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1843<br />

3067 For zafir, a deep emission of breath or a sigh, see n. 1607 to xi. 106. Here the Fire is personified. It is raging with<br />

hunger and fury, and as soon as it sees them from ever so far, it emits a sigh of desire. Till then they had not realised<br />

their full danger. Now, just as their heart begins to tremble with terror, they are bound together-like with like,-and cast<br />

into the roaring flames! (25.12)<br />

TREMOR:<br />

8:2 - For believers are those who when Allah is mentioned feel a tremor in their hearts and when<br />

they hear His signs rehearsed find their faith strengthened and put (all) their trust in their Lord.<br />

TRIALS:<br />

2:214 - Or do ye think that ye shall enter the Garden (of Bliss) without such (trials) as came to<br />

those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity and were so<br />

shaken in spirit that even the Apostle and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will<br />

come) the help of Allah?" Ah! verily the help of Allah is (always) near!<br />

3:186 - Ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and<br />

ye shall certainly hear much that will grieve you from those who received the Book before you<br />

and from those who worship many gods. But if ye persevere patiently and guard against evil<br />

then that will be a determining factor in all affairs. 493<br />

493 Not wealth and possessions only (or want of them), are the means of our trial. All our personal talents, knowledge,<br />

opportunities, and their opposites,-in fact everything that happens to us and makes up our personality is a means of<br />

our testing. So is our Faith: we shall have to put up for it many insults from those who do not share it. (3.186)<br />

6:42 - Before thee We sent (Apostles) to many nations and We afflicted the nations with suffering<br />

and adversity that they might learn humility.<br />

8:28 - And know ye that your possessions and your progeny are but a trial; and that it is Allah with<br />

whom lies your highest reward. 1201<br />

1201 A big family-many sons-was considered a source of power and strength: iii. 10, 116. So in English, a man with many<br />

children is said to have his "quiver full": Cf. Psalms, cxxvii. 4-5: "As arrows are in the hands of a mighty man, so are<br />

the children of thy youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall<br />

speak with the enemies in the gate." So with property and possessions: they add to a man's dignity, power, and<br />

influence. But both possessions and a large family are a temptation and a trial. They may turn out to be a source of<br />

spiritual downfall, if they are mishandled, or if the love of them excludes the love of Allah. (8.28)<br />

16:110 - But verily thy Lord to those who leave their homes after trials and persecutions and who<br />

thereafter strive and fight for the faith and patiently persevere thy Lord after all this is Oft-<br />

Forgiving Most Merciful. 2147<br />

2147 I take this verse to refer to such men as were originally with the Pagans but afterwards joined Islam, suffered<br />

hardships and exile, and fought and struggled in the Cause, with patience and constance. Their past would be blotted<br />

out and forgiven. Men like Khalid ibn Walid were numbered with the foremost heroes of Islam. In that case this verse<br />

would be a Madinah verse, though the Sura as a whole is Makkan. Perhaps it would be better to read, with some<br />

Commentators, fatanu in the active voice rather than futinu in the passive voice, and translate "after inflicting trials and<br />

persecutions (on Muslim)." Notice the parallel<strong>ism</strong> in<br />

22:11 - There are among men some who serve Allah as it were on the verge: if good befalls them<br />

they are therewith well content; but if a trial comes to them they turn on their faces: they lose<br />

both this world and the Hereafter: that is loss for all to see! 2782<br />

2782 They are men whose minds are not firm: they will have faith, if all goes well with them, but as soon as they are tried,<br />

they are found wanting. They are a different kind from hypocrites. It is not fraud or double dealing that is their sin: it is<br />

a weak mind, petty standards of judging right by success, a selfishness that gives nothing but asks for all, a narrowmindedness<br />

that does not go beyond petty mundane calculations-a "nicely calculated less or more" of the good things<br />

of this world. They fail in both worlds, and their failure in this world is patent for every on-looker. (22.11)<br />

Fiqh-us-Sunnah<br />

Fiqh 1.161<br />

Go to UP<br />

1843

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