English Al-Mukhtasar — Al-Fatihah 1:1 – An-Nisa 4:176

I begin by calling on Allah, Who is Ar-Raḥmān, the Merciful, and Ar-Raḥīm, the Compassionate. These last two names of Allah are derived from the Arabic word raḥmah, which means mercy: proving the greatness and vastness of His Mercy and that His Mercy surrounds everything, and embraces all living beings. Every blessing is due to His mercy, and the believers receive the greatest mercy.

All praise belongs to Allah with regards to His essence, attributes and actions, because He is the Creator of everything. Everything belongs to Him and He is the disposer of their affairs; blessing individuals specifically and humans in general.

Two names of Allah, Ar-Raḥmān and Ar-Raḥīm, derived from the word raḥmah, or mercy: indicating His mercy for creation, with the believers being the greatest recipients of it.

He is the Master of the day of Judgement, the day in which we will be brought back to life and repaid for what we have done, all of His creation will be held accountable for their actions and recompensed for them. On that day God will ask “To whom belongs the Kingdom today?” [Sūrah Ghafir: 16] No one, no matter how high his status, will answer, and then God will reply Himself, “to God, the One, the Overcomer” [Sūrah Ghafir: 16]

We worship and obey none except You; we associate no one with You, and from You alone do we ask for help in all our affairs. All goodness is in Your hand, and there is no helper except You.

Show and facilitate for us the right way, the path of submission to You which has no crookedness, and make us firm upon it –

The same path as those of Your creation whom You have blessed with guidance, such as the prophets, the truthful, martyrs, and the righteous ones. What good companions these people make! Keep us away from the path of those who earned Your anger, who knew the truth and did not follow it – as was the case with the Israelites; and keep us away from the path of those who lost their way and were not guided, because they were neglectful in seeking the Truth and being guided by it – as was the case with the Christians.

Alif Lām Mīm – letters like these begin certain sūrahs of the Qur’ān. Although they have no meaning in themselves, they do however have a purpose. Since there is divine wisdom contained in everything in the Qur’ān, these letters point to the miracle of the Qur’ān, made up of the letters which make up the words we speak. Therefore, when sūrahs begin with letters in this way, they are usually followed with a verse about the Qur’ān, as we see in this sūrah.

This is the Qur’ān, in which there is nothing of any doubt, neither in terms of its origin, nor in terms of its meaning. It is the word of Allah, guiding those who are mindful of Allah to the way that leads to Him.

They believe in the revelation that Allah sent down to you, O Prophet, and in that which He revealed to all the other prophets before you (peace be upon them), without distinction; and they have a definite belief in the Afterlife, with its rewards and punishments.

They believe in the revelation that Allah sent down to you, O Prophet, and in that which He revealed to all the other prophets before you (peace be upon them), without distinction; and they have a definite belief in the Afterlife, with its rewards and punishments.

The people who possess these qualities are on the path of guidance, and will be successful in this world and the next, gaining what they desire and being saved from what they fear.

Those who reject what Allah revealed to His Messenger continue on the wrong path in their stubbornness. So, it makes no difference whether you warn them or not.

Allah has sealed their hearts, locking inside them their falsehood, and has placed a seal on their hearing, so that they do not listen to nor accept the truth. He has put a cover over their eyes, so that they do not see the truth in its clarity. They will suffer greatly. After describing the disbelievers, who are at fault inside and out, He describes the hypocrites, who appear good on the outside, but are not so inwardly:

Among people are some who claim to have faith in Allah, when they actually do not believe.

They think that they can deceive Allah and the believers by acting outside as if they believe, while inside hiding their disbelief; but really, they only deceive themselves, without realising it. Allah knows all that is secret and hidden, and has told the believers what these people are like.

Allah increases the disease in their hearts, and they reap what they sow. Because they lied Allah increases the disease of doubts in their hearts, by adding hesitation to their uncertainty, hence they only gain what they deserve. They will have a painful suffering in the worst parts of Hell because they lied against Allah, and the people, and rejected the message brought by Muhammad (peace be upon him).

When they are told not to ruin things on earth – through their rejection of the truth, their disobedience and so on – they deny doing so, claiming that they only correct things and put them right.

The truth is that it is they who ruin things, but they do not admit this, nor do they know that their actions are the cause of all ruin.

When they are told to have faith as the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him) did, they reply, looking down on people and making fun of them, saying “should we have faith like simple-minded people do?” In fact, it is they who are the fools, but they are unaware of this.

When the hypocrites meet the believers, they say, ‘We believe what you believe’, as they think it will benefit them if they act like this; but when they are alone with their leaders, they say, ‘We are really with you and follow you. We are only making fun of them when we say that we believe’.

Allah mocks the hypocrites for their mocking of the believers, and He will repay in equal measure for their behavior. They are treated as believers in this world, but will be repaid for their lying and deception in the next life. He allows them to become more and more lost and to do more and more wrong, so they remain confused and doubtful about the truth.

It is they who are the fools, because they exchanged faith for disbelief; and this exchange did not help them in any way, because they lost their faith in Allah and lost the way to the truth.

They are like someone who lights a fire, but when it has lit up what is around him, Allah takes away the light from the flames: leaving them in the darkness, unable to see. Allah shows us what the hypocrites are like with two examples: one related to fire, and the other to water. In the example related to fire, He compares them to someone who lights a fire to illuminate things, but when it is lit and he thinks he will benefit from its light, it goes out, smoldering and leaving him in the dark. Such people then remain in the dark, unable to see anything or find a way.

They are deaf: unable to hear and accept the truth, or speak about it. They are blind to seeing the truth, so they do not turn back from their error.

In the example related to water, a storm full of darkness, thunder and lightning is described. Some people are terrified by it and put their fingers in their ears because of the strength of the thunderclaps, scared of death. Allah surrounds the disbelievers, and has absolute power over them, so they cannot escape Him.

The brightness of the lightning almost blinds them. Whenever it flashes, lighting things up, they go forward and when there is no light they remain in darkness, unable to move. If God willed, He could take away their hearing and their sight, in His absolute power over all things; and not return it to them because they turn away from the truth. The rain in the storm could be likened to the Qur’ān, the thunderclap to its warnings, and the lightning to truths, appearing to them from time to time. The covering of their ears to the thunderclaps likened to their turning away from the truth, and not responding to it. The hypocrites are similar to the people in these examples because they receive no benefit from anything. In the example of the fire, all they receive is darkness and a smoldering fire. In the example of the storm-cloud, all they receive is fear and alarm because of the thunder and lightning. Similarly, the hypocrites see nothing in Islam except difficulty and harshness.

O people, worship no one other than your Lord, because He created you and the people before you, so that you may save yourselves from suffering, by following His instructions and keeping away from what He has prohibited.

It is He Who made the earth like a carpet spread out in front of you and it is He Who masterfully constructed the sky over you. Through His grace rain falls, producing different crops from the earth, as produce for you. Do not, then, consider others to be equal to Allah, when you know that He alone is worthy of being worshipped.

Allah challenges those who have any doubt about the Qur’ān revealed to His servant, Muhammad (peace be upon him), to produce a chapter just like it, and to call their helpers, if they are truthful about what they say.

If they are unable to do so – and they will never be able to do it – they should be mindful of the fire of Hell, which burns with people who deserve the torment, and with the idols which they used to worship instead of Allah: punishing both the idol-worshipers and what they worshiped. The fire of Hell has been prepared as a punishment for the disbelievers.

The warnings in the previous verses were for the disbelievers, so now the Messenger is told to address the believers: Give good news to those who have faith in Allah and do good, and tell them about that which will please them: gardens in Paradise, with rivers flowing beneath their palaces and trees. Whenever they are given fruits from the gardens to consume, they will comment on how similar they are to the fruits of the earth, saying, ‘This is similar to what we had before’. They will be given fruits that carry the same name and shape, so that they may recognise and desire them, but they will in fact taste differently. In the Garden they will be paired with their mates, who will not have any unpleasant traits that people have on earth; and they will live there in eternal bliss, unlike the bliss of the earth which is only temporary.

Allah does not shy away from using whatever example He wishes, whether that be of a gnat or anything bigger than it. The believers know and trust that there is wisdom in the use of such examples, while the disbelievers will make fun, asking each other why Allah uses examples with lowly creatures, such as gnats, flies and spiders. Allah replies that in these examples lie guidance, direction and a test for people. There are many people who are misguided by Allah through these examples, because they refuse to consider them; and there are many who He guides along the right path because they learn from them. He does not misguide anyone except those who deserve to be misguided. They are those who do not obey Him.

Those who break the promise they made with God to serve Him alone and follow His way. This is in the verse, “He made them testify concerning themselves: “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we bear witness!” (7:172) He affirmed this by sending the prophets and the scriptures. Those who do not take their promises with God seriously are those who cut off from things which God instructed not to, such as blood relations and they work to spread corruption on earth through their wrongdoing. They are the losers in this world and the next.

Strange is the situation of the disbelievers. How can you disbelieve the Oneness of Allah when you can see the signs of His power in your own existence? You were nothing, and He brought you to life; then you will die, and you shall be brought to life again. Then you will return to Him and be held accountable.

It is Allah alone Who created everything on earth for you: the countless rivers, trees and so on, from which you benefit and enjoy. Then He turned to the sky, making it into seven heavens, and He has knowledge of everything.

Allah tells His Prophet and humankind that He said to the angels that He would put humans on earth who will give birth to other humans, to inhabit it according to His laws. The angels asked their Lord, trying to understand, what the wisdom behind making the children of Adam guardians of the earth was, when they would ruin things in it, and kill in it, while the angels always do as He tells them, and recognise His greatness, praising Him and honouring His power and perfection. Allah replied to their question, saying that He knew the deep wisdom behind His creation of them, and behind making them guardians, and the angels did not.

To reveal the position of Adam, Allah taught him the names of everything, living things and objects, their pronunciation and meanings. Then he put them before the angels, instructing them to tell Him the names if they were telling the truth when they said that they were a nobler and better creation than Adam.

Recognising their shortcomings and that everything comes from Allah, they said that they acknowledged that His judgement and sacred law could not be doubted, and that they had no knowledge except for the knowledge He had given them, accepting that He is the Knowing, from Whom nothing is hidden, and the Wise in His decrees and laws.

Then Allah told Adam to tell them the names. When Adam told the angels the names of things, as he had been taught, Allah reminded the angels that He had told them that He knew everything hidden in the heavens and the earth, and what they made public and what they said inside of themselves.

Allah reveals that He told the angels to prostrate to Adam out of recognition and respect, so they prostrated to him, eager to do as He told them, except for Iblīs, or Satan, who was originally from the jinn. Due to the excellence of his worship, Allah had entered Iblīs into the company of the angels; but he then returned to his lowly nature, refusing to prostrate as Allah told him to, and becoming proud towards Adam, leading to him becoming a disbeliever.

Allah told Adam to live with his wife, Eve, in the Garden, with nothing to ruin their bliss. They were instructed to consume the delightful food from anywhere in the Garden, but also to avoid going near a particular tree which they were forbidden to eat from. If they ate from the prohibited tree, they would become wrongdoers for disobeying Him.

Satan did not stop whispering to them, trying to trick them, until he made them slip and fall by eating from the tree which Allah had told them not to. For this Allah sent them out of the Garden, telling them and Satan to go down to the earth, some of them enemies to others, where they would stay and live, enjoying the good things there until their lifespan, and until the Final Hour arrived.

Adam received the words given to him by Allah, and was inspired to ask for forgiveness with them. These words of forgiveness are mentioned in Sūrah Al-A‘rāf: 23: ‘They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be of the losers”’. Allah accepted Adam’s turning to Him and forgave him, for He is always forgiving and Merciful towards His creation.

Allah told them to go down together from the Garden to the earth, and said that when He sends guidance, through the prophets, those who follow it and have faith in His prophets will have nothing to fear in the world to come, and will not feel sorrow about what passed them by on earth.

As for those who disbelieve and deny His signs, they are the people of the fire of Hell, who will live there eternally.

O Children of the Prophet Jacob, remember the many blessings He gave you and be thankful for them. Fulfil your contract to Him, having faith in Him, His prophets and His sacred laws. If you fulfil your contract, He will fulfil His contract to you, as well as His promises to you of a good life on earth and a beautiful reward on the Day of Judgement. Fear Him alone and do not break His contract.

Also, have faith in the Qur’ān which Allah revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) confirming what came in the Torah, before its corruption, concerning the Oneness of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and do not be the first group to disbelieve. Do not exchange His signs – the verses which He has revealed – for the small price of position or leadership, and avoid His displeasure and punishment.

Do not hide the truth, which He revealed to His prophets, with lies and falsehood; and do not hide the truth of the description of Muhammad which came in His scripture, when you know what the truth is and are convinced of it.

Establish the prayers properly with its obligatory and recommended parts; give Zakat from your wealth, which Allah has put in your hands; and be humble to Allah with those who are humble of Muhammad’s nation (peace be upon him).

What is more immoral than telling others to have faith and do good when you, upon reading the Torah, turn away from it and forget it yourselves, while knowing that it orders you to follow Allah’s religion and have faith in His prophets? Have you then no sense?

Ask for help in sacred and worldly affairs, with patience and prayer, which bring you close to Allah and allow you to reach Him, so that He will help you, protect you and take away your difficulties. Prayer is a hardship except for those who are humble to their Lord.

The humble are convinced that they will meet their Lord on the Day of Judgement, that they are returning to Him and will be held accountable for their actions.

O Israelites, remember the sacred and worldly blessings which I gave to you, and that I favoured you over all those of your time in terms of prophethood and power.

Protect yourselves against the Day of Judgement by following Allah’s instructions and staying away from what He has prohibited. On that day no soul will be able to help another in any way, and no pleading on their behalf will be accepted to benefit them or protect them from harm, except with Allah’s permission, and no ransom will be taken, even if it were to be the earth filled with gold. They will have no helpers on that day. Without appeal, ransom or helper, to where will they turn?

O Israelites! Remember when Allah saved you from the people of Pharaoh, who were tormenting you, slaughtering your sons so you would not survive, and letting your women live so they could serve them, taking great pains to humiliate and insult you. When you were saved from the oppression of Pharaoh and his people, it was a great test for you from your Lord, to see if you would be thankful.

Remember Allah’s favour in saving you when He parted the sea and made it a dry path for you to go through, while drowning your enemies, Pharaoh and his followers, before your very eyes, as you looked on.

Also, remember that the forty nights appointed to Moses were from the blessings of Allah, in which the revelation of the Torah, with its light and guidance, was completed. Yet you went and worshipped the calf during that period, which made you into wrongdoers.

Then Allah forgave you when you asked for forgiveness, and did not take you to account for it, so that you might be thankful to Him, worshipping Him in the best way and doing as He instructed.

Also, remember that Allah’s giving Moses (peace be upon him) the Torah as a criterion between truth and falsehood, discriminating between guidance and misguidance, so that you might be guided to the truth through it, were from the blessings of Allah.

Also, remember that Allah’s allowing you to ask His forgiveness for worshipping the calf, when Moses (peace be upon him) told you that you had wronged yourselves by taking the calf as a god and worshipping it, were from the blessings of Allah. Moses told you to ask for forgiveness and repent to your Creator by some of you killing others, because turning to Him in this way was better for you than persisting in disbelief, which would lead to an eternity in the fire of Hell. So, you did this with Allah’s approval, and He forgave you, for He is Forgiving and Merciful with His servants.

Also, remember when you shamelessly addressed Moses (peace be upon him), saying that you would not believe him until you saw Allah with your own eyes, in the open before you, and the lightning struck you and killed you, whilst some of you looked at the others.

Then He brought you back to life after death so that you might be thankful to Him for the blessings He granted you in this way.

Another of Allah’s blessings was that He sent clouds to shade you from the heat of the sun when you were wandering the earth; and He sent down manna, a sweet drink similar to honey, and quails for you, telling you to consume of the good things He had provided you with. Their ingratitude and disbelief for these blessings did not affect Allah in any way, but they wronged themselves, losing their share from the good they had done and exposing themselves to suffering.

Remember, from Allah’s blessings upon you, when He told you to enter Jerusalem and abundantly consume, with ease, from the good things in it from any place you wanted. He told you to prostrate in humility to Him when you entered, asking Him to remove your sins, so that He might answer you, and increase those who do good actions, rewarding them in this way.

The wrongdoers among them changed what they were told to do and say, and entered dragging themselves on their rears, saying, ‘A grain in a hair’, mocking Allah’s sacred law. Due to their actions He sent down a torment from the sky upon the wrongdoers among them, because they trespassed over the limits of the law and disobeyed His command.

Remember, from Allah’s blessings upon you, when you were in the wilderness, and you suffered great thirst, so Moses prayed to his Lord and asked that He give you water. Allah commanded that he hit the rock with his stick, and when he hit it, twelve springs appeared from it, the same number as the number of your tribes. Water gushed from them, and Allah made clear to each tribe which was their spring to drink from, so that there would be no conflict between you. And He told you to eat and drink from what He provided for you, without any effort or work from you, and told you not to put your efforts into ruining things on earth.

Also, remember when you were ungrateful for the blessings of your Lord, and became tired of the manna and quails He sent down to you, and said that you would not put up with one type of food. So, you asked Moses (peace be upon him) to ask Allah to produce herbs, vegetables, cucumbers, grains, lentils and onions from the plants on earth for you to consume. Moses said, disapproving of your request, that you wanted to exchange manna and quails which were better and nobler and came to you without effort or work, for what was lesser and worse. You were told to go down from this land to any town, and that you would find what you had asked for in its fields and markets. Due to following whims and repeatedly turning away from what Allah chose for them, they were disgraced, given poverty and misery. They earned Allah’s anger, because they turned away from His religion, and disbelieved His signs, and unjustly and brutally killed His prophets – all because they rebelled against Allah and used to transgress His limits.

Those who have faith from the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and from the communities who came before him – from the Jews, the Christians and Sabians (said to be a group who followed prophets who were of the faith of Abraham, peace be upon him) – will have their reward with their Lord. They will not fear what awaits them in the Afterlife, nor grieve over what happened to them on earth. This was the case before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent. Now his message of Islam – devotion and dedication to Allah – is the only way of life accepted by Allah, as He said, ‘Whoever seeks a path other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him’ [ Sūrah Āl ͑Imrān: 85].

Remember when Allah made a contract with you: that you should have faith in Allah and His prophets. He raised the mountain over you, inspiring awe and warning you against breaking the contract, commanding you to take what He had revealed to you of the Torah seriously and carefully, not taking it for granted or being lazy about it. He told you to remember and reflect upon it, so that you might be careful about what you earn from Allah.

Yet after making a firm promise, you broke the contract and rebelled. If it had not been for Allah’s favour in His tolerance towards you, and His mercy, accepting when you asked for forgiveness, then you would be among the losers because of your turning away and rebellion.

You know well the story of your ancestors, who prepared to fish on the Sabbath when they were not allowed to do so, and did so through trickery. They set up nets in preparation for the Sabbath so Allah made them into monkeys, rejected and cast out, because of their trickery.

Allah made this village, which had transgressed the limits, an example to the surrounding villages, and an example to those who came after it, so that they would not do the same and deserve the same fate. He made it a reminder for those mindful of Allah, who are careful of facing the consequences of their actions in the life to come, and are mindful of Allah’s repayment for those who transgress the limits.

From the stories of your ancestors, remember what happened between them and Moses (peace be upon him) when he told them that Allah had instructed them to slaughter a cow. Instead of hurrying to do so, they said, stubbornly, ‘Are you making fun of us?’ Moses replied that he asked for Allah’s protection from being one of the ignorant people, who lied about Allah, and made fun of other people.

They asked Moses to call on his Lord to clarify what the cow they had been told to sacrifice was like. Moses told them that Allah said that it was neither old nor young, but was between the two; and he told them to do what Allah had instructed them to.

They continued debating and being stubborn, telling Moses (peace be upon him) to call on his Lord to make clear to them the colour of the cow. Moses told them that Allah said that it was a yellow cow, with a very strong colour, which was pleasing to everyone who saw it.

They continued in their stubbornness, telling Moses to ask Allah to further clarify the nature of the cow. They said that there were many cows fitting the description, and they could not therefore identify it, insisting that they would then, if Allah willed, be guided to the right cow for sacrifice.

Then Moses told them that Allah said the cow was not used for ploughing or irrigating the earth; she had no faults, and no marks of a different colour other than her yellow. They then replied that now he had brought them a detailed description, correctly identifying the cow. They sacrificed it, after almost not having done it, due to all their arguing and stubbornness.

Allah reminds the Israelites about when they killed one of their own. They accused each other of it, each rejecting the accusation of having killed him, and accusing someone else, until they fought. But Allah revealed what they were hiding about the murder of the innocent person.

Allah told them to hit the murdered man with a piece of the cow which they had been told to sacrifice. He would then bring him to life to tell them who the murderer was. They did this and he told them who had killed him. As this man was brought back to life by Allah, so will He bring the dead back to life on the Day of Judgement. Allah gives humanity clear signs of His power, to make them reflect and understand, and have true faith in Him.

Their hearts became hard after these great lessons and incredible miracles, until they became like rocks, and even harder than rocks, because they never changed, whereas rocks change and transform. Rivers spring from some rocks, and some split, and water comes out of them, gushing and flowing on the earth, benefitting people and animals. And some rocks fall from the heights of the mountains in awe of Allah. But their hearts were not like that. Allah is not unaware of anything we do, but knows everything, and will hold us to account for it.

O believers, do not expect, after knowing their true nature and how stubborn they are, that they will be truthful and respond to you. A group of their scholars heard the word of Allah, revealed to them in the Torah, and then changed its words and meanings after they had understood what it really meant; and they did this fully aware of the seriousness of the crime.

An instance of their inconsistencies and deviousness occurred when some of them met some believers and acknowledged the truth of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the correctness of his message, as the Torah witnessed to it. But when they were alone with one another they blamed each other because of these acknowledgments, saying that the Muslims might use them as proof that they recognised the truth of Muhammad’s prophethood.

They behave in this pathetic manner as if they are unaware that Allah knows what they hide, in terms of what they say and do, and what they reveal; but He will reveal it and expose them.

A group of them do not know how to read or write and do not know what is in the Torah or what it says. They have only lies which they heard from some of their leaders, and think it is the Torah revealed by Allah.

Misery and great suffering awaits those who write the scripture with their own hands, and then say, falsely, that it comes from Allah, exchanging the truth and guidance for a small gain in this world, such as money or leadership. They will experience misery and suffering because of what their hands have written, through which they told lies about Allah, and for whatever wealth or leadership they may gain through these lies.

They say, falsely, that the fire of Hell will not touch them and they will not be in it except for a few days. Ask them, O Muhammad, if they have had a promise from Allah that this will be the case: if they have had a promise, then Allah will not break His contract; or ask them if they are saying about Allah what they do not know.

It is not as they imagine. Allah repays those who reach the evil of disbelief, and whose disobedience dominates them, with suffering in the fire of Hell, where they will live eternally.

So those who have faith in Allah and His Prophet, and do good, will be rewarded with entry into the Garden, where they will live eternally.

Remember the promise made between Allah and the Israelites: to worship Him alone; to be kind to parents, relatives, orphans and the poor; to say good words to people, telling them to do what is right and not what is wrong, without harshness or severity; to perform the prayer as instructed; and to give Zakat to those who have a right to it. But all they did after making this promise was to turn away, rejecting the promise they had made.

Remember the contract Allah made with you in the Torah: forbidding you from killing each other and forcing people to leave their homes. You admitted the contract, and you witnessed its validity.

Then you broke the contract: some of you killing others, and forcing a group of them to leave their homes, assisted by their enemies, unjustly and with aggression. Then if prisoners came to you in the hands of enemies, you pay their ransom and rescue them from their captivity, even though making them leave their homes was forbidden to you. How is it that you believe in some of what is in the Torah about the ransom of captives, and reject some of it (about not killing each other and driving people from where they live)? For those of you who do that, there is only humiliation in this life and the most severe torment in the Afterlife. Allah knows what you do; in fact, He is fully aware, and He will hold you to account.

They are the people who exchange the Afterlife for this life, preferring what is temporary to what is eternal. Their suffering will not be lightened, and they will have no one to help them.

Allah gave Moses the Torah, and followed him with other messengers. He gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear signs of the truth of what he came with, such as bringing the dead back to life and healing the blind and the lepers, and He strengthened him with the angel Gabriel, the Holy Spirit (peace be upon him). Yet is it, O Israelites, that whenever a messenger comes to you from Allah with what does not agree with your whims, you become full of pride towards the truth, looking down on the messengers of Allah? Do you reject a group of them and kill a group of them?

The Israelites argued that their stubbornness was because their hearts were wrapped in a cover, so that none of what was said to them could reach them, or make sense to them. On the contrary, Allah deprived them of His mercy due to their disbelief, so that they will not have faith.

The Qur’ān came to them from Allah, agreeing with the universal true principles of the Torah and the Gospel. Before it was revealed, they used to say that they would be helped against the idolaters, who worship others alongside Allah, and would have success over them when a prophet was sent, since they would have faith in him and follow him. But when the Qur’ān and Muhammad (peace be upon him) came to them, according to the description they recognised and the truth they knew, they disbelieved him. Allah curses those who disbelieve Him and His Prophet.

How miserable is what they accepted in exchange for their portion of faith in Allah and His messengers. They disbelieved what Allah revealed, and unjustly and enviously rejected His prophets, because He gave prophethood and the Qur’ān to Muhammad (peace be upon him). For disbelieving in Muhammad (peace be upon him) and for distorting the Torah beforehand, they deserved anger upon anger from Allah. A humiliating torment on the Day of Judgement will meet those who disbelieved in the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

When this group of Jews was told to have faith in the truth and guidance that Allah revealed to His Prophet, they said that they believed in what had been revealed to their prophets, and denied anything besides this, and in what was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him), although the Qur’ān is the truth, confirming what Allah had already revealed to them. Had they truly believed in what had been revealed to them, they would have believed in the Qur’ān. So, ask them then, O Muhammad, why they killed the prophets of Allah before, if they really had faith in the truth they brought to them.

And also, your prophet Moses (peace be upon him), brought clear signs to you, proving that what he said was true. But after that you made the calf into a god and worshipped it, when Moses had gone to meet his Lord. You were wrongdoers for worshipping others alongside Allah, since only He is worthy of worship.

Remember when you made a binding promise with God to follow Moses, peace be upon him, and to accept what he brought from God. God raised the mountain over you so that you were awestruck, and told you to hold tightly and seriously to the scripture He had sent you, and to listen and follow what was revealed to you, if not God would make the mountain fall upon you, you said that you heard with your ears and rebelled in your actions. The worship of the calf took hold of their hearts because of their denial and ingratitude. O Muhammad, what their faith commands them to do is evil: disbelieving and turning away from what Allah instructs them to do – if they have any faith at all – because if they truly had faith they would not disbelieve and turn away from it.

Say, O Prophet: Jews, if Paradise in the Afterlife is just for you, and no other people will enter it, then wish for death, and ask for it, so that you reach this place quickly, and can rest from the burdens and worries of the life of this world, if you are truthful about what you claim.

They will never wish for death, because of what they have done in their lives: disbelieving in Allah, rejecting His prophets and distorting His scriptures. Allah knows the wrongdoers among them and other people: each person will be given what they have earned.

You will find, O Prophet, that the Jews are the most desirous for life, even if it is miserable and lowly. They are even greedier for it than the idolaters, who worship others alongside Allah, who do not believe in being brought back to life after death or in being held to account for what they have done. Despite being People of the Scripture, and believing in the resurrection and the reckoning, they would love to live a thousand years. Yet however long a life they might be given, it would not distance them from Allah’s punishment. Allah sees all that they do. Nothing is hidden from Him, and they will be given what they earn.

Say, O Muhammad, to those of the Jews who say that Gabriel is their enemy among the angels, that whoever is against Gabriel – who revealed the Qur’ān to your heart, with Allah’s permission, affirming the sacred scripture that came before it, such as the Torah and the Gospel, showing the way to what is good, and bringing the good news to the believers of the bliss Allah has prepared for them – then he is misguided.

Whoever stands against Allah, His angels and His prophets, and against His two angels Gabriel and Michael, then certainly Allah is a rival to the disbelievers from among you, and from other than you. Certain defeat faces whoever has Allah as his rival.

I have revealed to you, O Prophet, clear signs proving the truth of your prophethood and revelation. The only people who reject these signs, despite its clarity, are those who have abandoned Allah’s path.

Due to their corrupt state, a group of the Jews would always break any commitment that they made, including the duty to have faith in what the Torah revealed about the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Most of them do not really have faith in what Allah revealed, because faith leads to keeping to and honouring commitments and promises.

When Muhammad (peace be upon him) came to them as a prophet from Allah, and he fitted the Torah’s description of him, a group of them turned away from the scripture that showed this, throwing it behind their backs, unmindful of it, not benefitting from its truth or guidance, like fools.

When they left the path of Allah, they followed instead what the satans said: lying about the kingdom of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) by claiming that it was established through black magic. Solomon did not disbelieve by practicing black magic, as the Jews claimed; but the satans were disbelievers when they taught people the black magic revealed to the two angels, Hārūt and Mārūt, in the city of Babel in Iraq. These two angels would only teach black magic to someone after explaining that they were simply a trial and a test for people, warning them not to be ungrateful to Allah by learning it. Those who learned black magic from them but did not listen to their advice would, through it, separate a man and his wife by sowing hatred between them. These sorcerers are not able to harm anyone except with Allah’s permission and by His will. They learn what harms them and does not benefit them. This group of Jews knew that whoever exchanges the scripture of Allah for black magic will have no portion in the Afterlife. What an evil thing they sold their souls for when they exchanged the revelation and sacred law of Allah for black magic! If they had known what would benefit them, they would not have done something so disgraceful and clearly misguided.

If the Jews had really had faith in Allah, and been mindful to obey His sacred law and not rebel, His reward would have been far better for them, if they only knew.

Allah directs the believers to choose their words carefully, telling them not to say ‘rā‘inā’, meaning ‘look after us’ or ‘shepherd us’, when addressing the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), because some of the Jews would mock what they said, twisting the words when addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him) themselves, corrupting its meaning to mean ‘foolish’ or ‘evil’. So, Allah told them not to use these words in order to prevent such mockery. He instructed them to say ‘unẓurnā’ instead, meaning ‘watch over us’, because the use of this word has no negative implications. Without doubt, the disbelievers in Allah will have a painful torment.

The disbelievers, whether they are from the People of the Scripture or from among the idolaters, do not like that Allah should send down any good thing, big or small, to you. Through His mercy Allah favours whom He wills of His servants with prophethood, revelation and faith. Allah’s bounty is vast. No one in creation gets any good except that it is from Him, and it is from His bounty that He sent His Prophet and revealed His scripture to us.

Allah makes it clear that whenever He removes the ruling of a verse or some words from the Qur’ān, so that people forget them, He replaces them with something more beneficial for the immediate moment or for later, or with what is similar. Such cases occur because of Allah’s wisdom and knowledge. You know, O Prophet, that Allah has power over all things. He does as He wills, and rules as He wishes.

You know, O Prophet, that everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah, and that He rules as He wills. He instructs His servants as He wills, and forbids them from doing what He wills, establishing the sacred law as He wishes, and abolishing what He wishes. Your only protector is Allah, Who will take care of you, and you have no other helper to protect you from harm. Allah is the protector and guardian of all, and has power over everything.

O believers, it is not right for you to question your Prophet, resisting and quarrelling with the revelation as the people of Moses questioned their prophet before, like when they said, ‘Show us Allah openly’ [ Sūrah Al-Nisā’: 153]. Whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has lost the balanced way, the right path.

Many of the People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to worshipping idols as you did before you came to have faith because of envy, when it has become clear to them that what the Prophet came with is the truth from God. Forgive them what they do, and pardon them for their ignorance and for whatever is not good in them, until the command of God comes regarding them. God’s command came with its ruling, either Islam, or paying the Jizya or physical intervention. God has power over all things, and they do not affect Him in any way.

Establish the prayer with all its parts, both obligatory and recommended aspects, and give Zakat from their wealth to those who deserve it. Whatever good action they do in life before death will be a treasure for them: the reward of which they will find with their Lord on the Day of Judgement. Allah sees all that you do, and rewards everyone accordingly.

The Jews and the Christians each said that Paradise would be for them alone. These were just their vain wishes and imaginings. Tell them, O Prophet, in reply, to bring proof of what they were claiming if they were telling the truth.

All those who are sincere in repenting to Allah, doing good, serving Allah and following what the Prophet came with, will enter Paradise, no matter what group they come from. They will have their reward with their Lord. They will have no fear about what awaits them in the Afterlife, or feel sorrow about what passed them by in their lifetime. Regardless of someone’s original religious group – whether Jew, Christian, idolater other – successfully submitting to Allah is only now valid before Him by becoming Muslim, after the arrival of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

The Jews said that the Christians were not on the correct path and the Christians said the same about the Jews, although they both claimed to read the scriptures that Allah revealed to them, which contain the command to have faith in all the prophets without any distinction between them. In what they said, they are like those who know nothing, who worship others alongside Allah, rejecting all the prophets and the scriptures that were revealed to them. Allah will judge between those who disagree on the Day of Return. In His perfect and fair judgements, Allah tells His servants that there is no success without belief in all that He has revealed.

No one does greater wrong than those who stop the name of Allah being said in His Houses of worship, preventing the prayer and remembrance of Allah and the recitation of the Qur’ān in them, trying to destroy and ruin them, through tearing them down or stopping people from worshipping in them. Those who try to destroy them should not enter Allah’s places of worship, except fearfully and with trembling hearts, after their disbelief and having stopped people worshipping in them. They will have shame and humiliation in their life on earth at the hands of the believers, and in the Afterlife is a great torment for having stopped people from Allah’s Houses of worship.

Allah has authority over the entire world, and He instructs His servants as He wills. Wherever you turn, you will find Allah: He surrounds His creation. Whether He instructs you to face Jerusalem or the Kaaba, or you make a mistake in the direction of prayer or are not sure of it, then it is not an issue, because to Allah belongs every direction. Allah is vast in His blessings; He covers His creation with His mercy and ease. He knows their intentions and everything that they do.

The Jews, the Christians and the idolaters, who worship others alongside Allah, said that Allah had taken a son. He is far above and beyond such a thing, because He has no need of His creation, and no one has a son unless he is needy; and to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. All created beings are His servants, in submission to Him, glory be to Him! They are His servants and He deals with them as He wills.

Allah is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them; and there is nothing in creation that is like Him. If He decrees and wills something, He only says to it ‘Be’ and it is as He willed it. Nothing can stop His command and His decree.

Those without knowledge from among the People of the Scripture and the idolaters asked, in their stubbornness against the truth, why Allah did not speak to them directly, or why a miracle was not sent for them to see. Disbelieving communities said similar things to their prophets in the past: their hearts are all similar, because all disbelievers are the same, even if they are from different times and places. Allah makes His signs clear to those who are certain of the truth when it appears to them, not doubting or resisting it.

The Prophet was sent with the religion of truth, in which there is no doubt: to bring the good news of Paradise to those who have faith, and to warn disbelievers about the fire of Hell. The Prophet only had to clearly deliver the message: Allah will not ask him about those people in the fire of Hell who did not believe in him.

Allah addresses and warns His Prophet, telling him that the Jews and the Christians will never be happy with him unless he leaves Islam and follows what they do; and that if he, or one of his followers, were to do such a thing, after the clear truth has come to them, they would not find protection or help from Allah. This makes clear the seriousness of leaving the truth and of following people of falsehood.

The Qur’ān mentions a group from the People of the Scripture who know the revealed texts they have been given and follow them properly. They find in these scriptures signs pointing to the truth of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); and because of this they immediately have faith in him. Another group sticks to its disbelief, and for them is loss.

O Israelites, remember the blessings, sacred and worldly, which I gave to you, and remember that I favoured you over those of your time with prophethood and authority.

Protect yourself from the torment of the Day of Return by following the instructions of Allah and keeping away from what He has prohibited, because on that day no soul will be able to help another soul in any way; no ransom will be accepted for it, no matter how great; and no one pleading on its behalf will benefit it, no matter how high their position. On that day, a soul will have no helper other than Allah.

The Qur’ān tells us that Allah tested Abraham (peace be upon him) by instructing him to fulfil commandments and obligations. Abraham obeyed, fulfilling the orders completely. Allah told His prophet Abraham that He would make his manners and behaviour an example for people to follow. Abraham asked Allah to make also his descendants leaders who people would be guided by. Allah replied by saying that His promise to him of sacred leadership would not extend to the wrongdoers among his descendants.

The Qur’ān relates that Allah made the Kaaba a place for people to return to, as a means of connecting their hearts to Him. When they travel from it, they return to it. It has also been made a safe place for them where they will not be attacked. Allah tells people to make the stone which Abraham stood on while he was building the Kaaba into a place of prayer. Allah instructed Abraham and his son Ishmael to purify the sanctuary from filth and idols for those who wish to worship in it, go around the Kaaba, stay there for worship, praying and so on.

Remember, O Prophet, when Abraham prayed to his Lord, asking Him to make Makkah a safe place, where no one would be faced with evil; and to provide the people who live there with all types of crops, and a special provision for those who have faith in Allah. Allah said that He would give some enjoyment to the disbelievers by giving them provision in this life; but in the next life they will be forced into the torment of the fire of Hell – a miserable place to which they return on the Day of Judgement.

Remember, O Prophet, when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the foundations of the Kaaba. As they did so, they asked with humility for Allah to accept all they did, including building the Kaaba. Allah hears what we say and knows our intentions and everything that we do.

They asked Allah to make them surrender in devotion to His command, humble towards Him, not worshipping anyone besides Him; and to make their children and their descendants a nation who also surrendered in devotion to Him. They also asked Allah to teach them how to worship Him, to forgive them for their faults and shortcomings in doing what He instructed them. He turns to those who ask for forgiveness and is compassionate towards His creation.

They asked Allah to send a messenger to their offspring from the descendants of Ishmael, to recite the revealed verses of Allah to them and teach them the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, and to purify them from worshipping others alongside Allah and from all evil. He is the Mighty in His essence, and the Wise in what He does and in His decrees.

No one turns away from the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him, to other ways of life except those who do not know their own worth, and are content with humiliation. God chose him as a messenger in this world and as a friend of God, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the righteous people who fulfilled what God required them to do, and so reached the highest levels.

Allah chose Abraham because of his swiftness in surrendering, telling him to be faithful and devoted to Him in worship and to humbly do as He instructed. Abraham replied to his Lord saying that he had surrendered in devotion to Him, Who created His servants, providing for them and taking care of their affairs.

Abraham advised his sons to also say, ‘I have surrendered to the Lord of people’; and Jacob told his sons to do the same. They told their sons that Allah had chosen for them the religion of surrendering in devotion, Islam, and to hold on to it tightly until they died, surrendering sincerely to Allah on the inside and the outside.

Were you present at the time of Jacob’s death, when he asked his sons what they would worship after he had died? They replied to him, saying that they would worship Allah, the Lord of his forefathers – Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac – namely, the One Allah without partners; and they said that they surrendered in devotion to Him alone and were bound to Him.

That nation has passed away like other communities. They gained whatever they did in their lives, earning either good or evil; and you will gain what you have earned. You will not be asked about what they did, and they will not be asked about what you do. No one is held to account for the disobedience of another, but everyone is rewarded according to their own actions. You should not be distracted from paying attention to your own behaviour by looking at what those before you did. Nothing will benefit anyone except his own good actions.

The Jews told the Muslims that they would have to be Jews if they were to be rightly guided; and the Christians told them that they would have to be Christians if they were to be rightly-guided. Tell them, O Prophet, in answer, that you follow the religion of Abraham, who turned away from other false ways of life to the way of truth. He did not worship others next to Allah, as some do.

Tell the Jews and Christians who make these baseless claims that you have faith in Allah and the Qur’ān which He revealed to you, and in what He revealed to Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and to Jacob, and in what He revealed to the prophets from the descendants of Jacob. Say that you have faith in the Torah which Allah gave to Moses, and the Gospel which He gave to Jesus, and in all the scriptures that He gave to every one of the prophets, with no distinction between them, having faith in all of them, not only having faith in some and rejecting others. Tell them that you humbly surrender to Him alone.

If the Jews and the Christians, and other disbelievers, have faith in the same way that you do, then they have been guided to the right way of life which Allah is satisfied with. Yet if they turn away from faith because they reject all the prophets or some of them, then they are in disagreement and are against you. Do not be sad, O Prophet, because Allah will protect you from their harm and evil, and give you victory over them. Allah hears all that they say, and knows all their intentions and actions.

Hold tightly to the religion of Allah which is the natural way of life for you, on the inside and outside. There is no better way of life than the path of Allah, which agrees with our nature, benefiting us in every way and protecting us from evil and corruption. Say that you worship Allah alone and do not worship anything apart from Him.

If the People of the Scripture argue with you, saying they have more right to Allah and His religion than you do because their way of life is older and their scriptures came before yours, then it will not benefit them. Allah is the Lord of everyone, and He is not for them alone. Tell them, O Prophet, that you have your actions which they will not be asked about; and they have their actions which you will not be asked about. Everyone will be rewarded according to what they have done. Tell them that you are sincere to Allah in your worship and in doing as He instructs you, and that you do not worship anything apart from Him.

Or do you say, O People of the Scripture, that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets from Jacob’s descendants were on the path of the Jews or Christians? Ask, O Prophet, in reply to them, whether they are more knowledgeable or is Allah. If they claim that they were Jews or Christians, then what they say is false, because they were sent and died before the Torah and the Gospel were revealed. This shows that what they say is a lie against Allah and His Prophet, and that they hid the truth of what was revealed to them. No one does greater wrong than someone who hides firm evidence that they have from Allah, as some of the People of the Scripture did. Allah is not unaware of what you do, and you will be rewarded accordingly.

That nation passed away before you, and earned what they earned from what they did. They have earned for themselves from their own actions; and you have earned from your own actions. You will not be asked about what they did, and they will not be asked about what you do. No one is held accountable for the disobedience of someone else, and no one benefits from what someone else does. Each person will receive his reward, according to what they themselves do.

The foolish and weak-minded among the Jews, and those like them from among the hypocrites, will ask what turned the Muslims away from the prayer direction of Jerusalem, which was their direction of prayer before. Tell them, O Prophet, in reply, that to Allah belongs the east and the west and every direction, and He directs whomever He wills of His servants to whatever direction He wills. He guides whom He wills of His servants to the right path which is free of distortions and misguidance.

Just as I made a direction of prayer for you, I have chosen you to be a good, just and balanced nation from among all the communities: in your beliefs and your ways of worship and in your transactions, so that you will be witnesses for the prophets of Allah on the Day of Judgement, confirming that they delivered the messages Allah instructed them to deliver to their people; and so that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) will also witness that he delivered his message to you. Allah changed the direction of prayer that you used to face (Jerusalem) to demonstrate who was content with Allah’s decree, willingly doing as He instructed and following the Messenger; and to also demonstrate who turned away from his religion, following his own desires and not obeying Allah’s sacred law. The first change of prayer direction was difficult, except for those who Allah granted faith to and who were certain that whatever He decrees for His servants has far reaching wisdom and underlying reasons behind it. Allah will not make you lose your faith in Him, or your good actions, including the prayers you prayed before the change of prayer direction. Allah is kind and compassionate with people, not overburdening them, and they will not lose the reward for their actions.

God saw you, O Prophet, turning your face and gazing towards the heavens, anticipating revelation about changing the direction of prayer to the place you loved. God will turn you to a prayer direction which you will be pleased with, to the Sacred House of God, instead of the prayer direction you now face, so turn your face to the Sacred House of God in Makkah, and wherever you are, O believers, turn towards it to perform your prayers. Those who have been given the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, know well that the change of prayer direction is the truth revealed from their Creator Who arranges and manages their lives, as it is clear in their Scripture. God is not unaware of what those who turn away from the truth do. He, glory be to Him, is aware of everything, and will reward them according to their actions.

By God! If you provided the Jews and Christians who have been given the Scripture with every sign and proof that the change of prayer direction was the truth, they would not face your prayer direction, stubborn against what you say and too proud to follow the truth. You will not face their prayer direction after God has directed you away from it, and they will not face the prayer directions of one another, because each group calls the other disbelievers, and because they follow their desires in the matter of the prayer direction and in other sacred laws and rulings, even after the true knowledge which was revealed to you and about which there is no doubt. If you were to leave guidance, and follow their desires, you would certainly be of the wrongdoers. Here God addresses the Prophet(s) directly to show how wrong it would be to follow them. Of course, God has protected the prophet himself from ever doing so, and this as a warning for his followers after him.

The scholars of the Jews and the Christians to whom Allah gave the scripture recognise Muhammad (peace be upon him) as completely as they recognise their own children and distinguish them from others. Nevertheless, a group of them hide the truth that has come to them, out of envy, fully aware that it is the truth.

This is the truth from your Lord, so make absolutely certain, O Messenger, that you are not one of those who doubt its truth.

Every nation has a direction they turn to, whether physically or spiritually. For this reason, there is a difference between them in their directions of prayer and in their sacred laws. There is nothing wrong with them facing different directions if it is by Allah’s command and law, so try to outdo each other, O believers, in doing the good actions that you have been instructed to do. Allah will bring you together from wherever you may be on the Day of Judgement, to reward you according to what you have done. Allah has power over all things. It is not difficult for Him to bring you all together and reward you.

Wherever you come from and wherever you are, you, O Prophet, and your followers are to face towards the Sacred Mosque (the Kaaba in Makkah) when you want to pray. It is the truth that has been revealed to you from your Lord. Allah is not unaware of what you do. Rather, He is aware of all that you do, and you will be rewarded accordingly.

Wherever you come from, O Prophet, when you want to pray, turn towards the direction of the Sacred Mosque; and wherever you may be, O believers, turn your face towards it if you want to pray, so that the people will have no argument against you, except those of them who are wrongdoers. They will remain in their stubbornness, arguing against you with the weakest of arguments. Do not fear them, but fear your Lord alone, following His instructions and keeping away from what He has prohibited. Allah instructed you to face the Kaaba to perfect His blessings upon you, distinguishing you from all other communities and guiding you to the noblest direction of prayer.

Allah blessed you in another way: sending a messenger to you from among you, who recites His verses, purifying you by directing you to virtue and goodness and forbidding you from evil and wrong, teaching you the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, and teaching you worldly and sacred knowledge which you did not know.

So, remember Allah with your hearts and your whole beings, and He will remember you with approval and protection, for you are rewarded according to what you do. Also, be grateful to Allah for the blessings He has given you, and do not be ungrateful by denying them or using them in prohibited ways.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, ask for help from Allah in everything, through the beauty of patience and by establishing the prayer in the way Allah has instructed. Allah is truly with those who are patient, giving them success and helping them.

Do not say, O believers, about those who are killed whilst striving in Allah’s path that they are dead just as others are; rather, they are alive with their Lord, but you do not realise that they are living, because the way in which they are alive can only be understood through revelation from Allah.

Allah will test people with different types of hardships: some with fear of those who are against them; hunger because of lack of food; lack of money because of losing it or difficulty gaining it; loss of lives due to death from diseases and tragedies that kill people, or being martyred for the sake of Allah; and a lack of resources from the earth. Give good news, O Prophet, to those who are patient in the face of these hardships, of what will make them happy in this world and in the Afterlife.

The patient are those who, when they are struck by one of these hardships, say, in acceptance, that all power belongs to Allah, He deals with us as He wills, and we will return to Him on the Day of Judgement, and it is He Who created us and showers us with many blessings; so, to Him is our return and our end.

Those who possess these virtues are praised by Allah in the highest gathering of angels, and mercy descends on them. They are the ones guided to the path of truth.

The two mountains known as Ṣafā and Marwah, near to the Kaaba, are landmarks of the clear sacred law. Whoever goes to the Kaaba to perform the acts of Hajj or Umrah, there is no fault in them walking between the two mountains. By clarifying that there was no fault in this action, Allah was comforting those Muslims who avoided walking between the mountains because they feared it was an unacceptable action from the time of ignorance before Islam; but Allah made it clear that the walking between the mountains was an acceptable act of Hajj. Whoever sincerely does what is recommended of voluntary sacred acts, Allah acknowledges them and rewards them. He is aware of who does good and is worthy of being rewarded.

Those Jews and Christians who hide the clear proofs which Allah revealed showing the truth of the Prophet and what he brought, after Allah had made it clear to the people in their scriptures, Allah removes them from His mercy; and all the angels, the prophets and people call for them to be removed from His mercy.

The exception is those who repent to Allah, asking for forgiveness, and regretting having hidden these clear signs, correcting what they do outwardly and inwardly, and making clear the truth and guidance which they had hidden. Allah accepts their repentance to Him. He turns to those who turn to Him, asking for forgiveness and regretting what they have done, and He forgives and is compassionate with them.

Those who disbelieve and die in disbelief, not having repented, they are condemned by Allah by being removed from His mercy; and the angels and people all call for them to be removed and excluded from Allah’s mercy.

They will always be condemned, and their punishment will not be lightened, not even for a day; and they will not be given any extra time on the Day of Judgement.

O people, your Allah is the true Allah, the One, unique in His essence and attributes. There is no other true god, and He is the Merciful and His mercy is vast. He is Compassionate with His creation, surrounding them with many blessings.

The following are clear signs of the Oneness of Allah, glory be to Him, for those who understand the evidence and proof: the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the wonders in them; the succession of night and day; the passing of life and death; happiness and sorrow; wealth and poverty; ships that sail through the waters of the sea, carrying food, clothing, trade and other things that people need and which benefit them; water that Allah sends down, bringing the earth to life with the agriculture and pasture that grows in it, and the living creatures He spreads out in it; the changing of the winds from one direction to another; and the clouds, controlled between the sky and the earth.

Even with these clear signs, there are people who take others besides Allah as their gods, considering them equal to Him, and loving them as they love Allah. Those who have real faith love Allah more than those others love their gods: they do not worship anyone besides Him; and they love Him in hardship and in ease, while those others only love their gods when things are going well – when things go badly, they call on Allah alone. If the wrongdoers could see with their own eyes the punishment that waits in the Afterlife for those who worship others with Allah and commit sins, then they would know that all power belongs to Allah alone and that He is firm in punishing those who stubbornly rebel. If they saw this, then they would not worship anyone with Allah.

Then the leaders who were followed in disbelief will reject the weak people who followed them because of seeing the terrors and hardships of the Day of Judgement; so, all ties and means of escape will be cut off from them.

The weak and those who followed will say, ‘If only we could go back to the earth, we would reject our leaders as they reject us’. Allah shows them the severe punishment in the Afterlife and the consequence of following their leaders in falsehood: regrets and sorrow, and they will never leave the fire of Hell.

O people, eat from the meat, vegetables and fruits of the earth which are lawful and good, and not harmful. Do not follow the actions of Satan and his evil whisperings: he is a clear enemy who is hostile to you – anyone with sense would not follow an enemy who wants to harm and mislead them.

Satan only commands harmful, evil actions and disobedience that will bring hardship, as well as for you to say things about faith in Allah and His sacred laws that have not been given to you by Allah or His Prophet.

If these disbelievers are told to follow the guidance and light which Allah revealed, they say, resisting stubbornly, that they will follow the beliefs and customs that their fathers followed. Do they follow their fathers even though they understood nothing of guidance or the light, and were not guided to the truth that Allah accepts?

The example of those who disbelieve and stubbornly follow the path of their fathers is like the example of the shepherd who shouts, calling to his animals that hear his voice, but do not understand what he says. They are deaf to hearing the truth so that it will benefit them, dumb as they are unable to speak about the truth, and blind to seeing it, and because of this they do not understand the guidance which you call them to.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, consume the good things that Allah has provided and allowed for you; and be thankful to Allah, outwardly and inwardly, for the overwhelming blessings He has given you. Part of being thankful to Him is acting with complete devotion to Him and not going against Him, if you truly worship Him alone, and do not worship anything besides Him.

Allah has only forbidden you from consuming that which died without being sacrificed according to the sacred law and having its blood flow, the meat of pigs and what has had other than Allah’s name mentioned over it when it was sacrificed. Yet if someone is forced to eat something of these forbidden types, and does not sin by eating it when they are not in need, nor do they go beyond the limit of what is necessary, then they have done no wrong and will receive no punishment. Allah is Forgiving and Compassionate to whomever repents to Him; and it is from His mercy that He overlooks the eating of forbidden things when it is necessary.

Those who hide what Allah revealed in the scriptures and the signs of the truth and prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) – as the Jews and Christians did, getting something small in return for what they hide, such as leadership, status or money – they only fill their stomachs with that which will cause them to suffer in the fire of Hell. Then on the Day of Judgement, Allah will not speak to them with words that make them joyful; but they will only hear that which makes them sad: they will not be praised, and they will have a painful punishment.

Those who hide knowledge exchange guidance for misguidance, as they hid the truth, and exchange the forgiveness of Allah for His punishment. How determined they are to do things that will lead them into the fire of Hell, as if they do not realize what suffering it contains!

That punishment is what they get for hiding knowledge and guidance, because Allah revealed the sacred scriptures in truth, which must be made clear and not hidden. Also, those who disagree with the sacred scripture, believing some of it and hiding some of it, have taken a position that is far from the truth.

Doing good that pleases Allah does not just mean turning towards the east or the west or disputing about that. Rather, it is having faith in Allah as the only God, the Day of Judgement, all of the angels, all of the revealed scriptures and all of the prophets, without distinguishing between them; charitable spending, despite loving and valuing wealth, to relatives, orphans, the poor, the stranger who is cut off from his family and homeland because of a journey, and whoever has a need that makes it necessary for them to ask people for help; giving money to free slaves from captivity; establishing the prayer as Allah instructed; giving Zakat; being true to promises; and patience in poverty, hardship, illness and in times of conflict without fleeing. Such people are those who are true to Allah in their faith and in what they do. They are the Mindful who follow what Allah has instructed them to do, and who stay away from what Allah has prohibited.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, it is decreed for you that in cases where someone deliberately attacks and kills someone, the punishment for the murderer should be the same as their crime: the freeman killed for the freeman; the slave for the slave; and the female for the female. If the person killed had forgiven before his death, or his guardian has forgiven in return for the payment of blood money (a sum of money paid by the murderer in return for being pardoned), then the person who forgives should ask for the sum of money fairly, and not follow that up with insult or injury, and the murderer should pay the sum of money in a good way, without hesitation or delay. In allowing this forgiveness and the payment of the blood money your Lord makes things easier for you, and this is a mercy for the Muslim nation. Whoever attacks the murderer after his pardon and the acceptance of the blood money will receive a painful punishment from Allah.

In the law of equivalent punishment decreed by Allah there is life for you, because it spares your blood, stopping further attacks between you. Those with sense understand this: who are mindful of Allah, keeping to His sacred law and doing as He instructs.

It has been decreed for you that if one of you is about to die, and they are leaving a large amount of wealth behind, then they should make a will for their parents and close relatives, according to the sacred laws, not exceeding one third of the wealth (the rest of the wealth being distributed according to the laws of inheritance). Making this will is a firm duty on those who are mindful of Allah. This ruling was revealed before the verses about inheritance. When the verses about inheritance were revealed it was made clear who should inherit from the person who has died and how much they should inherit.

Whoever then changes the will, adding to it or taking away from it or stopping something when they know what the will contains, the sin of it will be upon those who changed it, and the person who wrote the will is not held responsible for what they did. Allah hears all that His creation say, and knows all that they do; and He knows every detail of the situations they are in.

Whoever knows that there is an error in judgement from the person who made the will, or that there is some injustice in it, and advises the person and rectifies the wrong, and reconciles between those who are in disagreement about it, then there is no blame on them; rather they are rewarded for putting things right. Allah is Forgiving towards whomever of His servants repents to Him, and is Compassionate with them.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Prophet, Allah has ordered you to fast, as He ordered those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah, protecting yourself from His punishment by doing good actions – fasting being one of the best of these.

You are ordered to fast for a small number of days in the year. Yet whoever of you is ill, with an illness that makes fasting difficult, or travelling, then they do not need to fast; but they can make up for these days by fasting the same number of other days. Those who are able to fast, but do not, should compensate by feeding a poor person for every day they did not fast. Fasting is better for you than not fasting and feeding a poor person instead, if you only knew what goodness there is in fasting. This was the first of Allah’s laws about fasting: whoever wanted to fast did so; and whoever did not want to fast was permitted not to, and fed a poor person instead. Afterwards Allah made fasting a duty for every able person who has reached puberty.

The Qur’ān was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the Night of Decree in the month of Ramadan. Allah revealed it as a guidance for people, with clear proofs of its guidance, and the criterion between the truth and falsehood. Whoever reaches the month of Ramadan, and is well and healthy, is required to fast; and whoever is ill, or for whom fasting is difficult, or is travelling, then they may break their fast. If they do not fast then they must perform make-up fasts for the days they missed at another time. Allah intends ease, and not hardship, in what He decrees for you; and wants you to complete the right number of days and to glorify Him upon the completion of Ramadan, on the day of Eid, as He helped you and made it possible for you to fast, so that you thank Allah for guiding you to this religion which He has approved for you.

If they ask you, O Prophet, about how close Allah is and about His answering of prayers, Allah is close to them and knows everything about them. He hears their prayer, and they do not need intermediaries or to raise their voices. Allah responds to the call of whoever calls Him sincerely, praying to Him; so, let them be devoted to Him and His sacred law, firm in their faith, as that is the best route to Allah’s response – perhaps in that way they might be rightly guided in worldly and sacred matters.

At first it was not allowed for a man, if he had gone to sleep on the night of the fast and then woke up before dawn, to eat or drink, or approach his wife. Allah replaced this ruling, allowing you, O believers, to have relations with your wives during the nights of fasting. They are a protection for you, keeping you pure, and you are a cover for them, keeping them pure. You both need each other. Allah knew that you were betraying yourselves by doing what you were not allowed to, so He had mercy on you, turning to you when you asked for forgiveness, and made things easier for you. So, have relations with them, and seek the children Allah has decreed you, and eat and drink during the whole of the night, until the break of true dawn is clear to you. Then complete your fast, not consuming anything from the break of dawn until sunset. But do not have relations with your wives when you are in spiritual retreat in the mosques, because that invalidates the retreat. These laws are the limits of Allah: between what is allowed and what is forbidden– so do not go near them. Whoever goes near the limits of Allah is close to falling into what is prohibited. By clearly setting out such laws, Allah makes His signs obvious to people so that they may be mindful of Him, and do what He instructs and leave what He has prohibited.

Do not take each other’s wealth unjustly: robbing it or taking it by force or by cheating, and then making it a legal dispute in order to obtain other’s wealth wrongfully, when you know that Allah has prohibited that. Committing a sin knowingly is the worst of things and has the greatest of punishments.

They ask you, O Messenger, about the formation of the new moons and their changing states. Tell them in reply about the wisdom behind them: that they measure time for people, so that they know when to do their acts of worship, such as the months of Hajj and fasting, and the completion of the year for Zakat; they also fix the time frames of transactions, such as the deadlines for paying blood money or debts. It is not righteousness or goodness that you come to houses from the rear wearing your iḥrām for Hajj or Umrah, as they used to claim during the time of ignorance before Islam. Rather, true righteousness is the righteousness of whoever is mindful, outwardly and inwardly. So, enter houses from their correct doors, because it is easier for you and less troublesome. Allah does not overburden you with difficulty, so protect yourself from the punishment of Allah by doing good, in order that you may be successful in achieving what you wish for, and in escaping from what you fear.

Fight in order to raise the word of Allah, against those of the disbelievers who fight you to turn you away from the religion of Allah; but do not overstep the limits of Allah by killing children, women, the elderly, or by mutilating the dead and so on. Allah does not love those who overstep the limits He has established and made sacred.

And kill them where you come across them, and make them leave the place they made you leave - which is Makkah. And oppression that stops those who believe from worshipping, making them return to disbelief and ungratefulness is worse than killing. And do not fight with them in the Sacred Mosque, out of respect for it, unless they start fighting you there. If they start fighting in the Sacred Mosque, then kill them. And fighting them if they attack in the Sacred mosque is the reward of those who deny the truth.

If these aggressive disbelievers stop fighting you and stop disbelieving, then stop fighting them. Allah Forgiving to whomever repents to Him with regret, asking for forgiveness, and does not hold them to account for the disobedience they did before. He is Compassionate with them and not quick to punish.

Fight the disbelievers until they do not prevent people from Allah’s path and there is no disbelief, and until the dominant way of life is the path of Allah. But if they stop their disbelief and stop preventing others from the path of Allah, then stop fighting them. There is to be no aggression except against those who oppress, through disbelief and by preventing people from the path of Allah.

The sacred month in which Allah allowed you to enter the Sacred Mosque and perform Umrah in the seventh year after the Migration is a compensation for the sacred month when you were stopped by the idolaters from entering the Sacred Mosque in the sixth year after the Migration. The law of equality applies when the limits are overstepped in regards to sacred things, such as the sacred land, the sacred month and being in an ordered state of purity (iḥrām) for pilgrimage to the Sacred Mosque. When someone wrongs you in any of these, treat them as they treated you, but do not go beyond what they have done: Allah does not love those who overstep His limits. Be mindful of Allah by not going beyond what He has given you permission to do. Know that Allah is with those who are mindful of Him, giving them success and supporting them.

Spend your wealth in obedience to Allah, in striving for His sake, and do not throw yourselves into destruction, by leaving the struggle and spending for His sake, or by throwing yourselves into something that will cause your destruction. Behave with excellence and kindness in your worship, transactions and behaviour. Allah loves those who always do good: giving them a greater reward and leading them to true guidance.

Perform Hajj and Umrah in a complete way, seeking only Allah’s pleasure. If you are prevented from completing them by illness or an enemy, then you should sacrifice what is easily available of sacrificial animals, such as camels, cows or sheep, before you take off your Iḥrām, and do not shave your heads or cut your hair until the sacrificial animals have reached their place. If you are prevented from entering the Sacred Sanctuary, then perform the sacrifice wherever you have stopped; yet if you can enter it, then do it on the Day of Sacrifice (10th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah) or at least within the days of tashrīq (11, 12 and 13 of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah). Whoever among you is ill or has some problem with his hair or his head, like lice or something similar, whoever shaved his head for that reason, then that is not a problem; but they should instead fast for three days, or feed six poor people from the area of the Sanctuary, or sacrifice a sheep to be distributed among the poor of the Sanctuary. If you are living in times of peace, then whoever takes the opportunity to perform Umrah in the months of Hajj, enjoying in between those things that are not allowed when performing the pilgrimages, they should sacrifice whatever is easily available: a sheep, or a seventh of a camel or cow. If they are unable to make a sacrifice, then they must fast for three days during the days of Hajj to make up for it, and seven more days when they return home, making ten days all together. This practice of having a break between Umrah and Hajj and sacrificing an animal or fasting for those unable to make a sacrifice is only for people who do not live within or close to the Sanctuary of the Sacred Mosque. As for those who live within the Sanctuary or close to it, they do not do this, because they have no need to due to their constant being there and enjoying being able to make Umrah or Tawaf freely any other time of the year. Be mindful of Allah by following what He makes sacred law, and by respecting His limits, and know that Allah is firm in punishing those who go against what He instructs.

The time of the Hajj is the well-known months, starting with the month of Shawwāl and ending on the 10th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah. Sexual relations and things that lead to it are prohibited for any person who decides to perform the Hajj in these months once he enters the state of iḥrām. In addition, the prohibition of going against Allah by committing sins becomes even more emphasised at this time due to the sacredness of the time and place. The pilgrim may not quarrel with anyone: causing them to become angry and leading to a fight. If you do any good, Allah knows and will reward you for it. To perform the Hajj, take an adequate amount of food and drink, but remember that the best provision is being always mindful of Allah. O people of sound mind, fear Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions.

There is no sin in seeking lawful provision by trading or other ways during the Hajj. When you leave Arafat after having spent the day there on the 9th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah, and when you head towards Muzdalifah on the night before the 10th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah, remember Allah by glorifying and praising Him and by praying to Him at the sacred place in Muzdalifah. Remember that Allah has guided you to the teachings of His path, and the acts of Hajj to His House: you were unaware of the sacred laws before this.

Then leave Arafat just as the Prophet Abraham used to do, and do not leave out stopping at Arafat as the people of ignorance used to do. Seek forgiveness from Allah for any defects in the performance of the Hajj, for Allah is Forgiving towards those of His servants who repent and He is Merciful towards them.

When you have completed the acts of Hajj, remember and praise Him much, just as you boast about and praise your forefathers – or even more than that because every favour that you enjoy comes from Him. People are different: some are disbelieving idolaters who only believe in this worldly life. Such people will only ask Allah for the blessing of this world and its beauty in the form of health, wealth and children, and will not receive anything of what Allah has prepared for His faithful servants in the Afterlife. This is because of their desire for this world and their neglect of the Afterlife.

Yet there is another group of people who have faith in Allah and the Afterlife who ask their Lord for blessing in this world and the ability to do good, just as they ask Him for entry into Paradise and safety from the punishment of the fire of Hell.

Those that pray for the good of this world and the Afterlife will receive their share of the great reward for their good actions in the world. Allah is swift in taking account of actions: He will reward those that do good and take those that do evil to task.

Remember Allah by saying, ‘Allāhu Akbar’ (Allah is greatest!), and, ‘Lā ilāhah illā Allāh’ (There is no god except Allah), on the 11th, 12th and 13th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah. If anyone is in a hurry, he may leave Minā after pelting stones on the 12th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah – and there will be no sin as Allah has granted that permission. It is also acceptable if someone stays to pelt stones on the 13th of Dhū Al-Ḥijjah – in fact, this is better and was the action of the Prophet (peace be upon him). All of this applies to those that are mindful of Allah during their Hajj and carry it out in accordance with Allah’s instruction. Be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions. Be sure that you will return to Him alone and He will recompense you for your actions.

There is a type of person who is actually a Hypocrite, but his speech with respect to the life of this world impresses you, O Prophet, and you consider him to be honest and sincere because of his wonderful words. However, his only goal in speaking words of faith is to protect his personal and financial interests. He calls Allah to witness that he has faith and goodness in his heart whilst he is in fact lying: he bears great hostility and hatred for the Muslims.

When this Hypocrite leaves you, he works hard to cause corruption by committing sins, and he destroys crops and kills animals. Allah does not love corruption in the land and He does not love those that cause corruption.

When this person who causes corruption is advised to be mindful of Allah by respecting His limits and avoiding His prohibitions, his pride and arrogance prevents him from repenting, and he continues to sin. The only appropriate reward for him is entry into Hell. What a terrible place to reside in for its inhabitants!

There is another type of person who is a believer, who will sell and give up his soul to follow his Lord and to strive in His path seeking His pleasure. Allah’s mercy for His servants is vast and He is Kind to them.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, enter Islam completely and do not leave out any part of it like how the People of the Scripture believed in some parts of the book and disbelieved other parts. Do not follow the ways of Satan, because he has made it clear that he is your enemy.

If you slip up or go astray after clear proofs have come to you, then know that Allah is Mighty in His ability and power, Wise in His planning and establishing of sacred laws. So, fear and glorify Him.

These people who follow the path of Satan, instead of the path of truth, are waiting only for Allah to come to them, as befits His majesty, on the Day of Resurrection in the shadows of clouds to judge them and for the angels to come and surround them from all sides. At that time, Allah will judge them once and for all. To Allah alone shall all affairs relating to creation return.

O Prophet, ask the Jews about how many clear signs proving the truthfulness of the messengers were given to them by Allah. Despite this they disbelieved and turned away from them. If anyone changes the favour of Allah into disbelief and denial after being aware of it and after it has become obvious, then Allah is strong in punishing the disbelievers and the deniers.

For those who disbelieve in Allah, the worldly life and its temporary pleasures and enjoyments have been made to seem glamorous. They mock at those who have faith in Allah and the Last Day. Those who are mindful of Allah by fulfilling His commands and avoiding His prohibitions will be above such people in the Afterlife when Allah will make them live in the gardens of Paradise. Allah gives without any limit or account to whichever of His creation He wishes.

People were one community. All of them were in agreement and guided following the way of their father Adam, until the Satan misguided them. They were then split into believers and disbelievers. For this reason, God sent messengers bringing good news of the mercy of God for those who had faith in Him and followed Him and warning the disbelievers of the severe punishment of God. Together with the messengers, God also sent books containing the undoubtable truth so that they could judge between people with respect to their disagreements. It was only those who were given the Torah that differed with regards to the matter of Muhammad (s) and his message despite its being clear. They did this out of injustice and jealousy. God then enabled the believers to recognise guidance from misguidance by His permission and will. God guides whoever He wishes to a perfectly straight path which is the path of faith.

Do you believers think that you will enter Paradise whilst you have not faced a trial like the people of the past? They were afflicted with severe sickness and poverty and were shaken by frightening events to the extent that they wanted the help of Allah to come as quick as possible; and the messenger and the believers with him began saying, ‘When is the help of Allah coming?’ The help of Allah is close to those that have faith and trust in Him.

Your Companions, O Prophet, ask you what they should spend from their wealth and where they should allocate it. Say to them in reply: Any permissible and pure wealth you spend should be given to parents, close relatives in need, needy orphans, the poor who have no wealth and the traveller who is cut-off from his family and home. Allah knows of any good you do as believers, no matter how small. Nothing is hidden from Him and He will reward you for it.

Fighting in Allah’s path has been chosen for believers even though it is something that is naturally disliked, because it means risking one’s life and wealth. However, you may dislike something when, it is good and beneficial. An example of this is striving in Allah’s path, which means – in addition to the great reward – the defeat of the enemy and promotion of Allah’s word. On the other hand, you may like something whilst it is bad and harmful to you, such as holding back from fighting: this will result in you being defeated and the enemy’s gaining authority over you. Allah knows full well what is good and what is not, whereas you do not. Therefore, follow His instruction which is better for you.

The people ask you, O Prophet, about the law regarding fighting in the sacred months of Dhū Al-Qa‘dah, Dhū Al-Ḥijjah, Muḥarram and Rajab. Say to them: Fighting in these months is a serious offence in the sight of Allah and is detested, just as the idolaters’ preventing from the path of Allah is also disapproved. Blocking the believers’ access to the Sacred Mosque and removing the people of the Sacred Mosque from it is worse than fighting in a sacred month in the sight of Allah. Their idolatry is worse than killing. The idolaters will continue their oppression by fighting you until they turn you away from your path of truth towards their false path, if they are able to. If anyone turns back from the path of Allah and dies disbelieving in Allah, his good actions shall be reduced to nothing and in the Afterlife he will end up in the fire of Hell, where he will live eternally.

Those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger, who leave their homes as emigrants towards Allah and His Messenger, and fight to promote Allah’s word are the ones who are eager for Allah’s mercy and forgiveness. Allah forgives the sins of His servants and is merciful towards them.

O Prophet! Your Companions ask you about wine (which refers to anything that impairs the mind or intoxicates it), with respect to the legal aspects of drinking, selling and purchasing it. They also ask you about gambling (which refers to wealth taken in a competition between two people in which both contribute to the winning total). Say in response to them: They both have many spiritual and material harms, such as loss of intellect and wealth and the creation of hatred and enmity. On the other hand, there are a few benefits, such as financial reward for the winner of a bet. However, the harm and sin resulting from them is greater than the benefit; so, a logical person should avoid such actions. This statement of Allah lays the foundation for the prohibition of wine. They also ask you, O Prophet, about the amount that they should spend in charity. Say in reply to them: Spend whatever is easy and in excess of your needs. With such clear explanations, Allah describes the sacred law to you so that you may reflect. Initially, this was the law regarding charity, but later Allah established the obligation of Zakat, which requires paying a set amount on certain possessions, if one has owned such possessions for a particular period of time.

Allah has established these rules so that you may think about what benefits you in this world and the Afterlife. Your Companions ask you, O Prophet, about the guardianship of orphans and how they should deal with them: whether they can mix their wealth with that of the orphans for expenses, food and accommodation? Say in reply to them: If you are kind to them by arranging their affairs without taking anything in return and without touching their wealth, it is better in the sight of Allah and carries greater reward. It is also better because you will receive your full wealth. However, there is no harm if you mix their wealth with yours for living expenses, as they are your brothers in faith and it is normal for brothers to help and look after the affairs of one another. Allah knows the guardian who, by mixing the wealth of orphans with his, means harm and the one who means well. If He wished to make it difficult for you with respect to orphans, He would have done so. Instead, He has made it easy for you to deal with them as the sacred law is based on ease. Allah is Mighty and nothing can overpower Him. He is Wise in His planning and legislation.

Do not get married, O believers, to those women who give partners to Allah until they have faith in Him alone and enter the path of Islam. A woman who is a slave but has faith in Allah and His Messenger is better than a free woman who worships idols, even though you may be impressed by her beauty and wealth. Do not give Muslim women in marriage to men who are idolaters. A slave man who has faith in Allah and His Messenger is better than a free man who is an idolater, even though he may seem impressive to you. Men and women who commit idolatry, invite by their statements and actions, towards that which will lead to entering the fire of Hell. Allah, on the other hand, invites to good actions which will lead to entry into Paradise and forgiveness of sins by His permission and grace. Allah makes His verses clear for people so that they may learn and act obediently.

O Prophet! Your Companions ask you about menses (which is the blood of menstruation that naturally comes out of the womb at certain times of the month). Say in reply to them: Menses is harmful to the man and woman, so avoid sexual intercourse during this time. Do not approach them for sexual intercourse until the blood stops and they have cleaned themselves by taking a bath. If the blood has stopped and they have cleaned themselves, then you may have sexual intercourse with them through the vagina in the manner that Allah has permitted for you. Allah loves those that frequently repent from their sins and are extra mindful of cleanliness.

Your wives are a place for you to sow your seed: they produce children for you just as the land produces crops. So approach the plantation, which is the vagina, from whichever direction and in whichever manner you wish as long as intercourse takes place in the vagina. Send forth something good for yourselves, such as having sexual intercourse with the intention of gaining closeness to Allah and with the hope of pious offspring. Be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, such as those relating to women. Know that you are to meet Him on the Day of Resurrection and will have to stand before Him to receive the reward for your actions. O Prophet, give the believers good news of everlasting blessings that will surely please them when they meet their Lord: seeing His Blessed Face.

Do not use the name of Allah in your oath as an excuse for not doing good e.g. being mindful of Him, being virtuous, and reconciling between people. Yet if you have taken an oath not to do any good actions, then do good actions and make a compensation for the oath. Allah hears your statements and knows your actions and will reward you for them.

Allah will not take you to account for those oaths that you swear unintentionally, such as if someone carelessly says, ‘No, by Allah!’ or ‘Yes, by Allah!’ For such oaths there is no need to make any compensation, nor any further consequences. However, He will take you to account for intentional oaths. Allah forgives and tolerates the sins of His servants and is not hasty in sending punishment.

For those who swear an oath not to have sexual intercourse with their wives, there is a waiting period not longer than four months, starting from the date of the oath. If he abandons the oath and engages in sexual intercourse after having sworn not to, and this happens within the four months period, then Allah forgives them. Allah is merciful and has established compensation as a way out from such an oath.

If such a man is determined to continue his oath and so passes the four months period, intending by that a divorce, then Allah hears their statements, including the divorce, and He knows their states and intentions and will reward them for that.

Divorced women must not remarry after a divorce for three menstrual periods. If they are true in their faith in Allah and the Last Day, they may not hide the foetus that Allah has created in their wombs. Their husbands, who issued the divorce, have the first right to recall them during the waiting period if their intention is to live well with them and to cancel what has occurred because of the divorce. Wives have rights and obligations like those of husbands in a manner that people consider fair. Men have a higher rank than them in terms of responsibility and with respect to divorce. Allah is Mighty and nothing can overcome His decree. He is Wise in His legislation and planning.

The divorce, after which a husband may recall his wife, can only happen twice. He may divorce her the first time, recall her, divorce her again and recall her once more. After two divorces he must either keep her in his marriage, living in a good way with her, or divorce her for the third time, being good to her by fulfilling her rights. Then the wife is temporarily prohibited for him until she marries another man (see Sūrah Al-Baqarah: 230, below). At the time of divorce, husbands may not take any part of the dowry that they had given their wives. However, if a woman is unhappy with her husband because of his character or looks, and the couple are of the view that, because of this, they will be not be able to fulfil the rights of marriage, then they should present the matter to a person related to them or someone who is familiar with them. If they feel that the couple will not be able to fulfil the rights of marriage, then there is no harm if the woman offers to give something to the husband in return for a divorce. These laws of the shariah are the criterion for the lawful and unlawful, so do not overstep them. Whoever oversteps the limits of Allah with regards to the lawful and the unlawful, then such people are wronging their own selves by bringing them to destruction and exposing them to Allah’s anger and justice.

If the husband divorces her for the third time, he may not remarry her until she gets married to another man in a valid marriage that is genuine and not merely contracted to make her lawful for the original husband, and where sexual intercourse has taken place in this later marriage. Should the second husband divorce her or pass away, the woman and her first husband may return to one another with a new marriage contract and dowry, if they feel that they will fulfil the rights of each other set-out in the sacred law. These rules are made clear by Allah for people who know His laws and limits, as they are the ones who benefit from them.

When you divorce women and they approach the end of their waiting period, you have the right to take them back or to leave them in a good way until their waiting period is over. Do not take them back in order to oppress and harm them, as was the practice in the period before Islam. Whoever acts with the aim of causing harm to them has wronged himself by exposing himself to sin and punishment. Do not make Allah’s words the object of mockery and play. Remember Allah’s favours on you: most importantly, the revelation you have received in the form of the Qur’ān and Sunnah, through which He reminds you to encourage and warn you. Fear Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions. Know that Allah knows everything and that nothing is hidden from Him. He will reward you for your actions.

When you divorce women less than three times and their waiting period ends, do not stop them from returning to their husbands with a new marriage contract if they wish to do so and they agree with their husbands. This law prohibiting them from being prevented is a piece of advice for that person who has faith in Allah and the Last Day. If you obey, this will bring greater good to you, and keep your honour and actions free of impurities. Allah knows the reality and outcome of matters, whereas you do not.

Mothers who intend to complete the period of breastfeeding should nurse their children for two full years. The husband and father of a child is responsible for the maintenance and clothing of a divorced mother who breast feeds her child in accordance with the customs of society that do not go against the sacred law. No person is burdened beyond what he is able to do. No parent is allowed to use the child as a means to harm the other. The heir (who would inherit from the child if the child were to pass away leaving behind wealth) shall be responsible, if the father dies without leaving any wealth, for the same obligations as that of the father. If the parents decide to wean the child before two years finish, then there is no sin on them, if this is done after full consultation and agreement that it is in the child’s best interests. If you wish to hire wet-nurses for your children instead of their mothers, there is no sin in doing so provided you pay the agreed wages of such wet-nurses without any shortfall or delay. Be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, and know that Allah sees everything you do and nothing is hidden from Him. He will reward you for any action you do.

When someone passes away and leaves behind a wife who is not pregnant, it is the duty of such a woman to wait for a period of four months and ten days, in which she must not leave the husband’s home, beautify herself or get married. Once this period ends, there is no blame on their guardians if these women do these actions, which were previously prohibited during the waiting period, as long as it is done in a manner acceptable to society and the sacred law. Allah is well aware of what you do. None of your private or public actions are concealed from Him; and He will reward you for them.

There is no sin on you if you hint to your desire to propose to a woman who is still in her waiting period after a divorce or after the death of her husband. For example, a person may say, ‘When your waiting period is over, let me know’. There is also no sin on you if you keep this desire to yourselves. Allah knows that you will mention them because of your strong desire to marry, so He has allowed you to give a hint without being open. Beware of secretly making any promise to marry them whilst they are still in their waiting period. However, you may give a hint to them in the manner that is acceptable; but do not confirm the marriage contract in the period of waiting. Know that Allah is aware of what is in your hearts, so be mindful of Him and do not go against His instruction. Know that Allah Forgiving to the person who repents to Him; and that He is tolerant and does not often quickly punish.

There is no sin on you if you divorce your wives with whom you have entered into marriage before you have sexual intercourse with them and before you fix a dowry for them. If you must divorce them in such a situation, they will not be entitled to any dowry from you; but they must be given something that they will enjoy, to make it easy on their feelings. This must be done by both a rich and a poor man according to their means. This gift is binding on those who wish to do good in their actions and dealings.

If you divorce your wives with whom you have entered into marriage before having sexual intercourse with them and you had fixed the amount of the dowry, you will have to pay half of this amount to them, unless they give up this right of theirs or the husband wishes to pay the full dowry. To give up your right is closer to Mindfulness. Do not forget to show kindness and compassion to one another in matters of rights. Allah sees what you do, so try to do what is best to earn His reward.

Guard your prayers by fulfilling them completely as Allah has instructed. In particular, guard the middle prayer, which is the ‘aṣr (afternoon) prayer; and stand before Allah in submission and devotion.

If you face danger from an enemy or any other danger, and you are not able to offer the prayer completely, then pray whilst walking or riding, on camels, horses, or in any way you can. If the danger has gone, remember Allah as He has taught you: remembering Him in the most complete manner within the prayer. Also, remember Him for His having taught you guidance and given you light which you were previously unaware of.

Those of you that pass away leaving behind wives must make a bequest for them to be provided with accommodation and maintenance for a period of one year in which your heirs may not remove them. This is to make up for the loss they have suffered and in respect for the deceased. If they leave before the end of the year by their own choice, there will be no sin on either you or them for what they do with themselves in terms of their beautification. Allah is Mighty and none can overpower Him. He is Wise in His planning and legislation. It should be noted that most commentators are of the view that the law contained in this verse has been abrogated by the verse: ‘When someone passes away and leaves behind a wife who is not pregnant, it is the duty of these women to wait for a period of four months and ten days...’ [ Sūrah Al-Baqarah: 234].

Divorced women should be gifted something of clothing, money etc. This is to make-up for their emotional suffering because of the divorce. Such provision must be in keeping with the financial position of the husband; and it is a duty on those who are mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions.

As with the previous explanation, Allah explains these verses – containing His limits and laws – to the believers so that they understand and practice them, and so achieve the good of this world and the Afterlife.

Do you not know, O Prophet, about those who left their homes in huge numbers fearing death due to the plague or something similar? This refers to a group of people from the Israelites. Allah said to them, ‘Die!’ and they did. Then Allah brought them back to life to show them that everything is in His Hands and that they have no control over any benefit or harm. Allah is Gracious and Bountiful to people, but most people are ungrateful for His favours.

Fight, O believers, the enemies of Allah: in support of His path and to promote His Word. Know that Allah hears your statements and knows your intentions and actions, and that He will reward you for them.

Who will act as a lender and spend his wealth in the path of Allah, willingly with a good intention so that this may come back to him multiplied? Allah restricts and widens provision and health in accordance with His wisdom and justice. In the Afterlife, you will return to Him alone and He will give you a reward for your actions.

Do you not know, O Prophet, about those nobles from the Israelites after the time of Moses who said to a prophet of theirs, ‘Set up for us a king and we will fight alongside him in Allah’s path’? The prophet replied, ‘It may be that if Allah makes fighting obligatory, you will not fight!’ They denied that this would happen and insisted, ‘What would stop us from fighting in Allah’s path when our enemies have removed us from our homes and have taken our children as prisoners?’ Yet when Allah made fighting obligatory on them, they all turned away, except a few of them. Allah knows the wrongdoers who broke their promise and turned away from His instruction; and He will repay them for their action.

Their prophet said to them, ‘Allah has appointed Saul as your king, under whose banner you must fight’. Their leaders objected to this appointment and said, ‘How can he rule over us when we have a greater right to rule than he does, since he is not from the children of kings and he has not been given vast wealth which he can use in his rule!’ Their prophet said to them, ‘Allah has selected him over you and has given him great knowledge and physical strength. Allah grants authority to whomever He wishes in accordance with His wisdom and mercy. Allah is Bountiful and grants to whomever He wishes. He knows which of His creation is most deserving’.

Their prophet said to them that the mark of his being truly chosen as their king was that Allah would return to them the Ark. This was a chest revered by the Israelites which was taken away from them. In it there was tranquillity and relics left behind by the family of Moses and Aaron, such as the staff and a few tablets. In that there is a clear sign if you are true believers.

When Saul set out with his warriors, he said to them, ‘Allah will test you with a river. If anyone drinks from it, he will not be on my path and must not join me in fighting. The person who does not drink from it will be on my path and will join me in the fight. If someone drinks a handful of water, this will be forgiven’. When they reached the river, all the warriors drank from its water, except a few of them who held back despite being extremely thirsty. After Saul had crossed the river with the believers, some of the warriors said, ‘We do not have the ability to fight Goliath and his army’. Those that were convinced that they would meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection said to them, ‘So many believing groups small in number have defeated a disbelieving group large in number with Allah’s permission and assistance. Victory is based on faith and not numbers. Allah is with the patient ones among His servants: He assists and gives them victory’.

When they came out to face Goliath and his army, they prayed to Allah, saying: Our Lord, grant us patience in our hearts, make our feet firm so that we do not flee or lose courage before our enemies, and give us Your assistance and support against the disbelieving people.

They defeated them by God’s will. The prophet of God, David, killed their leader Goliath and God gave him kingship and prophethood and taught him many sciences as He willed, including those that are beneficial for this world and those for the hearafter. If it were not the system of God to drive back the evil of some people by means of others, there would be corruption on earth as the evil ones would gain authority. However, God is Bountiful to all of His creation.

Those are the clear verses of Allah which are recited to you, O Prophet, and they contain true stories and just laws. You are one of the messengers of the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah favoured some of those messengers mentioned to you over others with respect to their revelation, followers and ranks. Some of them Allah spoke to, such as Moses, and others He granted a high rank, such as Muhammad (peace be upon him) – who was sent to the entire humankind as the last of the prophets and whose nation was preferred over all other communities. Allah gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear miracles confirming his prophethood, such as bringing the dead to life and curing the leper and the blind; and supported him with the angel Gabriel to give him strength in fulfilling Allah’s instruction. If Allah had willed, those that came after the messengers would not have fought amongst themselves after having received clear signs; but they disagreed and were divided. Some of them had faith in Allah, whilst others did not. If Allah had willed, they would not have fought with each other; but Allah does as He wills: He guides whomever He wills to faith through His mercy and grace, and He does not guide whomever He wishes by His justice and wisdom.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, spend from the different types of permissible wealth that Allah has provided for you before the Day of Resurrection comes. On that day, there will be no sale so that a person may buy something of use to him, nor friendship that will be of benefit at a time of difficulty, and no intermediary that will protect him from any harm or bring any benefit unless Allah allows. The disbelievers are in the wrong due to their denial of Allah.

Allah is the One Who alone deserves to be worshipped. He is the One who lives perfectly without any death or deficiency. He exists by Himself and is not in need of any of His creation. The creation only exists through Him and is always in need of Him. Drowsiness or sleep does not come upon Him due to the perfection of His life and existence. He alone controls the heavens and the earth. No one can intercede before Him without His acceptance and permission. He knows what has happened in the past and what will happen in the future. The creation has no share in His knowledge unless He wills to grant them some of it. His Throne covers the vastness of the heavens and the earth. It is not difficult for Him to preserve the heaven and the earth. He is High in His essence and attributes and Great in His dominion and authority.

No one is forced to enter the religion of Islam, as it is clearly the true religion and there is no need to force anyone to believe in it. Truth stands clear from falsehood. Whoever rejects all those things that are worshipped besides Allah and frees himself from them, and has faith in Allah alone, has held on to the strongest rope for salvation on the Day of Resurrection and which will never break. Allah hears the statements of His servants, knows their actions and will reward them accordingly.

God takes care of those who have faith in Him. He grants them success and victory and takes them out of the darkness of disbelief and ignorance into the light of faith and knowledge. The friends of the disbelievers are Satan and his assistants who make disbelief seem beautiful to them and who take them from the light of faith and knowledge into the darkness of disbelief and ignorance. They are the people of the Fire who will remain there forever. Allah takes care of those who have faith in Him: He gives them success and victory and takes them out of the darkness of disbelief and ignorance into the light of faith and knowledge. The friends of the disbelievers are Satan and his assistants who make disbelief seem beautiful to them, and who take them from the light of faith and knowledge into the darkness of disbelief and ignorance. They are the people of the fire of Hell who will live there eternally.

O Prophet, do you know about the arrogance of the rebellious one who argued with Abraham about Allah’s Lordship and Oneness? This happened because Allah had given him the power to rule, yet he transgressed and took advantage of his position. Abraham explained to him the attributes of his Lord by saying, ‘My Lord is the One Who gives life to the creation and causes them to die’. The rebel stubbornly said, ‘I too can give life and cause death. I can kill whomever I wish and pardon whomever I wish’. Abraham then put forward another stronger argument by saying to him, ‘The Lord I worship is the One Who brings the sun from the direction of the east; so, you should bring it from the direction of west!’ The rebel was shocked and defeated by this strong argument. Allah does not allow wrongdoers to be guided and traverse His Path because of their disobedience and rebellion.

Or do you know the example of the one who passed by a town in which the roofs had fallen, the walls had collapsed and the people had died, making it a deserted ruin? This man said in surprise, ‘How will Allah ever bring these people back to life?’ Allah then caused him to die for a period of one hundred years and then brought him back to life and asked him, ‘How long were you dead for?’ He replied, ‘I remained like that for one day or less than a day’. Allah then said to him, ‘Actually, you were like that for one hundred years. Look at the food you had with you, which has not gone bad in spite of this long period! Look at your dead donkey! I want to make you a clear sign for showing people the power I have to bring them back to life. Look at the bones of the donkey that are scattered. I will lift them, put them together, clothe them with flesh and then give them life again’. When he saw this, the reality became clear to him and he realized the power of Allah, and said in respect, ‘I know that Allah has power over everything’.

O Prophet, remember when Abraham said, ‘My Lord, show me how the dead come back to life’. Allah said to him, ‘Do you not have faith in this?’ Abraham replied, ‘I do have faith, but I just want to put my heart at ease’. So, Allah instructed him, saying, ‘Take four birds and tame them. Then cut them up into pieces and place a piece of each bird on the hills around you. Then call those birds and you will see that they will come quickly to you, having been brought back to life. Know, O Abraham, that Allah is Mighty in His dominion and Wise in His instruction and legislation’.

The example of the reward of the believers who spend their wealth in Allah’s path is like that of a grain that is planted by a farmer in fertile ground. This grain then produces seven spikes, each carrying a hundred grains. Allah multiplies the reward for whomever of His servants He wishes and gives them their reward without account. Allah is Bountiful and Giving and He knows who deserves to have their reward multiplied.

Those who spend their wealth for Allah’s obedience and pleasure, and do not destroy their reward afterwards by reminding people of their favour by their words or actions, will receive their reward from their Lord. They will have no fear for the future nor any grief over the past because of the great bounties they will be enjoying.

A kind word that makes a believer happy or forgiveness of the one who is ill-mannered is better than charity followed by harm caused by reminding the person of the favour. Allah is in no need of His servants; and because He is tolerant with them, He does not often quickly punish.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, do not ruin the reward of your charity by boasting about it and hurting the person to whom you gave it. A person who does this is like one who spends to be seen and praised by people, and does not have faith in Allah and in the reward and punishment on the Day of Resurrection. This is like a smooth stone on which there is some dust: when heavy rain falls onto it, the dust is washed away and the stone is left smooth with nothing on it. Similarly, the reward of the actions and charity of those who show off does not remain in the sight of Allah. Allah does not guide disbelievers to what pleases Him and benefits them in their actions and spending.

The example of believers who spend their wealth seeking Allah’s pleasure, with firm conviction in their hearts of Allah’s promise, is like that of a garden on high fertile ground on which heavy rain falls and causes it to produce double its crop. In addition, if it does not receive heavy rain then the light rain that falls on it is sufficient because the land is fertile. In the same way, the little that is spent by the sincere ones is accepted by Allah and its reward is multiplied. Allah sees what you do: He knows who is sincere and who is not, and will reward each one accordingly.

Do any of you wish to have a garden with date-palms and grapevines through which sweet waters flow and which has all kinds of wholesome fruit? When the owner of the garden becomes old and is no longer able to work and earn, and he has weak young children who also cannot work, a strong fiery wind strikes this garden and it burns down completely at a time when he is most in need of it because of his old age and for his weak young children. The condition of a person who spends his wealth to show people is like that of this man: when he comes before Allah on the Day of Resurrection, he will have no good actions at a time when he will be most in need of them. In this manner, Allah explains to you what will be of benefit to you in this world and the next, so that you may reflect.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, spend from the pure, wholesome wealth that you have earned and from the produce that we have taken out for you from the ground. Do not look for that which is inferior to spend, because if it was given to you, you would not take it willingly because of its poor quality. How, then, can you be satisfied with offering Allah that which you would not accept for yourselves? Know that Allah is no need of your spending and He is praised in His essence and actions.

Satan makes you afraid of poverty by encouraging you to be stingy, and he invites you to commit sins. Allah, on the other hand, promises you forgiveness for your sins and much provision. Allah is very bountiful and He knows the condition of His servants.

Allah grants the ability to whomever of His servants He wishes to be steadfast in their statements and actions. Anyone who is given this ability has been given much good. However, only those with sound minds, that seek enlightenment through His light, and guidance from His guidance, will pay attention and benefit from the signs of Allah.

Whatever you spend, no matter how little, for the pleasure of Allah, or any action that you promise to do for Allah without having been required to do it, Allah knows of it and it will not be lost. He will give you a great reward for it. Those who do wrong by not fulfilling their obligations and overstepping Allah’s limits have no one to protect them against the punishment on the Day of Resurrection.

If you openly declare what you spend in charity, it is a good act. But if you keep it secret and give it to the poor in private, this is better as it indicates sincerity. Charity that is given sincerely becomes the means of sins being covered up and forgiven. Allah knows what you do and nothing from your circumstances is hidden from Him.

O Prophet, you are not responsible for making them believe in the truth and submitting to it: your duty is to guide them to the truth and explain it to them. It is only Allah Who can bring them to the truth; and He guides whomever He wishes. The benefit of any good you spend comes back to you; Allah is in no need of it. So, let your spending be only for Allah’s sake: true believers spend only for Allah’s pleasure. You will receive the full reward for any good you spend, no matter how little, because Allah does not wrong anyone.

You should spend on those poor people who, because they are busy striving in Allah’s path, are unable to travel to earn a living. Due to their not asking, a person that is unaware will think that they are not in need. However, the person who knows will recognise them by the signs that are apparent on their body and clothing. They are unlike other poor persons who beg persistently. Allah knows of any good or wealth you spend and He will give you a great reward for it.

Those who spend their wealth for Allah’s sake at night and during the day, secretly and openly, without showing off or looking for fame, will have their reward from their Lord on the Day of Resurrection. As a favour and blessing from Allah, they will have no fear of what the future holds, nor any sadness over what they missed out on in the world.

Those who take interest will rise from their graves on the Day of Resurrection like a person who is afflicted by Satan: they will stand up from their graves and then fall like a person who is epileptic. This is because they made usury permissible and made no distinction between usury and that which Allah has permitted in terms of profit earned through sales transactions. They claimed, ‘Sale is like usury’, meaning that both are lawful since both lead to an increase in wealth. Allah refutes their comparison and explains that He has permitted sale because of the general and specific benefit it contains, and He has prohibited usury because it is oppressive and abusive of people’s wealth. The person who stops taking usury, and repents from his sin, after receiving Allah’s instruction prohibiting it and warning him against it, may keep the usury that he received in the past, without any sin. Then, whatever he does from then on, Allah will judge it. Whoever returns to taking usury after knowing of the prohibition deserves to enter the fire of Hell and to remain there eternally. The reference to remaining in the fire of Hell eternally in relation to those that believe in Allah’s Oneness is an indication of a long period of time; for only disbelievers will actually remain eternally in the fire of Hell.

Allah wipes out usury either by actually destroying it or by removing His blessing. Yet He increases charity and makes it grow by multiplying its reward by ten times up to seven hundred times or even more, and blesses those that give charity from their wealth. Allah does not love a stubborn disbeliever who considers the prohibited as lawful and persists in sins.

Those who have faith in Allah, follow His Messenger, do good actions, fulfil their prayers in a complete manner and give Zakat to those deserving it, they shall receive their reward from their Lord and shall not have any fear for their future nor any grief over anything they missed in the worldly life.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, fear Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, and do not demand any usury owed to you that remains with people, if you truly have faith in Allah and in His prohibitions.

If you do not obey the sacred law, then be aware and certain of war with Allah and His Messenger. If you repent to Allah and leave usury, then you can keep the initial amount that you had given as a loan from your capital, in a manner that does not wrong anyone by taking more than your initial capital and does not wrong you by making you receive less than it.

If the person from whom you demand your debt is in hard times and is unable to repay the debt, then refrain from asking until he is able to obtain money and then pay the debt. And to give charity to him by not demanding the debt or giving up a part of it is better for you, if you knew its worth in the sight of Allah.

Fear the punishment of a day in which you all will be returned to Allah and you will have to stand before Him. Then every person will be given the reward of any good or evil action he did. They will not be wronged by receiving a reward less than their good actions or a punishment more than their evil actions.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, when you enter a transaction that involves a debt – such as when you give a loan to one another for a fixed period –then write it down. The person who is able to write should write it down fairly and in accordance with the sacred law, and should not refuse to write down the debt in accordance with what Allah has taught him about writing justly. He should write what is dictated by the person against whom the right is so that it serves as an acknowledgement from him. He should be mindful of Allah and not reduce anything from the value or description of the debt. If the debtor is not experienced in undertaking transactions, young, insane or is not able to dictate due to being mute or for some other reason, then his authoritative guardian should dictate with fairness. Also, call two sane and upright men as witnesses. If two men are not found, then call one man and two women whose religion and honesty you are satisfied with, so that if one of the women forgets, the other can remind her. The witness should not refuse to be a witness to a debt and must testify if required. Do not be lazy to write down the debt, no matter how small the amount, as this is more just in Allah’s law, more reliable as evidence and more likely to remove any doubt in the type, amount or period of the debt. However, if the transaction is for an item that is present in exchange for a spot price there is no harm in not writing down, since there is no need to do so. Calling witnesses is legislated so that disputes do not arise. It is unlawful to cause any harm to the witnesses or the ones who write; nor may they cause any harm to those who request them to write or stand witness. If anyone causes harm, he is going against Allah’s sacred law. O people of faith, be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions. Allah will teach you what is best for you in this world and the Afterlife. Allah knows everything and nothing is hidden from Him.

If you are travelling and do not find anyone who can write down the debt for you, then the debtor can give a property to the creditor as a security for his right until the debt is paid. If you trust one another, it is not necessary to write the debt down, call witnesses or give a promise. In such cases, the debt will be the responsibility of the debtor, which he must fulfil and be mindful of Allah regarding it by not denying it later. If he later denies it, then the person who was present at the time of the transaction must give evidence and may not hide it. If anyone should hide evidence, it indicates that his heart is sinful. Allah knows what you do, nothing is hidden from Him and He will reward you for your actions.

To Allah belongs everything that is in the heavens and earth: He created, owns and controls all of it. Whether you show or hide what is in your hearts, Allah knows about it and will call you to account for it. Then He will forgive whomever He wishes out of His grace and mercy, and He will punish whomever He wishes out of His wisdom and justice. Allah is able to do all things.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) believes in everything that was revealed to him by his Lord, as do the believers. All of them believe in Allah, all His angels, all His books that He revealed to the various prophets and all His messengers that He sent. They believe in such messengers without making any distinction between them. They say, ‘We have heard your instructions and prohibitions, and we obey You by following Your instructions and leaving Your prohibitions. We ask You to forgive us, O Lord, for in all our matters we return to You alone’.

Allah only burdens a person with actions that he is able to do. Allah’s religion is based on ease and not difficulty. If any person does good, he will receive the reward for it in full. If any person does evil, he will receive the punishment for the sin he committed and no one will carry it for him. The Messenger and the believers said, ‘O Lord, do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake in doing something or saying something unintentionally. O Lord, do not burden us with that which is difficult for us and which we are unable to do as you had tasked those before us who were punished for their wrongs. Do not give us such instructions and prohibitions which are difficult for us and which we are unable to fulfil. By Your grace, overlook our sins, forgive us and have mercy on us. You are our guardian and helper, so give us victory over the disbelievers’.

Alif Lām Mīm – the placement of such letters has been discussed at the beginning of Sūrah Al-Baqarah. They indicate the inability of the Arabs to bring a Qur’ān like this one despite the fact that it is composed of letters similar to the ones at the beginning of this Sūrah, which also form the parts of their own speech.

Allah is the One Who alone deserves to be worshipped. He is the One Who lives perfectly without any death or deficiency. He exists by Himself and is not in need of any of His creation. The creation only exists through Him and is always in need of Him.

He has revealed to you, O Prophet, the Qur’ān with true stories and just laws that are in agreement with the previous divine books; and there is no contradiction between all these divine books. Before revealing the Qur’ān to you, He revealed the Torah to Moses and the Gospel to Jesus.

All of these divine books contained guidance and directed people to the best of this world and theAfterlife. He revealed the Criterion to differentiate between truth and falsehood, and between guidance and misguidance. Disbelievers in the verses Allah has revealed to you will receive a severe punishment. Allah is Mighty and nothing can overpower Him. He is also able to take retribution from those who reject His messengers and go against His instruction.

Nothing in the earth or heaven is hidden from Allah. He knows everything, whether it is open or hidden.

He is the One Who creates you in different forms in the wombs of your mothers, as He wills: as male and female, handsome and ugly, black and white. There is no one worthy of being worshipped with love and reverence besides Him. He is Mighty and cannot be overpowered. He is Wise in His planning and legislation.

O Prophet, He is the One Who revealed to you the Qur’ān, which contains verses with clear and unambiguous meaning, and these represent the majority of the Book and are the reference point when there is disagreement. It also contains other verses that may have more than one meaning and are puzzling for most people. Those who seek other than the truth leave the clear verses and focus on the unclear ones, trying to create doubts and mislead people, and interpret them to suit their corrupt views. No one knows the true meaning of such verses besides Allah. Those who are firm in knowledge say, ‘We have faith in the entire Qur’ān because it is all from Allah’. They interpret the unclear verses according to the clear ones. Only those who have sound minds pay attention to this.

The ones firm in knowledge say, ‘O Lord, do not let our hearts move away from the truth after you have shown it to us. Save us from what happened to those who moved away from the truth. Give us, from Your vast mercy, that which will guide our hearts and protect us from misguidance. Our Lord, You are the One who gives much’.

Our Lord, You are going to call all people back to You: to hold them to account on a day in which there is no doubt. Our Lord, You do not break promises.

The wealth and children of the disbelievers in Allah and His Messenger will not protect them from Allah’s punishment in this world nor in the Afterlife. Such disbelievers will be the fuel with which Hell will be lit on the Day of Resurrection.

The case of these disbelievers is like that of the people of Pharaoh, and those before them who disbelieved in Allah and denied His signs. As a result, Allah punished them for their sins – their wealth and children did not benefit them. Allah is severe in punishing those who disbelieve in Him and His signs.

O Messenger, say to those who disbelieve, no matter what their religion, ‘The believers will defeat you and you will die as disbelievers. Allah will then gather you in the fire of Hell. What an evil resting place it will be for you!’

There was a clear sign and lesson in the two groups that met to fight in the Battle of Badr. One group was made up of believers, and this was the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions: they were fighting for Allah’s sake and in order to raise His Word against the word of those who disbelieve. The other group consisted of the disbelievers of Makkah, who had come out in pride and for show. The believers actually saw the disbelievers as being double their real number; but Allah helped His allies. Allah gives His support to whomever He wishes. In that there is a lesson and a warning for those of insight to realize that the help of Allah can come to the believers even though they may be few in number; and that defeat can come to those on falsehood even though they may be great in number.

Allah tells us that He has made the love of desirable things of this world attractive to people in order to test them. These desirable things include women, children, wealth (in the form of gold and silver) that is overflowing and piled up, beautiful trained horses, livestock (such as camels, cows and sheep), as well as farmlands – all of which is the enjoyment of the life of the world which lasts only for a short while. A believer should not become attached to these things as Allah has kept the best place of return for him: the Paradise that is as wide as the heavens and the earth.

O Messenger, say: Shall I tell you about something better than those desirable things? Those who are mindful of Allah by fulfilling His commands and avoiding His prohibitions will have gardens with trees and palaces overlooking flowing streams in which they will live eternally. They will also have wives who will be free from any defects in their form or character. In addition, they will gain the pleasure of Allah, and Allah will never be angry with them. Allah sees the actions of His servants, nothing is hidden from Him and He will recompense them for what they do.

The people of Paradise are the ones who say in their prayers, ‘Our Lord, we have faith in You and in that which You revealed to Your messengers; and we have followed Your sacred law. So, forgive the sins we have committed and protect us from the punishment of the fire of Hell’.

They are the ones who are patient in doing good actions, leaving bad actions and in the face of calamity; truthful in their words and actions; fulfil Allah’s sacred law completely; spend their wealth in Allah’s path; and ask for forgiveness in the last part of the night when prayers are most likely accepted and when hearts are not distracted.

Allah testifies that He alone is worthy of worship based on the legislative and universal signs indicating His divinity. The angels and people of knowledge also testify to this, by declaring and calling to His Oneness. They testified to the greatest thing anyone can testify to; the absolute right of Allah to be worshipped, and the perfect justice in His creation and sacred law. This is the greatest thing that anyone can testify to. There is no god but Him, the Mighty who can never be overpowered and the one who is Wise in His creation, planning and legislation.

The acceptable path in Allah’s sight is Islam, the path of surrendering: devotion of all good actions to Allah alone, submission to Him in servitude and acceptance of all messengers, including the final messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) with whom revelations came to an end, and after whom no sacred laws will remain valid except his. The Jews and Christians only split up into various groups and sects, after evidence was established against them in the form of knowledge that had come to them, because of envy and greed for the world. Yet for whoever denies the verses of Allah revealed to His Messenger, Allah is quick in taking to account those who disbelieve in Him and His messengers.

If they argue with you, O Messenger, about the truth that has been revealed to you, then say to them in reply, ‘I and the believers who follow me have submitted to Allah’. Also, say, O Messenger, to the People of the Scripture and the idolaters, ‘Do you submit to Allah sincerely, following what I have brought?’ If they submit to Allah and follow your sacred law, then they are on the path of guidance. If they turn away from Islam, then your duty is only to give your message to them; then Allah will decide about them. He watches His servants and will reward them according to their actions.

Those who disbelieve in Allah’s signs, which show that He alone is the Lord and the One worthy of being worshipped, kill His prophets wrongly due to hatred, and kill those who call for justice by commanding good and forbidding evil – give these murderous disbelievers news of a painful punishment.

The actions of those who do such things are wasted and will not be of any benefit to them, neither in this world nor the Afterlife, due to their lack of faith. There will be no one to protect them from the punishment.

O Prophet, did you not see the Jews who were given knowledge of the Torah proving your prophethood? When they are called to refer to the book of Allah, the Torah, so that it can decide about what they differ in, a group of their scholars and leaders turn away, ignoring the judgement of the Torah because it does not agree with their desires. The right thing for them to have done, having claimed that they follow the Torah, is to accept its judgement without hesitation.

They turned away from the truth and ignored it because they used to think that the fire of Hell will only touch them for a few days and they will then enter Paradise. This belief deceived them and made them bold against Allah and His religion.

What will be their state and how much will they regret? It will be incredibly terrible when I gather them to give account on the Day of Resurrection, in which there is no doubt. Every person will be given the reward of his actions according to what he deserves, without there being any oppression by a reduction in good actions or an increase in evil actions.

O Prophet, say in praise of your Lord and in declaration of His greatness: Allah, to You belongs all authority in this world and the Afterlife. You give authority to whomever of Your creation You wish, and remove it from whomever of Your creation You wish. You give honour to whomever You wish, and You disgrace whomever You wish. All of this is done according to Your wisdom and justice. All good lies only in Your hand. You have power over everything.

A display of Your power is that You cause the night to become longer by making it enter into the day, and You cause the day to become longer by entering it into the night. You bring out the living from the dead – as in a believer from a disbeliever and crops from seed – and You bring out the dead from the living – as in a disbeliever from a believer and a chick from an egg. You give provision to whomever You wish, in abundance without any limit or count.

O believers, do not take disbelievers as friends that you love and support instead of other believers: whoever does this will never be helped by Allah in any way. However, if you are under their authority and you fear for your lives, then there is no harm if you avoid their harm by being nice to them in your speech and actions on the outside, whilst hating them inside. Allah warns you of Himself, so fear Him and do not become the subject of His anger by committing sins. All men will return to Allah alone on the Day of Resurrection for Him to reward them for their actions.

Say, O Prophet: Whether you hide within your hearts that which Allah has forbidden, such as befriending the disbelievers, or you reveal the same, Allah knows about it. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows whatever is in the heavens and the earth. He has power over everything and nothing is outside His ability.

On the Day of Resurrection every person will find the good that he did in front of him, without any deficiency. Those who did bad will wish that there was a great distance between them and their bad actions – but shall a desire will be worthless! Allah warns you of Himself, so do not become the subject of His anger by committing sins. Allah is kind to His servants and therefore gives them this warning.

O Prophet, say: If you really love Allah, then follow what I have brought, on the inside and the outside. By doing this, you will gain Allah’s love and He will forgive your sins. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful to those who repent to Him.

O Prophet, say: Follow Allah and His Messenger by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions. If they turn away from the command, then know that Allah does not love the disbelievers who go against His sacred law and the instructions of His Messenger.

Allah honoured Adam (peace be upon him), by making the angels prostrate before him; Noah, by making him the first messenger to the people of the earth; the family of Abraham, by placing prophethood in his children; and the family of ‘Imrān, the father of Mary – which is a reference to Jesus (peace be upon him). He selected all of them and preferred them over all the people of their time.

These prophets and their followers were all part of the same family: declaring Allah’s Oneness and doing good. They passed on noble character and virtues to one another. Allah hears the statements of His servants and knows their actions; and therefore chooses whomever He wills.

Remember, O Messenger, when the wife of ‘Imrān, the mother of Mary, said: O Lord, I have made it a duty on myself to fully dedicate my unborn child to You, to worship You and Your House, so accept this act from me. You are the One who hears my prayer and knows my intention.

When she reached the end of her pregnancy and gave birth she was astonished – as she had hoped for a boy – and she said, ‘O Lord, I have given birth to a girl’. Allah knows what she gave birth to. Of course, a girl does not have the same strength and form as a boy that she had hoped for. She said, ‘I have named her Mary and I ask for Your mercy in protecting her and her children from the rejected Satan’.

Allah graciously accepted the dedication and brought her up well. He made the hearts of His pious servants incline caringly to her and put her in the care of the Prophet Zachariah. Whenever Zachariah would enter her place of worship he would find wholesome food there. So, he asked her, ‘O Mary, where did you get this food from?’ She replied, ‘This food is from Allah. Allah gives to whomever He wishes in abundance without account’.

When Zachariah saw the food that Allah was miraculously giving to Mary, he became hopeful that Allah would give him a child despite being very old and his wife being unable to bear children. He said: O Lord, give me a good child. You hear the prayer of the person who prays to You and You know his condition.

The angels called out to him while he was standing in prayer in his place of worship, saying: Allah gives you good news of a child to be born to you whose name will be John. He will confirm a word from Allah – which refers to Jesus, son of Mary, because he was specially created by a word from Allah. This child will be a leader of his people with his knowledge and worship. He will be innocent, keeping himself away from desires, including approaching women. He will dedicate himself to worshipping His Lord and will also be a prophet from those who are righteous.

When the angels gave him the good news about John, Zachariah said, ‘O Lord, how can I have a child after I have become old and my wife is unable to bear children?’ Allah replied to him that the example of the creation of John, in spite of his old age and his wife being barren, is like that of the creation of anything that Allah wishes to create, even though it is out of the ordinary. This is because Allah has power over everything and does whatever He wills in His wisdom and knowledge.

Zachariah said: O Lord, give me a sign that my wife is pregnant. Allah said: The sign that you want is that you will not be able to speak for three days, except by indications, and this will not be because of any disability. So, remember Allah much and glorify Him at the end and beginning of the day.

Remember, O Messenger, when the angels said to Mary (peace be upon her): Allah has chosen you because of the praiseworthy qualities you have. He has purified you from all defects, and chosen you over all the other women of your time.

O Mary, stand for long periods in prayer, prostrate to your Lord and bow down with His righteous servants who bow down to Him.

The story of Zachariah and Mary is one of the reports of [the Ghaib] which I reveal to you, O Messenger. You were not there with those scholars and worshippers when they argued about who was most entitled to raise Mary. They eventually decided to draw lots by throwing their pens, and the pen of Zachariah (peace be upon him) won.

Remember, O Messenger, when the angels said: O Mary, Allah gives you good news of a child who will be created without a father: merely by a word from Allah, such as ‘Be’, and he will become a child by Allah’s will. The name of this child will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary. He will have a high rank in this world and the Afterlife and he will be one of those who are made close to Allah.

This child will miraculously speak to people when he is a small baby, as well as when he grows up and becomes a man. He will tell them what is best for them in their religious and worldly affairs. He will also be one of those who are righteous in their words and actions.

Mary was surprised that she was to have a child without a husband and said in astonishment: How can I have a child when no man has come near me in a lawful or unlawful way? The angel said to her: Just as Allah will create a child for you without a father, He creates whatever He wishes even though it may be out of the ordinary. When Allah wishes for something, He says ‘Be’ and it is. Nothing can stop Him doing as He wills.

Allah will teach him to say and do things correctly; and He will teach him the Torah that He had revealed to Moses (peace be upon him) and the Gospel which He will reveal to him.

Allah will make him a messenger to the Israelites, instructing him to say to them: I am Allah’s messenger to you. I have brought to you a sign indicating my prophethood: I will make the shape of a bird using clay, then I will breathe into it and it will become a living bird by Allah’s permission. I will cure the one who was born blind, so that he will be able to see, and the leper who will recover from his illness; and I will bring the dead to life. I will do all of this with Allah’s permission. I will tell you about what you consume and what you hide in your homes. In all of these extraordinary things that I mentioned to you, which human beings cannot do, is a clear sign that I am Allah’s messenger to you, if you wish to have faith and to accept the proof.

I have come to you to confirm the revelation of the Torah that was before me, and to make lawful some of that which was unlawful in the past: making things easy for you. I have brought to you a clear proof of the truthfulness of what I say, so be mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions; and follow that which I call you to.

Allah is my Lord and your Lord, and He is the only One that deserves to be followed and feared. So, worship Him alone. This worship of Allah and being mindful of Him that I instruct you to do is the straight path which has no crookedness.

When Jesus realized that they were going to continue in their disbelief, he addressed the Israelites, saying, ‘Who will help me in calling towards Allah?’ His chosen followers said: We are the ones who will help Allah’s religion. We have faith in Allah and we follow you. Be a witness, O Jesus, that we submit to Allah by accepting His Oneness and following Him.

The disciples also said: Our Lord, we have believed in the Gospel that you revealed and we have followed the messenger, Jesus (peace be upon him), so make us of those who are witnesses to the truth and who have faith in You and Your messengers.

The disbelievers from the Israelites plotted to kill Jesus (peace be upon him), so Allah planned to leave them in their misguidance; and He made another person resemble Jesus (peace be upon him) on the occasion when they actually tried to murder him. Allah is the best plotter, because there can be nothing more severe than His plot against His enemies.

Allah also planned against them by saying to Jesus: O Jesus, I will take you away alive, raise your body and soul to Me, rid you of the filth of those who disbelieved you and distance you from them. I will make those who follow you part of the true religion, which includes acceptance of Muhammad (peace be upon him); and they will have greater proof and might over those who disbelieve you until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me alone will be your return on the Day of Resurrection and I will pass true judgement between you regarding your differences.

As for those who disbelieved you and the truth you brought to them, I will punish them severely in the world by making them suffer being killed, imprisoned and disgraced; and in the Afterlife, I will punish them in the fire of Hell. They will have no one to help them against the punishment.

As for those who had faith in you and the truth that you brought to them, and did good actions (such as prayer, charity, fasting, keeping family relations, etc.), then Allah will give them the reward of their actions in full without any reduction. This refers to the followers of the Messiah before the coming of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), whose coming was confirmed by the Messiah himself. Allah does not love those who do wrong and the greatest wrong is to ascribe partners to Allah and to disbelieve His messengers.

This account of Jesus which is recited to you is a clear sign indicating the truth of what was revealed to you. It is a perfect message for those who are mindful of Allah, as it contains nothing false.

With Allah, the example of the creation of Jesus (peace be upon him) is like the creation of Adam, who was born from dust without a father or mother. Allah simply said to him: Become a man. And he became as Allah willed. How do you then assume that Jesus is a god on the basis that he has no father when you accept that Adam is human despite his having no father or mother?

The undoubtable truth about Jesus is that which was revealed to you by your Lord, so do not be one of those who doubt and are unsure. Instead, be firm on the truth that you have.

If anyone of the Christians disputes with you, O Messenger, regarding the matter of Jesus, and claims that he was not Allah’s servant after the correct knowledge has come to you, then say to them, ‘Come, let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves; and let us gather together and then pray to Allah to send down His curse on those of us who are lying’.

That which has been mentioned to you about Jesus (peace be upon him) is the true tale that contains no lie or doubt. There is no one worthy of worship besides Allah alone. Allah is Mighty in His authority and Wise in His planning and instruction.

If they turn away from what you have brought and do not follow you, then it is because they are corrupt. Allah knows those who cause corruption in the earth and He will recompense them for that.

Say, O Messenger: O Jews and Christians, People of the Scripture, come let us unite on a fair word in which we are all equal: that we worship Allah alone and we do not worship anyone besides Him, no matter what his rank and no matter how high is his status; and that we do not take one another as lords to be worshipped and followed besides Allah. If they turn away from the truth and fairness that you call them towards, then, O believers, say to them: Bear witness that we have surrendered to Allah and are obedient to Him.

O People of the Scripture, why do you dispute about the belief of Abraham? The Jews claimed that he was a Jew and the Christians claimed he was a Christian. You know very well that Judaism and Christianity appeared a long time after him. Can you not see the falseness of your statement and the error of your claim?

You, People of the Scripture, argued without knowledge with the Prophet (peace be upon him) about your religion and about what was revealed to you. Why, then, do you dispute about Abraham and his religion, which you do not know, as it is not in your book and your prophets did not discuss it? Allah knows the reality of things and you do not know.

Abraham was not a Jew or Christian in belief, but he was opposed to all false religions and obedient to Allah alone. He was also not one of those who ascribe partners to Allah – contrary to the idolaters of the Arabs, who claim to follow his belief.

The people who are most entitled to claim a link to Abraham are those who followed him in his time, as well as this Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and those who have faith in him from this nation. Allah helps and protects the believers.

The scholars of the Jews and the Christians desire to mislead you, O believers, away from the truth that Allah has guided you to. Yet they only mislead themselves because their attempt to mislead the believers only increases their misguidance, and they do not know the consequence of their actions.

O People of the Scripture, Jews and Christians, why do you disbelieve Allah’s words which were sent down to you and the clear indication they contain of the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), whilst you are witness to the fact that it is the truth contained in your books?

O People of the Scripture, why do you mix the truth contained in your books with falsehood from yourselves? Why do you hide the truth and guidance contained in your book, such as the truthfulness of the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), when you know what is true and what is false?

A group of Jewish scholars said: On the outside, accept the Qur’ān which was revealed to the believers at the beginning of the day and then reject it at the end of the day, so that, after seeing this, they begin to have doubts about their religion and turn back from it saying, ‘These people know better about Allah’s Book and they have turned back’.

They also said: Do not believe or accept anyone unless he is a Jew and follows your religion. Say, O Messenger: Guidance to the truth is the Guidance of Allah; not the disbelief and stubbornness that you display, fearing that anyone else could be given a bounty similar to what you were given, or that they would argue with you before your Lord if you acknowledged what was revealed to them. Say, O Messenger: Bounty is in Allah’s Hand and He gives it to whomever of His servants He wills: His bounty is not restricted to any one nation. Allah is embracing and He knows who is deserving.

He selects whomever of His creation He wishes to receive His mercy and blesses them with guidance, prophethood and numerous favours. Allah’s bounty is great and has no limit.

There are some People of the Scripture who, if you hand over a large amount of wealth, will honour the trust. On the other hand, there are some of them who, if you trust them with a small amount, will not return the trust unless you persistently demand it from them. That is because they wrongly claim that there is no sin on them for any crime they commit against the Arabs or if they consume the wealth of the Arabs, since Allah has permitted that for them. They say such lies knowing that it is a false attribution to Allah.

It is not as they claimed: in fact, there is a sin on them. However, if anyone fulfils his promise to Allah to have faith in Him and His Messenger, as well as his promise to people to honour their trusts, and is mindful of Allah by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, then Allah loves those who are mindful of Him and will give them the best reward.

Those who take a small amount of this world in exchange of Allah’s advice to them to follow His revelation and His messengers, and in exchange of the oaths they took to fulfil Allah’s pledge, will have no share in the reward of the Afterlife. Allah will not speak kindly to them and will not look at them mercifully on the Day of Resurrection. They will receive a painful punishment.

There is a group of Jews who twist their tongues when reciting the Torah that was revealed by Allah, so that you think that they are reciting from the Torah, whereas it is not from the Torah. Instead, it is their lies and fabrications against Allah. They say: What we recite has been revealed by Allah – whereas it was not revealed by Allah. They tell lies about Allah when they know they are lying against Allah and His messengers.

It is not right for a man whom Allah gives a book revealed by Him, together with knowledge and understanding and selects him as a prophet, to say then to people, ‘Become servants of me instead of Allah’. Rather, he should say to them: Be righteous scholars-acting on what you know, because of your teaching the revealed book to people and because of your studying it by memorising and understanding it.

It is also not right for such a man to instruct you to take the angels and the prophets as lords to be worshipped besides Allah. Is it possible that he would instruct you to disbelieve after you have become devoted and have surrendered to Him?

Remember, O Messenger, when Allah took an affirmed promise from the prophets, saying to them: If I give you a revealed book, teach you wisdom and make you reach a high rank and status, and then My Messenger comes to you confirming the book and wisdom that you have, then you must accept what he brings and help him as his followers. Do you, O prophets, accept this and give Me a firm commitment for that? They replied, ‘We accept that’. Allah said: Bear witness against yourselves and your communities, and I will also be a witness against you and them.

Whoever turns away after this promise witnessed by Allah and His messengers, they are the ones who leave the religion of Allah and His obedience.

Do these people, who leave the religion of Allah and His obedience, look for something other than the religion Allah has chosen for His worship when every creation in the heavens and earth surrenders to Him, whether willingly like the believers, or unwillingly, like the disbelievers? Then all of creation will return to Him on the Day of Resurrection to give an account for their actions.

Say, O Messenger, that you have faith in Allah, doing as He instructs you, and that you have faith in the revelation that was given to you, and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob, and in what was revealed to the prophets among Jacob’s descendants, and in the scriptures and miracles that were given to Moses, Jesus and all the prophets by their Lord. Also, say that you make no distinction between them, believing in all of them, and that you are bound to Allah alone, surrendering in devotion to Him.

Whoever seeks a path other than that which Allah has endorsed – the path of surrendering (Islam) – it will not be accepted from them by Allah. They will be of those who have lost their souls by entering the fire of Hell.

How shall Allah grant faith in Him and in His messengers to a people who disbelieved after having faith in Allah and witnessing that what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought was the truth, and after clear proofs of the truth of this have come to them? Allah does not grant faith in Him to a people who are wrongdoers and who choose error instead of guidance.

The reward of those wrongdoers who choose falsehood is the condemnation of Allah and the angels and the people all together; and they are excluded and removed from the mercy of Allah.

These disbelievers will live eternally in the fire of Hell, never to leave! Their suffering will not be lightened and they will not be given more time to repent and ask for forgiveness.

This punishment is for everyone except those who repent to Allah, asking for forgiveness, after their disbelief and disobedience, and correct what they have done. Truly, Allah is Forgiving and Compassionate to those who repent to Him.

Those who disbelieve after having faith, and stick to this disbelief until they die, then repenting to Allah and asking for forgiveness at the time of death, will not have this accepted from them, as the time for acceptance would have expired. They are those who have lost their way from the straight path which leads to Allah.

Those who disbelieve and die while in disbelief will not be able to ransom themselves from receiving the punishment of Allah, even were they to try and ransom themselves with the weight of the entire earth in gold. They will have a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers on the Day of Judgement to remove them from their suffering.

O believers, you will not receive the reward of the people of goodness and their rank until you spend the wealth you love in the way of Allah. Whatever you spend, big or small, Allah is aware of your intentions and of what you do; and everyone will be rewarded accordingly.

All wholesome foods were lawful for the Israelites, except which Jacob (peace be upon him) had made unlawful for himself before the Torah was revealed. These were not, as the Jews claimed to the Prophet Muhammad, made unlawful in the Torah. Tell them, O Prophet, to bring the Torah and read it if they are telling the truth in what they claim. When the Jews heard this, they did not know how to respond, so they did not bring the Torah to recite to him. This is an example of the Jews changing things and not telling the truth about what was in the Torah.

Whoever invents a lie against Allah after the evidence has been made clear – such as the fact that Jacob made certain foods unlawful for himself in a vow and that they were not made unlawful by Allah – then they are wronging themselves by turning away from the obvious truth.

Tell them, O Prophet, that Allah has spoken the truth about Jacob (peace be upon him), and in everything that He has revealed and established in the sacred law. Also, tell them to follow the religion Abraham (peace be upon him): he abandoned all other ways of life for the path of surrendering in devotion to Allah, by worshipping Him and following His sacred law – he only worshipped Allah.

The first House built on earth for all people to worship Allah was the Sacred House of Allah in Makkah: a House of worship full of worldly and sacred blessings, and guidance for all the worlds.

In this place of worship are clear signs of its special honour and blessings, such as the acts of worship performed in it, and its landmarks, including the stone that Abraham stood on when he was raising the walls of the Kaaba; and whoever enters it is safe, with no harm coming to them. People have a duty to Allah to perform the acts of Hajj in this House of worship, if they are able to do so. Whoever rejects the duty of Hajj disbelieves in Allah, and Allah is in no need of them or anything all in the worlds.

O Prophet, ask the People of the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, why they reject the proof of the truth of your prophet-hood, including the proofs that came in the Torah and the Gospel, when Allah watches over everything you do, witnessing it, and will reward you accordingly.

O Prophet, ask the People of the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, why they stop people who have faith from the Religion of Allah, wanting to twist it from the truth to falsehood, and turning its people from guidance to misguidance, when they witness that it is the truth confirming what is in their scriptures. Allah is not unaware of what they do in disbelieving it and preventing people from following it; and they will be repaid accordingly.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Prophet, if you follow a group of the People of the Scripture, from the Jews or the Christians, in what they say, and accept their opinion in what they claim, then you will return to disbelief after your faith because of their envy and their misguidance.

How could you disbelieve in Allah after you have had faith in Him, especially when you have the biggest reason for having firm faith with you? The verses of Allah are being recited to you, and the Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) is making them clear to you. Whoever holds on firmly to the Book of Allah and His Messenger’s way of life, Allah has guided them to the right path.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, be mindful of Allah as you have been commanded, by following what He instructs you to do, and by staying away from what He prohibits you from doing; and be thankful for His favour, holding firmly to the religion He has given you, so that when you die, you die surrendering in devotion to Him.

Hold tightly, O you who have faith, to the Book and the traditions of the Prophet, and do not do that which will bring division amongst you. Remember the blessings of Allah upon you when you were enemies before Islam, fighting each other for the slightest reason, and He brought your hearts together through Islam, so that you became brothers in your faith through His grace, showing each other love and respect and listening to each other’s advice. Before that you were on the brink of entering the fire of Hell because of your disbelief. Allah saved you from the fire of Hell through Islam and guided you to faith. In the way that Allah has made this clear to you, He also makes clear to you what will put things right for you in this world and the Afterlife, so that you are guided to the right way of life.

Let there be from you, O believers, a group who calls to all that is good and loved by Allah, instructing people to do what is right from the sacred law and from what you know to be good and just; and forbidding what is wrong, which is prohibited by the sacred law and which you know to be wrong and unjust. The people who do this will have complete success in this world and the Afterlife.

Do not be, O believers, like the People of the Scripture who became divided into different groups and divisions, disagreeing about their faith and way of life after clear signs had come to them from Allah. Such people will have a great punishment from Allah.

This great punishment will come upon them on the Day of Judgement, when the faces of those who have faith will become whitened, lighting up with joy and happiness; and the faces of those who denied the truth will become blackened, darkened with sadness and despair. As for those whose faces become blackened on that great day, they will be asked how they could reject faith in Allah alone, and deny the promise they made with Him that they would not worship anything besides Him, when they had had faith and acknowledged it. They will be told to taste the punishment Allah has prepared for them because of their disbelief.

As for those whose faces become whitened, they will remain in Paradise, eternally blessed.

O Prophet, these verses recited to you which contain Allah’s promises and threats, are true in what they contain of information, and just in what they contain of laws. Allah does not desire injustice for any creature in the worlds, and no one receives a punishment unless they earned it through their own bad actions.

To Allah alone belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth, in creation and decree, and everything will return to Him on the Day of Judgement, when everyone will be rewarded according to what they have done.

You are, O Community of Muhammad (peace be upon him), the best of all communities that Allah has produced for humanity – in your faith and actions – and the most beneficial for other people: instructing what is right according to the sacred law and what you know to be right, and forbidding what is wrong according to the sacred law and what you know to be wrong; and having certain faith in Allah, so that it shows in your actions. If the People of the Scripture, the Jews and the Christians, had faith in Muhammad it would be better for them in this world and in the Afterlife. Only few of the People of the Scripture believe in what Muhammad (peace be upon him) came with and most of them do not stay within the sacred way of life and sacred law of Allah.

If they are against you they will not harm you, O believers, in your belief, or in yourselves, except through their words: criticising your faith and making fun of you and so on. Also, if they fight you they will flee from you in defeat, and will never be victorious over you.

Humiliation and shame has been made to surround them wherever they are, and they are only safe with a contract or protection from Allah or from people. They have earned the anger of Allah, and need and poverty has been made to surround them. This is due to their rejection of the signs of Allah, killing the prophets unjustly, and because they rebelled and overstepped the limits of Allah.

Having made clear what many of the People of the Scripture are like, Allah then explains that there is a group among them who are upright and stand by the truth – not all the People of the Scripture are the same. Rather, there is a group among them who follow the Religion of Allah: doing as Allah instructs and staying away from what He has prohibited, reading the verses of Allah in the hours of the night, and praying to Him. This group existed before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent, and became Muslim when they met him and understood his message.

They have certain faith in Allah and the Last Day, instructing what is right and good, and forbidding what is wrong and evil, and they take initiative in doing good actions, taking advantage of the seasons of worship. Such people are from among Allah’s servants who have righteous intentions and actions.

Whatever good these people do, whether it is little or much, their reward for it will not be lost. Allah knows those who are Mindful, who follow what He instructs, and stay away from what He prohibits. None of what they do is hidden from Him, and they will be rewarded accordingly.

Disbelievers in Allah and His Messenger will not be helped against Allah by their wealth or children: they will not prevent His punishment or bring His mercy to them; rather, their suffering and distress will only increase, and they will be eternally companions of the fire of Hell.

The example of what disbelievers spend in charity, and what they expect to receive of rewards, is like a wind which is extremely cold that hits the crops of a people who wronged themselves by not doing as they were instructed, ruining their crops when they had expected to have a good harvest. Disbelief also ruins the rewards of good deeds. Allah does not wrong them for He is far above any injustice, rather, they wrong themselves through their disbelief in Allah and His prophets.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Prophet, do not take unbelievers as close friends, letting them know your secrets and private business. They will not stop trying to harm you and ruin things for you, wanting what will hurt you and making things really difficult for you. Their hatred and hostility has appeared in what they say; in their criticism of your faith and worship, in incidents between you, and in them giving away your secrets. In their hearts they have even more hatred. Allah has made clear to you what is in your interests in this world and in the Afterlife, if you use your intellect to understand what your Lord has revealed to you.

It is you, O believers, who love these people, and want goodness for them, but they do not love you, and do not wish you well. Rather, they hate you, while you have faith in all of the scriptures, including their scriptures; yet they do not have faith in the Scripture which Allah revealed to your Prophet. If they meet you they say with their tongues, ‘We have faith’, yet when they are alone together they bite the tips of their fingers in distress and rage because of how united you are, the strength of Islam, and because of their own humiliation and shame. Tell these people, O Prophet, to stay as they are until they die in their rage. Allah knows what faith and disbelief and what good and evil there is in people’s hearts.

If a blessing comes to you in the forms of victory over an enemy, or an increase in wealth or children, then worry and sadness overcomes them; and if a misfortune hits you, such as the victory of an enemy over you, or a decrease in wealth or children, then they are happy, rejoicing at your misfortune. If you are patient with Allah’s commands and decree, and are mindful of not earning Allah’s anger, then their tricks and attempts to hurt you will not harm you. Allah encompasses all their plotting and what they do, and will make them fail.

Remember, O Prophet, when some of the believers disobeyed the instruction of Allah and His Messenger, and this happened when you left Medina to fight the idolaters in the Battle of Uḥud, after you had posted the believers in their places for battle, and their positions were clear. Allah hears whatever you say and knows whatever you do.

Remember, O Prophet, what happened to two groups of the believers from Banī Salamah and Banī Ḥārithah, when they became weak and almost withdrew when the hypocrites drew back; but Allah aided them, making them firm in fighting, and turning them away from what they had been on the edge of doing. So, let those who have faith look to Allah alone for support, no matter what may happen to them.

Allah gave you victory over the idolaters in the Battle of Badr despite your small numbers and resources. Therefore, be Mindful so that you may be thankful for the blessings He has given you.

Remember, O Prophet, when you roused the believers during the battle of Badr, reassuring them after they heard that reinforcements were on their way for the idolaters, by asking whether it was not enough for them that Allah should help them with three thousand angels sent down from Him to reinforce them in the battle.

Indeed, that is enough, and there is good news for you of more aid from Allah if you are courageous in fighting and are Mindful: if the reinforcements of your enemies come rushing at you, then your Lord will help you with five thousand angels, with clear marks on them and their horses.

Allah did not tell you of this reinforcement with angels, except as news to please and reassure your hearts. For in fact, victory does not just come through material means, but comes only from Allah the Mighty, Who no one has any authority over, Wise in His decree and sacred laws.

Your victory in the Battle of Badr was because Allah willed that a group of the disbelievers be destroyed, and another be humiliated, frustrating them through defeat so that they withdrew.

After the believers had been afflicted in the Battle of Uhud, the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed to Allah to destroy the idolaters and some of their leaders. Yet Allah told him that the matter of destruction and punishment lies only with Him alone and that the Prophet has no decision in it. So, be patient until Allah decides between you: either allowing them to repent to Him, asking for forgiveness, so that they are saved; or permitting them to continue in their disbelief, so that they are punished. Those continuing in disbelief are wrongdoers and deserve a punishment.

To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth, in its creation and arrangement. He forgives the disobedience of whomever He wills of His servants through His Mercy, and punishes whom He wills through His Justice. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful to those who repent to Him.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Prophet, stay away from usury: increasing and compounding the wealth that you lend to people as the people of the time of ignorance before Islam did; and be mindful of Allah: following what He instructs and staying away from what He has prohibited, so that you may reach the good you desire in this world and in the Afterlife.

Protect yourselves from the fire of Hell that Allah has prepared for the disbelievers through doing good and staying away from what is prohibited.

Obey Allah and His Messenger by following what He instructs and staying away from what He has prohibited, so that you may gain His mercy in this world and in the Afterlife.

Rush to do good actions, and draw near to Allah through doing as He instructs, so that you achieve the great forgiveness of Allah and enter a Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, which Allah has prepared for the Mindful.

The Mindful are those who spend their wealth for the sake of Allah, in ease and hardship, who control their anger when they could seek revenge, and who forgive those who wrong them. Allah loves the doers of good, whose behaviour is this way.

They are the ones; if they were to commit a major sin, or wrong themselves by committing a lesser sin, they remember Allah, and His warning to the wrongdoers and promise to the Mindful; so they ask their Lord for forgiveness, regretting what they did. They ask Allah not to take them to account for it, because Allah alone can forgive, and they do not continue in their disobedience. They know that they have done wrong and that Allah forgives all disobedience.

The Mindful people who are like this, and have these praiseworthy qualities, are rewarded with Allah’s forgiveness and His overlooking what they have done. In the Afterlife, they will have gardens with rivers flowing below palaces, where they will live eternally. How blessed is the reward for those who act according to Allah’s laws!

When the believers were tested by what happened to them on the day of Uḥud, Allah comforted them by saying that what afflicted them was part of the divinely ordained laws of life, i.e. the believers suffering trials at the hands of the disbelievers and overcoming them in the end after their trial. Similar incidents have therefore come to pass in times before them. So, travel the earth and learn from seeing what the fate of those who disbelieved in Allah and His messengers was: their houses are now empty and their power has disappeared.

This noble Qur’ān is a clarification of the truth, and a warning against what is false, for all people. It shows the path to guidance and the limits for the Mindful, because it is they who benefit from the guidance it contains.

Do not become weak, O believers, and do not be sad about what happened to you on the day of Uḥud. That is not appropriate for you, because you are superior because of your faith, and the uppermost with Allah’s help and the hope of victory, if you have faith in Allah and in His promise to those who are Mindful.

O believers, if you suffered injuries and losses on the day of Uḥud, then the disbelievers also suffered injuries and losses just as you did. Allah distributes such days between people, whether they have faith or disbelieve, giving victory and defeat as He wills, for reasons of great wisdom. Among these reasons is to make it clear, those who truly have faith as opposed to those who are hypocrites, and to honour whomever He wills with martyrdom in His cause. Allah dislikes those who wrong themselves by giving up striving in his path.

A part of this wisdom of changing fortunes is the purification of those who have faith from their sins, separating them from the hypocrites, and destroying and removing those who reject the truth.

Did you think, O believers, that you would enter Paradise before such trials and tests that prove which of you really struggle for the sake of Allah and are patient with the trials they are given?

O believers, you wished to meet the disbelievers so that you could gain martyrdom for the sake of Allah, like your brothers did on the day of Badr, before you saw the severity and ways of death. Now on the day of Uḥud you have seen what you wished for with your own eyes.

Muhammad is only a Messenger like the messengers of Allah who came before him, who died or were killed. If he were to die or be killed would you turn back from your faith, and stop fighting? Whoever among you turns back from his faith will not harm Allah in any way. He is the Strong, the Victorious. Such a person only harms himself by exposing himself to loss in this world and the Afterlife. Allah will reward those who are thankful to Him by making them firm in their faith and in struggling for His sake.

No person can die except by the divine decree of Allah, when the time Allah has written for them has come to an end and their set time of death has arrived: their life will not be made longer or shorter. Whoever desires worldly gain through what they do, Allah will give them of it, according to what He has decreed for them, and they will have no share in the Afterlife. Yet whoever desires the reward of Allah in the Afterlife through what they do, Allah will give them its reward, and He will give a great reward to those who are thankful to their Lord.

Many of Allah’s prophets fought with many groups of their followers. They were not cowardly about fighting because of death and wounds that they received for Allah’s sake; and they did not weaken in fighting the enemy or surrender to them, but they were patient and firm. Allah loves those who are patient with hardship and misfortune for His sake.

When they were given these trials, these patient people asked Allah to forgive them for their disobedience and for overstepping the limits in what they did, to make their feet firm when they meet their enemy, and to help them against those who disbelieved in Him.

So, Allah gave them the reward of this life by giving them victory and strength, and gave them the most excellent reward of the Afterlife, where they will receive His favour, and live in bliss eternally in Paradise. Allah loves those who always try to do their best in their worship and transactions.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, if you obey the disbelieving Jews, Christians and idolaters in the misguidance they instruct you in, then you will return after your faith back to the disbelief you were upon, and you will become losers in this world and in the Afterlife.

These disbelievers will not help you if you obey them; rather, Allah is your helper against your enemies. So, obey Him, for He, may He be glorified, is the best of helpers, and you will not need anyone apart from Him.

Allah will put great fear in the hearts of the disbelievers, so that they are not able to stand firm to fight you. This is because of worshipping false gods next to Allah, and following their own desires, when no proof has been sent down to them to do so. Their resting place in the Afterlife will be the fire of Hell. What a miserable resting place the fire of Hell is for the wrongdoers!

Allah kept the promise He gave you of victory over your enemies on the day of Uḥud, when you were engaging them in battle, by Allah’s permission, until you became weaker in your resolve to do as the Messenger had commanded you, and you disagreed about whether to stay at your posts or leave them in order to obtain the gains of war. You disobeyed the Messenger’s command to stay at your positions no matter what may happen. This occurred after Allah showed you the victory over your enemies that you wanted so much. Among you are those who desire the goods of this world, and it was those who left their positions; and among you are those who desire the reward of the Afterlife, and it was those who stayed at their positions, obeying the Messenger’s command. Then Allah turned you away from them and gave them power over you so as to test you, and to make clear who were the believers who were patient with trials and who were those who abandoned their positions and became weak. Allah has indeed forgiven you for what you committed when you went against the Messenger’s command, and Allah’s grace for the believers is great: guiding them to faith, forgiving their disobedience, and rewarding them for the difficulties they go through.

Remember, O believers, when you ran away on the day of Uḥud, when failure came upon you because you went against the command of the Messenger. None of you looked at anyone else, and the Messenger called you from behind, between you and the idolaters, saying, ‘Come to me, servants of Allah! Come to me, servants of Allah!’ Allah repaid you for this with pain and distress, followed by pain and distress: first because of the victory and gains of war you lost; and then with the rumour that the Prophet had been killed that spread among you. Later you came to know that the Prophet had not been killed, so that you would not grieve about the victory and gains of war that you lost, or the deaths and wounds that you received, as a way of making misfortune and pain easier on you. Allah is aware of everything you do and of everything in your hearts.

Then He sent down on you, after the pain and distress, peace and security. A group among you, who trusted in the promise of Allah, became overcome by sleep because of the peace and serenity in their hearts. Another group were not blessed with security or sleep, and they were the hypocrites, who only worried about their own safety, and felt upset and scared. They thought badly of Allah, thinking that He would not help His Prophet or support His servants, like those of the time of ignorance before Islam did, who did not understand Allah’s reality. These hypocrites said, due to their ignorance of Allah, that they did not have a say in whether they went out to fight; and if they had, they would not have done so. Tell them, O Prophet, in reply, that everything that happens is up to Allah, and that He decreed that they would go out to fight. These hypocrites hide in themselves doubt and bad opinion which they do not show to you, saying that if they had a say in whether they had gone to fight, then people would not have been killed in this place. Tell them, O Prophet, in reply, that if they had been in their houses far from the places of battle and death, those whom Allah had destined to be killed would inevitably go out to the places of their death. Allah only did this to test the intentions and motives in your hearts, and to reveal the faith and hypocrisy in them. Allah knows what is in the hearts of people, and nothing is hidden from Him.

Those of you who were defeated, O Companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him), on the day the army of the idolaters and the army of the Muslims met at Uḥud, it was Satan who made you slip, because of what you had earned from doing wrong. Allah has forgiven them, and will not take them to account for it, out of His favour and mercy. Allah forgives those who repent to Him, and is Forbearing, not quick to punish.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Prophet, do not be like those among the hypocrites who disbelieve, who do not have faith in destiny and Allah’s decree, and who say of their relatives if they travel to earn a living or go out to fight and they die or are killed: If they had stayed with us, and not gone or not fought, then they would not have died or been killed. Allah makes this belief in their hearts increase their regret. Allah alone gives life and death as He wills: staying behind would not stop His decree, and going would not bring it more quickly. Allah sees what you do. None of what you do is hidden from Him and you will be rewarded according to what you do.

If you are killed or die in Allah’s path, O believers, Allah will forgive you and be merciful with you, and that is better than this world along with what the people of this world collect of its passing pleasures.

If you die – however you may die – or you are killed in Allah’s path, you will all return to Allah alone, and He will reward you according to what you have done.

Due to Allah’s great mercy, your character, O Prophet, was made to be gentle with your Companions. If you were harsh in your words and actions and hard-hearted, they would have left you. So, pardon them their shortcomings with you and ask Allah to forgive them for what is between them and Allah; and ask their opinion in whatever needs to be agreed upon. Then if you decide on something after agreeing together, then go ahead with it, and trust in Allah. Allah loves those who trust in Him, giving them success and support.

If Allah supports you with His help and aid, then no one can overcome you, even if everyone in the earth came together against you; yet if He does not help or protect you, then no one can help you after Him. Help is in His Hands alone. So let those who have faith depend on Him and on no one else.

No of the prophets of Allah would be dishonest and take anything from the gains of war which Allah had not assigned for him. Whoever dishonestly takes something from the gains of war will be repaid by being disgraced on the Day of Judgement: carrying whatever he took in front of creation. Then every soul will be given the total reward of what they earned. No one will be wronged by any addition to their disobedience or by any subtraction from their good actions.

Before Allah, someone who has faith and does good actions that please Allah is not the same as someone who disbelieves and does wrong, earning Allah’s anger and Hell as their resting place. What an awful resting place and destination Hell is!

They are different in the ranks and levels in the Afterlife: those who follow Allah’s pleasure find their places in Paradise, according to how high their rank in it is; and those who follow what displeases Allah find their places in Hell, according to how low their rank in it is. Allah sees what they do. Nothing is hidden from Him, and everyone will be rewarded according to what they do.

Allah blessed the believers and favoured them when He sent them a messenger from among them, who: recited the Qur’ān to them, purified them from worshipping others next to Allah and from shameful character traits, and taught them the Qur’ān and the ways of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Before this Messenger was sent, they were clearly astray from the right path and guidance.

O believers, when disaster struck you at Uḥud, and many of you were killed, and you had beforehand afflicted on your enemies a disaster twice as great in terms of those killed and captured on the day of Badr; why then did you ask where this calamity came from? You claimed that since you are believers and the Prophet of Allah is with you, it should not have occurred. Tell them, O Prophet, that what happened to them came from their own actions and disobedience. Allah is powerful over all things, giving victory to whomever He wills, and leaving whomever He wills

The death, wounds and defeat you suffered on the day of Uḥud, when your army and the army of the idolaters met, was by the permission and decree of Allah, with far-reaching wisdom behind it: to make it clear who truly had faith.

And He did this in order to demonstrate who the hypocrites were! When they were told to fight in Allah’s path, or to defend their womenfolk and their people, they said, ‘Had we known that you were going to fight properly, then we would have followed you; but you actually throw yourselves to death!’ At that moment, they were closer to showing their disbelief than their faith, saying with their tongues what was not in their hearts. Allah knows best what they hide in their breasts, and will repay them accordingly.

Those who stayed behind from fighting, and said of their relatives who suffered on the day of Uḥud that if they had done as they said and not gone to fight then they would not have been killed, tell them, O Prophet, in reply, to keep death away from themselves when it arrives, if they are telling the truth in their claim that they would not have been killed if they had listened to them; and that the reason they themselves escaped death was because they stayed behind from fighting in Allah’s cause.

Do not think, O Prophet, that those who have been killed struggling for the sake of Allah are dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord in His generosity, provided with blessings that we do not know about.

They are delighted and rejoicing in what Allah has given them from His grace, and looking forward to meeting their brothers who are still on earth. If they are killed during a similar struggle, then they will receive the same grace as them. There is no fear on them in terms of what awaits them in the Afterlife, and no sorrow about any worldly fortunes that passed them by.

They rejoice in the great reward that awaits them from Allah, and the increase of great reward, and that Allah does not let the reward of those who have faith go to waste, but repays it completely, and increases it.

Those who responded to the instruction of Allah and His Messenger when they were called to go out and fight for the sake of Allah, and to meet the idolaters in the battle of Ḥamrā’ Al-Asad, which followed the battle of Uḥud, after they had suffered wounds on the day of Uḥud, their wounds did not stop them from responding to the call of Allah and His Messenger. Those of them who acted nobly, and were Mindful in following His instructions and keeping away from what He had prohibited, will have a great reward from Allah: Paradise.

Some of the idolaters said to them that the Quraysh, led by Abū Sufyān, had come together in great numbers to fight against them and to finish them off, warning them against meeting them. But their words and attempts to scare them only increased their reliance on Allah and their trust in His promise. So they went out to meet them, saying that Allah was enough for them and that He is the best Protector, while committing their lives to Him.

They returned from the battle of Ḥamrā’ Al-Asad with a great reward from Allah, an increase in their rank and security from their enemy, whilst suffering no deaths or wounds. They did what pleased Allah, always doing as He instructed and not going against Him; and the grace of Allah for His servants who have faith is great.

It is only Satan frightening you with his helpers and supporters. Do not fear them, because they have no power or strength; but fear Allah alone, by always doing as He instructs, if you truly have faith in Him.

Do not sorrow, O Messenger, because of those hypocrites who rush to disbelief, turning on their heels. They do not harm Allah in any way, but only harm themselves by distancing themselves from faith in Allah and from doing as He instructs. Allah wills their defeat and failure, and that they will have no portion of bliss in the Afterlife: they will have a great punishment in the fire of Hell.

Those who exchange faith for disbelief will not harm Allah in any way: He is the Mighty and free from any need of His creation. They only harm themselves, and they will have a painful punishment in the Afterlife.

Those who disbelieve in their Lord and stubbornly resist His sacred law should not think that it is good for them because they are given time and live long, remaining as they are, in disbelief. It is not as they think. They are only given more time to multiply in sin, disobedience upon their disobedience: they will have a humiliating punishment.

Allah would not leave you, O believers, as you are, mixed with the hypocrites with no separation between you, without making it clear those who truly have faith. So He separates you through different obligations and trials, to make clear those who have faith and those who are hypocrites, and to separate the good from the bad. He would not give you knowledge of the Ghaib so that you could distinguish between a believer and a hypocrite; but Allah chooses whomever He wills of His messengers and gives them some knowledge of the Ghaib, as He gave His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) knowledge of the state of the hypocrites. So have faith in Allah and His Messenger; and if you truly have faith and are mindful of Allah, then follow His instructions and stay away from what He has prohibited – so that you gain a great reward from Allah.

Those who are not generous with the blessings Allah has given them out of His kindness, not fulfilling Allah’s right with it, should not think that this is good for them. Rather, it is bad for them, because whatever they are miserly with will be hung around their necks on the Day of Judgement as a punishment. To Allah alone belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. He is the Living after all His creation has passed away. Allah is well aware of the good and evil that you do, and will reward you accordingly.

Allah certainly heard when the Jews said that Allah was poor, because He asked them for a ‘loan’, and that they were rich because of their wealth. Allah will record this shameful statement in their record of actions along with the eagerness of their ancestors in killing the prophets of Allah on purpose and unjustly. Allah will tell all of them to taste the punishment of burning in the fire of Hell.

This punishment is because of the disobedience and disgraceful acts you committed with your own hands, O Jews! Allah does not wrong any of His servants.

They are those who lied in their claim that Allah had instructed them in His scripture and from His prophets to not have faith in a messenger unless he came to them with a charitable offering which fire would then burn from the sky. In their claiming this they also restricted other miraculous signs and evidences the prophets came with. Due to this, Allah instructed His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to ask them why, when messengers had come to them before with clear proofs of the truth of their message, and even with what they had mentioned of an offering burned by fire from the sky, did they reject them and kill them if they were telling the truth!

If they reject you, O Prophet, do not feel saddened, because it is normal for the disbelievers to act like this. Many messengers were rejected before you, who came with clear proofs, and books containing teachings and great wisdom, and the scripture, guiding people through the rulings of the sacred law.

Every soul, no matter its state, must taste death. No created being should be dazzled by this world. On the Day of Judgement, you will be given the reward for your actions in full, with nothing decreased. Whoever Allah averted from the fire of Hell and granted entry into Paradise, has achieved real success. The life of this world is only a passing enjoyment – only those who are misled become attached to it.

You will certainly be tested, O believers, in your wealth – in relation to fulfilling your duties concerning it – and with the misfortunes sent down with it, and in yourselves with regards to how you conduct yourselves with the orders and prohibitions of the sacred law. Also, you will certainly hear many things from those who were given the scripture before you, and from those who worship others with Allah, that are hurtful to you, criticising you and your sacred way of life. But if you are patient with the misfortunes and trials you are given, and are mindful of Allah, doing what He instructs and staying away from what He has prohibited, then that will lead to the good consequences and it is a matter O believers that requires firm resolve.

Remember, O Prophet, when Allah took a firm promise from the scholars among the Christians and Jews: that they should make the revelation of Allah clear to people, and not hide the guidance in it, or the evidence of the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him). But they broke the promise and paid no attention to it, hiding the truth and revealing what was false. They exchanged the promise of Allah for a small price, such as the position or wealth it might buy them. What a terrible price they traded Allah’s promise for!

Do not think, O Prophet, that those who rejoice in the shameful actions they have committed, and who love people to praise them for good things which they did not do, are secure and safe from the punishment. Rather, Hell is their place, and they will have a painful punishment.

With Allah alone is the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them: in its creation and administration. Allah is powerful over all things.

In the creation of the heavens and the earth, from nothing with no precedent, and in the following of the night and day, and the difference in their length, are clear signs for those of understanding, which lead them to the Creator of the universe, worthy alone of worship.

Those who remember Allah in all conditions – standing, sitting and lying on their sides – and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying that their Lord did not originate this wonderful creation without a reason, and is far above that, and ask Him to protect them from the punishment of the fire of Hell, by enabling them to do good and protecting them from doing wrong – they say:

Our Lord, whoever You enter into the fire of Hell from your creation has been humiliated and disgraced. On the Day of Judgement, the wrongdoers will have no helpers to protect them from Allah’s punishment and repayment.

Our Lord, we have heard a caller to faith saying, ‘Have faith in your Lord’. So we responded to him and have faith in what he calls us to and we follow the sacred law, so forgive us our sins and do not disgrace us; and do not take us to account for our bad actions. Let us die with the righteous; and enable us to do good and stay away from disobedience.

Our Lord, give us guidance and the help in this world that You promised us through the words of Your messengers, and do not disgrace us on the Day of Judgement by entering us into the fire of Hell. Our Lord, You are generous and never do You break Your promise.

So their Lord responded to their prayer, saying that He does not allow the reward of anything you do, small or big, to be lost, whether the person who does it is male or female. You are from one another in your origins, and the faith that you follow does not reward males and females differently. Those who emigrated for the sake of Allah (driven from their homes by the disbelievers), suffered harm in order to obey their Lord, and who fought for the sake of Allah and died so that the Word of Allah would be supreme, they will certainly be forgiven their sins on the Day of Judgement: it will be overlooked, and they will be entered into gardens with rivers flowing under their palaces, as a reward from Allah – with Allah is the best reward, unlike any other.

O Prophet, do not feel burdened nor distressed by the movement of the disbelievers in the land, and their power and the extent of their trade and provision. All of this is passing, and all that they will have left is their bad deeds.

This world is a brief enjoyment that does not last. The destination they will return to on the Day of Judgement will be Hell – what a terrible resting place the fire of Hell is for them!

Yet those who are mindful of their Lord, following His instructions and staying away from what He has prohibited, they will receive gardens with rivers flowing under their palaces, where they shall live eternally – a reward prepared for them from Allah. What Allah has prepared for the righteous is better than any of the worldly pleasures the disbelievers may have obtained.

Nevertheless, the People of the Scripture are not all the same. There is a group among them who have faith in Allah, the truth and guidance He revealed to you and what was revealed to them in their scriptures; and they do not discriminate between the messengers of Allah, but humble themselves before Him, desiring what is with Him, and not exchanging His verses and signs for a small enjoyment in this world. Such people will have a great reward with their Lord. Allah is quick to take account of what people do, and quick to reward them.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, be patient with the obligations of the sacred law, and with the misfortunes that you are given in this world; and outdo the disbelievers in patience and determination, so that they are not more patient than you; and struggle for the sake of Allah and be Mindful, following His instructions and staying away from what He has prohibited, so that you may reach what you desire of safety from the fire of Hell and entry into Paradise.

O people, be mindful of your Lord, for it is He Who created you from a single soul: your father Adam; and from Adam He created his wife Eve, your mother. From the two of them, He spread many people, both male and female, all over the earth. Be mindful of Allah when requesting others by Him, such as: ‘I ask you, by Allah, to do such-and-such. Also, be mindful of breaking relations with your blood ties. Allah watches over you and nothing you do escapes Him; rather, He takes it into account and repays you accordingly.

Guardians, give orphans (whose fathers have died and who have not yet reached maturity) their wealth in full when they come of age and have sound judgement. Do not exchange what is permitted for what is prohibited: taking what is good and valuable from the property of the orphans and replacing it with something bad and of little worth from your own property. Also, do not take the property of the orphans and combine it with your own wealth – that is a great crime before Allah.

If you fear that you will not be just in marrying the female orphans under your guardianship – fearing that you will not give them an appropriate dowry or will not treat them well – then do not marry them, and marry other women you choose. You may marry two, three or four; but if you fear that you will be unjust between them, then marry just one, or suffice with what you possess of slave women, for their rights are not the same as the rights of wives. This is the best way to avoid being unjust or biased.

Give women their dowries with good will. Yet if they gladly give up a part of the dowry to you, of their own free will, then there is nothing to stop you enjoying it.

Guardians, do not give property to those who do not know how to manage it well. Allah made this property a way to serve the interests of people and for them to live on it, and such people are not able to manage their wealth well. Provide for them, clothe them and speak to them in a good way. Make a firm commitment to give them their property if they get sound judgement and become able to manage it well.

Guardians, test the orphans when they are near to reaching maturity, by giving them a part of their wealth to see how they manage it. If they manage it well, and show you their sound judgement, hand over their property in full. Do not use up their wealth, overstepping the limits which Allah has approved for you: use their wealth only when necessary. Do not rush to use it up for fear that they will take it when they reach maturity. Whoever is wealthy should not use up the property of the orphan; and whoever is poor and has no wealth should only use what is necessary. When you hand over their property to them, upon their reaching maturity and showing sound judgement, have it witnessed; to protect rights and to prevent causes of disagreement. Allah is sufficient as a witness for that, and takes account of all that people do.

Men are to have a share of what their parents or relatives – such as brothers and sisters or uncles and aunts – leave when they die, whether it is much or little. Women are also to have a share of what they leave, which was not the way that things were in the time of ignorance before Islam, when women and children were left out of the inheritance. This share is a right and its amount is clearly set out – as made obligatory by Allah.

If relatives, orphans and the poor, who do not inherit, are present at the time the inheritance is divided, then give them, out of kindness, some of this wealth before it is divided, for they may be looking at it with desire for a share; and it came to you without you doing anything. Also, speak to them in a kind way, without any meanness.

Let those executors and guardians fear in the manner they would if they had died and left young, weak children behind them, fearing they would be ruined. Let them be mindful of orphans under their guardianship, not doing any wrong to them. So that Allah brings about others to treat well their own children after they die, as they treated the orphans well. Let whoever is present at the making of will, say what is right for the children, so that the heirs are not wronged in the will. Nor should the giver deprive himself of this good deed by not leaving a will.

Those who take the property of orphans and spend it wrongly and unjustly, they only swallow fire into themselves: they will burn in the fire of Hell on the Day of Judgement.

Allah instructs you in the matter of the inheritance of children that the inheritance should be divided between them. A son gets a share equal to the share of two daughters. If the person who died left daughters without a son, two daughters or more get two thirds of what is left. If there is just one daughter, she gets a half of what is left. For each of the parents of the person who has died, they get a sixth of what is left, if he has children. If he does not have children or any heir except for his parents, then the mother gets a third, and the father gets the rest. If the person who has died has two or more siblings, whether brothers, sisters, half-brothers, or half-sisters, then his mother gets a sixth as a share, and the father gets the rest – so the brothers and sisters are not given anything. This division of the inheritance is after the bequests of the will have been deducted, with the condition that the bequests in the will cannot be more than a third of the total wealth and debts have been repaid from the wealth. Allah has made the division of inheritance like this because you do not know whether your parents or your children are closer to you in benefit in this world and the next. For instance, a person may think well of someone and leave everything to them, or think badly of someone and not leave them anything, and they may be wrong in their opinion in both cases. Allah knows the reality of things and nothing is hidden from Him. For this reason, the division of inheritance is as He made clear, and He made it obligatory for His servants. Allah knows everything, and nothing is hidden from Him of what is good for His servants – He is Wise in His sacred law and administration.

You have half of what your wives leave, if they have no child. If they have a child, whether it is your child or not, then you get a fourth of the wealth they leave, after any bequest they have made and the repayment of any debts they had. Wives get a quarter of what you leave, if you have no child, whether it is their child or not. If you have a child, then they get an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you have made and the repayment of any debts you had. If someone dies without any parents or children to inherit from them, but they have a brother or sister from the same mother as them, then each of them gets a sixth. If they have more than one brother or sister from the same mother as them, then they share a third, with brothers and sisters receiving the same share – this is after any bequest that they leave and the repayment of any debts they had, with the condition that the bequest does not cause harm to any of the inheritors, such as it being more than a third of the total of the wealth. The rulings contained in the verses about inheritance law are an obligation on you, and Allah knows what is in the interests of His servants in this world and the Afterlife. He is forbearing, and not quick to punish.

The rulings regarding orphans and other matters mentioned above are the sacred laws of Allah, which Allah has given to His servants to follow. Whoever follows Allah and His Messenger in His instructions, staying away from what He has prohibited, Allah will enter them into gardens with rivers flowing beneath their palaces, where they will live eternally. That divine reward is the great success, which no other success comes near to.

Whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger, by not following His laws or doubting them, and overstepping the limits He has made, He will enter them into a fire where they will remain – for them is a humiliating punishment there.

For those of your women who commit sexual offences – whether they are married or unmarried – call four trustworthy Muslim men witnesses. If they bear witness against them, then confine them to their homes as a punishment, until the end of their lives, or until Allah makes a way for them other than being confined. The ruling of this verse was replaced with the ruling that unmarried women who have illicit sexual relations should be whipped a hundred times and banished for a year, and married women who have illicit sexual relations should be stoned.

If two of your men commit a sexual offence – whether they are married or unmarried – punish them with words and blows, humiliating and disciplining them. If they turn away from what they were doing and correct themselves, then do not harm them. Those who turn away from a sin and ask for forgiveness are like those who have not sinned. Allah turns to those who repent to Him asking for forgiveness, and is Compassionate with them. The ruling of this verse was replaced with the ruling that unmarried men who have illicit sexual relations should be whipped a hundred times and banished for a year, and married men who have illicit sexual relations should be stoned.

Allah only turns in mercy and forgiveness to those who commit disobedience and overstep the limits out of foolishness and impulse, and who repent to Allah asking for His forgiveness before the time of their death. Allah forgives these people, by overlooking their disobedience. Allah knows the circumstances of people, and is Wise in His decree and sacred laws.

Allah does not turn in mercy and forgiveness to those who continue in their disobedience, overstepping the limits and insisting on overstepping them, and not turning away from doing this until they are dying, then saying that they regret what they did and asking for Allah’s forgiveness. Also, Allah does not turn in mercy and forgiveness to those who die in disbelief – He has prepared a painful punishment for them.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, you are not allowed to inherit the wives of your fathers in the way wealth is inherited or marry them, or give them in marriage, or stop them from marrying. Also, it is forbidden for you to retain your wives who you do not like in order to get them to give back some of what you gave to them, unless they have had illegal sexual relations. In that case, you can get them to return what you gave them. Be good companions to your women, not hurting them, and be kind to them. If you do not like them for some worldly reason, then be patient with them. Allah may put much good in what you do not like, both in the life of this world and in the Afterlife.

If you want to divorce a woman and replace her with another, then you are allowed to do so; but if you gave the one you intend to divorce a great deal of wealth as a dowry, then you are not allowed to take anything back from it. Taking back what you gave to them would be an injustice and a clear sin.

How could you take what you gave to them as a dowry after the relationship, love, enjoyment and sharing of secrets that has occurred between you? Greed for the wealth which is theirs after all this is forbidden and shameful. They took a sincere promise from you, by which they became lawful to you through the Word of Allah and His sacred law.

Do not marry women whom your fathers married. That is forbidden, unless it happened before in the time of ignorance, in which case you will not be taken to account for it. Sons marrying the wives of their fathers is a shameful practice, a cause for earning Allah’s anger.

Allah has prohibited you to marry your mothers and grandmothers, your daughters and granddaughters, your sisters and half-sisters, your aunts and great aunts, your nieces and their children, your milk-mothers who nursed you and your sisters through nursing, the mothers of your wives (whether you have consummated the marriage or not), and the daughters of your wives by someone else (who were mostly raised in your houses, and also those who were not, if you have consummated the marriage; but if you have not, then there is nothing wrong with marrying their daughters). You are also prohibited to marry those who have been married to your own sons, even if they did not consummate the marriage, and this includes the wives of your sons through milk-kinship (nursing). It is prohibited for you to marry two sisters who are related by blood or by nursing, except if this happened in the time of ignorance before Islam, in which case Allah has forgiven it. Allah is Forgiving and Compassionate to His servants who repent to Him. In the traditions of the Prophet it is also confirmed that it is prohibited to marry a woman and her aunt at the same time.

Those who are already married are prohibited to you, except those who you have captured whilst fighting in Allah’s cause: they are allowed to you after making sure they are not pregnant – this is what Allah has decreed. All women other than those who have been prohibited are allowed for you, if you seek them with your wealth, in a chaste way, desiring what is lawful and not desiring sexual immorality. Give those you enjoy in marriage their dowry, which Allah has made an obligation on you. However, there is nothing wrong if you mutually agree, after the obligation of the dowry has been set, to increase it, or to give up part of it. Allah knows His creation and nothing about them is hidden from Him. He is Wise in His administration and in His sacred law-giving.

Whoever among you cannot marry a free woman, because he does not have enough wealth, is allowed to marry a believing slave owned by someone else. Allah knows the reality of your faith and your situation, and you are equal in your faith and humanity, so do not look down on marrying them. Marry them with the permission of their owners, and give them their dowries without reducing the amount or delaying it. This is if they are chaste and do not commit sexual offences publicly and do not take lovers secretly. If you marry them and then they have illicit sexual relations, their punishment is half that of a free woman: fifty lashes, and not stoning, which is the punishment for chaste women. Marrying chaste believing slave women is a concession for those who fear falling into illicit sexual relations, and who are not able to marry free women. Patience is preferable to marrying slave women though, so that the children do not become slaves. Allah is Forgiving and Compassionate to those of His servants who repent to Him, and it is from His mercy that He allowed marriage to slaves in the case of not being able to marry free women, for those who fear falling into illicit sexual relations.

Through these rulings, Allah – may He be glorified – wishes to make clear to you His sacred law and way of life, and what is in your interests in this world and in the Afterlife. He wishes to guide you to the ways of the prophets before you in allowing things and prohibiting them, and to their noble qualities, and praiseworthy behaviour, so you can follow them. He wishes to return you from disobedience to following Him. Allah knows what is in the interests of His servants, and makes His laws accordingly; and He is Wise in His sacred laws and in managing their lives.

Allah wants to turn to you and forgive you your disobedience, while those who follow their low desires want you to turn far away from the correct way of life.

Allah wants to make things easy for you in His sacred law. He does not burden you with more than you are able to do, because He knows the weakness of human beings in their creation and nature.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, do not take the money of others unjustly, by force, stealing, bribery or by any other unjust means. Instead, money should come from trade through mutual agreement and goodwill between the seller and buyer. In this way, it is lawful for you to enjoy and use such money. Do not kill one another, and do not kill yourselves, and do not throw yourselves to ruin. Allah is Compassionate with you, and from His mercy He makes these laws.

Whoever does the things which Allah has prohibited – taking the money of others, or wronging himself by killing and the like, doing wrong knowingly, and not doing it out of ignorance or forgetfulness – Allah will enter them into a great fire on the Day of Judgement, where they will suffer its burning heat and receive their punishment. That is easy for Allah, because He is powerful over everything.

O believers, if you avoid the major sins, such as worshipping others gods with Allah, disrespecting your parents, killing, and receiving interest on loans, then Allah will forgive you for smaller sins, wiping them out and erasing them. Then Allah will enter you into a noble place near to Him: Paradise.

O believers, do not wish for what Allah favours some of you over others with, so that this does not lead to resentment and envy. Women should not wish for what Allah has given to men in particular: for men is a share from what they do, and for women is a share from what they do – neither of them is rewarded except through what they earn. Ask Allah to answer your prayers out of His favour to you. Allah knows all things. In His wisdom, He gives and withholds.

For every one of you I have made relations to inherit from what parents and relatives leave in their inheritance; and for those who you have made a promise of allegiance with as an ally and helper, give them their share of the inheritance. I am a witness to everything, and I witness your oaths and promises. The ally inheriting was a ruling at the beginning of Islam, but this ruling was later replaced.

Men are responsible for women, protecting and taking care of them, because of the bounty He has given men over them, and because of their duty to maintain and take care of them. Righteous women are devoted to their Lord, and devoted to their husbands, protecting things for them in their absence through Allah’s help. The women who you fear would not show devotion to their husbands in what they say or do, first remind them of how they should act according to the sacred laws; if they do not change their ways, then leave them alone in bed, turning your back to them and not having sexual relations; and if they still do not change their ways, then strike them without any ferocity. If they become loyal again, then do not do anything against them, not wronging them nor blaming them. Allah is High in His essence, Great in His attributes, so be mindful of Him.

If you fear that a disagreement between the two of them is leading to aggression and incompatibility, then send a just man from the family of the husband, and a just man from the family of the wife to judge what the benefits of them separating or staying together might be. Staying together is preferable and better. If the two judges want this, using the best methods to get them back together, then Allah will make them come to an understanding, and the argument between them will be resolved. Allah is Knowing. Nothing about His creatures is hidden from Him, and He is Aware of what they hide in their hearts.

Worship Allah alone faithfully and do not worship next to Him anything else. Be good to your parents, honouring them and treating them with respect, and be good to relatives, orphans and the poor. Be good to the neighbour who is a relative and the neighbour who is not a relative; the friend you spend time with; the traveller who is a stranger and has no means whereby to complete his journey; and to slaves. Allah does not like those who think too much of themselves and are arrogant with people, and praise themselves as a way of boasting.

Allah does not like those who do not spend what Allah made a duty on them from the wealth He gave them out of His provision, and who instruct others through their words and actions to do the same as them: hiding the wealth, knowledge and other things which Allah has given them out of His grace; not showing people the truth, but hiding it instead and showing falsehood. These are among the traits of disbelief, and Allah has prepared a humiliating punishment for those who disbelieve.

Allah has prepared this humiliating punishment for those who spend their wealth so that people notice them and praise them, and those who do not have faith in Allah and the Last Day. It is through following Satan that they have gone the wrong way. Whoever has Satan for a friend and companion has a terrible companion.

What harm would it have done these people if they had faith in Allah and the Last Day and had spent their wealth for Allah’s sake, being sincere to Him? Rather, they would have received everything that is good by doing so. Allah has full knowledge of them. Nothing about them is hidden from Him and everyone will be rewarded according to what they do.

Allah is Just and does not wrong His creatures in any way. He does not lessen the good they do by the weight of even a tiny particle or dust, and He does not add to their disobedience in any way. Even if only an atom’s worth of good is done, He multiplies the reward, from His grace, and through this increase He gives a great reward.

What will it be like on the Day of Judgement, when Allah brings the prophet of each community to bear witness against their actions, and Allah brings the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a witness for all the communities and messengers?

On that great day, those who disbelieved in Allah and went against His Messenger will wish they were dust and that the earth and they were level. They will not hide anything of what they did from Allah. Allah will seal their mouths so that they cannot speak and will give permission to their limbs to bear witness to what they did.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, do not pray when you are drunk, until you recover from your drunkenness, and can tell what you are saying. (This ruling was before alcohol was completely forbidden.) Do not pray when you are in a state of major ritual impurity, and do not enter the mosques when you are in that state, except in passing, until you have washed your body. If you have an illness and cannot use water because of it, or if you are travelling, or have answered the call of nature, or have had sexual relations with women, and you cannot find water, then find clean earth, and wipe your faces and hands with it. Allah pardons your shortcomings and is Forgiving to you.

O Messenger, do you not know about the Jews who were given a portion of knowledge in the Torah and traded guidance for error? They wish you would go astray from following the right way of life – which the Messenger came with – and that you would follow them in their deviation.

Allah knows your enemies better than you do, O believers, so He informs you of them and makes clear to you that they are against you. Allah is enough as a Protector, keeping you safe from them harming you; and Allah is enough as a Helper, stopping them from plotting against you and from hurting you.

Among the Jews are an evil group who change the words Allah sent down, interpreting them in a way that they were not revealed. They say to the Messenger (peace be upon him), when he instructs them in something, that they hear and disobey, and say, “Listen to us, may you not hear!; and give the wrong impression when they say, ‘Rā’inā’: meaning ‘watch over us’ when they really mean ‘ru’ūnah’ or ‘silliness’, twisting what they say when they want to call the Prophet (peace be upon him) so that they say something insulting to the faith. If they had said ‘We hear and obey’, instead of ‘We hear and disobey’; ‘Listen’, instead of ‘‘Listen to us, may you not hear!"; and had truly said, ‘Watch over us’, then these would have been better for them than what they said, and more appropriate, being worthy and correct behaviour in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him). But Allah condemned them and removed them from His mercy due to their disbelief, because they do not have faith in any way that is beneficial.

O you of the Jews and the Christians who were given the scripture, have faith in what I revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him) which confirmed what you had in the Torah and the Gospel, before the faces are blotted out and are turned backwards; or they are removed from the mercy of Allah like those who broke the Sabbath by fishing when this had been prohibited to them, for which Allah transformed them into monkeys. Allah’s decree is certainly carried out.

Allah does not forgive that anything from His creation should be associated to Him. Besides this and disbelief, He pardons the disobedience of whomever He wills, out of His bounty. Or He punishes those He wills among them according to their disobedience, out of His perfect justice. Whoever worships others next to Allah has committed a terrible sin, which is not forgiven if someone dies still doing it.

Do you not know, O Messenger, the affair of those who are full of praise for themselves and of what they do? Allah alone praises whomever He wills, because He knows whatever is hidden in people’s hearts, and will not lessen the reward for their actions in any way, not even as much as the thread of a date stone.

Look, O Messenger, how they create a lie against Allah in praising themselves. That is enough of a sin to demonstrate their misguidance.

Do you not know, O Messenger, and wonder at the state of the Jews – who Allah gave a portion of knowledge – that believe in all sorts of false gods, and flatter the idolaters, saying that they are more rightly guided than the Companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Those who have these corrupt beliefs are removed from Allah’s mercy, and whoever is removed from Allah’s mercy you will find no helper to protect them.

They do not have any share in the dominion, and if they did, they would not give people anything from it, not even as much as the speck on the surface of a date stone.

Rather, they envy Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his Companions because of the prophethood, faith and establishment in the land which Allah has given to them. Why do they envy them when Allah gave the descendants of Abraham the revealed scripture and other revelation besides the scripture, and Allah gave them far-reaching power over people.

Some of the People of the Scripture have faith in what Allah revealed to Abraham (peace be upon him), and to the prophets among his descendants; and there are those who denied this, and turned people away from having faith in it, and who do the same with what was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The fire of Hell is sufficient as a punishment for those of them who disbelieve.

Those who disbelieve in the signs and verses of Allah will be entered into a fire that surrounds them on the Day of Judgement. Whenever their skins have been burned, they will be replaced with fresh skins, so that they continue to feel the punishment. Allah is Mighty, and nothing detracts from His might. And He is Wise in His administration and decree.

Those who have faith in Allah and follow His messengers, doing good actions, will be entered on the Day of Judgement into gardens with rivers flowing beneath their palaces, where they will live eternally. In these gardens there will be mates for them, purified from any impurity, and they will be entered into expansive refreshing shade.

Allah instructs you, O believers, to return things in your care to the people who own them. He instructs you, if you judge between people in any matter, to judge between them with justice according to His sacred laws. Allah’s laws in every situation for you are, of course, excellent. Allah hears all that you say and sees all that you do.

O you who have faith, follow Allah and His Messenger: doing what they instruct and staying away from what they prohibit, and follow those in authority, as long as they do not instruct you to do wrong. If you disagree about something, then refer it to Allah’s revelation and the traditions of His Prophet (peace be upon him), if you have faith in Allah and the Last Day. Referring to the revelation and the traditions is better than continuing in your disagreements and in giving mere opinions, and will bring about the best result for you.

Have you not seen, O Messenger, the contradiction of the hypocrites among the Jews, who claim falsely that they have faith in what was revealed to you and in what was revealed to the messengers before you, but in resolving their disagreements want to refer back to what Allah has not legislated, and what people have invented, when they were instructed to reject such things. Satan wants to lead them far away from the truth, and they will not be guided through this.

If these hypocrites are told to come to the law that Allah has revealed in His Scripture, and to the Messenger to judge between them in their disagreements, you will see them, O Messenger, turning away from you completely to others.

How will their situation be when misfortunes come upon them because of the sins they have committed, and then they come to you, O Messenger, apologising and swearing by Allah that when they turned to other things to try and settle their disagreements they were only trying to do good and bring about reconciliation between the people who were disagreeing. What they say is false, and doing good involves following the rulings of Allah’s sacred law.

Allah knows what hypocrisy and ulterior motives these people hide in their hearts, so turn away from them, O Messenger, and make clear to them the laws of Allah: encouraging them to be loyal to Allah, making clear to them how wrong it is to turn away from Him, and advise them in a way that will move them.

Allah did not send any messenger except to be followed in what they instructed by Allah’s will and decree. If, when they wronged themselves by committing sins, they had come to you, O Messenger, confessing what they had done and regretting it, repenting from what they did, and if they had asked for forgiveness from Allah, and you had asked for forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Forgiving and Compassionate with them.

What these hypocrites claim is not true. Allah swears by Himself that they will not have real faith until they refer for judgements to the Messenger, during his lifetime, and to the sacred law after his death, in every disagreement between them, and are happy with the Messenger’s ruling, without feeling hatred about it, or doubting it, and accepting it completely and faithfully, outwardly and inwardly.

If I had ordered them to kill one another or to leave their homes, then only a small number of them would have obeyed My instruction. So they should thank Me for not ordering them to do some¬ thing which would have been very difficult for them. If they had done what they were advised to do, it would have been better than going against the order, as well as being a stronger confirmation of their faith.

If they had acted in obedience, I would have given them a great reward from Myself

And I would have enabled them to come on to the straight path that leads to Me and My Paradise.

Those who follow Allah and the Messenger will be with those whom Allah has blessed with entry into Paradise from amongst the prophets, the truthful ones whose acceptance of what the prophets brought was complete and who practised it, the martyrs who were killed in Allah’s path, and the righteous whose outward and inward states and actions are virtuous. What excellent companions these are in Paradise!

This reward is Allah’s grace to His servants. Allah knows the states of the people and will reward them all accordingly.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, be on your guard against your enemies by adopting the means that will help you to fight them. Go out to fight them one group after the other or go out altogether and do what is in your interests and what will bring loss to your enemies.

There are among you, O Muslims, some people who hesitate to go out to fight your enemies, because of their cowardice, and who also try to keep others behind. They are the hypocrites and who are weak in faith. If you are killed or defeated, then one of them, happy that he is safe, says, ‘Allah has favoured me in that I was not present at the fight with them, otherwise I would have also been harmed like them’.

If Allah’s grace of support and gains of war come to you, O Muslims, this person – who lags behind from striving in Allah’s path – says, as if there was friendship or affinity between you and him, ‘If only I was with them in that fight, I would have also gained great success’. Worldly benefits are the only goal of such a person.

Let the true believers – who sell the life of this world in exchange for the Afterlife, desiring the Afterlife more than the goods of this world – fight in the path of Allah so that Allah’s Word is victorious. Anyone who fights in the path of Allah, so that His Word triumphs, and is killed as a martyr or defeats the enemy and is successful, Allah will give them a great reward: Paradise and the pleasure of Allah.

What is preventing you, O believers, from striving in the path of Allah in order to raise His Word and to rescue the oppressed men, women and children who call to Allah, saying, ‘Our Lord, let us leave Makkah, because its people are oppressive – due to their associating partners with Allah and their aggression towards His servants. Give us someone from You who will take control of our affairs, take care of us and protect us from harm’.

The true believers fight in the path of Allah in order to raise His Word. The disbelievers, on the other hand, fight in the path and way of Satan. So fight the supporters of Satan. If you fight them, you will defeat them, because Satan’s strategy is weak and it cannot harm those who place their reliance in Allah.

Have you, O Messenger, thought about the condition of some of your Companions who asked that striving in Allah’s path be ordained for them, but they were told, ‘Restrain your hands from fighting, establish the prayer and give charity ’. This was before striving in Allah’s path was ordained. When they migrated to Medina and Islam became strong, and fighting was ordained, they found it difficult, and some of them began fearing people as they should fear Allah or even more than that. They said, ‘Our Lord, why did You ordain fighting for us? Why did You not delay it for a while so we could enjoy the worldly life’. Say to them, O Messenger: The enjoyment of the world, no matter how much, is little and perishable. Yet the Hereafter is better for the one who is mindful of Allah because its delights are everlasting. Your good actions will not be reduced in the least, not even to the extent of the thread that is on the date stone.

At any time and place, death will surely come to you when reach your prescribed life term, even if you are in guarded palaces far from battle. And when these hypocrites receive something pleasing, such as a child or wealth, they say, ‘This is from Allah’. Yet when they face some difficulty with respect to their children or wealth, they attribute a bad sign and misfortune to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they say, ‘This evil is because of you’. Say, O Messenger, in response to these people: Everything, good or bad, occurs by Allah’s decree and decision. What is the matter with these people, who say such things, that they can hardly understand anything you tell them?

O humankind, any good that pleases you – such as wealth or children – is from Allah. He has sent it to you through His grace. Whatever bad occurs to you in respect of your wealth or children is from your own self because of the sins you commit. I have sent you, O Prophet, as a messenger to all people to communicate to them the message of your Lord. Allah is enough of a witness to the truth of what you communicate from Him, because of the evidences and proof He has given you.

Whoever follows the Messenger by fulfilling his instructions and avoiding his prohibitions has actually followed Allah. If anyone turns away from following you, O Messenger, do not feel sad about it, because I have not sent you as a guard to watch over what they do. I am the One Who will watch them and hold them to account for their actions.

The hypocrites say to you, ‘We follow your instruction and we will act with obedience’. Yet when they leave you, a group of them secretly plan the opposite of what they said to you. Allah knows their planning and He will recompense them accordingly. So turn away from them and pay no attention, as they will not harm you at all. Surrender your matter to Allah and rely on Him alone for He is sufficient for you as a Guardian to watch over your affairs and take care of you.

Why do these people not reflect over the Qur'ān and study it until they realise that it contains no differences or inconsistency, so that they can accept the truth of what you brought? Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would have found inconsistencies in its rulings and differences in its meanings.

Whenever there comes a public matter comprising safety and happiness for the Muslims, or matters of fear and sadness, the hypocrites rush to spread its news amongst the people. If they had waited and referred the matter to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) and to those in charge of their affairs, those who are able to reason and draw conclusions would know what is to be done with respect to spreading such news or concealing it. If it were not for Allah’s grace and mercy on you, almost all of you would have followed the whisperings of Satan.

Fight, O Prophet, in Allah’s path to raise His Word. You will not be questioned about or held accountable for others. You are only responsible to fight yourself and to urge the believers to do so. Perhaps Allah will push back the force of the disbelievers by your fighting. Allah is stronger in force and more severe in punishment.

Whoever intercedes or directs another person to some good them in a manner containing no sin or oppression, will receive a share of the reward of the good outcome; and whoever makes a bad intercession, which contains sin or oppression, will receive a share of the sin. Allah watches everything that a person does and will reward him accordingly. So if you become a means of goodness, you will receive a share in that good; and if you become a means of doing evil, you will be guilty for a part of it.

When anyone offers a greeting of peace to you, then respond to him with something better than what he offered or return a similar greeting to him. To respond with something better is more virtuous. Allah keeps watch over what you do and He will reward each person according to his actions.

Allah is the One Who alone deserves to be worshipped. He will gather every single one of you on the Day of Judgement, about which there is no doubt, in order to reward you for your actions. There is no one more truthful in speech than Allah.

Why is it, O believers, that you have become two groups differing over how to deal with the hypocrites? One group wants to fight against them because of their disbelief and another group wants to leave them because of their faith. You should not disagree over them for Allah has returned them to disbelief and misguidance because of their actions. Do you wish to guide those whom Allah has not shown the truth? If Allah misguides anyone, you will never find a way to guide such a person.

The hypocrites wish that you disbelieve in what was revealed to you as they have done, so that you can be equal to them in disbelief. Due to their animosity, do not take them as friends until they migrate in Allah’s path; hence indicating their faith. If they turn away and continue with their bad actions, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them. Do not take from them any friend to help you with your affairs nor anyone to assist you against your enemies.

But you cannot act like this with those of them who join a people with whom you have a peace treaty or those who come to you reluctant to fight against you or their own people. If Allah willed to give them power over you, He would have done so and they would have fought you. Therefore, accept the safety that Allah has given you and do not interfere with them by killing or taking any one of them as captives. If they stay away without fighting you and they come to you to make peace, then Allah has not given you any authority to fight them or take any of them as prisoners.

You, O believers, will find another group of hypocrites who pretend to have faith when they are before you in order to protect themselves; but they display their disbelief when they are with their people, so that they are safe from them as well. Whenever they are called to disbelief in Allah and to ascribe partners to Him, they plunge into it. These are the ones, if they do not keep away from fighting you or if they do not make peace with you and restrain themselves, to seize and kill wherever you find them. These are the ones whom Allah has given you a clear authority for seizing and killing them because they are treacherous.

It is unlawful for a believer to kill another believer, unless it occurs by mistake. If anyone kills a believer by mistake, he must free a believing slave as a compensation for his action. The relatives of the killer, who inherit from him, will be responsible for the blood money to be handed over to the successors of the victim, unless the successors give up the right If the victim belonged to a people at war with you, but he was a believer, then the killer must free a believing slave and no blood money will be owed. If the victim was not a believer but belonged to a people with whom you have a treaty, such as disbelievers living in an Islamic state, the relatives of the killer, who inherit from him, will be responsible for blood money to be handed over to the successors of the victim and the killer must free a believing slave as compensation for his action. If he cannot find anyone to free or he cannot afford the price, then he must fast continuously for two consecutive months so that Allah accepts his repentance for what he has done. Allah knows the actions of His servants and their intentions; and He is Wise in His legislation and planning.

If anyone kills a believer, deliberately intending to do so, his recompense will be Hell to live there eternally. Allah will be angry with him, distance him from His mercy, and will prepare for him a great punishment for committing such a serious crime. The belief of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā’ah is that if the killer is a believing Muslim, he will not literally remain in Hell eternally; but he will be punished in it for a long period and will then be removed from there through Allah’s grace.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, when you go out to fight in Allah’s path, be sure about the case of those you are fighting. Do not say to the person who displays something indicating that he is a believer, ‘You are not a believer! You only displayed Islam out of fear for your life and wealth’; so that you then kill him in order to get the trivial goods of the world, such as the booty you acquire from this person after killing him. Yet Allah has much provision that is better and greater than this. In the past you were also like this person: hiding your faith from the people. Then Allah favoured you with Islam and protected your lives. So be careful, as Allah knows well what you do. Nothing is hidden from Him and He will reward you for your actions.

Those believers who remain behind from striving in Allah’s path – besides those who have an excuse, such as sickness – are not equal to those who strive in Allah’s path, spending their wealth and giving their time. Allah has given those who strive in His path a rank above those who remain behind. Those who strive, as well as those who remain behind with a valid excuse, shall receive the reward they deserve. Allah has preferred those who strive over those who sit back by giving them a greater reward from Him.

This reward will be ranks of loftiness and positions in the Paradise, one above the other, together with forgiveness of their sins and mercy. Allah is always Forgiving and Merciful towards His servants.

When the angels take the souls of those who wrong themselves by not migrating from the land of disbelief to the land of Islam, the angels say to them at that time, while reprimanding them, ‘What was the status of your religion that you did not migrate?’ They reply, presenting the excuse, ‘We were weak and powerless, and we could not defend ourselves’. The angels again criticise them, ‘Were not the lands of Allah spacious enough for you to leave the place you were in order to save your religion and yourselves from humiliation and domination?’ The end of those who did not migrate will be the fire of Hell, where they will settle. What an evil place of return it will be for them! This is because their failure to migrate, despite being able to do so, indicates that they were not true in their Islam.

Perhaps Allah will pardon such people through His mercy and grace. Allah always pardons His servants and forgives those who repent to Him.

Perhaps Allah will pardon such people through His mercy and grace. Allah always pardons His servants and forgives those who repent to Him.

Whoever migrates from the land of disbelief to the land of Islam in order to gain Allah’s pleasure will find a much better place in the land they migrated to, in comparison to the land they left. In this new land, they will receive honour and much provision. Whoever leaves their home as migrants to Allah and His Messenger and then pass away before reaching the land they are migrating to, their reward shall definitely be with Allah, even though they did not reach the land of migration. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful to those of His servants who repent to Him.

When you travel in the land, there is no sin on you if you shorten the prayer from four units to two units of prayer, if you fear that the disbelievers will harm you. The disbelievers are open enemies to you, O believers.

When you, O Messenger, are with them in the army, fighting the enemy, and you wish to lead them in prayer, then divide the army into two groups: one group should stand and pray with you, keeping their weapons with them during the prayer, whilst the other group guards you. When the first group has completed one unit of prayer with the Imam, it must complete the rest of the prayer on its own, and then go to the back to face the direction of the enemy. Then the other group, which was on guard and which has not prayed as yet, should come and pray one unit of prayer with the leader. When the leader completes the prayer with the salām, they should complete the balance of their prayer on their own. They should be careful of the enemy and keep their weapons with them. The disbelievers wish that you become unmindful of your weapons and your goods when you are in prayer, so that they can attack you in a single assault. There is no sin on you to put down your weapons when you are in difficulty because of rain, illness, and the like. but be careful of the enemy as much as possible. Allah has prepared for the disbelievers a punishment that will humiliate them.

When you, O believers, have finished the prayer, then remember Allah by glorifying Him by saying ‘Subḥān Allāh’, praising Him by saying ‘Alḥamdulillāh’ and declaring His Oneness by saying ‘Lā ilāha illallāh’. This is to be done however possible, whether you are standing, sitting or lying on your sides. When the fear is gone and you are safe, then establish the prayer by fulfilling all its articles, obligations and recommendations, as you have been instructed. Prayer is an obligation on the believers that is linked to particular times and may not be delayed without a valid reason when one is a resident. However, when you are travelling you are allowed to join and shorten prayers.

Do not become weak and lazy, O believers, in pursuing your disbelieving enemy. If you are suffering pain because of the killing and injury that afflicts you, then they too are suffering the same pain as well. So do not let their patience be greater than yours, because you have hope of reward, help and support from Allah, which they cannot hope for. Allah knows the conditions of His servants and is Wise in His planning and legislation.

I have sent down to you, O Messenger, the Qur'ān, which contains the truth, so that you can clarify matters and judge between the people in accordance with what Allah has taught and inspired you with, and not according to your whims and fancy. Do not be one to defend those who betray their own selves and their promises against those who demand their rights from them.

Seek forgiveness and pardon from Allah. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful towards those of His servants who repent to Him.

Do not argue on behalf of any person who commits a sin denying it, until you come to know more about the matter. Allah does not love these deceitful liars.

When committing sin, they hide from people out of fear and shame; but they cannot hide from Allah. He is with them and knows what they do. Nothing is hidden from Him when they secretly plan to say things that He is not pleased with, such as defending a sinner or falsely accusing an innocent person. Allah surrounds them and knows what they do secretly and openly. Nothing is hidden from Him and He will repay them for their actions.

You – O those concerned with the matter of these people who commit sin – argued on behalf of them in the world in order to establish their innocence and protect them from the punishment; but who will argue with Allah for them on the Day of Judgement when He knows their real condition? Who will be their representative in the matter on that day? Without any doubt, no one will be able to do that.

If anyone does an evil action or wrongs themselves by committing sins, and then they ask for forgiveness from Allah, regretfully admitting their sin and leaving it, they will find that Allah is always ready to forgive their sins and show them mercy.

Those who commit a minor or major sin will have to face the punishment themselves. No one else will be held responsible. Allah knows the actions of His servants and is Wise in His planning and legislation.

If a person does a wrong action unintentionally or a sin intentionally and then accuses an innocent person of the same, they have taken on themselves a serious lie and a clear sin by acting in that manner.

If it were not for Allah’s grace in protecting you, O Messenger, a group of these people who deceive themselves would have tried to mislead you from the truth and you would have passed an unfair judgement. In reality, they only mislead their own selves, because they will have to face the consequences of their crime of misleading others. Allah has revealed the Qur'ān and Sunna to you and He has taught you guidance and light which you did not know before. Allah’s grace on you, by giving you prophethood and protecting you, is great.

There is no good or benefit in much of the secret talk that people engage in, unless their speech includes an encouragement towards charity, good actions brought by the sacred law or those good actions known and approved off by people, or calling towards reconciliation between arguing parties. Whoever does such good, whilst seeking Allah’s pleasure, He shall give them a great reward.

Whoever opposes and disobeys what the Messenger has brought after the truth has become clear to them, and follows a path other than that of the believers, I will leave them with what they have chosen; and I will not bring them to the truth, since they have deliberately turned away. I will then enter them into the fire of Hell to suffer in its heat. What an evil place to return to!

Allah does not forgive the crime of associating partners with Him, for anyone who does so and dies in that state will live eternally in the fire of Hell. He may forgive all other sins besides associating partners with Him for whomever He wills if such people die committing those sins without repentance, out of His mercy and grace. Whoever associates anything as a partner with Allah has gone far away from the truth, as he has made the creation equal with the Creator.

Instead of Allah, the idolators in Makkah worship female idols which were named with feminine names, such as al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzā, which can neither benefit nor harm anyone. In reality, they only worship Satan, who rebelled and sinned against his Lord, as he is the one who instructed them to worship the idols.

It was for this reason that Allah distanced Satan from His mercy. Satan then took an oath before his Lord saying: I will take a set portion of Your servants, whom I will mislead from the truth.

He also said: I will block them from your straight path. I will give them hopes with false promises that will make their misguidance seem attractive. I will instruct them to cut the ears of cattle, forbid that which Allah has made lawful, and change Allah’s creation and the natural disposition He made within all creatures. Whoever takes Satan as a friend to follow suffers a clear loss by doing so.

Satan makes false promises and gives them false hopes. In reality, he only promises them lies and inspires in them mere hopes that have no reality.

The final place for those who follow the footsteps and orders of Satan will be the fire of Hell, from which they will find no place to escape to.

I will enter those who have faith in Me and do good actions that bring them close to Me into gardens with palaces overlooking flowing streams, where they will live eternally. This is a promise from Allah who is true in His promise. No one is more true then Him in His statements and promises.

The issue of salvation and success O Muslims is not dependent on mere hopes and desires, nor in what the People of the Scripture hope and wish for; rather, it is based on action. Whoever, from amongst you, does an evil action will be rewarded for it on the Day of Judgement. They will not find any friend to bring any benefit to them nor any helper to protect them from harm.

Any person, whether male or female, who does good actions and has true faith in Allah will enter Paradise, because they combined faith with practice. The reward of their actions will not be reduced in the least, not even to the extent of a speck on a date stone.

No one is better in religion than the one who surrenders to Allah outwardly and inwardly, does good actions and follows the religion of Abraham, which forms the basis of the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him): inclining away from idolatry and disbelief to monotheism and faith. Allah chose His Prophet Abraham as a close friend from amongst all of His creation.

The dominion of everything in the heavens and the earth is Allah’s alone. Allah, with His knowledge, power and planning, surrounds everything in His creation.

They ask you, O Messenger, about the rights and duties of women. Say: Allah will clarify for you what you have asked and what is recited in the Qur’ān with respect to orphan girls in your care, to whom you do not give the dowry and the inheritance that Allah has ordained for them; and whom you do not wish to marry, yet you prevent them from getting married because of your greed for their wealth. He also explains to you that your duty with respect to minor children who are helpless is to give them their due right of inheritance and not to wrong them by seizing their wealth. He explains to you the duty of being fair to orphans and looking after their best interests in this world and the Afterlife. Allah knows of any good you do towards orphans and others, and will reward you for it.

If a woman fears that her husband will ignore her and lose interest in her, there is no sin in them reaching a compromise where the woman gives up some of the rights due to her, such as maintenance and accommodation. In such a case, reconciliation is better than divorce. Souls have been naturally created with greed and miserliness, and will not be keen to give up any right. The couple should, therefore, deal with this characteristic by training the soul to be forgiving and generous. If you do good in your affairs and are mindful of Allah, by fulfilling His instructions and avoiding His prohibitions, then Allah knows what you do. Nothing is hidden from Him and He will reward you accordingly.

You, husbands, will not be able to be completely fair to your wives with respect to your affection, even if you tried to do so. This is due to circumstances and factors beyond your control. So do not incline fully away from the one you do not love and leave her like a woman suspended, who does not have a husband to fulfill her right and nor is she unmarried so that she may seek to marry another. If you set things right between yourselves, by giving the wife her due right and being mindful of Allah in that regard, then Allah will be Forgiving and Merciful towards you.

If a couple separate by divorce (issued by the man) or khul‘ (initiated by the woman), then Allah will make each one of them rich through His vast Bounty: He will enrich the man with a wife that is more suitable for him; and He will enrich the woman with a husband that is more suitable for her. Allah’s bounty and mercy is vast. He is Wise in His planning and decree.

The dominion of everything in the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, is Allah’s alone. He had instructed the People of the Scripture, the Jews and Christians, and has instructed you, O believers, to fulfil Allah’s orders and avoid His prohibitions. If you reject this instruction you only harm yourselves, because Allah is in no need of your obedience, as everything in the heavens and earth is His. He is in no need of any of His creation. He is the One Who is praised for all His attributes and actions.

The dominion of everything in the heavens and the earth is Allah’s alone and He alone deserves to be obeyed. Allah is sufficient as One Who takes care of all the affairs of His creation.

If He wills He can destroy you, O people, and bring others besides you who will obey Him and not go against Him. Allah has full power to do that.

Whoever from amongst you, O people, intends to only gain the reward of this world by their actions, they should know that with Allah is the reward of this world and the Afterlife, and they should seek the reward of them both from Him. Allah hears your statements and knows your actions, and He will reward you for them.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, uphold justice in all conditions: testifying to the truth with respect to every person, even if that means you have to admit a right due on you, your parents or your relatives. A person’s being poor or rich should not make you give or avoid giving testimony, because Allah is closer to the poor or rich person than you are; and He knows what is in their best interests. Do not be led by your desires in your testimony, so that you do not deviate from the truth in it. If you distort the testimony by giving it inaccurately or if you turn away from fulfilling it, then Allah knows what you do.

O believers, be firm in your faith in Allah, His Messenger, the Qur’ān which He revealed to His Messenger and the books He revealed to the messengers before him. Anyone who disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Day of Judgement has strayed far from the straight path.

Those who repeatedly disbelieve after accepting faith – by entering into the faith, then leaving it, entering into it again, then leaving again, and so on – and then continue in disbelief until they die as disbelievers, Allah will not forgive their sins and nor will He bring them to the straight path that leads to Him.

O Prophet, announce to the hypocrites – who show themselves as believers on the outside, but hide disbelief inside – that on the Day of Judgement Allah will give them a painful punishment.

This punishment is because they took the disbelievers as their helpers and supporters instead of the believers. How strange that they took them as allies!. Do they search for assistance and protection with them? All assistance and protection belongs only to Allah and comes only from Him.

Allah has already revealed to you, O believers, in the noble Qur’ān that if you are sitting in a gathering and you hear a person disbelieving in Allah’s words starting to make fun of them, then you must not sit with them and you must leave the gathering until they begin speaking about something other than disbelief and making fun of Allah’s words. If you sit with them while you hear them disbelieving in and mocking at Allah’s words, then you are like them in not following Allah’s instruction, because you went against Allah by sitting with them just as they went against Him by disbelieving in Him. Allah will gather the hypocrites, who show themselves as Muslims on the outside but hide disbelief inside themselves, and the disbelievers together in the fire of Hell on the Day of Judgement.

Those who wait to see what happens to you – whether good or bad; or if Allah gives you victory and gains of war – say, ‘Were we not present together with you?’ in order to get some gains of war. If the disbelievers have some success, they say to them, ‘Did we not protect you from and defend you against the believers by assisting you instead of them’. Allah will judge between all of you on the Day of Judgement: rewarding the believers by giving them entry into Paradise and the hypocrites by sending them to the lowest level of the fire of Hell. Allah, in His grace, will never give the disbelievers the upper hand over the believers. Instead, the believers will be the winners in the end.

The hypocrites try to deceive Allah by showing themselves as believers on the outside while hiding disbelief inside. Allah, in turn, deceives them because He protects their lives despite knowing about their disbelief. In the Afterlife, He has prepared the most severe punishment for them. When they stand for prayer they do so lazily, with reluctance. They only remember Allah a little when they see the believers.

These hypocrites are wandering and confused. On both the inside and the outside, they are not with the believers, nor with the disbelievers. On the outside, they are with the believers; but inside, they are with the disbelievers. Whoever Allah misleads, you, O Messenger, will never find a way to guide such a person.

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, do not take the disbelievers as your close friends instead of the believers. By doing so, do you wish to give Allah clear evidence against you, proving that you are deserving of punishment?

Allah will place the hypocrites in the lowest place in the fire of Hell on the Day of Judgement. You will not find anyone to defend them against the punishment.

But those who turn to Allah repenting from their hypocrisy, correct themselves, hold on to Allah’s pledge and are sincere to Him in their practice, without showing off, such people will be with the believers in this world and the Afterlife. Allah will give the believers a huge reward.

There is no need for Allah to punish you if you are thankful to Him and have faith in Him. He is the One Who is Kind and Merciful. He only punishes you for your sins. If you do good actions, are thankful to Him for His favours and have faith in Him both inside and outside, He will never punish you. Allah is Grateful to the person who admits His favours; and He knows the faith of His creation. He will reward every person for his actions.

Allah does not like evil statements to be made public. He dislikes that and warns against it. However, if a person is wronged, he may mention the evil in order to complain against the guilty party, to call against him and to retaliate with similar words. In this case, too, it is better for the one who was wronged to be patient and not to disclose the matter. Allah hears your statements and knows your intentions, so be careful of saying or intending anything evil.

If you expose or hide a good statement or action, or if you pardon the person who does bad to you, Allah is Forgiving and Powerful. So let forgiveness be part of your character in order that Allah forgives you.

Those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers, and who want to make a distinction between Allah and His messengers by believing in Allah yet rejecting His messengers by saying, ‘We accept some messengers and reject others’, and they want to take a path between disbelief and belief, thinking that this will save them.

Those who follow such a stance as regards their faith are in fact disbelievers, for disbelieving in some of the messengers is similar to disbelief in Allah and all His messengers. Allah has prepared a humilating punishment for all disbelievers on the Day of Rising as a just recompense for their deliberate refusal to follow the faith as required of them.

Those who believe in Allah, declare His Oneness, do not associate any partner with Him, accept all of His messengers and do not make a distinction between any of them as the disbelievers do, Allah will give such people a great reward for their faith and good actions. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful towards the servant who repents to Him.

The Jews ask you, O Messenger, to bring down to them at once a Book from the heaven, as it occurred with Moses, to prove your truthfulness. Do not be surprised at them as their predecessors had asked Moses for something much greater when they asked him to show them Allah openly. As a consequence for what they said they were seized by a thunderbolt. Then Allah brought them back to life and they went on to worship the calf instead of Allah after clear proofs came to them indicating Allah’s Oneness and Him being the only One worthy of worship. Then He forgave them and gave Moses clear evidence against his people.

I frightened them by raising the mountain over them in order to take a firm promise from them to practice what it contained and we said to them, ‘Enter the gate of Jerusalem in prostration by bowing your heads’. They entered dragging their buttocks. I also said to them, ‘Do not disobey Me by fishing on the Saturday’; but they rebelled and went against My command. I took a firm promise from them for this, but they broke their promise.

I distanced them from My mercy because they broke the promise that was taken from them, disbelieved in Allah’s words, boldly killed the prophets and said to Muhammad (peace be upon him), 'Our hearts are covered, so we cannot understand what you say’ That is not the case. Instead, Allah has sealed their hearts so no good reaches them. They only have a little faith, which will not be of any use to them.

And I distanced them from My mercy because they disbelieved and because they falsely accused Mary of fornication.

I cursed them because they proudly, but falsely, said, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of Allah’. They did not kill him as they claimed, nor did they crucify him; but they killed and crucified a man whom Allah made to resemble Jesus, so they thought the person who was killed was Jesus. Those Jews who claimed to have killed him and those Christians who surrendered him over to them are in doubt and confusion regarding the matter. They have no knowledge, but make guesses that are of no worth against the truth. Truly, they did not kill Jesus nor crucify him.

Instead, Allah saved Jesus from their plot and raised him in body and spirit to Himself. Allah is Mighty in His dominion and nothing can overpower Him. He is Wise in His planning, decisions and laws.

There is not one of the People of the Scripture except that they will believe in Jesus (peace be upon him) before his death after he descends towards the end of time. On the Day of Judgement, Jesus (peace be upon him) will bear witness against their actions, whether agreeing with the sacred law or not.

Because of the wrongdoings of the Jews, I prohibited them from some of the pure, edible things that used to be permitted for them, such as any hoofed animal and the fat in cows and sheep. This was also because they blocked themselves and others from Allah’s path, such that obstructing from good became a feature of theirs.

And because of their dealing in usury after Allah had prohibited them from consuming it and because of their taking the wealth of people without any legitimate right. I have prepared for those of them who disbelieve a punishment causing pain.

But those Jews who are firm and well grounded in knowledge, and have faith, believe in the Qur’ān that Allah has revealed to you, O Messenger, as they believe in the books that He revealed to the messengers before you (such as the Torah and the Gospel). They also establish the prayer, give Zakat of their wealth, accept Allah as the only One worthy of worship without any partner and believe in the Day of Judgement. Allah will give a great reward to those who have these qualities.

I have sent revelation to you, O Messenger, as I had sent revelation to the prophets before you. This revelation to you is not something strange or unexpected. I had sent revelation to Noah and to the prophets who came after him. I sent revelation to Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, and to Jacob, the son of Isaac, and to the Tribes (which refers to the prophets that were from the twelve tribes of the Israelites from the children of Jacob). I also gave David a book called the Psalms.

I sent messengers whom I have mentioned to you in the Qur’ān; and I also sent messengers whom I have not mentioned to you in the Qur’ān for a reason. And Allah spoke to Moses without an intermediary in a manner that befits Him, as an honour to Moses.

I sent messengers to give good news of a generous reward for those who have faith in Allah, and to warn those who disbelieve in Him of a painful punishment, so that people will not have any argument to present as an excuse against Me after I have sent the messengers. I am Mighty in My dominion and Wise in My decision.

If the Jews disbelieve in you O Messenger, then Allah bears testimony to the truth of the Qur’ān that He has revealed to you, He has revealed knowledge of His to His servants so that they may know what He willed regarding what He likes and is pleased with, as well as what He dislikes and condemns. Together with Allah’s testimony, the angels also bear testimony to the truth of what you brought. Allah’s testimony is sufficient and no one else’s testimony is required.

Those who disbelieve in your prophethood and obstruct people from Islam have gone far away from the truth.

Those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and wrong themselves by remaining in disbelief, Allah will not forgive them as long as they continue in disbelief, nor will He guide them to a path of salvation from His punishment,

Except the path that leads to Hellfire, where they will live eternally. That is easy for Allah and nothing can hinder His decision.

O people, the Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) has come to you with guidance and the true religion from Allah. So accept what he has brought to you, as this will be better for you in this world and the Afterlife. If you disbelieve in Allah, He is in no need of your faith. Your disbelief does not harm Him, because He controls everything in the heavens, everything in the earth and everything in between. Allah knows who deserves guidance and makes it easy for them. He also knows who does not deserve it and makes them blind to it. He is Wise in His words, actions, laws and decree.

Say, O Messenger, to the Christians who received the Gospel: Do not overstep the limits in your religion and do not say anything but the truth about Allah in relation to Jesus. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is only Allah’s messenger sent with the truth. He created him by His word which He sent with Gabriel to Mary, which was the word ‘Be’, and he became. It was a breath from Allah which Gabriel blew with Allah’s instruction. So have faith in Allah and all His messengers without making a distinction between them. Do not say, ‘The gods are three’. Avoid saying this false statement and it will be better for you in this world and the Afterlife. Allah is the only One God free of any partner or child. He is Self-sufficient. The dominion of the heavens, the earth and whatever is in between the two is His. He is sufficient as a guardian to carry out the affairs of His creation.

Jesus, son of Mary, will never be proud and reject being a servant of Allah. The close angels who do not go against Allah’s instruction and who do as they are instructed will also never disregard being Allah’s servants. How, then, do you take Jesus as a god? How do the idolaters take angels as gods? If anyone rejects worshipping Allah and turns away from it, the He will gather all of them before Him on the Day of Rising and will recompense each one with what they deserve.

Those who have faith in Allah, accept His Messenger and do good actions with sincerity in agreement with the sacred law, He will give them the reward of their actions without any reduction. In addition, He will give them more out of His grace and kindness. As for those who scorned Allah’s worship and obedience and were arrogant, He will punish them with a painful torment. Besides Allah, they will not find any friend to bring any benefit to them nor any helper to protect them from harm.

O People, a clear proof and plain evidence, which leaves no room for excuse and removes all doubt, has come to you from your Lord. He has sent down to you a clear light in the form of this Qur’ān, which falsehood cannot touch from any angle and which is a revelation from the Wise and Praised One.

Those who have faith in Allah and hold on to the Qur’ān that He revealed to their Prophet, Allah will have mercy on them by entering them into Paradise, and He will increase their reward and raise their ranks. He will enable them to tread the straight path which has no crookedness: the path that leads to the gardens of Paradise.

They ask you, O Messenger, to give them a ruling with respect to the inheritance of the person who dies without any direct heirs, such as a father or child. Say: Allah explains the ruling with respect to such a person: If a person without any parent or child dies and he has a full sister or a half sister, she will receive half of the wealth he leaves – it being her set share. His full brother or half brother will receive whatever wealth he leaves behind by way of agnation, if there are no stipulated heirs; yet if there are stipulated heirs, he will inherit the balance that remains. If there are two or more full sisters or half sisters, they will inherit two thirds as their set share. If there are male and female (full or half) siblings, they will inherit by way of agnation in accordance with the rule: the male receives equivalent to the share of two females, which means that the share of the male will be double that of the female. Allah explains to you the ruling for the person who dies without direct heirs, as well as other laws of inheritance, so that you do not go astray in this regard. Allah knows everything and nothing is hidden from Him.