Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

11. “And among people there is such a one who worships Allah only by tongue, so that if good befalls him he is satisfied therewith, and if a trial afflicts him he turns back his face; he loses this world and (also) the Hereafter; that is indeed the manifest loss.”

12. “He calls, besides Allah, upon that which does not harm him and that which does not profit him: that is indeed the far straying.”

13. “He calls upon him whose harm is nearer than his profit; an evil protector indeed, he, an evil associate.”

The faith of some people is seasonal and superficial so that the pleasant or bitter events can change it.

The situation of belief and the action based on logic is different from the situation of the material changes. We ought not seek for religion because of reaching to bread.

In previous verses, two groups were discussed about: the group of followers of aberration and the leaders of those who mislead others. In these verses, a third group is spoken about; they are those who are weak in faith.

In the explanation of this group, the Qur’an says that such people believe in Allah merely by expression, while their heartily belief is very weak and superficial.

The verse says:

“And among people there is such a one who worships Allah only by tongue…”

The Qur’anic phrase /‘ala harfin/ may refer to this fact that their faith is rather on their tongue and there has not glowed in their hearts but a very weak light of faith.

It may refer to this fact that they are not settled in the center of faith and Islam, but they are in the edge of it.

One of the meanings of the Arabic term /harf/ is the verge of mountain and the side of things, and we know that those who are standing in the verge of something, are not fixed and steadfast and, with a slight shake, they may go out of the way. Such is the state of those whose Faith is weak, that with usually a tiny thing their faith vanishes.

Then, the Qur’an points the instability of their faith, where it implies that if the world turns to them and something good befalls them, they feel secure and satisfaction, and they take it as a proof for the legitimacy of Islam. But if they are tried by miseries, pests, and lack of some blessings, they alter inwardly and turn toward infidelity.

The verse says:

“…so that if good befalls him he is satisfied there with, and if a trial afflicts him he turns back his face;…”

As if they had accepted the religion and Faith as a means to reach to the material things, so that if this objection is gained, they consider the religion as rightful, otherwise they call it foundless.¹

Upon the occasion of the revelation of this verse, Ibn-’Abbas and a group of the ancient commentators have said that: sometimes a group of Bedouins used to come to the Prophet (S) and then if they became bodily well, their horse brought a good colt, their wives delivered sons, and their properties and cattle increased, they would become happy and would believe in Islam and Messenger of Allah (S).

But if they became sick, their wives delivered daughters, and their wealth decreased, some satanic temptations would seize their heart and told them that all those miseries were for the sake of the religion they accepted, and, therefore they often turned away.²

It is noteworthy that, for turning the world with prosperity to them, the Qur’an has rendered it as ‘good’, and for turning back of the world, it has rendered it as ‘a trial’, not as ‘an evil’. It indicates that these unwholesome events are not vice and evil, but they are some means for trial.

At the end of the verse, the Qur’an adds implying that, thus, they have lost both the world and the Hereafter.

The holy verse says:

“…he loses this world and (also) the Hereafter;…”

And this is the most manifest loss when a person loses both his religion and his world.

The verse continues:

“…that is indeed the manifest loss.”

Such people, in fact, behold the religion only through the window of their own material benefits, and for them, as they imagine, criterion of its rightfulness is the good lack of the world.

These people, whose number is not so small in our time and who are found in every society, have a faith polluted with polytheism and idolatry, but their idol is their wife, offspring, possession, wealth, and cattle. It is evident that such a faith and belief is certainly weaker than the spider’s web.

Some commentators, of course, have considered this verse as about hypocrites.

Then, if the purpose is a hypocrite, who has never a faith in his heart, this is contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse, because the Qur’anic phrase:

“such a one who worships Allah”, “he is satisfied therewith”

and

“he turns back his face”

show that he had a weak faith before. And if the purpose is the hypocrites who have a very small share of faith, it does not contrast with what was said in the above and it is acceptable.

The next verse points to the polytheistic belief of this group particularly after deviation from monotheism and belief in Allah.

It says:

“He calls, besides Allah, upon that which does not harm him and that which does not profit him:…”

If he is truly interested in the material profits and avoids loss, and for the same reason considers the good and misery of the world as the legitimacy of religion, then why does he go to the idols which have neither any hope of profit nor any fear of loss in them.

They are some useless things which have no effect in the men’s fate. Yes, this is a deep aberration, which is far from any prosperity.

The verse says:

“…that is indeed the manifest loss.”

Its distance with the Straight Path is so far that there is little hope for their return to the Truth.

Again, the Qur’an goes further than this, when it says:

“He calls upon him whose harm is nearer than his profit;…”

It is for the reason that, in the world, these artificial objects of worship may turn their thought toward lowliness, meanness, superstitions, and in the Hereafter, they bring forth the Hell Fire for them; but, as Surah Al-’Anbiya, No 21, verse 98 indicates, these idols are themselves the fuel of Hell.

At the end of the verse, concerning those idols, the Holy Qur’an adds:

“…an evil protector indeed, he, an evil associate.”

There arises this question here that: in the previous verse any profit and loss were negated from the side of the idols, while here, in this verse, it says that the harm of an idol is nearer than his profit. Do these two concepts agree with each other?

In answer to this clear question it must be said that in conversations it is usual that sometimes in one occasion something is counted useless, while after that, the same thing is introduced as the source of loss.

It is just like when we say: do not associate with so and so, since he is beneficial neither for your religion nor for your world; then we go further and say that he is also the cause of your wretchedness and disagree.

Moreover, the harm which has been negated is a harm to their enemies, because they are not able to cause a harm to the opponents; but the harm which has been proved positively is an automatic loss that reaches the devotees of them.

This commentary has been accepted by a group of great commentators, such as: Shaykh Tusi in ‘Tibyan’, and Tabarsi in ‘Majma‘-ul-Bayan’.

It is in the case that some other commentators, like Fakhr-i-Razi, have also added this probability in the commentary of the verse that either of these two verses refers to a separate group of idols.

The first verse refers to the wooden and stone idols which are inanimate, and the second verse points to false deities and idol-like men. The first group, have neither a profit nor a harm, and they are completely useless.

But the members of the second group, i.e. the leaders of misguidance, are harmful and there is no good in them. And supposing that there is a little good in them, their harm is certainly more than that good.

The Qur’anic sentence:

“…an evil protector, he, and an evil associate”

has also been taken as evidence over this meaning, and, thus, there remains no contradiction.