Quran Garden

Session 483

Chapter 3

Verse 154

a continuation

After sorrow, He descended calm upon you, a sleep that overtook some of you.  Another group, caring only for themselves, entertained false thoughts about God, thoughts more appropriate to pagan ignorance, and said, "Do we get a say in any of this?" tell them, "Everything to do with this affair is in God's hands." They conceal in their hearts things they will not reveal to you.  They say, "If we had had our say in this, none of us would have been killed here." Tell them, "Even if you had resolved to stay at home, those who were destined to be killed would still have gone out to meet their deaths." God did this in order to test everything within your chests and in order to prove what is in your hearts.  God knows your innermost thoughts very well.  (Chapter 3: Verse 154)

The word "group," translated from the Arabic طَائِفَةً (Taaifa), refers to a collective of people united by an idea.  It is this shared idea that brings them together.  In fact, the Arabic verb طَاف (taf) means to revolve or go around.  We call the circumambulation of the Kaa'ba (Tawaf).  Similarly, all the shared activities of a group revolve around an idea. 

The word (Taaifa) reminds me of another fascinating verse from the Quran.  In the English language, nouns, and verbs are either singular or plural, but in Arabic, nouns and verbs can be singular, plural, or dual when the subject is a pair.  God says,

If two groups of believers come to fight, promote peace between the two of them.  Then if one of them turns aggressive against the other, fight against the aggressor till it returns to God's authority.  If it does so, make peace among them equitably and be impartial.  Verily God loves those who are just. (49:9)

The Quran is God's word.  Those who read it superficially may easily miss the eloquence of this verse and the preciseness of each word.  Let's go through the verse above in detail and study the words God used as singular, dual, or plural and the meaning behind each choice.  We understand that there are two groups of the believers in conflict.  God says, "If two groups of believers come to fight." Grammatically, it would make sense to use the dual form of the verb "to fight." However, God chose to use the plural, which seems in disagreement with "two groups" Why?  Because when the fighting starts between two groups, each group does not carry a single weapon and strike with it; instead, every group member carries a weapon and enters the fight; thus, the plural form of the verb is more precise here.  Yet, in the same sentence, God switches back to the dual and says, "Promote peace between the two of them." We ask again, why?  Because a warring party is like an organization represented by one person, the leader.  When you hold peace talks, you do not hold it between each member of the warring armies.  Instead, you hold talks between the two leaders, and they decide whether to stop the fight or not.   

This brings us back to the verse understudy.  What was the shared idea of the group in this verse?  God says, "Another group, caring only for themselves, entertained false thoughts about God, thoughts more appropriate to pagan ignorance, and said, 'Do we get a say in any of this?'"  Allah is informing us about the inner thoughts of these people.  They did not say, "Do we get a say in any of this?" aloud or to each other, yet God knows that their shared ideology and spiritual corruption make them think alike: "Do we have any control over anything?" Did anyone hear them?  Yes, God - Glory be to Him – for He "knows your innermost thoughts very well." 

The truth is the one constant that does not change.  God is the truth; He created the heavens, earth, and the entire universe with the truth.  He revealed His book with truth, yet, they doubted God and His word.  God's promises in the Quran are the truth.  He promised that the soldiers of faith are always the victors, yet, they distrusted God's promise and neglected the prerequisites of victory.  They wanted to win despite disobeying the command of Prophet Muhammad and ignored the fact that there is no favoritism in Islam:  God's promise is the truth, even if it has to be applied against His beloved Muhammad and the companions. 

They say, "Do we get a say in any of this?" meaning: "Do we get any glory?  Are there any spoil for us?" Or it could mean, "We were of the strong opinion against leaving Medina to meet the enemy; we wanted to stay and defend the city from within.  We left against our will, and now look what happened." God answers, "Everything to do with this affair is in God's hands" They had no insight of faith or material understanding of why God did not help them to victory.  All they focused on were the missed glory and spoils.  Had they done some introspection, they would have realized that victory eluded them because of their own actions.  Moreover, they failed to understand that while they were not victorious, Islam was.    How, you may ask?  We answer that had the Muslims won despite violating the command of their Messenger, faith would have lost all meaning. 

Therefore, we must always differentiate between Islamic principles and those who claim to be Muslim.  Not everyone who says, "I am a Muslim," represents Islam.  This is evident from the rules within Islam.  Let me explain.  Allah established the religion of Islam to regulate the interactions of life among people.  He ordained and forbade specific actions and legislated penalties for the Muslims who stray.  This means that it is possible for a Muslim person to disobey and go against God's teachings.  Islam has specific rules to punish the adulterer and adulteress, and rules to deal with thieves and so on.  Islam does not permit theft, but it recognizes that a person can be Muslim yet commit acts punishable by Islam.  Thus, if you want to study Islam properly, you should study God's teachings and not look at the actions of Muslims.