The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 665
PT. 9 AL-ANFĀL CH. 8 وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ اِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَ And remember the time. 33 when they said, ‘O Allah, if this مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرُ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ be indeed the truth from Thee then rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring down upon us a grievous punishment. '1121 السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ وَمَا كَانَ اللهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنْتَ فِيْهِمْ But Allah would not punish. 34 وَمَا كَانَ اللهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ them while thou wast among them, and "Allah would not punish them while they sought forgiveness. 1122 "11:4. nothing but the tales of the ancients. The verse under comment contradicts this assertion by drawing their attention to the powerful prophecies contained in the Quran which unmistakably prove it to be the Word of God, it being beyond the power of man to produce a composition containing such powerful prophecies. The Battle of Badr, for instance, fulfilled many a mighty prophecy, foretold by the Quran (e. g. 54:45-47; 34:30, 31) a fact which rendered it impossible for man to imitate a production like it, and which fully exposed the absurdity of the assertion that the Quran was nothing but tales of the ancients. 1121. Commentary: This was the prayer which Abū Jahl, the leader of the disbelievers, offered to God at Badr and it was accepted. He prayed on that memorable day that God might destroy him and his party if the Prophet was in the right (Bukhārī, ch. on Tafsir). Strange to say, not only were Abū Jahl and his companions punished at Badr by God but, as prayed for by Abū Jahl, even stones were rained down upon them; for, when at the throwing of a handful of pebbles by the Holy Prophet (8:18), there arose a strong wind, it literally rained upon the disbelieving host hard pebbles from the desert. 1122. Commentary: The verse embodies two basic protections against Divine punishment: (1) a people are not punished when they have a God's Messenger living among them; and (2) they are not punished when they are seeking forgiveness of God. At the Battle of Badr, the Holy Prophet was not "among" the disbelievers, for the believers and the disbelievers formed two distinct and opposite parties. At Mecca, however, he was "among" them, for both he and his 1105