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16. THE MEANINGS OF KHAYR (GOOD) IN THE QUR’ĀN (3) 13. ( الصَّالحgood or proper condition, righteousness), as in the following verse: تَأَ ْي َما ُن ُك َْمَ َف َكا ِتبُو ُه َْم َْ ابَ ِممَّاَ َملَ َك ََ ونَ ْال ِك َت ََ ِينَ َي ْب َت ُغ ََ َوالَّذ (33:َ(النور...ِيه َْمَ َخيْرً ا ِ إِنََْ َعلِ ْم ُت َْمَف And such of your servants as seek a writing (of emancipation) give them such writing, if you find that there is good and honesty (i.e., righteousness) in them…(Q. 24:33) It is Allah’s command to slave-owners to write a contract of emancipation for their slaves if they ask them, provided that there is khayr with them. Some say it is righteousness, others say honesty, wealth, and a skill and ability to earn. The verse continues with ّللا َالَّذِي َآ َتا ُك َْم ََِّ َ ال َِ … َوآ ُتو ُه َْم َمِنَْ َ َم and give them something out of the wealth of Allah which He has bestowed upon you… means that these slaves have right and share in the wealth of the zakat. It is Allah’s command to the believers to help in freeing them, until there will be no more slave among Muslims. 14. ( ْالقُ َّوَةَُ ََوَ ْالقُ ْد َرةpower and ability), as in the following verse: َِينَمِنََْ َق ْبل ِِه َْمَأَهْ لَ ْك َنا ُه ْم ََ أَ ُه َْمَ َخيْرََأَ َْمَ َق ْو َُمَ ُتبَّعََ َوالَّذ )33:ِينَ(ال ُّد َخان ََ إِ َّن ُه َْمَ َكا ُنواَمُجْ ِرم Are they better (i.e., more powerful) or the people of Tubba‘ and those before them? We destroyed them because they were indeed criminals (Q. 44:37) Tubba‘ was the title of the ancient powerful Ḥimyar kings who ruled for centuries over Southern Arabia. Despite their power they were eventually overcome by the Abyssinians in the 4th century. These people denied the truth of resurrection and Allah’s judgment (Q. 50:14) 15. ( ال ُّد ْن َياthe world), as in the following verse: (8:ْرَ َل َشدِيدََ( ْال َعا ِد َيات َِ َوإِ َّن َُهَلِحُبََ ْال َخي
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And verily, he is violent in the love wealth (i.e. the world) (Q. 100:8) Ibn Zayd says that the term khayr in this verse means “the world”, i.e., people extremely love this material world. Other commentators say that the word khayr in this verse means “wealth”. The word shadīd basically means “strong, powerful, violent.”But if it is related to the wealth, it could mean mutashaddid (strict, rigid) and bakhīl (greedy, covetous, miser, stingy). Therefore, the above verse means: (a) He is severe in his love of wealth, and (b) He is covetous and stingy due to the love of wealth. Both are correct complementing each other. 16. ( اإلصْ الحcorrection, betterment, restoration), as in the following verse: َُِونَ ِب ْال َمعْ رُوف ََ ْرَ َو َيأْ ُمر َِ ُونَإِلَىَ ْال َخي ََ َو ْل َت ُكنََْ ِم ْن ُك َْمَأُمَّةََ َي ْدع (104:ُونَ(آلَعمران ََ كَ ُه َُمَ ْال ُم ْفلِح ََ نَ ْال ُم ْن َك َِرَ َوأُولَ ِئ َِ نَ َع ََ َوََي ْن َه ْو Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (i.e. Islam), enjoining ma‘ruf and forbidding munkar. And It is they who are the successful (Q. 3:104) Probably it is not appropriate to use iṣlāḥ as the meaning of the khayr in the above verse, but rather Islam as put by al-Țabarī. There are two views whether the whole Muslims are enjoined to call people to Islam, or some of them only. According to the classical Arabic philologist Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim al-Anbārī (d. 328/940), it is the whole Muslims, as sometimes َْ( مِنof, from, among) mean َُّ ( ُكall), so that the expression ( ِم ْن ُك َْمof you) means ( ُكلُّ ُك َْمall of ل you). He says that the position of َْ مِنis ( لِل َّتج ِنيْسto indicate paronomasia), namely, “of you Muslims” and not from non-Muslims. The example in the Qur’ān is, َِن ََ سَم ََ ََْفاجْ َت ِنبُواَالرج )30: َ(الحج...ان َِ … ْاْلَ ْو َثso shun the abomination (worshiping)َ of idol…َ (Q. 22:30) which means ِي َ ِرجْ س ََ ان َالَّتِي َه ََ َفاجَْ َت ِنبُوا َاْلَ ْو َث
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“so avoid (worshiping) idol which is a dirty thing”, as any idol is dirty, all of them. The other view is that of Al-Qurṭubī who says that the injunction to call people to Islam is exclusively for scholars, as not all Muslims are scholars, because it is ( َفرْ ضَُ َ ِك َفا َيةa collective duty), not ( َفرْ ضَُ َ َعيْنan individual duty). These scholars are chosen people. Among the chosen people are as mentioned in the following verse: َّ َضَأَ َقامُواَالص ََّالََةَ َوآ َتوُ ا الز َكاََة َ ِ ِْينَإِنََْ َم َّك َّنا ُه َْمَفِيَ ْاْلَر ََ الَّذ (41:َ(الحج...نَ ْال ُم ْن َك َِر َِ َوأَ َمرُواَ ِب ْال َمعْ رُوفََِ َو َن َه ْواَ َع Those (Muslim rulers) who, if We give them power in the land (they) perform the prayers, pay the zakat, and they enjoin ma’ruf and forbid munkar…(Q. 22:41) In my view, both views are acceptable, as Islam is a missionary religion, and every Muslim has to be involved in it. In the lowest level, even without talking, we still can use our body language, indicating that we are humble not arrogant, generous and not stingy, honest and not tricky, etc. We are not perfect, but we have some Islamic characters which we should let non-Muslims know in our dealing with them. We can say “I am not a good Muslim, but Islam prohibits such-and-such thing.” In the highest level, it is the job of Muslim scholars, such as the late Ahmad Deedat (d. 2005) of South Africa who had debated five Christian scholars, and challenged Pope John Paul II for a public debate in the Vatican Square in 1984, Dr. Zakir Naik of India, Dr. Gary Miller of Canada, Yusuf Estes of the USA, and Abdur-Raheem Green of UK, to mention a few. 17. ( ْال َولَ َُدَالصَّالِحsuitable child), as in the following verse: َفإِنََْ َك ِرهْ ُتمُوهُنَََّ َف َع َسىَأَنََْ َت ْك َرهُواَ َش ْي ًئا... (19:ّللا َُفِي َِهَ َخيْرً اَ َك ِثيرً اَ(النساء ََّ َل ََ َو َيجْ َع … If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing though which Allah brings a great deal of good (i.e., pious children) (Q. 4:19)
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This verse is about Allah’s order the Muslims not to treat widows with harshness to take away part the dowry given to them. If they do not like them, Allah may bring good things to them. So far, no other commentators say that khay in this verse means “suitable child”, except Ibn al-Jawzī. 18. ( ْال ِع َّفةabstinence, uprightness, righteousness, chastity) and ( والص َيا َنةpreservation, protection, guarding), as in the following verse: اتَ ِبأ َ ْنفُسِ ِه َْم َُ ونَ َو ْالم ُْؤ ِم َن ََ لَإِ َْذَ َسمِعْ ُتمُوَهَُ َظنَََّ ْالم ُْؤ ِم ُن َ َ َل ْو (12:َخيْرً اَ َو َقالُواَ َه َذاَإِ ْفكََم ُِبينََ(النور Why then did not the believers, men and women, when you heard it (the slander), think good (chastity) of their own people and say: “This (charge) is an obvious lie?” (Q. 24:12) This verse is about the accusation of the Prophet’s wife ‘Ā’ishah of indecency by hypocrites, and when the believers heard about it they knew that she was innocent and the accusation was an obvious lie, as confirmed by the Qur’ān. 19. ( حُسْ نََُاْلَ َدبgood behavior), as in the following verse: انَ َخيْرً ا ََ جَإِلَي ِْه َْمَلَ َك ََ ص َبرُواَ َح َّتىَ َت ْخ ُر َ ََولَوََْأَ َّن ُه َْم (5:ّللا َُ َغفُورََ َرحِيمََ(الحجرات ََّ لَ ُه َْمَ َو And if they had had patience till you could come out to them, it would have been better (i.e., good behavior) for them. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.(Q. 49:5) The verse is about a delegation of the Arabs among them was al-Aqra‘ ibn Ḥābis al-Tamīmī who called the Prophet from behind his dwellings, whereas the good behaviour would be waiting for him till he came out. 20. ( ال َّن َوافِلsupererogatory performance), as in the following verse: (33:ت… (اْلنبياء َِ لَ ْال َخي َْرا ََ ْونَ ِبأَم ِْر َناَ َوأَ ْو َح ْي َناَإِلَي ِْه َْمَفِع ََ َو َج َع ْل َنا ُه َْمَأَ ِئم ًََّةَ َي ْه ُد
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And We made them leaders, guiding (mankind) by Our Command, and We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, performing the prayers (i.e., supererogatory performance)…(Q. 21:73) This verse is about Prophet Abraham and his descendants Isaac and Jacob who were made prophets and leaders, and inspired to do good deeds. Al-Qurṭubī simply said “good deeds” here means “obedience” to Allah. 21. ( ال َّنافِعbeneficial, profitable, useful thing), as in the following verse: ِيَالسُّو َُء ََ ْرَ َو َماَ َم َّسن َِ ِنَ ْال َخي ََ تَم َُ ْْبَ َلسْ َت ْك َثر ََ تَأَعْ لَ َُمَ ْال َغي َُ َولَوََْ ُك ْن... (188:ونَ(اْلعراف ََ لَ َنذِيرََ َوبَشِ يرََلِ َقوَْمََي ُْؤ ِم ُن َ َّ ِإِنََْأَ َناَإ “…If I had the knowledge of the Unseen, I should have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no evil should have touched me. I am but a warner, and a bringer of glad tidings to a people who believe.”(Q. 3:188) Both term ( ْال َغيْبthe Unseen) and ( ْال َخيْرthe good deed) are in general sense, mean: (a) If I knew what Allah wanted me to do before hand, I would have done it. (b) If I knew when I would win the war I would have fought, so that I would not be defeated. (c) If I knew the year of drought, I would have stored what would be sufficient for me in the time of the drought (Ibn ‘Abbās’s interpretation). (d) If I knew the merchandise that would sell well, I would have bought it in the time of its slump. (e) If I knew when I would die, I would have increased doing good deeds (alḤasan and Ibn Jurayj’s interpretation). (f) If I knew the unseen I would have done what I was required to do. All these interpretations in al-Qurṭubī’s view make sense. “and no evil should have touched me” means (a) The Prophet said that he was not insane as they had claimed him to be, (b) The Prophet said further that if he had
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known the unseen he would have taken precaution against evil, but he was just a warner (al-Qurṭubī’s commentary) 22. َ( ْال َخ ْي َُرَالَّذِيَهُوَضِ َُّدَال َّشرgood thing which is the opposite of bad thing), as in the following verse: ََْك ِممَّنََْ َت َشا َُءَ َو ُتع ُِّز َمن ََ عَ ْالم ُْل َُ كَ َمنََْ َت َشا َُءَ َو َت ْن ِز ََ كَ ْالم ُْلكََِ ُت ْؤتِيَ ْالم ُْل ََ ِلَاللَّ ُه ََّمَ َمال َِ ُق (22:كَ َعلَىَ ُكلََ َشيْ ءََ َقدِيرََ(آلَعمران ََ كَ ْال َخ ْيرُإِ َّن ََ لَ َمنََْ َت َشا َُءَ ِب َي ِد َُّ َت َشا َُءَ َو ُت ِذ Say (O Muhammad): “O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is he good. Verily, You are Able to do all things.”(Q. 3:22) Ibn ‘Abbās and Anas ibn Mālik said that when the Prophet s.a.w. conquered Makkah he promised his people the kingdom of Persia and Rome. The hypocrites and the Jews of Madinah said, “Impossible! How could he do that, as they are more powerful and more unconquerable? Are not Makkah and Madinah sufficient for him that he becomes ambitious to conquer the kingdoms of Persia and Rome?” Then Allah revealed the above verse. It was also said that the verse was revealed to refute the claim of the Christians on Najrān the divinity of ‘Īsā (Jesus) a.s. in spite of his ability to do miraculous things, such as to revive the dead (al-Qurṭubī’s commentary) (CIVIC, 30 October, 2015) :المصادر المكتبةَالشاملة َ ََ َ ُن ْز َهة.)1201\593َ.ابن َالجوزي َ(ت َ.ُن َال َّن َواظِ َِر َفِيَْ َ ِع ْل َِم َا ْلوُ ج ُْوَِه َ ََو َال َّن َظائِر َِ اْلعْ ي .1985\1405َ,َمؤسسةَالرسالة:بيروت (َهـ310َ.تفسيرَالطبريَ(ت (َهـ231َ.تفسيرَالقرطبىَ(ت (َهـ334َ.تفسيرَابنَكثيرَ(ت Asad, Muhammad. The Message of the Qur’ān. Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1964.