QURAN CHAPTER - 66
At-Tahrim - The Prohibition
Revealed - Madinan
Ruku - 2
Ayat - 12
Theme - In this Surah light has been thrown on some questions of grave significance with reference to some incidents concerning the wives of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
(1) First, that the powers to prescribe the bounds of the lawful and the unlawful, the permissible and the forbidden, are entirely and absolutely in the hand of Allah and nothing has been delegated even to the Prophet of Allah himself, not to speak of any other man.
(2) Second, that in any society the position of a Prophet is very delicate. A minor incident experienced by an ordinary man in his life may not be of any consequence, but it assumes the status of law when experienced by a Prophet.
- That is why the lives of the Prophets have been kept under close supervision by Allah.
(3) Thirdly, and this automatically follows from the above mentioned point, that when the Holy Prophet was checked on a minor thing, which was not only corrected but also recorded, it gives us complete satisfaction that whatever actions and commands and instructions we now find in the pure life of the Holy Prophet concerning which there is nothing on record in the nature of criticism or correction from Allah, they are wholly based on truth, are in complete conformity with Divine Will and we can draw guidance from them with full confidence and peace of mind.
(4) The fourth thing that we learn from this discourse is that about the Holy Messenger himself, whose reverence and respect Allah Himself has enjoined as a necessary part of the Faith of His servants, it has been stated in this Surah that once during his sacred life he made a thing declared lawful by Allah unlawful for himself only to please his wives; then Allah has severely reproved for their errors those very wives of the Holy Prophet, whom He Himself has declared as mothers of the faithful and worthy of the highest esteem and honor by them.
- Then, this criticism of the Prophet and the administration of the warning to the wives also has not been made secretly but included in the Book, which the entire Ummah has to read and recite for ever.
- This gives us the satisfaction that the noble pattern of life left by the Prophet wholly and fully represents the will of Allah.
(5) The fifth thing that has been explicitly mentioned in this Surah is that Allah's Religion is absolutely fair and just.
- It has for every person just that of which he becomes worthy on the basis of his faith and works. No relationship or connection even with the most righteous person can be beneficial for him in any way and no relationship or connection with the most evil and wicked person can be harmful for him in any way.
- In this connection 3 kinds of women have been cited as examples before the holy wives in particular:
- The First Example is of the wives of the Prophets Noah and Lut, who, if they had believed and cooperated with their illustrious husbands, would have occupied the same rank and position in the Muslim community. But since they were disbelievers, their being the wives of the Prophets did not help them and they fell into Hell.
- The Second Example is of the wife of Pharaoh, who in spite of being the wife of a staunch enemy of God believed and chose a path of action separate from that followed by the Pharaoh's people, and her being the wife of a staunch disbeliever did not cause her any harm, and Allah made her worthy of Paradise.
- The Third Example is of Hadrat Maryam, who attained to the high rank because she submitted to the severe test to which Allah had decided to put her, when she fulfilled Allah's will, then Allah exalted her to the noble rank of Sayyidatu-an-Nisa.
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