The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 465
PT. 14 R. 6. AN-NAHL CH. 16 a وَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا فِي اللهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا And as to those who have. 42 left their homes for the sake of ظُلِمُوا لَنُبَوّئَنَّهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً Allah after they had been. wronged, We will surely give وَلَاَجْرُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ لَوْ كَانُوا them a goodly abode in this يَعْلَمُونَ world; and truly the reward of the Hereafter is greater; if they but knew- 1843 "2:219; 4:101; 22:59. purpose for which God has ordained a Day of Resurrection. Since disbelievers might regard such a day as an impossibility, the verse under comment draws their attention to God's great and unlimited powers. It points out how these great powers are being manifested on all sides. The reference is particularly to the prophecies made by God's Messengers which, being seemingly impossible of fulfilment, are fulfilled in due course. Such invincible evidence should be sufficient to convince disbelievers that it is certainly not beyond the power of God to bring about Resurrection. The verb (Be) does not mean that God gives the command to something already existing. It merely gives expression to a wish and means that when God so expresses a wish it finds its immediate objective fulfilled. 1843. Commentary: In the previous verse we were told that when God wills a thing, it comes into being without fail. The verse under comment gives a proof of this Quranic claim. It says that the Faithful were a small and weak community. They had been SO oppressed by disbelievers that they had to flee from their homes. But God willed, and He expressed His wish, that these persecuted people should be accorded an honourable position in the world, and so it came to pass. This proves that when God wills a thing, it comes into being without fail. The expression (lit. in Allah) may have several interpretations: (1) It means, for the sake of Allah. The Faithful left their homes for the sake of Allah and for no material gains. (2) It may mean, a¿i. e. for the sake of God's religion for the sake of the free and unfettered exercise of religion. The early Muslims left Mecca for a place where they could freely discharge their religious rites. (3) It may mean, in Allah. In this sense the expression would signify that early Muslims had become so completely lost in Allah that they gave up their homes and kith and kin for His sake. Their departure from Mecca was thus tantamount to the departure of God Himself from that city. 1673 Muslims left their homes for the