Qur'anic Studies 1:4. THE MEANINGS OF AL-ḤAQQ (الْحَقّ, THE TRUTH) IN THE QUR’ĀN

 

4. THE MEANINGS OF AL-ḤAQQ (الْحَقّ, THE TRUTH) IN THE QUR’ĀN

The term al-ḥaqq basically means: the truth, the real, the authentic, the correct, the right. Classical commentators of the Qur’ān mention nineteen meanings of the term al-ḥaqq and its derivatives in the verses of the Qur’ān as follows:

1.   الله (Allah), as in the following verse:

 

وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ بَلْ        

أَتَيْنَاهُمْ بِذِكْرِهِمْ فَهُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِهِمْ مُعْرِضُونَ (المؤمنون:٧١)       

And if the truth [i.e. Allah] had been in accordance

  with their desires, verily, the heavens and the earth

and whosoever is therein would have been corrupted.

Nay, We have brought them their reminder, but  they turn away from their reminder

[i.e., the Qur’ān] (Q. 23:71)

 

 In this verse the term al-ḥaqq (the truth) means Allah according to Mujāhid, Abū Ṣāliḥ, and al-Ṣuddī, so that the verse means is that if Allah responded to the whims and corrupt desires of the idolaters in their hearts, the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is therein, would have been corrupted. However, some other unidentified commentators say that this term is in its basic meaning, namely the truth as the opposite of bāṭil (falsehood), and al-Jubbā’ī[1] says it means al-tawḥīd (monotheism). 

 

2.   القرأن (the Qur’ān), as in the following verses:

بَلْ كَذَّبُوا بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ فَهُمْ فِي أَمْرٍ مَرِيجٍ (ق:٥)

Nay, but they denied the truth (this Qur’ān) when it   come to them, so they are in a confused state

 (cannot differentiate between right and  wrong) (Q. 50:5)

 

 According to al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058)[2] this is the view of all classical commentators of the Qur’ān, such as al-Tha‘labī

and Qatādah. But there are some other views, that it is Islam, and Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Those who deny the Resurrection are in confusion as they say that the Prophet is a magician, then in another time a poet, and then a soothsayer (al-Ḍaḥḥāk’s and Ibn Zayd’s view).

 

كَذَّبُوا بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِيهِمْ

أَنْبَاءُ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ( الانعام:٥)

Indeed, they rejected the truth (the Qur’ān and  Prophet Muhmmad s.a.w.) when it came to them,  but there will come to them the news of that (the

torment) which they used to mock at (Q. 6:5)

 

 The Makkan idolaters mock at the Qur’ānic message in general - and some commentators say, Prophet Muhammad -  and the continuation of life after death in particular. For this, Allah would punish them in the battle of Badr and in the Hereafter.

 

فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ عِنْدِنَا قَالُوا لَوْلَا أُوتِيَ مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ

مُوسَى أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُوا بِمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى مِنْ قَبْلُ قَالُوا سِحْرَانِ

تَظَاهَرَا وَقَالُوا إِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كَافِرُونَ (القصص:٤٨)

But when the truth (i.e., Muhammad s.a.w. with his

Message) has come to them from Us, they say: “Why  is he not given the like of what was given to Mūsá? Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Mūsá

(Moses) of old?” They say: “Two kinds of magic [the

Taurāt (Torah) and the Qur’ān], each helping the  other!” And they say: “Verily, in both we are  disbelievers.  (Q. 28:48)

 

The term al-ḥaqq here according to al-Qurṭubī means Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

 

بَلْ مَتَّعْتُ هَؤُلَاءِ وَآبَاءَهُمْ حَتَّى جَاءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ وَرَسُولٌ مُبِينٌ . وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ وَإِنَّا بِهِ كَافِرُونَ (الزخرف:٢٩-٣٠)

Nay, but I gave (the good things of this life) to  these (polytheists) and their fathers to enjoy, till  there came to them the truth (the Qur’ān), and

a Messenger (Muhammad s.a.w.) making things  clear. And when the truth (this Qur’ān) came to  them, they (the disbelievers in this Qur’ān)  said: “This is magic, and we disbelieve  therein.” (Q. 43:29-30)

          

The continuation of the above verses is as follows: 

 

And they say: “Why is not this Qur’ān sent down  to some great men of the two towns?” (Q. 43:31)

 

They rejected the Qur’ān because it was revealed to Muhammad who had neither wealth nor a position of eminence in his native city Makkah, and not to a prominent man from either of the two towns, namely, Makkah and al-Ṭā’if according to Ibn ‘Abbās, ‘Ikrimah, Qatādah, al-Suddī, Ibn Zayd and Muḥammad ibn Ka‘b al-Quraẓī.[3]  Allah replied that it was for Allah to decide and the matter had nothing to do with them.

 

3. الإسلام (Islam), as in the following verses:

 

لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ وَيُبْطِلَ الْبَاطِلَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُجْرِمُونَ (الانفال:٨)

That He might cause the truth to triumph and bring falsehood to nothing, even though the Mujrimīn (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, criminals) hate it (Q. 8:8)

 

Al-Ṭabarī’s commentary on the above verse is that Allah wants to eradicate disbelievers, that He establishes the truth, that Allah Alone is worshipped rather than idols, that He makes Islam strong, and nullifies disbelief and idol worshipping.

 

Al-Qurṭubī’s commentary on the above verse is that Allah might cause Islam triumph and powerful and bring disbelief to nothing.هHe cites a similar verse as follows:

 

بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ

 زَاهِقٌ وَلَكُمُ الْوَيْلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُونَ (الأنبياء:١٨)

Nay, We fling (send down) the truth

(this Qur’ān) against the falsehood

(disbelief), so it destroys it, and behold,

it (falsehood) is vanished. And woe to

you for that (lie) which you ascribe

(to Allah by uttering that Allah has

a wife and a son) (Q. 21 :18)

 

Al-Qurṭubī quotes Mujāhid’s view that the term al-ḥaqq in the above verse is Islam, whereas al-bāṭil is Satan.

وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا (الإسراء:٨١)

And say: “Truth (i.e. Islamic monotheism or this Qur’ān

 or Jihād against polytheists) has come and Bāṭil  (falsehood, i.e. Satan or [polytheism) has vanished.  Surely, Bāṭil is ever bound to vanish.” (Q. 17:81)

 

   Al-Ṭabarī mentions the view of Qatādah that al-ḥaqq  in the above verse means Islam, and al-bāṭil  means Satan. He also mentions another view, such as that of Ibn Jurayj who says that al-ḥaqq means fighting idolators, and al-bāṭil is idol worship. Then he gives his view which he assumes the right one as follows: 

 

Allah the Almighty orders His Prophet s.a.w. to inform the idolaters that the truth has come, namely, all that pleases Allah and obedience to Him, and that

falsehood has disappeared, namely, all that displeases

Him and disobeying Him and obeying Satan. The truth is what is contradictory to obeying Satan, whereas

falsehood is what agrees with obedience to him. Allah

does not give any details of obedience or disobedience  to Him, but all good things have come, and all bad  things have gone. For this reason, Allah revealed 

the Qur’ān, and the Prophet fights the idolaters to

establish the truth and to eradicate falsehood.

 

 Al-Qurṭubī mentions the view that al-ḥaqq is Islam, and al-bāṭil is idolatry, and the view of Mujāhid, that the former is the Qur’ān and the latter is Satan. However, al-Qurṭubī’s view is like that of al-Ṭabarī, that the verse is to be understood in its general sense.

 

It is reported by al-Bukhārī that at the conquest of Makkah the Prophet stroke the three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka‘bah with a stick in his hand, saying the above verse.  

 

4.  الْعَدْل (al-‘adl, justice), as in the following verses:

 

... رَبَّنَا افْتَحْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ قَوْمِنَا بِالْحَقِّ وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الْفَاتِحِينَ (الأعراف:٨٩)

… Our Lord! Judge between us and our people in truth, for You are the Best of those who give judgment (Q. 7:89)

 This verse was the prayer of Prophet Shu‘ayb which people did not want to listen to him, and the chiefs among them threatened him to drive him away from their village, he said this prayer, asking Allah to judge between them. According to the philologist al-Farrā’ (144-207/761-822)[4] the people of Yemen called their qāḍī (judge)  الْفَاتِح (al-fātiḥ) and الْفَتاَّح  (al-fattāḥ),[5] and according to another philologist Abū ‘Ubaydah (110-208/730-823)[6] it was the language of Murād the most prominent tribe in Yemen.[7]

  The above verse is not only the prayer of Prophet  Shu‘ayb, but also of other Prophets according to Qatādah.

 

يَوْمَئِذٍ يُوَفِّيهِمُ اللَّهُ دِينَهُمُ الْحَقَّ وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ

هُوَ الْحَقُّ الْمُبِينُ (النور:٢٥)

On that Day Allah will pay them the recompense of  their deeds in full, and they will know that Allah,  He is the Manifest Truth (Q. 24:25)

 On the Judgment Day Allah will pass his judgment fairly on people’s deeds, either good or bad. Al-Ṭabarī  says that this verse is concerning the hypocrites who will know on that day that Allah is the Manifest Truth, as Muslims have already known this in this word.

 قَالَ رَبِّ احْكُمْ بِالْحَقِّ وَرَبُّنَا الرَّحْمَنُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ عَلَى مَا تَصِفُونَ (الاْنبياء:١١٢)

He (Muhammad s.a.w.) said: “My Lord! Judge You  in truth! Our Lord is the Most Gracious, Whose Help  is to be sought against that which you attribute (to

 Allah that He has offspring, and to Muhammad

 s.a.w. that he is a sorcerer, and to the Qur’ān  that it is poetry!” (Q. 21:112)

 Mālik reported from Zayd bin Aslam that when the Prophet was involved in fighting, he would say the above verse as a prayer to Allah to judge fairly against the various lies and fabrication the enemies uttered.

 

5. التوّْحِيْد (al-tawḥīd, monotheism), as in the following verses:

 

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ بَلْ جَاءَهُمْ بِالْحَقِّ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ

 لِلْحَقِّ كَارِهُونَ (المؤمنون:٧٠)

Or they say: “There is madness in him?” Nay,  but he brought them the truth (i.e. Tawḥīd:  worshipping Allah Alone in all aspects, the

 Qur’ān and the religion of Islām), but most of them (the disbelievers) are averse  to the truth. (Q. 23:70)

          

Did they accuse the Prophet of being mad? A mad person would have talked nonsense, ambiguous and senseless, but he has brought them wisdom and undeniable truth for sensible people who has sound and natural disposition. Then how could he be mad? But most of them hate to admit the truth, resent to follow Prophet Muhammad out of jealousy, injustice, and arrogance on the earth. (al-Ṭabarī’s commentary).

 

Did they claim that they did not want to believe in him because he is mad? But there is not any symptom of any madness in him. Yet, the truth (namely, the Qur’ān, the true monotheism and the true religion) has come to them, but they reject it due to jealousy, injustice and following their tradition

(al-Qurṭubī’s commentary)

 

وَنَزَعْنَا مِنْ كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا فَقُلْنَا هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ فَعَلِمُوا أَنَّ الْحَقَّ لِلَّهِ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (القصص:٧٥)

And We shall take out from every nation a witness,

 and We shall say: “Bring your proof.” Then they shall

know that the truth is with Allah (Alone), and the lies

(false gods) which they invented will disappear  from them. (Q. 28:75)

 

 In the Hereafter Allah will take out of every nation a witness, namely, a messenger, and He will tell them to bring their proof, namely, the truth of their claim that He had many partners. Then they shall know that there is no god beside Him. They will keep silent and will not be able to find any answer. Then all invented partners of Allah will be of no benefit to them.

وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُ أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِلْكَافِرِينَ (العنكبوت: ٦٨)

And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth (Muhammad

 s.a.w. and his doctrine of Islamic Monotheism and 

this Qur’ān), when it comes to him? Is there not

 a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers (in the 

Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger

 Muhammad s.a.w.)? (Q. 29:68)

 

And who does more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah when they commit evil, they say, “we found our fathers doing it, and Allah has commanded it on us” whereas Allah never commands it,” (Q. 7:28) or he who denies the truth when it comes to him from Allah, namely, monotheism and being from idols? Surely, a dwelling in Hell is for whom who disbelieves in Allah, rejects monotheism, and denies His Messenger. (al-Ṭabarī’s commentary).

Nobody does more wrong than he who makes a partner and a son for Allah, and when he commits evil, he says, “we found our fathers doing it, and Allah has commanded it on us,” or he who denies the truth when it comes to him from Allah, namely, monotheism according to al-Suddī, the Qur’ān according to Yaḥyá ibn Sallām, and Prophet Muhammad according to Ibn Shajarah, and any of the views includes the two others. “Is there not a dwelling in Hell for the disbelievers?” means that it has been so decided. It is a question indicating confirmation استفهام) تقريري). (al-Qurṭubī’s commentary).

 

  بَلْ جَاءَ بِالْحَقِّ وَصَدَّقَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ (الصافات:٣٧)

Nay! He (Muhammad s.a.w. has come with the truth (i.e. Allah’s religion – Islamic Monotheism

 and this Qur’ān) and he confirms the Messengers

 (before him who brought Allah’s religion –  Islamic Monotheism) (Q. 37: 37)

 

         When it was said to the disbelievers that there is no god but Allah, they said, “Are we going to abandon our gods for the sake of a mad poet (namely, Prophet Muhammad)?” So, Allah said that he had come with the truth and had confirmed the messengers before him who had brought the same truth, Islamic monotheism. This is the fundamental teachings in every true religion.

 

6. الصِّدْق (al-ṣidq, the truthfulness, sincerity), as in the following verses:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ بِالْحَقِّ وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ قَوْلُهُ

الْحَقُّ وَلَهُ الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَ يُنْفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ

وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ (الاْنعام:٧٣)

It is He who has created the heavens and the 

earth in truth, and on the Day (i.e. the Day of

 Resurrection) He will say, “Be!” – and it is! His

 Word is the Truth. His will be the dominion on  the Day when the Trumpet will be blown.

 All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. 

He is the All-Wise, Well-Aware

(of all things).   (Q. 6:73)

 Allah is the Originator and Owner of the heavens and the earth and governs their affairs and the affairs of their inhabitants. His will be the dominion onهthe Day (or when the Trumpet will be blown by Isrāfīl) Allah says to it “Be!” it shall become. The Prophet said, “The angel Isrāfīl has held the Trumpet in his mouth and lowered his forehead, awaiting the command to blow in it.” (Reported by Muslim)

  وَيَسْتَنْبِئُونَكَ أَحَقٌّ هُوَ قُلْ إِي وَرَبِّي إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ وَمَا أَنْتُمْ بِمُعْجِزِينَ (يونس:٥٣)

And they ask you (O Muhmmad s.a.w.) to inform

 them (saying): “Is it true (i.e. the torment and the establishment of the Hour – the Day of Resurrection)?”

 Say: “Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! And

 you cannot escape it!” (Q. 10:53)

 

     Allah is so powerful that He can bring you back to life in the Hereafter, since He originated you from nothing, just by saying “Be!” as in the following verse:

إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئًا أَنْ يَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ (يس:٨٢)

Verily, His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be!” – and it is! (Q. 36:82)

 

 Allah ordered the Prophet to tell the deniers of the Day of Resurrection to confirm it with oath, i.e., “yes, by my Lord” three times in the Qur’ān, as the above verse. The other two verses are as follows:

  وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَأْتِينَا السَّاعَةُ قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ

لَا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا أَصْغَرُ

 مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا أَكْبَرُ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ (سبأ:٣)

Those who disbelieve say: “The hour will not come

 to us.” Say: “Yes, by my Lord, the All-Knower of the

 Unseen, it will come to you; not even the weight  of an atom (or a small ant) or less than that or  greater escapes His Knowledge in the heavens

 or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book (al-Lawḥ

 al- Maḥfūẓ, the Preserved Tablet)” (Q. 34:3)

 

زَعَمَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنْ لَنْ يُبْعَثُوا قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتُبْعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ

 لَتُنَبَّؤُنَّ بِمَا عَمِلْتُمْ وَذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ (التغابن:٧)

The disbelievers claimed that they will never  be resurrected. Say: “Yes! By my Lord! You will

 certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed  of (and recompensed for) what you did;

 and that is easy for Allah” (Q. 64:7)

 

...  إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ...

(يونس:٥٥, الروم:٦٠, لقمان:٣٣, فاطر:٥, غافر:٥٥  و٧٧, 

الجاشية:٣, الأحقاف: ١٧)

… , surely Allah’s promise is true …

(Q: 10:55; 18:21; 28:13; 30:60; 31:33; 35:5; 

40:55, 77; 45:32: 46:17)

  Allah in the Qur’ān mentions that surely His promise is true ten times, as follows: (1) the punishment of idolaters in the Hereafter (Q: 10:55);[8] (2) the resurrection of body and soul in the Hereafter (Q. 18:21); (3) the return of baby Moses to his mother (Q. 28:13); (4) the final victory of the Prophet over the idolaters (Q. 30:60);[9] (5) the occurrence of the Day of Resurrection (Q. 31:33); (6) the occurrence of the Day of Resurrection where people will be reward and punishment (Q. 35:5); (7) the final victory of the Prophet over the idolaters (Q. 40:55); (8) Allah’s promise of retaliation for mistreatment suffered by the Prophet, either in this world or in the Hereafter (Q. 40:70); (9) the existence of the Day of Resurrection (Q. 45:32); and (10) the existence of the Day of Resurrection (Q. 46:17).

7. الْمَال (al-māl, property, wealth), as in the following verse:

... وَلْيُمْلِلِ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ وَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُ وَلَا يَبْخَسْ مِنْهُ

شَيْئًا فَإِنْ كَانَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ سَفِيهًا أَوْ ضَعِيفًا أَوْلَا يَسْتَطِيعُ

أَنْ يُمِلَّ هُوَ فَلْيُمْلِلْ وَلِيُّهُ بِالْعَدْلِ...(البقرة:٢٨٢)

 … Let him (the debtor) who incurs the liability dictate,  and he must fear Allah, his Lord, and diminish not

anything of what he owes. But if the debtor is of

 poor understanding, or weak, or is unable to

 dictate for himself, then let the guardian  dictate in justice … (Q. 2:282)

This is the longest verse of the Qur’ān. It is dealing with transaction based on credit, either an outright loan or a commercial deal. Allah told us Muslims that if we give or take credit for a stated term to set it down in writing. The debtor asks the scribe to write the contract, and he must be honest. It must be witnessed by two men, or one man and two women, as if the woman forgets the other woman will remind her. This is not an indication of woman’s moral or intellectual capabilities, but because women in general are less interested and less familiar with business procedures than men as breadwinners. If the transaction concerns ready merchandise transferred directly to one another there will be no necessity to write a contract. It is for our benefit to have evidence of transaction to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding in future, as “the weakest ink is better than the strongest memory.” In this verse the term alḥaqq is translated as “liability” and “debt” which are also wealth.

 In the next verse transaction such as in mortgaging does not have to be written if no scribe is available (or a pen, ink or paper according to Ibn ‘Abbās) then the debtor gives a pledge to the creditor instead of writing the transaction. If the two parties concerned trust each other, then there will be no need for transaction paper or witness. The debtor is to announce it if required. Ibn ‘Abbās said, “False testimony is one of the worst of the major sins, and such is the case with hiding the true testimony.” Allah said, “And conceal not the evidence. For he who hides it, surely, his heart is sinful…” (Q. 2:283)

 

8. وَجَبَه (wajaba, to be incumbent, to take effect, to be justified), as in the following verses:

وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَآتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا وَلَكِنْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ مِنِّي

لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (يس:١٣)

And if We had willed, surely We would have 

 given every person his guidance, but the Word from Me took effect (about evildoers), that I

 will fill Hell with jinn and mankind

 together. (Q. 32:13)[10]

 If Allah will, He could have given unto every person his guidance and deprive him from his ability to choose between right and wrong, but He does not want it to happen. His Word took effect, that evil doers will be punished in Hell.

أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ فِي أُمَمٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ

 مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا خَاسِرِينَ (الْاحقاف:١٨)

They are those against whom the Word (of torment)  is justified among the previous generations of jinn

and mankind that have passed away. Verily, they

are ever the losers. (Q. 46:18)

Allah mentions here two groups of people: (a) Those who believe and do good, dutiful and kind to their parents, and pray for them and their offspring, Allah will admit them to Paradise (Q. 46:15-16); (b) on the other hand, those who are sinful, undutiful to their parents and deny the resurrection will enter Hell (Q. 46:17-18).

وَكَذَلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا

 أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ (غافر:٦)

 Thus has the Word of your Lord been justified  against those who disbelieved, that they will be  the dwellers of the Fire (Q. 40:6)

            Like the disbelievers among the people of the past where

Allah’s Word had been justified, so too it is justified against those disbelievers who rejected Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. that they will also be punished in Hell.

 

9. الْحَقُّ بِعَيْنِهِ (al-ḥaqqu bi‘aynih, the truth itself), as in the following verses

هُنَالِكَ تَبْلُو كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا أَسْلَفَتْ وَرُدُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ مَوْلَاهُمُ الْحَقِّ

وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (يونس:٣٠)

There! Every person will know (exactly) what he had earned before and they will be brought back to Allah, their rightful Maulá (Lord), and

 their invented false deities will vanish  from them. (Q. 10:30)

  On the day of Resurrection every person shall know all that he had done in the past, either good or bad. They will be brought back to Allah, the true Lord, the Judge, the All-Just Who will judge everyone. Then He will admit the people of Paradise to Paradise, and of Hell to Hell.

 

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّهُ يُحْيِي الْمَوْتَى وَأَنَّهُ

عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (الحج:٦)

That is because Allah: He is the Ultimate Truth, and it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it is He Who is Able to do all things. (Q. 22:6)

 In the previous verse Allah states to the doubter of the Resurrection two signs of His power to bring the dead back to life the evidence of its existence: (1). the process of the creation of man from dust, and later from a semen in the womb, then brought to the world as an infant, reaches the age of full strength. When he reaches old age, he will become weak in body and mind, and continue to be disable and forgetful; (2) the barren land in which nothing grows when Allah sends the rain upon it vegetation begins to grow and becomes alive after it was dead.

 Then Allah continues with the above verse that He is the Truth, the Creator, the Controller of the universe, and Who gives life to the dead. He can do all things.

 

وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ...(الحجر:٨٥)

And We created not the heavens and the  earth and all that is between them except

  with truth, … (Q. 15:85)

 

 It means that Allah created the universe with meaning and purpose, and nothing is accidental.  Al-Ṭabarī and al-Qurṭubī include the above verse in the category of verses in which the term al-ḥaqq indicates al-‘adl above. [11]

         

10. الْحَظُّ (al-ḥaẓẓ, share, allotment, portion), as in the following verses:

 

وَالَّذِينَ فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ . لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُوم ِ(المعارج:٢٤-٢٥)

And those in whose wealth there is a recognized right  for the beggar who asks, and for the unlucky who has  lost his property and wealth (and his means of  living has been straitened (Q. 70:24-25)

  It means that there is a determined portion (a due share) in their wealth for the needy people, either they beg or not. 

وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ (الذاريات:١٩)

And in their properties there was the right of the

 Sā’il (the beggar who asks) and the Maḥrūm (the  poor who does not ask others).  (Q. 51:19)  

  This verse is the fourth characters of pious people (muttaqīn). (1). They are happy with what Allah has given them; (2). They used to sleep but little by night by performing recommended prayers; (3). In the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness; (4). They give charity to people as mentioned in the above verse: al-sā’il, the person who begs, and al-maḥrūm (lit. “the deprived one), the person who does not beg.

  Who is al-maḥrūm? Here are some definitions of it:

Ibn ‘Abbās and Mujāhid:  He is the poor who does not receive a stipend, neither from the Muslim treasury, nor does he have a means of income, nor a profession.

‘Ā’ishah r.a.: He is the displaced, the one who does not have a profession to easily earn an income from.

Qatādah and al-Zuhrī:  He is the one who does not ask people for anything.

11. أوْلىَ  awlá, more entitled, more deserving, more appropriate, more suitable, which is the meaning of aḥaqqu, (the elative noun preference  of ḥaqq), as in the following verses:

وَقَالَ لَهُمْ نَبِيُّهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ بَعَثَ لَكُمْ طَالُوتَ مَلِكًا قَالُوا أَنَّى يَكُونُ

لَهُ الْمُلْكُ عَلَيْنَا وَنَحْنُ أَحَقُّ بِالْمُلْكِ مِنْهُ وَلَمْ يُؤْتَ سَعَةً مِنَ الْمَالِ قَالَ

 إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ بَسْطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ وَالْجِسْمِ وَاللَّهُ يُؤْتِي

 مُلْكَهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ (البقرة:٢٤٧)

And their Prophet (Samuel a.s.) said to them,

 “Indeed Allah has appointed Ṭālūt (Saul) as a king  over you.” They said, “How can he be a king over us

 when we are fitter than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth.” He said: “Verily,

 Allah has chosen him above you and has increased  him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And  Allah grants His kingdom to whom He wills. 

And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures’  needs, All-Knower.”  (Q. 2:247)

 

 The term aḥaqqu in the above verse means awlá translated as “fitter” which is another word for “more entitled, more suitable, etc.” as mentioned above.

 

The Children of Israel asked their prophet Samuel (Shamwīl, lit. “Allah has heard my pleas”, i.e. the pleas of his mother) to appoint a king for them. When he told them that Allah had appointed Ṭālūt (Saul) as their king, they disputed their prophet who was supposed to be obeyed, because they thought Ṭālūt (Saul) was not fit to be a king over them: he was a solder, not a descendant of their kings, he was poor, he used to bring water to the people, and some people stated that his profession was dyeing skins. 

Samuel told them that it was not his choice, but Allah’s who knew more about Ṭālūt (Saul): he was more knowledgeable and honorable, stronger and more patient during combat than any of them. It is Allah Alone the Supreme Authority Who does what He wills. He has perfect knowledge, wisdom, and kindness with His creation. He knows who deserve to be kings and who do not deserve it.

 

 وَكَيْفَ أَخَافُ مَا أَشْرَكْتُمْ وَلَا تَخَافُونَ أَنَّكُمْ أَشْرَكْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ

عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَانًا فَأَيُّ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ أَحَقُّ بِالْأَمْنِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ (الانعام:٨١)

“And how should I fear those whom you associate in  worship with Allah (though they can neither benefit  nor harm), while you fear not that you have joined  in worship with Allah things for which He has not

 sent down to you any authority. (So) which of  the two parties has more right to be in 

security? If you but know.” (Q. 6:81)    

                              Prophet Ibrāhīm (Abraham) a.s. argues with his people who worship idols telling them that he is not afraid of their idols as nothing would happen to him except Allah’s will, whereas the idols have no power over them. He asks them, which of the two parties is on the truth, those who worship Him in Whose Hand is harm and benefit, or those who worship idols which cannot bring harm or benefit, which of the two parties has more right to be saved from Allah’s torment in the Hereafter?

 

أَلَا تُقَاتِلُونَ قَوْمًا نَكَثُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ وَهَمُّوا بِإِخْرَاجِ الرَّسُولِ وَهُمْ بَدَءُوكُمْ أَوَّلَ

مَرَّةٍ أَتَخْشَوْنَهُمْ فَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَوْهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (التوبة:١٣)

Will you not fight a people (pagans of Makkah) who have violated their oaths and intended to expel the Messenger while they did not attack you first?

 Do you fear them? Allah has more right

 that you should fear Him if you are

 believers. (Q. 9:13)

 

                       This verse as well as verses that follows it encourage the Muslims to fight the idolaters, because: (1) They broke the terms of their covenants, aiding their allies Banī Bakr against Khuzā‘ah, the ally of the Prophet. This was resulted with the Prophet’s conquest of Makkah; (2) They intended to drive away the Prophet from his hometown Makkah. When he returned form ‘Ṭā’if calling its people to Islam, they did not allow him to enter the city. Fortunately, he was given asylum and protection by Muṭ‘im ibn ‘Adī with his sons, although they did not embrace Islam. (3) Although they knew that their caravan escaped safely, they still went ahead intending to fight the Muslims out of arrogance.

 

 In this verse Allah told the Prophet and the Muslims not to fear the enemy, but to fear Allah due to His might and punishment. Everything lies in His Hand.

 

يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ لَكُمْ لِيُرْضُوكُمْ وَاللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ يُرْضُوهُ إِنْ كَانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ (التوبة:٦٢)

They swear by Allah to you (Muslims) in

order to please you, but it is more fitting

that they should please Allah and His

Messenger (Muhammad s.a.w.), if

they are believers. (Q. 9:62)

 

 It is reported that a group of hypocrites gathered together, among them were al-Jallās  ibn Suwayd and Wadī‘ah ibn Thābit. One of them said; “If what Muhammad says is true, we are worse than donkeys.” A boy of the Anṣār (the inhabitants of Madinah who followed and supported the Prophet) called ‘Āmir ibn Qays heard the conversation became angry and said: “By Allah! What Muhammad says is true, and you are worse than donkeys.” Then he reported to the Prophet what he had heard. The man was called, and the Prophet asked him: “What made you say what you said?” The man invoked curses on himself and swore by Allah that the boy was lying, and he never said it.  But ‘Āmir swore by Allah that he was telling the truth, and prayed, ”O Allah! Assert the truth of the truthful and expose the lies of the liar.” The Allah revealed the above verse. 

 

 قُلْ هَلْ مِنْ شُرَكَائِكُمْ مَنْ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ قُلِ اللَّهُ يَهْدِي

 لِلْحَقِّ أَفَمَنْ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ أَحَقُّ أَنْ يُتَّبَعَ أَمَّنْ لَا يَهِدِّي إِلَّا

أَنْ يُهْدَى فَمَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ (يونس:٣٥)

 Say: “is there of your (Allah’s so-called) partners  one that guides to the truth?” Say: “It is Allah Who  guides to the truth. Is then He Who guides to the 

truth more worthy to be followed, or he who finds  not guidance (himself) unless he is guided?

 Then, what is the matter with you? 

How judge you?” (Q. 10:35) 

 

 This question is the continuation of the previous verse, namely, Allah told the Prophet to ask the idolators, if there is any of the idols who starts the creation of the heavens and the earth and all the creatures in them and repeat the process of creation. Allah told the Prophet further to tell the idolaters that it is Allah Alone Who created them without any partner.  How, then are they deluded away from the truth? 

 

The question continues with the above verse, whether the deities can guide those who are astray. It is Allah Alone, the creator who guides to the right path, and none has the right to be worshipped except Him. They believed that Allah Alone who created everything, the Lord of the universe, and this belief is called Tawḥīd al-Rubūbiyyah (the Oneness of the Lordship of Allah). But they worshipped idols and did not believe in “the Oneness of the worship of Allah”, called Tawḥīd al-Ulūḥiyyah.  They worshipped idols as mediators between them and Allah for the reason mentioned in the Qur’ān as follows:

 ... وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ

إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى...(الزمر:٣)

…. And those who take auliyā’ (protectors, helpers,

  lords, gods) besides Him (say): “We worship them only  that they may bring us near to Allah.” … (Q. 39:3)

 

             This belief and practice conflict with the concept of Allah’s omniscience and justice, and therefore they are still considered idolators rather than true believers.

Abū Hilāl al-‘Askarī and Ibn al-Jawzī did not include awlá as one of the meanings of  حَق  (ḥaqq)  most probably because it is actually the meaning of  أحَق (aḥaqq) which is easily understood  by the Arabs. However, Ibn al-Jawzī mentions eight more meanings of al-ḥaqq, as follows:

12. الْحَاَجة (al-ḥājah, need, desire, concern), as in the following verse:

قَالُوا لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا لَنَا فِي بَنَاتِكَ مِنْ حَقٍّ وَإِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ مَا نُرِيدُ (هود:٧٩)

They said: ‘Surely, you know that we have neither any desire nor need of your daughters, and indeed you know well what we want.  (Q. 11:79)

 

 When Prophet Lūṭ (Lot) a.s. told his people to marry the girls of the nation – as every prophet is the father of his nation - whom he called “his daughters” instead of males, they replied that they did not need them. They said that he knew well what they rweally wanted, namely, males. He was sent to the people of Sadūm )Sodom) and Amoura (Ghomorrah) who practiced homosexuality.

   

The story of Prophet Lūṭ (Lot) a.s. and the issue of homosexuality have been dealt with in more details in Khuṭab vii, under the topic “Prophet Lūṭ (Lot)‘s du‘ā (prayer) in the Qur’ān.” In the conclusion it is said that homosexuality in Islam is a disease, an abnormality which should be medically or psychologically treated, whatever the cause, either by nature or nurture.

 

13. الْبَيَان (al-bayān, explanation), as in the following verses:

قَالَ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌ لَا ذَلُولٌ تُثِيرُ الْأَرْضَ وَلَا تَسْقِي الْحَرْثَ مُسَلَّمَةٌ لَا شِيَةَ فِيهَا قَالُوا الْآنَ جِئْتَ بِالْحَقِّ فَذَبَحُوهَا وَمَا كَادُوا يَفْعَلُونَ (البقرة:٧١)

He [Mūsá (Moses)] said: “He says, ‘It is a cow

neither trained to till the soil nor water the fields,  sound, having no other colour except bright yellow.’” They said, “Now you have brought the truth.” So

they slaughtered it though they were near

to not doing it. (Q. 2:71)

 

This verse is referring to the story of the murdered Israeli man and the cow. It is from this story the surah (chapter) in it has been entitled al-Baqarah (the Cow).  Ibn Kathīr says that it is reported by ‘Ubaydah al-Salmānī, Abū ’l-‘Āliyah, al-Suddī and others with different versions, apparently taken from Jewish legends. Therefore, it can be quoted without confirming or denying it, except what agrees with what we consider true. The one reported by ‘Ubaydah al-Salmānī, one of the jurist of the tābi‘īn in Kufah, is as follows:

There was a rich man from among the Children

 of Israel and only a nephew who would inherit  from

 him. So, his nephew killed him, moved his body at

 night, and placed it at the doorstep of a man. The

 next morning, the nephew asked for revenge, and

 the people took up their weapons and almost killed

 each other. A wise man among them suggested to

 come to Prophet Moses mentioning the matter.

 Prophet Moses told them [as mentioned in the

 Qur’ān], as follows: “Verily, Allah commands you

 that you slaughter a cow.” They said, “Do you make

 fun of us?” He said, “I take Allah’s refuge from

 being among the ignorant (or foolish).” (Q. 2:17)

 

Had they not disputed, it would have been enough

to slaughter any cow. But they did, so that the

matter became more difficult for them, until they

end up looking for a specific cow owned by a man

who would sell it for its skin filled with gold. They

paid it, slaughtered it, and touched the dead man

 with a piece of it. He stood up, and they asked him,

 “Who killed you?” He said, “That man,” pointing

 to his nephew and died again. The nephew

 was not allowed to inherit him. Since then,

 the murderer was not allowed to

inherit whom he murdered.[12]

 

 They came to Prophet Moses four times instead of once which would be sufficient, due to their stubbornness. First, they asked him to solve their problem of finding the murderer. Allah told them to slaughter a cow, which means any cow. Second, they asked what kind of cow, so Allah told them that it was a cow neither too old, nor too young, and to do what they were told, namely, no more question. Third, they asked about the colour of the cow, while any colour would do. Allah told them, it should be yellow and bright in its colour, pleasant for the eyes to see. Fourth. Yet, they still asked further, as all cows were alike. Then Allah told them, a cow that neither trained to till the soil nor water the fields, and sound, with no blemish. They did, they were near not doing it, i.e., almost unable to do it (see the above verse).[13]

Then the verse continues with “And (remember) when you killed and disagreed among yourselves as to the crime”, (namely, they accused each other of the killing). But Allah brought forth that which you were hiding. So, We said: “Strike him (the dead man) with a piece of it (the cow) (any part of the cow will produce the miracle if it struck the dead man with it). Thus, Allah brings the dead to life. (They struck him with it, and he came back to life). Allah demonstrates His ability to bring the dead back to life and made it evidence of the occurrence of Resurrection to the Jews.[14]

 

وَكُلًّا نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الرُّسُلِ مَا نُثَبِّتُ بِهِ فُؤَادَكَ وَجَاءَكَ

 فِي هَذِهِ الْحَقُّ وَمَوْعِظَةٌ وَذِكْرَى لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ (120) وَقُلْ لِلَّذِينَ

 لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ اعْمَلُوا عَلَى مَكَانَتِكُمْ إِنَّا عَامِلُونَ (هود:١٢٠-١٢١ )

And all that We relate to you (O Muhammad s.a.w.)

of the news of the Messengers is in order that We may

  make strong and firm your heart thereby. And in this

 (chapter of the Qur’ān) has come to you the truth,

 as well as an admonition and a reminder for

 the believers. (Q. 11:120)

 In this sūrah (chapter) Allah relates the stories of Prophets in the past, namely, Nūḥ Noah), Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Shu‘ayb, Lūṭ (Lot), and Ibrāhīm (Abraham) for the following purposes: (a) to strengthen the heart of the Prophet, and (b) explaining what is the truth, as well as an admonition and a reminder for the believers. Then Allah concludes this chapter with what He starts it, namely, the injunction of worshipping Him, trusting in Him, and disregarding the enmity of the idolaters.

14. أمْرُالْكَعْبَة (amru ‘l-ka‘bah, the affair of the Ka‘bah), as in the following verse:

الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ

 فَرِيقًا مِنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ (البقرة:١٤٦)

Those to whom We gave the Scripture (Jews and 

Christians) recognize him (Muhammad s.a.w. or the

 Ka‘bah at Makkah) as they recognize their sons. But  verily, a party of them conceal the truth while they

 know it – [i.e. the qualities of Muhammad s.a.w. 

which are written in the Taurāt (Torah) and  he Injīl (Gospel)] (Q. 2:146)

 

                  There are two interpretations of the term al-ḥaqq in the above verse:

(a)    the qualities of Prophet Muhammad written in their Scriptures, but they conceal it. This is the view ofههMuijāhid and Qatādah among classical Qur’ānic commentators.

(b)     the Ka‘bah as the qiblah of all prophets, and the change of the dfirection og the qiblah from Jerusalem to the Ka‘bah in Makkah. This is the view of Ibn ‘Abbās, al-Rabī‘, Ibn Zayd, and al-Suddī, and in another report, Qatādah.  

 

Al-Ṭabarī’s commentary of the above verse is as follows:

It means that the Jewish rabbis and Christian

 scholars recognize that the Ka‘bah is their

qiblah, the qiblah of Abraham, and that of

 prophets before you, as they

 recognize their sons.

 

 Despite the difference of interpretation, both are applicable to the above verse. Both interpretations are acceptable and complement each other and increase our understanding of the above verse, as well as in other verses.

 

15. اِيْضَاح الْحَلَالِ وَالْحَرَام (īḍāḥu ‘l-ḥālāl wa ‘l-ḥarām, clarification of the ḥalāl and the ḥarām), as in the following verse:

ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ نَزَّلَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ وَإِنَّ الَّذِينَ اخْتَلَفُوا

 فِي الْكِتَابِ لَفِي شِقَاقٍ بَعِيدٍ (البقرة:١٧٦)

That is because Allah has sent down the Book

(the Qur’ān) in truth [clarifying the ḥalāl and the  ḥarām]. And verily, those who disputed

as regards the Book are far away

in opposition.  (Q. 2:176)

 

 The Jews of Madinah concealed the descriptions of Prophet Muhammad in their Book so that they would not lose their authority and position they had, and people would abandon them and follow him. In this way they purchased error at the price of guidance, the torment at the price of forgiveness. This is because Allah sent the Qur’ān in truth, and they disputed over the Book. Some commentators say that (1) the Christians claimed that the characteristic of Jesus was mentioned in the Torah, whereas the Jews denied it; (2) the Jews’ ancestors followed the Torah, whereas they did not; (3) the Jews denied the existence of the characteristic of Prophet Muhammad in the Torah; (4) the Makkan idolaters disputed over Prophet Muhammad, whether he was a magician, and that what he talked about were legends of the ancestors.

 

16. لاَ اله الا الله (lā ilāha illallāh, there is no god but Allah), as in the following verse:

لَهُ دَعْوَةُ الْحَقِّ وَالَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ لَا يَسْتَجِيبُونَ

 لَهُمْ بِشَيْءٍ إِلَّا كَبَاسِطِ كَفَّيْهِ إِلَى الْمَاءِ لِيَبْلُغَ فَاهُ وَمَا هُوَ بِبَالِغِهِ

وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ (الرعد:١٤)

For Him (Allah, Alone) is the Word of Truth (i.e. none  has the right to be worshipped but Allah). And those 

whom they (polytheists and disbelievers) invoke besides 

Him, answer them no more than one who stretches  forth his hand (at the edge of a deep well) for water

 to reach his mouth, but it reaches him not, and the  invocation of the disbelievers is nothing but  an error (i.e. of no use). (Q. 13:14)

 

 There is a parable here for the weakness of the idols of the idolaters. “For Him is the Word of Truth”[15] is referred to tawḥīd (monotheism), namely, “there is no god but Allah.” On the contrary, the example of those who worship others beside Allah is, as commented by ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, “like he who stretches his hand on the edger of a deep well to reach the water, although his hands do not reach it, so how can the water reach his mouth?” Similarly, the idolaters will never benefit from these idols in this life as well as in the Hereafter. Their invocation to any other than Allah is wrong and futile.

 

17. انْقِضَاءالْاجِل  (inqiḍā’u l-ajal, death), as in the following verse:

 

وَجَاءَتْ سَكْرَةُ الْمَوْتِ بِالْحَقِّ ذَلِكَ مَا كُنْتَ مِنْهُ تَحِيدُ (ق:.١٩)

And the stupor of death will come in truth: “That is 

What you have been avoiding!” (Q. 50:19)

 

Al-Ṭabarī mentions two interpretations of the above verse: (1) The stupor of death, namely, its severity and its frailty on human understanding, like inebriety from sleeping or drinking alcohol, will come with the truth of the affair of the Hereafter, and therefore it becomes clear to man so that he confirms and acknowledges it; (2) The stupor of death will come with the reality of death.

 

 The verse “That is what you have been avoiding” has two meanings: (a) what you have been trying to avert and flee from has come to you; (b) you have no way of escaping this end.

 

18. الْمُنْجَزْ (al-munjaz, the fulfilled one), as in the following verses:

  إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ

يُقَاتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَيَقْتُلُونَ وَيُقْتَلُونَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرَاةِ

 وَالْإِنْجِيلِ وَالْقُرْآنِ وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِعَهْدِهِ مِنَ اللَّهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُوا بِبَيْعِكُمُ

الَّذِي بَايَعْتُمْ بِهِ وَذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ (التوبة:١١١)

Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives  and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be  Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill

 (others) and are killed.[16] It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him in the Taurāt (Torah) and the Injīl  (Gospel) and the Qur’ān. And who is truer to his  covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain  which you have concluded. That

 is the supreme success.  (Q. 9:111)

 

 In this verse Allah states that He has compensated His believing servants for their lives and wealth with Paradise if they give them up in His cause. Those who fight in the cause of Allah are said to have conducted the sale with Allah, accepting and fulfilling his covenant. Whether they were killed or killed the enemy, or both, they will be admitted to Paradise.

 Allah states further that He affirms this promise which is to be fulfilled and has been decreed for Himself, revealed in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’ān.  According to al-Qurṭubī, the prescription of jihad and resisting the enemies had started in the time of Prophet Moses a.s.

 

قَالَ هَذَا رَحْمَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّي فَإِذَا جَاءَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي جَعَلَهُ

دَكَّاءَ وَكَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّي حَقًّا (الكهف:٩٨)

(Dhul-Qarnain) said: “This is a mercy from my Lord,  but when the Promise of my Lord comes, He shall

 level it down to the ground. And the Promise  of my Lord is ever true.” (Q. 18:98)

 

The above verse is referring to the statement of Dhū ’l-Qarnayn. The story of Dhū ’l-Qarnayn is mentioned in Q.  18:83-101, and Q. 21:96. He was a pious king who travelled West and East. Dhu'l-Qarnayn literally means "the possessor of two horns" is mentioned in the Quran, a righteous ruler.  As the term qarn means “a horn” as well as “a generation” (or “epoch” or “age” or “century”), Dhul-Qarnayn could mean having “two epochs.” As a horn symbolizes a source of power, ”the two horns”  may be taken as two sources of power, namely, the worldly might and kingship, and the spiritual strength resulting from his faith in Allah. Therefore, he could not be identified as Alexander the Great who was pagan. Some Indian, Pakistani and Iran Muslim scholars, such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Israr Ahmed, Mawdudi, and al-’Alāmah al-Ṭabāṭabāī identified him with the Persian king Cyrus the Great (d. 530 BC) as the king of Media and Persia. The Jewish priest Ezra (‘Uzayr) stated that he was a God worshipper and a God-fearing king.

When Dhū ’l-Qarnayn and his army reached a place between two mountains people asked him to build a wall that would keep Ya’jūj (Gog) and Ma’jūj (Magog)[17] from attacking them. Then, he asked them to bring him men and tools to erect the barrier between them. He told them to put piles of ingots of iron (instead of bricks) to fill the gap between the two mountain sides. The he told them to light fire and pour molten copper (instead of bricks) upon it. This wall was so strong that the enemy were unable to scale it with escalators or dig through it with axes or picks. he location of this wall is in Kyrgyzstan covered with snow.

Then Dhū ’l-Qarnayn said: “This is a mercy from my Lord,” namely, Allah the Almighty decreed this to be a mercy from Him to His slaves that they would no longer be assaulted by Gog and Magog. “But when the Promise of my

Lord comes,” namely, the time He decided for them (Gog and Magog) to demolish it and get out and they swoop down from every mound attacking mankind near the Last Hour, “He shall level it down to the ground” and this will inevitably take place, as He says, “And the Promise of my Lord is ever true,” in other words, He will fulfil His promise.

19. الْجُرْم (al-jurm, offense, crime, sin; بِغَيْرحَقّ, lit. “without rightness”), as in the following verses:

 

... ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ

ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ (البقرة:٦١)

…. That was because they used to disbelieve the

 Āyāt (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs,  revelations, etc.) of Allah and killed the Prophets wrongfully. That was because they disobeyed 

and used to transgress the bounds (in their  disobedience to Allah, i.e. commit  crimes and sins)  (Q. 2:61)

 

  This verse is referring to the Children of Israelههin humiliation and misery.  According to al-Suddī the kind of misery in the verse is poverty. They also deserve Allah’ angerه because of their defiance of the truth, their disbelief in Allah’s signs and proofs, their rejection of messengers sent to them, and even killed them wrongfully. Ibn ‘Abbās and al-Ḥasan said that these prophets were killed, because they were not ordered to fight. Otherwise, Allah would help them to win.

 

 ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ بِغَيْر ِحَقٍّ

ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ (آل عمران:١١٢)

… this is because they disbelieved in the Āyāt (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of

 Allah and killed the Prophets without right.  This is  because they disobeyed (Allah) and used to transgress beyond bounds (in Allah’s disobedience,

 crimes and sins). (Q. 3:112)

 

 There is similarity between this verse and the previous one. The only difference is وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ in the previous one, whereas وَيَقْتُلُونَ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ بِغَيْر ِحَقٍّ  in the second.

                

  Dr. Fāḍil al-Sāmarrā’ī in his book Lamasāt Bayāniyyah (“Illustrative Marks”) gives us grammatical rules to make the distinction between the two verses, as follows: The term نَبيِ (nabī, a prophet) has two plurals:

(a)نَبِيِيْن  , نَبِيُّوْن   (nabiyyūn, nabiyyīn , prophets), regular plural  (جمع السلامة) belonging to جمع القلة (plural of paucity) for persons or things whose number is between three and ten.

 

(b)    أنْبِيَاء (anbiyā’, prophets),  broken plural  (جمع التكسير) belonging to جمع الكثرة (plural of multitude), for persons or

things whose number is more than ten.[18]

 However, if there is no broken plural, then the number cannot be limited any longer to ten, but it means plural in general sense without limitation, either plural of paucity or plural of multitude. For example, in Q. 33:35 regular plural is used, either for masculine or feminine gender for males and females but for unlimited number. For example, there is no broken plural for مُسْلِمْ )a male Muslim) or مُسْلِمَة (a female Muslim). They have regular plural only, namely, مُسْلِمُوْن    or مُسْلِمِيْن (male Muslims), andمُسْلِمَات  (female Muslims). Muslims). The verse was revealed after Ummu Salamah asked the Prophet, “Why is that we are not mentioned in the Qur’ān as men are?” Then the verse was revealed mentioning male Muslims and female Muslims, male believers and female believers, …etc. [19]

          The difference between بغيرالحق (bi-ghayr al-ḥaqq)  and بغيرحق  (bi-ghayr ḥaqq) is as follows: 

a.    In بغيرالحق (bi-ghayr al-ḥaqq) the term al-ḥaqq is a definite noun, as “al” means “the”. Therefore, the expression means “without THE right (reason or justification) required for the killing.”  In other words, they have reasons for the killing, but all are unacceptable.

 

b.   In بغيرحق (bi-ghayr ḥaqq) the term ḥaqq is an indefinite noun, as there is no ”al-“ with it. Therefore, the expression means, “without ANY justification for the killing.” In other words, they have no reason at all for the killing.

   

The difference between the two verses mentioned above is as follows:

 (1) وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِالْحَقِّ  … and they killed the prophets whose number is between three to ten,  without the acceptable reasons given by them. So, they killed less than ten prophets without justified or valid reason required for the killing, whatever it is.

 

(2)  وَيَقْتُلُونَ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ بِغَيْر ِحَقٍّ … and they killed prophets whose number is more than ten, without ANY reason at all. This is worse than the first one: more prophets were killed, and without ANY reason or motive.

 

 

Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī’s view on the Meanings of  al-Ḥaqq and  Its Derivatives in the Qur’ān

 

                 The meanings of the term ḥaqq and its derivatives in the

Qur’ān as mentioned by al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 502/1109) in his Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qur’ān are as follows:

 

                The original meaning of al-ḥaqq is al-muṭābaqah wa ’l-muwāfaqah (agreement, conformity, congruity, suitability, correspondence, fitness). He divides it into four aspects:

 

a. It is said of the creator of thing, where wisdom is required and therefore, Allah is called al-Ḥaqq  (the Truth), as in the following Qur’ānic verses:        

 

هُنَالِكَ تَبْلُو كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا أَسْلَفَتْ وَرُدُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ مَوْلَاهُمُ الْحَقِّ

 وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (يونس:٣٠)

There! Every person will know (exactly) what he had 

earned before and they will be brought back to Allah,

 their rightful Mawla (Lord), and their invented false  deities will vanish from them (Q. 10:30)

 

Here “the Right Mawla” means “Allah”

 

                                فَذَلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمُ الْحَقُّ فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلَّا الضَّلَالُ

فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُونَ (يونس:٣٢)

 

Such is Allah, your Lord in truth. So after the

 truth, what else can there be, save error?

 How then are you turned away?  (Q. 10:32)

 

Here “your Lord in Truth” means “Allah.’

 

b. It is said of the created thing, in accordance with the requirement of wisdom. Therefore, all of Allah’s deeds are   ḥaqq, such as death and resurrection, as in the following verses:                                                                                                          

 

 هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الشَّمْسَ ضِيَاءً وَالْقَمَرَ نُورًا وَقَدَّرَهُ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعْلَمُوا عَدَدَ السِّنِينَ وَالْحِسَابَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ... ِ(يونس:٥)

It is He Who made the sun a shining thing and

the moon as a light and measured out of it stages

 that you might know the number of years

and the reckoning. Allah did not create

 this but in truth… (Q. 10:5)’

 

Here “Allah did not create this but in truth” means “the creation of them is with wisdom.”

 

 وَيَسْتَنْبِئُونَكَ أَحَقٌّ هُوَ قُلْ إِي وَرَبِّي إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ...(يونس:٥٣)

And they ask you ( Muhammad) to inform them,

(saying): “Is it true (i.e. the torment and the  establishment of the Hour – the Day of  Resurrection)?” Say: “Yes! By my

Lord! It is  the very

truth!...” (Q. 10:53)

 

Here “It is the very truth” means “the creation of torment and the Resurrection are with wisdom”

 

 لَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا

مِنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ (البقرة:١٤٦)

Those whom We have the Scripture (Jews and 

Christians) recognise him (Muhammad or the

 Ka‘bah at Makkah) as recognize their sons. But  verily, a party of them conceal the truth while

 they know it – [i.e. the qualities of Muhammad 

which are written in the Taurāt (Torah) and  the Injīl (Gospel) (Q. 2: 146)

 

Here “a party of them conceal the truth” means “they conceal the creation of the Ka ‘bah or Prophet Muhammad is with wisdom.”

 

الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ (البقرة:١٤٧)

(This is) the truth from your Lord. So be you  not one of those who doubt (Q. 2:147)

Here “the truth from your Lord” means the creation of the Ka‘ bah or Prophet Muhammad is with wisdom.

 

مِنْ حَيْثُ خَرَجْتَ فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَإِنَّهُ لَلْحَقُّ

 مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ (البقرة:١٤٩)

And from wheresoever you start forth (for  prayers), turn your face in the direction of

 al-Masjidil Haram (at Makkah), that is indeed  the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not  unaware of what you do (Q. 2:149)

 

We have seen in the above Qur’ānic verses the term ḥaqq refer to Allah’s creature created with His wisdom.

 

c.    It is said of believing in something, which is agreeing with the thing itself (i.e., the fact), such as somebody’s belief in resurrection, reward and punishment, Paradise and Hellfire, such belief is Haqq. For example:

 

 ... فَهَدَى اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ مِنَ الْحَقِّ بِإِذْنِهِ...(البقرة:٢١٣)

… Then Allah by His leave guided those who

believed in the truth of that wherein

they differed… (Q. 2:213).

 

Here “believed in the truth” means “believed in fact and reality.”

 

d.   It is said of deed and saying which is in accordance with the fact, such as saying, “What you have done is ḥaqq (true), and what you have said is ḥaqq (true).” For example:

 

كَذَلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا أَنَّهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ (يونس:٣٣)

Thus is the Word of your Lord justified against those  who rebel disobey Allah) that they will not believe

 (in the Oneness of Allah and in Muhammad  as the Messenger of Allah) (Q. 10:33)

 

 Here “the Word of Your Lord is justified” means “His word is true.”

 

 وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَآتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا وَلَكِنْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ مِنِّي

لَأَمْلَأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ (السجدة:١٣)

And if We had willed, surely We would have given  every person his guidance, but the Word from Me

took effect (about evil doers), that I will fill Hell

 with jinn and mankind together. (Q. 32:13)

 

Here “the Word from Me took effect” means “His Word is

true."

 

وَلَوِ اتَّبَعَ الْحَقُّ أَهْوَاءَهُمْ لَفَسَدَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ وَمَنْ فِيهِنَّ...(المؤمنون:٧١)

And if the truth had been in accordance

With their desires, verily, theهheavens and

the earth, and whosoever is therein would

have been corrupted! … (Q. 23:71)

 

In this verse, according to al-Iṣfahānī, it is correct to say that the term al-ḥaqq means “Allah”[20] or the decree which is in accordance with the requirement of wisdom. It is like saying, أحْقَقْتُ كَذا  means أْثْبَتُّهُ حَقَّا which means “I confirmed it to be true”  أَوْ حَكَمْتُ بِكَوْنِهِ  حَقٌّا  or “I have decided that it is true.”

 

 Regarding the term لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَ (“to cause the truth to triumph” or “to make truth prevail) in the following verse,

 

لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ وَيُبْطِلَ الْبَاطِلَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُجْرِمُونَ (الْانفال:٨)

That He might cause the truth to triumph and  bring falsehood to nothing, even though the

Mujrimūun (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners,  criminals) hate it. (Q. 8:8)

 

al-Iṣfahānī mentions two ways, as follows:

 

a. by showing the evidence and the āyāt (Qur’ānic verses), such as the following verse:

 

 ... وَأُولَئِكُمْ جَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَانًا مُبِينًا (النساء:٩١)

 

… In their case, We have provided you with  a clear warrant against them (Q. 4:91)

 

The expression   سُلْطَانًا مُبِينًا in this verse means حجة قوية (strong competent authority) which is also the view of ‘Ikrimah and al-Suddī, translated by Asad as clear authority.” It is an authority given by Allah to the Prophet to kill a group of hypocrites mentioned in the beginning of this verse.

 

 b.  by perfecting the Sharī‘ah (Islamic law) and disseminating it to the whole people, as in the following verses:

 

 يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِئُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ

وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُون (الصف:٨)

They intend to put out the Light of Allah

 (i.e. the religion of Islam, the Qur’ān, and

 the Prophet Muhammad) with their mouths.

 But Allah will bring His Light to perfection

 even though the disbelievers

 hate (it) (Q. 61:8).

  هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ ِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ (التوبة:٣٣)

It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad)  with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to

 make it superior over all religions even though the 

Mushrikūn (polytheists, pagans, idolater,

 disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah)  hate (it) (Q. 9:33)

 

الْحَاقَّةُ . مَا الْحَاقَّةُ  (الْحَاقَّةُ:١-٢)

The Inevitable (i.e. the Day of Resurrection).

 What is the Inevitable? (Q. 69:1-2).

 

The Inevitable is referred to the following verse:

 

يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (المطففين:٦)

 The Day that (all) mankind will stands before  the Lord of the ‘Ālamīn (Mankind, jinn and  all that exists) (Q. 83:6)

 

      Al--Iṣfahānī states further that the Day of Resurrection is called الْحَاقَّةُ (the Inevitable), because on that day the recompense becomes entitled for any deed in this world.

 

The expression فُلَانٌ نَزِقَ الْحِقَاق (So-and-so is hasty in the case) if he argues in small things. The Arabic expression  حَاقَقْتهُ ُفَحَقَّقْتُهُ which means “I argued with him about the truth, and I defeated him”   . (خَاصَمْتهُ فيِ الْحَقِّ فغَلَبْتهُ)

 

The term ḥaqq is used for things incumbent as well as possible, such as:

 

...  وَكَانَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نَصْرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (الروم:٤٧)

 …; and (as for) the believers, it was incumbent upon Us to help (them) (Q. 30:47)

 

حَقِيقٌ عَلَى أَنْ لَا أَقُولَ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ قَدْ جِئْتُكُمْ

بِبَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ فَأَرْسِلْ مَعِيَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

(الاعراف:١٠٥)

“Proper it is for me that I say nothing

 concerning Allah but the truth. Indeed

I have come to you from your Lord with

 a clear proof. So let the Children of

  Israel depart along with

 me.” (Q. 7:105)

 

 This was the statement of Prophet Moses a.s. to the Pharaoh. In this verse the term ḥaqīq means jadīr (proper, appropriate).  Instead of ḥaqīqun ‘alá as above, it is also read ḥaqīqun ‘alayya so that it means “it is incumbent to me”

 

 ... وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ إِنْ أَرَادُوا إِصْلَاحًا...(البقرة:٢٢٨)

… And their husbands have the better right  to take back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation… (Q. 2:228)

 

Then al-Iṣfahānī explains the meanings and the use of the term ḥaqīqah (truth, fact, reality) in the Arabic expression. He says that it is used sometimes to indicate something firm and exists, such as in the ḥadīth of the Prophet when he said to Ḥārith,لِكًلِّ حَقّ حَقِيْقَةٌ, فمَاحَقِيْقَة إيْمَانِكَ؟   (For every truth there is fact, then what is the reality of your faith?) which means “how do we know that what you have claimed to have faith to be true?” Besides the use of ḥaqīqah for i‘tiqād  (belief), it is also used for ‘amal (deed) and qawl (saying), for example,فلانٌ لِفِعْلِهِ حَقِيْقَةٌ (“So-and-so is truthful in his work”) if he does not show off in doing it, andفُلاِن لِقَوْلِهِ حَقِيْقَة ٌ (“So-and-so is truthful in his statement”) if he does not understate or overstate it. The term ḥaqīqah is also used for the opposite of metaphor, wider sense, such as the expression الدُّنْيَا بَاطِلٌ وَالْاخِرَةُ حَقِيْقَةٌ (“The world is deception, and the Hereafter is real”) to indicate the perishability of the world and the eternity of the Hereafter.

 

Conclusion:

 In this paper I have explains the views of classical commentators of the Qur’ān on the term ḥaqq in the Qur’ān as collected in the writings of scholars of later generations. They are the tābi‘īn (people belonging to the generation after that of the ṣaḥābah (companions of the Prophet). They are the students of the ṣaḥābah from whom they learned about Islam, especially the tafsīr (commentary) of the Qur’ān.

 

After the death of the Prophet many of the ṣaḥābah left Madīnah, and people learned Islam from them, including the   tafsīr of the Qur’ān.  In Makkah he was the Prophet’s cousin ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Abbās who was considered the most knowledgeable scholar of the tafsīr. Among his students were:  Mujāhid ibn Jabr, ‘Ikrimah (his freed slave), ‘Aṭā’ ibn Abī Rabāh, Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, al-A‘raj, and  Ṭāwus ibn Kaysān.  In al-Madīnah he was the companion who was one of the Prophet’s scribe was Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, and among his students were: Zayd ibn Aslam, Abū ’i-‘Āliyah, and Muiḥammad ibn Ka‘b al-Quraẓī. In Kufah he was the Prophet’s companion ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, and among his students were: Qatadah ibn Di ‘āmah al-Sadūsī, ‘Alqamah ubn Qays, and alSha‘bī. From these scholars we learn much about the meanings of of the Qur’ān.

 

             Various interpretations of the term al-ḥaqq were given here, and it is normal to be so, as it is depending on the commentator’s deep understanding of the text, or as he received from his teacher.  The term ḥaqq itself has multiple meanings:  true, real, possession, rightness, sound, valid, etc. and in the Qur’ān nineteen meanings have been given here. It happens many times that the meanings of ḥaqq in a single verse is liable to many interpretations which broaden our understanding of the text.

 In the second part of this paper, I include the explanation of al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī on the meanings of al-ḥaqq and its derivatives in the Qur’ān in his dictionary of the words of the Qur’ān entitled Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qur’ān. He divides systematically the verses in question into four parts with brief commentary: (a) referring to the creator, Allah; (b) referring to the creature, such as the sun, the moon, Prophet Muhammad, and the Hereafter; (c) referring to belief, such as the resurrection, Paradise and Hell; (d) referring to deed and saying which are definitely to take place.

 

(Turner, 20/01/2021)

 

المراجع:

المكتبة الشاملة 

تفسير الطبري (ت. ٣١٠/۹٢٢)

تفسير القرطبى (٦١١ - ٦٧١ هـ / ١٢١٤ - ١٢٧٣ م)

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. ٧٧٤/ ١٣٧٣)

الراغب الأصفهاني. (ت. ٥٠٢/١١٠۹) مُفْرَدَاتُ أَلْفَاظِ الْقُرْآن

محمد الدامغاني (ت. ٤٧٨ هـ). قاموس القرآن أو إصلاح الوجوه والنظائر

مقاتل بن سليمان (ت. ١٥٠هـ). الوجوه والنظائر في القرآن العظيم

أبو هلال العسكري المعتزلي (ت. ۳۹٥ هـ). كتاب الوجوه والنظائر

عبد الرحمن ابن الجوزي (ت. ٥٩٧ هـ). نزهة الأعين النواظر

هارون بن موسى القارئ (ت. 170 ه).  الوجوه والنظائر في القرآن الكريم

الدكتور فاضل السامرائي. لمَسَات بَيَانِيَّة.

Muhammad Asad. The Message of the Qur’ān

Bible. New International Version

https://www.facebook.com/1551389945080744/post

1591825391037199/ https://www.zyadda.com/who-are-the-book-ofrevelation/     

www.nameaning.net/both/Dhul

https://vb.tafsir.net/online 


[1] Abū 'Alī Muḥammad al-Jubbā'ī (d. 303/915–16)) was a Persian Mu'tazilī theologian and philosopher.

[2] Abū al-Ḥasan 'Alī Ibn Muḥammad Ibn Ḥabīb al-Māwardī (364-450/972-1058), known in Latin as Alboacen, was an Islamic jurist of the Shāfi‘ī school. He is best known for his treatise on "The Ordinances of Government." (al-Aḥkām al-Sulṭāniyyah wa 'l-Wilāyāt al-Dīniyyah).

[3] Several commentators stated that the prominent persons meant among the Quraysh in Makkah and al-Ṭā’if are: According to Qatādah: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah (Abū Jahl’s uncle) in Makkah, and ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ūd al-Thaqafī  in al-Ṭā’if. According to Mujāhid: ‘Utbah ibn Rabī‘ah in Makkah, and ‘Umayr ibn ‘Abd Yālayl al-Thaqafī in al-Ṭā’if.  According to Ibn ‘Abbās al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah in Makkah, and Ḥabīb ibn ‘Amr al-Thaqafī in al-Ṭā’if.

[4] Al-Farrā’ was of Persian origin and the first grammarian of the Kūfan school who continuously discussed grammatical problems in the verses of the Qur’ān in his book Ma‘ānī ’l- Qur’ān. 

[5] Ma‘ānī ’l-Qur’ān, vol.1, p. 385.

[6] Abū ‘Ubaydah Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthanná was of Jewish-Persian origin and one of the leading philologists of the Baṣran school. His main study was the rare expressions of the Arabs his book Majāz al- Qur’ān.

[7] Majāz al- Qur’ān, vol. 1, pp. 220-221. The Lebanese people call their medical doctor الْحَكِيْم (al-ḥakīm, lit. “the wise man”) in their slang for the Arabic word الطَّبِيْب  (al-ṭabīb).

[8] The verse runs as follows: “No doubt, surely all that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. No doubt, surely Allah’s Promise is true.  But most of them know not.” (Q. 10:55). The idolaters will be punished in the Hereafter, that is Allah’s promise, but most of them do not now it. Even if they have the heavens and the earth as ransom, Allah will not accept it, let alone if they have nothing at that time as ransom to save them from the punishment.

[9] The verse runs as follows: “So be patient (O Muhammad s.a.w.). Verily, the Promise of Allah is true, and let not those who have no certainty of faith discourage you from conveying Allah’s Message (which you are obliged to convey).” (Q. 30:60). Be patient with their ill treatment in conveying Allah’s Message. Allah has promised you with victory over them.

[10] A similar verse is وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا أَفَأَنْتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ (يونس:٩٩) (“and had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you (O Muhammad s.a.w.) them compel mankind until they become believers?” (Q. 10:99).

[11] Commenting the verse in question al-Ṭabarī says that Allah creates them with truth means with justice, not with injusticeبالعدل والإنصاف، لا بالظلم والجور) ), and  al-Qurṭubī says that they are not created to be extinct  (لا للزوال والفناء) and mentions a view that they are created to recompense  the good doer as well as the evil doer, as mentioned in the Qur’ān, وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا بِالْحُسْنَى) النجم:٣١)  “And to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, that He may requite those who do evil with that which they have done (i.e. punish them in Hell), and reward those who do good, with what is best (i.e. Paradise)” (Q. 53:31)

[12]  This is also in Islamic law, that whoever kills a person, intentionally or unintentionally, is not allowed to inherit whom he killed, as in the following poem:

وَيَمْنَعُ الشَّخْصَ مِنَ الْمِيراثِ *  وَاحِدةٌ مِنْ عِلَلٍ ثَلاثِ

 رِقٌّ، وَقتْلٌ، واخْتِلافُ دِينِ  *  فَافْهَمْ؛ فَلَيْسَ الشَّكُّ كَاليَقِينِ

متن الرحبية في المواريث

تأليف أبي عبد الله محمد بن علي بن محمد بن الحسن الرحبي

 

[13]  In Mosaic law that in certain cases of unsolved murder a cow should be sacrificed, and the elders of the town nearest to the body of the murdered person should wash their hands over the cow, “and shall declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom, O Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.’ So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is tight in the eyes of the Lord.” For further details, see Deuteronomy 21:1-9).  

[14] Muhammad Asad, following the view of Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Abduh, does not accept the view of reviving the dead person in this above story. The Old Testament quoted before did not mention it. He translates the verse indicating the revival of the dead in the following verse, فَقُلْنَا اضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا كَذَلِكَ يُحْيِي اللَّهُ الْمَوْتَى وَيُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ (البقرة:٧٣) “Thus Allah brings the dead to life and shows you His Āyāt (proofs, evidences, etc.) so that you may understand (Q. 2:73) as: “… In this way God saves lives from death and shows you His will, so that you might [learn to] use your reason.” He says that “God gives life to the dead” is a figurative expression denoting the saving of lives. “In this context it refers to the prevention of bloodshed and the killing of innocent person (Manār I, 351), be it through individual acts of revenge, or in result of an erroneous judicial process based on no more than vague suspicion and possibly misleading circumstantial evidence.”  M. Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān, p.16, n.58.

[15] Asad says that as al-ḥaqq (the truth) is one of the Qur’ānic attributes of Allah he translates it here as the Ultimate Truth “signifying the Ultimate Reality or Primal Cause of all that exists (the Ungrund in German philosophical terminology; …” The Message of the Qur’ān,  p. 361, n. 30.

[16] Instead of fayaqtulūna wa yuqtalūna (“so they kill and are killed”) the Qur’ān reciters al-Nakha‘ī, al-A‘mash, Ḥamzah, al-Kisā’ī and Khalaf read fayuqtalūna wa yaqtulūna (“so they are killed and kill”) in inversion, mentioning the object first, then the subject, like the pre-Islamic poet Imru’ l-Qays in his poem said ,”تقتلونا نقتلكم  فإن  ...”,  (“So, if you kill us we kill you”)

[17] Gog and Magog are also mentioned in the Bible: Genesis x, 2; Chronicles i, 5; Ezekiel xxxviii, 2 and xxxix, 6; Revelation of St. John xx, 8.  They were wild tribes of Central Asia known by different names, Scythians, Parthians, Tartars, Mongols, and Huns. They were among the signs of the approach of the Last Hour. According to M. Asad, “… it is most logical to assume (especially on the basis of 21:96-97) that the term Yājūj and Mājūj are purely allegorical, applying not to any specific tribes or beings but to a series of social catastrophes which would cause a complete destruction of man’s civilization before the coming of the Last Hour. The Message of the Qur’ān, p. 454, n. 100. The Qur’ānic verses 21:96-97 run as follows: “Until, when Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj (Gog and Magog people) are let loose (from their barrier), and they swoop down from every mound. And the true promise (Day of Resurrection) shall draw near (of fulfillment). Then (when mankind is resurrected from the graves), you shall see the eyes of the disbelievers fixedly staring in horror. (They will say:) ‘Woe unto us! We were indeed heedless of this – nay, but we were Zālimūn (polytheists and wrong doers)’”

[18] Dr. Fāḍil al-Sāmarrā’ī cites the view of Dr. Aḥmad al-Kubaysī who says that the term نَبِيِيْن is used when they are giving prophecy, whereas أنْبِيَاء is used after they have become prophets.

[19]  The verse referred to is as follows:  إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا (الأحزاب:٣٥٠) “Verily, the Muslims (those who submit to Allah in Islam) men and women, the believers men and women (who believe in Islamic Monotheism), the men and the women who are obedient (to Allah), the men and the women who are truthful (in their speech and deeds), the men and the women who are patient (in performing all the duties which Allah has ordered and in abstaining from all that Allah has forbidden), the men and the women who are humble (before their Lord – Allah), the men and the women who give Ṣadaqāt (i.e. Zakāt and alms), the men and the women who observe Ṣawm (fast) (the obligatory fasting during the month of Ramadan, and the optional Nawafil  fasting), the men and the women who guard their chastity (from illegal sexual acts), and the men and the women who remember Allah much with their hearts and tongues. Allah – has prepared for them forgiveness and great reward (i.e. Paradise).” (Q. 33:35

[20] This is the view of Mujāhid, Ibn Jurayj, Abū Ṣāliḥ and others.  This is also the view of al-Naḥḥās   who says that الْحَقّ means   صَاحِبُ الْحَق  (the Owner of the Truth). Another view says that al-ḥaqq is the Qur’ān as the words of Allah. 

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