Surah Ash-Shura: Verse 15 - فلذلك فادع ۖ واستقم كما... - English

فَلِذَٰلِكَ فَادْعُ ۖ وَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْ‌تَ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ ۖ وَقُلْ آمَنتُ بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ مِن كِتَابٍ ۖ وَأُمِرْ‌تُ لِأَعْدِلَ بَيْنَكُمُ ۖ اللَّـهُ رَ‌بُّنَا وَرَ‌بُّكُمْ ۖ لَنَا أَعْمَالُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ ۖ لَا حُجَّةَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ ۖ اللَّـهُ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا ۖ وَإِلَيْهِ الْمَصِيرُ‌

"So, (0 prophet,) towards that (faith) invite (people), and be steadfast as you are commanded, and do not follow their desires, and say, "I believe in whatever book Allah has sent down. And I have been ordered to do justice among you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord. For us are our deeds, and for you, your deeds. There is no argumentation between us and you. Allah will bring us together, and to Him is the final return." (42:15)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir has stated that this verse comprises ten sentences, and each sentence carries a specific order. As such, ten types of precepts are stated in this one verse. No other verse in the entire Qur'an has this peculiarity, except 'Ayat-ul-kursiyy which comprises ten types of precepts as well.

The first order فَلِذٰلِکَ فَادعُ (So, 0 Prophet, towards that faith invite people) means: ` Although your call towards ` tauhid' (Oneness of Allah) sits very heavy on the polytheists, it is no cause for you to give up your invitational call, and you should continue with it.

The second order وَاستَقِم کَمَآ اُمِرتَ (and be steadfast as you are commanded) says, ` You yourself ought to stand firm in the religion towards which you are inviting other people. This firmness has to be in accordance with the command of Allah, that is, to be on the moderate side in your beliefs, deeds, morals, habits and social behavior - there should not be even the slightest inclination towards the extremes of ifrat (overdoing something) or tafrit (falling short in something). Obviously such a firmness is not easy. That is why when some noble companions pointed out to the Holy Prophet ﷺ that some of hairs have turned grey, he said, "Surah Hud has turned me old." This very order (of standing firm as commanded) has been given in Surah Hud also in the same very words. (The meaning of standing firm, the difficulties in observing it and its importance are discussed in detail in the commentary on Surah Hud on page 673 of volume 4 of Ma'ariful Qur'an).

The third command وَلَا تَتَّبِع اَھوَآَء ھُم (do not follow their desires - ) directs the Holy Prophet ﷺ not to be concerned about the opposition of any opponent in his duty of propagation.

The fourth command قُل اٰمَنتُ بِمَآ اَنزَلَ اللہُ مَن کِتابً (and say "I believe in whatever book Allah has sent down" ) is to announce that the Holy Prophet ﷺ believes not only in the Book that has been revealed to him, but he believes in all the former divine books.

The fifth command اُمِرتُ لِاَعدِلَ بَینَکُم (I have been ordered to do justice among you) apparently relates to doing justice in the matters of dispute brought to him. But some exegetes have taken the meaning of adl' to be ` equality' and thus have taken the sentence to mean that he should treat all the commands of religion equally by believing in all the prophets (علیہم السلام) ، in all the Books and by obeying all the Divine laws without any exception.

The sixth sentence اَللہُ رَبُّنَا is ` Allah is our Lord and you Lord.' which means that all of us are nourished by Allah.

The seventh sentence لَنَآ اعمالُنَا وَ لَکُم اَعمَالُکُم (For us are our deeds and for you, your deeds) states that our deeds would be for us only and you would neither gain nor lose due to our deeds, and your deeds would be for you only and we would neither gain nor lose due to your deeds. Some exegetes have stated that this verse was revealed in Makkah before the command for jihad with non-Muslims was revealed; the verses conveying the command for jihad have cancelled this command, because the essence of jihad is to subjugate those people by fighting who do not accept the advice and exhortation - not to let them remain in the state of kufr. And some exegetes have stated that this command has not been cancelled; what it means is that since the truth has been proved through logical arguments, its non-acceptance can only be due to enmity and obstinacy, and as such, everybody is responsible for his own deeds. (Qurtubi)

The eighth command لَا حُجَّۃ بَینَنَا و بینَکُم (there is no argumentations between us and you -) is that since the disbelievers do not accept the truth, despite its having been proved, which demonstrates their enmity, therefore, further discussion is useless and now there would be no more arguments between the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the disbelievers.

The ninth sentence اَللہُ یَجمَع بیننَا (Allah will bring us together -) states that on the Day of Judgment, Allah Almighty would gather all of us together and would requite every deed.

The tenth declaration وَاِلَیہِ المَصِیر (and to Him is the final return -) is that all of us would return to Him.

This Ayah includes ten separate and independent ideas, each of which is a ruling on its own.

They (the scholars) said that there is nothing else like it in the Qur'an, apart from Ayat Al-Kursi 2:255, which also includes ten ideas.

(So unto this then invite (people),) means, `so call people to this which We have revealed to you and which We enjoined upon all the Prophets before you,' the Prophets of major ways of Shari`ah that were followed, such as the Messengers of strong will, and others.

(and stand firm as you are commanded, ) means, `adhere firmly, you and those who follow you, to the worship of Allah as He has commanded you.'

(and follow not their desires) means, the desires of the idolators, in the falsehoods that they have invented and fabricated by worshipping idols.

(but say: "I believe in whatsoever Allah has sent down of the Book...") means, `I believe in all the Books that have been revealed from heaven to the Prophets; we do not differentiate between any of them.'

(and I am commanded to do justice among you.) means, when judging according to the commands of Allah.

(Allah is our Lord and your Lord.) means, `He is the One Who is to be worshipped, and there is no true God but He. We affirm this willingly, and even though you do not do so willingly, everyone in the universe prostrates to Him obediently and willingly.'

(For us our deeds and for you your deeds.) means, `we have nothing to do with you. ' This is like the Ayah:

(And if they demy you, say: "For me are my deeds and for you are your deeds! You are innocent of what I do, and I am innocent of what you do!") (10:41)

(There is no dispute between us and you.) Mujahid said, "This means, no argument." As-Suddi said, "This was before Ayah of the sword was revealed." This fits the context, because this Ayah was revealed in Makkah, and Ayah of the sword 22:39-40 was revealed after the Hijrah.

(Allah will assemble us (all),) means, on the Day of Resurrection. This is like the Ayah:

(Say: "Our Lord will assemble us all together, then He will judge between us with truth. And He is the Just Judge, the All-Knower of the true state of affairs.") (34:26).

(and to Him is the final return.) means, the final return on the Day of Reckoning.