The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 72
CH. 3 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN 63. This certainly is the true account. There is none worthy of worship save Allah; and surely, it is Allah Who is the Mighty, the Wise. 351 the wicked. The act of cursing is thus not in the form of abusing but an earnest supplication to God to uphold the truth and destroy falsehood-to amputate the diseased limb in order to save the healthy one. Thus alsoņo is a very serious affair and should be resorted to in very rare cases, subject to the following conditions, which are deducible from the present verse as well as from the relevant sayings of the Holy Prophet; (1) the point in dispute should be a matter of supreme and fundamental religious importance and should be based on clear scriptural authority; (2) the matter should first be fully argued and discussed between the parties; (3) the all should take place only if and when after the aforesaid discussion each party still continues to adhere to its views, definitely holding the other party to be in the wrong; (4) for the actual contest the parties should assemble in a suitable place together with the members of their families and a suitable number of others holding similar views, and there solemnly invoke the curse of God on the party sticking to falsehood. As to the form or time of punishment which, as a result of als must overtake the offending party, the verse sheds no light. The matter rests 512 PT. 3 إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْقَصَصُ الْحَقُّ ۚ وَمَا مِنْ الهِ إِلَّا اللهُ وَاِنَّ اللهَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ entirely with God. From the above- quoted tradition, however, it may be deduced that if any period at all is to be fixed, it should be not less than a year. But the form of punishment must still rest on Divine will. The Judge in heaven reserves the right of deciding each individual case as He thinks fit. The result is left to speak for itself. It may be noted here incidentally that during the discussions with the Christian deputation from Najrān, the Holy Prophet allowed them to pray in his Mosque in their own way, which they did facing the east an act of religious toleration unparalleled in the history of all religion (Zurqānī). 351. Important Words: account) is) القصص the noun- infinitive from They say i. e. he cut or clipped the hair. means, he related or narrated the news to him. means, he followed after his track, or he followed him step by step. (qisas) means, the act of narrating; narration or account; track or footsteps. (giṣas) with different vowel point, is the plural of a meaning, a story, a narrative, etc. (Aqrab & Lane).