Testimony of the Holy Quran — Page 60
T E S T I MON Y OF T HE HOLY Q U R AN 60 is ungrateful after that, they will be the rebellious ] is meaningless. This idea is so absurd that it is laughable. For, the clear and plain meaning of this verse is that Allah the Glorious, after giving glad tidings of the appearance of the Khulaf a ’, warns the rebels and the disobedient that after the appearance of Khulaf a ’ —who will appear from time to time—if someone rebelled and did not obey and pledge allegiance to them, he will be considered rebellious. How then is the [last part of the] verse meaningless? Clearly, this verse is in line with the following hadith of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: ْ َعْرِف ْ إِمَام َ زَمَانِہ ٖ فَقَد ي ْ مَن ْ لَم ِ ۃ يَّ ِ ْتَۃ َ الْجَاھِل ي مَات َ مِ ; [whosoever does not recognize the Imam of his age shall die the death of ignorance]. Meaning that, Imams will appear in every age and those who do not recognize them, their death will resemble the death of the disbelievers. It is pointless for the critic to present the following verse and to conclude that here the word ْ مِنْکُم [ minkum —from among you] is meant exclusively for those who were present at that time: َلاَق ُهّٰللا ْيِّنِا اَهُلِّزَنُم ْمُكْيَلَع ْنَمَف ْرُفْكَّي ُدْعَب ْمُكْنِم ْۤيِّنِاَف ٗهُبِّذَعُا اًباَذَع ۤاَّل ۤٗهُبِّذَعُا اًدَحَا َنِّم 1 َنْيِمَلٰعْلا As I have already pointed out it is a common way of expression in the Holy Quran, and is used very frequently in it, that its address is general and its commandments are meant for the whole of the ummah, and are not exclusive to the Companions ra. Of course, 1. Allah said, ‘Surely, I will send it down to you, but whosoever from among you disbelieves afterwards—I will surely punish them with a punishment wherewith I will not punish any other of the peoples’ ( S u rah al-M a ’idah, 5:116). [Publisher]