The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 234
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH PT. 1 وَوَفَّى بِهَا إِبْرهِمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ The same did Abraham. 133 يُبَنِى اِنَّ اللهَ اصْطَفى لَكُمُ الدِّين ,did Jacobsaying: O my sons فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُّسْلِمُوْنَ ) enjoin upon his sons, and so truly Allah has chosen this religion for you; "so let not death overtake you except when you are in a state submission. '139 of b 139. Important Words: "3:103. وصى فلانا بكذا (did enjoin upon) وصی means, he enjoined this upon him, he ordered him to do this, he charged him with this. „a, means, he exhorted him or enjoined him to means, he وه له بماله. observe Prayers made a will in his favour, making him heir of his property after his death (Aqrab). Commentary: Abraham not only submitted himself to the will of God but also took special care that his children too should inculcate that spirit and lead lives of submission and resignation. The name of Jacob or Israel (grandson of Abraham) has been particularly added here to point to the fact that as Jacob also issued a similar injunction to his children, it becomes all the more binding on the Israelites to submit to the will of God and accept the Prophet who has come with the specific mission of submission to God's will. i. e. The words, So let not death overtake you except when you are in a state of submission, beautifully point to the fact that as nobody knows 234 the time of his death, one should always lead a life of submission to God's will so that whenever death comes, it may not find one in a state other than that of submission. The words may also mean that a true believer should be SO perfectly resigned to God's will and should so completely win His pleasure that He may, out of His limitless bounty, arrange that death may not come to him except at a time when he is resigned to His will. This, as well as the preceding verse, forcefully brings out the important point that Islam really means absolute obedience and complete submission to the will of God. Only he who is completely resigned to the will of God is a true Muslim. Thus every true pre-Islamic religion that inculcated the spirit of submission will, within this meaning of the term, fall under the true definition of Islam, because previous to the religion preached by the Holy Prophet, to follow Islam was to obey the then expressed will of God, or, in other words, the revelation of the day. The point of difference between the religion brought by the Holy Prophet and the