Surah Al-Maaida (5): Read Online and Download - English Translation

The Linkage of Verses

Earlier, mention was made of various injunctions. In between came inducements to put these in practice along with warnings against opposing them. Now it is to reemphasize the approach that people are reminded of the frightening happenings of the Day of Qiyamah so that obedience is promoted and antagonism is checked. This is the prevailing style of the Holy Qur'an. Then, towards the closing stages of the Surah, there is that dialogue with the people of the Book which has also appeared earlier through several verses where the purpose is to acquaint the people of the Book with facts about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) facts which affirm his being a servant of Allah and negate the erroneous ascribing of godhood to him (though, the actual locale of this address will be the Last Day of Qiyamah).

Commentary

The First Question Asked of Prophets (علیہم السلام) on the Last Day

Verse 109 opens with the statement: يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّـهُ الرُّ‌سُلَ `(Remember) the day Allah will assemble the messengers' which is ominous. Though, the day of Qiyamah will be the Day of Doom when all human beings born from the beginning to the end shall be standing on open grounds. Human beings, no matter what their region, country or time, shall all be present on those grounds and there will come that hour of ultimate reckoning for a whole lifetime of deeds. But, in the statement quoted above, mentioned particularly are the blessed prophets whom Allah will assemble on that day of reckoning. The sense is that, as for assembling, the whole world will be assembled, but the first question asked will be from the prophets, may peace be upon them all - so that the whole creation of Allah may see that, on that day, no one is exempted from reckoning. Then, the question asked of the prophets will be: مَاذَا أُجِبْتُمْ (How were you responded to?). It means when you invited your communities towards Allah and His true religion, how did they react to your call. Did they act as they were commanded to? Or, did they say no to the call and opposed it?

Though the question will be addressed to the prophets, but it would really be beamed at their communities. In other words, the prophets will be the first ones to testify about the good or bad deeds done by their communities. And for them this would be a trying time, for, on their part, they would be hoping for the intercession of their prophets to rescue them from this nerve shattering experience, while, on the other hand, there would come this question addressed to their prophets themselves requiring them to explain the conduct of their communities. Under such circumstances, it is obvious that prophets would never say anything but the truth, so the criminals and sinners will have apprehensions that the prophets themselves will become witnesses to their wrong-doings. Who, then, they would wonder, was now left to intercede on their behalf?

The answer that the prophets will give will be: قَالُوا لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ (We have no knowledge. Surely You have the full knowledge of all that is unseen).

The Removal of a Doubt

As for the people of every community who were born after passing away of their prophets from this world, this answer given by the prophets (علیہم السلام) correct and clear in that they are unaware of the actual state of their faith and deeds - because no one has the knowledge of the unseen except Allah. But, the question arises with regard to the great majority of people within the community, who professed belief at the hands of their prophet as a result of his work among them, and proved that they kept following before their eyes what they were asked to follow. Similarly, there were disbelievers who did not listen to the prophets, even treated them with hostility. How would it be correct to say about them that ` we have no knowledge of their faith and deeds.'? It appears in Tafsir Al-Bahr Al-Muhit that Imam Razi has answered this doubt by saying: There are two separate things here. One is عِلم ` Ilm which means perfect certitude, while the other is ظَن Zann which means conjecture or weighty likelihood. And it is obvious that if a person can, despite his being sitting next to the other person, testify about his faith and deed, then, it will be on no other basis but that of ظَن Zann or conjecture or likelihood. Otherwise, real faith ('Iman) is a secret of the heart which no one can find out with any certitude without a Divine revelation. Every religious community had their groups of hypocrites who obviously did profess faith and did follow what they were commanded to follow. But, their hearts had no faith in them nor they had the real feeling and drive for carrying out those commands. All they had was hypocricy. , But, like all laws, religious laws too were applied on what was visible from the outside. Anyone who called himself a believer, followed Divinely ordained laws, and no word or deed from him or her stood proved against faith and belief, was a good believer in the sight of the prophets and their believing communities. Whether some-one was a true believer at heart, or simply a hypocrite, it did not count for they had no choice in the matter. Therefore, it was said by the Holy Prophet: ﷺ

نَحنُ نَحکُمُ بِالظَّوَاھِرِ اَاللہُ مُتَوَلِّی السَّرَای (علیہ السلام) ر .

We judge on the basis of outward deeds while Allah is (Himself) the custodian of the secrets (of the hearts).

Under this rule, the noble prophets, their deputies and the learned could confirm, at least in the mortal world, that someone was a true believer as based on their favourable opinion deduced from his out-ward deeds. But, that mortal world where everything revolved round opinions and conjectures is all gone. This is the Yowm al-Hashr, the fateful day of Resurrection when the dead shall rise and where things will be sorted out and realities will be unfolded. Criminals will stand on trial. People will witness against them. If they do not confess, other witnesses will be brought in, very special, and very official witness-es. With mouths and tongues silenced, the wrong-doer's hands and legs and the skin will be asked to testify. They will tell everything الْيَوْمَ نَخْتِمُ عَلَىٰ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَتُكَلِّمُنَا أَيْدِيهِمْ وَتَشْهَدُ أَرْ‌جُلُهُم بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ﴿65﴾ (That Day We shall set a seal on their mouths while their hands will speak to Us, and their feet bear witness, to all that they did -36:65). Human beings will then surely find out that parts of their own body could also act as secret service agents when summoned to do so by the Lord of the universes. After such disarming testimony no denial will remain possible.

In short, that would be a state of being in which no judgment will be based on opinion, estimate and conjecture. Instead, certitude will be the order of the day. And as we have just seen that no one has the real knowledge about anyone's faith and belief except Allah, therefore, when the prophets will be asked on the day of Resurrection: مَاذَا أُجِبْتُمْ (How were you responded to?), they would recognize the reality behind the question, that the question is not being asked in the world of our experience where it could be answered by conjecture, instead, that question was being asked in the horrendous scenario of the Day of Resurrection where nothing other than certitude was going to work. Therefore, their answer: ` We have no knowledge' about it, that is, they do not have that certain knowledge needed to answer the question, is right and correct.

The Answer Shows the Affection Prophets have for People

We now know that the prophets did have some opinion about the acceptance or rejection of their call by their communities and knew facts about their obedience or disobedience. On that basis, they could have at least mentioned their apparent attitude as part of their an-swer to the question - and could have referred the certainty in knowledge to the sole domain of Almighty Allah. But, what we see here is that the prophets said nothing about what they knew, nor did they mention any events which had passed before them. They simply re-signed these to the Divine knowledge and chose to remain silent.

This was a great demonstration of consideration. Prophets are very affectionate to their people, and to the creation of Allah in general. They would not elect to say something as an adverse comment against their community on their own, lest their people are in trouble. If they had to say so, they would. But, here they had the excuse of not having certain knowledge. Using this legitimate excuse to their advantage, they could have avoided saying anything against their communities - and so they did.

Five Questions on the Day of Resurrection

Opened through this verse is a window to Qiyamah, the fateful Day of Doom. Stationed there on the grandstands of reckoning are the highest and the dearest of Allah, His noble messengers and prophets, all in awe and reverence. Think of them and think of what would be happening to others. Therefore, we should start worrying about that Day right from this day. This little time of our life is a blessing in our hands and should be devoted to getting ready for the ultimate accounting. In a Hadith of Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said:

لَا تَزولُ قدمَا ابنِ اٰدم یَومَ القِیامَۃِ حَتَّی یُسٔلَ عن خَمسِ : عن عُمرِہِ فیمَا اَفنَاہُ وعَن شَبَانِہِ فِیمَا اَبلَاہۃ وعَن مَالِہِ مِن اٰنَ اَنفَقَہ و مَاذَا عَمِلَ بِمَا عَلِمَ

No son of Adam will move a step on the Day of Qiyamah until he is asked five questions: (1) About his age: In what did he use it up? (2) And about his youth: In what did he spend it? (3) And about his wealth: From where did he earn it? (4) And where did he spend it? (5) And what was it that he did following that which he knew?

Great is the mercy and affection of Allah Ta` ala. He puts us to a test and He Himself tells His people about the questions asked during the test. The task was done by the Holy Prophet ﷺ who told his Ummah how to appear in this test. Now, for them, there is nothing left to do but to resolve these questions, find their answers and solutions and keep that preserved (for the day of trial). So, if someone still fails, even after being told what will be in the test, fairly in advance, who else could be more deprived than him?

A Particular Question Asked from Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام)

The first verse (109) referred to prophets in general where a question was asked and its reply was given. In the second verse (100), and after that, in all the nine verses appearing through the end of the Surah, the text talks about Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، the last prophet of the Bani Isra'il, and mentions some blessings of Allah on him. A particular question asked from him on the Day of Resurrection (Al-Mahshar) along with its answer has also been mentioned which follows in verses coming next.

The purpose of the question asked and the answer given is to show this disturbing sight to Bani Isra'il and to the entire creation. When on the plains of the Hashr, the one who is called, The Spirit of Allah (Ruhullah) and The Word of Allah (Kalimatullah) is asked the question as to why did his people make him a partner of God, he would be upset despite his being a great prophet and would hasten to plead his being free from what his followers did, not in one way, but in more than one. First he said. سُبْحَانَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِي أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِي بِحَقٍّ (Pure are You, it does not be-hove me to say what is not right for me - 116).

Then, he pleads his innocence from another angle when he makes Almighty Allah his witness and says: ` Had I said it, You would have known it. You know what is in my heart and I do not know what is in Your's. You alone have the full knowledge of what is unseen - 116.' After this overture, he answers the main question.

The Answer given by Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) before His Lord

His answer was that he had taught his people precisely what he was commanded to teach, that is: أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ رَ‌بِّي وَرَ‌بَّكُمْ (Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord - 117). Then, after this teaching, as long as he lived among those people, he was a witness to what they said and did (upto that time, none of them said things like that about him). Then, after he was raised by his Lord towards Him, these people remained under His watch, and it is He who knew their words and deeds fully and truly.

The Mention of Special Blessings on Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام)

Before these verses where questions asked and their answers given by Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) have been mentioned, special blessings which were bestowed upon him as his miracles have also been described (110). Thus, by bringing the bestowal of blessings and the scenario of answerability in juxtaposition, both groups of Bani Isra'il have been ad-monished, one of which insulted, accused and harassed him while the other took him as God or son of God. By describing the blessings, the first group has been admonished while, by mentioning the questions and answers, it is the second group which has been warned. The detailed description of blessings which appears in many verses has one sentence which is worth special consideration, the sentence where it is said: تُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا ۖYou spoke to the people when in the cradle and while middle-aged). In other words, a special miracle given to Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was that he talked to people in a state when he is a child, and he also does that in a state when he is middle-aged.

As for the first spectacle, it is obvious that it is a miracle and certainly a special blessing of Allah. In the early post-birth stage, children cannot talk (meaningfully). If a child were to start talking in the cradle or on the laps of the mother, that would be a particular distinction of the child. As for talking ` while middle-aged,' it does not seem to be worth mentioning, for everyone talks at this age. But, for a moment, think of the conditions surrounding Sayyidna ` Isa and you will realize that this too was a miracle - because Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) was raised from the earth before reaching middle-age. Now that he would talk to people on the earth after reaching his middle-age can become possible only when he returns to this world - as is the collective belief of Muslims which stands proved on the basis of clear statements of the Qur'an and Sunnah. It is from here that we find out that in the manner it was a miracle of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) that he talked when a child, so in the same manner, talking while middle-aged because of his return to this world is nothing but a miracle.

Commentary

A True Believer Should Not Demand Miracles

When the disciples of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) asked him to make ` Ma'idah' (food-spread) come down from the heavens, he replied by saying: قَالَ اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِين (Fear Allah if you are believers). This tells us that it does not behove a faith-bearing servant of Allah that he should test Him by making such requests. Rather than demand what is supernatural, he should seek things, like sustenance, through sources naturally appointed for him.

The Better the Blessing, the Worse the Curse of Ingratitude

From the words of the verse 115: فَإِنِّي أُعَذِّبُهُ عَذَابًا لَّا أُعَذِّبُهُ أَحَدًا مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ (I shall give him a punishment I shall not give to anyone in the worlds), we learn that in situations when the blessing of Allah is extra-ordinary and unique, the emphasis on the gratitude for it should be far above the ordinary.' As for the punishment of ingratitude, that too will be extra-ordinary and unique.

Whether or not the ` Ma'idah' (food-spread) came down from the heaven is something commentators differ in. The majority of them hold that it did. Accordingly, it has been reported from Sayyidna ` Ammar ibn Yasir ؓ as in a Hadith of Tirmidhi, that ` Ma'idah' did come from the heavens which included bread and meat. It also appears in this Hadith that some of those people committed a breach of trust, and put it off for the next day as well. As a result, they were transformed into monkeys and swines. (May Allah keep us protected from His wrath). This very Hadith also tells us that they ate from it as they wanted to do as mentioned in the word, ` na'kulu' (we eat) - however, storing it for future use was prohibited. (Mayan al-Qur'an)