2:187Prior to Islam men used to lie secretly with their wives during the nights of fasting.
2:189Before Islam, some Arabs, returning from the pilgrimage, entered their homes by the back door, imagining this to be a righteous act.
2:191This is a critical instance—one among many—where the only correct sense of Quranic injunctions can be, and must be, gleaned from the whole context. There is not an unconditional directive “And kill them where you find them.” The condition is: “Fight . . . against those who fight you,” but within limits. One must read the entire passage, vv. 190–94. See also 2:216–17. Cited here twice, the injunction to fight also recurs in 4:76, 84, 89, 91 and 9:5, 12, 14, 29, 36, 123. Although not as dramatic as the so-called verse of the sword (9:5), these verses nonetheless commend fighting, but solely in self-defense and within limits.
2:194According to most commentators, there were four sacred months in the Islamic calendar in which fighting was prohibited: Rajab, Dhu al-Qaʾda, Dhu al-Hijja, and Muharram. However, if the polytheists attacked Muslims during a sacred month, the latter were permitted to defend themselves.
2:195Arabic la tulqu bi-aydikum ila al-tahluka: literally, “do not cast yourself into ruin through your own hands.” This verse is about charitable spending, and not, as some commentators have suggested, the prospect of suicide.
2:198Trade is permitted during the pilgrimage.
2:198The sacred site (al-mashʿar al-haram) is identified as Muzdalifa on the basis of Muhammad’s practice. ʿArafat is about twenty-two kilometers (thirteen miles) from Mecca while Muzdalifa is about eight kilometers (five miles) beyond ʿArafat.
2:203The appointed days are the days after the ʿEid al-Adha, celebrating the end of Ramadan. Pilgrims must spend at least two days in the valley of Mina, which is about five kilometers (three miles) east of Mecca.
2:222This verse begins long section on marriage and divorce (through v. 242), with v. 228, like 4:34, seeming to elevate men above women. Yet in each case the “elevation” implies responsibility for taking fair action, and in the context of early-seventh-century Arabia, these verses curtailed rather than expanded both male dominance and the unbridled resort to patriarchal norms.
2:223Arabic anna shiʾtum: literally, “as you wish.”
2:226Prior to the advent of Islam, husbands could swear abstinence from their wives indefinitely; Islam decreed that after four months, they would have to divorce them.
2:234I.e., if they choose to remarry after the required waiting period.
2:235A man may make known his interest in the woman during her ʿidda period but may not make a formal proposal.
2:237Arabic ʿuqdat al-nikah: literally, “the knot of marriage.”
2:240Again, the reference here seems to be to a widow’s decision to remarry after the required waiting period.
2:246A reference to Samuel, as in 1 Samuel 8:19–20.
2:248This is presumably the “ark of God” mentioned in 1 Samuel 3:3, the same ark that rescued Noah and assured the continuation of humankind. See 7:46.
2:255This is the most beloved, and often quoted, section of the Quran, after the initial sura, al-Fatiha. It embodies both invocation and petition to God, extolling His Beautiful Names at the beginning and the end. The Prophet Muhammad regarded this verse, which lays out the divine attributes of unity and eternal life, omnipotence and omniscience, transcendence and immanence, as the most exalted verse in the Quran (Imam Abul Hussain bin al Hajja et al., eds., Nasiruddin al Khattab, trans., Sahih Muslim [Lahore: Darussalam, 2007], hadith 810, 1:556).
2:258Despite the power of this narrative, its protagonist has never been identified, yet Abraham’s debate with a king is often assumed to be Nimrod, with parallels in apocryphal literature, similar to speculations about the man and the town cited in 2:259. It can be linked to Sura 18:9–26, the story of the “companions of the Cave,” which has parallels to the Christian legend of the Sleepers of Ephesus.
2:275For other passages that address the Quranic prohibition of usury (or lending money for interest), see 3:130, 4:161, and 30:39.
2:282This is the longest verse of the 6236 verses in the Quran. It offers a complex set of rules about the need to record loan agreements in writing. After announcing eight successive stages, it culminates in the directive “Be mindful of God,” with the assurance “it is God Who will teach you—God Knows all things.” The next verse (v. 283) provides limits to this command when traveling.
Sura 3
The Family of ʿImran (AlʿImran)
3:1On these disconnected letters, see muqattaʿat in Glossary, page 531.
3:7Arabic umm al-kitab: literally, “the Mother of the Book”—that is, what gives it life and nurtures it, as does a mother. Here we have yet another instance of the gender-inclusive idioms that pervade the Quranic message. See Glossary, page 532.
3:7This verse is the basis for abrogating verses; it is widely cited as a critique internal to the Quran of attributing one meaning to all its verses. See naskh in Glossary, page 532.
3:12Arabic mihad: literally, “a place of rest.” But the implication is that hell is the final destination of the disbelievers.
3:13I.e., at the Battle of Badr, in March 624 CE.
3:14Arabic lil-nas: literally, “to people or humankind,” but clearly intending “men.” See nas in Glossary, page 532.
3:19Arabic al-Islam, here an inclusive term (as elsewhere in the Quran), not the religion of one group. See Glossary, page 531.
3:20Arabic aslamtu wajhiya li-Allah: literally, “I have submitted my face to God,” but clearly implying the entire person or whole self.
3:20Arabic ummiyyin: literally, “unlettered,” but here referring to those who have not yet received scripture. See also v. 75 and 2:78 (“Among them are unlettered people who don’t know the Book”).
3:28Arabic yuhadhdhirukum Allah nafsahu: literally, “God warns you about Himself.”
3:33The phrases “the family of Abraham” and “the family of ʿImran” constitute the first, and only, such genealogical reference in the entire Quran. The family of Abraham is well-known, traceable to Isaac, Ishmael, and their descendants. The family of ʿImran refers to Miriam’s lineage through her father, ʿImran, and his wife (cf. v. 35).
3:36It seems to be implied that a girl, unlike a boy, could not serve in the Temple, but God chose to overlook this gender limitation.
3:38Arabic min ladunka: literally, “from Yourself.”
3:39A reference to Jesus, since John later confirms Jesus as a Word from Him (v. 45).
3:52The Arabic word muslim means one who submits to the will of God. See also 5:111, 112 and Glossary (page 531). It is significant that the disciples of Jesus assume this appellation for themselves.
3:61Many authorities aver that several verses of this sura, but especially vv. 59–61, were revealed to Muhammad in 632 CE after a delegation of Christians visited the Prophet. Following an intense discussion, Muhammad challenged them to a prayer contest, and while the challenge was not accepted, a treaty was issued giving these Christians protection to practice their religion in territory controlled by the ascendant Muslims.
3:67The word hanif, also used in 2:135, refers to a person who believed only in the one God even before Abraham. See Glossary, page 530.
3:70Here the implication is that God’s signs are also verses from the heavenly Book, itself the source for the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, as well as the Quran. See ayat in Glossary, page 530.
3:75The dinar is a small unit of currency in some parts of the Arab world.
3:79The addressees are Jews; see 5:44, where rabbis and the learned are invoked together.
3:93Dietary laws laid down first by Noah (Genesis 9:3–4) and then by Jacob/Israel (Genesis 32:32).
3:96The Arabic word Bakka is an old name for Mecca.
3:112The two ropes, one from God, the other from humankind, are metaphors suggesting that only total reliance on God and full acceptance of other believers will elevate those among the people of the Book who are “true believers” (v. 110).
3:112See 2:61 for identical words, referring there only to Jews; here, the disobedient who are “always transgressing” refers to all people of the Book.
3:113In contrast with the preceding verse, ayat here has to be rendered as “verses” or “words,” not “signs.” See Glossary, page 530.
3:121The historical incident to which this passage refers is the Battle of Uhud, which the Muslims thought they were winning, and then lost, in 625 CE. The Battle of Badr, which preceded it, marked the first victory of the nascent Muslim community in 624.
3:125A similar divine insertion of angelic assistance occurred at the Battle of Badr; see 8:9–10, where the number of celestial mediaries is “a thousand angels, row upon row.”
3:137Arabic sunan: literally, “practices” or “customs.”
3:140Another reference to the Battle of Uhud (625 CE), where the Muslims, having flouted the commands of the Prophet, were defeated by the Quraysh.
3:140Arabic shuhadaʾ: literally, “witnesses [to Him],” and thus rendered as “martyrs.”
3:147Arabic wa-israfana fi amrina: literally, “and forgive us excess in our affairs.”
3:152I.e., victory over your enemies.
3:154Arabic jahiliyya. “Ignorance” is the usual translation for this word, signifying the period preceding the advent of Islam; see also 5:50.
3:154Arabic wa-liyabtaliya Allah ma fi sudurikum wa-liyumahhisa ma fi qulubikum: literally, “so that God could test your breasts and purify what was in your hearts.”
3:174Like Dhu al-Fadl, “Ever Gracious” in v. 152, Dhu al-Fadl al-ʿAzim here is not one
