Claim of Worship & Prohibition from Plurality

LESSON # 38 HOLY QUR’AAN

BAQARAH - 2

Claim of Worship & Prohibition from Plurality

Verse – 21& 22 of 286, section -3

21.  O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil).  22.  Who hath appointed the earth a resting-place for you, and the sky a canopy; and causeth water to pour down from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you. And do not set up rivals to Allah when ye know (better).

21. Yaaa-‘ayyu-han-naasu’-buduu Rabba-kumullazii, khalaqa-kum wallaziina min, qablikum la-‘allakum tattaquun. 22.  ‘Allazii ja-‘ala lakumul-‘arza firaa-shanw- was-samaaa-‘a binaaa’aa Wa ‘anzala minas-samaaa-‘i maaa-‘an- fa-‘akh-raja bihii minas-sama-raati rizqal-lakum. Falaa taj-‘aluu  lil-laahi ‘andaadanw-wa ‘antum ta’-lamuun.

Lesson  Tattaquun - You may ward off (evil). Your habit of living with care and having fear of God in your hearts may become strong. It is called abstinence. An-naasu – Mankind, people. It is the first time in Holy Qur’aan (in this verse) that God Almighty has claimed and addressed the people with the words ‘O mankind! As if He has claimed from all the mankind to worship Him.  U’-buduu – Worship, pray. It’s mean to obey the Orders of God with humility and respectfully which is called worship and obedience. Prayer, Fasting, Zakaat (Alms), and Pilgrimage are vital parts of worship but worship does not end on only these parts. Also it belongs to entire life.        In the beginning of this Surah good manners of temperate were explained and were told that guidance is for those people who have fear of God in their hearts. After the explanation of Sobers, condition of Infidels was discussed and then remarks on Hypocrites were cleared. Now all the Human Beings are addressed because after the mention of above three types of mankind, fondness to become a Sober really should have been grown in the person. So root path of having fear of God is now being cleared.        Here calling all the people it has been told that real foundation of all the Orders and Fidelities of Islam is to recognize the Lord. First cause to bear the mankind is that he should seek his Lord, he should recognize Him from His open signs, he should worship only Him and ask Him for success in this world and on the Day of Resurrection because He created the mankind, He brought up His creature in each time and taught the human being the ways of promotion according to their abilities. The first sign of the Lord is that He created to you and all of them who have expired before you. Only from this acquaintance the path of fearing from God opens. God has no personal advantage on worshipping Him. But the mankind has a lot of advantages from it. Worship removes distress of fancies of the human being. And he gets opportunity to engage the attention towards realities. Firaa-shan - Resting-place. God has appointed the earth as our resting-place because He is the Creator of all the creatures.    ‘Andaadan – Rivals, partners, co-sharers, confederates. Allah Almighty is alone. There is none His plural or partner, so the mankind should not set up rivals to Him.        In this verse it is stated that the virtue of God to create works in the earth or mother’s womb and the person can not see it. So other virtues which are open are explained so that every person younger or older may think about it.        To keep in existence the mankind, produce causes for its existence and to carry the life of mankind to its last stage gradually, is only in the powers of his Lord ‘God Almighty’. Here it is told that He is Lord of the mankind and He has collected all sources to keep him in existence after his birth. In this connection following things come in front of us for meditation:- 1.   The earth on which we live and move, it is the resting place spread by God. 2.   The sky which has been put over the heads of mankind by the God like canopy of tent and which is the best source of light. 3.   For arrangement of food and water for daily use of mankind, produces fruits of different colors by showering down the rains from skies, which the mankind eats and drinks water. So it is proved that the mankind is indigent of the Lord to remain alive.              So he should understand the Worshipped to that Lord. It is also told in this verse that the Lord Who has all these virtues, His name is Allah Almighty. The mankind should not make any partner or co-sharer of Allah. In this verse the God after admonishing and telling the mankind His blessings and pities ordered to Worship Him and also made him to understand the acquaintance of Him, so that to worship Him after knowing Him. Without acquaintance the worshipper can not get the fear of God in his heart.                      Transliteration in Roman Script, English Translation by Marmaduke Pickthall (Holy Qur’aan published by Paak Company, Urdu Bazar Lahore and Paraphrase collected from Dars e Qur’aan published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore, translated By Muhammad Sharif Fauji