Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shura - Verse 24

Good News of the Blessings of Paradise for the People of Faith

Having mentioned the gardens of Paradise, Allah then says to His servants who believe and do righteous deeds:

ذَلِكَ الَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ اللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ

(That is whereof Allah gives glad tidings to His servants who believe and do righteous good deeds.) meaning, this will undoubtedly come to them, because it is glad tidings from Allah to them.

قُل لاَّ أَسْـَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْراً إِلاَّ الْمَوَدَّةَ فِى الْقُرْبَى

(Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this except to be kind to me for my kinship with you.") means, `say, O Muhammad, to these idolators among the disbeliever of Quraysh: I do not ask you for anything in return for this message and sincere advice which I bring to you. All I ask of you is that you withhold your evil from me and let me convey the Messages of my Lord. If you will not help me, then do not disturb me, for the sake of the ties of kinship that exist between you and I.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about the Ayah:

إِلاَّ الْمَوَدَّةَ فِى الْقُرْبَى

(except to be kind to me for my kinship with you.) Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "To be kind to the family of Muhammad ﷺ ." Ibn `Abbas said, "No, you have jumped to a hasty conclusion. There was no clan among Quraysh to whom the Prophet did not have some ties of kinship." Ibn `Abbas said, "Except that you uphold the ties of kinship that exist between me and you." This was recorded by Al-Bukhari. It was also recorded by Imam Ahmad with a different chain of narration.

وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَّزِدْ لَهُ فِيهَا حُسْناً

(And whoever earns a good righteous deed, We shall give him an increase of good in respect thereof) means, `whoever does a good deed, We will increase him in good for it, i.e., in reward.' This is like the Ayah:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ وَإِن تَكُ حَسَنَةً يُضَـعِفْهَا وَيُؤْتِ مِن لَّدُنْهُ أَجْراً عَظِيماً

(Surely, Allah wrongs not even of the weight of a speck of dust, but if there is any good, He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward.) (4:40)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ

(Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate.) means, He forgives many bad deeds and increases a small amount of good deeds; He conceals and forgives sins and He multiplies and increases the reward of good deeds.

The Accusation that the Prophet fabricated the Qur'an -- and the Response to that

Allah's saying;

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِباً فَإِن يَشَإِ اللَّهُ يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ

(Or say they: "He has invented a lie against Allah" If Allah willed, He could have sealed up your heart.) means, `if you had invented any lies against Him, as these ignorant people claim,'

يَخْتِمْ عَلَى قَلْبِكَ

(He could have sealed up your heart.) means, `and thus caused you to forget what had already come to you of the Qur'an.' This is like the Ayah:

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الاٌّقَاوِيلِ - لأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ - ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ - فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَـجِزِينَ

(And if he had forged a false saying concerning Us (Allah), We surely would have seized him by his right hand, and then We certainly would have cut off his life artery, And none of you could have withheld Us from (punishing) him.) (69:44-47) which means, `We would have wrought the utmost vengeance upon him, and no one among mankind would have been able to protect him.' And Allah said:

وَيُحِقُّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَـتِهِ

(and establishes the truth by His Word.) means, He establishes it and strengthens it and makes it clear by His Words, i.e., by His evidence and signs.

إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ

(Verily, He knows well what are in the breasts.) means, all that is hidden in the hearts of men.

1\. It means that the miraculous Qur'an recited by the unlettered Prophet is in itself a clear proof of its being revealed by Allah Ta’ ala. Allah's practice is such that if a person falsely claims to be a prophet, He does not let him show any miracle. Therefore, had there been, God forbid, something forged by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in the Qur'an, Allah would have put a seal on his heart, and he would have never been able to come up with such a miraculous discourse.

Commentary

The first verse conveys Allah Almighty's reply to those who held the prophethood and messenger-ship of the Holy Prophet ﷺ to be false, the Qur'an to be wrong and forged. The reply is based on a divine rule that miracles or events occurring against normal course which cannot be performed by ordinary human beings are created and shown through prophets, by Allah Almighty's Grace, to prove their prophethood, without any discretion of the prophets themselves.

Although some magicians also do perform such magical tricks, but obviously neither the prophets nor the magicians can perform any of these things without Allah Almighty's intent and scheme. He allows the magicians to perform their tricks as a measure of test and trial. However, to differentiate between magic and miracle and between a magician and a prophet, the rule devised by Him is that no false claimant of prophethood can perform any magical trick successfully; magical tricks can be performed successfully by one until he claims prophethood, but the magic vanishes as soon as one lays a false claim of prophethood.

When Allah Ta’ ala bestows prophethood and messenger-ship on anyone, He also favours him with miracles and makes those miracles highly visible. Thus He provides physical and decreed proof of his prophethood. And He also confirms him in His Divine Book.

In view of this rule, it should be understood that the Noble Qur'an is such a miracle that all the humans and all the jins of this world are unable to produce even one verse comparable to the verse of the Qur'an. Their inability to do so was proved in the days of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and continues till today. Such an open and obvious miracle cannot be accomplished by a false claimant of prophethood. The Holy Prophet's claim to ` wahy' and messenger-ship is, therefore, correct and true, and those who hold it to be incorrect and forged are misguided calumniators.

According to the law governing this world, Truth appears here in the form of Truth and falsehood in the form of falsehood. A false soul cannot beget Truth. For this reason it is not possible for a non-prophet to use prophetic language. If an individual is not a prophet, but by telling lies, claims to be so, then the style of the false prophet will necessarily creep into his utterances. No ordinary person can speak in the style of a true prophet. ‘If God so willed, He can seal your heart’ means, ‘Had you made false allegations against God, your heart would have been sealed by the will of God.’ Under these circumstances, by the divine laws of nature, you would have found it impossible to deliver the pure, divine discourse, the signs of which are clearly seen in your utterances. The fact is that the sublime words of the Prophet themselves prove him to be a prophet of God. Had he not really been the prophet of God, such utterances would not have fallen from his lips. Those who oppose the Truth do so, not at the dictates of their heart or conscience, but simply out of obstinacy and hostility. Such people are, so to say, held guilty in the court of their own conscience. God’s judgement of them is final, except when they repent and seek God’s pardon.