RENAISSANCE MAY 2021

7 Monthly Renaissance May 2021 Qur’ ā nic Exegesis S ū rah al-Qa ṣ a ṣ (1) Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī Central Theme and Relationship with the Previous S ū rah This s ū rah is the counterpart of S ū rah al-Naml, the previous s ū rah . Hence, there is no basic difference between the central themes of the two. In the previous s ū rah , the only part of the account of Moses (sws) described was the one related to his being assigned prophethood and then being sent to the Pharaoh (sws). In this s ū rah , the complete details of his account are mentioned beginning from his birth to being given the Torah. There was only a veiled reference about the Israelites in the previous s ū rah . In this s ū rah , the attitude of their evil and righteous elements is discussed in detail, which shows that by that time the Jews had openly come to the fore. The account of Moses (sws) has been narrated to Prophet Mu ḥ ammad (sws) for the very reason the tale of Joseph (sws) was narrated to him in S ū rah Y ū suf: in the mirror of these tales, Mu ḥ ammad (sws) is able to fully observe how majestically the Almighty protects His messengers and how He makes His schemes materialize. Moreover, his opponents are also able to see the fate they will finally meet if they continue with their attitude. It is explained in this s ū rah to the Quraysh that just as the Almighty had sent Moses (sws) as a Messenger to the Pharaoh and his people, in a similar way, He has sent this Messenger and this Book to them. The purpose is that they become fully aware of God’s guidance and not be left with any excuse to remain on their ill-ways. The Israelites are asked that the prophet Mu ḥ ammad (sws) not being present in those days, how was it possible that he be able to know about certain aspects of the life of Moses (sws) which they themselves were not correctly aware of and that too in such detail? They are further told that they had lost the guidance the Almighty had revealed to them. So, He wanted to revive this