Pars Today

Salaam, and welcome to our weekly episode of “Path towards Enlightenment”, which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an that was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

Last week we took up explanation of Surah Mumtahanah, which means “the Woman Tested”. Revealed in Medina regarding the examining of the faith of migrant women who renounce paganism and accept Islam, it has 13 Ayahs and is number 60 in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an. Today we complete it, and here are Ayahs 7, 8, and 9:

“It may be that Allah will bring about affection between you and those with whom you are at enmity, and Allah is All-Powerful, and Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.

Allah does not forbid you from dealing with kindness and justice with those [polytheists] who did not make war against you on account of religion and did not expel you from your homes; indeed Allah loves the just.

Allah forbids you only in regard to those who made war against you on account of religion and expelled you from your homes and supported [the polytheists of Mecca] in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them—it is they who are the wrongdoers.”

If you might recall, last Friday in our explanation of the previous Ayahs of this Surah we said that it was not possible for a person to claim to be obedient to God and the Prophet as well as those who are the enemies of faith and believers, even if they happen to be relatives. Bonds based upon religion take precedence over family bonds, and are thus the deciding factor for one’s salvation towards the bliss of Paradise or fall into the bowels of Hell. We also said that the words and deeds of the Prophets are Divine inspiration and they are thus the practical exemplars or role model for all of us, especially for the believers.

The Ayahs that we recited to you tell the Muslims who had migrated from Mecca to Medina that your polytheist relatives of Mecca may embrace Islam in the near future and that enmity will turn into friendship. God does not forbid the believers from having ties and doing good in a just manner with those non-Muslims, who neither confronted Muslims nor drove them out of their homeland. He solely forbids you to refrain from befriending those who fought against you because of your faith and drove you out of your homeland or contributed to your being driven out, and whoever befriends them is a wrongdoer disobeying Allah's Command.

These Ayahs teach us that:

The criterion for kindness or enmity between Muslims and others are religious teachings, on whose basis non-Muslims who have not mistreated Muslims should be dealt with affection, while those who confronted the believers should be disavowed.

If the enemies end their hostility we should overlook their misbehavior of the past.

Islam is the religion of justice even towards disbelievers.

Charity and good deeds should cover the needy disbelievers as well.

Now let us listen to Ayahs 10 and 11 of the same Surah:

“O you who have faith! When faithful women come to you as immigrants, test them. Allah knows best [the state of] their faith. Then, if you ascertain them to be [genuinely] faithful women, do not send them back to the faithless. They are not lawful for them (the polytheists), nor are they lawful (the polytheists) for them, but give them what [dowry] they have spent [for them]. There is no sin upon you in marrying them when you have given them their dowries. Do not hold on to [conjugal] ties with faithless women. Demand [from the infidels] what you have spent [as dowries], and let the faithless demand [from you] what they have spent [as dowries]. That is Allah’s judgment; He judges between you, and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

If anything [of the dowries] pertaining to your wives is not reclaimed from the faithless and then you have your turn, then give to those whose wives have left (them) the like of what they have spent, and be wary of Allah in whom you have faith.”

These Ayahs discuss conjugal relations of a couple when one of them becomes faithless while the other one is faithful. If an emigrant woman seeks refuge with the Muslims she should be examined, and in case her belief is ascertained she should not be handed over to the disbelievers. Islam, however, is the faith of justice and neither leaves the emigrant woman on her own, nor ignores the right of the disbeliever husband, who should be reimbursed for what he had spent upon her,

These Ayahs teach us the following points:

A husband cannot force the wife to follow his faith.

Conjugal life ends between a couple if either has become faithless.

If an infidel woman claims to have become Muslim, her case ought to be thoroughly examined to ascertain the reason, whether it is sincerity or not more than mere passionate attachment to a Muslim man; or still a case of espionage.

The rights of non-Muslims ought to be observed, irrespective of their belief.

We conclude this week’s episode of “Path towards Enlightenment” by presenting you the last two Ayahs of Surah Mumtahanah, 12 and 13:

“O Prophet! If faithful women come to you, to take the oath of allegiance to you, [pledging] that they shall not ascribe any partners to Allah, that they shall not steal, nor commit adultery, nor kill their children, nor utter any slander that they may have intentionally fabricated, nor disobey you in what is right, then accept their allegiance, and plead for them to Allah for forgiveness; indeed Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful.

O you who have faith! Do not befriend a people at whom Allah is wrathful: they have despaired of the Hereafter, just as the faithless have despaired of the occupants of the graves.”

These Ayahs pertain to the faithless women who claimed to have accepted Islam at the peaceful surrender of Mecca to the Muslims. Certain conditions have to be met before accepting Islam, as is evident in the Ayah itself, which forbids the wife to steal from her husband, commit adultery in his absence, abort the pregnancy, indulge in slander and several other evils, which should be cleansed from the society in order to make the Islamic environment sound and healthy.

From these Ayahs we learn that:

In Islam, a woman is an independent person who has her own rights.

Cleansing the society from financial and sexual corruption sets the ground for a sound and healthy atmosphere, since many social ills stem from unbridled moral relations.

Well, that marks the end of Surah Mumtaḥanah. Next week, we will start explanation of Surah Ṣaff.

AS/MG