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Part 5
Sura Insan 76:5-11
5. "Verily,
the Righteous drink of a cup; the mixture of which is (like)
camphor."
6. "A
fountain, where the servants of Allah drink, flows in abundance
(wherever they
wish)."
7. "They
fu{fill (their) vows and fear a Day, the chastisement of which is
widespread."
8. "And they
feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the
captive
9. (Sayin)g:
"We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we
desire from
you, nor thanks."
10. "We only
fear from our Lord a Day, frowningly severe."
11. Therefore,
Allah will guard them against the evil of that Day,
and will grant over them a
Light of Realty and a (blissful) joy.
The Occasion of Revelation:
A great evidence for the
superiority and excellence of Ahlul-Bait; the household of the Prophet
(p.b.u.h.).
Ibn-Abbas
says that Hassan and Hosain (p.b.u.h.) were
sick. The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and a
group of followers came to visit them. They suggested to Hazrat Ali to take a
vow for their recovery. So, Ali, Fatima and Fezza (their house-helper)
took a vow that if Hassan and Hosain recovered, they would fast for three days.
(According to the same narration, Hassan and Hosain (p.b.u.th) made the same vow.)
After
a short while both of them recovered. Therefore, the family fasted for the
first day, but, as they were in dire need for food stuffs, Hazrat Ali borrowed
some barley and Hazrat Fatima ground one-third of it into flour and baked
some bread.
With
the onset of evening, when they were preparing to break their fasts, an
indigent person came to their door and said, "Peace be upon you, the Household of Mohammad. I am a needy Muslim, so
please give me some food. May Allah bestow upon you, in kind, from divine
sustenance." All of them gave priority to him and gave him their shares.
That night, they broke their fast with only water.
The
following day they fasted again, but, like the previous day, an orphan came to
the door. Once more, they forfeited their bread and ate nothing but water.
The
next day, they fasted for the third time. This day a captive came to their
house and they repeated their charity.
On
the fourth day, Ali took Hassan and Hosain with himself to see the Prophet.
When the Prophet observed their condition; they were trembling with hunger, he
said, "It grieves me to see you in this
condition,
Then,
he stood up and walked with them. When he arrived at their home, he found
Fatima praying. Her stomach was sunk in to her backbone and her eyes had become
sunken, too. The Prophet was greatly affected. At this moment Gabriel descended
and said, "O, Mohammad receive this Sura.
Allah congratulates you for having such a family.. And then Gabriel
recited, to him, Sura Hal-ata.href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title="">[1]
Commentary:
The Great Reward for the
Righteous.
In
the aforementioned verses (1-4) human beings were divided into two
groups; the grateful and the ungrateful and reference was made to the ''punishment and penalty'' for the ungrateful. But, in these verses there is a recount of the ''Rewards'' offered
to the Righteous.
First,
it says, "Verily, the Righteous drink of
a cup; the mixture of which is (like) camphor."
The
term /abrar/ is the plural form of /barr/, which originally means ''broadness and expansiveness''. For this reason, dry land and vast
deserts, as opposed to large bodies of water, are called /barr/. Thus, this
term is applied to the Righteous (people who do good), because their good deeds
have extensive effects on the society.
The
word /birr/ means ''to be pious'',
''Just'', or ''to act justly''. it
is said that making the distinction between /khayr/ and /birr/ is for the
reason that the former has a general meaning of goodness while the latter has
the specific meaning of ''goodness
accompanied by intention''.
The
term /kafur/ has various meanings; one of which is ''good smelling''. Another
meaning is ''fragrant plant'' or
a plant which has a sweet fragrance. Also, it has the common meaning of ''a sharp odor'' that has medical applications, e.g. for
sterilizing or disinfecting. The Other meaning has its importance as an
extraordinarily white and cool substance, and it is famous, because of its
coolness and whiteness.
Furthermore,
this verse indicates that this purifying drink is so fragrant that it is enjoyed both through the senses
of taste and smell. On the whole, /kafur/ has been considered as having the same value as musk and ambergris
the famous sweet fragrances.
Then,
it refers to the fountainhead from which this
cup of divine drink is tilled; and says, "A fountain, where from the servants of Allah drink, flows in
abundance (wherever they wish This purified fountain is under their control in such a way that it flows
wherever they wish.
It
is worthy of mention that in a tradition from Imam Baqir (p.h.u.h.) it is quoted that in a description of the fountain he
said that this fountain is placed in the house of the Prophet and from there it
flows to the houses of the previous prophets (p.b.u.th.) and believers.
It
is true that, as in this world, the fountains of knowledge and mercy flow from
the Prophet''s house toward the servants of Allah
and the righteous, and in the next world (which is a great illustration of this
condition) the fountain of the divine pure drink will originate from his house
and therefore, to the houses of other believers.
The
term / yufajjirun / is based on the word /tafjir/ which, itself, is derived
from the root /fajara/ which means ''to cause water to flow'' or ''to break'' on a
large scale, whether breaking the earth or anything else. When, as it seems,
the light of the morning breaks the dark curtain of the night; this light is
called /fajr/. Also, they call an evildoer /fajir/ (wicked), because he breaks
open the curtain of modesty and piety. However, in this verse it means ''the opening of the ground''.
It
is remarkable that among the many blessings of Heaven, referred to in this
Sura, the first to be mentioned is this ''special pure fragrant drink''. Perhaps, because after passing their account on the Day of
Judgment and on their arrival into Heaven, by drinking this drink, they clear
their hearts from any grief, discomfort and impurity. Then, they can benefit
from the other divine blessings, while they are basking in the love of Allah .
In
the following verses, the deeds and qualifications of the ''Righteous'' and ''servants of Allah'' are described. Their eligibility for
such unparalleled blessings is reasoned through having five characteristics. It
says: "They fulfill (their) vows and fear
a Day; the chastisement of which is wide spread".
The
terms ''they fulfill (their) vows'' and
''fear Allah'' (including some later sentences, which are all said in the
present tense) indicate that this is their ever-existing, routine
practice.
As
was explained, earlier, regarding the occasion of revelation, the true essence
of these verses is targeted at Ali, Fatima, Hassan and Hosain (p.b.u.th.), for they fulfilled their
vows of fasting for three consecutive days, and did not break their fast, at
the end of each day, but by only drinking water and their hearts were filled
with the fear of Allah and the Day of
Judgment.
The
term / mustatir / means ''vast'', or ''scattered'', which
refers to the great and various punishments on that Great Day.
When
they fulfilled their own vow, they definitely respected and fulfilled what Allah has made obligatory. Their fear of
the chastisement of the Great Day was due to their deep belief in the
Resurrection, and to their intensive responsibility in regard to Allah''s
command.
They
truly believed in the Resurrection and the penalties which are waiting for the
wrong-doers. This belief is made manifest by their own sincere actions.
Then,
referring to the third worthy deed of the Righteous, it says:
"And they
feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan,
and the
captive."
Donating
food at the time of severe self-need requires great generosity. It was
not simply feeding someone, since their action demanded sacrifices at a time
when they, themselves, were in the greatest need.
On
the other hand, this has a broad implication which includes: the indigent,
orphans and captives; and hence, their generosity covers a large variety of ''needy''. The
embedded meaning in the Arabic text /ala hubbihi/ refers to ''the food'' and denotes the fact that they donated the food which they craved
for. This conforms with the sense of Sura Al-i-Imran, No. 3,
verse 92 which says: "By no means
shall you attain righteousness unless you give freely (benevolently) of that
which you love,..."
The
meaning of / miskin / ''indigent'', / yatim / ''orphan'' and / asir /
''captive'' are
clear, but, among the commentators, there is no agreement as to the exact
meaning and the kind of / asir / ''captive'', which is mentioned in the
verse; but on the whole, the word ''captive'' refers to one who was taken captive in the wars with atheists or
polytheists.
According
to the occasion of revelation, a captive had come to the door of Ali''s house,
when usually a captive would have been put in prison.
As
we understand from history, the explanation is that at the time of Mohammad (p.b.u.h.), there were no prisons at
all. The Prophet (p.b.u.h) distributed
the captives among the Muslims to guard, however, he told them to be kind to
the captives and to take good care of them. At times when those Muslims had
problems in providing for their captives, they asked for help from other fellow
Muslims. The ''guards'' went with the captive or they sent him alone to seek
their help. It is known that at that period in history, Muslims had very
difficult times. Later, as the Muslims'' territory and rule spread and when the
number of criminal captives increased, with the spread of government, jails
were built and the expenses were paid from the Muslims'' treasury.
In
any event, we understand from the above verse that one of the best acts is
feeding the poor and the needy; not only those of Muslims, but also the poor
and the needy from other territories and even pagans are included as a matter
of Islamic routine. It is so important that feeding them is considered one of
the prominent good deeds of ''the
righteous''.
It
has been narrated that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
told the believers that they should treat the captives well and fair. When
the Muslims heard this; giving priority to captives, they even, at times,
donated their own food to them.name="_ftnref2" title="">[2]
The
fourth prominent characteristic of the Righteous is considered to be ''pureness and sincerity''; it says: "(Saying): '' We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we
desire from you, nor thanks.'' "
They
behave, thus, not only in the case of feeding the needy, but what they do is
also sincere and for the sake of Allah. They desire no reward nor thanks
from anyone.
Basically,
in Islam, the value of an action is in its sincerity and pure immaculate
intention, and hence, activities which have worldly motivations, whether they
be hypocritical or for people''s approval and appreciation or for lusts or for
venal rewards, have no Islamic or moral value. A famous tradition from the
Prophet (p.b.u.h.), which attests to
this fact, says: "No deed is
accepted unless (it is done) with the pure intention for Allah."
The
term /w ajh/ means literally ''face,
countenance'' then, the
meaning
of /wajh-i-llah/ is ''The face
of Allah'', but we know that Allah does not have a bodily face. ''Face'' is the
symbol of personality or self, then the meaning is ''the essence of Allah'' as we read in Sura Baqarah, No. 2, verse 272: "...when you spend not except in search of Allah''s
countenance...". And also from Sura Kahf, No. 18, verse 28, it says: "And restrain yourself along with those who call on their Lord
morning and evening desiring His countenance..."
On
the last characteristic of ''The
Righteous'' it says: "We only fear from our Lord a day,
frowningly severe". This statement can be made by their own tongue or
by their mute mannerisms. The term ''frowning'' is usually used to describe the persons
who are distraught, hence it is used for the Day of Judgment, since the Day and
its events are so stern and distressful that not only people are frowning, but
the Day, itself, is also frowning. The term /qamtarir/ has often been used in
the sense of ''being stern and
calamitous''.
Here,
a question arises: The Righteous act only for the sake of Allah then why are they afraid of His punishment? Does their divine
motive match with the motive of fear of the punishments on the Day of Judgment?
Paying attention to one point makes the answer to the question clear.
The
Righteous do everything, in any case, for the sake of Allah. If they are afraid of the punishments
on the Day of Judgment, it is because they are His punishments and if they love
for the Blessings of Heaven, it is because they are His blessings. This is the
same fact that is discussed in Islamic jurisprudence about the intention of a
devotional act which says: devotional
acts, for gaining Allah''s affinity, do not contradict the desire of reward and
the fear of punishment or even asking Allah for worldly gifts, such as the
prayer of asking for rain, because all of them relate to Allah; though the high
stage of a devotional act is that it is done totally only for the love of
Allah, not for the desire of the Blessings in Heaven or for the fear of
punishment in Hell.
The
verse: "We only fear from our Lord a
Day, frowningly severe" attests to the fact that this fear is also like
having the fear of Allah.
It
is noteworthy that the second and the fifth characteristics are both on the
subject of fear, but with a difference, in that, the former only mentions the
fear of the Day of Judgment, while in the latter it refers to the fear of Allah on that Day. At one point, ''Day'' is described by ''the
chastisement of which is widespread'' and another timeit is characterized as ''frowning and calamitous''. In fact, one shows its vastness and the
other refers to its spiritual quality.
Verse
No. 11 points to a part of the result of the good deeds and pure intentions of
the Righteous. It says: "Therefore,
Allah will guard them against the evil of that Day and will grant over them a
Light of Beauty and a (blissful) joy."
The
term /nadrah/ means ''a special
refreshment and happiness resulting from the abundance of blessing and
comfort''. Truly, their appearance shows their inner calmness and happiness
on that Day. Therefore, if they feared the Day, because of their responsibility
in this world, on that Day Allah
would make them happy in return.
The
term /laqahum/ ''they meet'', used in
this verse, is very interesting and meaningful. It shows that Allah receives them with His Grace, and
places them in the Light of His Mercy and because of this, they are full of joy
and happiness.
Feeding the starved is of the greatest good deeds.
Feeding
the needy is one of the prominent good deeds of ''the Righteous'' and
''the servants of Allah''. This is mentioned not only in the
above verses, but it is also emphasized in many other verses of the Qur''an.
Hence, it is understood that this good deed is particularly appreciated by Allah.
Nowadays,
according to the news broadcasts, every year millions of people die from
starvation in some parts of the world, while in some other parts, so much extra
food is discarded as garbage. If we pay attention to this, two points will
become very clear. First, the absence of morals in today''s world, and second,
the need for Islamic instruction.
There
are many Islamic narration''s that seriously refer to this subject, some of
which are as follows:
1. A tradition from the
Prophet (p.b.u.h.) says: "One who feeds three Muslims, will be
fed, by Allah, from three lush gardens in the dominion of the heavens."
2. A narration from Imam Sadiq
(p.b.u.h.) says: "One who feeds a Muslim believer to his fill, will be rewarded on
the Day of Judgment so much so that neither a man nor an angel nor a Prophet
knows the amount except Allah, who is Lord for all." ftn4'' href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title="">[4]
Another
narration from the same Imam says: "I
prefer to feed a needy believer than only to visit him and I prefer to visit
him than to free ten slaves." name="_ftnref5" title="">[5]
Notice
that the narrations do not emphasize on feeding only the needy and the starved,
but some of them denote that feeding the believers is as important as freeing a
slave even though the believer is not in need of the food. This shows that the
main goal, besides feeding someone, is gaining the hearts and strengthening
friendly relations. However, the opposite case is seen among many people today.
Sometimes
two close friends or two relatives go to a hotel and each of them pays his own
share, as if paying the expenses of the other is something unheard of,
especially if the number of the guests is large.
Some
narration''s stipulate that feeding the starved, in general, (irrespective of
believers or unbelievers) is of the best deeds. For example, a tradition from
the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) says: "One of the greatest deeds, in the
sight of Allah, is to soothe the heartache and to feed the starved. By Him in
Whose hand is Mohammad''s soul; the Muslim who, being satisfied with food,
sleeps at night while his Muslim brother or neighbor is hungry, has not really believed in me (my prophecy).!"href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title="">[6]
Although
the last part of the aforementioned tradition is about feeding the Muslims, the
first part covers all the starved and the vastness of the meaning may cover
even the animals.
name="_ftn1" title="">[1] Al-Qadir vol. 3, p. 107-111,
Ihqaq-al-Haqq vol. 3, p. 157-171.
name="_ftn2" title="">[2] Kamil-i-Ibn-i-Athir, vol. 2, p 131
name="_ftn3" title="">[3] Usul-i-Kafi, vol. 2, Chapter ''Feeding'',
Traditions 3 and 6
name="_ftn4" title="">[4] Usul-i-Kafi, vol. 2, Chapter ''Feeding'',
Traditions 3 and 6.
name="_ftn5" title="">[5] Usul-i-Kafi, vol. 2, Chapter ''Feeding'',
Tradition 18.
name="_ftn6" title="">[6] Bihar-al-Anwar, vol. 74, p. 369.
