Verses 32 and 33 Al-Baraa’t
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُطْفِـُٔوا۟ نُورَ ٱللَّهِ بِأَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَيَأْبَى ٱللَّهُ إِلَّآ أَن يُتِمَّ نُورَهُۥ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ
هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُۥ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ ٱلْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلدِّينِ كُلِّهِۦ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ ٱلْمُشْرِكُونَ
They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their words, but Allah will not allow it, so that He may perfect His light, even though the disbelievers may dislike it. It is He who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, to make it prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may dislike it
The position and plan of the enemies of religion and
The content of these two verses, with a slight difference in their words, is also stated in verses 8 and 9 of Surah al-Saf: "They want to put out the light of God in their mouths, and God perfects His light and hates the disbelievers." The one who sent his messenger with guidance and the religion of truth will appear on the religion.
In both Surahs, these verses are after referring to the People of the Book who want to extinguish the light of God with their mouths. There are also narrations following these verses that show that these verses were revealed about the People of the Book[1]
The contents of these two verses indicate the stance of Islam against the enemies of Islam from other religions and also indicate the plans of the enemies of Islam, both at the time of the emergence of Islam and after it. Also, the nature and coercive state of religion are revealed in these two verses.
These two verses depict two opposing ranks and groups in the listener's mind and, by judging between the two groups, introduce the dominant and victorious
The first verse likens God's religion to a light and a blazing, perpetual flame that grows brighter every moment and year after year, and likens the opponents of this light and warm center and the blazing sun to a helpless human being who has nothing but a small and ineffective means at his disposal
Although on the surface those opponents appear great, they are weak people in the face of something strong and powerful that wants to extinguish the light of God with their mouths. They want to extinguish the light of the Quran, Islam, and the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) with their mouths
یریدون ان یطفئوا نور الله بافواههم
Humiliation of the infidels
There is a subtle point in this verse. Extinguishing means "to extinguish by puffing and blowing," and this expression is very strange in belittling and belittling enemies, because puffing the mouth has a weak effect on light and fire
But it has no effect in strong light. In addition, among the Arabs, if they extinguish a fire with a load, they do not interpret it as extinguishing. This expression is strange in showing their smallness. It is like saying that so-and-so says to the mountain with his small and insignificant hand, this is an act of contempt, and it shows the smallness of their action. The verse says: The poor want to extinguish the great light of Islam with a puff of smoke
The ineffectiveness of the disbelievers' conspiracies to extinguish religion
And Allah will not come unless He completes His light.” And Allah is forbidden and forbids except that He completes and perfects His light. In Surah As-Saff, the expression “Allah completes His light” is mentioned: “And Allah completes His light,” but here it says that Allah is not willing to not complete His light, which is based on Him. The one who gives this light is Allah
This bright lamp has been lit by the hand of God, the Creator of the whole world, and God is raising this light higher every hour, granting it greatness and perfecting it, and this flame is increasing with the approval of the Almighty. Now, if a powerless and weak person sits in front of this bright light, which is always great, and puffs with his mouth, how insignificant is his work
Even if the disbelievers dislike it and are unwilling to increase the light of God
Kufr literally means "to cover." The farmer is called an infidel because he hides the seed in the ground. The infidel in religion is a coverer of religion, and the infidel in the light of God is a coverer of God's light. God Almighty, despite their desire, magnifies His religion and increases the light of truth day by day, and He does not pay attention to what is in their hearts
It has made it compulsory and natural, and this religion is evolving day by day, which, in summary, the verse says, is the truth, the religion of light, Islam, the Quran, and its path. This evolution must be understood
According to this verse, religion is maturing and taking root, and it is developing every day. The roots of religion, like a tree, are taking root deep in the souls of people and throughout the world
This is the nature of all heavenly religions; that is, it has been like this since day one, that every religion that came from God Almighty has evolved in its own time, like the religion of Christ
In Islam, once upon a time, there were only three people who believed in the religion, but they gradually increased, and today they have become more and more profound, and God does not intend to allow this religion to stop growing
Philosophy of opposition to religion throughout history
Another noteworthy and instructive point is that, usually, whenever a serious statement is made in society, the strictness towards that statement and ideology increases, and an opposing front rises up against it
These strictures and obstacles come in many forms and manifest themselves in different ways
In the early days of Islam, these same Jews and Christians were so disruptive that their love of leadership led them to distort the good news of the coming of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), which was in their own books and which they themselves believed in, and they did so that people would not recognize the face of the Prophet in their own heavenly books and that the Prophet would not be recognized
Another form of their divisiveness was to instill doubt in the minds of Muslims and Christians and to present the Prophet in a distorted manner
They imposed wars such as the wars of Banu Qurayzah[2], Banu Qaynuqa[3]', Banu Nadhir[4], until the war with Rome at Mu'tah[5] and Tabuk[6], was one of the other types of sabotage they did
and the People of the Book. Their work began with the distortion of the Book, and its final stage was the bloody wars between the Eastern Roman Empire and Islam.
Encouraging verses during the time of Islam's exile
What was Islam from the perspective of a superficial person at that time? Islam in a nutshell. It was said that the Prophet came down from the mountain and said that all these gods are false; idolaters, idolaters, and idols are all false; you must say that God is one and sacrifices belong to God; obedience belongs to Him. When the Prophet said these words, a flood of opposition arose
It was moving, of course, the first person who spoke against Islam would sooner or later suffer the consequences. Everyone saw the reward for their actions, and despite them, religion grew; because the words of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) were true; God was the support for it, and how much they harassed the Prophet, they exiled him, and his relatives
They killed him; he was exiled and besieged for three years; he was beaten out of the city and expelled from his homeland; the tribes did not accept his words. For thirteen years, he preached Islam alone with a handful of followers. After thirteen years, he was able to establish a small state in Yathrib and from that day on he faced hypocrites and Jews; enemies near and far opposed him; seven years had not passed and he had conquered several tribes before these verses were revealed
At the time of the revelation of these verses, Islam was nothing, it had no power, and its enemies were resisting Islam, from sabotage to the distortion of the Torah and even the wars of the new Roman Empire. What was the environment of the religion itself? The environment of the religion consisted of a small point and a small state that had emerged in a corner of Arabia. Now where are these powerful and powerful states? Where is the world of that day and those strange empires
This verse compares those thirteen years and that small state that was invaded to a permanent and bright light and a luminous sun whose origin is connected to God. And God, the imperishable source of all powers, is like a flash of lightning in comparison to that puff and the world of ideas and imperishability; now do not call a puff, even a storm. Do the math, does a storm harm sunlight
It originates from the depths of human nature, and every tree that teaches us in this meaningful analogy that religion and the word of truth have firm roots deep in the earth will not wither, and all opposition that comes in various forms is from man and is issued by man. Man is also perishable, so his work and his opposition do not last and are not effective. Do not be afraid in the path of guidance because of the lack of its people[7], because falsehood has no way of going around,[8] because it is against the path of creation, and such a thing can be advanced, and the rule of the truth is: Although the supporters of the path of error are many, but the truth is victorious. If a person were a follower of the truth, he would know that these obstacles would not affect him
هو الذی ارسل رسوله بالهدی و دین الحق
He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, which is the truth of Islam, and He also revealed what was of the laws and laws that were rewarding and rewarding. And every religion other than this is falsehood and its followers are deserving of punishment
لیظهره علی الدین کله و لوکره المشرکون
"He will make it prevail over all religions, even if the polytheists dislike it." In order to make Islam prevail over other religions, even if the polytheists do not want it or are not satisfied, until there is no religion left on earth except Islam and all are defeated[9]
The concept and time of Islam's dominance over other schools of thought
The meaning of this verse is very profound and plays a significant role in understanding religion and its rulings. You may ask, if God sent religion to prevail over other religions, then why hasn't it happened so far? From the beginning of Islam, they have taken over; such as Andalusia and other places in Africa, Since the early days of Islam, other religions have persisted, and in some regions, they have even eradicated Islam. and in some areas, christianity has even displaced Islam. And you may also say that this victory will be in the end times during the reign of Hazrat Mahdi (peace be upon him). If this victory is meant to be at that time, then what is the reason for the many years of delay to this goal and why the same didn't he implement this principle on the first day
In response, it should be said that the meaning of the verse is that God sent the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) and gave him the religion and the program of guidance, proof and evidence so that it would prevail over other religions and with this program, he would remove the colors and purify they will do it and the color will be fixed by itself
Now we must ask what is religion? The "rituals that people have in governing their lives are called religion; the form of life is called ritual and religion. Religion and ritual have the same meaning and one can have religion in any form and form; for example, those who live in the Amazon have religion; whatever their religion is, it is It is their religion.
Of course, the religion that God brings is called the divine religion, and the religion that other than Him brings is called the human religion if it is from humans, and if it is from a tyrant, it is called tyrantism. In this sense, you cannot do anything anywhere find people without religion
The religion of God has come so that people will abandon whatever form and plan they have in life and accept this religion and form. When the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) comes, his message is that whatever way you were living, you should leave it; that plan should go and this plan that I have brought take its place. Every new word that Islam brings has the same meaning that every human being accept the form of religion. Therefore, God sends every religion that has a form and a form that has existed in life, and it changes lives; the first form goes away and the second form comes. This is it. The meaning of "لیظهره علی الدین کله"
Human and tyrant religion and belief are not stable and enduring; but religion is true and consistent with the nature of the universe and man; that is, a religion that remains and, if people want and accept it, can govern them in the best way. This is the difference between right and wrong
A religious society is one in which religion is the life plan of the individuals in that society. If their life plan was religion, they have religion. We must know the true religion in order to know the polytheist and the non-polytheist; that is, the truth comes from God and that is all; the plan belongs to God. So the supporter of the true religion is a monotheist. But the one who wants his life to be according to his imagination and whims is a polytheist. The opponent of religion; that is, the polytheist. God has brought religion to replace all things. This verse gives confidence and hope for the future of humanity
[1] Tafsir Nur al-Saghalin, vol. 2, pp. 209-213
[2] The Battle of Banu Qurayzah is the name of the last battle of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) against the Jews of Medina, which took place in the fifth year of the Hijri year due to the Jews of Banu Qurayzah breaking their treaty and joining forces with the polytheists in the Battle of Khandaq.
[3]Banu Qaynuqa' is the name of a Jewish tribe that lived in Medina at the beginning of Islam. A treaty was signed between Banu Qaynuqa and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) after the migration; however, they broke their treaty and were besieged, surrendered, and exiled following a campaign known as the Battle of Banu Qaynuqa'
[4] Banu Nadir is the name of one of the Jewish tribes that lived in Medina until the early years of the Hijrah.
[5] After the Prophet's migration to Medina, Banu Nadir, among other Jews, made a treaty with the Muslims. They made peace and pledged to stand by the Muslims if the enemies attacked Medina.But after they broke their treaty, the Prophet and the Muslims besieged them.They did and after a few days, Banu Nadir surrendered and were sentenced to exile from Medina. One of the biggest battles in the history of early Islam took place in the eighth year of the Hijri between the Islamic army and the Roman army. This war began after the killing of the Prophet's envoy by the ruler of Mutah. The command of the Islamic army in this war was carried out by Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, Zaid ibn Haritha, and Abdullah ibn Rawaha, all three commanders were martyred. After the martyrdom of their three commanders and because the number of the Roman army was much greater than the Muslim army, the Muslims retreated to Medina under the leadership of Khalid ibn Walid
[6] D. The Battle of Tabuk, the last battle of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), took place in Rajab and Sha'ban of the ninth year of the Hijri year in the region of Tabuk, a region in present-day Jordan, to repel the military movements of the Romans. The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) set out for the region of Tabuk with the intention of fighting the Romans, but some of the companions, especially the hypocrites of Medina, refused to join the army. The Islamic army returned to Medina after staying in Tabuk for a few days without engaging in any conflict with the Romans
[7] . Translation: Do not fear the small number of its people in the path of truth.” Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 201
[8] Translation: “For falsehood, there is a Golani, and for truth, there is a state, Ouonolhekam, p. 403
[9]Majma’ al-Bayan, vol. 5, p. 38
