Ayatl kursi Part one dealt with the Unity of Allah, His Pure
Essence and Attributes.
Ayahs 256 and 257 are stated below:
“There is no compulsion in the religion; truly the right
way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever disbeliefs the
rebels (false deities) and believes in
Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the strongest handle, for which there is no break
off; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Allah is the Guardian of those who
believe; He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those
who disbelieve, their guardians are the rebels, they take them out of the light
into the darkness. They are the inmates of the Fire in it they abide forever.”
Religion is faith and belief, it is a matter of
conscience, and such a thing cannot be created by coercion and compulsion. One
may force someone to do a certain physical action against his will, but he
cannot be forced to believe against his will. Belief follows reason and
understanding; and nothing but reason and understanding can create it.
In Islam, man is invited to investigate the “Roots of
Islam” before accepting the faith. Roots of Islam are Unity of Allah, the
Justice of Allah, the Prophet hood; Allah sent 124,000 prophets to guide the
humanity, the last one being the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.), the Imamate to
continue the guidance by interpretation of the Last Message; the Glorious
Qur’an, and narrating the authentic Traditions of the Noble Messenger
(s.a.w.a.s.), and lastly the concept of accountability on the Day of
Resurrection and Judgment.
After a man has thoroughly understands Islam by
scrutinizing the Roots of Islam, testifies the Shahadah, he has laid hold on the
unbreakable and strongest handle. To practice Islam, one needs the correct
guiding principles as practiced by the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and his
Pure Infallible Progeny (s.a.). This is provided by the “Furu-e-Deen” or
Branches of Islam. These are Salat, Fasting, Hajj, Zakat, Khums, Jihad, Amre
bil Maruf, Nahianil Munkar, Tawalla, Tabarra.
The reason for the revelation of Ayah 256 was that there was
a man from Madinah named Abu Haseen who had two sons. Some of the merchants who
were Christian used to invite them to Christianity while transacting business
with them. The boys were seriously influenced by them. He went to the Noble
Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and requested him to bring back his sons. At that time
Ayah 256 was revealed and manifested this fact that there is no compulsion in
accepting the religion. This Ayah seriously answers those people who insist
that Islam was spread by the force of sword and martial power.
As for the Ayah 257 which says, “Allah brings them out of
the darkness into the light and the guardians of disbelievers take them
out of light into the darkness.”, it may be said that man in his
creation has the light of natural faith; it is a general light which needs
details and particularization but he is in darkness about the detailed
knowledge and good deeds. When the believer acquires the correct faith, he goes
out from the darkness into the light of knowledge and good deeds. And the
disbeliever, by his disbelief, goes out from the natural light into the
darkness of disbelief and evil deeds. It is worth mentioning that Allah has
used light as singular indicating that truth is One; and that false hood is used
as plural exhibiting multifaced, diverse and variable.
Sources: Tafsir-e-Namoonah by Ayatullah Nasir Makarem
Shirazi
Tafsir al-Mizan by Ayatullah Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei
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