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The Review of Religions is honoured to present the first full English translation of Sūrah al-Kahf, chapter 18 of the Holy Qur’ān, from Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad’s (ra) magnum opus, Al-Tafsīr Al-Kabīr for our readers. In this edition, Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra) presents the lexical analysis and commentary of verses 5-6 of Sūrah al-Kahf.
وَيُنذِرَ ٱلَّذِينَ قَالُواْ ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَدٗا*
مَّا لَهُم بِهِۦ مِنْ عِلْمٍۢ وَلَا لِـَٔابَآئِهِمْ ۚ كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةٗ تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَٰهِهِمْ ۚ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا
And (He has revealed it so that) He may warn those who say, ‘Allah (the Exalted) has taken (a certain person) as a son.’ They have no knowledge of this whatsoever, nor did their forefathers (have any knowledge about this). It is an extremely grave (and dangerous) word that comes out of their mouths. (In reality) they speak nothing but falsehood.
Lexical Analysis
الْوَلَدُ (Al-Walad)
Walad actually means offspring, whether male or female. However, since a son is being referred to here, the word ‘son’ has been used in the translation.[1]
الْكَلِمَةُ (Al-Kalimah)
Al-Kalimah means a word or whatever is spoken, whether singular or compound. For further explanation, see Sūrah Yūnus verses 34 and 97.
(a word) اللَّفْظُ: الْكَلِمَةُ
كُلُّ مَا يَنْطِقُ بِهِ الْإِنْسَانُ مُفْرَدًا أَوْ مُرَكَّبًا (Kull ma Yanṭiq bih al-Insān Mufradā aw Murakkabā) means anything that is spoken, whether the word is singular or compound.
اللَّفْظَةُ [means] a singular word that is spoken. It is also anything that is said by people, whether it be compound or singular.
وَالْعَشْرُ كَلِمَاتٍ وَصَايَا اللَّهِ الْعَشْرُ (wa al-‘Ashr Kalimāt Waṣāyā Allah al-‘Ashr) refers to the ten injunctions of Allah.
الْخُطْبَةُ وَالْقَصِیْدَةُ (al-Khuṭbah wa al-Qaṣīdah): sometimes a sermon, address or an ode is called a Kalimah.[2]
الْكَذِبُ (Al-Kadhib)
Al-Kadhib is the infinitive of كَذَبَ (kadhaba). And كَذَبَ الرَّجُلُ means: أَخْبَرَ عَنِ الشَّيْءِ بِخِلَافِ مَا هُوَ مَعَ الْعِلْمِ بِهِ ضِدُّ صِدَقَ.To give information about something that is opposed to what actually happened, despite knowing [the truth], is called كَذِبٌ (kadhib). And this word is also used to mean the opposite of truth (Ṣidq). وَسَوَاءٌ فِيْهِ الْعَمْدُ وَالْخَطَأُ (wa Sawa fih al-‘Amd wa al-Khata’). In this case, both deliberately speaking the opposite of the truth of a matter, or mistakenly doing so, are included in the definition of Kadhib (falsehood).[3]
Exegesis
The Second Function of this Book
The second function of this Book is to warn those who claim that God has taken a son (God forbid).
It is remarkable that first the Book’s function is described as a warning, then identified its purpose as giving glad tidings to the believers. After this, it again mentions a warning, and this warning is particularly for those people who attribute a son to Allah the Almighty.
This raises the question: why were the warnings not kept together, with the glad tidings mentioned afterward? The answer is that through this arrangement, the Holy Qur’an has also revealed those eras in which the Holy Qur’an’s warning, glad tidings, and then a second warning would become manifest.
The first warning refers to the people of Makkah and all other nations who were opposed to Islam during the time of the Holy Prophet (sa). As a result of this warning in the Holy Qur’an, those nations were destroyed. After this, it mentions glad tidings for the believers. Consequently, after the destruction of the opponents of Islam, Muslims received blessings and rewards.
The Muslim Governance under the directive of مَّٰكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَدٗا
Muslims established their government, in accordance with the instruction contained in مَّٰكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَدٗا (dwelling therein forever), and ruled the world for centuries. After this, it only mentions a warning for the Christian nation.
This suggests that after Islamic progress and advancement, Christianity would gain strength again and spread throughout the world to such an extent that it would be as if it were the only nation left opposing Islam. At that time, the Holy Qur’an’s warning would specifically be directed at the Christian nations. If the warning had not been split into two parts, and if the rewards and blessings for Muslims had not been mentioned in between, the subtle meanings revealing the times of punishment and future political upheavals would not have been revealed.
كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةٗ ‘How grave is the word’ that comes out of their mouths is used to make a distinction, i.e., كَبُرَتْ هِيَ كَلِمَةً. That is to say, this is an extremely serious thing to say, or in other words, even uttering such a statement is highly dangerous and also contrary to reason.
Here, it explains that beyond being an extremely insulting doctrine, human reason itself rejects this doctrine. How can it be possible that a human is hung on a cross and then called the son of God?
A Devastating Blow Dealt to Christianity Within this Warning
While giving a warning, a devastating blow has also been dealt to Christianity. It states that they claim a son for God, but they have no proof to make the claim that there is a son, nor did their forefathers possess any evidence. Meaning, even though their ancestors knew that the disciples of Jesus (as) and their students were monotheists, and polytheism emerged later, they made him the son of God, yet Islam has presented them with the teaching of supreme monotheism and completely uprooted polytheistic notions. However, neither did the earlier ones benefit from witnessing the truth with their own eyes, nor did those who came later reap any benefit from Islam’s arguments. Both groups, without any evidence or proof, abandoned their Lord and made a human into God.
The words إِلَّا كَذِبًا [only lies] demonstrate that the Messiah (as) himself rejected such claims. Indeed, even from the current Gospels, there is no evidence for Jesus (as) being the son of God. Though the words ‘son’ are used in reference to the Messiah (as), these words are also used for other humans. For instance, in Exodus, chapter 4, verse 22, it is written: ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn…’
Serialisation of Surah al-Kahf will continue in the next edition.
ENDNOTES
- Aqrab al-Mawārid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
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