Читать книгу The Holy Quran, English Translation, “Text Only” - Maulana Muhammad Ali - Страница 96

(Revealed at Madinah: 16 sections; 120 verses)

The name of this chapter is taken from the mention of a demand for food — “the daily bread” — on the part of the followers of Jesus Christ, to which reference is made towards the end of this chapter. The chapter deals with the Christians in particular and the adoption of this name might be with a view to express the Christian love of the dainties of this life.

This chapter stands in almost the same relation to the last as the 3rd to the 2nd. Thus, while the 4th chapter deals chiefly with the hypocrites, the 5th deals with those who had assumed open enmity to Islam, being interspersed here and there with directions for the Muslims. Again, while the 4th chapter deals with the question of Jewish disobedience, this gives prominence to the Christian transgressions due to their inordinate worldly love, this distinction being made plain in the concluding portions of the two chapters.

The chapter opens with an exhortation to the Muslims to remain true to their obligations. This injunction is followed by certain details relating to the performance of the pilgrimage, to foods, and to social relations with other people and by the announcement that Religion was made perfect in Islam. The second section, which calls attention to the duty of uprightness, is, as it were, a caution against laying too much stress upon details of the law to the utter neglect of the inner qualities which make the real man. The third section speaks of the covenants made with the Jews and the Christians, and of the violation of their covenant by the Christians in assigning a Divine dignity to a mere mortal. The fourth section takes up the Jewish violation of the covenant, at the very outset of their national life, and points out the evil consequences of their disobedience. The fifth section, opening with a lesson to the Jews in Cain’s aggression, plainly points towards the end to the punishment of the Jews who were now engaged in making war upon the Prophet, and the subject of the punishment of similar offences is continued in the sixth section. The seventh speaks of the relation of the Quranic revelation to previous revelations, and points out that this final revelation is really the fulfilment and perfection of all those revelations. The eighth section warns the Muslims of the hostile attitude of the Jews and the Christians and those who apostatize, the subject being continued in the ninth, which speaks of their mockery of the Muslim religion. The tenth introduces the subject of Christian deviation from the truth, while the eleventh shows that the Qur’an is not unjust to them on account of their enmity towards Islam, valuing the meekness of monks and priests among them, and recognizing their nearness to Islam in contrast with the Jews and the polytheists. The three sections that follow are specially addressed to the believers, while hinting at Christian disregard of the middle course and of their aggression against the Muslims. The twelfth section, while warning the Muslims on the one hand of such practices as monkery, which required a man to deprive himself even of lawful things, cautions them on the other against the use of impure drugs, such as intoxicating liquors, and the acquisition of property by illegal means, such as gambling, the two besetting sins of Christian nations, and requires obedience and regard of duty to be made the main principle of action. The thirteenth section lays stress on the security of the Ka‘bah, containing a prophetic allusion to the designs of powerful Christian nations. The fourteenth section, containing further directions for the Muslims, lays special stress on the gravity of the sin of polytheism, which had led the Christians farthest away from the truth, notwithstanding their proximity to Islam. The two concluding sections of the chapter deal with the Christian religion more plainly. Attention is drawn in the fifteenth to the Christian love of this life and their being subjected to an unprecedented punishment as a result of their materialistic tendencies. The sixteenth, which is the last section, contains a plain condemnation of the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus out of the mouth of that prophet himself, and makes it clear that this doctrine found way into the Christian religion after his death and gives hope of their finally finding protection in Islam.

A consideration of the topics dealt with in this chapter and the opinions of different authorities, lead us to the almost certain conclusion that this chapter follows in the order of revelation, as it does in arrangement, the last chapter, and the main portion of it was revealed within 5–7 Hijrah. The tendency of some Christian critics to ascribe verses condemning certain Jewish or Christian doctrines to a period when political relations with these people became strained is to be deprecated, for, as a matter of fact, the Qur’an did not deny the good in these religions at any time, nor did it ever approve of their errors. For instance, it is in an early Makkan revelation that we find the Christian doctrine of the sonship of Jesus condemned in the severest terms (19:88–92), while it is here, in a late Madinah revelation, that we find the Christians praised on account of their meekness.

There is, however, one verse in this chapter which belongs to a much later period than the main portion of the chapter, the date of the revelation of which can be fixed with certainty. It is the third verse, and it speaks of the perfection of religion in Islam. Of its revelation in the Holy Prophet’s last pilgrimage to Makkah in the year 10 A.H. there is not the least doubt, and, further, there is the clearest testimony that it was revealed on the 9th Dhu-l-Hijjah in that year, when the Holy Prophet was on the plain of ‘Arafat (B. 2:32).