3:85 Aal-i-Imraan (The Family of Imraan)

أي: من يدين لله بغير دين الإسلام الذي ارتضاه الله لعباده، فعمله مردود غير مقبول، لأن دين الإسلام هو المتضمن للاستسلام لله، إخلاصا وانقيادا لرسله فما لم يأت به العبد لم يأت بسبب النجاة من عذاب الله والفوز بثوابه، وكل دين سواه فباطل، ثم قال تعالى:

ثم قال تعالى "ومن يبتغ غير الإسلام دينا فلن يقبل منه" الآية. أي من سلك طريقا سوى ما شرعه الله فلن يقبل منه "وهو في الآخرة من الخاسرين" كما قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في الحديث الصحيح "من عمل عملا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد" وقال الإمام أحمد: حدثنا أبو سعيد مولى بني هاشم حدثنا عباد بن راشد حدثنا الحسن حدثنا أبو هريرة إذ ذاك ونحن بالمدينة قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "تجيء الأعمال يوم القيامة فتجيء الصلاة فتقول يا رب أنا الصلاة فيقول إنك على خير وتجيء الصدقة فتقول يا رب أنا الصدقة فيقول إنك على خير ثم يجيء الصيام فيقول يا رب أنا الصيام فيقول إنك على خير ثم تجيء الأعمال كل ذلك يقول الله إنك على خير ثم يجيء الإسلام فيقول يا رب أنت السلام وأنا الإسلام فيقول الله تعالى إنك على خير بك اليوم آخذ وبك أعطي. قال الله في كتابه "ومن يبتغ غير الإسلام دينا فلن يقبل منه وهو في الآخرة من الخاسرين" تفرد به أحمد قال أبو عبدالرحمن عبدالله بن الإمام أحمد: عباد بن راشد ثقة ولكن الحسن لم يسمع من أبي هريرة.

The Only Valid Religion To Allah is Islam

Allah rebukes those who prefer a religion other than the religion that He sent His Books and Messengers with, which is the worship of Allah Alone without partners, to Whom,

وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth,) Willingly, or not. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَللَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا

(And unto Allah (Alone) falls in prostration whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly.) 13:15, and,

أَوَ لَمْيَرَوْاْ إِلَىخَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِن شَىْءٍ يَتَفَيَّأُ ظِلَـلُهُ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَالْشَّمَآئِلِ سُجَّدًا لِلَّهِ وَهُمْوَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ مِن دَآبَّةٍ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةُ وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ يَخَـفُونَ رَبَّهُمْ مِّن فَوْقِهِمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ

(Have they not observed things that Allah has created: (how) their shadows incline to the right and to the left, making prostration unto Allah, and they are lowly And to Allah prostrate all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, of the moving creatures and the angels, and they are not proud. They fear their Lord above them, and they do what they are commanded) 16: 48-50.

Therefore, the faithful believer submits to Allah in heart and body, while the disbeliever unwillingly submits to Him in body only, since he is under Allah's power, irresistible control and mighty kingship that cannot be repelled or resisted. Waki` reported that Mujahid said that the Ayah,

وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا

(While to Him submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly), is similar to the Ayah,

وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ

(And verily, if you ask them: "Who created the heavens and the earth" Surely, they will say: "Allah") 39:38.

He also reported that Ibn `Abbas said about,

وَلَهُ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا

(while to Him submitted all creatures in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly.)

"When He took the covenant from them."

وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ

(And to Him shall they all be returned) on the Day of Return, when He will reward or punish each person according to his or her deeds.

Allah then said,

قُلْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيْنَا

(Say: "We believe in Allah and in what has been sent down to us) the Qur'an,

وَمَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ وَإِسْمَـعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ

(and what was sent down to Ibrahim, Ismai`0l, Ishaq, Ya`qub) the scriptures and revelation,

وَالأَسْبَاطَ

(and the Asbat,) the Asbat are the twelve tribes who originated from the twelve children of Israel (Ya`qub).

وَمَا أُوتِىَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى

(and what was given to Musa, `Isa) the Tawrah and the Injil,

وَالنَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ

(and the Prophets from their Lord.) and this encompasses all of Allah's Prophets.

لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ

(We make no distinction between one another among them) we believe in all of them,

وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ

(And to Him (Allah) we have submitted (in Islam))

Therefore, faithful Muslims believe in every Prophet whom Allah has sent and in every Book He revealed, and never disbelieve in any of them. Rather, they believe in what was revealed by Allah, and in every Prophet sent by Allah. Allah said next,

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلَـمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ

(And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him,) whoever seeks other than what Allah has legislated, it will not be accepted from him,

وَهُوَ فِى الاٌّخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَـسِرِينَ

(and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.)

As the Prophet said in an authentic Hadith,

«مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا، فَهُوَ رَد»

(Whoever commits an action that does not conform to our matter (religion) then it is rejected).

The following was revealed regarding those who apostatized and became disbelievers Whoever desires a religion other than Islam it shall not be accepted from him and in the Hereafter he shall be among the losers because he will end up in the Fire made everlasting for him.

Commentary

The literal meaning of 'Islam' is 'submission and obedience.' As a term 'Islam' stands for submission to that particular religion which Allah Almighty has sent through his prophets (علیہم السلام) to guide human beings, because fundamental principles are the same in the religious codes of all prophets (علیہم السلام) .

Correspondingly, there are occasions when 'Islam' is used in that general sense, while there are other occasions when it is used exclusively to identify the Last Shari'ah which was revealed to the Last of the Prophets (علیہ السلام) . Both these kinds of application are present in the Holy Qur'an. That the past prophets called themselves 'Muslim' and their communities, the 'Muslim' community, stands proved under the authority of several wordings of the Qur'anic text. Concurrently, this name has also been used as a particular name of the community the Last of the Prophets:

هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَـٰذَا

It was He who named you Muslims before, and in this (Qur'an). (22:78)

In short, every Divine religion which came through a prophet is also called 'Islam'. Then, it is also used as a particular title for the Muslim community. Now, the question is as to which sense does the word, 'Islam', carry at this place in the Holy Qur'an?

The correct position is that, no matter which of the two meanings is taken, it does not make much of a difference in terms of the outcome, since the name of 'Islam' given to the religion of past prophets was for a limited group of people and a specified period of time.

That was the 'Islam' of that time. Restricted to the specific group or community, that 'Islam' was not meant to serve as a universal code for all times to come. As such when a particular prophet departed and was replaced by another prophet, ` Islam' (i.e. the specific code) of that time ceased to be operative. The 'Islam' of the said time was to be what the new prophet presented. Obviously, there was no difference between these different codes in so far as the fundamentals are con-cerned, however, the subsidiary injunctions might differ. As for the 'Islam' given through the last Prophet ﷺ it will remain unabrogable and will serve as a permanent code right upto the Day of Judgment. And, in accordance with the cited rule, all previous religions stand abrogated after the Holy Prophet ﷺ as been sent.

Now, they are not Islam as such anymore. Instead, Islam is the name of that particular religion which has reached us through the Holy Prophet, Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ . Therefore, it appears in authentic ahadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'Had Musa been living this day, following me would have been incumbent upon him too.' In yet another hadith, he has been reported to have said that ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، when he appears close to the Day of Resurrection, he too, inspite of holding his distinction and office of prophethood, would follow no other religious code except that of his (the Prophet ﷺ of Islam).

Therefore, at this place, no matter what sense is taken of Islam - the general or the particular - the outcome of both is the same, that is, after the coming of the Last of the Prophets (علیہم السلام) ، only that religion, and that alone, will be termed as Islam which has come to the world through him. On belief in that alone depends the salvation نجات (najat) of all human beings for it is their indispensable need. This ex-plains what has been said in the present verse: 'Whoever seeks a faith other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him.'

Details about this subject have already appeared under the commentary on the verse (3:19).

Whosoever wants a religion other than the submission, it will not be accepted from him. Any religion that is not the submission is false. Any deed that is not following the Sunnah is the seed of remorse. The submission is the tree, the Sunnah is its water source, faith its fruit, and the Real the one who planted and nurtured it. When the wellspring of the Sunnah takes replenishment, it takes it from divine solicitude. If-refuge in God!-He should take back the solicitude, the wellspring would go dry. The tree would become ineffectual and barren, it would not give the fruit of faith, and it would be on the verge of disappearance and destruction. This is like the group who became apostates and turned away from the submission. Again, if the lordly solicitude should go forth and replenish the wellspring of the Sunnah, then the branches of the tree will be made from the goodly word [14:24] and its fruit from pure belief. The heaven of guidance will make the branch into a ladder, and in the state of life and death its fruit will become constant and never be cut off. This is why the Lord of the Worlds says by way of similitude, “God has struck a similitude: A goodly word is like a goodly tree, its roots fixed, and its branches in heaven. It gives its fruit every season by the leave of its Lord” [14:24-25]. It has also been said that if a similitude is struck for the submission, it is a lamp that has been lit by the Most Tremendous Light, its material and nurture made to appear from the light of the Sunnah. To this is the allusion in His words, “Is he whose breast God has expanded for the sub- mission, so he is upon a light from his Lord [...]?” [39:22]. He is saying, “Whenever the Exalted Lord lights the lamp of the submission in a breast, assistance from the light of the Sunnah makes it appear so that the breast may always be adorned and lit. Hence, whenever someone does not have a whiff of the Sunnah, he will have no portion of the submission. It is narrated from Shāfiʿī that he said, “I saw God in a dream and He said to me, 'Ask a wish from Me.