THREE DIFFICULT TEXTS
Sir,
There are three expressions used in the Quran whose meanings are not quite clear to me. Will you or some of your readers please throw light on these. These are:
1. The Quran (33: 73) speaks of a certain amaanat which, it says, was entrusted to the heavens and the earth, as well as to man. The former two refused it, but man carried the burden, being zaloom and jahool – i.e. very transgressing and ignorant. What was this amaanat (trust)? Why is man called zaloom and jahool? Apparently, he did a good thing in shouldering the trust.
2. In the story of Adam’s creation, Adam and his wife are told to eat freely of the plentiful fruit of the garden but not to touch the fruit of one particular tree. What exactly was this “forbidden tree”?
3. Narrating the episode of Abraham sacrificing his son Ishmael in obedience to God’s command in a vision, the Quran says, God’s voice came to him saying not to kill his son, the purpose of the vision being just a test for him, which had been fulfilled by his readiness to carry out the commandment literally. Having recalled all this, the Quran goes on to say:
وَ فَدَیۡنٰہُ بِذِبۡحٍ عَظِیۡمٍ
“And We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.” (37:107)
What was this zibh-i-azeem, “great sacrifice”? The ram substituted for Ishmael can not be called a “great sacrifice”. Shia friends interpret it as a reference to the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain, whereas Christians identify this zibh-i-azeem with Jesu’s crucifixion.
All these three points have been exercising my mind, and I have not come across any satisfactory explanation of these.
Mubarik Ali Shah Quraishi.
Shorkot.
Reply:
The “great sacrifice” seems to be a reference to the lifelong dedication of Hazrat Ismail to the dissemination of the light of Faith in the wilderness of Arabia. The vision really symbolised that act of self-sacrifice on Ismael’s part which decidedly was “greater” than mere physical killing either of the son or the ram.
The amaanat, according to Maulana Muhammad Ali, connotes God’s command to the whole creation to submit to His sovereignty. The rest of nature did and does show that submission involuntarily طَوْعًۭا وَكَرْهًۭا as put in the Quran (Surah ’Āli `Imrān 3:83).
Man’s case, however, was different. Being gifted with free choice, he was prone to violate God’s will under the low impulses of the flesh or out of ignorance. This seems to be the sense of zaloom and jahool. Commentators, however, when explaining this passage, are careful to add واللہ اعلم بالصواب “God alone knows the true meaning”. That is what we would say too.
The “forbidden fruit” was the denial of God, which puts man on an altogether opposite track to the one leading to Paradise. Out of this wrong basic attitude stem all other sins. The Garden out of which Adam and his wife were expelled was not the Paradise Promised to the faithful after death. They were expelled from this earthly paradise. In other words, God wants this earthly abode of man to be made into a veritable Paradise with plenty for everybody in the way of life’s amenities. Transgression of God’s law, however, leads to conflict, iniquities, exploitation, and bloodshed, which brought about Adam’s exit from Paradise. It aptly fits in with modern civilisation, which has so much abundance and prosperity side by side, with a loss of peace of mind due to the virtual loss of faith in God and His sovereignty.
M.Y.Khan
The Light – june1,1965
