Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

(Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews) up to His words (But those who disbelieve and deny Our revelations, they are owners of hell-fire) [5:82-86]. These verses were revealed about the Negus and his followers. Said Ibn �Abbas: �When he was in Mecca, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to fear the idolaters� persecution of his Companions. He therefore sent Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and �Abd Allah ibn Mas�ud, at the head of a group of his Companions, to the Negus. He said: �The Negus is a righteous man; he is not an oppressor and none is oppressed in his dominion. So head toward him and remain there until Allah creates relief for the Muslims�. When they went to him, the Negus honoured them and then asked them: �Do you memorise anything of that which was revealed to you?� They answered in the affirmative and then recited to him [some Qur�an,] with monks and priests surrounding him. Whenever they read a verse, the tears rolled down their cheeks due to the truth which they recognized. Allah, exalted is He, says: (That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud)�. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Hamdun ibn al-Fadl> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth> al-Layth> Yunus> Ibn Shihab> Sa�id ibn al-Musayyab and �Urwah ibn al-Zubayr as well as others who said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent �Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri with a message to the Negus. The latter read the message of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then called Ja�far ibn Abi Talib and all the Emigrants with him and he also invited priests and monks to the assembly. He ordered Ja�far ibn Abi Talib to recite to them from the Qur�an, and he read Surah Maryam, peace be upon her. They believed in the Qur�an and tears flowed from their eyes. It is about them that Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians) up to His words (Inscribe us as among the witnesses)�.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

(O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you�) [5:87]. Abu 'Uthman ibn 'Amr al-Mu'adhdhin informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> al-Husayn ibn Nasr ibn Sufyan> Ishaq ibn Mansur> Abu 'Asim> 'Uthman ibn Sa'id>> 'Ikrimah> Ibn 'Abbas who related that a man went to see the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: �I have forbidden meat on myself because whenever I eat it I feel the urge to sleep with women�, and so the verse (O ye who believe! Forbid not the good things which Allah hath made lawful for you) and also (Eat of that which Allah hath bestowed on you as food lawful and good�) [5:88]. The commentators of the Qur'an said: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sat down one day and gave an admonition to people whereby he described the Day of Judgement to them and did not mention anything other than things which would instil fear in them. People cried as a result of the softening of their hearts. Then ten of the prophetic Companions gathered in the house of 'Uthman ibn Maz'un al-Jumahi. They included Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Salim, the client of Abu Hudhayfah, al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, Salman al-Farisi and Ma'qil ibn Muqarrin. They agreed to fast the day and stand in prayer at night, never to sleep in their beds, eat meat or fat, never to sleep with their wives or use perfume. They also agreed to wear coarse wool garments, reject the worldly life, wander through the land and become monks, and cut off their male organs. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard of this, he gathered them and said: 'I was informed that you agreed to do such-and-such things, is this true?' They said: 'It is, but we only meant to do good'. He said to them: 'I was not commanded to do those things, and your own selves have a right over you. Fast and break fast, stand in prayer at night and sleep, for I stand in prayer at night but I also sleep; I sometimes fast and sometimes do not; I eat meat and fat.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

God will not take you to task for idle talk in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths you have bound. The expiation thereof is the feeding of ten indigent people with what you usually feed your own family, or clothing them, or freeing a slave. When overpowered by ecstasy the chevaliers of the Tariqah sometimes swear oaths renewing the covenant and affirming the compact. They say things like, “By your rightful due, I will not gaze at other than You, I will not speak to other than You, and I will not leave Your covenant!” By virtue of tawḤīd these oaths are idle talk and negligence in the witnessing of Unity. How can it be the servant's place to give himself worth, to fancy that he is someone, or to consider his own words to have such status that he can swear an oath to Him? Rather, what is fitting for the servant is to welcome His rulings with beautiful approval. Whether He summons or drives away, he should not protest and not turn away. He should not speak of the realities of union and separation. He should take what He gives, and accept what comes. He should know that in reality it is He who is lovingly kind to perfection and it is He who determines and governs in every state. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O closer to us than ourselves, O more lovingly kind to us than ourselves, O caresser of us without us by Your generosity-not because of our worthiness, not because of our works. The burden is beyond our capacity, the practice not proper to us, the favor not within our ability. Whatever we have done has damaged us, whatever You have done subsists for us. Whatever You have done in our place You have done by Yourself, not for our sake.” Expiation in the Shariah is well-known to the folk of knowledge-freeing slaves, feeding people, and clothing them. So also, in the tongue of allusion, expiation in the Tariqah is of three sorts: expending the spirit by virtue of ecstasy, expending the heart in the soundness of intention, and expending the soul by constant effort. If you are not able to do this, then abstain and fast from prohibited and blamable things.

Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi — Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi

O you who have faith! Wine, arrow-shuffling, idols, and divining arrows are a filth and of the deeds of Satan. The Prophet said, “Wine is the gatherer of sin and the mother of loathsome things”: Wine is the root of loathsome things and the key to great sins, the basis of misdeeds, the seed of misguided acts, and the source of discord. It dries up the springhead of obedience, holds back the water of remembrance, and opens the door to heedlessness. The soul becomes drunk from wine and is held back from the prayer. The heart becomes drunk from heedlessness and is held back from secret whispering. The Pir of the Tariqah spoke to these heedless people in the tongue of admonition: “O drunk- ards full of appetite! O sleepers in heedlessness! Have shame before that Lord who knows the treachery of the eyes and sees the inside of the hearts! He knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal [40:19]. Oh, where is a whip like that of ʿUmar or a sword like that of ʿAlī to give these discourteous drunkards the Shari'ite punishment in the world of justice and to get these sleeping, heedless people to move! Does the poor wretch who drinks wine not know that when he puts the cup in his hand, the Throne and the Footstool tremble? From the Exalted Presence comes the call, 'By My exaltation and majesty, I will give them to taste of My chastisement in boiling water and Zaqqūm!'” Arrow-shuffling is gambling. When someone plays everything and loses all in a gambling house, he is considered great and recognized as a preceder. This is an allusion to the path of the chevaliers: They throw themselves down on the highway of predetermination so as to become abased before every piece of straw and to come out from the bonds of every color, counting them- selves as nothing. As long as you stay in bond to color, nature, the spheres, and the stars, how can you be allowed to say, “Speak like a Qalandar”? [DS 972]