“EuzuBillahiminesheytanirracim”
“BismillahirRahmanirRahiym”
Dear Qur’an friends, we continue with 24th verse of Tawbah chapter.
If you remember the content of our previous lesson, Qur’an suggests even orders muslims to connect with the bond of faith and virtue which is more valuable then the bonds of race, blood, country, land, color or even family.
Right after these verses regarding the constant values of humanity, we are entering a realm with deep meanings and strong connections.
24-) Kul in kane abaukum ve ebnaukum ve ihvanukum ve ezvacukum ve ashiyretukum ve emvalu niktereftumuha ve ticaratun tahshevne kesadeha ve mesakinu terdavneha ehabbe ileykum minAllahi ve RasuliHI ve cihadin fiy sebiyliHI feterabbesu hatta ye’tiyAllahu Bi emriHI, vAllahu la yehdil kavmel fasikiyn;
Say, “If your fathers, sons, brothers, partners, tribes, possessions that you have earned, businesses that concern you, and dwellings you favor are more pleasing to you than Allah, His Rasul and striving in His cause, then wait for the command of Allah to reveal itself… Allah does not guide corrupted people (those whose consciousness have been blinded to Truth and Religion).” (A.Hulusi)
Say: If it be that your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your mates, or your kindred; the wealth that ye have gained; the commerce in which ye fear a decline: or the dwellings in which ye delight – are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His Decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Kul Say: in kane abaukum If it be that your fathers ve ebnaukum your sons ve ihvanukum your brothers ve ezvacukum your mates ve ashiyretukum or your kindred, by this definition anyone with connection of group, blood, family, race relatives, basically people with physical bonds rather then the bonds of faith and virtue ve emvalu niktereftumuha the wealth that you have gained ve ticaratun tahshevne kesadeha the commerce in which you fear a decline ve mesakinu terdavneha or the dwellings in which you delight ehabbe ileykum minAllahi ve RasuliHI ve cihadin fiy sebiyliHI feterabbesu hatta ye’tiyAllahu Bi emriHI (If these) are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause;- then wait until Allah brings about His Decision.
I believe it’s pretty obvious. From the beginning of humanity, the closest bonds to a human have been the physical values. Fathers, children, spouses, houses, businesses, commerces, basically all things connecting people to earth. So it is said here that if you think all these things are dearer to you than Allah or His Messenger, or the cause then wait for your disasters.
There’s something interesting here too. A missing peace, so to speak. Mothers. The verse counted fathers but didn’t include mothers. So why? Why the mothers weren’t counted among these values. Because the love of mother is a pure and exceptional love. Fathers love with a more ideological notion. But mothers always want the ultimate happiness for their children. It’s the rule of victory as a law of nature. Of course there have been fathers, mothers or spouses that should be counted as exceptions. But this is a law, a celestial law. Fatherly law has an ideological aspect as we said, a father loves his children because he believes that they will continue his blood on earth. But mothers don’t have a prerequisition, there’s no bargaining for a mothers love. It’s totally unconditional and ones it’s given there’s no regret or turning back.
As the prophets expression, three times for your mother only after that your father. A motherly love is a branch of Allah’s mercy. It’s not my quote it’s direct from hadith. “Inner rahme, shuknetun min rahme.”
Rahm, as an organ, the ovaries that people grow in. Also the name of one of the strongest names of Allah. From the same root, “Rahman”. That’s why a mother’s love has the same origin with Allah’s mercy feature. Hence the unconditional love. That’s why in this verse there’s no mentioning mothers when the earthly bonds are mentioned.
Yes, loves. So why should we wait for what’s coming to us as disasters if we value these bonds more than Allah, His Messenger and the Cause. Because if the origin of love isn’t related to Allah, if it’s not with or for Allah then it’s not love anymore, it becomes passion.
So what if love turns into passion. Love sets you free, passion enslaves you. Love releases you as passion shackles you. So if one asks for love, by definition he asks for closeness. If a seed of love is planted on heart it should be the love of Allah if we want it to grow into thousands and millions of seeds and flowers. The reason of your love defines the longevity of your love. Those who love Allah has the eternity of Allah’s love. This is the path of immortality. Those who love for simple gain has the lifespan of that thing for that love. Eternal love has the phrases like “I need you because I love you.” Passions have the phrases like “I want you because I need you.” There’s a serious and distinct difference between these two.
From Allah, from His Rasul. Why these two centers are mentioned as the target of love. Allah, understandable; we owe our existence to Allah so naturally we should love Allah more than anything.
..yuhibbunehum ke hubbillah.. (Baqarah/165) (When defining the love of heathens for other things) They love them like they love Allah.
Missing the scale in love, loving something like loving Allah. It’s shirq by love. Because nothing has the closeness of Allah. You cannot owe someone or something else more than Allah. That’s why Allah’s love should be the crown of all loves.
So why the love for Rasul is put here side by side? Allah delivered the ultimate love via prophets. As in Rasuls are the reflections of Allah’s love. The postmen delivering Allah’s love to you. So since the prophet are the means for this love to reach you his love is also precious. Without him there wouldn’t be any thought of love on this scale.
The explanation of Allah’s love to humans is revelations and the means to their deliverance are the prophets. That’s why prophets also deserve the best of loves. They sacrificed their exitence on this path and demanded no return from humans. They only asked for one thing.
All prophets said this. ..in ecriye illa alAllah.. (Seb’e/47) I want no payment, only Allah. Allah not only gave their reward but also ordered humanity for another thing. Beside their own eternal happiness we should show our respect and love for prophets as well.
This is the advice of Allah for all prophets according to Qur’an. You won’t get any payment for delivering these revelations but you can ask for love. It’s your right to ask for love.” That’s why prophets also want well deserved and well earned love for their extraordinary efforts. We have nothing else more valuable to give.
“Kul lâ es’elukum aleyhi ecren illel meveddete fiyl kurba” I don’t want any payment from you. I want a warm closeness. I wasnt a close love. Just like asking for payment is forbidden for any prophet, asking for love is natural on the same scale. There’s something else, jihad, the act that removes the obstacles between men and Islam.
What about jihad, how does jihad be loved, this is important. I recently tried to explain the depth of jihad. Just like helping seeds to reach the earth, helping Islam to reach the humans is the name of jihad. So why should people love this act. If you love Allah, you love people too. Just like Jonas said; Embrace the creation, for the sake of the creator.”
You love the creation because of the creator. If you say, “What a beautiful painting.”, who should be the target of this compliment. The painter is the source of admiration. If you look at people you see their creator. It’s the ultimate form of art. All the existing universe is the reflection of Allah. When we look at the creation we see the reflection of creator and our mind helps us see the unseeable.
That’s why verses weren’t sent for prooving the existence and unity of Allah, it’s not their duty. Allah doesn’t need verses to prove His existence. The universe is proof enough, the verses of nature already prove this claim for the seeing eyes. If you read carefully and correctly you may see the proof in all the creation.
So what are these verses for. It’s for the happiness and benefit for humans. The topic of all verses are humans, not Allah. That’s why the revelations reflect the duty of prophethood. Universe is the proof of Allah and revelations are the proof of prophethood. That’s why seeing verses and denying the prophet is like seeing the universe and denying Allah. It’s the same thing.
That’s why dear friends, the third aspect is jihad, removing the obstacles between men and Islam. One cannot achieve the true happiness without helping the earth of revelations with the seeds of humanity. That’s why the concept of jihad looks more familiar here.
vAllahu la yehdil kavmel fasikiyn; Allah does not guide corrupted people.
25-) Lekad nesarekumullahu fiy mevatine kesiyretin ve yevme Huneynin, iz a’cebetkum kesretukum felem tugni ankum shey’en ve dakat aleykumul Ardu Bi ma rehubet summe velleytum mudbiriyn;
Indeed, Allah has helped you on many battlegrounds and on the day of Hunayn… Remember how you were boasting about your great number, but it did not avail you in any way! And you felt confined (on the day of Hunayn) despite the vastness of the earth! And you turned your backs and left! (A.Hulusi)
Assuredly Allah did help you in many battle-fields and on the day of Hunain: Behold! your great numbers elated you, but they availed you naught: the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you, and ye turned back in retreat. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Lekad nesarekumullahu fiy mevatine kesiyretin Assuredly Allah did help you in many battle-fields ve yevme Huneynin, and on the day of Hunain iz a’cebetkum kesretukum felem tugni ankum shey’en Remember how you were boasting about your great number, but it did not avail you in any way! In Badir they were outnumbered three to one but here the enemy were outnumbered in the same scale. This situation cause you feel hubris. You were looking at the glass the beyond the glass. Let’s see what happened next.
ve dakat aleykumul Ardu Bi ma rehubet the land, for all that it is wide, did constrain you. You trusted your numbers and you saw no benefit from it. You were three times more than the enemy but you ran, retreated and broken. When you begin to boast about your numbers you begin to forget that the real achiever is Allah. In a situation like this the land with all its vastness began to shrink for you, began to constrain you.
summe velleytum mudbiriyn; and you turned back in retreat.
Huneyn Battle, dear friends. The name is given openly here. Huneyn Battle was named by the valley between Mecca and Taif. After the conquest of Mecca, Rasulallah managed to build an army reaching to 10000 units, believers with the Meccans. After the conquest there were many people recently converted to Islam and with hearts yet not warm enough with the idea. With all those people the numbers reached 12000 units and this army marched against Hevazin. There were many heathen clans by Taif region and they were already preparing an attack but not yet managed to raise an army at that size. They were planning to ambush the muslims at the heart of Islam.
Rasulallah when having the news prepared the existing army and right after the conquest began the march to Huneyn, the Hevazin clans led by Beni Sakif.
Despite that the enemy army were not ready and few. Almost like the opposite of Badir Battle. Because now the muslims were outnumbering heathens three to one.
This was a different kind of test, this Huneyn Incident. The exact opposite of Badir. In Badir the test of faith was given. The truth of faith over numbers were tested and passed. Now the opposite were tested. What was that? You gain victory not by numbers but with faith. As in the existence of yours should not be considered by the numbers of your army, not some trivial power, not the manpower; the existence of yours should be counted by faith and virtue you carry.
That’s why they suffered a terrible loss. Ambushed by the enemy Islam army were forced to retreat by Hevazin forces led by Beni Sakif. A huge army running like manmen. But those who ran suffered their punisment rather quickly since the arrows of heathen nomads found them. Those who didn’t ran away, the core of the army that were loyal to the cause.Those who were educated with Rasulallahs discipline, not following the flag of numbers but the force of faith, those who choose consciously and follow Rasulallah to heaven. Those who join the fight not to seek loot but the paraside, they surrounded Rasulallah to defend.
In all such endavours two types of people comes in all times throughout history. Bees and flies.
Both flies and bees land on flowers. Bees land for produce, flies land for consuming. Flies seek loot while bees produce the wealth. At that time people who locked around the prophet were bees, a handful of people from both ensar and muhajir. They broke the ambush, counterattacked and saved the war at the last second, a situation seemed like a total loss but turned out to be a victory.
There was also a great benefit for all these because the leader of Hevazin had brought all the clans wealth to battleground to ensure the heathens wouldn’t run away. All living stocks, golds and silvers, trade and whatnots were stocked near the battleground. It was like a declaration saying, “Either we win and get the enemy or we lose and lose everything.” Even the women and children were nearby.
Yes they indeed lost everything. But the prophet with his mercy act with kindness as always. Many things they had including the children and women were given back to them untouched, without the chance of plunder.
26-) Summe enzelAllahu sekiyneteHU ala RasuliHI ve alel mu’miniyne ve enzele cunuden lem teravha ve azzebelleziyne keferu* ve zalike cezaul kafiriyn;
Then Allah disclosed a sense of tranquility and security over the believers, and revealed armies (of angels) that you could not see… (Thus) He made the deniers of the reality suffer… This is the consequence for those who deny the reality! (A.Hulusi)
But Allah did pour His calm on the Messenger and on the Believers, and sent down forces which ye saw not: He punished the Unbelievers; thus doth He reward those without Faith. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Summe enzelAllahu sekiyneteHU ala RasuliHI ve alel mu’miniyne Then Allah disclosed a sense of tranquility and security over the believers. This is the help. This is the celestial intervention. Unleashing the full potential of humans, converting the potential to kynetic. Every person has a hidden nuclear power center within. If you really love and believe you might be able to unleash the armies of heaven. You possess the power of Cundullah. Allah’s armies are in your hearts. They heal your wrists and open your eyes and still your heats, turn you to a powercenter of a thousand men. That’s how the help arrives.
ve enzele cunuden lem teravha and sent down forces which you saw not. It’s like a confirmation what I just said. These are not the powers or soldiers you might see but the unseen, spiritual Dynamics. When Allah chooses to help, He does it by not breaking the laws that He had created. We read a similar situation in Enfal chapter 9 and 10th verses.
ve azzebelleziyne keferu He punished the Unbelievers; ve zalike cezaul kafiriyn; thus does He reward those without Faith.
27-) Summe yetubullahu min ba’di zalike ala men yesha’* vAllahu Gafurun Rahiym;
Then Allah will accept the repentance of whom He wills… Allah is the Ghafur, the Rahim. (A.Hulusi)
Again will Allah, after this, turn (in mercy) to whom He will: for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Summe yetubullahu min ba’di zalike ala men yesha’ Then Allah will accept the repentance of whom He wills.
Mind you, the word yetubullah cannot easily be translated. Repentance means leaning towards something. Literal translation is Allah repent to people. But how can Allah repent to people. Allah considers peoples behaviours and acts accordingly. That’s why if a human repents Allah repents back like this.
vAllahu Gafurun Rahiym for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful. Humans repentance is self criticism, a mental renewal. Refreshment of old mentality. It’s basically returning from sin. Making self criticism in front of Allah by saying, “O Rabb, I did these things I admit. I can only ask for your mercy.” A sincere leaning like this might be met with Allah’s mercy towards that person and turning him into a pure state and cover the related sins. This is the promise given here.
28-) Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu innemel mushrikune necesun fela yakrabul Mescidel Harame ba’de amihim haza* ve in hiftum ‘ayleten fesevfe yugniykumullahu min fadliHI in shae, innAllahe Aliymun Hakiym;
O believers! Verily the dualists (who claim the existence of their ego-identities alongside the Absolute Oneness) are contaminated (filth)! Let them not go near the al-Masjid al-Haram after this year! If you fear poverty (know that) if Allah wills He will enrich you from His bounty… Indeed, Allah is the Aleem, the Hakim. (A.Hulusi)
O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty, soon will Allah enrich you, if He wills, out of His bounty, for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu O believers innemel mushrikune necesun truly the Pagans are unclean; contaminated with filth.
It might not be pretty maybe. This is the only place in Qur’an that we encounter this word, pretty interesting. It’s one of the most intense words in Qur’an. Surely this filth mentioned here is not a physical one but a spiritual. The situation is not about the bodies of heathens. It’s the reality of shirq, taking someone or something as a replacement to Allah, idolize something. It turns your inner world into a filthy hazardous pit.
Qur’an uses another sharp expression. We see it in several different verses and for two distinct groups. Necesun. Here necsun comes as filth. Necesun also has the same dirty meaning.There’s also ricsun also has the same meaning. The second targeted group are the people we read about in Jonas chapter 100th verse.
So what’s the common ground, what’s the connection. People who shirq, idolize, unable to use their minds. Both are described with similar nics words. Because in order to idolize something unworthy, one must discard his common sense. You cannot but someone between you and Allah unless you begin to lose your grip with mind and reality. It’s basically a self insult, ignoring your feelings and abilities and capacity to zero and admitting yourself that you are a part of that filth.
That’s why all forms of deitification is self insult based on the fact that a person insult himself before insulting Allah. Allah’s discomfort on this subject is now about a harm to Himself. All the creation choose to worship pagan gods and clay idols what harm would that be to Allah? Can it cause harm to Allah by anyway?
But there’s a party that should be concerned for their loss. Humans. Humans lose many things. First of all the humanity falls down to zero. Allah forbids that. Because the only person suffers harm from shirq is the person himself. The object or person loses its core purpose to begin with. And no slave can display his full capacity of humanity to his master.
So what about the stance of humanity in front of Allah then? No. Because no matter a person elevate his stature he knows that he can never reach the potential of Allah. There’s only one being that doesn’t fear from the elevation of humanity and He’s Allah. Because Allah isn’t an adversary. Allah always be glad for the elevation of His creations. He wishes for that. In this sense nothing can satisfy Allah more that the growth and elevation of humanity.
That’s why worshipping Allah frees the manking. Other deities and gods that humans have created only bind and shackle the people who created them to being with.
fela yakrabul Mescidel Harame ba’de amihim haza so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque.
Without a doubt the sentence about “after this year” is the ninth year. The same year these verses arrived as a whole. After that year it was ordered not to accept pagan rituals of pilgrimage around Sacred Mosque. A direct approach with different interpretations. Althouth there are several iterations on this subject the main topic is the same, heathens and pagans are not allowed to use the sacred grounds. Because the nature of that grounds are protected by Allah. Surely worshipping other deities in Allah’s grounds wouldn’t be appropriate. But just the acts of worshipping and pilgrimage were restricted. There were no rules about not letting pagans in sacred grounds. There were many records that our prophet invited and sat around both with christians and heathens in several occasions.
Allah’s mosques are on humanities disposal. That’s why it’s imperative that keeping mosques as public grounds and not monopolized by people. Even back then Necran Christian council who were defending the idea of Jesus is Allah’s son, and made several debates with Rasulallah; he gave a diplomatic dinner and allowed them to use the mosque as a sleeping and living ground for several days. This incident was even at the Amul muhif year, the same ninth year that these verses had arrived.
ve in hiftum ‘ayleten fesevfe yugniykumullahu min fadliHI in shae If you fear poverty, know that if Allah wills He will enrich you from His bounty.
The ignorant party had concerns of course. Mecca was a commerce tribe and and right after the arrival of this verse one of the biggest trader in that area, one of the Saik almost reached to the point of rebellion. The areas main commerce line was Sacred Mosques and the pilgrims and this message was seriously cripplling the situation and causing harm and loss. Because according to the Book of Esnam, (The deity book) there were more than 360 clay idols in Kaaba.
You might ask why were there 360 deities in Kaaba, remember there were also Jesus and Mary icons and a picture of Prophet Abraham. If Rasulallah willed to ad done more to those 360 there wouldn’t be any objection of course. Even happy for it since it means more pilgrims for the trade. But traders were blaming Rasulallah for bringing the destruction over Mecca. It was a simple math for them, no deities no pilgrims, no people no money. And without the trade, the landlords and rich people of Mecca wouldn’t be able to eat other peoples possessions so easily. They wouldn’t have dozens of slaves to ease their lives. This was the case.
There was a sincere concern in their subconscious and this was how our Rabb banished this concern. The previous verse was a message from Allah, there’s no possibility of success without Allah. Just like that there’s no economical liberty without Allah. A strategy without thinking about Allah dooms to fail. There’s no possibility of success without counting Allah.
innAllahe Aliymun Hakiym; for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
29-) Katilulleziyne la yu’minune Billahi ve la Bil yevmil’ahiri ve la yuharrimune ma harremAllahu ve RasuluHU ve la yediynune diynel hakki minelleziyne utul Kitabe hatta yu’tul cizyete an yedin ve hum sagirun;
From those to whom the Knowledge (Book) has been given, fight those who do not believe in Allah and the life to come (beyond death), who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Rasul have made forbidden, and who do not embrace the understanding of the Religion of Truth (the knowledge of the reality and sunnatullah) until they are humbled and give the jizyah (the cost of persisting on a false belief) willingly. (A.Hulusi)
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Katilulleziyne la yu’minune Billahi ve la Bil yevmil’ahiri ve la yuharrimune ma harremAllahu ve RasuluHU ve la yediynune diynel hakki minelleziyne utul Kitabe hatta yu’tul cizyete an yedin ve hum sagirun A long verse and yet I couldn’t dare to divide it to pieces to explain. If I do that, the real meaning might be lost I’m afraid. That’s why I read it as a whole and hopefully I can make a decent explanation. This verse is one of the exceptional verses in Qur’an. This is the only time we encounter the concept of cizre in Qur’an. This verse got it’s name as the cizre verse in Islamic law. Let’s see what it means.
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the Religion of Truth, from among the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.
Who are the targeted party here? It’s clear. la yu’minune Billahi ve la Bil yevmil’ahiri who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day. ve la yuharrimune ma harremAllahu ve RasuluHU nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger ve hum sagirun until they pay the Jizya with willing submission.
So how should we understand this verse? Like all verses in order to fully understand its message we should examine it with the entirety of Qur’an. Otherwise it would be like severing a persons arm and calling him a human. You cannot learn how to treat other religions members solely by looking at this verse of Qur’an. It would be wrong. Since we had talked about it before I won’t stay on that subject. But we know that Qur’ans attitude on this subject is never with forcing anyone to conversion.
La ikrahe fid Diyni kad tebeyyenerrushdu minel gayy (Baqarah/256) The same Qur’an also says this. No form of forcing others exists in religion. The good and the bad are seperated with clear lines. Allah gave people the power of will and this will should be used for choosing freely.
So how should we proceed after this point? It’s about stopping the attacks against muslims and preventing any harm against the future of Islam.
Jizya is an important islamic rule. In fact this word is not arabic origin but persion since it was a practice of ancient Persia but like many things it found its way to arabic culture. The word jizya comes from the concept of punishment which we find accurate becaus the literal meaning also has the concept of taxing of cost. SO what is this cost? Let’s analyze jizya briefly. In order to understand the need of jizya we should realize the verses 6 and 8 that was about giving sanctuary to heathens.
Jizya is a head taxing as the olds said. It was about the absense of jihad taxing. One should realize that achieving the goals of muslim socieety we should see it as a whole social Project. Qur’an came as a social Project. It’s not a book about calling to poorness and agony for religion or addressing every person as a single being. It’s a book of civilization that shows the roads to societies ultimate goals. That’s why it should be taken as a whole project.
Of course the ideal community that was shown by Qur’an should have the need of protecting itself. No community has the luxury to stay open to attacks. And no one have the right to ask them that. You cannot go and say anyone that they should open their borders and let the enemy in freely.
To establish the society that Qur’an predicts and advices, we should realize that it has to be the society of virtue. And to achieve this goal the members should realize there are ideological targets.
If it’s imperative to achieve these goals as a whole it creates the necessity of joining the defenses of this community whether volunteraly or not. But there’s a problem here. Under the umbrella of Islam there are many non muslim characters and cohersing them to joing the defenses would be oppression. Forcing others to war that they don’t believe is putting them to death sentence and no one wants to die for a cause he doesn’t believe.
On the other hand, there are people who lay down their lives to keep the community safe. So muslims one side who are willing to give themselves to community and there are non-muslim groups who share the same community but not having a part of its security. How should they contribute then? How can they be counted among the same country, now this is a question that should be asked. Naturally this brings out the concept of jizya. It’s tribute. A fee for helping the security of shared lands. Since they are not willing to fight for the cause of muslim with their lives which they can, then jizya is the way to do it. But if they are willing to contribute as the muslims do, then they don’t have to pay the jizya naturally.
This is the practice. If you don’t want to contribute with your efforts, you should contribute with your money. Now how can life be measured with money. I mean who have the advantage here? Think about it. There’s a possibility of tyranny, and oppression and war. There are muslims who try to defend the country with their lives and there are nonmuslims who pay jizya to contribute with their possessions. Can you say that the nonmuslims are in disadvantage, they are wronged here? Surely the life cannot be measured with money but muslims almost covered this fact just for the sake of justice, just to defend the minorities who aren’t willing to give their lives. Muslims lay down their lives in order to protect the people of their lands willing or unwilling to contribute and they accept it as the order of Allah.
You might be more surprised if you learn the value of jizya too. Jizya was never more than zekah. That’s why the fear of jizya was never as much as the enemies of muslims said, like orientalist and their local followers. There were several nonmuslim experts who told the truth on this as well, like Ignace Goldziher, Asim Palasyos and the writer of Intishar-i Islam Sir Thomas Arnold. With their shared opinion the no Christian or Jew or nonmuslim believers convert to Islam just for the fear of Jizya because when they convert to Islam the fee for zekah becomes more expensive than jizya itself. Their words.
There can be no jizya for sick and ill people, no jizya for elders, old people. No jizya from childern or women, no jizya from rabbis, or priests. Jizya should be less from poor nonmuslims and more from the rich. And if they contribute the defense by any means, they are free from jizya as well. This was the fetva of Muhammad Abduh an deven find it’s way to Egyptian law today. If a nonmuslim serves his country by joining the defense with his being, they should be free from jizya. So people who insult Islam by opening the jizya subject all the time, are barking the wrong tree. That’s for sure.
30-) Ve kaletil yehudu Uzeyrunibnullahi ve kaletin nesarel Mesiyhubnullah* zalike kavluhum Bi efvahihim* yudahiune kavlelleziyne keferu min kabl* katelehumullah* enna yu’fekun;
The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of Allah”… And the Christians said, “The Messiah is the son of Allah”… They say this with their mouths! They imitate those who previously denied the knowledge of the reality… May Allah kill them! How they are deluded (from the Truth)! (A.Hulusi)
The Jews call Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! (A.Yusuf Ali)
Ve kaletil yehudu Uzeyrunibnullahi The Jews call Uzair a son of Allah. Of course this is a claim of Jews resided in Arabic Peninsula. Qur’an also says this fact that not all Jews had this claim.
So why? Uzair, Azra. Who is Uzair. A Saint who jews called as the second Moses because he managed to collect the pieces of Old Testaments after the Babylon banish. They treated him dearly and the local Jews had the claim that he was indeed the son of Allah. He found the lost Old Testaments so he couldn’t be a regular person. This was their perspective for Uzair in Old Testament.
ve kaletin nesarel Mesiyhubnullah and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. Interesting isn’t it. Qur’an rarely calls Jesus Or Mesiah with a single name. He always comes up as Ibn Meryem Iysebnu (Mary/34) iysebne (/Nisa/157- Baqarah/253). Why? As a link to his mother.
As a response to Christians who fell to the disease of ideolizing. Jesus was a human child. By this name of Iysebnu Meryem, both the claims of Christianic idolizations and Jewish slanders are denied. Because they see Mary as a bad and indecent woman.
zalike kavluhum Bi efvahihim* yudahiune kavlelleziyne keferu min kabl* That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. katelehumullah* enna yu’fekun Allah’s curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth! Yu’fekun; e fe ke roots. It means turning, conversion. Here it has the meaning of being scattered. Scattered hearts and minds. This word is the rejection of all forms of idolization.
The verse talks about deitifying people and giving the lesson to Muslims “Don’t do the same mistake as the Jews and Christians have done. Don’t treat your saints, your elders, prophets and scholars, masters and imams more than they should be treated. Don’t turn them to supernatural beings and fly them.” The warning of prophet should always be in our ears.
La tutruni kema etriyepne Meryem. Don’t fly me away like they did to the son of Mary. Fein nema ene abdun. Fe kulu Abdullahi ve resuluhu I’m just a man, say he is a man of Allah and his Rasul. A type of warning has the strength for all muslims that we shouldn’t fall the same mistakes of previous religions and immitate them poorly.
31-) Ittehazu ahbarehum ve ruhbanehum erbaben min dunillahi vel Mesiyhabne Meryem* ve ma umiru illa liya’budu ilahen vahida* la ilahe illa HU* subhaneHU amma yushrikun;
They took their rabbis and priests as Rabbs besides Allah… And the Messiah, the son of Mary! But they were ordered only to experience the awareness of their servitude to the One Uluhiyyah… La ilaha illa HU – there is no god, only HU! Subhan He is from what they associate with Him! (A.Hulusi)
They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords beside Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One God. there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him). (A.Yusuf Ali)
Ittehazu ahbarehum ve ruhbanehum erbaben min dunillahi vel Mesiyhabne Meryem They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords beside Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary;
We remember Adiy Bin Hatem’s objection here. He came to Rasulallah and said, “O Rasulallah we don’t bow down to out rabbi sor priest for worshipping.” Rasulallah answered “No, not like that. But they banish things for you, things that you know Allah make free for you. And they grant access to things that Allah forbid you to. You know but you follow their decree nevertheless.”
This is it. This is appointing a god. If you put someone as the position of Rabb in your hearts then his decrees and orders become yours. There are many rules we make in our lives of course, for our family, our society, our job, employees and such. But these decisions and rules cannot be applied to anyone as eternal, unchangable, untouchable. If you have this claim like your rules has the power of Allah’s rules, naturally you become the target of this verse.
ve ma umiru illa liya’budu ilahen vahida* yet they were commanded to worship but One God. la ilahe illa HU* subhaneHU amma yushrikun there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: Far is He from having the partners they associate with Him.
32-) Yuriydune en yutfiu nurAllahi Bi efvahihim ve ye’bAllahu illa en yutimme nureHU velev kerihel kafirun;
They want to extinguish the light (Nur) of Allah with their mouths… But Allah is pleased with none other than the completion of His Nur! Even if this does not please the deniers of the reality! (A.Hulusi)
Fain would they extinguish Allah’s Light with their mouths, but Allah will not allow but that His Light should be perfected, even though the Unbelievers may detest (it). (A.Yusuf Ali)
Yuriydune en yutfiu nurAllahi Bi efvahihim They want to extinguish the light (Nur) of Allah with their mouths (by blowing it). Bi efvahihim means blowing with mouth in dictionary. Also has the meanings close to it like, empty talks, vain speeches. So nothing but air in this sense. They try to extinguish the light of Allah with this and they make themselves ridiculed instead. Can you blow out the sun with air. All bats unite to close the path of sun, can they manage? All the blasphemy in the world unite to cover up and destroy the light of faith, they cannot manage to do that. Look at pharaoh, Nimrod, Abu Cehil and the line following them. The proof is right there.
ve ye’bAllahu illa en yutimme nureHU But Allah is pleased with none other than the completion of His Nur. Illa verb with en yutimme exception gives us this translation. Allah won’t allow an option other then the complation of his Light. So we should think like this. Throughout the history and humanity, there have been obstacles and troubles but in large scales all of these are instruments to strenghten the Hakk in universal scenario that Allah wrote.
velev kerihel kafirun; even though the Unbelievers may detest.
33-) “HU”velleziy ersele RasuleHU Bil huda ve diynil hakki li yuzhirehu aled diyni kullihi velev kerihel mushrikun;
HU has revealed His Rasul as the reality itself and with the Religion of Truth (the valid knowledge of the system; sunnatullah) to establish above all conceptions of religion… Even if the dualists dislike it! (A.Hulusi)
It is He Who hath sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to cause it to prevail over all religion, even though the Pagans may detest (it). (A.Yusuf Ali)
HU”velleziy ersele RasuleHU Bil huda ve diynil hakki li yuzhirehu aled diyni kullihi It is He Who hath sent His Messenger with Guidance and the Religion of Truth, to cause it to prevail over all religion.
The purpose of revelation is not about proving Allah’s existence, it’s natures job. The real purpose of Allah’s signs is showing humanity the path of happiness. You may see it once more at this point we arrived.
velev kerihel mushrikun; even though the Pagans may detest.
34-) Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu inne kesiyren minel’ahbari ver ruhbani leye’kulune emvalenNasi Bil batili ve yesuddune an sebiylillah* velleziyne yeknizunez zehebe vel fiddate ve la yufikuneha fiy sebiylillah* febeshir hum Bi azabin eliym;
O believers! Indeed, many of the rabbis and clergy devour the wealth of people unjustly and prevent people from the way of Allah… As for those who hoard and hide gold and silver and not spend them in the way of Allah unrequitedly, give them the tidings of a painful suffering! (A.Hulusi)
O ye who believe! there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the wealth of men and hinder (them) from the Way of Allah. And there are those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the Way of Allah: announce unto them a most grievous chastisement-(A.Yusuf Ali)
Ya eyyuhelleziyne amenu O believers. O you who have the claim of having faith, if you want to prove your claims hear the celestial speech now.
inne kesiyren minel’ahbari ver ruhbani leye’kulune emvalenNasi Bil batili there are indeed many among the priests and anchorites, who in falsehood devour the wealth of men.
Bil batili is the key word here and the letter B is the key letter. B is for price. This is the price (turn) of the superstitions they have produced. There are indeed many priests and rabbis who were producing superstitions and selling them like its a lucrative trade. In exchange they took the valuables of men. The Superstition Trade. A few people stand between the people and celestial and claim this. “You are not educated or worthy, you are dumb. We know and we deliver them to you.” Because if they let simple men to reach the original celestial messages the entire sector will stop to produce money.
And naturally since the wheels cannot turn with the truth here, they also haven’t delivered the actual message. Why? Because if one person looks the books and cannot find the whole message he can object. Saying “I cannot find what you say in these books.” And that’s why they reply, “Of course you don’t because you cannot understand it, you cannot interpret it.” So the small differences are the keys to turn the wheel of this trade. They put restrictions that aren’t in the book and deliver many extra rules and market them to the crowds. So that people drown in these regulations and stay away from the actual source.
ve yesuddune an sebiylillah and hinder (them) from the Way of Allah.
velleziyne yeknizunez zehebe vel fiddate ve la yufikuneha fiy sebiylillah* As for those who hoard and hide gold and silver and not spend them in the way of Allah unrequitedly, febeshir hum Bi azabin eliym give them the tidings of a painful suffering!
Seeing the wealth is a trust and a way to ease the responsibilities to a social education is one thing, seeing the wealth as the absolute possessing and saying, “It’s mine, I can do whatever I want.” İs another. Sharing a wealth turns it into a spiritual enrichment. So the message here isn’t something like “Don’t have any kind of wealth, any kind of money.” A reminder of Hashr chapter seventh verse. key la yekune duleten beynel’agniyai minkum Don’t turn the wealth of rich men into a struggle of society among you. As in don’t use the instrument of power to crush the weak in your community. Says Qur’an.
Rabbena atina fiyddunya haseneten ve fiyl ahirati haseneten..; (Baqarah/201) It’s the same Qur’an taught us this pray as well. “O Rabb, give use good things and beauties in this world and in afterlife.” By these words it creates a world free from tyranny and oppression comes from the wealth. This is the message that this verse delivers.
35-) Yevme yuhma aleyha fiy nari cehenneme fetukva Bi ha cibahuhum ve cunubuhum ve zuhuruhum* haza ma keneztum lienfusikum fezuku ma kuntum teknizun;
The day when gold and silver are heated in the fire of hell and their foreheads, sides and back are seared with it (a complete state of suffering) it will be said to them, “This is what you hoarded for yourself, so taste (the consequences of) what you have hoarded!” (A.Hulusi)
On the Day when it will be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their flanks, and their backs.- “This is the (treasure) which ye hoarded for yourselves: taste ye, then, the (treasures) ye buried!” (A.Yusuf Ali)
Yevme yuhma aleyha fiy nari cehenneme fetukva Bi ha cibahuhum ve cunubuhum ve zuhuruhum* The day when gold and silver are heated in the fire of hell and their foreheads, sides and back are seared with it haza ma keneztum lienfusikum fezuku ma kuntum teknizun it will be said to them, “This is what you hoarded for yourself, so taste (the consequences of) what you have hoarded.
Look at this expression. Their sides and backs will be seared withthe golds and silvers they had hoarded. Arabs calls nikva, ironing and searing. Fetukva comes from the same origin. They will be scorched with gold and silver and it will be said to them. “You were just fooling yourselves. You didn’t think you had a responsibility for society. You forgot that Allah gave these wealth to test you and hence you failed.”
36-) Inne ‘iddeshuhuri indAllahisna ashere shehren fiy Kitabillahi yevme halekas Semavati vel’Arda minha erbaatun hurum* zaliked diynul kayyimu fela tazlimu fiyhinne enfusekum ve katilul mushrikiyne kaffeten kema yukatilunekum kaffeten, va’lemu ennAllahe me’al muttekiyn;
Indeed, in the knowledge of Allah, the number of months in the period He created the heavens and the earth is twelve… Four of them are sacred (months): (Muharram, Rajab, Dhu al-Qaida and Dhu al-Hijja)… This is the (valid and constant) Religion… So, do not wrong yourselves during (these months)… Fight with the dualists just like they fight with you collectively… Know well that Allah is with those who are protected (a reference to the unity of existence). (A.Hulusi)
The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are sacred: that is the right religion. So wrong not yourselves therein. And fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all together. But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Inne ‘iddeshuhuri indAllahisna ashere shehren fiy Kitabillahi yevme halekas Semavati vel’Arda The number of months in the sight of Allah is twelve (in a year)- so ordained by Him the day He created the heavens and the earth.
What’s the relation betweetn this verse and the previous one then? An ego thinks it’s unbound from Allah’s concept, an ego who dares to meddle with natures laws and thinks it’s higher then the system. We will understand it better while we read this verse.
minha erbaatun hurum* of them four are sacred zaliked diynul kayyimu that is the right religion. fela tazlimu fiyhinne enfusekum So wrong not yourselves therein. ve katilul mushrikiyne kaffeten kema yukatilunekum kaffeten, And fight the Pagans all together as they fight you all together. va’lemu ennAllahe me’al muttekiyn But know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.
It is showed to believers how immoral can an ego be. It is said that they are willing to fight in order to save their unethical wealth, they are willing to destroy you for their possessions sake and you should be fighting for the greater good so why running? They lay their lives just to protect their simple earth possessions so why not you do the same in order to protect your eternal glory? The next verse explains this concept even further.
37-) Innemen Nesiy’u ziyadetun fiyl kufri yudallu Bihilleziyne keferu yuhillunehu amen ve yuharrimunehu amen liyuvatiu iddete ma harramAllahu feyuhillu ma harramAllah* zuyyine lehum suu a’malihim* vAllahu la yehdil kavmel kafiriyn;
Postponing the sacred months is only an increase in disbelief! Those who deny the knowledge of the reality are led astray by it… They make it lawful one year and unlawful another year in order to comply with (only) the figures of what Allah has made unlawful (and conceal the essence of the matter) and thus make lawful what Allah has made unlawful! (But its prohibition is in regards to Allah’s command, not the qualities of the months)… Their misdeeds were made to seem alluring to them… Allah does not guide people who deny the knowledge of the reality. (A.Hulusi)
Verily the transposing (of a prohibited month) is an addition to Unbelief: the Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, in order to agree with the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. But Allah guideth not those who reject Faith. (A.Yusuf Ali)
Innemen Nesiy’u ziyadetun fiyl kufri Postponing the sacred months is only an increase in disbelief.
This must be an accurate translation since the word Nesiy means increasing. Ziyadetun is about adding something up. So adding days to months is an increase in disbelief. There’s a marvelous correlation between ziyade and nesiy here.
As you may already know, heathens in that area were using kameri calendar. A calendar which comes to a full circle in 36 years and has all the days within. Shemsi calendar was just like that but it was moon calendar, not sun. Kameri calendar was a sun calendar which completes its tour in 36 years.
Mecca was a trade community and they didn’t pause one moment on playing with the calendar just to profit more. They tried to stop the calendar in certain times like pleasant weathers. They also add more days to month if it fits. Naturally this makes time a plaything in that area.
There are both adding days to month as well as postponing the month altogether. There are some debates on that but since the core message is the same, I won’t go into that. I want to deliver the logic of nesiy. They were literally playing with time. They were jeopardizing the peace and safety of the people in that area for their joy and profit.
Why? There are four sacred months (three in a row). These months have been accepted as no-war policy times as a consensus. All communities in that area were accepting this fact for safety reasons and since its pilgrimage times there are honest people visiting Mecca for religious purposes as well. They were coming and doing their pilgrimage and trade at the same time before departing.
So when they made such a move, they were also attacking the safety of visitors. A few elites who hold the wealth and called the shots, naturally they started to believe that they were entitled to such powers as well. What kind of powers? Like moving and playing with the time. That’s the reverse logic.
From that lesson, the message that should be given to all humanity is this. If a wealth is moved out from Allah by mental, it eventually leads people to a path where claims of being a false god exists.
yudallu Bihilleziyne keferu the Unbelievers are led to wrong thereby: yuhillunehu amen ve yuharrimunehu amen liyuvatiu iddete ma harramAllahu feyuhillu ma harramAllah for they make it lawful one year, and forbidden another year, in order to agree with the number of months forbidden by Allah and make such forbidden ones lawful. There were practices like one year legit and the next year illegal. Sacred months are from prophets, probably dating back to Prophet Abraham and yet they were daring to move the practice for their own gains.
zuyyine lehum suu a’malihim* The evil of their course seems pleasing to them. vAllahu la yehdil kavmel kafiriyn But Allah guideth not those who reject Faith.
Hopefully we be able to realize that Allah is the owner of everthing we got like our wealth, health, life, power and possessions.
“Ve ahiru davana velil hamdulillahi rabbil alemiyn” (Jonah/10) “Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds!” All products of our claims, causes and lives are for Allah and our last word to our Allah is “Hamd”.
“Esselamu aleykum.
KURAN MEAL TEFSİR (DERLEME) 