The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 372
CH. 5 AL-MA'IDAH PT. 7 وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ And obey Allah and obey. 93 ج وَاحْذَرُوا فَإِنْ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ فَاعْلَمُوا انَّمَا عَلَى رَسُولِنَا الْبَلْغُ الْمُبِينُ the Messenger, and be on your guard. But if you turn away, then know that b on Our Messenger lies only the clear conveyance of the Message. 720 لَيْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّلِحَتِ On those who believe and. 94 do good works there shall be no جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا طَعِمُوا إِذَا مَا اتَّقَوْا وَأَمَنُوا sin for what they eat, provided وَعَمِلُوا الصَّلِحَتِ ثُمَّ اتَّقَوْا وَ أَمَنُوْا ثُمَّ they fear God and believe and do good works, and again fear اتَّقَوْا وَ اَحْسَنُوا وَاللهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ God and believe, yet again fear God and do good. And Allah 721 loves those who do good. 72 3:133; 4:70; 64:13. b5:100; 16:83; 36:18; 64:13. 720. Commentary: The words, be on your guard, may either mean, "you should be on your guard against evils" or they may signify that if you obey Allah and obey the Prophet, the result will be that you will be able to guard yourselves against evil. The concluding part of the verse means that the duty of a Messenger of God is only to convey to men His commandments. It forms no part of his work to force them to follow him. This exposes the absurdity of the objection that Islam enjoins the use of force for its propagation. Elsewhere the Quran says: There should be no compulsion in religion (2:257). Both these verses and many similar others were revealed at Medina when a state of war existed between disbelievers and believers, which clearly shows 812 that the Holy Prophet took up arms defend himself and his only to followers and not to propagate his religion at the point of the sword, as is often maliciously alleged by the opponents of Islam. 721. Commentary: The verse does not mean, as may be wrongly inferred, that if a person believes and does good works, he can take any food. On the contrary, it purports to lay down a condition the observance of which can secure a person against using a forbidden food, i. e. a food which is calculated to do him physical or spiritual harm. The condition is that he should fear God and believe and do good works; and it is evident that those who really fear God and believe in Him and do good works can never think of eating forbidden food. Indeed, a person may