• Muslims enjoined to be gentle in their dealings

• To beware of Satan who sows dissensions and who is an Open Enemy of man

• Punishment for transgression is a decreed and prescribed Law of God

Al-Israa (Bani-Israel) Verses 53 – 60

وَقُلْ لِعِبَادِي يَقُولُوا الَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَنْزَغُ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ عَدُوًّا مُبِينًا

And say thou (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) unto My servants that they should utter (only) that which is best; Verily Satan soweth dissensions among them; Verily Satan unto man is an open enemy. (17:53)

رَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِنْ يَشَأْ يَرْحَمْكُمْ أَوْ إِنْ يَشَأْ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكِيلًا

Your Lord knoweth you best; If He willeth He will have mercy on you, and if He willeth He will chastise you; and We sent not thee to be a guardian1over them (against the evils they do). (17:54)

وَرَبُّكَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَقَدْ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَ النَّبِيِّينَ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا

And thy Lord knoweth best (all) those who are in the heavens and the earth; and indeed We have exalted2some apostles to some (other apostles): and gave We unto David, ‘Zabur’ (the Psalter). (17:55)

قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا

Say thou: “Call ye those whom ye fancy3(to be gods) other than Him: they shall neither have the power of removing the distress from you nor (even) to alter4it.” (17:56)

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا

Those5whom they call, to seek6the access unto their Lord (to know) which of them is the nearest (to Him) and hope they for His mercy, and fear they His chastisement; Verily, the chastisement of thy Lord is to be dreaded of. (17:57)7

وَإِنْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا نَحْنُ مُهْلِكُوهَا قَبْلَ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُوهَا عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا كَانَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَسْطُورًا

And there is not a town but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment or chastise it with a severe chastisement; that is written in the Book (of Our Will). (17:58)

وَمَا مَنَعَنَا أَنْ نُرْسِلَ بِالْآيَاتِ إِلَّا أَنْ كَذَّبَ بِهَا الْأَوَّلُونَ وَآتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ النَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةً فَظَلَمُوا بِهَا وَمَا نُرْسِلُ بِالْآيَاتِ إِلَّا تَخْوِيفًا

And nothing hindereth Us that We should send signs8save that belied them the ancients; and gave We unto Thamud the She-Camel, an open sign9but unto her they did injustice; and We send not signs10but to warn (the people). (17:59)

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لَكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ أَحَاطَ بِالنَّاسِ وَمَا جَعَلْنَا الرُّؤْيَا الَّتِي أَرَيْنَاكَ إِلَّا فِتْنَةً لِلنَّاسِ وَالشَّجَرَةَ الْمَلْعُونَةَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَنُخَوِّفُهُمْ فَمَا يَزِيدُهُمْ إِلَّا طُغْيَانًا كَبِيرًا

And (recollect thou O’ Our Apostle Muhammad) when said We unto thee: “Verily, thy Lord encompasseth the people;” and We caused not the vision11which We shewed thee save as a trial for the people, and (similarly) the 12Accursed Tree in the Qur’an; and We cause them to fear,13but it addeth not to them but their grievous transgression. (17:60)

Commentary

Verse 54

The Holy Prophet who was mercifully worried about the fate of the disbelievers, is said to have been sent not to guard the people against disbelief but only to invite them to the Right Path. Hence he need not worry much about the adamant disbelievers who inspite of the repeated admonitions and warnings, still persist in their infidelity. It is God’s concern to be merciful to any or to chastise them.

Verse 55

The Sixth Holy Imam Jafar Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq said that there were five chiefs among the apostles of God: (1) Noah, (2) Abraham, (3) Moses, (4) Jesus, and (5) the Holy Prophet Muhammad. The Holy Prophet said that “God has granted superiority to all his apostles over the angels and He has made me ‘Superior to all His apostles and after me O’ Ali thou and thy divinely chosen issues, and the angels are the servants of ours and if not friends”.14

Verse 56

Those asserted besides God - are the angels whom the people worshipped as the daughters of God, Jesus whom the Christians worshipped as the son of God, and Uzair.

Verse 57

‘Wasila’, i.e., means of approach to God - recommended in verse 5:35 - and here also asserts that all the deities, angels and the prophets which the pagans or the Christians or the Jews were calling, they themselves pray and seek the means of approach to God, the nearest one confirms the commendability of seeking ‘Wasila’, means of approach to God. The question is about the identification of the correct ‘Wasila’. Some schools of thought hold the view that obedience is itself the means but the verse 5:35 does not tally with this view, as the believers are ordered besides piety (Taqwa) and striving in His way to seek ‘Wasila’.

Therefore ‘Wasila’ cannot be obedience, which means ‘Taqwa’ or striving. ‘Wasila’ is something other than one’s own action and Qur’an asserts that the Holy Prophet’s prayer for forgiveness and the Holy Prophet’s blessings, is a means of approach, besides man’s own actions. And no wonder being the witness of the witnesses, the First in the order of submission and worship, the Last in the order of the prophets, to be of the means or the ‘Wasila’, the nearest one sought by all. Besides the confirmation of the Ahl al-Bayt, this is supported by the traditions accepted even by the schools which are opposed to them that the companions used to seek the Holy Prophet’s prayers as the means of the approach to God. (A.P.).

Verse 59

The ‘Signs’ referred to here and in several verses of Chapter 6 and Chapter 25 are the Signs proposed by the infidels not with the intention of removing their doubts in their search of the truth, but to show their averting challenge to the Holy Prophet. In the same way that the ancient people showed their aversion in a challenging manner and deserved severe punishment or a total destruction because the Holy Prophet’s mission was universal and not confined to any particular race, community, place or time - the destruction of which would have some justification, God did not respond to such challenges of a few ignorant ones to send such destructive signs, and ordered the Holy Prophet not to take such a destructive course during his ministry except in the case of ‘Mubahila’ with the Christians, when he was ordered as the last resort to adopt the course of the destruction challenge - to which the Christians declined to respond. The Holy Qur’an clearly says that these signs are threats and not convincing signs with which every prophet is sent and every prophet has to show such miracles to prove he is sent by God.

The verse clearly shows that ‘Aayaat’ means signs and gives the example of the She-Camel of the people of Thamud. To interpret ‘Aayaat’ as communication or message as done by some commentators is nothing but the distortion of facts. In the same way the attempt of some Christian translators to interpret as the verse as me have nut given you the ‘Powers’ is another malicious attempt. (A.P.).

Verse 60

The opening words of this verse is a recollective reference to what God promised the Holy Prophet about His help in the Battle of Badr.

About the vision mentioned here there are three visions: the one is that the Holy Prophet’s dreaming about the conquest of Mecca - when in the first attempt a Treaty was achieved at Hudaybiyyah which was a great victory to the Holy Prophet and his ministry and at which people, even ‘Umar, doubted about the Holy Prophet being in fact the Apostle of God. The second vision is that the Holy Prophet dreamt of monkeys getting on his pulpit and driving away men from his Mosque. The dream was interpreted by the Messenger Angel Gabriel to be the Umayyads ruling over the Muslim Empire for a thousand months and leading the people astray from the Right Path. The third vision is that it is a reference to what was shown to the Holy Prophet in ‘Mi’raj’, i.e., his Ascension, mentioned in the opening verse of this chapter.

The opening words of verses indicate that the purpose of its revelation is to give consolation to the Holy Prophet and the believers regarding some saddening events expected to occur or already happened. Such undesirable events are insignificant and do not effect the all-embracing authority and the domination of God.

The dream and the Cursed Tree mentioned here are of those saddening events indicated in this verse. Thus, the dream cannot be a reference to ‘Mi’raj’, i.e., Holy Prophet’s Ascension. There is nothing saddening in it and it has nothing to do with people’s trial. It was a glory and honour bestowed on the Holy Prophet. The Cursed Tree also cannot be the Fire-Tree of Hell because Hell and its contents are not cursed for they are means and tools made by God to punish the wicked.

Therefore, the dream must refer either to the dream of the conquest of Mecca15 or to the dream seen on the eve of the Battle of Badr.16 But these are all gestures of the commentators. There is no authentic tradition to support either. The authentic tradition from Ahl al-Bayt supported by the tradition from Sahl Ibn Saʿd and Sayyid Ibn Yathr about the Holy Prophet’s dreaming about the monkeys going up and down his pulpit - shows that the reference is to a different thing. And regarding the Cursed Tree it may be said that it refers to the Wicked Tree.17 But that also is nothing more than guessing.

With the support of the last dream mentioned here it is certain that the reference is made to a chain of people acting mischievously against the Divine orders as it is mentioned.18

Similar to 5:78 & 5:79, the disbelievers of the Israelites were cursed by David and Jesus for their disobedience, transgressing and not refraining from mischief. The Holy Prophet saw in a dream that a similar thing would happen after him, therefore not to be worried about it.

This consoling verse was revealed that such events are only trials and a threat to the mischief- makers to which they were further averse. (A.P.).

• 1. Be in charge.
• 2. Refer to verse 2:253.
• 3. The false gods, the deities - the idols or the angels who were worshipped as the daughters of God.
• 4. Transfer.
• 5. The apostles, and the angels held and worshipped as deities.
• 6. As the medium.
• 7. Refer to note on verse 5:35.
• 8. Miracles.
• 9. Miracles.
• 10. Miracles.
• 11. Refer to verses 48:27 & 8:43.
• 12. Refer to verses 14:26, 5:78 & 5:79.
• 13. To warn.
• 14. Umdat al-Bayan.
• 15. See verse 48:27.
• 16. See verse 8:43.
• 17. See verse 14:26.
• 18. See verses 47:22 & 47:23.