61. Surah As-Saff

9 The word sehr here does not mean magic but deception and fraud, which is also a well known meaning of this word in Arabic. Thus, the verse means: "When the Prophet whose coming had been foretold by the Prophet Jesus came with the clear signs of his prophethood, the Israelites and the followers of Jesus,declared his claim to Prophet hood to be a deception and fraud." 10 "... forges ... against Allah": declares the Prophet sent by Allah to be a false prophet and regards the Revelations of Allah to His Prophet as forged by the Prophet himself. 11 That is, there could be no greater in justice than that besides calling a true Prophet a false prophet, one should start hurling abuses on him and employing all sorts of lies and false allegations and slanders to defeat his mission although the Prophet is calling him to Allah's worship and His obedience.

12 One should bear in mind that these verses were sent down in A.H. 3 after the Battle of Uhud, when Islam was confined only to the city of Madinah, the Muslims were only a few thousands in number, and entire Arabia was bent upon wiping out this religion. The defeat that the Muslims had suffered at Uhud, had sullied their image of power and the tribes of the surrounding areas had been emboldened. Under such conditions it was said: "No one will succeed in blowing out this Light of Allah, but it will shine forth in all fullness and spread throughout the world." This was a clear prediction which literally came true. Who could know apart from Allah at that time what was the future of Islam? Human eyes could only sec that it was a flickering candle and violent winds were blowing to put it out for ever.

13 "The mushriks ": those who combine the service of others with the service of AIIah and mix other religions in the Religion of Allah; who are not prepared to see that the entire system of lift is established on the obedience and guidance of One God; who insist that they will worship any deity they like and base "Then said the priest: 'How shall the Messiah be called, and what sign shall reveal his coming? "Jesus answered: `The name of the Messiah is admirable, ,for God himself gave him the name when he had created his soul, and placed it in a celestial splendour. God said: `Wait Muhammad; for thy sake I will to create paradise, the world, and a great multitude of creatures whereof I make thee a present, insomuch that whoso shall bless thee shall be blessed, and whose shall curse thee shall be accursed, When I shall send thee into the world, I shall send thee as my messenger of salvation, and thy word shall be true, insomuch that heaven and earth shall fail, but thy faith shall newer fail. Muhammad is his blessed name' (Ch. 97) Barnabas writes that on one occasion Jesus spoke to his disciples and said that one of them (who was to be Judas Iscariot) would sell him to the enemies for 30 pieces of gold. Then said: "Whereupon I am sure that who shall sell me, be slain in my name, for that God shall take me up from the earth, and shall change the appearance of the traitor so that every one shall believe him to be me; nevertheless when he dieth an evil death, I shall abide in that dishonour for a long time in the world But when Mohammed shall come, the sacred messenger of God, that infamy shall be taken away. And this shall God do because I have confessed the truth of the Messiah, who shall give me this reward that I shall be known to be alive and to be a stranger to that death of infamy.' (Ch. i 12) (To the disciples Jesus said:) "Verily I say unto you that if the truth had not been erased from the book of Moses, God would not have given to David our father the second. And if the book of David had not been contaminated, God would not have committed the Gospel to me; seeing that the Lord our God is unchangeable, and hath spoken but one message to a]I men. Wherefore, when the messenger of God shall come, he shall come to cleanse away all where with the ungodly have contaminated my book.' (Ch.124) In these clear and comprehensive prophecies there are only three things which at first sight appear to be doubtful. First, that in these and in several other passages of the Gospel of Barnabas the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) has denied his own self being the Messiah. Second, that not only in these but at many other places also in this Gospel the Holy Messenger's actual name "Muhammad" has been mentioned, whereas this is not the way the Prophets make prophecies: they do not mention the actual name of the one coming in the future. Third, that in these the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace) has been called the Messiah The answer to the first objection is that not only in the Gospel of Barnabas but in the Gospel according to Luke also it is mentioned that the Prophet Jesus had forbidden his disciples to call him the Christ (the Messiah) . The words in Luke are: "He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he strictly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing." (9: 20-21) Probably the reason was that about the Messiah whom the Israelites were awaiting, they thought he would subdue the enemies of truth by the sword. Therefore, the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) said that he was not that Messiah but he would come rafat him. The answer to the second objection is that no doubt in the extant Italian translation of Barnabas the Holy Prophet's name has been written as "Mohammed", but no one knows through how many different languages has this book reached the Italian. Obviously, the original Gospel of Barnabas must be in Syriac, because that was the language of Jesus and his companions. If the original book were extant, it could be seen what name of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) was written in it. Now what one can assume is that originally the Prophet Jesus must have used the word Munhamanna as we have explained above by citing Ibn Ishaq's reference to St. John's Gospel. Then different translators may have translated it in their own languages. Later, probably some translator seeing that the name given in the prophecy was exactly synonymous with the word "Mohammed" may have written this very sacred name of the Holy Prophet. Therefore, the mere appearance of this name only is not enough to give rise to the doubt that the entire Gospel of Barnabas has been forged by a Muslim. The answer to the third objection is that the word "Messiah" is an Israelite technical term, which has bets used in the Qur'an particularly for the Prophet Jesus for the reason that the Jews had denied his being the Messiah; otherwise it- is neither a Qur'anic term nor has it been used anywhere in the Qur'an in the meaning of the Israelite term, Therefore, if the Prophet Jesus used the word Messiah for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) , and the Qur'an has not used this word for him, it is not right to conclude that the Gospel of Barnabas ascribes something to him which the Qur'an denies. In fact, it was customary with the Israelites that when somebody or something was set aside for a sacred cause, the person or thing was anointed with the holy oil on the head and consecrated. This anointing with the oil was called mesh in Hebrew, and the one thus anointed messiah " Utensils were likewise anointed and set aside for use in the house of worship. THe priests also were anointed when they were appointed to priesthood. The kings and the prophets too were anointed when they were designated to kingship or prophethood by God. Thus, according to the Bible, there have been many messiahs in the history of the Israelites. The Prophet Aaron was a messiah as a priest, Moses as a priest and a prophet, Saul as a king, David as a king and a prophet, Melchizedek as a king and a priest, and AI-Yas'a (Elisha) was a messiah as a prophet. Later, it was no longer regarded as necessary to appoint a person by their beliefs and morals and civilization on any philosophy and doctrine they please, As against the ways of such people, it is being said that the Messenger of AIlah has not been sent to make a compromise with than, but' with the object that he .should cause the Guidance and Religion of Truth which he has brought from Allah to prevail ove all religion, i.e. every aspect of the way of life. This mission he has to accomplish in any case whether the disbelievers and polytheists like it or not, and whoever they support it or resist it. This declaration has been made in the Qur'an at two other places about, in Surah At Taubah: 33 and Surah AI-Fath: 28. Here it has been re-iterated for the third time. (For further explanation, see E.N. 32 of At-Taubah and E.N. 51 of Al-Fath) .

14 A bargain is something in which a person employs his wealth, time, labour and talent in order to earn a profit. In the same sense the Faith and Jihad in the cause of AIIah have ban called a bargain, as if to say: If you exert alI your powers and expend all your resources in the way of Allah, you will get the profits that are being mentioned in the following verses. This same theme has been expressed in At-Taubah: III in another way. (See E.N. 106 of At-Taubah) .

15 When the believers are asked to believe, it automatically gives the meaning that they should become sincere Muslims: they should not rest content with oral profession of the Faith but should be ready and willing to make every sacrifice in the cause of their Faith. 16 That is, this bargain is far superior for them to every worldly bargain.

17 The actual profits of the bargain that they will attain in the eternal lift of the Hereafter are: (1) Immunity from the punishment of Allah; (2) forgiveness of sins; and (3> entry into the Paradise the blessings of which are eternal ana everlasting.

18 Although victory and success in the world is a great blessing of Allah, yet for the believer the thing of real importance is not this but the success of the Hereafter. That is why the gain of the worldly life has been mentioned as second and the result accruing in the Hereafter first.

19 For the companions of the Prophet Jesus (peace be on him) the word `Disciples" generally has been used in the Bible, but later the term "apostle" became prevalent for them among the Christians, and in the sense that they were God's apostles, but in the sense that the Prophet Jesus used to send them to different parts of Palestine as his preachers. Among the Jews this word was already in use for those who were sent to collect subscriptions for the Temple. However, the Qur'anic term "hawari" is better than both the Christian terms. The essence of this word is hur, which means whiteness. The washerman is called hawari because he whitens clothes by washing them. A pure and un-adulterated thing is also called hawari . The flour from which bran has been sifted is known as huwwara. In this very meaning this word is used for a sincere friend and an unselfish supporter. Ibn Sayyidah says: "Anyone who exaggerates in helping another is his hawari." (Lisan al-'Arab) . 20 This is the last place in the Holy Qur'an where those who exert themselves in calling the people to Allah's Religion and to cause it to become dominant over disbelief, have been called helpers of Allah. Before this, this very theme has been expressed in Al-'Imran: 52, Al-Hajj: 40, Muhammad: 7, Al-Hadid25 and Al-Hashr: 8 above, and we have explained these verses in E.N. 50 of Al Imran, E.N. 84 of Al-Hajj, E.N. 12 of Muhammad, E.N. 47 of Al-Hadid. Moreover, in E. N . 9 of Surah Muhammad also light has been thrown on an aspect of this question. In spite of this some people seem to have the confusion that when AIIah Almighty is All-Powerful, Self-Sufficient, and Independent of the help of all His creatures, how then can a man be a helper of Allah? To remove this confusion we shall further explain this point here. In fact, these people have not been called helpers of AIIah for the reason that Allah, Lord of the worlds, (God forbid) stood in need of any help from some of His creatures, but because in the sphere of life in which Allah Himself has granted man freedom of belief and disbelief, obedience and disobedience, He does not will to make the people His believers and obedient servants by means of His power and might. Instead, He adopts the method of admonition and instruction to show them the right way through His Prophets and Books. The one who accepts this admonition and instruction willingly is a Mu'min, the one who submits practically to His Commands, is a Muslim and devout God-worshipper, the one who adopts an attitude of God-consciousness is a Muttaqi, the one who vies with others for good works is a Muhsin, and over and above this, the one who starts working for the reformation of the people by means of the same method of admonition and instruction and for establishing the system of Allah's obedience instead of disbelief and wickedncss, is declared by Allah as His own helper, as has been mentioned in clear words at several places in the verses cited above. If the object were to designate such people as helpers of Allah's Religion and not of AIIah, the words would have been ansar-u din Allah and not ansar-Allah, yansuruna din-Allah and not yansurun-Allah, intansuruna din-Allah and not in-iansurun-Allah. When in order to convey and express a theme; Allah has adopted one and the same style at several places, successively, it proves conclusively that the actual object is to designate these people as helpers of Allah. But this "helpfulness", God forbid, is not in the sense that these people fulfil some need of AIIah for which He requires their help, but it is in the sense that these people participate in the cause which Allah wills to accomplish through His Prophets and His Books instead of His great power and might. 21 Those who disbelieved in Jesus Christ are the Jews, and those who believed in him are the Christians as well as the Muslims, and Allah granted both these domination over the disbelievers of Christ. This is meant to requires the Muslims that just as the believers of Christ have dominated over his disbelievers in the past, so will the believers of the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) prevail over his disbelivers.