The Table (Al-Ma’idah)
Verses 41 GROUP_173 5.41
41
يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ لاَ يَحْزُنكَ الَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْكُفْرِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُواْ آمَنَّا بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قُلُوبُهُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ هِادُواْ سَمَّاعُونَ لِلْكَذِبِ سَمَّاعُونَ لِقَوْمٍ آخَرِينَ لَمْ يَأْتُوكَ يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ مِن بَعْدِ مَوَاضِعِهِ يَقُولُونَ إِنْ أُوتِيتُمْ هَـذَا فَخُذُوهُ وَإِن لَّمْ تُؤْتَوْهُ فَاحْذَرُواْ وَمَن يُرِدِ اللّهُ فِتْنَتَهُ فَلَن تَمْلِكَ لَهُ مِنَ اللّهِ شَيْئًا أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُرِدِ اللّهُ أَن يُطَهِّرَ قُلُوبَهُمْ لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَلَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Messenger, do not be grieved by those who vie with one another in denying the truth; those who say with their tongues, ‘We believe,’ but have no faith in their hearts; from among the Jews also, there are those who listen eagerly to any lies. They listen to you to convey to others [religious leaders] who do not come to you [out of pride and conceit]. They [these leaders] take words out of their context and say, ‘If this be given to you, receive it, but if not, then beware!’ If anyone’s trial is intended by God, you cannot in the least prevail against God on his behalf. Those whose hearts God does not intend to purify shall be subjected to disgrace in this world and a severe punishment in the Hereafter.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) Within Madinah there were two kinds of people who opposed the Islamic mission—one the hypocrites and the other the Jews. The hypocrites, feeling that the real Islamic mission was harmful to their interests and purposes, merely put on a show of having adopted Islam. The Jews for their part, occupying as they did the thrones of the representatives of religion, felt that the Islamic mission was pulling them down from their elevated positions. Both these types of people considered the true Islamic mission to be their common enemy. Therefore, they joined hands in running a campaign against Islam. The more prominent of them, considering it beneath their dignity to attend meetings held by the Prophet Muhammad, stayed away from them, but their inferiors were set the task of hearing him and conveying the happenings to their leaders. These people used then to invest them with wrong meanings in order to defame him and his mission. Their arrogance had made them so brazen that they did not hesitate to take God’s message out of its proper context and draw from it inferences which suited their interests. Such are those who do not bow to God and His Prophet, their attitude being to accept only whatever suits their interests. This is the most disturbing trend for a man. Those who give preference to their vested interests and personal consider- ations over the Truth, who want to see themselves in high positions at any cost, who devise destructive plots to suppress the Truth — to the point of distorting God’s message to justify their action — develop a mentality which blocks their capacity to accept the Truth. They desert God, so God deserts them. Such people, being deprived of God’s guidance, remain enmeshed in falsehood, until they reach the world of the Fire. The servant of God, who has arisen with the message of God’s true religion, should not become discouraged by opposition. The activities of opponents are not actually against the missionary but against God, and can therefore never be successful. What God requires from missionary activity is that people should be made fully aware of the real facts. And this task is certainly fulfilled with God’s assistance.