The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 35
PT. 1 AL-BAQARAH that disbelievers raised against it. The words, therefore, only mean that the teaching of the Quran is so rational that a right-thinking person who approaches it impartially cannot but accept it as a guide. Wherry and other Christian critics, thinking that the words, there is no doubt in it, have only one meaning, have jumped to the conclusion that the Holy Prophet must have been afraid of the doubtful nature of the Quran. These critics forget that this verse was revealed at Medina after a large part of the Quran had already been revealed. Disbelievers had already raised many objections against it, and it was in reply to these objections that the words were revealed. The imputation of a guilty conscience is therefore utterly false. Assertion of truth and denial of doubt is common to other Scriptures as well. In the Proverbs we read, "All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them" (Pro. 8:8; see also Isa. 45:19; Tit. 3:8; 1. Tim. 4:9; Rev. 22:6). Moreover, the word ✓ does not mean a doubt which helps the investigation of truth but a doubt born of unfounded suspicion. Accordingly, the words ✓✓) would mean that there is nothing in the Quran which is based on doubt, i. e. everything is based on truth and certainty. The Quran asserts no doctrine or principle without also giving cogent reasons for it. The word also means, "affliction or calamity. " The Quran contains nothing that may in any way cause misery or affliction to an individual or a people. It raised nations from the quagmire of moral degradation and ریب 35 CH. 2 social depravity to the highest pinnacles of worldly and spiritual glory. Little wonder they became convinced through experience that there was not a single commandment by acting upon which they could come to grief. The word is also used in the sense of "evil opinion or false charge or calumny". In this sense the clause would mean that the Quran contains nothing that may, in any way, lay a false charge against anyone. Indeed, the Quran seeks to usurp the right of no one, and it slanders nobody— neither God nor any revealed Book nor any Prophet. It may seem strange, but is nevertheless true, that religious Books, such as the Vedas, the Zend- Avesta, the Old and the New Testament, ascribe to God imperfections of one kind or another. The Quran, on the contrary, declares Him free of all defects, the Most Perfect in Power, Majesty and Holiness. This point will be discussed in detail when we come to the relevant verses. The Word of God has also come in for much criticism. There is the school which holds the view that revelation is man's own mental response to the problems on which he reflects. Thus, certainty of faith, which comes of the spoken Word of God, is denied to man, and there remains no distinction between man's own thoughts and those revealed by God. The Quran exonerates the revealed Books of different religions from the charge that they are not the spoken Word of God but only a reflection of peculiarly sensitive