The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 63
PT. 1 AL-BAQARAH the meaning of a passive participle, the word may also be translated as, what is willed or intended or something that one wills or intends. (has the power) is derived from s. They say i. e. he had the power to do it; or he possessed power over him or it. means, powerful, possessing power over, or possessing power to do. is the intensive form of and means, very powerful, most powerful, having or possessing full power. Commentary: The verse purports to say that these hypocrites the hypocrites described as weak believers are very near to losing their sight. They have not actually lost it, but if they are repeatedly confronted with situations demanding courage and sacrifice symbolized by lightning and thunder, they are very likely to lose their faith. But the mercy of God has so ordained that lightning is not always accompanied by a thunder-bolt. Often it is only a brilliant flash, which lifts the veil of darkness and helps the wayfarer to move on. In this case it symbolizes the dazzling power of Islam. On such occasions these hypocrites make common cause with the Muslims. But when lightning is accompanied by thunder, i. e. when the situation demands sacrifice of life or property, the world becomes dark to the hypocrites; they become dumb- founded and stand still, refusing to move on with the faithful. The words, and if Allah willed, He could take away their hearing and their sight, indicate that the 63 CH. 2 hypocrites referred to here had not been deprived of their hearing or sight till then. It was still open to them to submit to the teaching of the Quran completely and to accept the leadership of the Prophet in all sincerity. If, however, they continued in their present course and did not stop deserting the Muslims in difficult times, they would soon cease to have any connection with Islam and the Muslims they would lose all sight and all hearing. The words, surely, Allah has the power to do all that He wills, imply that the fear of the hypocrites lest they should come to harm at the hands of disbelievers has its origin in their want of faith in God and of a knowledge of His attributes. If they only knew that Allah had the power to do all that He willed and that He had decreed that Islam should triumph over all its enemies, they would not fear the disbelievers at all. Fear other than the fear of God is always due to a weakness of faith in God, and a lack of true knowledge of His attributes. The statement that, Allah has the power to do all that He wills, also disposes of the question, sometimes very naively asked, whether God has the power to cause His own death or make an equal to Himself or to speak a lie, etc. As explained above, the word means, something that is willed or intended, and as God never wills to cause His own death or to make an equal to Himself or to speak a lie, etc. because these are signs of imperfection and God is perfect―so these and all similar questions, beside