• Goodness and submission to parents ordained

• The due to the near of kin should be given away

• Kindness to the poor, frugality in expenses and gentleness in speech enjoined

Al-Israa (Bani-Israel) Verses 23 – 30

وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِنْدَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا

And commanded thy Lord hath that thou shalt worship not (any one) but Him, and goodness to parents; if either or both of them reach old age with thee, utter not unto them (even so much as) “Fie” nor chide them, and speak unto them a generous word. (17:23)

وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُلْ رَبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِي صَغِيرًا

And lower unto them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say1thou: “O’ My Lord! Have mercy on them as they cherished me when I was little.” (17:24)

رَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِي نُفُوسِكُمْ إِنْ تَكُونُوا صَالِحِينَ فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا

Your Lord knoweth best what is in yourselves2; if ye be righteous, then verily He is for the repentants Oft-Forgiving. (17:25)3

وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُ وَالْمِسْكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا

And give to the near of kin his due and to the needy and the wayfarer, and squander not (thy earnings) wastefully. (17:26)4

إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُوا إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا

Verily the squanderers are the brethren of the satans; and Satan to his Lord is ever an ingrate. (17:27)5

وَإِمَّا تُعْرِضَنَّ عَنْهُمُ ابْتِغَاءَ رَحْمَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكَ تَرْجُوهَا فَقُلْ لَهُمْ قَوْلًا مَيْسُورًا

If thou (helplessly) turn away from them6seeking mercy from thy Lord which thou hopest for, then speak unto them7(at- least) a kindly8word. (17:28)

وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَىٰ عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَحْسُورًا

And cause thou not to shackle thy hand unto thy neck, nor stretch it forth to the maximum (limits of) stretching forth, lest thou shouldst (thereafter) sit down blamed, destituted. (17:29)9

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرًا بَصِيرًا

Verily thy Lord extendeth10the sustenance for whomsoever He willeth and measureth11it He (to a just measure); Verily He is, of His servants ever Fully- Aware, All-Seeing. (17:30)12

Commentary

Verses 23 – 25

Note the rank Islam has given to obedience to parents, which is next only to God. The extent to which one has to regard his parents and obey them is peculiar only to Islam. None should even raise his voice higher than the voice of his parents - nor look towards them even eye to eye - nor walk in advance of them - nor address them with their names. Nothing shall be done to bring disrepute or blame on them from the people and if they be believers, the children should pray for their salvation, and if they be disbelievers, they might be gently invited towards the right belief and goodness.

From verses 17:23-40, the Qur’an deals with various instructions of theoretical, logical and practical doctrine covering ethical, domestic, social and economic aspects of human life and then it turns them as a source of the wisdom revealed to the Holy Prophet in verse 17:39 and repeats the principle of the faith in absolute unity (Monotheism) which implies all the other doctrines mentioned here and elsewhere.13 (A.P.).

Verse 26

See verses 8:41, 16:90, 17:26, 30:38, 59:7. Ibn Jarir reports that the Fourth Holy Imam Ali Ibn Husayn al-Zain al-Abidin asked a Syrian, “Hast thou read in the Chapter Bani-Israel in the Holy Qur’an. Give the near of kin his due?” He said, ‘Yes’. Then the Holy Imam said: “We are the near of kin meant by the verse.” Bazaz Abu Ya’la, Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Mardawayh relate on the authority of Abu Saʿid al-Khudri that immediately as this verse was revealed the Holy Prophet called his daughter Fatimah and gifted the garden of Fadak. (D.M., M.F.A.).

Besides the confirmation of the Ahl al-Bayt that this verse refers to the event of the Holy Prophet being ordered by God to give away the dues of the nearest kin and the Holy Prophet bequeathing to his daughter Fatimah, there are authentic traditions from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri one of the companions of the Holy Prophet that at the revelation of this Verse the Holy Prophet gave Fadak to Fatimah and Abdus Ibn Saleh one of the courtiers of Ma’moon said that Ma’moon wrote Abdullah Ibn Musa asking him about Fadak. He wrote to Ma’moon the same tradition on the strength of which Ma’moon returned Fadak to Bani Fatimah.

The point to be noted here is that the lands left by the Jews without fight, became the property of the State. God and the Holy Prophet, distributed these lands with the consent of the Ansars to the immigrants who had abandoned their properties at Mecca and who until then were a burden on the Ansars, and did not give anything to Fatimah though whose losses from her mother’s side were also considerable. Hence the verse was revealed asking the Holy Prophet to give her all her dues. Besides Fatimah’s being entitled to a share as an immigrant, the Holy Prophet also was entitled to a portion.

Hence, he gave away Fadak to her partly in the fulfilment of her dues and partly as a gift to her of his own share. And Fadak was in the possession of Fatimah during the lifetime of the Holy Prophets spending the income on her own family to the minimum possible extent and the rest, distributing it to the deserving needy ones. After the departure of the Holy Prophet, the Caliphate drove out the agents of Fatimah from Fadak and took possession of it by force. When Fatimah appealed, her appeal was rejected refuting the validity of the evidence of Umm Ayman, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Hasan and Husayn on the plea which is refuted by the Ayat al-Taṭhir, 33:33.

Then Fatimah claimed Fadak as the heiress of the Holy Prophet but it was also rejected as the opponent himself narrating that the Holy Prophet said: ‘We the group of the apostles neither inherit nor leave any heritage,’ which was refuted by Fatimah herself as the statement is contradictory to the expressive wording of the Qur’an that the prophets inherit and leave heritage14 and to verse 33:6 which asserts that the close relatives who are believers ought to be preferred in inheritance to the other believers who are strangers, but her argument received no consideration by the Caliphs Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, so she felt angry and discarded them both, and did not talk to them until her death. However, Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari tell us on the authority of Malik Ibn Aws Ibn Hadathan that ‘Umar accused Ali and Abbas in this particular case believing that he and his predecessor in connection with this case were considered as usurpers, liars, treacherous and sinners, and none of the two, Ali and Abbas, denied the accusation.

Ever since the question was made a political issue, the Umayyads treated Fadak as their personal estate till the reign of Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz when the descendants of Fatimah got the chance to renew their claim. He examined the case thoroughly and restored Fadak to them. After him the Umayyads took it back till the reign of Saffah, the first Abbasid ruler - who returned Fadak to the Fatemites. After him again the Abbasids’ policy changed and it was snatched away once again from the Fatemites until the reign of Ma’moon who conducted the case in a special court consisting of the jurists of all schools and allowed the case to be argued by a Fatemite advocate and the prosecutor of the crown and then he issued his historic findings in the form of Ferman a summary of which is recorded by al-Baladhuri in his famous work ‘Futuḥ al-Buldan’ and this exchange of hands continued till the beginning of the 4th Century, and besides its becoming a political issue, it became a subject of a sectarian controversy in which the Mu’tazalites, Ash’arites and the Shias took part in the heated discussions and discourses. The well-known Mu’tazalite scholar Ibn Abi al-Hadid, the contemporary ruler of the last Abbasid pontiff of Baghdad gives a brief account of the arguments for and against the case in his commentary. However, Fatimah in her sermon tells the Muslims that today my right has been taken away and you kept quiet - then be prepared for a severing sword against you and a prevailing humiliation and a despotic rule by the tyrants who will rape your treasuries and devour the product of your labour,15 (A.P.).

Verse 29

Neither be niggardly nor be wasting but be moderate in even charity, neither abstain from giving any thing at all to any one, nor give away everything and put thyself in need and misery.

• 1. Praying to God.
• 2. Your hearts.
• 3. Refer to verse 17:23.
• 4. Refer to note on verses 17:23 & 30:38. Refer to verses 8:41, 16:90, & 59:7.
• 5. Note how strongly Islam condemns extravagance. Refer to verse 17:23.
• 6. The kindred, the needy, the wayfarers.
• 7. The kindred, the needy, the wayfarers.
• 8. Gentle - a word of ease.
• 9. Refer to verse 17:23. In Verses 17:29-40, those meant by the address are the people in general.
• 10. Maketh plenty.
• 11. Restricteth.
• 12. Refer to note on verse 17:23.
• 13. Refer to note on verse 17:23.
• 14. Refer to verses 27:16, 19:5 & 19:6.
• 15. See also note to verse 59:7.