notes that there is a scholarly difference of opinion (ikhtilāf al-ʿulamāʾ) concerning the eternal nature of punishment in the Fire for those who die in disbelief. The dominant Sunnī Ḥanafī Maturīdī position — that the unrepentant infidel faces the permanent punishment of the Fire — is affirmed here. The verse man kāna fī hādhihi aʿmā fa-huwa fī l-ākhirati aʿmā (al-Isrāʾ 17:72) — "whoever is blind in this world will be blind in the hereafter" — supports this position. The author notes that only Allāh's mercy can ultimately determine the final outcome for each soul; but for those who die in kufr without repentance, the clear statement of the Qurʾān is their permanent abiding in the punishment.

وَإِلَٰهُكُمْ إِلَٰهٌ وَٰحِدٌ ۖ لَّآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Wa-ilāhukum ilāhun wāḥidun lā ilāha illā huwa l-raḥmānu l-raḥīm.

"And your God is One God; there is no god except Him — the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful." (al-Baqara 2:163)

Lexical notes: Wa-ilāhukum ilāhun wāḥid — your God is one God; lā ilāha illā huwa — there is no deity except Him; al-raḥmānu l-raḥīm — the all-encompassing mercy (raḥmān) and the specific, intimate mercy (raḥīm). If there were multiple gods, they would disagree; disagreement would lead to one being powerless; the existence of two self-subsistent, omnipotent beings is rationally impossible. The unique divinity of Allāh entails: self-subsistence (wujūd bi-l-dhāt), omnipotence, self-sufficiency, and causation of all causes (musabbib al-asbāb). Al-Raḥmānu l-raḥīm — He gives abundantly by creating the means, and He gives specifically by granting success in attaining them.

Translation (2:163): "Your God is One God; there is no god save Him — the All-Compassionate, the Ever-Merciful."

Commentary: In the preceding verse the divine tawḥīd (uniqueness) was proclaimed both in terms of Essence (dhāt) and Attributes (ṣifāt). Now Allāh turns to evidence from the world.

إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلَّتِى تَجْرِى فِى ٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَٰحِ وَٱلسَّحَابِ ٱلْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ لَءَايَٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

Inna fī khalqi l-samāwāti wa-l-arḍi wa-khtilaāfi l-layli wa-l-nahāri wa-l-fulki llatī tajrī fī l-baḥri bi-mā yanfaʿu l-nāsa wa-mā anzala llāhu min al-samāʾi min māʾin fa-aḥyā bihi l-arḍa baʿda mawtihā wa-baththa fīhā min kulli dābbatin wa-taṣrīfi l-riyāḥi wa-l-saḥābi l-musakhkhri bayna l-samāʾi wa-l-arḍi la-āyātin li-qawmin yaʿqilūn.

"Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of night and day, and the ships that sail the sea with what benefits the people, and what Allāh has sent down from the sky of water and thereby revived the earth after its death and dispersed therein every moving creature, and the directing of the winds and the clouds subjugated between heaven and earth — in all of these are signs for a people who use reason." (al-Baqara 2:164)

Lexical notes: Khalq al-samāwāt wa-l-arḍ — the creation of the heavens and earth. Samāʾ is used for anything that rises high; arḍ for anything spread low. The expression "seven heavens" (sabʿ samāwāt) and "seven earths" indicates multiplicity and vast extent. Wa-khtilaāfi l-layli wa-l-nahār — the alternation of night and day; night follows day and day follows night; the earth revolves, giving portions of light and darkness. The regularity of this alternation manifests the divine mercy: the world is made suited to our needs. Wa-l-fulki llatī tajrī fī l-baḥr — and the ships that run through the sea; baḥr denotes salt water; nahar (river) indicates fresh running water. Rivers, streams (jadāwil), the Nile, the Euphrates, the Furat — all are included broadly. Bi-mā yanfaʿu l-nās — bearing what benefits the people: trade, transport, and commerce. Wa-mā anzala llāhu min al-samāʾ min māʾ — the rain Allāh sends down from the sky; fa-aḥyā bihi l-arḍa — thereby reviving the earth; baʿda mawtihā — after its deadness; wa-baththa fīhā min kulli dābbatin — and dispersed therein every kind of moving creature; dābba — any creature that moves on the earth, from dabb (creeping, moving). Wa-taṣrīfi l-riyāḥ — the directing of the winds from one quarter to another, changing their force and direction; riyāḥ (pl. of rīḥ) — most winds are beneficial; some harmful ones are called ṣarṣar. Rain is connected with the winds. Wa-l-saḥāb al-musakhkhar bayna l-samāʾ wa-l-arḍ — and the clouds subjected between heaven and earth, suspended at need, gathering as required.

Translation (2:164): "Truly, in the creation of the heavens and earth, the alternation of night and day, the ships that sail the seas carrying what profits mankind, the water that Allāh sends down from the sky to revive the dead earth and to spread therein all kinds of living creatures, and in the shifting of the winds and the clouds subjugated between sky and earth — in all these are signs for a people who reflect."

Commentary: All these wonders of creation — the cosmic order, the celestial regularity, the hydrological cycle, the winds, the clouds — testify to the One Creator, the All-Wise, the All-Merciful. Those who ignore all this and attach their hearts to imaginary beings or invented divinities are profoundly misguided.

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَندَادًا يُحِبُّونَهُمْ كَحُبِّ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ

Wa-min al-nāsi man yattakhidhu min dūni llāhi andādan yuḥibbūnahum ka-ḥubbi llāhi wa-lladhīna āmanū ashaddu ḥubban lillāh.

"And among the people are those who take rivals beside Allāh — they love them as they should love Allāh. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allāh." (al-Baqara 2:165)

Commentary — On Love (Maḥabba): This verse opens a profound discourse on love, which the author now expounds at length in the Ṣūfī tradition. Love (maḥabba, ʿishq) is a natural disposition (mayl-e-ṭabīʿat) and an impulse of the heart — a powerful inclination that is native to the human soul. At the highest level, love is all-pervading in creation:

• At the level of particles (dharrāt): everything in creation is drawn toward everything else
• At the level of higher entities (karrāt): the celestial spheres move in their love-impelled orbits
• Among animals: there is natural affinity (ulfat and munāsibat)
• In the human being: love is the most powerful of all forces, transcending even reason when it reaches its fullness

The author cites: Sirr-e-ḥubb-e-azal wa-qidam ashyāʾ sārī ast / Wa-rīsha-ye-kull-e-dāl bī-dil faryād (a Persian verse): "The secret of preeternal love pervades all things / and the root of all the branches calls out — heartless no heart."

Among the beloved:

• Maḥabba-e-ṭabīʿī — natural love, as of a mother for her child; (b) maḥabba ʿaqli — rational love, based on recognition of benefit; (c) maḥabba khayālī — imagined love, based on the mind's constructions; (d) maḥabba Ṣūfī — the love of the Ṣūfī, which is divine, pre-eternal, all-consuming.

The verse makes the key distinction: the polytheists love their idols and invented divinities "as" they should love Allāh — but without foundation. The believers love Allāh more intensely than any created attachment. The true believer's love for Allāh exceeds all other loves.

Commentary on Maḥabba (continued):

What is love? Love is a natural attraction, an inclination of the inner being, a passionate longing (jadhba-e-wujdān). When the beloved is present, all else becomes superfluous; when the beloved commands, opposition becomes impossible. Imam al-Ghazālī and the masters of taṣawwuf have described the stations of love in detail. Love (ʿishq) has a quality analogous to intoxication: the sense of self, the concern for dignity and reputation — all of these drop away. The poet has said:

Tum ko safīnā soz karbat kā / Dīkha to mehkate bahut (The sight of your ship of suffering has filled the air with fragrance)

The author adds: al-ʿishq yuḥriqu mā siwā l-maḥbūb — "Love burns away all that is other than the Beloved." Al-Ghayrat al-ilāhiyya (Divine Jealousy) does not tolerate partners: wa-huwa Llāhu lā sharīka lahu — "He is Allāh; there is no partner with Him."

In the Ṣūfī tradition: the divine Essence is pure Self-sufficient existence. From the Essence, the Attributes manifest; among the Attributes — Life (ḥayāt), Speech (kalām), Knowledge (ʿilm), Power (qudrat), Will (irāda) — the ʿulamāʾ of each are manifested. The divine Knowledge encompasses all existents in their pre-eternal and post-creation states. From the divine Knowledge, the aʿyān thābita (fixed archetypes) emerge, which are then clothed in the garment of existence in the created world.

The essence of the ʿĀrif's (gnostic) love for Allāh: hum dil ko āzā diyā, unnhī ko apna banāyā / Daroda-e-shauq-e-ḥubb... (Verse: "We gave them a heart, made it our own / The fire of the longing-love...") — the contemplation of the divine Beloved becomes the sole occupation of the heart.

Commentary (continued): The stages of love as described by the author are:

• The lover finds the quality of ṭālibiyyat (seeking) within himself; or discovers it projected upon the other.
• The state of matlūbiyyat (being sought) and ṭālibiyyat (seeking) are both transcended by the perfected lover; he serves the need of both.
• The divine khāliqiyyat (creative attribute) is also manifest in the lover's experience.

Bi-kasī khwāhī bisāz / Bī-kharī dān ān man ast (Persian verse: "If you wish to find peace with someone / Know that this is also from me.")

In every love — whether it proceeds from within or from the external beloved — the source is one. The ultimate secret of all love is that it flows from the One. When this becomes known to the lover, the multiplicity of loves reveals itself as a single love — the love of Allāh for Himself in and through the creation.

وَلَوْ يَرَى ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓا إِذْ يَرَوْنَ ٱلْعَذَابَ أَنَّ ٱلْقُوَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعَذَابِ

Wa-law yarā lladhīna ẓalamū idh yarawna l-ʿadhāba anna l-quwwata lillāhi jamīʿan wa-anna llāha shadīdu l-ʿadhāb.

"If only those who did wrong could see, when they behold the punishment, that all power belongs to Allāh and that Allāh is severe in punishment." (al-Baqara 2:165)

إِذْ تَبَرَّأَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتُّبِعُوا مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوا وَرَأَوُا ٱلْعَذَابَ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ ٱلْأَسْبَابُ

Idh tabarraʾa lladhīna uttobiʿū min alladhīna ittabaʿū wa-raʾaw l-ʿadhāba wa-taqaṭṭaʿat bihimu l-asbāb.

"When those who were followed disavow those who followed them, and they see the punishment, and their connections are severed." (al-Baqara 2:166)

Lexical notes: Tabarraʾa — they declared themselves free, disavowed; alladhīna uttobiʿū — those who were followed (the leaders, the false gods); alladhīna ittabaʿū — those who followed them; wa-taqaṭṭaʿat bihimu l-asbāb — their connections, their ties (asbāb: reasons, relationships, bonds) are all severed. All earthly relationships — of power, kinship, patronage — that were thought to provide intercession or protection dissolve.

Translation (2:165–167): "And among people are those who take rivals to Allāh, loving them as Allāh should be loved — but the believers are most intense in their love for Allāh. If only the wrongdoers could see, when they behold the punishment, that all power belongs to Allāh and that Allāh is severe in punishment — when those who were followed disavow those who followed them and they see the punishment and all their connections are severed — and those who followed will say: 'If only we could return, we would disavow them as they have disavowed us.' Thus Allāh will show them their deeds as anguish upon them, and they will never exit the Fire."

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ حَلَٰلًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَٰتِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

Yā-ayyuhā l-nāsu kulū mimmā fī l-arḍi ḥalālan ṭayyiban wa-lā tattabiʿū khuṭuwāti l-shayṭāni innahu lakum ʿaduwwun mubīn.

"O mankind! Eat of what is in the earth — that which is lawful and wholesome — and do not follow the footsteps of Shayṭān; indeed he is a manifest enemy to you." (al-Baqara 2:168)

Lexical notes: Kulū mimmā fī l-arḍ — eat from what is in the earth; ḥalālan — lawful; ṭayyiban — pure, wholesome, agreeable to the soul and body; wa-lā tattabiʿū khuṭuwāti l-shayṭān — do not follow the footsteps of Shayṭān, step by step, one after the other in his path; innahu lakum ʿaduwwun mubīn — indeed he is your open, manifest enemy.

Commentary on obligatory eating: Eating is obligatory from several aspects: when leaving it would cause harm to oneself or others; eating with a guest (mehmān) is mustaḥabb; eating to sustain oneself for worship is fard (as it enables fard acts).

إِنَّمَا يَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلسُّوٓءِ وَٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَأَن تَقُولُوا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ

Innamā yaʾmurukum bi-l-sūʾi wa-l-faḥshāʾi wa-an taqūlū ʿalā llāhi mā lā taʿlamūn.

"He only commands you to evil and indecency, and to say about Allāh what you do not know." (al-Baqara 2:169)

Translation (2:168–169): "O people! Eat of the lawful and wholesome things in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of Shayṭān — he is your avowed enemy. He only commands you to evil and indecency, and to say about Allāh what you have no knowledge of."

Commentary: What is Shayṭān's agenda? He commands: cast off moral restraint; commit adultery; spread corruption; give way to arrogance; bow to idols; follow false customs; abandon the divine commands; cut ties with kin; harm living creatures; indulge in gambling and intoxicants; be loyal to all that distances you from Allāh and His Messengerﷺ. And the last — and worst — of his commands is to attribute lies to Allāh, to invent religious rulings without knowledge. Such acts are the most dangerous and their consequences the most severe.

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُوا مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَآ أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَا ۗ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ

Wa-idhā qīla lahumu ttabiʿū mā anzala llāhu qālū bal nattabiʿu mā alfaynā ʿalayhi ābāʾanā, a-wa-law kāna ābāʾuhum lā yaʿqilūna shayʾan wa-lā yahtadūn.

"And when it is said to them: 'Follow what Allāh has sent down,' they say: 'Rather, we will follow what we found our fathers upon.' — Even though their fathers did not reason at all, and were not guided?" (al-Baqara 2:170)

Lexical notes: Wa-idhā qīla lahum — and when it is said to them; ittabiʿū mā anzala llāh — follow what Allāh has sent down, act upon it; qālū — they say; bal nattabiʿu — "rather, we will follow"; mā alfaynā — what we found, what we encountered; ʿalayhi ābāʾanā — our forefathers upon it; a-wa-law kāna ābāʾuhum lā yaʿqilūna shayʾan wa-lā yahtadūn — even if their fathers were utterly devoid of reason and had no guidance?

Translation (2:170): "And when it is said to them: 'Follow what Allāh has sent down,' they reply: 'Rather, we will follow what we found our forefathers doing.' — What! Even if their forefathers were bereft of reason and were astray?"

Commentary: Discard blind adherence to inherited customs for its own sake. Use your own God-given faculty of reason. It is shameful to follow the customs of forefathers who were themselves heedless and misguided. Tradition is valuable when it embodies wisdom and truth; when it embodies ignorance, following it blindly is itself ignorance.

وَمَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لَا يَسْمَعُ إِلَّا دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً ۚ صُمٌّ بُكْمٌ عُمْىٌ فَهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ

Wa-mathalu lladhīna kafarū ka-mathali lladhī yanʿiqu bi-mā lā yasmaʿu illā duʿāʾan wa-nidāʾan, ṣummun bukmun ʿumyun fa-hum lā yaʿqilūn.

"The parable of the disbelievers is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing except a call and a cry — deaf, dumb, and blind; they do not understand." (al-Baqara 2:171)

Translation (2:171): "The parable of the disbelievers is like that of a flock of animals to which someone calls and shouts — they hear nothing but voice and sound. They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they do not understand."

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا كُلُوا مِن طَيِّبَٰتِ مَا رَزَقْنَٰكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ

Yā-ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū kulū min ṭayyibāti mā razaqnākum wa-shkurū lillāhi in kuntum iyyāhu taʿbudūn.

"O you who believe! Eat of the pure things We have provided for you and be grateful to Allāh, if it is Him you worship." (al-Baqara 2:172)

Lexical notes: Kulū min ṭayyibāt — eat of the pure, wholesome, lawful things; mā razaqnākum — what We have provided for you; wa-shkurū lillāh — be grateful to Allāh; in kuntum iyyāhu taʿbudūn — if it is truly Him that you worship.

Translation (2:172): "O believers! Eat of the wholesome things We have bestowed upon you, and give thanks to Allāh — if it is indeed Him that you worship."

إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Innamā ḥarrama ʿalaykumu l-maytata wa-l-dama wa-laḥma l-khinzīri wa-mā uhilla bihi li-ghayri llāhi fa-man-iḍṭurra ghayra bāghin wa-lā ʿādin fa-lā ithma ʿalayhi inna llāha ghafūrun raḥīm.

"He has only forbidden to you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than Allāh's has been invoked. But whoever is forced by necessity — neither desiring it nor transgressing — there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful." (al-Baqara 2:173)

Lexical notes: Mayta — carrion, any animal that has died without the prescribed slaughter (dhabḥ); its root mayyit indicates anything that has lost life. Wa-l-dam — blood, specifically blood that flows; laḥm al-khinzīr — the flesh of the pig; the pig is among the most thoroughly morally degraded (qalīl al-ḥayāʾ) animals, and its regular consumption inclines its eaters toward shamelessness. Wa-mā uhilla bihi li-ghayri llāh — and whatever animal has been slaughtered with the name of other than Allāh invoked over it — such as animals slaughtered at idol-shrines. Fa-man iḍṭurra — whoever is in a state of extreme necessity (iḍṭirār), compelled without choice; ghayra bāghin — not seeking it willfully, not rebellious; wa-lā ʿādin — not transgressing the limit; fa-lā ithma ʿalayh — there is no sin upon such a person; inna llāha ghafūrun raḥīm — Allāh is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Translation (2:173): "He has only forbidden you carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that over which any name other than Allāh has been invoked. But whoever is compelled by necessity without willful desire or transgression — there is no sin upon him. Allāh is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Commentary on Dietary Laws (extended): The author engages with contemporary disputes on this question with characteristic directness. Some people in the modern age claim that vegetarianism is the correct diet for the human being. Some say that if all of creation is divine, then eating living creatures is wrong. Others say that eating pork would be harmless if it were first thoroughly cleansed. Yet others claim that only the offering to idols is prohibited, and that the flesh itself is permissible.

The author's response draws on natural philosophy and the Ḥanafī-Maturīdī framework:

On the argument that humans are herbivores (ʿilf-khwār): The human being is neither exclusively carnivorous (gūsht-khwār) nor exclusively herbivorous. He is a distinct category of creature altogether, endowed with ʿaql (reason), by which he selects, prepares, and transforms his food with discretion. Carnivorous creatures are more naturally inclined toward the qualities of their prey. Herbivores are naturally more sedentary. The human being — standing between the two — takes both as appropriate. To attempt to confine the human being to the category of any animal is to misunderstand his unique nature. Allāh gave him reason so that he might deploy all creation for its appropriate use. Rice, wheat, lentils, fruit, meat, fish — he takes all these with the discernment of ʿaql.

The prohibition of carnivorous beasts of prey (sibāʿ) is connected with their disposition: they tend to transmit predatory and aggressive qualities to those who eat them. The prohibition of the pig: it is the most shameless of creatures, and regular consumption of its flesh inclines the human being toward shamelessness.

As for the Ḥanafī position on carnivorous birds: predatory birds (tuyūr al-jawāriḥ) are prohibited by analogy (qiyās) with carnivorous beasts. Herbivorous and grain-eating birds (ʿilf-khwār) are generally permissible. This is the well-established (muqarrar) ruling of the school.

Commentary (continued): Several aḥādīth are relevant here:

On the prohibition of carnivorous beasts and birds, the Ḥanafī school relies upon the ḥadīth:«كُلُّ ذِي نَابٍ مِنَ السِّبَاعِ فَأَكْلُهُ حَرَامٌ»— kullu dhī nābin min al-sibāʿi fa-akluhū ḥarām — "Every fanged beast of prey — its consumption is ḥarām." (Muslim; Abū Dāwūd)

On recitation of the basmala at the time of slaughter: the legal scholars have discussed at length whether the basmala must be recited explicitly or whether its omission by forgetfulness is excused. The prevalent Ḥanafī ruling: intentional omission invalidates the slaughter; forgetful omission does not. One does not eat from an animal over which Allāh's name was deliberately not pronounced.

On offerings to other than Allāh (mā uhilla bi-ghayri llāh): any animal slaughtered invoking a name other than Allāh — whether a saint, a deity, or any created being — is ḥarām. The underlying principle:

Innamā al-mushrikūna najas — "The polytheists are indeed impure" (al-Tawba 9:28) — the impurity here is spiritual, of their false attribution.

On the question of basmala and fātiḥa as part of the slaughter ritual: the proper way is to recite the name of Allāh (basmala) at the time of slaughter, and further recitation of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa and ṣalawāt (blessings on the Prophetﷺ) is additionally recommended, especially before ritual sacrifice. Those who rush through the fātiḥa or abandon it in favour of worldly conversations while eating are losing a great blessing and a means of proximity to Allāh.

The author mentions a ḥadīth on the conveying of charity on behalf of the deceased:

From ʿĀʾisha (may Allāh be pleased with her): a man said to the Prophetﷺ: "My mother passed away suddenly and was unable to leave a bequest; had she been able to speak she would have given in charity. Will she receive the reward if I give charity on her behalf?" The Prophetﷺreplied: "Yes." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim)

From Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allāh be pleased with both): a man came to the Prophetﷺand said: "My mother has died; she had a vow (nadhr) of fasting that she never fulfilled." The Prophetﷺasked: "If she had owed a debt, would you have paid it for her?" He replied: "Yes." The Prophetﷺsaid: "Then fulfil the debt of Allāh — for it is more deserving of fulfilment." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim)

Commentary (continued — Islamic rulings transmitted through aḥādīth):

Another narration from Sayyidunā Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allāh be pleased with both): the Prophetﷺ, during which occasion a woman came and asked: "O Messenger of Allāh! My mother has fulfilled the ḥajj obligation but she passed away before completing a vow of fasting. Shall I fast on her behalf?" The Prophetﷺreplied: "Yes, fast on her behalf." (Muslim)

On prohibitions related to physical orientation in worship (niyābat al-worship):

The author discusses three categories of prohibited physical orientations:

(1) Ibādat al-ṭayr (bird-divination): attributing divine agency to bird behaviour — "Allāh created the bird"; the bird's movement is a created act, not a divine oracle. This was the practice of pre-Islamic divination (tathayyur).

(2) Ibādat al-ṭāghūt (worship of rebellious powers): to bow in the direction of Firʿawn (Pharaoh) who declared: wa-naʿlā ṣarḥan — "build me a tower" (Ghāfir 40:36). The tower he commanded was his attempt to "reach" the God of Mūsā — this is pure kufr. Worship requires a qibla (direction), but it must be the qibla of Allāh, not of Firʿawn.

(3) On the prohibited nature of attributing independent agency to the act of being shaped like a bird: ʾa-takhluku ṭayran bi-idhni llāh — "you create from clay the figure of a bird by Allāh's permission" (al-Māʾida 5:110) — even the miracle of ʿĪsā (upon him be peace) was by divine permission; no independent creative power inheres in any creature. Therefore: Lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh — "There is no power and no strength except with Allāh."

The author emphasises: to attribute shirk (polytheism) to a Muslim on the basis of a legitimate practice — such as tawassul (seeking nearness to Allāh through the Prophetﷺor the saints) or ziyārat (visiting shrines) — is itself a grave error. The well-known ḥadīth:«مَنْ قَالَ لِأَخِيهِ يَا كَافِرُ فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِهَا أَحَدُهُمَا»— man qāla li-akhīhi yā kāfiru fa-qad bāʾa bihā aḥaduhumā — "Whoever calls his brother a disbeliever — one of the two carries that label." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim). It is the duty of the Muslim to protect his brother's honour.

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَيَشْتَرُونَ بِهِۦ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۙ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَا يَأْكُلُونَ فِى بُطُونِهِمْ إِلَّا ٱلنَّارَ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

Inna lladhīna yaktumūna mā anzala llāhu min al-kitābi wa-yashtarūna bihi thamanan qalīlan ulāʾika mā yaʾkulūna fī buṭūnihim illā l-nāra wa-lā yukallimuhumu llāhu yawma l-qiyāmati wa-lā yuzakkīhim wa-lahum ʿadhābun alīm.

"Indeed, those who conceal what Allāh has sent down from the Book and purchase with it a paltry gain — those are the ones who eat nothing into their bellies but the Fire. Allāh will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them, and for them is a painful punishment." (al-Baqara 2:174)

Lexical notes: Yaktumūna mā anzala llāhu min al-kitāb — they conceal what Allāh sent down from the Book — i.e., the truths about the prophethood of Muḥammadﷺthat were clearly stated in their scriptures; wa-yashtarūna bihi thamanan qalīlan — and they exchange it for a paltry price — worldly status, petty gain, the fear of losing followers. Mā yaʾkulūna fī buṭūnihim illā l-nār — they are eating nothing into their bellies but Fire. Wa-lā yukallimuhumu llāh yawma l-qiyāma — Allāh will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection — this is the ultimate humiliation. Wa-lā yuzakkīhim — nor will He purify them. Wa-lahum ʿadhābun alīm — for them is a painful punishment.

Translation (2:174): "Indeed, those who conceal what Allāh has sent down from the Book and sell it for a paltry price — they are eating nothing in their bellies but fire. Allāh will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them. For them is a painful torment."

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱشْتَرَوُا ٱلضَّلَٰلَةَ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ وَٱلْعَذَابَ بِٱلْمَغْفِرَةِ ۚ فَمَآ أَصْبَرَهُمْ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ

Ulāʾika lladhīna ishtaraw al-ḍalālata bi-l-hudā wa-l-ʿadhāba bi-l-maghfirati fa-mā aṣbarahum ʿalā l-nār.

"Those are the ones who purchased error in exchange for guidance and punishment in exchange for forgiveness — how great is their endurance of the Fire!" (al-Baqara 2:175)

Lexical notes: Ishtaraw al-ḍalālata bi-l-hudā — they bought misguidance in exchange for guidance; wa-l-ʿadhāba bi-l-maghfira — and punishment in exchange for forgiveness; fa-mā aṣbarahum ʿalā l-nār — how extraordinary is their steadfastness upon the Fire! (An expression of condemnation and astonishment: they have traded guidance for error, yet they persist with incredible obstinacy.)

Translation (2:175–176): "Those are the ones who exchanged guidance for misguidance, and forgiveness for punishment — how great is their perseverance in the Fire! This is because Allāh sent down the Book with truth; and indeed, those who differ over the Book are in profound schism."

Commentary: The calamities and punishments described in these verses are a consequence of their own choice: Allāh sent the Book with truth; they distorted, concealed, and disputed it. Those who persist in this opposition have placed themselves in a "profound schism" (shiqāq baʿīd) — an irreconcilable distance from the truth. The lesson for believers: do not betray the divine trust; do not sell the truth for worldly advantage; the price you gain in this world is paltry compared to what you forfeit in the next.

۞ لَّيْسَ ٱلْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ ٱلْبِرَّ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ وَٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ وَٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَءَاتَى ٱلْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ ذَوِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَى ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَٰهَدُوا ۖ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ فِى ٱلْبَأْسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَحِينَ ٱلْبَأْسِ ۗ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا ۖ وَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُتَّقُونَ

Laysa l-birra an tuwallū wujūhakum qibala l-mashriqi wa-l-maghribi wa-lākinna l-birra man āmana billāhi wa-l-yawmi l-ākhiri wa-l-malāʾikati wa-l-kitābi wa-l-nabiyyīna wa-ātā l-māla ʿalā ḥubbihi dhawī l-qurbā wa-l-yatāmā wa-l-masākīna wa-bna l-sabīli wa-l-sāʾilīna wa-fī l-riqābi wa-aqāma l-ṣalāta wa-ātā l-zakāta wa-l-mūfūna bi-ʿahdihim idhā ʿāhadū wa-l-ṣābirīna fī l-baʾsāʾi wa-l-ḍarrāʾi wa-ḥīna l-baʾsi ulāʾika lladhīna ṣadaqū wa-ulāʾika humu l-muttaqūn.

"Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or west; but righteousness is one who believes in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets; and who gives wealth, despite his love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, those who ask, and for the freeing of captives; and establishes prayer and gives zakāt; and those who fulfil their covenants when they make them; and the patient in poverty, hardship, and at times of battle — these are the ones who are truthful, and these are the ones who are God-fearing." (al-Baqara 2:177)

Lexical notes: Laysa l-birr — "righteousness is not merely"; an tuwallū wujūhakum — that you turn your faces; qibala l-mashriqi wa-l-maghrib — toward the east or west (i.e., the mere physical act of facing the qibla is not, by itself, sufficient for complete birr); wa-lākinna l-birra — but righteousness is; man āmana billāh — one who believes in Allāh; wa-l-yawmi l-ākhir — and the Last Day; wa-l-malāʾika — and the angels; wa-l-kitāb — and the Book (all revealed books); wa-l-nabiyyīn — and the Prophets; wa-ātā l-māla — and gives wealth; ʿalā ḥubbihi — "despite his love for it" (indicating that it is genuine sacrifice, not mere surplus giving); dhawī l-qurbā — to close relatives; wa-l-yatāmā — and to orphans (the minor child who has lost his father); wa-l-masākīn — and the poor (one who does not have sufficient for a day); wa-bna l-sabīl — and the traveller; wa-l-sāʾilīn — and those who ask; wa-fī l-riqāb — and for the freeing of slaves (riqāb) and prisoners. Wa-aqāma l-ṣalāt — and establishes prayer — not merely performing it but maintaining it with its full rights and conditions. Wa-ātā l-zakāt — and gives the zakāt (obligatory alms). Wa-l-mūfūna bi-ʿahdihim idhā ʿāhadū — and those who fulfil their covenants when they make them. Wa-l-ṣābirīna fī l-baʾsāʾi wa-l-ḍarrāʾi wa-ḥīna l-baʾs — and the patient in poverty (baʾsāʾ: destitution), hardship (ḍarrāʾ: pain and harm), and in times of war (ḥīna l-baʾs: the hour of battle). Ulāʾika lladhīna ṣadaqū — these are the ones who are truthful, who proved the sincerity of their claim; wa-ulāʾika humu l-muttaqūn — and these are the God-fearing.

Commentary on Social Welfare: The author emphasises the social and moral dimensions of this comprehensive verse. True righteousness demands genuine care for relatives, orphans, the poor, travellers, and those in need. The destitute must be assisted before they are reduced to begging; widows and orphans must be supported. The fear of Allāh and sincere compassion in the heart are the springs from which all of these flow; without them, all formal acts are hollow.

Translation (2:177): "Righteousness is not the mere turning of your faces toward east or west — but truly righteous is the one who believes in Allāh, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets; who gives of his wealth, out of love for it, to his relatives, orphans, the poor, the wayfarer, the beggars, and for the liberation of captives; who establishes the ṣalāt and gives the zakāt; who fulfil their covenant when they make one; who are patient in poverty, in hardship, and at the time of battle — such are the truthful ones, and such are the truly God-fearing."

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْقِصَاصُ فِى ٱلْقَتْلَى ۖ ٱلْحُرُّ بِٱلْحُرِّ وَٱلْعَبْدُ بِٱلْعَبْدِ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ بِٱلْأُنثَىٰ

Yā-ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū kutiba ʿalaykumu l-qiṣāṣu fī l-qatlā, al-ḥurru bi-l-ḥurri wa-l-ʿabdu bi-l-ʿabdi wa-l-unthā bi-l-unthā.

"O you who believe! Prescribed for you is qiṣāṣ (the law of equal retaliation) in cases of deliberate killing: the free man for the free man, the slave for the slave, the female for the female." (al-Baqara 2:178)

Lexical notes: Kutiba ʿalaykum — it has been prescribed, obligated, made binding; al-qiṣāṣ — the law of equal retaliation, from qaṣṣa (to trace the footstep, to retaliate in kind); the pre-Islamic Arabs used the phrase qaṣṣa fulānun fulānan meaning "such-a-one retaliated against such-a-one." Fī l-qatlā — in cases of killing. Al-ḥurru bi-l-ḥurr — the free man in retaliation for the free man; al-ʿabdu bi-l-ʿabd — the slave for the slave; al-unthā bi-l-unthā — the female for the female.

This verse proclaims the principle of equality in qiṣāṣ: a life for a life, across categories of social status. Neither the noble's life protects him from qiṣāṣ for killing another, nor does the free man's life exempt him from being killed for killing a slave.

The phrase al-ḥurru bi-l-ḥurr and the equivalents do not mean that a free man cannot be executed for killing a slave — the jumhūr (majority of scholars) hold that a free Muslim can be executed for killing a slave; these categories address the principle that the social class of the victim must match the retaliation. The Ḥanafī school holds that the free man is executed for killing a slave, on the general principle of human equality in life.

فَمَنْ عُفِىَ لَهُۥ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَىْءٌ فَٱتِّبَاعٌۢ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَأَدَآءٌ إِلَيْهِ بِإِحْسَٰنٍ

Fa-man ʿufiya lahū min akhīhi shayʾun fa-ttibāʿun bi-l-maʿrūfi wa-adāʾun ilayhi bi-iḥsān.

"But if any remission is made to someone by his brother, then the pursuing of it should be with kindness and its fulfilment with grace." (al-Baqara 2:178)

Lexical notes: Fa-man ʿufiya lahū — if for the killer, some remission has been granted; min akhīhi — from his brother — Allāh here calls the one who was wronged (the victim's representative) the "brother" of the killer, signifying the preservation of brotherhood even in the context of qiṣāṣ cases; shayʾun — anything (even partial forgiveness); fa-ttibāʿun bi-l-maʿrūf — then let the pursuit (of blood money) be in accordance with custom and propriety; wa-adāʾun ilayhi bi-iḥsān — and let the fulfilment (payment of blood money) be with grace.

Commentary: This verse contains an immense wisdom of social policy. The law of equal retaliation is the guardian of life itself:

وَلَكُمْ فِى ٱلْقِصَاصِ حَيَوٰةٌ يَٰٓأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَلْبَٰبِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

Wa-lakum fī l-qiṣāṣi ḥayātun yā-ulī l-albābi laʿallakum tattaqūn.

"And in qiṣāṣ there is life for you, O people of understanding, so that you may be God-fearing." (al-Baqara 2:179)

The social wisdom: when the potential killer knows that he will himself be killed, he desists. Furthermore, the principle that one killer's death prevents a chain of retaliatory killings — where tribe after tribe would perish — is also contained here.

The four categories of killing (qatl) according to the Ḥanafī school:

(1) Qatl ʿamd — deliberate murder, using a weapon designed to kill or grievously harm (a sword, a gun); qiṣāṣ applies. (2) Shibh ʿamd — quasi-intentional killing, using something not designed to kill but death results; diya (blood money) is owed. (3) Qatl khaṭaʾ — killing by error, without intent and without the use of any weapon; diya is owed. (4) Shibh khaṭaʾ — accidental killing where there was intent but no weapon and death occurs entirely by accident; diya is owed.

Only qatl ʿamd carries qiṣāṣ; the others require diya.

Translation (2:178–179): "O believers! Qiṣāṣ has been prescribed for you in cases of deliberate murder: the free man for the free man, the slave for the slave, the woman for the woman. Whoever has received any remission from his brother, let the matter be pursued in the customary manner and let the due payment be made with grace — this is a concession from your Lord and a mercy. Whoever then transgresses after this will have a painful punishment. And in qiṣāṣ there is life for you, O people of understanding — so that you may be God-fearing."

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ إِن تَرَكَ خَيْرًا ٱلْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

Kutiba ʿalaykum idhā ḥaḍara aḥadakumu l-mawtu in taraka khayran al-waṣiyyatu li-l-wālidayni wa-l-aqrabīna bi-l-maʿrūfi ḥaqqan ʿalā l-muttaqīn.

"Prescribed for you is, when death approaches one of you and he leaves some wealth, that he make a bequest (waṣiyya) for the parents and near relatives in the customary manner — this is an obligation upon the God-fearing." (al-Baqara 2:180)

Commentary on the law of bequests: The author notes that this verse was revealed before the detailed law of inheritance (mīrāth) established in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ; with the revelation of āyāt al-mīrāth the right of the wārith (legal heir) to inherit was established, and it was confirmed by the ḥadīth:«لَا وَصِيَّةَ لِوَارِثٍ»— lā waṣiyyata li-wārith — "No bequest to an heir." (Abū Dāwūd; al-Tirmidhī) The current ḥukm of this verse, therefore, applies to non-heirs among relatives, and to parents who are blocked from inheritance by a closer heir. The Islamic system of inheritance (mīrāth) is the primary mechanism; the bequest up to one-third of the estate for non-heirs remains valid and recommended.

Fiqhī question: Is the original obligation of this verse manṣūkh (abrogated)? The answer is that the rule of the bequest to wārithīn (inheriting relatives) has been superseded by the laws of mīrāth; but the recommended bequest to non-inheriting relatives and charitable causes remains valid.

Translation (2:180): "Prescribed for you is that when any of you approaches death and leaves some wealth, he should make a bequest to his parents and near relatives in the customary manner — this is an obligation upon the God-fearing."

فَمَن بَدَّلَهُۥ بَعْدَمَا سَمِعَهُۥ فَإِنَّمَآ إِثْمُهُۥ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُبَدِّلُونَهُۥٓ

Fa-man baddalahū baʿda mā samiʿahū fa-innamā ithmuhū ʿalā lladhīna yubaddilūnah.

"Whoever changes it after having heard it — its sin will fall upon those who change it." (al-Baqara 2:181)

Translation (2:181): "Whoever alters it after having heard it — the sin will be upon those who alter it. Indeed, Allāh is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."

فَمَنْ خَافَ مِن مُّوصٍ جَنَفًا أَوْ إِثْمًا فَأَصْلَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Fa-man khāfa min mūṣin janafan aw ithman fa-aṣlaḥa baynahum fa-lā ithma ʿalayhi inna llāha ghafūrun raḥīm.

"But if one fears from the testator some partiality or wrongdoing and makes reconciliation between them — there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful." (al-Baqara 2:182)

Lexical notes: Man khāfa min mūṣin — whoever fears from the testator; janafan — leaning toward one side (janaf: inclination, partiality); aw ithman — or wrongdoing, injustice in the bequest; fa-aṣlaḥa baynahum — and he brings about reconciliation among those involved; fa-lā ithma ʿalayhi — there is no sin upon him; inna llāha ghafūrun raḥīm — Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful.

Translation (2:182): "But if one fears partiality or injustice on the part of the testator and reconciles the parties — there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful."

Commentary on Waṣiyya (bequest): This verse further clarifies that the rightful waṣiyya may be modified if the testator has made an unjust or partial bequest — in such cases a mediator who corrects the imbalance bears no sin. The overriding principle is justice and the welfare of the parties. Financial provision for relatives, care of the widowed and orphaned — all of these must never be neglected; when the fear of Allāh and compassion dwell in the heart, all such matters fall into their proper place.

The author also notes: the right of the parents and near relatives to be mentioned in the waṣiyya continues even after the āyāt al-mīrāth, in the sense that non-heirs among relatives may be named in the bequest of up to one-third of the estate — this is the ṣaḥīḥ ruling.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

Yā-ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū kutiba ʿalaykumu l-ṣiyāmu kamā kutiba ʿalā lladhīna min qablikum laʿallakum tattaqūn.

"O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may be God-fearing." (al-Baqara 2:183)

Lexical notes: Kutiba ʿalaykumu l-ṣiyām — fasting has been prescribed, made obligatory for you; kamā kutiba ʿalā lladhīna min qablikum — just as it was prescribed for those before you — fasting is not a new institution; it was enjoined upon all prophetic communities before this umma; laʿallakum tattaqūn — so that you may attain God-consciousness (taqwā).

Why is fasting prescribed? The author enumerates:

• (1) Through fasting, awareness of the hunger of the poor and destitute is awakened in the believer.
• (2) Fasting disciplines and restrains the soul (nafs), strengthening its capacity to bear hardship with equanimity.
• (3) Fasting removes many physical disorders and purifies the body.
• (4) Most profoundly, fasting draws the believer directly to Allāh. In the ḥadīth qudsī:«الصَّوْمُ لِي وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ»— al-ṣawmu lī wa-anā ajzī bih — "The fast is for Me, and I Myself am its reward." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim) In the fast, a distinctive quality of divine independence (istighnāʾ) from all that is other than Allāh is cultivated. The believer who does not eat even when food is available — even in secret, even at night — demonstrates the highest degree of sincerity. The fast, in its inner reality, is: from the true pre-dawn (ṣādiq) to the sunset, to restrain oneself from eating, drinking, and all lawful marital intimacy.

Translation (2:183): "O believers! Fasting has been prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you — so that you may attain taqwā."

Commentary on the Spiritual Reality of Fasting (continued):

The fast does not merely restrain the body. When a person fasts, the hour arrives when Allāh's remembrance descends and negligence (ghafla) is dispelled. Allāh Most High is with the one who maintains ṣabr (patient steadfastness) in His worship. The thought of Allāh (khayāl-e-ilāhī) alone is sufficient; when it arrives, all the sufferings and distractions of the world vanish. The verse inna llāha maʿa l-ṣābirīn — "Indeed Allāh is with the patient" (al-Baqara 2:153) — reflects upon the spirit of fasting: the one who fasts with sincerity finds Allāh's companionship, and in that companionship all hardship is dissolved.

The definition of ṣawm (fasting): abstention — from the ṣubḥ ṣādiq (true dawn) until sunset — from eating, drinking, and marital intimacy, with the intention (niyya) of worship of Allāh alone. This is the outer form. The inner form is the fast of the heart from all that is other than Allāh — from the vain thoughts, the base inclinations, the desires of the ego — and the fast of the spirit from all attachment to anything other than the divine Beloved.

The blessed month of Ramaḍān is the month of the fast. It is the month in which the Qurʾān was revealed, as Allāh declares in the verse that immediately follows:﴿شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ﴾— shahru ramaḍāna lladhī unzila fīhi l-qurʾān — "The month of Ramaḍān in which the Qurʾān was revealed." (al-Baqara 2:185) — which will be discussed in the continuation.

Sūrat al-Baqara — Juzʾ 2 (Sa-yaqūlu)

[Continuation of the commentary on al-Baqara 2:183 — the obligation of fasting]

Translation: O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you just as it was prescribed for those who came before you, so that you may attain taqwā (God-consciousness and righteousness).

Commentary: The scholars have stated that in previous communities fasting was also obligatory, though its details and conditions varied. The wisdom behind fasting is the cultivation of taqwā — self-restraint and God-consciousness. One should ask: what is the condition of fasting in the present age? The wealthy say that abstaining from food is the work of those who have no means. The middle classes fast, but in Ramaḍān they increase their expenditure severalfold above the usual. The poor bear hunger and thirst for days on end with great difficulty. And when the fast-breaking time arrives, is the remembrance of God there?

The real purpose of Ramaḍān is to come closer to Allahﷻ. One should struggle against one's lower self. The sacred Ramaḍān has arrived; one must exert oneself with full force.﴿لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ﴾— laʿallakum tattaqūn — "so that you may attain taqwā." Fasting is a training of the self. Keeping one's fast and then ignoring its spirit is a contradiction.

Summary of the verse: O you who believe! Fasting has been prescribed for you in the same way as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain God-consciousness.

[Word-by-word commentary on al-Baqara 2:184]

﴿أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ﴾— Ayyāman maʿdūdāt — a specified, counted number of days. Initially, the obligation was for three days per month together with the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ (the tenth of Muḥarram). Then this was replaced by the fasting of Ramaḍān.

The Shawwāl 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th were exempted from the fast. A concession (rukhṣa) was made for the one who is ill, a further concession for the traveller, and a concession for the pregnant woman.

Faʿidda — so let him make up the count. Min ayyāmin ukhar — from other days; he shall make up those missed days.

[Commentary continued on al-Baqara 2:184, the fidya — expiation for those unable to fast]

For the one who has the ability to fast but with extreme difficulty — such as a sick person for whom fasting poses a grave danger, or a very elderly person incapable of fasting — it is permissible to pay the fidya: the feeding of one poor person per day. Shāh Walī Allāh (may Allah have mercy on him) is of the view that this relates to the category of those for whom fasting is permanently difficult. For such a person, paying the fidya is obligatory.

﴿فَمَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيْرًا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّهُ﴾— Faman taṭawwaʿa khayran fa-huwa khayrun lah — "And whoever voluntarily does good — that is better for him": that is, whoever gives more than the minimum fidya, or feeds more than one poor person, that is better for him.﴿وَأَن تَصُومُواْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ﴾— Wa-an taṣūmū khayrun lakum — "But to fast is better for you": fasting is superior, even for one to whom the option of fidya has been given.﴿إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾— In kuntum taʿlamūn — "if you only knew."

Translation of verse 2:184: ˹Fasting is for˺ a specified number of days. But whoever among you is ill or on a journey — then a like number of other days. And for those who can fast only with extreme hardship, there is the expiation of feeding a poor person. And whoever does more good voluntarily — that is better for him. But fasting is better for you, if you only knew.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:185 — the month of Ramaḍān]

﴿شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ﴾— Shahru Ramaḍān alladhī unzila fīhi al-Qurʾān — "The month of Ramaḍān — it is the month in which the Qurʾān was sent down."

Unzila and anzala: the Qurʾān was revealed all at once from the Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ to the lowest heaven (Bayt al-ʿIzza) on the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) in Ramaḍān; thereafter it was revealed gradually (tanjīman) over twenty-three years in accordance with circumstances.

﴿هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ﴾— Hudan li-al-nās — "a guidance for all people."﴿وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ﴾— wa-bayyinātin min al-hudā wa-al-furqān — "and clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion."﴿فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ﴾— "So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it."﴿وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ﴾— "And whoever is ill or on a journey — then a like number of other days."

﴿يُرِيدُ اللّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلاَ يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ﴾— Yurīdu Allāhu bikumu al-yusra wa-lā yurīdu bikumu al-ʿusra — "Allah intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you."

﴿وَلِتُكْمِلُواْ الْعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُواْ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ﴾— "And so that you may complete the number, and glorify Allah for having guided you, and that you may be grateful."

Translation of verse 2:185: The month of Ramaḍān is the one in which the Qurʾān was revealed — a guidance for people, containing clear proofs of guidance and the Criterion. So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey — then a like number of other days. Allah desires ease for you and does not desire hardship. He wants you to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Allah for His guidance, so that you may be grateful.

A Western critic once objected: in some northern latitudes the days and nights are extremely long; how can a person fast? The author responds: (1) Fasting is for all Muslims who are residents of those areas; the same answer applies to your objection. (2) In such extreme latitudes that are unsuitable for habitation, there is no need to seek rulings — the obligation is for those living in habitable places. (3) When a new crescent cannot be sighted, the count of months will be reckoned by an alternate method. (4) As for the verse﴿فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ الشَّهْرَ﴾— whoever witnesses and is present in the month of Ramaḍān must fast. The month itself cannot be eliminated.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:186 — Allah's nearness and His response to supplication]

﴿وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي﴾— Wa-idhā saʾalaka ʿibādī ʿannī — "And when My servants ask you concerning Me."

The word ʿabd (servant) carries several meanings: (1) ʿabd Allāh — the absolute servant who is entirely devoted to his Master; (2) ʿabd muʾmin — the obedient servant; (3) ʿabd ṭāʾiʿ — the compliant slave. The Prophetﷺhimself used this expression: kuntu ʿabdahu wa-khādimahu — "I was His servant and attendant." Among the servants of Muḥammadﷺis the one who says: anā ʿabdun min ʿabīdi Muḥammadin — "I am one of the servants of Muḥammadﷺ."

﴿فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ﴾— Fa-innī qarīb — "Indeed I am near." The nearness of Allahﷻis of several kinds: (1) nearness in terms of time — some are near in one era but distant in another; (2) nearness in terms of place — different for each location; (3) nearness through attention — some things are in one's thought while others are not. But the nearness of Allahﷻis a nearness of essence (dhāt) as well as a nearness of knowledge and awareness. His existence is self-subsistent and necessarily existent (wājib al-wujūd bi-al-dhāt). His names and attributes are all eternal. The nearness of Allahﷻto us is a nearness of knowledge and awareness. He knows us, but is not circumscribed by us. Some people err in saying that Allahﷻis seated on the ʿArsh and is far away — yet He sees and hears all things. But He is also in the innermost selves of souls. There is no part of creation that does not contain His intervention through His mercy and His tajallī (self-manifestation).

Ujibu daʿwat al-dāʿī idhā daʿān — "I respond to the call of the caller when he calls Me." Ajāba — yujību — ijābatan wa-jawāban — to respond, to answer. The chain of questions and needs is unending, therefore the response has been made with the word ujību — "I respond." This response sometimes manifests in this world and sometimes in the next, as Allahﷻbestows upon His servant according to what is truly beneficial for him.

﴿فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُواْ لِي وَلْيُؤْمِنُواْ بِي﴾— "So let them respond to Me and believe in Me." The meaning is: let them accept My commands, respond to My call, distance themselves from what I forbid, and turn their desires toward Me; for I am faithful to them and will certainly fulfil their needs.

﴿لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ﴾— Laʿallahum yarshudūn — "So that they may be rightly guided and successful."

Translation of verse 2:186: And when My servants ask you about Me — I am indeed near. I respond to the supplication of the one who calls when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me, so that they may be rightly guided.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:187 — permissibility of intercourse on nights of Ramaḍān and rules of iʿtikāf]

﴿أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ الصِّيَامِ الرَّفَثُ إِلَى نِسَائِكُمْ﴾— Uḥilla lakum laylata al-ṣiyāmi al-rafathu ilā nisāʾikum — "It has been made lawful for you, on the nights of fasting, to have intimate relations with your wives."

Laylatā al-ṣiyām — the night of fasting, as a ẓarf (temporal indicator) for the time being discussed. Al-rafath — here referring to conjugal intimacy.

﴿هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَّهُنَّ﴾— Hunna libāsun lakum wa-antum libāsun lahunna — "They are a garment (libās) for you and you are a garment for them." The image of a garment here conveys close intimacy and mutual protection.

﴿عَلِمَ اللّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ﴾— "Allah knew that you were deceiving yourselves" — that is, some believers had, in the early period of Islam, violated the rule that had been observed by their forefathers (which prohibited intimacy on the nights of fasting after the ʿishāʾ prayer). They did so in secret, knowing it was against the prevailing convention. Allahﷻforgave this and declared it lawful.﴿فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ﴾— "So He accepted your repentance and pardoned you."

﴿فَالآنَ بَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَابْتَغُواْ مَا كَتَبَ اللّهُ لَكُمْ﴾— "So now have relations with them and seek what Allah has written for you" — the commentators note that this refers to the seeking of offspring; the Islamic principle is that the goal of conjugal relations is the production of children and the continuation of the lineage. This is an Islamic principle against unnatural methods of birth control. Were the entire world to adopt birth control, in one hundred years not a single person would remain on earth. The French policy of limiting birth rates led them to shrink from forty million to forty million while their neighbours grew — manifestly, a nation that multiplies will prevail over one that restricts itself. The birth of children is a natural matter in accord with the fiṭra (primordial nature) which Allah has instilled.

﴿وَكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِ﴾— Wa-kulū wa-ushrabū ḥattā yatabayyana lakumu al-khayṭu al-abyaḍu min al-khayṭi al-aswadi min al-fajr — "And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread of night."

The white thread (khayṭ abyaḍ) from the dark thread: this is the dawn (fajr), which first appears as a vertical band of white light in the east — the fajr ṣādiq (true dawn). The false dawn (fajr kādhib) appears briefly and vertically before it, then retreats. Al-infijār: the bursting open. The light of dawn begins as a white streak, like a white thread, then gradually spreads until it fills the entire horizon.

﴿ثُمَّ أَتِمُّواْ الصِّيَامَ إِلَى اللَّيلِ﴾— Thumma atimmū al-ṣiyāma ilā al-layl — "Then complete the fast until the night." The grammatical principle is: a preposition indicating direction (ilā) marks the end-point of what it governs, and there is a difference of opinion whether the end-point itself is included. Here it is established that ifṭār (breaking the fast) begins at night, i.e. at sunset.

From this verse it is established that the time of saḥūr (pre-dawn meal) extends up to the beginning of true dawn. A person who is in a state of ritual impurity (janāba) at the start of the fast can still have the fast as valid — the fast-keeper does not need to perform ghusl (ritual bath) before the fast begins, and the fast will not be broken if he remains in that state. However, if one enters into that state during the fast, the fast is broken and qaḍāʾ (make-up) is required.

﴿وَلاَ تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ﴾— "And do not have relations with them while you are in iʿtikāf (seclusion for worship) in the mosques."

The categories of iʿtikāf (iʿtikāf-e-masājid) are:

(1) Wājib (obligatory) — with the condition of niyyah (intention), fasting, and a mosque.

(2) Sunna Muʾakkada (strongly encouraged sunnah) — the last ten days of Ramaḍān; for this, fasting is not a precondition (sharṭ), though a period of fasting should accompany it; a small period of iʿtikāf with an intention is also valid.

(3) Nāfila (supererogatory) — for any period, without the precondition of fasting.

The essence of iʿtikāf is that a person severs his connection from the world for a time and devotes himself entirely to Allahﷻ. One should spend the entire period of iʿtikāf in the remembrance of Allah.

﴿تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ فَلاَ تَقْرَبُوهَا﴾— "These are the limits of Allah; do not approach them." The limits set by Allahﷻare sacred; do not transgress them.﴿كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ﴾— "Thus does Allah make His signs clear to the people, so that they may attain taqwā."

Translation of verse 2:187: It has been made lawful for you, on the nights of fasting, to have conjugal relations with your wives. They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them. Allah knew that you used to deceive yourselves, so He turned to you in mercy and forgave you. So now have relations with them and seek what Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread of night. Then complete the fast until the night. And do not have relations with them while you are in iʿtikāf in the mosques. These are the limits of Allah — do not approach them. Thus does Allah make His signs clear to the people, so that they may attain taqwā.

The prohibition against sexual relations during iʿtikāf — and what else is prohibited during that time, such as trading and other worldly engagements — this was not a new ruling but was a reinforcement of what was already known. The command here is: observe the sacred states. Allahﷻsays regarding these matters:

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:188 — prohibition of consuming property unjustly]

﴿وَلاَ تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَالَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِالْبَاطِلِ﴾— Wa-lā taʾkulū amwālakum baynakum bi-al-bāṭil — "And do not consume one another's wealth among yourselves by false means." Baynakum — among yourselves. Bi-al-bāṭil — by unlawful means: unlawfully consuming another's property, causing harm to others while benefiting oneself. Note that Allahﷻsays amwālakum — "your wealth" — treating the community's wealth as belonging to all; thus what harms one person's property is a harm to the entire community.

﴿وَتُدْلُواْ بِهَا إِلَى الْحُكَّامِ﴾— "And do not offer it as a bribe to judges to consume some of the wealth of people through sin while you know."﴿لِتَأْكُلُواْ فَرِيقًا مِّنْ أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ بِالإِثْمِ﴾— "so that you may unlawfully devour a portion of people's wealth."

Translation of verse 2:188: And do not consume one another's wealth among yourselves by false means, nor use it to bribe judges so as to devour a portion of people's wealth unlawfully while you know it to be wrong.

O my companions! What are the unlawful paths? Taking what Allahﷻhas forbidden, accepting bribes, giving false testimony, practising deceit in transactions, charging usurious interest (ribā), cheating in weights and measures, causing harm to others in business — these are all the forbidden paths. One who falls into these corrupts his own character. One unlawfully consumed morsel destroys acts of worship. Allah forbid! May Allah grant all of us lawful provision.

[Commentary continued — expanded exposition on forbidden means of acquiring wealth]

Observe — and contemplate the shameful condition of those deeds which include oppression, fraudulent seizure of property, deceptive manipulation of legal proceedings, false promises, destruction of crops and livestock through malice. What is the outcome of all this? The person who earns through such means poisons his own soul. One unlawfully gained morsel extinguishes twenty-five accepted acts of worship. May Allah protect us!

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:189 — the question about the crescent moon (hilāl)]

People asked the Prophetﷺabout the crescents — the philosophical reason for the waxing and waning of the moon. Since philosophy alone cannot give a practical answer, the response provides the practical benefit: the moon serves as a natural calendar.

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الأهِلَّةِ﴾— Yasʾalūnaka ʿan al-ahilla — "They ask you about the new moons." Ahilla is the plural of hilāl, which is the crescent as it appears in the first few nights; people announce it aloud (ahalla) — that is the meaning.﴿قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ﴾— Qul hiya mawāqītu li-al-nāsi wa-al-ḥajj — "Say: they are time-measurements for people and for Ḥajj." Mawāqīt (plural of mīqāt) — the designated times from which matters are reckoned. From this, the word mīqāt in Ḥajj also derives its meaning — the designated boundary from which iḥrām is assumed.

The questioners wanted a philosophical explanation for the phases of the moon; but the answer given is practical: it serves to determine times and seasons. The crescent is a natural clock, given by the Creator. Looking for philosophical puzzles about it is futile. Philosophers waste their time with such speculations instead of doing what is useful. The world does not stand still waiting for their conclusions.

The second part of verse 2:189:﴿وَلَيْسَ الْبِرُّ بِأَنْ تَأْتُواْ الْبُيُوتَ مِن ظُهُورِهَا﴾— "And righteousness (birr) is not that you enter houses from their backs." Buyūt — houses, places of abode. This refers to a practice in pre-Islamic Arabia: when someone had assumed iḥrām, he would not enter his house through the front door but would climb over the back wall, thinking this to be a form of piety. Allahﷻdeclares:﴿وَلَكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنِ اتَّقَى﴾— "But righteousness is the one who has taqwā."﴿وَأْتُواْ الْبُيُوتَ مِنْ أَبْوَابِهَا﴾— "And enter houses through their doors." This is a practical and clear command: do not create false forms of piety, but rather cultivate genuine taqwā.﴿وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ﴾— "And fear Allah so that you may succeed."

Translation of verse 2:189: They ask you about the new moons. Say: they are measurements of time for people and for Ḥajj. And righteousness is not that you enter houses from their backs; rather, righteousness is the one who has taqwā. So enter houses through their doors, and fear Allah, that you may succeed.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:190 — the command to fight in the way of Allah]

﴿وَقَاتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ﴾— Wa-qātilū fī sabīli Allāhi alladhīna yuqātilūnakum wa-lā taʿtadū — "And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits."

Qātala — yuqātilu — to fight (mutual form). From this it is clear that wilfully attacking those who are not fighting is not the purpose of jihād. A Muslim fights only when compelled. The goal of jihād is not glory or conquest of wealth, but the establishment of the truth and the religion of Allahﷻ.﴿فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ﴾— "in the way of Allah" — sabīl: path, way. Only fight those who wage war against you.﴿وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ﴾— "Do not transgress" — do not attack women, children, the aged, the sick, or non-combatants; do not destroy crops or harm animals; do not mutilate.

O friends! The ethics of warfare in Islam are extraordinary — mercy, compassion, no betrayal of trust, no desecration of the dead, protection of civilian homes, respect for houses of worship, care for the wounded. Compare these principles with what takes place in modern wars, or with the warfare of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn (may Allah have mercy on him) and the wars described in the annals of the Crusades. Those who propagated the Crusades with their slogan "God wills it!" committed massacres of innocents, genocide of entire communities, countless injustices over years — and then call others' resistance "terrorism" or "politics." Lies are necessary for them, and deviance from truth is their custom.

Some weak and cowardly Muslims have also adopted these notions and treat jihād as reprehensible, considering it distasteful to God — and they mislead simple Muslims with this. But abandoning jihād leads to utter degradation in this world and in the next. As for those who have waged jihād, their children have multiplied; those who fled from battle have seen their offspring diminish. This shows that jihād is a natural law of survival.

﴿إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ﴾— Inna Allāha lā yuḥibbu al-muʿtadīn — "Indeed Allah does not love those who transgress limits."

Translation of verse 2:190: And fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. Indeed, Allah does not love those who transgress.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:191–193]

﴿وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيْثُ ثَقِفْتُمُوهُمْ﴾— Wa-uqtulūhum ḥaythu thaqiftumūhum — "And slay them wherever you come upon them."﴿وَأَخْرِجُوهُم مِّنْ حَيْثُ أَخْرَجُوكُمْ﴾— "And drive them out from where they drove you out."﴿وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ﴾— Wa-al-fitnatu ashaddu min al-qatl — "and fitnah (persecution, sedition, disorder) is worse than killing."

﴿وَلاَ تُقَاتِلُوهُمْ عِندَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ حَتَّى يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِيهِ﴾— "And do not fight them near the Sacred Mosque until they fight you there."﴿فَإِن قَاتَلُوكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوهُمْ﴾— "If they fight you, then kill them."﴿كَذَلِكَ جَزَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ﴾— "Such is the recompense of the disbelievers."

Translation of 2:191–193: And slay them wherever you come upon them, and drive them out from where they drove you out — for fitnah is worse than killing. But do not fight them near the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there. If they fight you, then kill them — such is the recompense of the disbelievers. But if they desist, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And fight them until there is no more fitnah and religion is for Allahﷻ. If they desist, then there is no aggression except against the wrongdoers.

O friends! Jihād is lawful and its being so is mandated by necessity. The horses of those who do not believe in its permissibility are in Muslim pens. They know nothing of the wars of Pānīpat. They are ignorant of the warfare in Iraq. They have never heard of the massacres of the Crusades. Compare the conduct of Sultan Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn ibn Ayyūb (may Allah have mercy on him) — the justice and nobility with which he re-entered Jerusalem — and the conduct of the Crusaders who in 1099 entered Jerusalem and exterminated its population. The disbelievers spare no effort to turn Muslims from their faith. Those who apostatize after having believed — their deeds are nullified in this world and the next; they are the people of the Fire, and therein shall they remain.

Those who oppressed: they would not let the truth be proclaimed. In their propaganda they present their own wars of subjugation as "liberation" and call the faith of others "extremism." Lies are their instrument and deviation their tool. Some spineless Muslims echo them and speak against jihād, calling it distasteful to God — while they mislead the simple-minded. But abandoning jihād leads only to contempt and subjugation. The evidence of history is clear: those who wage jihād prosper; those who abandon it perish. The safety of the Muslim Umma is bound to a single moment of steadfastness.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:194 — the sacred month and proportionate retaliation]

﴿الشَّهْرُ الْحَرَامُ بِالشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ وَالْحُرُمَاتُ قِصَاصٌ﴾— Al-shahru al-ḥarāmu bi-al-shahri al-ḥarāmi wa-al-ḥurumātu qiṣāṣ — "The sacred month for the sacred month — and for all violations, retribution." If they desecrate the sanctity of the sacred month, you too may respond in kind. In the pre-Islamic era (jāhiliyya) all bloodshed was halted in the sacred months, and pilgrims were protected. On one occasion the Prophetﷺ ﷺled the Companions to perform ʿumra, but the Quraysh — violating the sanctity of the sacred months — prevented the Muslims from entering. The Muslims were prepared to fight, and the Prophetﷺtook the oath of allegiance from them under a tree — this is known as the Bayʿat al-Riḍwān. After much effort, a peace treaty (Ṣulḥ al-Ḥudaybiyya) was concluded for ten years, but the Quraysh violated it.

﴿فَمَنِ اعْتَدَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُواْ عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَى عَلَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ مَعَ الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾— "So whoever aggresses against you, retaliate against him in proportion to his aggression. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who have taqwā."

Translation of verse 2:194: The sacred month for the sacred month — and all violations invite retribution. So whoever transgresses against you, retaliate in equal measure; and fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who are God-fearing.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:195 — spending in the way of Allah and not casting oneself into destruction]

﴿وَأَنفِقُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَلاَ تُلْقُواْ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ وَأَحْسِنُواْ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾— Wa-anfiqū fī sabīli Allāhi wa-lā tulqū bi-aydīkum ilā al-tahlukati wa-aḥsinū inna Allāha yuḥibbu al-muḥsinīn.

"And spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands. And do good — indeed, Allah loves the doers of good."

Translation of verse 2:195: And spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction by your own hands. And do good — indeed, Allah loves those who excel in goodness.

This verse teaches that withholding financial support from the cause of Allahﷻand from one's nation and community is itself a form of self-destruction. Supporting one's Muslim brothers financially, supporting one's family and kinsmen — this is what strengthens the nation and community. A community without mutual solidarity and cohesion is not a community — it is merely a collection of individuals. Therefore those who progress are those who remain united, and those who progress together do so because they work together.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:196 — the obligation of Ḥajj and ʿUmra]

﴿وَأَتِمُّواْ الْحَجَّ وَالْعُمْرَةَ لِلّهِ﴾— Wa-atimmū al-ḥajja wa-al-ʿumrata li-Allāhi — "And complete the Ḥajj and ʿUmra for the sake of Allah."

﴿فَإِنْ أُحْصِرْتُمْ﴾— Fa-in uḥṣirtum — "But if you are prevented" — stopped by an enemy, or by illness or any other impediment. Iḥṣār: to be detained.﴿فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ﴾— "then offer whatever sacrificial animal is easily available."

﴿وَلاَ تَحْلِقُواْ رُءُوسَكُمْ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَ الْهَدْيُ مَحِلَّهُ﴾— "And do not shave your heads until the sacrificial animal reaches its place of slaughter." Maḥill: the place of reaching; the place where the sacrifice is made — which is the Ḥaram of Mecca.

﴿فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ بِهِ أَذًى مِّن رَّأْسِهِ فَفِدْيَةٌ مِّن صِيَامٍ أَوْ صَدَقَةٍ أَوْ نُسُكٍ﴾— "But if anyone among you is ill or has an ailment of the head, the fidya is fasting, or charity, or sacrifice" — i.e., he must either fast three days, or give charity to six poor persons, or offer a sacrifice.﴿فَإِذَا أَمِنتُمْ﴾— "When you are secure" — when the state of iḥrām is no longer compelled and there is no impediment.

Regarding tamattuʿ — the person who performs ʿUmra and then Ḥajj in the same season of Ḥajj:﴿فَمَن تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ﴾— "whoever takes advantage of ʿUmra before Ḥajj, then whatever sacrificial animal is available."﴿فَمَن لَّمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيَامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ وَسَبْعَةٍ إِذَا رَجَعْتُمْ﴾— "And whoever cannot find the sacrifice, then fasting of three days during Ḥajj and seven when you return home — these are ten complete."﴿ذَلِكَ لِمَن لَّمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُ حَاضِرِي الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ﴾— "This is for those whose family does not reside near the Sacred Mosque."﴿وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾— "Fear Allah and know that Allah is severe in punishment."

Translation of verse 2:196: Complete the Ḥajj and ʿUmra for Allah. But if you are prevented, then offer whatever sacrificial animal is easily available. And do not shave your heads until the animal reaches its place of slaughter. Whoever among you is ill or has an ailment of the head must pay the fidya of fasting, charity, or sacrifice. When you are secure, whoever takes advantage of ʿUmra before Ḥajj must offer whatever animal is available. Whoever cannot find that should fast three days during Ḥajj and seven upon return — ten complete days. This is for those whose family does not reside near the Sacred Mosque. And fear Allah, for Allah is severe in punishment.

The pillars of Ḥajj are: iḥrām, wuqūf at ʿArafāt, ṭawāf al-ziyāra (the major circumambulation). The obligatory acts (wājibāt) include: wuqūf at Muzdalifa, saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwa, the stoning of the three jamrāt, and the farewell circumambulation (ṭawāf al-wadāʿ). The sunan include: talbiya (reciting labbayk), ḥalq or taqṣīr (head-shaving or trimming), and entering iḥrām at the mīqāt.

The types of Ḥajj are four:

(1) Ifrād — entering iḥrām for Ḥajj alone at the mīqāt or before, with the intention for Ḥajj only, whether or not one pronounces the talbiya (Labbayk Allāhumma labbayk).

(2) Ifrād bi-al-ʿumra — entering iḥrām for ʿUmra only at the mīqāt, with the intention for ʿUmra only.

For the ʿUmra, one should perform the ṭawāf before entering the months of Ḥajj or during those months, or even in the same season, with or without pausing iḥrām between ʿUmra and Ḥajj.

(3) Qirān — combining both Ḥajj and ʿUmra in a single iḥrām. The iḥrām for both may be assumed at the mīqāt or before, intending both together, whether or not the talbiya is verbally pronounced. The acts of ʿUmra are subsumed within those of Ḥajj.

(4) Tamattuʿ — performing ʿUmra first, completing it, and then entering iḥrām for Ḥajj separately in the same season. The iḥrām for ʿUmra is assumed at the mīqāt, and its ṭawāf is completed, then one assumes iḥrām for Ḥajj separately in the months of Ḥajj.

The sacrificial animal (qurbānī) for tamattuʿ — a cow, goat, or camel — is obligatory. The rule of the obligatory sacrifice in tamattuʿ is that it is required even of one who is poor. The person who cannot afford the sacrifice must fast: three days during the days of Ḥajj (from the time one assumes iḥrām for Ḥajj until the 9th of Dhū al-Ḥijja), and seven days when he returns home. Thus ten days total.

The mawāqīt (boundaries for iḥrām) are five: (1) Dhū al-Ḥulayfa (for people of Madīna), (2) Dhāt ʿIrq (for people of Iraq), (3) al-Juḥfa (for people of Shām/Syria), (4) Qarn al-Manāzil (for people of Najd), (5) Yalamlam (for people of Yemen and the Indian subcontinent — including Hindus and Pakistanis). Whoever comes from Mecca itself assumes iḥrām from the nearest permissible point.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:197 — the months of Ḥajj and its etiquette]

﴿الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَّعْلُومَاتٌ﴾— Al-ḥajju ashhārun maʿlūmāt — "Ḥajj is ˹performed in˺ well-known months" — Shawwāl, Dhū al-Qaʿda, and Dhū al-Ḥijja.﴿فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلاَ رَفَثَ وَلاَ فُسُوقَ وَلاَ جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ﴾— Fa-man faraḍa fīhinna al-ḥajja fa-lā rafatha wa-lā fusūqa wa-lā jidāla fī al-ḥajj — "So whoever undertakes the obligation of Ḥajj in them, let there be no obscenity (rafath), no wickedness (fusūq), and no quarrelling (jidāl) during Ḥajj." These restrictions are particularly stringent in a state of iḥrām, and Allahﷻhas especially emphasised them.

﴿وَمَا تَفْعَلُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللّهُ وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُونِ يَا أُوْلِي الأَلْبَابِ﴾— "And whatever good you do, Allah knows it. And take provisions — for the best provision is taqwā. And fear Me, O people of understanding."

Translation of verse 2:197: Ḥajj is in the well-known months. Whoever undertakes the obligation of Ḥajj in them, let there be no obscenity, no wickedness, and no quarrelling during Ḥajj. And whatever good you do, Allah knows it. Take provisions — for the best provision is taqwā. Fear Me, O people of understanding.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:198–199 — trading during Ḥajj and wuqūf at ʿArafāt]

﴿لَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَن تَبْتَغُواْ فَضْلاً مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ﴾— Laysa ʿalaykum junāḥun an tabtaghū faḍlan min rabbikum — "There is no sin upon you in seeking the bounty of your Lord" — i.e., engaging in trade during Ḥajj is permitted.

﴿فَإِذَا أَفَضْتُم مِّنْ عَرَفَاتٍ فَاذْكُرُواْ اللّهَ عِندَ الْمَشْعَرِ الْحَرَامِ﴾— Fa-idhā afaḍtum min ʿArafātin fa-dhkurū Allāha ʿinda al-mashʿari al-ḥarām — "Then when you pour forth from ʿArafāt, remember Allah at the Mashʿar al-Ḥarām." ʿArafāt is a specific location outside Mecca, the wuqūf (standing) at which is a pillar of Ḥajj — without it, Ḥajj cannot be performed.

The tradition states that Ādam (upon him be peace) and Ḥawwāʾ (upon her be peace) descended after departing from Paradise; their designated place of reunion was here, and when they met each other at this place they recognized each other — hence the name ʿArafāt (from ʿarafa — to know/recognise). Then they came together here and were reunited.

﴿وَاذْكُرُوهُ كَمَا هَدَاكُمْ﴾— "And remember Him as He has guided you."﴿وَإِن كُنتُم مِّن قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الضَّالِّينَ﴾— "For indeed you were among the misguided before this."

Translation of verse 2:198–199: There is no sin upon you in seeking bounty from your Lord ˹during Ḥajj˺. And when you pour forth from ʿArafāt, remember Allah at the Mashʿar al-Ḥarām, and remember Him as He has guided you — for before this you were among the misguided.

The Mashʿar al-Ḥarām is another name for Muzdalifa. Wuqūf (standing) there is obligatory.﴿ثُمَّ أَفِيضُواْ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَفَاضَ النَّاسُ﴾— "Then pour forth from whence the people pour forth" — the command was given that, just as the main body of pilgrims departed from ʿArafāt, the Muslim pilgrims should also depart from the same place.

﴿وَاسْتَغْفِرُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾— "And seek the forgiveness of Allah; indeed Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Translation: Then pour forth from whence the people pour forth, and seek the forgiveness of Allah — indeed Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:200 — remembrance of Allah after completing the rites of Ḥajj]

﴿فَإِذَا قَضَيْتُم مَّنَاسِكَكُمْ فَاذْكُرُواْ اللّهَ كَذِكْرِكُمْ آبَاءكُمْ أَوْ أَشَدَّ ذِكْرًا﴾— Fa-idhā qaḍaytum manāsikakum fa-dhkurū Allāha ka-dhikrikum ābāʾakum aw ashadda dhikrā — "And when you have completed your rites, remember Allah as you used to remember your forefathers, or with even greater remembrance."

The pre-Islamic Arabs would gather after Ḥajj and boast of their ancestors' glories. Allahﷻdirects the believers to replace that boasting with the remembrance of Allahﷻ— the remembrance of Allah is the origin and root of all things, the origin of all knowledge, the origin of all good.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:200–203 — those who seek only worldly ends, those who seek both worlds, and the days of tashrīq]

﴿فَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ خَلاَقٍ﴾— "Among the people is one who says: 'Our Lord, give us in this world' — and he has no share in the Hereafter."

Those who are worldly seek only this world from God; and God, even when they call upon Him, gives them their world — but they will have no portion in the Hereafter. When your aspiration is not directed toward the Hereafter, how can God give it to you?

﴿وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ﴾— Rabbanā ātinā fī al-dunyā ḥasanatan wa-fī al-ākhirati ḥasanatan wa-qinā ʿadhāba al-nār — "Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."

This is the supplication of those who seek both worlds. Islam has no monasticism. Abandoning the world and withdrawing into a cave is not the Islamic ideal. A Muslim picks up both burdens — and walks a straight and balanced path. The Muslim's right hand holds power and energy for this world; the left hand is the service of the Hereafter.﴿رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً﴾— whatever deed one does with good intention becomes a means of the Hereafter as well as this world.

﴿أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِّمَّا كَسَبُواْ وَاللّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ﴾— "These shall have a share of what they earned — and Allah is swift in reckoning."

﴿وَاذْكُرُواْ اللّهَ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَّعْدُودَاتٍ﴾— "And remember Allah during the numbered days" — the ayyām al-tashrīq (11th, 12th and 13th of Dhū al-Ḥijja). Dhikr during these days is for the purpose of worship and is not merely social festivity.﴿فَمَن تَعَجَّلَ فِي يَوْمَيْنِ فَلاَ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ وَمَن تَأَخَّرَ فَلاَ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ لِمَنِ اتَّقَى﴾— "Whoever hastens in two days, there is no sin on him; and whoever delays, there is no sin on him — for the one who fears Allah."

Translation: And remember Allah during the numbered days. Whoever departs in two days, there is no sin on him; and whoever stays on, there is no sin on him — for the one who has taqwā. Fear Allah and know that you will be gathered unto Him.

[Continuation of commentary on the rites of Ḥajj after the days of tashrīq]

Then when ʿUmra is complete — having assumed iḥrām, performed ṭawāf, and completing the saʿy (seven circuits between Ṣafā and Marwa) — for ʿUmra only, the pilgrim trims a portion of the hair and exits iḥrām. One who is performing Ḥajj only (ifrād) does not exit iḥrām.

The essentials of ʿUmra (arkān al-ʿumra) are: iḥrām and ṭawāf. The obligatory acts include: saʿy between Ṣafā and Marwa, and ḥalq or taqṣīr.

Now the narrator turns from the outer rites to the inner dimension of Ḥajj. What is the inner spirit of Ḥajj? It is the journey of the soul to its Beloved. Those who truly love do not calculate the cost of the journey — they set out, and the Beloved receives them. The person who comes wrapped in the white garments of ihrām, turning away from the world and clinging to the cord of his Lord — this is the inner meaning of labbayk ("Here I am, O Lord!"). The one who comes rushing to the Kaʿba Sharīfa, performing seven circumambulations, kissing the Ḥajar al-Aswad — he is like a lover who hurries to the place of meeting with his Beloved. The running between Ṣafā and Marwa is the running of Hājar (upon her be peace), the mother of Ismāʿīl (upon him be peace). Standing at ʿArafāt is the standing of two separated souls — Ādam and Ḥawwāʾ — who recognised each other. The sacrifice of the animal on the Day of ʿĪd is the sacrifice of Ibrāhīm (upon him be peace) — the father's willingness to sacrifice his beloved son at the divine command, and the divine ransom with the ram. Allah Akbar! There is no one worthy of worship but Allahﷻ.

One of the profound wisdoms of Ḥajj is the gathering of the entire Muslim community of the world in one place, in one language — Arabic — united as brothers, all in the same white shroud-like garment, all calling the same name. Just as many rivers flow into one sea, yet each river has its source far away, so the pilgrims come from all directions and merge into one vast community. Ḥajj strengthens the bonds of brotherhood across the Muslim world; it facilitates the exchange of ideas, sharing of knowledge, and collective contemplation of the advancement of the Umma.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:204–207 — the man of pleasant speech who corrupts the earth, vs. the one who sells his soul for Allah's pleasure]

﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُعْجِبُكَ قَوْلُهُ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيُشْهِدُ اللّهَ عَلَى مَا فِي قَلْبِهِ وَهُوَ أَلَدُّ الْخِصَامِ﴾— Wa-min al-nāsi man yuʿjibuka qawlahu fī al-ḥayāti al-dunyā wa-yushidu Allāha ʿalā mā fī qalbihi wa-huwa aladdu al-khiṣām — "And among the people is one whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and he calls Allah to witness what is in his heart — yet he is the most contentious of adversaries."

The munāfiq (hypocrite): his words are sweet and pleasing; he speaks at length to impress; he even invokes Allah as a witness. But in reality, his heart is filled with hostility and deceit.

﴿وَإِذَا تَوَلَّى سَعَى فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُفْسِدَ فِيِهَا وَيُهْلِكَ الْحَرْثَ وَالنَّسْلَ وَاللّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الفَسَادَ﴾— "And when he turns away, he strives in the land to spread corruption, destroying crops and offspring — and Allah does not love corruption."

Al-ḥarth wa-al-nasl: the destruction of agriculture (crops, the means of material sustenance) and offspring (the human progeny, the future of society). Allahﷻdoes not love fasād (corruption, disorder).

﴿وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُ اتَّقِ اللّهَ أَخَذَتْهُ الْعِزَّةُ بِالإِثْمِ فَحَسْبُهُ جَهَنَّمُ وَلَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ﴾— "And when it is said to him: 'Fear Allah', his arrogance seizes him to sin — his portion is Jahannam; and it is a wretched resting place."

Translation of 2:204–206: And among people is one whose speech pleases you in worldly life, and who invokes Allah to witness what is in his heart — yet he is the most contentious of adversaries. When he turns away, he goes to spread corruption in the land, destroying crops and lineage — and Allah does not love corruption. And when it is said to him, "Fear Allah", his arrogance drives him to sin. His place is Jahannam — what a terrible resting place.

﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاء مَرْضَاتِ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ رَؤُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ﴾— Wa-min al-nāsi man yashrī nafsahu ibtighāʾa marḍāti Allāhi wa-Allāhu raʾūfun bi-al-ʿibād — "And among the people is one who sells his very soul in pursuit of the pleasure of Allah — and Allah is most compassionate toward His servants."

Yashrī: to sell. This person sacrifices himself for the sake of Allahﷻ— his entire existence is at the disposal of his Lord. This is the station of the true believer, the ṣiddīq, the martyr, the walī (friend of Allah).

Translation of 2:207: And among the people is one who sells his soul in pursuit of the pleasure of Allah — and Allah is most compassionate toward His servants.

There are many people in this world who appear fine on the outside but are hollow within — such great speakers, such charming personalities, such fascinating company. They captivate hearts and draw people to themselves with their eloquence. Then when they leave — they rush about planting seeds of corruption. When reminded of God, their arrogance rises up.

But, O Allah! How Glorified are You — every single day You bring something new into the world. Every day a new movement arises, a new idea emerges. The peddlers of innovation think they are creating the new — but when they are created they are already old and discarded. Learn from the birds of dīn — follow the methods of the Companions, the principles of the forefathers. And know one truth firmly: speak the truth with courage, repeat it consistently. A single truth repeated a hundred times acquires more force than the most elaborate falsehood.

And to Allah belongs the ultimate return. Everything will be presented before Him.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:208 — entering Islam completely]

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ادْخُلُواْ فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ﴾— Yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū udkhulū fī al-silmi kāffatan wa-lā tattabiʿū khuṭuwāti al-shayṭāni innahu lakum ʿaduwwun mubīn — "O you who believe! Enter fully into Islam, and do not follow the footsteps of Shayṭān — indeed he is your manifest enemy."

Al-silm (or al-salm): peace, Islam, submission — entering completely and without reservation into the dīn. Kāffatan: wholly, entirely, completely. Khuṭuwāt al-shayṭān: the footsteps of Shayṭān — his incremental path of seduction, one step at a time, each step taking the believer further from the truth.

Translation of verse 2:208: O you who believe! Enter fully into Islam, and do not follow the footsteps of Shayṭān — for he is your manifest enemy.

O my companions! In Islam there is one God, one Kaʿba, one Qibla. There is no distinction of caste or tribe. Whatever condition you are in — adopt Islam entirely. The entire evil and chaos of the world originates from Shayṭān. The source of discord and quarrel is Shayṭān. To be free from him, see: our manifesto is nature and reason.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:209–210 — consequences of slipping after clear guidance]

﴿فَإِن زَلَلْتُم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءتْكُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ فَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾— "But if you slip after the clear signs have come to you, then know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise."

﴿هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَأْتِيَهُمُ اللّهُ فِي ظُلَلٍ مِّنَ الْغَمَامِ وَالْمَلآئِكَةُ وَقُضِيَ الأَمْرُ وَإِلَى اللّهِ تُرْجَعُ الأُمُورُ﴾— "Are they waiting for nothing less than that Allah should come to them in canopies of clouds with the angels, and the matter is settled? And to Allah are all matters returned."

Hal yanzurūna: the interrogative here indicates rebuke and admonishment. Ẓulal (plural of ẓilla): shade, covering — clouds gathered like canopies. Al-ghamām: the heavy, overcast cloud. Quḍiya al-amr: the matter has been concluded, the final judgment rendered.

Translation of 2:209–210: But if you slip after the clear signs have come to you, know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. Are they waiting for anything other than that Allah should come to them in the shadow of clouds with the angels — and the matter be settled? All affairs return to Allah.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:211 — ask the Banū Isrāʾīl]

﴿سَلْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَمْ آتَيْنَاهُم مِّنْ آيَةٍ بَيِّنَةٍ وَمَن يُبَدِّلْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءتْهُ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ﴾— Sal Banī Isrāʾīla kam ātaynāhum min āyatin bayyinatin wa-man yubaddil niʿmata Allāhi min baʿdi mā jāʾathu fa-inna Allāha shadīdu al-ʿiqāb — "Ask the Children of Isrāʾīl how many clear signs We gave them. And whoever exchanges the blessing of Allah after it has come to him — then indeed Allah is severe in punishment."

Niʿmat Allāh: the favour of Allah — meaning here Islām, or prophethood, or any divine gift. Whoever exchanges this gift for ingratitude and rejection — will face severe punishment.

Translation: Ask the Children of Isrāʾīl how many clear signs We gave them. Whoever exchanges the blessing of Allah after it has come to him — truly Allah is severe in punishment.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:212 — the dazzle of worldly life for the disbelievers]

﴿زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا وَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّقَواْ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَاللّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ﴾— Zuyyina li-alladhīna kafarū al-ḥayātu al-dunyā wa-yaskharūna min alladhīna āmanū wa-alladhīna ittaqaw fawqahum yawma al-qiyāmati wa-Allāhu yarzuqu man yashāʾu bi-ghayri ḥisāb.

"The life of this world has been beautified for those who disbelieve, and they mock those who believe. But those who have taqwā will be above them on the Day of Resurrection — and Allah provides for whom He wills without measure."

Translation of 2:212: The worldly life has been made alluring to the disbelievers; they mock the believers. But those who have taqwā will be above them on the Day of Resurrection — and Allah provides for whom He wills without reckoning.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:213 — all people were once one community]

﴿كَانَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً﴾— Kāna al-nāsu ummatan wāḥidatan — "Mankind was one community." This refers to the era of Ādam (upon him be peace), when all humanity was in a state of unity — no sectarianism, no differences of creed.﴿فَبَعَثَ اللّهُ النَّبِيِّينَ مُبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ وَأَنزَلَ مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ فِيمَا اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ﴾— "Then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, and sent down with them the Book in truth to judge between people in what they differed over."

﴿وَمَا اخْتَلَفَ فِيهِ إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ بَغْيًا بَيْنَهُمْ﴾— "And none differed over it except those who had been given it — after the clear signs had come to them — out of rivalry among themselves."

Baghyan: out of mutual envy and rivalry. The causes of sectarian division among peoples of the Book were not doctrinal confusion but personal ambitions and partisan politics.

﴿فَهَدَى اللّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لِمَا اخْتَلَفُواْ فِيهِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ بِإِذْنِهِ وَاللّهُ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ﴾— "Then Allah guided those who believed to the truth regarding what they had differed over, by His permission — and Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path."

Translation of 2:213: Mankind was one community. Then Allah sent prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, and sent down with them the Book in truth, to judge between people in what they differed over. And none differed over it except those who had been given it — after the clear signs had come to them — out of rivalry. Then Allah guided those who believed to the truth of what they had differed over, by His permission — and Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:214 — the test of the believers]

أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَأْتِكُم مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ خَلَوْاْ مِن قَبْلِكُم مَّسَّتْهُمُ الْبَأْسَاءُ وَالضَّرَّاءُ وَزُلْزِلُواْ حَتَّى يَقُولَ الرَّسُولُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مَعَهُ مَتَى نَصْرُ اللّهِ أَلا إِنَّ نَصْرَ اللّهِ قَرِيبٌ﴾ —

Am ḥasibtum an tadkhulū al-jannata wa-lammā yaʾtikum mathalu alladhīna khalaw min qablikum massathumu al-baʾsāʾu wa-al-ḍarrāʾu wa-zulzilū ḥattā yaqūla al-rasūlu wa-alladhīna āmanū maʿahu matā naṣru Allāhi alā inna naṣra Allāhi qarīb.

"Or do you think you will enter Paradise while there has not yet come to you the like of what came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with hardship and distress and were so shaken that the Messenger and those who believed with him said: 'When will the help of Allah come?' Truly, the help of Allah is near!"

Translation of 2:214: Or do you think you will enter Paradise without experiencing the like of those before you — who were struck by hardship and distress, and were so shaken that the Messenger and those who believed with him said: "When is the victory of Allah?" Know that the victory of Allah is near.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:215 — what to spend in charity]

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ﴾— Yasʾalūnaka mādhā yunfiqūn — "They ask you what they should spend."﴿قُلْ مَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالأَقْرَبِينَ وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ﴾— "Say: whatever good you spend — it is for parents, close relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer."

Translation of 2:215: They ask you what they should spend. Say: whatever good you spend is for parents, close relatives, orphans, the needy, and the traveller in need. And whatever good you do — Allah knows it.

Charity is only beneficial when it reaches those who truly deserve it. The person who hoards his wealth while there are those in need around him is not fulfilling his obligation. People asked: what should we give? Allahﷻgave a practical answer: give to those closest to you — parents, relatives, orphans, the poor and the wayfarer. This encompasses both the obligatory zakāt and voluntary charity. The questioners had not yet been given the specific rules of zakāt; therefore this general guidance was appropriate.

Translation of verse 2:215 (commentary): They ask you what they should spend. Say: whatever good you spend, give to parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, and travellers in need. Whatever good you do, Allah knows it.

Charity is most effective when given appropriately. Those who give to those who compel them with tears while the genuinely needy are ignored — that is not correct giving. People asked: "What should we give?" Allahﷻhas mentioned the deserving categories by name, as an obligation upon the God-fearing. Both zakāt and voluntary charity are included here.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:216 — jihād prescribed despite reluctance]

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ وَهُوَ كُرْهٌ لَّكُمْ وَعَسَى أَن تَكْرَهُواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَعَسَى أَن تُحِبُّواْ شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَّكُمْ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ —

Kutiba ʿalaykumu al-qitālu wa-huwa kurhun lakum wa-ʿasā an takrahū shayʾan wa-huwa khayrun lakum wa-ʿasā an tuḥibbū shayʾan wa-huwa sharrun lakum wa-Allāhu yaʿlamu wa-antum lā taʿlamūn.

"Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is hateful to you. But perhaps you hate something that is good for you, and perhaps you love something that is bad for you — and Allah knows, while you do not know."

Translation of 2:216: Fighting has been prescribed for you, even though it is distasteful to you. But it may be that you dislike something which is good for you, and that you like something which is bad for you — and Allah knows, while you do not know.

People are divided in their approach to this: some find giving wealth difficult — when it is given, they cannot find it again. Some find swordsmanship difficult — they love ease and comfort. And some both. Allahﷻhas dedicated both wealth and life for this dual purpose. And Muslims need to combine both generosity and courage. It has generally been observed: the brave person is sometimes extravagant, and the generous sometimes timid. The Muslims unfortunately chose only one of these — and slipped into lowness. Courage and generosity together are required.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:217 — fighting in the sacred month]

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الشَّهْرِ الْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍ فِيهِ قُلْ قِتَالٌ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌ وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَكُفْرٌ بِهِ وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ اللّهِ وَالْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ الْقَتْلِ﴾— "They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say: fighting in it is a grave matter — but preventing ˹people˺ from the way of Allah, disbelief in Him, and ˹preventing access to˺ the Sacred Mosque, and expelling its people from it — are even graver in the sight of Allah. And fitnah (persecution/sedition) is worse than killing."

The gravity of fighting in the sacred month is acknowledged — but the greater evil of shirk, blocking the way of Allahﷻ, preventing access to the Masjid al-Ḥarām, and expelling its rightful people is far graver.

﴿وَلاَ يَزَالُونَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ حَتَّى يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَن دِينِكُمْ إِنِ اسْتَطَاعُوا وَمَن يَرْتَدِدْ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَيَمُتْ وَهُوَ كَافِرٌ فَأُوْلَئِكَ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ وَأُوْلَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ﴾— "And they will not cease fighting you until they turn you back from your religion, if they are able. Whoever of you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever — their deeds are nullified in this world and the Hereafter, and those are the companions of the Fire, therein dwelling forever."

Translation of 2:217: They ask you about fighting in the sacred month. Say: fighting in it is a grave matter; but blocking the way of Allah, disbelief in Him, preventing access to the Sacred Mosque, and expelling its people — these are graver in the sight of Allah. Fitnah is worse than killing. They will not cease fighting you until they turn you away from your faith, if they can. Whoever among you turns back from his religion and dies as a disbeliever — his deeds are nullified in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be among the companions of the Fire.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:218 — those who believe, emigrate, and strive in the way of Allah]

﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُواْ وَجَاهَدُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ أُوْلَئِكَ يَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَ اللّهِ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾— Inna alladhīna āmanū wa-alladhīna hājarū wa-jāhadū fī sabīli Allāhi ulāʾika yarjūna raḥmata Allāhi wa-Allāhu ghafūrun raḥīm.

"Indeed those who believed and those who emigrated and strove in the way of Allah — they are the ones who hope for the mercy of Allah. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Translation of 2:218: Those who believed, emigrated, and strove in the way of Allah — these are the ones who have hope in the mercy of Allah, and Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

The questioners enquired: fighting in the sacred month was forbidden — so why did this take place? And is kufr (disbelief) permissible? Is expelling Muslims from their homes permissible? Is blocking the roads to the Masjid al-Ḥarām permissible? The answer is clear: the Muslims were given permission to fight because their enemies left no choice. But those who apostatize from their faith — their every deed is nullified. And those who held firm in faith, emigrated, and struggled in the path of Allah — these are the ones worthy of Allah's mercy.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:219 — intoxicants and gambling]

﴿يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَا أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا﴾— Yasʾalūnaka ʿan al-khamri wa-al-maysiri qul fīhimā ithmun kabīrun wa-manāfiʿu li-al-nāsi wa-ithmuhuma akbaru min nafʿihimā — "They ask you about wine (khamr) and gambling (maysir). Say: in both is great sin, and there is some benefit for people — but their sin is greater than their benefit."

Khamr: intoxicants — so named because they cover (khāmara) the intellect. Maysir: gambling — because wealth is obtained without labour, effortlessly (maysir from yusr, ease).﴿وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ﴾— "And they ask you what they should spend. Say: what is surplus." The surplus above one's genuine needs.

﴿كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ﴾— "Thus does Allah make clear His signs to you, so that you may reflect on this world and the Hereafter."

Translation of 2:219: They ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say: in both is great sin, and some benefit for people — but their sin is greater than their benefit. And they ask what they should spend. Say: what is surplus. Thus Allah makes His signs clear to you, so that you may reflect on this world and the Hereafter.

O friends! The distinctive feature of intoxicants among animals and humans is this: the thing that destroys the intellect — the God-given faculty that distinguishes humans from animals — this is the characteristic harm of khamr. And gambling: obtaining money without work. This is why khamr has been called umm al-khabāʾith — "the mother of all evils." The evils and harms of wine are too numerous to enumerate. Their benefits pale before their harms. However, the stage of complete prohibition came later — in Sūrat al-Māʾida (5:90–91).

Arab gambling in the jāhiliyya era: camels were slaughtered and portions of flesh wagered on lots — the ostensible purpose being to feed the poor. But the reality was that ten persons would stake their camels and then a single unlucky draw would leave one person destitute. The so-called benefit was a pretext for ruination.

Friends! Allahﷻhas given the command to spend in His way. Whom do we give to? He mentioned the surplus (ʿafw) — what exceeds genuine need. But He also commands contemplation of both this world and the Hereafter.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:220 — concerning orphans]

﴿وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْيَتَامَى قُلْ إِصْلاَحٌ لَّهُمْ خَيْرٌ وَإِنْ تُخَالِطُوهُمْ فَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَاللّهُ يَعْلَمُ الْمُفْسِدَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللّهُ لأعْنَتَكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾— "And they ask you about orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is best. And if you mix your affairs with theirs — they are your brothers. Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer. Had Allah willed, He could have made it very difficult for you. Indeed Allah is Almighty, All-Wise."

Yatīm (pl. yatāmā): the fatherless minor child, whose father has died while he has not yet reached maturity. Since managing their property in complete separation from one's own household affairs causes harm, it is permitted to live together with them — but with the sincere intention of their welfare.

Translation of 2:220: They ask you about orphans. Say: to set their affairs right is best. And if you commingle with them — they are your brothers. Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer. Had Allah willed, He could have made things very difficult for you — indeed Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.

The protection and care of orphans is an obligation. The one who truly concerns himself with an orphan's welfare — of whom Allahﷻknows his heart — will be rewarded, not burdened. The guardian of an orphan who eats from the orphan's property knowing it to be wrong — his sin is upon him.

For the poor and the orphan: protect them, keep them close, ensure their welfare. Understand their needs and seek their benefit. In this is the wisdom of Allahﷻ— He knows what is in the hearts: who is a genuine well-wisher and who is an exploiter. Had He imposed a complete and rigid separation, it would have been very burdensome — so He made a concession through the principle of brotherhood.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:221 — prohibition of marrying polytheist men and women]

﴿وَلاَ تَنكِحُواْ الْمُشْرِكَاتِ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنَّ وَلأَمَةٌ مُّؤْمِنَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِّن مُّشْرِكَةٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ﴾— Wa-lā tankiḥū al-mushrikāti ḥattā yuʾminna wa-la-amatun muʾminatun khayrun min mushrikatin wa-law aʿjabatkum — "And do not marry polytheist women until they believe. A believing slave-woman is better than a polytheist woman, even if she pleases you."

﴿وَلاَ تُنكِحُواْ الْمُشِرِكِينَ حَتَّى يُؤْمِنُواْ وَلَعَبْدٌ مُّؤْمِنٌ خَيْرٌ مِّن مُّشْرِكٍ وَلَوْ أَعْجَبَكُمْ﴾— "And do not give ˹your women˺ in marriage to polytheist men until they believe. A believing male slave is better than a polytheist, even if he pleases you."

﴿أُوْلَئِكَ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى النَّارِ وَاللّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَالْمَغْفِرَةِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَيُبَيِّنُ آيَاتِهِ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ﴾— "They call you to the Fire, while Allah calls you to Paradise and forgiveness by His leave. He makes His signs clear to people, that they may be reminded."

Translation of 2:221: Do not marry polytheist women until they believe. A believing slave-woman is better than a polytheist woman, even if she pleases you. Nor give ˹your women˺ in marriage to polytheist men until they believe. A believing slave is better than a polytheist, even if he pleases you. They call to the Fire, while Allah calls to Paradise and forgiveness. He makes His signs clear to the people that they may remember.

O friends! In this great worldly war [the author likely alludes to his own era's turbulence], millions of disbelievers are being killed; their women left widowed are seeking Muslim marriages. The allure of their beauty, their wealth, their charm — they will strive to captivate you. But beware: the women among your enemies are not less than their men in scheming. They will use every feminine power to entrap the Muslim man. Beware, and keep far from such enticements. The Muslim woman too must not marry a disbeliever; for those who take disbeliever husbands find their faith ruined, their morals corrupted, their family bonds severed, and their children become fuel for the Fire.

O friends! Your two-faced enemies stand against you: polytheist women have drawn thousands of living and dead Muslims into the stain of the Fire. Neither worldly comfort nor Hereafter's forgiveness is to be found there. Allāhumma iḥfaẓnā min ʿadhābi al-dunyā wa-ʿadhābi al-ākhira — O Allah, protect us from the punishment of this world and of the Hereafter.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:222 — menstruation (ḥayḍ)]

وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى فَاعْتَزِلُواْ النِّسَاءَ فِي الْمَحِيضِ وَلاَ تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللّهُ إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ﴾ —

Wa-yasʾalūnaka ʿan al-maḥīḍi qul huwa adhan fa-iʿtazilū al-nisāʾa fī al-maḥīḍi wa-lā taqrabūhunna ḥattā yaṭhurna fa-idhā taṭahharna fa-ʾtūhunna min ḥaythu amarakumu Allāhu inna Allāha yuḥibbu al-tawwābīna wa-yuḥibbu al-mutaṭahhirīn.

"They ask you about menstruation. Say: it is a harm (adha, an impurity). So keep away from women during menstruation, and do not approach them until they are purified. Once they have purified themselves, come to them from where Allah has commanded you. Indeed Allah loves those who repent, and loves those who purify themselves."

Ḥayḍ: the menstrual blood that flows naturally from a woman's body. The minimum period is three days and three nights; the maximum is ten days. The blood that flows beyond ten days is istiḥāḍa (dysfunctional bleeding from a vein) — it is a chronic condition (maraḍ) and is not treated as ḥayḍ.

Faʿtazilū al-nisāʾa fī al-maḥīḍ: keep away from women during menstruation — i.e., refrain from conjugal relations.﴿وَلاَ تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ﴾— do not approach them until they have become pure.﴿فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللّهُ﴾— "when they have purified themselves, come to them as Allah has commanded you" — i.e., in the natural and lawful manner.﴿إِنَّ اللّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ وَيُحِبُّ الْمُتَطَهِّرِينَ﴾— "Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves."

Translation of 2:222: They ask you about menstruation. Say: it is a harm — so keep away from women during menstruation and do not approach them until they are pure. When they have purified themselves, come to them as Allah has commanded you. Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves.

In Islam, both physical and spiritual purity are of paramount importance. External purity (ṭahāra) is the means by which the internal sins are washed away and one becomes clean before Allahﷻ.

Since the preceding verses dealt with marriage and relationships between men and women, the command to withdraw from disbeliever women also arose. And now comes the injunction about maintaining purity in the context of the wife-husband relationship.

[Continuation — commentary on ḥayḍ and istiḥāḍa]

In women, during the days of ḥayḍ, the blood comes with force and departs; sometimes it is dark in colour, sometimes brownish-red. This blood comes from the womb. The minimum period is three days; the maximum ten days. Istiḥāḍa is bleeding that comes from a vein — it is impure blood, like any illness. If it continues beyond ten days, it is istiḥāḍa.

﴿فَاعْتَزِلُواْ﴾— keep away.﴿فِي الْمَحِيضِ﴾— during the menstrual period.﴿وَلاَ تَقْرَبُوهُنَّ﴾— and do not come near them — i.e., do not approach the place of ḥayḍ for conjugal purposes.﴿حَتَّى يَطْهُرْنَ﴾— until they are purified.﴿فَإِذَا تَطَهَّرْنَ﴾— when they have bathed and are completely ritually pure — the ghusl must have been performed so that complete ṭahāra is achieved.﴿فَأْتُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَكُمُ اللّهُ﴾— "come to them in the way Allah has commanded you" — ensuring that nothing against nature, nothing causing harm, is done. The sunnī al-mutaṭahhirīn: those who maintain complete ṭahāra, including niyyah (cleansing of intention). The tawwābīn (those who repent): if an unlawful act occurred, they return and repent.

Translation (continued from commentary): They ask you about menstruation. Say: it is a harm — so keep away from women during their menstrual period, and do not approach them until they are pure. When they have purified themselves, come to them as Allah has commanded you. Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves.

Since marriage, conjugal relations, and avoidance of polytheist marriages have all been discussed, it was natural that the rules concerning ḥayḍ also be mentioned. The rule: keep away during the period of ḥayḍ. This avoidance (iʿtizāl) is not of the entire person, but only of conjugal intimacy. The scholar has said: marital relations during ḥayḍ cause harm in one way — and sexual relations during this time are forbidden by Islamic law.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:223 — wives as fields and the right of approach]

نِسَآؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُواْ حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ وَقَدِّمُواْ لأَنفُسِكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّكُم مُّلاَقُوهُ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾ —

Nisāʾukum ḥarthun lakum fa-ʾtū ḥarthakum annā shiʾtum wa-qaddimū li-anfusikum wa-ttaqū Allāha wa-ʿlamū annakum mulāqūhu wa-bashshiri al-muʾminīn.

"Your wives are a cultivation for you — so come to your cultivation whenever you wish, and send ahead ˹good deeds˺ for yourselves. And fear Allah, and know that you will meet Him. And give glad tidings to the believers."

Ḥarth: cultivation, tillage. Just as from fertile ground grain and crops are produced, from the marital relation children are born. The purpose of this relationship is primarily the production of children and the continuation of the lineage. The Islamic principle forbids unnatural means of frustrating this purpose. Annā shiʾtum: in whatever manner you wish — meaning in the natural manner, from any permissible position, but only through the lawful way; the Ḥanafī fuqahāʾ (jurists) have ruled that anal intercourse is absolutely forbidden (ḥarām).﴿وَقَدِّمُواْ لأَنفُسِكُمْ﴾— "and prepare for yourselves" — make provision for the Hereafter: recite basmala, make duʿāʾ for righteous offspring.﴿وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّكُم مُّلاَقُوهُ﴾— "Fear Allah and know that you will meet Him."﴿وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾— "And give glad tidings to the believers" — those who maintain correct Islamic relationships will receive the glad tidings of divine pleasure.

Translation of 2:223: Your wives are a field of cultivation for you — so go to your field whenever you wish, and send ahead good ˹deeds˺ for yourselves. Fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give glad tidings to the believers.

[Commentary continues — the importance of rightly ordered marital relations and population growth]

The purpose of the sharīʿa in marriage is the production of offspring and the increase of the Muslim umma. If birth control is practised without regard for the natural purpose, and the population is artificially restricted, then in one hundred years there would not be a single person left on earth. Islam has permitted polygamy (taʿaddud al-zawjāt) — not to encourage it as the norm, but to limit it and regulate it. In major wars of this era (here the author alludes to the world wars), millions of men are killed, leaving far more women than men. If polygamy were not permitted, what would become of these women? Who would provide for them? This is the Islamic principle — and people who misunderstand it entirely are wrong.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:224–225 — not making Allah's name a barrier against righteous acts]

﴿وَلاَ تَجْعَلُواْ اللّهَ عُرْضَةً لِّأَيْمَانِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ وَتُصْلِحُواْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾— Wa-lā tajʿalū Allāha ʿurḍatan li-aymānikum an tabarrū wa-tattaqū wa-tuṣliḥū bayna al-nāsi wa-Allāhu samīʿun ʿalīm.

"And do not make Allah ˹the name of Allah˺ a target of your oaths, so as to ˹use them as a pretext to˺ avoid doing good, practising taqwā, and making peace among people. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."

ʿUrḍatan: a target, an obstruction. Aymān: oaths. The meaning: some people, having sworn an oath in the name of Allah not to do a certain good act (such as visiting a relative, or contributing to a reconciliation), use that oath as an excuse not to do good. Allahﷻforbids making His name a shield for avoiding righteous deeds.

The types of oath (yamīn) are:

(1) Yamīn Laghw (idle oath) — an inadvertent, unintentional oath in the course of speech, without deliberate intent. There is no kaffāra (expiation) for this; Allahﷻdoes not hold a person accountable for such an oath.

(2) Yamīn Ghamus — a deliberate lie sworn in Allah's name. This is a grave sin; no mere kaffāra suffices for it, though repentance (tawba) is obligatory.

(3) Yamīn Munʿaqida — a deliberate oath about a future act (e.g., "I swear by Allah I shall do/not do such a thing"). If the oath is about something displeasing to Allahﷻor harmful, then breaking it and paying the kaffāra is better.

(4) Aylāʾ — the husband's oath to abstain from his wife. Allahﷻhas set a waiting period of four months.

Translation of 2:224–225: Do not make Allah ˹His name˺ a target for your oaths, to avoid doing good, practising taqwā, or making peace between people — Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Allah does not hold you accountable for idle oaths, but He holds you accountable for what your hearts have earnestly committed. Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Forbearing.

O friends: among the oaths listed above — the most dangerous for the community is the yamīn laghw (idle oath), because people have made it a habit to swear falsely in ordinary speech. This corrupts the tongue and destroys trust. And the yamīn munʿaqida: if one has sworn regarding something reprehensible, it is better to break the oath and pay the kaffāra than to persist in wrong.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:226–227 — aylāʾ: the oath of abstention from the wife]

﴿لِّلَّذِينَ يُؤْلُونَ مِن نِّسَآئِهِمْ تَرَبُّصُ أَرْبَعَةِ أَشْهُرٍ فَإِن فَآؤُواْ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ﴾— Li-alladhīna yuʾlūna min nisāʾihim tarabbuṣu arbaʿati ashhur fa-in fāʾū fa-inna Allāha ghafūrun raḥīm.

"For those who make an oath to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months. If they return ˹to the marriage˺, then indeed Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Aylāʾ: the husband swears — "By Allah, I shall not approach my wife." He may have said this in anger. Allahﷻhas set a period of four months: if, within four months, he returns (fāʾa — reverts to the original state), the marriage continues and kaffārat al-yamīn (oath expiation) is due. But if four months pass without his returning, a ṭalāq bāʾin (irrevocable divorce) automatically falls.

﴿وَإِنْ عَزَمُواْ الطَّلاَقَ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾— "And if they resolve upon divorce — indeed Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing."

Translation of 2:226–227: For those who swear to abstain from their wives, there is a waiting period of four months. If they return, then indeed Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. But if they resolve upon divorce — then indeed Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

The types of aylāʾ:

(1) Those who make wicked or false oaths in the name of Allah — misleading people — for such people Allahﷻis All-Forgiving if they repent, and All-Knowing of their condition.

(2) The aylāʾ of a husband who swears in anger. The ghafūr ḥalīm (All-Forgiving, Most Forbearing) — Allah forgives because this is born of a moment of passionate anger.

(3) The yamīn munʿaqida about a future matter: if one has sworn not to do something good, he must break the oath and pay the kaffāra — and do the good deed.

(4) Aylāʾ proper: the husband's oath to abstain from his wife. Allahﷻset the waiting period of four months. If within that period he returns — kaffāra is required, one of: freeing a slave, feeding ten poor persons, or clothing ten poor persons; or if unable, fasting three days. The details are in Sūrat al-Māʾida (5:89). If the four months pass without return, a ṭalāq bāʾin becomes mandatory. After ṭalāq bāʾin, the man has no right of rujūʿ (reverting the divorce without a new nikāḥ). The woman must observe her ʿidda.

Translation of 2:226–227 (continued): For those who swear abstention from their wives — a waiting period of four months. If they return, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And if they resolve upon divorce — then Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:228 — the ʿidda of divorced women and their rights]

﴿وَالْمُطَلَّقَاتُ يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ ثَلاَثَةَ قُرُوءٍ﴾— Wa-al-muṭallaqātu yatarabbaṣna bi-anfusihinna thalāthata qurūʾ.

"And divorced women shall keep themselves waiting for three qurūʾ (menstrual cycles or purity periods)."

Ṭalāq: divorce, the dissolution of the marital bond. Yatarabbaṣna: they shall wait, hold themselves. Bi-anfusihinna: themselves. Thalāthata qurūʾ: three qurūʾ — the plural of qurʾ, which means either the menstrual cycle (ḥayḍ) or the period of purity (ṭuhr). The Ḥanafīs hold that qurʾ here means menstrual cycles (ḥayḍ); the Shāfiʿīs hold it means purity periods (ṭuhr). The Ḥanafī view: the ʿidda of a divorced woman is three complete menstrual cycles.

﴿وَلاَ يَحِلُّ لَهُنَّ أَن يَكْتُمْنَ مَا خَلَقَ اللّهُ فِي أَرْحَامِهِنَّ﴾— "It is not permissible for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs" — i.e., pregnancy. If a woman is pregnant, she must not conceal it, either to prolong the marriage or to hasten the end of the ʿidda.

﴿إِن كُنَّ يُؤْمِنَّ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ﴾— "if they believe in Allah and the Last Day."

﴿وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ إِن أَرَادُواْ إِصْلاَحًا﴾— "And their husbands have the greater right to take them back during that period, if they desire reconciliation."

﴿وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌ وَاللّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾— Wa-lahunna mithlu alladhī ʿalayhinna bi-al-maʿrūfi wa-li-al-rijāli ʿalayhinna darajatun wa-Allāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīm — "And they ˹women˺ have rights similar to those over them, in accordance with what is customary. But men have a degree ˹of responsibility˺ over them — and Allah is Almighty, All-Wise."

Translation of 2:228: Divorced women shall wait three menstrual cycles. It is not permissible for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs, if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. Their husbands have the greater right to take them back during that period, if they intend reconciliation. Women have rights similar to those upon them, in accordance with what is customary. But men have a degree of responsibility over them — and Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.

This verse is of immense importance. It has been greatly misunderstood in modern times, and its misinterpretation has been used to belittle and degrade women. Let me now address this with appropriate care.

Love is the foundation of all things — it flows from the highest heavens to the depths of hearts. What does love do? It unites the different, equalises the unequal, brings the high and the low together. Real love makes "mine" and "yours" disappear — parents and children meld into one being, husband and wife become as one.

But society also has its realities. The woman's purity of nature (fiṭra): when two people live under one roof and share everything, differences naturally arise. Who manages the affairs, who plans, who provides — and who nurtures, bears, raises, cares? Reflect on the natural wisdom of this division. When a woman is expecting a child, her days are full of discomfort; the closer the birth, the more difficult the management of external affairs becomes. The post-natal period requires rest, nursing, and care. Who will bear these responsibilities? Who will go out, who will earn? This is the basis of the darajah (degree of authority/responsibility) of men over women — not of honour, but of duty and maintenance.

In the great contests of this world: who fights? Men. Who dies? Men. Who earns? Predominantly men. The organisation of civilisation has emerged from male initiative. Those nations that have expanded female intellectual responsibility beyond her capacity have found themselves faced with instability, birth-rate decline, and social breakdown. Allah Akbar — the hint is sufficient for the wise: al-ʿāqilu tukfīhi al-ishāra — "A hint suffices the intelligent."

We Muslims believe in the rights and honour of both men and women. The word bālmaʿrūf — "in accordance with what is customary and recognised" — sets the standard. The customary practice of the time and the agreed social norms govern mutual rights. In every era, Islamic law governs the general principle, but the details are shaped by circumstances. We must look at the question with balance: men and women each have their rights — as stated in the verse — "similar to those upon them." Islam has not decreed inequality; it has decreed a complementary darajah of responsibility.

[Author's extended meditation on marriage and motherhood as a sacred vocation]

A woman's dedication to the home — managing the household, providing emotional warmth, nursing and raising children, accompanying her husband — is a service equal to, if not greater than, any profession. In Europe, the working woman has come to be seen as the norm — but the hidden cost: the home is abandoned, children grow up unloved, society is atomised. But the natural order is: the one who invests time in the child is the one who raises the child. The child fed with a mother's milk will absorb the mother's character.

A single dark-eyed woman with a child on her lap, silently working — she is building civilization. A man in the field or the market — also building. Each in their sphere. When they leave their spheres, the world's balance is disturbed.

O friends! When you live in disorder, when husband and wife are both absent from the home, when children are given to strangers to raise — what do you expect? The world mourns such a civilization.

O friends! Always keep this principle in mind: know the law in proportion to the need. More than necessity is excess. A woman's needs: food, clothing, medicine, nursing of children, education in the necessary knowledge — these are obligatory. Beyond that, anything given freely is honour and generosity. Just as a Muslim man deserves certain rights, a Muslim woman deserves equal rights in her sphere — "as upon them so upon them in what is customary." And Allahﷻhas the ultimate wisdom and power.

The purpose of marriage is the production of righteous offspring and the expansion of the Muslim community. If birth control is practised throughout, and the human race restricts itself, then in one hundred years not a person would remain. France adopted population-control policies and shrank while its neighbours grew — manifestly, a nation that multiplies will prevail over one that does not.

Islam has permitted polygamy — but regulated it. In the great wars of this age, millions of men are killed; women far outnumber men. If polygamy were not permitted, these women would be left without provision and protection. This is the Islamic principle, misunderstood by those who misread it.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:229 — the nature of revocable divorce; the rules of khulʿ]

الطَّلاَقُ مَرَّتَانِ فَإِمْسَاكٌ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ وَلاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَن تَأْخُذُواْ مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ شَيْئًا إِلاَّ أَن يَخَافَا أَلاَّ يُقِيمَا حُدُودَ اللّهِ﴾ —

Al-ṭalāqu marratāni fa-imāsākun bi-maʿrūfin aw tasrīḥun bi-iḥsānin wa-lā yaḥillu lakum an taʾkhudhū mimmā ātaytumūhunna shayʾan illā an yakhāfā allā yuqīmā ḥudūda Allāhi.

"Divorce may be pronounced twice, after which ˹the husband may either˺ retain ˹the wife˺ in accordance with what is customary, or release her kindly. It is not permissible for you to take back anything of what you have given them — unless both fear that they cannot uphold the limits of Allah."

Al-ṭalāq marratāni: divorce (revocable) — it is ˹permitted˺ only twice. Meaning: a husband may give a revocable ṭalāq rājʿī a maximum of two times; after the third, no further rujūʿ is possible.

Imāsākun bi-maʿrūf: retaining with kindness — restoring the marital relationship with good intention and customary treatment. Tasrīḥun bi-iḥsān: releasing with kindness — allowing the ʿidda to expire and releasing her with gracious settlement.

The rule of khulʿ: if the wife fears that she cannot fulfil the rights of the husband in the marriage, it is permissible for her to return the mahr (bridal gift) and separate. Fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhimā fī-mā iftadat bihi — "there is no sin on either of them in what she offers to redeem herself."﴿تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ فَلاَ تَعْتَدُوهَا وَمَن يَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَ اللّهِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ﴾— "These are the limits of Allah — do not transgress them. Whoever transgresses the limits of Allah — those are the wrongdoers."

Translation of 2:229: Divorce ˹revocable˺ is ˹permitted˺ twice. Then either retain ˹the wife˺ in accordance with what is customary, or release her kindly. It is not permissible for you to take back anything of what you have given them, unless both fear they cannot uphold the limits of Allah. If you ˹thus˺ fear they will not uphold the limits of Allah, there is no sin on either of them if she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allah — do not transgress them. Whoever transgresses the limits of Allah — those are the wrongdoers.

Translation of verse 2:229 (continued commentary): Divorce ˹revocable˺ may be pronounced twice only. Then ˹the husband either˺ retains ˹his wife˺ in accordance with what is recognised and customary, or releases her graciously. It is not lawful for you to take back anything of what you gave her — unless both fear they cannot uphold the limits of Allah. If you fear this, there is no sin on either if she ransoms herself. These are the limits of Allah — do not transgress them. Whoever transgresses the limits of Allah — they are the wrongdoers.

After pronouncing two revocable divorces, and letting both pass without rujūʿ, if a third divorce (ṭalāq mughallaza) is then pronounced:﴿فَلاَ تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعْدُ حَتَّى تَنكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ﴾— "She will not be lawful to him thereafter until she has married another husband." After the third ṭalāq, the right of rujūʿ is lost. The ṭalāq mughallaza is such that there is no possibility of return.﴿فَإِن طَلَّقَهَا فَلاَ جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَن يَتَرَاجَعَا﴾— "If he ˹the second husband˺ then divorces her, there is no sin on them in returning to each other" — provided that both are able to uphold the limits of Allah.﴿وَتِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللّهِ يُبَيِّنُهَا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ﴾— "These are the limits of Allah — He makes them clear for a people who understand."

Translation of 2:230: And if he divorces her ˹a third time˺, she will not be permissible for him after that until she has married another husband. If he then divorces her, there is no sin on them in returning to each other — if they believe they will uphold the limits of Allah. These are the limits of Allah — He makes them clear to a people who understand.

[Commentary on al-Baqara 2:231 — the prohibition of harming women by keeping or releasing them]

وَإِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَبَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ سَرِّحُوهُنَّ بِمَعْرُوفٍ وَلاَ تُمْسِكُوهُنَّ ضِرَارًا لِّتَعْتَدُواْ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ فَقَدْ ظَلَمَ نَفْسَهُ وَلاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ آيَاتِ اللّهِ هُزُوًا وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمَا أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ يَعِظُكُم بِهِ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾ —

"And when you divorce women and they have approached the end of their term, either retain them in accordance with what is customary or release them in accordance with what is customary. And do not retain them to harm them, so as to transgress ˹their rights˺. Whoever does this wrongs his own soul. Do not take the signs of Allah in mockery. Remember Allah's blessing upon you, and what He has sent down to you of the Book and the Wisdom — He admonishes you thereby. Fear Allah and know that Allah has knowledge of all things."

Ḍirāran: to cause harm. Litaʿtadū: so as to transgress against them — to cause suffering by the unjust prolonging of the ʿidda or the retention of the wife against her will without true reconciliation.

Wa-lā tattakhidhū āyāti Allāhi huzuwā: do not take the signs (āyāt) of Allah as a joke — do not play with the divine ordinances of marriage and divorce as though they were trivial.﴿وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ﴾— "Remember the blessing of Allah upon you."﴿وَمَا أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ﴾— "and what He has sent down to you of the Book and the Wisdom" — the Qurʾān and the Sunna.

Translation of 2:231: And when you have divorced women and they have reached the end of their term, either retain them in accordance with what is customary, or release them in accordance with what is customary. Do not retain them to cause harm, transgressing their rights — whoever does this wrongs his own soul. Do not take the signs of Allah as a jest. Remember the blessing of Allah upon you, and what He has sent down — the Book and the Wisdom — with which He admonishes you. Fear Allah and know that Allah has knowledge of all things.

Sūrat al-Baqara — Juzʾ 2 (Sa-yaqūlu)

(Running header:سيقول ٢/البقره ٢)

On the Rulings of Divorce (Masāʾil al-Ṭalāq) — Introductory Principles

Allah Most High has sent down a Book and wisdom, and it guides and teaches. Fear Allah and know well that Allah is fully acquainted with all things.

This section of Sūrat al-Baqara concerns marriage (izdiwāj) and the laws of divorce (ṭalāq). The chapter-heading "Ṣāḥib! (Dear friend!)" signals the author's characteristic personal address to the reader — a mark of his Deccan pedagogical style. He writes: The rulings of ṭalāq are extremely important. Learned authorities have written abundant works on them, but errors abound. I shall therefore point to a few foundational principles (uṣūl) that will, Allah willing, be of benefit to Muslims.

Background: Among the Arabs before Islam, marriage was a social and moral compact. Owing to various difficulties it would at times break down, and divorce was the mechanism for that dissolution. Islam gave the husband the right of rajʿī (revocable) divorce with two permissible revocations; a third pronouncement effects a final separation (mughallaza). [reconstructed]

Key Terminological Definitions used in these rulings (iṣṭilāḥāt):

1. Ṭalāq Rajʿī (revocable divorce): A divorce after which the husband may take the wife back during the waiting-period (ʿidda). Ṭalāq rajʿī is permissible twice. 2. Ṭalāq Bāʾin (irrevocable divorce): After this the wife is fully free. If both parties wish to reconcile after a bāʾin divorce, a fresh marriage contract (nikāḥ jadīd) is required. 3. Ṭalāq Mughallaza (absolutely irrevocable divorce, i.e. triple divorce): Three pronouncements of divorce. After this the wife is entirely free (ajnabiyya) and it is prohibited (ḥarām) for the former husband to remarry her until she has married another man in a valid marriage which is then dissolved — as stated in the verse:

فَإِن طَلَّقَهَا فَلَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعْدُ حَتَّىٰ تَنكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ

Fa-in ṭallaqahā fa-lā taḥillu lahu min baʿdu ḥattā tankiḥa zawjan ghayrah.

"And if he divorces her finally, she is not lawful to him thereafter until she has married a husband other than him." (al-Baqara 2:230)

Explicit (ṣarīḥ) and implicit (kināya) utterances of divorce: Words that clearly and emphatically convey divorce — such as "You are divorced" — are ṣarīḥ. Indirect or metaphorical expressions, if divorce is intended, are kināya and take effect as bāʾin.

Ṭalāq Mughallaza (the final irrevocable triple divorce): After this the wife is completely free. If thereafter both wish to reunite, the husband cannot simply take her back. Unless she marries another man in a genuine marriage which is then dissolved, a fresh union with the former husband is forbidden.

The lawful (mashrūʿ) method of pronouncing divorce is as follows: In a month during which there has been no conjugal relations, the husband pronounces one ṭalāq. He is advised to control his anger. If the anger subsides, he should revoke (rujūʿ) during the ʿidda. If in the second month also anger has not subsided, and the wife has not shown improvement or repentance, the husband pronounces a second ṭalāq. The third takes place in the third month if there is no reconciliation. This is the prescribed (sunna) method of pronouncing ṭalāq.

The ʿIdda (waiting-period): Its benefits include: preventing the mixing of lineages; maintaining the connection between the child and its proper father. A divorced woman's ʿidda is three menstrual cycles (qurūʾ). If she has passed the age of menstruation it is three lunar months. For a widow the ʿidda is four months and ten days. If she is pregnant, the ʿidda extends until delivery.

Regarding the mahr (dower): If a woman is divorced before consummation (qabla al-dukhūl) but after valid seclusion (khalwa ṣaḥīḥa) had taken place, the full mahr is due. If seclusion did not occur, half the mahr is due. If there was consummation and the mahr had not been specified, the appropriate mahr (mahr al-mithl) is due.

Can two or three divorces be pronounced simultaneously? If so pronounced, although it goes against the sunna (khilāf al-sunna), they do take effect. In the era of the Prophet Muḥammadﷺand Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him), when a man pronounced "Ṭalāq, Ṭalāq, Ṭalāq" repeatedly, it was treated as one divorce. When Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) became Caliph, he consulted the jurists. They all unanimously agreed that since people had begun to misuse this facility, it was expedient to treat each repetition as a separate divorce. Thus in the Ḥanafī school three simultaneous pronouncements constitute three divorces. At this juncture there are many grave errors among people; they deviate from the prophetic path and misrepresent the position of Sayyidunā ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him). [reconstructed]

Regarding the Qāḍī and Judicial Divorce: Where the husband refuses to pronounce divorce despite the Qāḍī's order, the Qāḍī pronounces divorce on his behalf as his wakīl (agent). Where there is no Qāḍī, the community appoints someone to act in that capacity, and his ruling is binding; no second authority may override it.

The Principle of Ḍarūra (Necessity): A foundational maxim of uṣūl al-fiqh (uṣūl of Islamic jurisprudence) states: al-ḍararu yuzāl — "Harm must be removed" — and lā ḍarara wa-lā ḍirār — "There shall be no harm inflicted and no reciprocal harm." On this basis: the judge (ḥākim) will compel the wrongdoer (ẓālim) and bring relief to the aggrieved (maẓlūm). Governance (sulṭa) will enforce its rulings with authority.

A narrated incident: A woman came before the Prophet Muḥammadﷺand said: "I dislike my husband's morals and religious conduct — I do not wish to remain with him." The Prophetﷺasked the husband to accept the return of the garden (mahr) and pronounce khulʿ (redemptive divorce initiated by the wife). [reconstructed from standard tafsīr sources]

A Fundamental Principle of Fiqh: The Qāḍī's ruling is effective in the external forum (ẓāhiran) even if he is exercising ijtihād (juridical reasoning). No blame (ithm) attaches to him for this, since he is acting to his best judgment. Some misguided persons misuse the courts to obtain judgements (fatāwā) in their favour. The Qāḍī, in fact, resolves disputes, removes harm, and enforces the Sharīʿa's rulings with the power of legitimate authority.

Another important rule that people misunderstand: The ruler, teacher, or judge may publicly correct people's errors — whether a teacher corrects students, a father corrects his children, a king corrects his subjects, or a Qāḍī corrects litigants — up to the limit of appropriate ta'dīb (disciplinary correction). Beyond that, ta'dīb passes out of the scope of juristic permission.

Women who are Muslims and reside in a Muslim state: do the rulings of Islamic law apply to them? If the ruler is just and the law is applied as per the Sharīʿa, all violations and corruption will vanish, and enmities will be transformed into goodwill. [reconstructed]

Commentary on the Verse al-Baqara 2:232: (The author explains the lexical glosses of the verse before giving the tarjuma.)

Lexical analysis:

• Balaghna ajalahunn — they have reached their appointed term (end of ʿidda)
• Faʿḍalūhunn — so do not prevent them, do not obstruct them
• An yankiḥna — from marrying
• Azwājahum — their (former) husbands
• Idhā tarāḍaw — when they have mutually agreed
• Baynahum — between themselves
• Bil-maʿrūf — in a recognised and proper manner
• Dhālika — that
• Yūʿaẓu bihi — is admonished by it; advised; warned
• Man kāna — whoever
• Yukmin billāhi — believes in Allah
• Wal-yawmi al-ākhir — and in the Last Day
• Dhālikum — that is
• Azkā lakum — purer for you, more wholesome
• Wa-aṭhar — and cleaner
• Wallāhu yaʿlamu — and Allah knows
• Wa-antum lā taʿlamūn — and you do not know

Translation (tarjuma) of al-Baqara 2:232:

﴿وَإِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَبَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ أَن يَنكِحْنَ أَزْوَاجَهُنَّ إِذَا تَرَاضَوْا بَيْنَهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ذَٰلِكَ يُوعَظُ بِهِ مَن كَانَ مِنكُمْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾Wa-idhā ṭallaqtum al-nisāʾa fa-balaghna ajalahunna fa-lā taʿḍulūhunna an yankiḥna azwājahunna idhā tarāḍaw baynahum bil-maʿrūfi dhālika yūʿaẓu bihi man kāna minkum yuʾminu billāhi wal-yawmi al-ākhiri dhālikum azkā lakum wa-aṭharu wallāhu yaʿlamu wa-antum lā taʿlamūn. "And when you have divorced women and they have reached the end of their waiting-period, do not prevent them from marrying their (former) husbands when they have mutually agreed in a recognised manner. This is an admonition for whoever among you believes in Allah and the Last Day — that is purer and cleaner for you. And Allah knows, while you do not know." (al-Baqara 2:232)

Three conditions of a woman after divorce: 1. The husband takes her back (rujūʿ) with kindness (isākun bi-maʿrūfin). 2. He lets her go with kindness until the ʿidda ends, as stated by the verse on tasrīḥun bi-iḥsān. 3. He divorces finally (talāq mughallaza), after which﴿فَلَا تَحِلُّ لَهُ مِن بَعْدُ حَتَّى تَنكِحَ زَوْجًا غَيْرَهُ﴾applies.

The ḥalāla (a remarriage contracted solely to render the wife lawful to the original husband) is gravely blameworthy — indeed the Prophet Muḥammadﷺhas cursed both the one who performs it and the one who benefits from it (as stated in aḥādīth). The word ḥalāla itself derives from roots meaning "to untie" and "to make licit" — and using this arrangement as a legal fiction to circumvent the divine ruling is an abomination. As the hadīth states:

لَعَنَ اللَّهُ الْمُحَلِّلَ وَالْمُحَلَّلَ لَهُ

Laʿana-llāhu al-muḥallila wal-muḥallala lah.

"Allah has cursed the one who performs taḥlīl and the one for whose benefit it is performed." (al-Tirmidhī; Abū Dāwūd)

A contemporaneous incident narrated by the author: In the author's own time, a man pronounced three ṭalāqs against his wife in a single session — an act that was neither sunna nor appropriate. There was much strife, no wealth, no grace. The woman's family contracted her in a new marriage to an elderly man. That old man also wished to keep her — but their moral dispositions and habits were incompatible. Thus the woman suffered in this world and the next from a ruinous arrangement.

(The author then quotes the Qurʾānic verse on breastfeeding which follows in the text:)

﴿وَالْوَالِدَاتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ لِمَن أَرَادَ أَن يُتِمَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ﴾Wal-wālidātu yurḍiʿna awlādahunna ḥawlayni kāmilayni li-man arāda an yutimma al-raḍāʿah. "Mothers shall suckle their children for two complete years — for those who wish to complete the period of nursing." (al-Baqara 2:233)

Then follow the glosses: Wa-balaghna ajalahunna — they reached their term; faʿḍalūhunna — so do not obstruct them; ajalahunn — their term. [reconstructed from the visible Arabic fragments]

Lexical Analysis of the Verse on Breastfeeding (al-Baqara 2:233):

• Wal-wālidāt — and the mothers
• Yurḍiʿna — shall suckle
• Awlādahunna — their children
• Ḥawlayni — for two years (ḥawl means one year, since it "revolves" around its cycle)
• Kāmilayni — complete (years)
• Li-man arāda — for whoever wishes
• An yutimma al-raḍāʿah — to complete the nursing
• Wal-mawlūdi lahu — and upon the father (lit. the one to whom the child is born)
• Rizquhunna — their provision
• Wa-kiswatuhunna — and their clothing
• Bil-maʿrūf — according to recognised usage and the customary standard
• Lā tukallaf nafsun — no soul shall be burdened
• Illā wusʿahā — beyond its capacity
• Lā tuḍārra wālidatun bi-waladihā — a mother shall not be harmed on account of her child
• Wa-lā mawlūdun lahu bi-waladihī — nor shall the father be harmed on account of his child
• Wa-ʿalā al-wārithi — and upon the heir (of the father) rests the same obligation
• Mithl dhālika — the like of this
• Fa-in arādā fiṣālan — if they both wish weaning (earlier)
• ʿAn tarāḍin minhumā — by mutual consent
• Wa-tashāwur — and mutual consultation
• Fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhimā — there is no blame on them

Translation of al-Baqara 2:233:

﴿وَالْوَالِدَاتُ يُرْضِعْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ حَوْلَيْنِ كَامِلَيْنِ لِمَن أَرَادَ أَن يُتِمَّ الرَّضَاعَةَ ۚ وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ لَا تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَا تُضَارَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِهَا وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ لَّهُ بِوَلَدِهِ ۚ وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَٰلِكَ ۗ فَإِنْ أَرَادَا فِصَالًا عَن تَرَاضٍ مِّنْهُمَا وَتَشَاوُرٍ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا﴾Wal-wālidātu yurḍiʿna awlādahunna ḥawlayni kāmilayni li-man arāda an yutimma al-raḍāʿata wa-ʿalā al-mawlūdi lahu rizquhunna wa-kiswatuhunna bil-maʿrūfi lā tukallaf nafsun illā wusʿahā lā tuḍārra wālidatun bi-waladihā wa-lā mawlūdun lahu bi-waladihī wa-ʿalā al-wārithi mithlu dhālika fa-in arādā fiṣālan ʿan tarāḍin minhumā wa-tashāwurin fa-lā junāḥa ʿalayhimā… "Mothers shall suckle their children for two complete years — for whoever wishes to complete the nursing. Upon the father rests the duty of their provision and clothing according to recognised usage. No soul is burdened beyond its capacity. A mother shall not be harmed on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child. The same obligation rests on the heir. And if both parents wish to wean the child by mutual consent and consultation, there is no blame on either of them…" (al-Baqara 2:233)

Commentary: When divorce has occurred but revocation (rujūʿ) is still possible, the question of breastfeeding and childcare arises. Two situations arise: (1) the mother nurses the child herself; (2) a wet-nurse (māriḍaʿ) is arranged. The expenses of the nursing woman — her food, clothing, and care — are the father's obligation. Neither parent may use the child as a weapon against the other. If the father has died, his heir inherits this obligation. The period of suckling is two complete years — this is the maximum; by mutual consent of both parents they may agree on a shorter period. The father's obligation covers the nursing expenses only up to two years.

The ḥurmat al-raḍāʿ (the prohibition arising from milk-kinship) is established by suckling that occurs within this two-year limit. In the Ḥanafī school, two complete years (ḥawlāni kāmilāni) is the maximum period during which milk-kinship is established from nursing, according to Imām al-Aʿẓam Abū Ḥanīfa (may Allah have mercy on him). Some other authorities set the period at two years and six months.

Verse on Breastfeeding — continued:

﴿وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمْ أَن تَسْتَرْضِعُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا سَلَّمْتُم مَّا آتَيْتُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ﴾Wa-in aradtum an tastarḍiʿū awlādakum fa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum idhā sallamamtum mā ātaytum bil-maʿrūf. "And if you wish to have your children nursed by a wet-nurse, there is no blame on you, provided you hand over what you owe in a recognised manner." (al-Baqara 2:233)

Glosses:

• Wa-in aradtum — and if you wish
• An tastarḍiʿū — to seek nursing for
• Awlādakum — your children
• Fa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum — there is no blame on you
• Idhā sallamtum — provided you hand over, entrust
• Mā ātaytum — what you have given, what is obligatory upon you
• Bil-maʿrūf — in a recognised and proper manner
• Wattaqū-llāha — and fear Allah
• Waʿlamū — and know
• Anna-llāha bi-mā taʿmalūna — that Allah, concerning what you do
• Baṣīr — is All-Seeing

Translation (tarjuma): "And if you wish to arrange for your children to be nursed — give the children to capable women to nurse — there is no blame on you provided you hand over what you have agreed to pay in a recognised manner. And fear Allah and know that Allah sees all that you do." (al-Baqara 2:233)

Commentary: When a woman has been divorced, there is a question of who bears the child's nursing costs. Two points: (1) if the mother nurses herself, her food and clothing are the father's expense; (2) if a wet-nurse is hired, the same applies. The Qurʾān commands: let this be arranged according to ʿurf (customary practice) — neither injuring the mother nor burdening the father. If the father has died and the child's heir has taken over his responsibilities, the same obligations apply to the heir. This is so because lineage (nasab) runs through the father, and the social continuity of the child is through the paternal line.

Verse on the ʿIdda of Widows (al-Baqara 2:234):

(The page contains the Arabic of verses on the waiting period of widows, with lexical notes and the author's commentary on mourning practices.)

Lexical Analysis of al-Baqara 2:234:

• Wal-ladhīna yutawaffawna minkum — and those of you who pass away (die)
• Wa-yadharūna azwājan — and leave behind wives
• Yatarabbaṣna — shall wait; shall restrain themselves
• Bi-anfusihinna — as regards themselves
• Arbaʿata ashhurin wa-ʿashran — four months and ten days
• Fa-idhā balaghna ajalahunna — then when they have reached their term
• Falā junāḥa ʿalaykum — there is no blame on you
• Fīmā faʿalna — in what they do
• Fī anfusihinna — regarding themselves
• Bil-maʿrūf — in a recognised manner (i.e., by presenting themselves for marriage through recognised, dignified means — adornment, dress, etc.)

Translation of al-Baqara 2:234:

﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا ۖ فَإِذَا بَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ﴾Wal-ladhīna yutawaffawna minkum wa-yadharūna azwājan yatarabbaṣna bi-anfusihinna arbaʿata ashhurin wa-ʿashran fa-idhā balaghna ajalahunna fa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum fīmā faʿalna fī anfusihinna bil-maʿrūf wallāhu bi-mā taʿmalūna khabīr. "And those of you who die and leave behind wives — those wives shall wait for four months and ten days. When they have reached their term, there is no blame on you in what they do regarding themselves in a recognised manner. And Allah is fully aware of what you do." (al-Baqara 2:234)

Commentary: The ʿidda of a widow is the gravest form of waiting-period (ʿidda). Its duration — four months and ten days — is longer than the divorced woman's ʿidda, and greater gravity of spirit is required for it. This is because the death of a husband is an immense calamity.

A social critique by the author: The Hindu custom (inherited partly by some Muslims in the subcontinent) required a widow to mourn for years — her hair shaved, wearing no adornment, consuming restricted food, wearing only rough garments, spending day after day in painful remembrance — until death took her. The wicked practice even remarried a second time while preventing the widow from doing so. Allah Most High has prohibited this. As He says: Wallāhu bi-mā taʿmalūna khabīr — "Allah is fully aware of what you do" (al-Baqara 2:234). He will reward the obedient.

Lexical Analysis continuing (wal-ladhīna yutawaffawna):

• Wa-llāhu bi-mā taʿmalūna — and Allah — concerning what you do — khabīrun: All-Aware, fully informed, well acquainted.

Translation of the continuation (tarjuma): "And those of your men who pass away, leaving wives — those wives shall wait for four months and ten days in the observance of mourning and restraint. When they have fulfilled that ʿidda, you are not to blame for what they do regarding themselves in a recognised manner. Allah is aware of what you all do — He will recompense accordingly."

Commentary: The passing of a husband is a great calamity. His ʿidda is longer than that of divorce and requires a deeper solemnity. [The rest of this page is heavily garbled in the OCR — the following sentence is visible:] Lā yankaḥu ḥattā yarjiʿa — [reconstructed:] the scholar explains the prohibition of proposing marriage during the ʿidda of the widow, drawing on a ḥadīth from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with both) to the effect that indirect indications of marriage-interest (taʿrīḍ) are permitted, while direct proposals (taṣrīḥ) are forbidden. This is the subject of the next verse.

Verse on Indirect Proposals (al-Baqara 2:235):

Glosses:

• ʿArraḍtum bihi — you alluded to it, hinted at it
• Aw aknanntum — or you concealed it, kept it in yourselves
• Fī anfusikum — within yourselves
• ʿAlima-llāhu — Allah knows
• Annakum — that you
• Satadh-kurūnahunna — will think of them, will call them to mind
• Wa-lākin lā tuwāʿidūhunna — but do not make secret promises to them
• Sirran — privately, secretly
• Illā an taqūlū — except that you say
• Qawlan maʿrūfan — a recognised and appropriate word
• Wa-lā taʿzimū ʿuqdata al-nikāḥ — and do not resolve upon the marriage contract
• Ḥattā yablugha al-kitābu ajalah — until the written term (the ʿidda) has reached its end
• Waʿlamū anna-llāha yaʿlamu mā fī anfusikum — know that Allah knows what is in your hearts
• Fa-ḥdhrarūh — so beware of Him
• Waʿlamū anna-llāha ghafūrun ḥalīm — and know that Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Forbearing

Translation of al-Baqara 2:235:

﴿وَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِيمَا عَرَّضْتُم بِهِ مِنْ خِطْبَةِ النِّسَاءِ أَوْ أَكْنَنتُمْ فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ سَتَذْكُرُونَهُنَّ وَلَٰكِن لَّا تُوَاعِدُوهُنَّ سِرًّا إِلَّا أَن تَقُولُوا قَوْلًا مَّعْرُوفًا ۚ وَلَا تَعْزِمُوا عُقْدَةَ النِّكَاحِ حَتَّىٰ يَبْلُغَ الْكِتَابُ أَجَلَهُ ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ فَاحْذَرُوهُ ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ﴾Wa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum fīmā ʿarraḍtum bihi min khuṭbati al-nisāʾi aw aknanntum fī anfusikum ʿalima-llāhu annakum satadh-kurūnahunna wa-lākin lā tuwāʿidūhunna sirran illā an taqūlū qawlan maʿrūfan wa-lā taʿzimū ʿuqdata al-nikāḥi ḥattā yablugha al-kitābu ajalahu waʿlamū anna-llāha yaʿlamu mā fī anfusikum fa-ḥdhrarūhu waʿlamū anna-llāha ghafūrun ḥalīm. "There is no blame on you in what you may hint at regarding proposals of marriage to women, or what you conceal in your hearts. Allah knows that you will have them in your thoughts; but do not make secret promises to them — except to say a word according to recognised propriety. And do not resolve upon the marriage contract until the appointed term has reached its end. And know that Allah knows what is in your hearts, so beware of Him. And know that Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Forbearing." (al-Baqara 2:235)

Commentary: The ʿidda period is a time of mourning for the woman. During this time it is forbidden to make direct marriage proposals. However, God knows human nature — the thought will arise. Hence the rule of taʿrīḍ (indirect allusion) is permitted. For example, one may say: "You are someone of great worth" or "I hope you will be happy in the future" — these are indirect indications. But direct promises or secret agreements are absolutely forbidden until the ʿidda ends. Guard yourselves, for Allah knows the intentions of hearts. He is Forgiving and Forbearing towards those who slip in thought while keeping within bounds.

Lexical Analysis:

(This page continues the taʿrīḍ vocabulary discussion. The key Arabic terms visible are:)

• al-Rimāz — allusion, hint
• Khaṭb — the act of proposing marriage; also: discourse, oration
• Aw aknanntumūhā — or you concealed it
• Fī anfusikum — in yourselves
• ʿAlima-llāhu annakum saatadhkarūnahunna — Allah knows you will call them to mind
• Wa-lākin lā tuwāʿidūhunna sirran — but do not secretly promise them
• Illā an taqūlū qawlan maʿrūfan — except to say an approved word
• Wa-lā taʿzimū ʿuqdata al-nikāḥ — do not resolve on the marriage tie
• Ḥattā yablugha al-kitābu ajalah — until the written term (ʿidda) reaches its end
• Waʿlamū anna-llāha yaʿlamu mā fī anfusikum — know that Allah knows what is in your hearts
• Fa-ḥdhrarūhu — so fear and beware of Him
• Wa-llāhu ghafūrun ḥalīm — and Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Forbearing

Translation (tarjuma): "There is no blame on you in what you hint at regarding proposals to women during their ʿidda, or what you conceal in your hearts. Allah knows you will think of them. But do not make secret covenants with them — except to say a proper word according to custom. Do not resolve upon the marriage contract until the appointed period (ʿidda) reaches its end. Know that Allah is aware of what is in your hearts — so be wary of Him. And know that Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Forbearing."

The ʿazm (resolution): The word taʿzimū means to form a firm intention or resolve. Allah says elsewhere: Idhā ʿazamta fa-tawakkal ʿalā-llāh — "When you have resolved, place your trust in Allah" (Āl ʿImrān 3:159). From the great scholars: al-ʿazāʾim min al-rukhāṣ — binding obligations are to be distinguished from dispensations.

Verse on Divorce Before Consummation (al-Baqara 2:236):

Lexical notes:

• Wa-in ṭallaqtumūhunna — and if you divorce them
• Min qabli — before
• An tamassūhunna — that you have touched them (i.e., before consummation)
• Aw tafriḍū lahunna farīḍatan — or fixed a mahr for them
• Fa-mattiʿūhunna — then provide them with a gift (mutʿa)
• ʿAlā al-mūsiʿi qadaruh — the wealthy man according to his means
• Wa-ʿalā al-muqtiri qadaruh — and the man of modest means according to his capacity
• Matāʿan bil-maʿrūf — a provision according to recognised custom
• Ḥaqqan ʿalā al-muḥsinīn — a duty upon the righteous (muḥsinīn)

Translation of al-Baqara 2:236:

﴿لَّا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِن طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً ۚ وَمَتِّعُوهُنَّ عَلَى الْمُوسِعِ قَدَرُهُ وَعَلَى الْمُقْتِرِ قَدَرُهُ مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ﴾Lā junāḥa ʿalaykum in ṭallaqtum al-nisāʾa mā lam tamassūhunna aw tafriḍū lahunna farīḍatan wa-mattiʿūhunna ʿalā al-mūsiʿi qadaruhu wa-ʿalā al-muqtiri qadaruhu matāʿan bil-maʿrūf ḥaqqan ʿalā al-muḥsinīn. "There is no blame on you if you divorce women whom you have not touched (consummated) and for whom you have not fixed a dower. Provide for them — the wealthy man according to his means and the man of modest means according to his capacity — a provision in a recognised manner: a duty incumbent upon those who do good." (al-Baqara 2:236)

Commentary: If the husband divorces a woman before consummation and before fixing a dower, the obligatory mahr is waived. However, it is obligatory upon the husband to make a gift of mutʿa (maintenance-gift) according to his means — for the wealthy, a generous gift; for the man of limited means, within his capacity. This is called mutʿat al-ṭalāq and is an act of iḥsān (beneficence). It is binding (wājib) according to the Ḥanafī school.

Verse on Mahr When Divorce Occurs Before Consummation with Mahr Fixed (al-Baqara 2:237):

Lexical notes:

• Wa-in ṭallaqtumūhunna min qabli an tamassūhunna — and if you divorce them before consummating
• Wa-qad faraḍtum lahunna farīḍatan — but you have already fixed a mahr for them
• Fa-niṣfu mā faraḍtum — then half of what you fixed is due
• Illā an yaʿfūna — unless the women forgive
• Aw yaʿfuwa alladhī bi-yadihi ʿuqdat al-nikāḥ — or the one in whose hand is the marriage-tie forgives (i.e., the husband or the walī)
• Wa-an taʿfū aqrabu lil-taqwā — and that you forgive is closer to piety
• Wa-lā tansū al-faḍla baynakum — and do not forget generosity between you
• Inna-llāha bi-mā taʿmalūna baṣīr — verily Allah sees what you do

Translation of al-Baqara 2:237:

﴿وَإِن طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلَّا أَن يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ ۚ وَأَن تَعْفُوا أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ ۚ وَلَا تَنسَوُا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ﴾Wa-in ṭallaqtumūhunna min qabli an tamassūhunna wa-qad faraḍtum lahunna farīḍatan fa-niṣfu mā faraḍtum illā an yaʿfūna aw yaʿfuwa alladhī bi-yadihi ʿuqdata al-nikāḥi wa-an taʿfū aqrabu lil-taqwā wa-lā tansū al-faḍla baynakum inna-llāha bi-mā taʿmalūna baṣīr. "If you divorce them before consummating, yet after fixing a dower for them, then half of what you fixed is due — unless the women forgo it, or the one in whose hand is the marriage-tie forgoes it. And that you forgive is closer to God-consciousness. And do not forget generosity between you. Verily Allah sees what you do." (al-Baqara 2:237)

Commentary: Four situations arise after the pronouncement of divorce: 1. Consummation (dukhūl) took place: full mahr is obligatory. 2. No consummation, but valid seclusion (khalwa ṣaḥīḥa) occurred: full mahr is due according to the Ḥanafī position. 3. No consummation, no seclusion, but mahr was fixed: half the fixed mahr is due. 4. No consummation, no seclusion, no mahr fixed: the mutʿa gift applies as above.

The Qurʾān exhorts generosity: the woman may forgive her half of the mahr, and the man may pay the full amount — both acts being closer to taqwā. Do not forget grace and favour between one another. These affairs are best resolved when the fear of Allah resides in the heart — and the foundation of this fear is ṣalāt (prayer), the pillar of the religion. This is the connection to the next verse on ṣalāt.

Verse on Guarding the Prayers (al-Baqara 2:238–239):

Glosses:

• Ḥāfiẓū — guard, maintain
• ʿAlā al-ṣalawāt — the prayers
• Wal-ṣalāti al-wusṭā — and the middle prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr according to the preponderant view)
• Wa-qūmū lillāhi qānitīn — and stand before Allah in devotion (qunūt: humble, submissive standing)

Translation of al-Baqara 2:238–239:

﴿حَافِظُوا عَلَى الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ﴾Ḥāfiẓū ʿalā al-ṣalawāti wal-ṣalāti al-wusṭā wa-qūmū lillāhi qānitīn. "Guard strictly the prayers, and the middle prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience." (al-Baqara 2:238)

﴿فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ فَرِجَالًا أَوْ رُكْبَانًا ۖ فَإِذَا أَمِنتُمْ فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَمَا عَلَّمَكُم مَّا لَمْ تَكُونُوا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾Fa-in khiftum fa-rijālan aw rukbānan fa-idhā amintum fadhkurū-llāha kamā ʿallamakum mā lam takūnū taʿlamūn. "If you are in fear (of an enemy), then pray on foot or riding. And when you are in safety, remember Allah as He has taught you what you did not know." (al-Baqara 2:239)

Commentary: The word ṣalāt carries the meanings of both "prayer" (namāz) and "supplication" (duʿāʾ). Allah Himself says:﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ ۚ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا﴾— "Indeed, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet; O you who believe, send blessings upon him and salute him with a worthy salutation" (al-Aḥzāb 33:56). This means that for the servant, prayer (ṣalāt) is the expression of humility and neediness before the Almighty, from which emerge the stations of servitude (ʿubūdiyya) — a recognition of one's incapacity before the Absolute.

Ṣalāt al-wusṭā — the "middle prayer": the preponderant position is that this is the ʿAṣr prayer, because of the intensity of trade and preoccupation at that hour. The Prophet Muḥammadﷺsaid on the Day of the Trench (Yawm al-Khandaq):

شَغَلُونَا عَنِ الصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَى صَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ

Shaghhalūnā ʿan al-ṣalāti al-wusṭā ṣalāti al-ʿaṣr.

"They kept us from the middle prayer — the ʿAṣr prayer." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim)

Qānitīn means: standing with utmost humility (khushūʿ) and submission (khuḍūʿ). The standing must be physical as well as one of inward reverence.

Translation (tarjuma): "Guard the prayers — all of them — and the middle prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) especially. And stand before Allah in devotion and humility. If you are in danger (from an enemy), pray on foot or mounted. When you are safe again, remember Allah as He has taught you what you did not know."

Commentary on prayer in times of fear: When circumstances prevent the full form of prayer — whether on foot or on horseback — the prayer must still be performed in whatever form is possible. This reflects the absolute, non-negotiable nature of ṣalāt.

Translation continuation (tarjuma): "Remember Allah as He has taught you — that is, perform your prayers — just as He has taught you what you did not previously know."

Verse on the Bequest for Widows (al-Baqara 2:240):

Lexical notes:

• Wal-ladhīna yutawaffawna minkum — and those of you who are about to die
• Wa-yadharūna azwājan — and leave behind wives
• Waṣiyyatan — leave a bequest
• Li-azwājihim — for their wives
• Matāʿan — provision
• Ilā al-ḥawl — until the end of one year
• Ghayra ikhrājin — without being expelled (from the marital home)
• Wa-llāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīm — and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise

Translation of al-Baqara 2:240:

﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُتَوَفَّوْنَ مِنكُمْ وَيَذَرُونَ أَزْوَاجًا وَصِيَّةً لِّأَزْوَاجِهِم مَّتَاعًا إِلَى الْحَوْلِ غَيْرَ إِخْرَاجٍ ۚ فَإِنْ خَرَجْنَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي مَا فَعَلْنَ فِي أَنفُسِهِنَّ مِن مَّعْرُوفٍ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ﴾Wal-ladhīna yutawaffawna minkum wa-yadharūna azwājan waṣiyyatan li-azwājihim matāʿan ilā al-ḥawli ghayra ikhrājin fa-in kharajna fa-lā junāḥa ʿalaykum fīmā faʿalna fī anfusihinna min maʿrūfin wallāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīm. "And those of you who are about to die and leave behind wives — let them make a bequest for their wives of one year's maintenance without expelling them. But if they leave of their own accord, there is no blame on you in what they do regarding themselves in a recognised manner. And Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise." (al-Baqara 2:240)

Commentary: This verse has been largely abrogated (mansūkh) by the verse fixing the widow's ʿidda at four months and ten days, as the majority of scholars (jumhūr al-ʿulamāʾ) hold. The year's maintenance (matāʿ ila al-ḥawl) was the original provision; after the revelation of al-Baqara 2:234, the mandatory ʿidda was reduced to four months and ten days. However, the bequest for longer maintenance remains an ethical recommendation (waṣiyya akhlāqiyya) — a moral will, not a legal obligation under Islam. If the deceased's heirs honour it voluntarily, they earn reward; if they do not, the widow's mandatory ʿidda is four months and ten days and she is then free. — This ruling remains, in the Ḥanafī understanding, an illustrative case of naskh (abrogation).

Verse on the Gift to Divorced Women (al-Baqara 2:241):

﴿وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ﴾Wa-lil-muṭallaqāti matāʿun bil-maʿrūfi ḥaqqan ʿalā al-muttaqīn. "And for divorced women, a provision according to recognised custom is due — a duty upon the God-fearing." (al-Baqara 2:241)

Commentary: Even after the expiry of their ʿidda, divorced women are entitled to a mutʿa — a maintenance gift according to the husband's means and established custom. This is the ḥaqq (right) of all divorced women. Allah assigns this duty specifically to the muttaqīn — the God-fearing — indicating that the performance of this duty is a mark and criterion of taqwā.

Verse on Allah Clarifying His Commandments (al-Baqara 2:242):

﴿كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ﴾Kadhālika yubayyinu-llāhu lakum āyātihi laʿallakum taʿqilūn. "Thus Allah makes clear His signs to you, that you may reason and understand." (al-Baqara 2:242)

Commentary: This verse serves as a seal on the long discourse on marriage and divorce laws. Allah clarified all these rulings — from divorce, ʿidda, mahr, nursing, maintenance, widow's period, to the gift for divorced women — so that the believers may exercise sound reason, understand the wisdom behind them, and act accordingly.

The author then transitions: having completed the section on ṭalāq and its ancillary rulings, the discussion now turns back to jihād and a passage about the Banū Isrāʾīl — a morally instructive historical narrative about a people who, despite their large numbers, fled from combat. This provides the necessary context for the āyāt on spending in the path of Allah.

The Story of Those Who Fled Death (al-Baqara 2:243):

Glosses:

• Alam tara — have you not seen? Do you not consider?
• Ilā alladhīna — those who
• Kharajū min diyārihim — went out of their homes
• Wa-hum ulūfun — while they were in the thousands
• Ḥadhara al-mawt — fleeing death (from fear of plague or combat)
• Fa-qāla lahum allāhu — then Allah said to them
• Mūtū — "Die!" (and they died)
• Thumma aḥyāhum — then He revived them

Translation of al-Baqara 2:243:

﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِن دِيَارِهِمْ وَهُمْ أُلُوفٌ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ فَقَالَ لَهُمُ اللَّهُ مُوتُوا ثُمَّ أَحْيَاهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ﴾Alam tara ilā alladhīna kharajū min diyārihim wa-hum ulūfun ḥadhara al-mawti fa-qāla lahumu-llāhu mūtū thumma aḥyāhum inna-llāha la-dhū faḍlin ʿalā al-nāsi wa-lākinna aktharahum lā yashkurūn. "Have you not considered those who went out of their homes in thousands, fleeing death? Allah said to them: 'Die!' — then He revived them. Truly Allah is possessed of bounty towards mankind, but most of them are not grateful." (al-Baqara 2:243)

Commentary: The author addresses the reader directly (Ṣāḥib!): A nation that abandons jihād is a nation that is degraded and humiliated. It perishes spiritually, even if it survives physically. But when courage and sacrifice are restored to a people, their honour returns. Both the living and the dead are in that state; after a period of humiliation, the spirit of life returns to them. The author quotes (in the original Urdu poetic mode): "The name of life is the vitality of the undaunted; honour and renown are the wages of courage. The people who strive in the path of God — God gives them life." [reconstructed from visible verses]

Dear friend (Ṣāḥib)! Reflect on your own state: Are you alive, or dead? There is a difference between the living and the dead. The dead do not move. If you are in a state of lethargy, you are dead; your existence is meaningless and your life without purpose. Whoever does not fear God, God does not keep him in this world.

Verse on Fighting in the Path of Allah (al-Baqara 2:244):

﴿وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾Wa-qātilū fī sabīli-llāhi waʿlamū anna-llāha samīʿun ʿalīm. "Fight in the path of Allah and know that Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." (al-Baqara 2:244)

Verse on Spending in the Path of Allah (al-Baqara 2:245):

﴿مَّن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً ۚ وَاللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْصُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ﴾Man dhā alladhī yuqriḍu-llāha qarḍan ḥasanan fa-yuḍāʿifahu lahu aḍʿāfan kathīratan wa-llāhu yaqbiḍu wa-yabṣuṭu wa-ilayhi turjaʿūn. "Who is it that will lend to Allah a goodly loan, that He may multiply it for him many times over? And Allah constricts and expands, and to Him you shall return." (al-Baqara 2:245)

Lexical notes:

• Man dhā — who is there?
• Yuqriḍu-llāha — lends to Allah; gives in His cause
• Qarḍan ḥasanan — a goodly loan; beneficent spending (not as usury but as pure devotion)
• Fa-yuḍāʿifahu — that He may multiply it
• Aḍʿāfan kathīratan — manifold; many times over
• Yaqbiḍu — He constricts (provision)
• Wa-yabṣuṭu — and He expands (provision) — the ṣād in yabṣuṭu is a variant reading (qirāʾa)
• Wa-ilayhi turjaʿūn — and to Him you shall return

Commentary: In reward for spending in the path of Allah, the return is multiplied. The Qurʾān gives the famous illustration: as a single grain planted in fertile soil produces seven ears, each ear with one hundred grains — so from one grain come seven hundred (al-Baqara 2:261). And Allah further multiplies for whom He wills. This is the divine multiplication of charity: sab-ʿu sanābila fī kulli sunbulatin miʾatu ḥabbah — seven ears, in each ear one hundred grains (al-Baqara 2:261). The author notes: multiplied both in this world and the Hereafter.

Translation (tarjuma): "Who is there to give Allah a goodly loan — that is, to spend sincerely in His cause — so that He multiplies it for him many times? And Allah constricts and expands provision, and to Him is your return (in the end, whatever you spend for Him will return to you with the greatest profit; those who withhold shall also see the outcome)."

Dear friend (Ṣāḥib)! This is the noble custom (ʿādat sharīfa) of Allah Most High: He draws the hearts of the pious towards Himself. This spending, this remembrance — what is the most important and necessary act? Keep your affairs in order; save for the important; keep Allah ever present (ḥāḍir nāẓir) in your heart and know that you shall return to Him.

The Story of the Chieftains of the Banū Isrāʾīl (al-Baqara 2:246):

Glosses:

• Alam tara ilā — have you not considered?
• Al-malaʾi — the assembly, the chiefs, the nobles
• Min Banī Isrāʾīl — from the Children of Israel (Banū Isrāʾīl — the descendants of the Prophet Yaʿqūb/Jacob, upon him be peace)
• Min baʿdi Mūsā — after Mūsā (upon him be peace)
• Idh qālū — when they said
• Li-nabiyyin lahum — to a prophet of theirs
• Ibʿath lanā — appoint for us
• Malikan — a king
• Nuqātil — that we may fight
• Fī sabīli-llāh — in the path of Allah

Translation of al-Baqara 2:246:

﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الْمَلَإِ مِن بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ إِذْ قَالُوا لِنَبِيٍّ لَّهُمُ ابْعَثْ لَنَا مَلِكًا نُّقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۖ قَالَ هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِتَالُ أَلَّا تُقَاتِلُوا ۖ قَالُوا وَمَا لَنَا أَلَّا نُقَاتِلَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أُخْرِجْنَا مِن دِيَارِنَا وَأَبْنَائِنَا ۖ فَلَمَّا كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقِتَالُ تَوَلَّوْا إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ﴾Alam tara ilā al-malaʾi min Banī Isrāʾīla min baʿdi Mūsā idh qālū li-nabiyyin lahum ibʿath lanā malikan nuqātil fī sabīli-llāhi qāla hal ʿasaytum in kutiba ʿalaykum al-qitālu allā tuqātilū qālū wa-mā lanā allā nuqātila fī sabīli-llāhi wa-qad ukhriijnā min diyārinā wa-abnāʾinā fa-lammā kutiba ʿalayhim al-qitālu tawallaw illā qalīlan minhum wallāhu ʿalīmun bil-ẓālimīn. "Have you not considered the assembly (malaʾ) of the Banū Isrāʾīl after Mūsā (upon him be peace)? When they said to a prophet of theirs: 'Appoint for us a king that we may fight in the path of Allah.' He said: 'Is it possible that, if fighting were made obligatory upon you, you would not fight?' They said: 'What is it to us that we should not fight in the path of Allah, when we have been expelled from our homes and separated from our children?' But when fighting was made obligatory on them, they turned away — except a few of them. And Allah is All-Knowing of the wrongdoers." (al-Baqara 2:246)

Commentary: Note in this verse the maṣdar (verbal noun) qitāl — it denotes fighting by two parties. The verse teaches: fighting (jihād) requires a leader (imām); a single individual cannot wage it arbitrarily. Whoever flees from jihād by hiding behind excuses does so out of love of life and attachment to the world — not because of genuine disability. When the obligation was prescribed, only a few fulfilled it. Allah is All-Knowing of the ẓālimīn (those who wrong themselves and others by fleeing the divine command).

The Story of Ṭālūt (Saul) (al-Baqara 2:247):

Lexical notes:

• Wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum — and their prophet said to them
• Inna-llāha qad baʿatha lakum Ṭālūta malikan — "Verily Allah has appointed Ṭālūt (Ṭālūt, from ṭawl — tallness; his name was Sāmūʾīl/Samuel) as your king"
• Qālū — they said
• Annā yakūnu lahu al-mulku ʿalaynā — how can the kingship belong to him over us?
• Wa-lam yūta saʿatan min al-māl — and he has not been given abundance of wealth
• Qāla — he said (the prophet)
• Inna-llāha iṣṭafāhu ʿalaykum — verily Allah has chosen him above you
• Wa-zādahu basṭatan fī al-ʿilmi wal-jism — and has given him an increase in knowledge and physical stature

Translation of al-Baqara 2:247:

﴿وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ بَعَثَ لَكُمْ طَالُوتَ مَلِكًا ۚ قَالُوا أَنَّىٰ يَكُونُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ عَلَيْنَا وَنَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِالْمُلْكِ مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يُؤْتَ سَعَةً مِّنَ الْمَالِ ۚ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ بَسْطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ وَالْجِسْمِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يُؤْتِي مُلْكَهُ مَن يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ﴾Wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum inna-llāha qad baʿatha lakum Ṭālūta malikan qālū annā yakūnu lahu al-mulku ʿalaynā wa-naḥnu aḥaqqu bil-mulki minhu wa-lam yūta saʿatan min al-māli qāla inna-llāha iṣṭafāhu ʿalaykum wa-zādahu basṭatan fī al-ʿilmi wal-jismi wallāhu yuʾtī mulkahu man yashāʾu wallāhu wāsiʿun ʿalīm. "And their prophet said to them: 'Verily Allah has appointed Ṭālūt as your king.' They said: 'How can the kingship belong to him over us, when we are more deserving of kingship than he, and he has not been given abundance of wealth?' He said: 'Verily Allah has chosen him above you and has given him an increase in knowledge and physical stature. And Allah grants His kingship to whom He wills; Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.'" (al-Baqara 2:247)

Commentary: From this verse scholars derive that the criterion of legitimate authority (istiḥqāq al-salṭana) is not hereditary lineage alone, nor wealth alone — but rather knowledge (ʿilm) and bodily/physical capacity (quwwa). Some scholars use this as a basis for the principle that whoever possesses the greatest knowledge and capability is most entitled to governance. Wealth alone is neither a disqualification nor a sole qualification — it is one consideration. [reconstructed]

The Story of the Ark (al-Tābūt) (al-Baqara 2:248):

Lexical notes:

• Wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum — and their prophet said to them
• Inna āyata mulkihi — the sign of his kingship
• An yaʾtiyakum al-tābūt — is that the Ark shall come to you
• Al-tābūt — the Ark (from tawb — returning; it is a chest that comes and goes; a sanctuary-box)
• Fīhi sakīnatun min rabbikum — in it is peace/tranquillity from your Lord (sakīna: spiritual repose, assurance)
• Wa-baqiyyatun mimmā taraka — and a remnant of what was left behind
• Ālu Mūsā wa-Ālu Hārūn — by the family of Mūsā (upon him be peace) and the family of Hārūn (upon him be peace)
• Taḥmiluhu al-malāʾika — borne by the angels
• Inna fī dhālika la-āyatan lakum — truly in that is a sign for you
• In kuntum muʾminīn — if you are believers

Translation of al-Baqara 2:248:

﴿وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ آيَةَ مُلْكِهِ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمُ التَّابُوتُ فِيهِ سَكِينَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَبَقِيَّةٌ مِّمَّا تَرَكَ آلُ مُوسَىٰ وَآلُ هَارُونَ تَحْمِلُهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ﴾Wa-qāla lahum nabiyyuhum inna āyata mulkihi an yaʾtiyakum al-tābūtu fīhi sakīnatun min rabbikum wa-baqiyyatun mimmā taraka Ālu Mūsā wa-Ālu Hārūna taḥmiluhu al-malāʾikatu inna fī dhālika la-āyatan lakum in kuntum muʾminīn. "And their prophet said to them: 'The sign of his kingship is that the Ark shall come to you, bearing in it a sakīna (tranquillity) from your Lord, and a remnant of what was left by the family of Mūsā and the family of Hārūn — borne by the angels. In that is truly a sign for you, if you are believers.'" (al-Baqara 2:248)

Commentary: Those who hold that Ṭālūt (Saul) refers to the leader Dāwūd (upon him be peace) and that sakīna refers to the Mīzān al-Qisṭ (scales of justice) are in error. The evident meaning is that this refers to the Ark of the Covenant brought forth miraculously in the time of the Prophet Sāmūʾīl (upon him be peace), containing relics of the families of Mūsā and Hārūn (upon them be peace), borne by the angels as a divine sign. This confirmed Ṭālūt's appointment.

The author digresses at this point into a Sufi-inflected commentary (ishāra): the ḥāfiẓ (shārib al-khamr) as a metaphor for the one drunk with divine love — citing Ḥāfiẓ's symbolic verse. He notes: taking verses of the Qurʾān for purposes of istishhād (poetic quotation in a non-Qurʾānic spiritual framework) is a delicate matter. One must keep to the original meanings. From different approaches one may draw lessons (ʿibra), but the primary meanings of Qurʾānic words cannot be fundamentally altered for allegorical purposes. [reconstructed]

The Story of Ṭālūt and the River (al-Baqara 2:249):

Lexical notes:

• Fa-lammā faṣala Ṭālūtu bil-junūdi — when Ṭālūt set out with the armies
• Qāla — he said
• Inna-llāha mubtalīkum bi-nahrin — Allah will test you with a river
• Faman shariba minhu fa-laysa minnī — whoever drinks from it is not of my company
• Wa-man lam yaṭʿamhu fa-innahu minnī — and whoever does not taste from it, he is mine
• Illā man ightarafa ghurfatan bi-yadihi — except one who takes a scoop with his hand
• Fa-sharibū minhu illā qalīlan — but they drank from it — except a few
• Fa-lammā jāwazahu — when he (Ṭālūt) and those who believed crossed
• Al-ladhīna āmanū maʿahu — those who believed with him
• Qālū — they said
• Lā ṭāqata lanā al-yawma — we have no strength today
• Bi-Jālūta wa-junūdihi — against Jālūt (Goliath) and his armies
• Qāla alladhīna yaẓunnūna annahum mulāqū-llāhi — those who were certain of meeting Allah said
• Kam min fiʾatin qalīlatin — how many a small group
• Ghalabat fiʾatan kathīratan — has overcome a large group
• Bi-idhni-llāh — by Allah's permission
• Wallāhu maʿa al-ṣābirīn — and Allah is with the steadfast

Translation of al-Baqara 2:249:

﴿فَلَمَّا فَصَلَ طَالُوتُ بِالْجُنُودِ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مُبْتَلِيكُم بِنَهَرٍ فَمَن شَرِبَ مِنْهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي وَمَن لَّمْ يَطْعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي إِلَّا مَنِ اغْتَرَفَ غُرْفَةً بِيَدِهِ ۚ فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۚ فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَهُ هُوَ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ قَالُوا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا الْيَوْمَ بِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ ۚ قَالَ الَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُمْ مُلَاقُو اللَّهِ كَم مِّن فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةً كَثِيرَةً بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ﴾Fa-lammā faṣala Ṭālūtu bil-junūdi qāla inna-llāha mubtalīkum bi-nahrin faman shariba minhu fa-laysa minnī wa-man lam yaṭʿamhu fa-innahu minnī illā man ightarafa ghurfatan bi-yadihi fa-sharibū minhu illā qalīlan minhum fa-lammā jāwazahu huwa wal-ladhīna āmanū maʿahu qālū lā ṭāqata lanā al-yawma bi-Jālūta wa-junūdihi qāla alladhīna yaẓunnūna annahum mulāqū-llāhi kam min fiʾatin qalīlatin ghalabat fiʾatan kathīratan bi-idhni-llāhi wallāhu maʿa al-ṣābirīn. "When Ṭālūt set out with the armies he said: 'Allah will test you with a river — whoever drinks from it is not of my company, and whoever does not taste from it, he is mine — except one who takes a handful with his hand.' But they drank from it, save a few of them. And when he and those who believed with him had crossed it, they said: 'We have no power today against Jālūt and his armies.' Those who were certain of meeting Allah said: 'How many a small company has overcome a large company by Allah's permission! And Allah is with the steadfast.'" (al-Baqara 2:249)

The Supplication of the Faithful Army and Victory (al-Baqara 2:250–251):

Translation of al-Baqara 2:250:

﴿وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ﴾Wa-lammā barazū li-Jālūta wa-junūdihi qālū rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabran wa-thabbit aqdāmanā wanṣurnā ʿalā al-qawmi al-kāfirīn. "And when they confronted Jālūt and his armies they supplicated: 'Our Lord, pour upon us steadfastness; make firm our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people.'" (al-Baqara 2:250)

Commentary: This supplication is a model of duʿāʾ before battle: asking for three things — (1) ṣabr (steadfastness/patience), (2) thabāt (firm-footedness), and (3) naṣr (victory). When they faced Jālūt (Goliath), a giant warrior clad in armour, the faithful said this prayer and then proceeded.

Translation of al-Baqara 2:251:

﴿فَهَزَمُوهُم بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَقَتَلَ دَاوُودُ جَالُوتَ وَآتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَهُ مِمَّا يَشَاءُ ۗ وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ لَّفَسَدَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ﴾Fa-hazamūhum bi-idhni-llāhi wa-qatala Dāwūdu Jālūta wa-ātāhu-llāhu al-mulka wal-ḥikmata wa-ʿallamahu mimmā yashāʾu wa-lawlā dafʿu-llāhi al-nāsa baʿḍahum bi-baʿḍin la-fasadati al-arḍu wa-lākinna-llāha dhū faḍlin ʿalā al-ʿālamīn. "So they routed them by Allah's permission, and Dāwūd (upon him be peace) slew Jālūt; and Allah gave him (Dāwūd) kingship and wisdom, and taught him of what He willed. And were it not for Allah's repelling some people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted — but Allah is full of bounty towards all the worlds." (al-Baqara 2:251)

Commentary: The narrative's moral: Ṭālūt's army — disciplined, God-fearing, led by a capable commander — defeated a numerically superior and physically formidable enemy. The moral collapse of the Banū Isrāʾīl had brought a tyrant (Jālūt) upon them. When they sought a leader and responded to the call of jihād, Allah restored their honour. Ṭālūt organised the army; he conducted a test of obedience at the river — three hundred and thirteen passed, a number reminiscent of the army at Badr. Among those was Dāwūd (upon him be peace), the father of his companions and maternal uncle of Ṭālūt according to some narrations. Dāwūd was a skilled slinger (rāmī al-nishāb). Jālūt was fully armoured — only his forehead exposed. Dāwūd struck him on the exposed spot and brought him down, and afterwards he became king and prophet.

The verse wa-lawlā dafʿu-llāh al-nāsa baʿḍahum bi-baʿḍin establishes a Qurʾānic principle of world order: if Allah did not repel some people by means of others, the earth would be ruined. This justifies defensive and corrective jihād as a mercy to humanity.

Historical summary by the author:

When the morals and character of the Banū Isrāʾīl had deteriorated, Allah sent upon them a disbelieving tyrant-king — Jālūt — who conquered Bayt al-Maqdis. They sought a prophet to appoint a king for them so that they could fight under his command. Their prophet (Sāmūʾīl, upon him be peace) was present at that time. He appointed the tall warrior Ṭālūt (Saul) as king — a man not of noble family or great wealth, but Allah had given him knowledge and physical strength. Ṭālūt led the Banū Isrāʾīl, tested their resolve at the river, and with the small loyal remnant marched against Jālūt's forces. Dāwūd (upon him be peace) — the young shepherd-soldier — slew Jālūt with a sling-stone, and in time became both king and prophet.

Verse of Confirmation (al-Baqara 2:252):

﴿تِلْكَ آيَاتُ اللَّهِ نَتْلُوهَا عَلَيْكَ بِالْحَقِّ ۚ وَإِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ﴾Tilka āyātu-llāhi natlūhā ʿalayka bil-ḥaqqi wa-innaka la-mina al-mursalīn. "These are the signs of Allah which We recite to you in truth. And you are indeed among the Messengers." (al-Baqara 2:252)

Commentary: These events — confirmation of tawḥīd, the appointment of Ṭālūt, the miracle of the Ark, the victory over Jālūt — are among the āyāt allāh that confirm the Prophethood of our Master Muḥammadﷺ. He had no teacher from among men, no access to Jewish or Christian archives; yet he recited these detailed histories with perfect accuracy — a proof that his knowledge came through divine revelation. Wa-innaka la-mina al-mursalīn — "You are truly among the Messengers."

Lessons (fawāʾid) from the preceding narrative: 1. Legitimate authority belongs to the most qualified in knowledge and capacity, regardless of lineage or wealth. 2. Wealth alone is not the criterion of kingship — though it is a necessary component. 3. Endurance, resolution, and courage are the tools of combat. 4. Victory does not depend on numbers but on obedience, discipline, and divine aid. 5. Victory, power, and might come through sincere obedience. 6. Disobedience to the leader brings defeat. 7. Maintaining the remembrance of Allah and supplicating for His aid are the Sunna of the prophets. 8. The fundamental pillar of all affairs is reliance upon Allah (tawakkul). Without Allah's aid all effort is futile. 9. By the signs of Allah and the supplication of the pious, security and peace are obtained.

(This page is almost entirely garbled OCR — only fragments and numerals are recoverable. The heading confirms we are still in Juzʾ 2 (سيقول ٢/البقره ٢). The fragments refer to the verse Tilka āyātu-llāh... and the start of the narrative about the Prophets being differentiated. The transition to Juzʾ 3 approaches.)

(The author's Urdu commentary here discusses the approaching change in Juzʾ header from Sa-yaqūlu to Tilka al-rusul, and alludes briefly to the completion of the Ṭālūt narrative and the beginning of the passage on the Messengers. Given the irrecoverability of this page's text beyond what has been noted, the commentary is reconstructed from context.)

Concluding reflection on Juzʾ 2:

The second juzʾ of Sūrat al-Baqara — whose mnemonic opening is Sa-yaqūlu (سيقول) — has covered the great niẓām (order) of Islamic marriage and family law: from the regulations of divorce (ṭalāq and its types), through the waiting-period (ʿidda) in its various forms, to the nursing of children, maintenance obligations, the bequest for widows, and the gift for divorced women. This entire section culminates in the command to guard the prayers (ḥāfiẓū ʿalā al-ṣalawāt) — signalling that the health of the family and society rests upon the health of the individual's relationship with Allah. Thereafter the narrative moves to jihād and the story of Ṭālūt and Jālūt — a parable of how a disciplined, God-fearing minority can overcome a powerful majority when guided by divine command and sincere leadership.

(This page is heavily garbled. The running header readsسيقول ٢/البقره ٢. Visible fragments include references to the Tilka al-rusul opening, to spending in the path of Allah, and to the discussion continuing the Ṭālūt narrative through to 2:252. The OCR content for this page yields only disconnected words and numbers. The following represents the reconstructed continuation based on the surrounding context.)

The author reflects on the completion of the story of Ṭālūt and Dāwūd and the verse: Tilka āyātu-llāhi natlūhā ʿalayka bil-ḥaqq wa-innaka la-mina al-mursalīn (al-Baqara 2:252). He then draws the reader's attention to the importance of spending (infāq) in the path of Allah — the theme introduced at 2:245 by the "goodly loan" (qarḍ ḥasan) and developed through the forthcoming verses on sadaqa. The moral of the Ṭālūt narrative — that a small, committed group guided by divine will defeats large, undisciplined armies — applies equally to the spiritual struggle: a small act of infāq multiplied seven hundred times by Allah's generosity.

(Running header:سيقول ٢/البقره ٢— still in Juzʾ 2.)

On the Differentiation of the Messengers (al-Baqara 2:253 — opening):

Lexical notes:

• Tilka al-rusul — those Messengers (this phrase opens both this verse and the mnemonic Juzʾ 3)
• Faḍḍalnā baʿḍahum ʿalā baʿḍin — We have exalted some of them above others
• Minhum man kallama-llāh — among them is one with whom Allah spoke directly (i.e., Mūsā, upon him be peace)
• Wa-rafaʿa baʿḍahum darajāt — and raised some of them in degrees
• Wa-āyyadnāhu bi-rūḥi al-qudus — and We strengthened him (ʿĪsā, upon him be peace) with the Holy Spirit (Rūḥ al-Qudus)

Translation of al-Baqara 2:253 (opening):

﴿تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۘ مِّنْهُم مَّن كَلَّمَ اللَّهُ ۖ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٍ ۚ وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ…﴾Tilka al-rusulu faḍḍalnā baʿḍahum ʿalā baʿḍin minhum man kallama-llāhu wa-rafaʿa baʿḍahum darajātin wa-ātaynā ʿĪsā ibna Maryama al-bayyināti wa-ayyyadnāhu bi-rūḥi al-qudus… "Those Messengers — We have exalted some above others. Among them is one with whom Allah spoke; and He raised some of them in degrees; and We gave ʿĪsā son of Maryam (upon him be peace) clear proofs and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit…" (al-Baqara 2:253)

Commentary on the Grades of the Prophets: The author provides a brief commentary on the modes of prophetic communication — (1) direct speech by Allah (kalām allāh directly), as with Mūsā (upon him be peace); (2) revelation through the ringing of a bell (ṣalṣalat al-jaras), followed by the meaning becoming clear — this is the hardest on the Prophetﷺ, as narrated in the aḥādīth; (3) the angel appearing in human form — as Jibrīl (upon him be peace) would sometimes appear in the form of Diḥya al-Kalbī. The Prophet Muḥammadﷺsaid:

لَا تُفَضِّلُونِي عَلَى يُونُسَ بْنِ مَتَّى

Lā tufaḍḍilūnī ʿalā Yūnusa ibni Mattā.

"Do not exalt me above Yūnus son of Mattā." (al-Bukhārī; Muslim)

This is the adab (etiquette of reverence) of our Prophet Muḥammadﷺ— not a negation of his supreme rank among the Messengers. The scholars explain that the Prophetﷺsaid this out of humility and to prevent vainglorious sectarian comparisons among his Companions, while the Qurʾān's own testimony and the consensus of the Ahl al-Sunna establish that our Prophetﷺis the Sayyid al-Mursalīn (Master of all the Messengers).

The Rūḥ al-Qudus: the Christians speak of three hypostases (aqānīm). Among the Ṣūfiyya, the discussion of divine Names and Attributes (asmāʾ wa-ṣifāt) and the manifestation of the divine through creation has its own technical vocabulary. The Rūḥ al-Qudus in the Qurʾānic context refers to Jibrīl (upon him be peace) who strengthened ʿĪsā (upon him be peace) throughout his mission. [reconstructed]