The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 317
PT. 6 AL-MA'IDAH CH. 5 وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيْثَاقَهُ And remember Allah's favour. 8 upon you and the covenant الَّذِي وَاثَقَكُمُ بِهِ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا which He made with you, when وَأَطَعْنَا وَاتَّقُوا اللهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِه you said, "We hear and we obey. ' And fear Allah. Surely, Allah knows well what is in the minds. 647 "2:286. should be washed and not merely wiped. These sayings are also supported by the practice of the Holy Prophet. There are, however, cases when the feet are not to be washed but simply "wiped" like the heads, e. g. , when one is wearing socks or stockings. So it may be that the common reading arjula (in the accusative case) applies to the general rule of "washing" the feet when performing (ablution), while the exceptional reading arjuli (in the genitive case) applies to the exceptional cases when the feet are to be "wiped" like the head. The words, you have touched women, embody a chaste and graceful expression and mean "you have had sexual intercourse with them". The sense of the verse may be summed up as follows: (1) Before offering his Prayers, a Muslim should perform the prescribed ablution, i. e. washing of the face and the hands, wiping of the head, and washing of the feet. (2) If a man is ,(unclean) جنب i. e. he has had sexual intercourse with his wife or, for that matter, has had a nocturnal discharge, he should have a complete bath in order to purify 757 or himself for Prayers. (3) If, however, a man is sick and the process of ablution or bathing is likely to do him harm, or if he is on a journey and cannot find water, then even after answering the call of nature becoming "unclean" by having sexual intercourse with his wife, he is allowed to forego the process of ablution or bathing and to perform instead the with pure dust. See also 4:44. 647. Commentary: It is Muslims, and not the People of the Book, that are addressed here. As, however, no special covenant is known to have ever been made with Muslims, the "covenant" mentioned here must be taken to refer to the process of a (oath of allegiance) taken from every new convert to Islam; or the word may refer to the law revealed in the Quran and accepted by Muslims. The words, We hear and we obey, obviously refer to the acceptance of Islam by the Faithful. The words, Allah knows well what is in the minds, have been added to point out that mere lip-profession is not acceptable to God. He who would