Verse 62

Commentary

The verse first mentions the believers, and then says, “whoever believes in God …” The context shows that the latter phrase refers to the real belief, the true imān, and that the word, “those who believe,” (mentioned at first) refers to those who call themselves believers. The verse says that God gives no importance to names, like the believers, the Jews, the Christians or the Sabaeans. One cannot get a reward from God, nor can he be saved from punishment, merely by giving oneself good titles, as they, for example, claim that: no one will enter the Garden except he who was a Jew or a Christian (2:111). The only criterion, the only standard, of honor and happiness is the real belief in God and the Day of Resurrection, accompanied by good deeds. It should be noted that God did not say, ‘whoever of them believes’; otherwise it would have accorded some recognition to these titles, and would have implied that there was, after all, some benefit in acquiring these names.

This theme has been repeatedly expounded in the Qur’an. The honor and felicity depend entirely on true and sincere servitude; no name, no adjective, can do any good unless it is backed by correct belief and good deeds. This rule is applicable to all human beings, right from the prophets to the lowest rank. Look how God praises His prophets with all beautiful and excellent attributes, and then says: and if they had set up others [with Him] certainly what they did would have become ineffectual for them (6:88). Also, He describes the high status and great prestige of the Holy prophet and his companions, and then ends it with these words: Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward (48:29). Ponder on the significance of the phrase “among them.”

1:254Then we find that God had given a man some of His signs but he went astray: and if We had pleased, We would certainly have exalted him thereby, but he clung to the earth and followed his low desire … (7:176).

There are many verses clearly showing that the honor and respect with God depends on reality, not on appearance.

Examining Narrations

(1) Salmān al-Fārisi said: “I asked the Prophet about the people of that religion which I followed (prior to Islam), and I described their (way of) prayer and worship. Then it was revealed: Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews…” (al-Durr al-manthūr) Author’s comment: Various other traditions with different chains of narrators, say that this verse was revealed about the people of Salmān. (2) Ibn Faḍḍāl said: “I asked Imam al-Riḍā why “al-Naṣārā” (the Christians) were given that name. He said: ‘Because they were from a village called al-Nāṣirah (Nazareth) in Syria.¹ Mary and Jesus settled there after they returned from Egypt.’ ” (Maʿani al-akhbār)

Author’s comment: We shall comment on this tradition when writing on the stories of Jesus in Chapter 3 (The Family of ʿImrān), God willing. (3) The same tradition says that “al-Yahūd” (the Jews) got this name because they are descended from Yahūda, son of Yaʿqūb. (ibid.) (4) The Imam said: “The Sabaeans are a people, neither Zoroastrian nor Jews, neither Christians nor Muslims; they worship the stars and planets. (al-Tafsīr, al-Qummi)

Author’s comment: It is idol-worship of a special type; they worshiped only the idols of the stars, while others worshiped whatever idol caught their fancy.

A Historical Discussion (About the Sabaeans)

Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī writes in his book al-Āthār al-bāqiyah:

1:255“The earliest known among them (that is, the claimants of prophethood was Yudhasaf.¹ He appeared in India at the end of the first year of the reign of Tahmūrth; and he brought the Persian script. He called to the Sabaean religion, and a great many people followed him. The Bishdadian kings and some of the Kayanis who resided in Balkh held the sun, the moon, the stars and the planets together with other elements in high esteem and believed that these luminaries were very sacred. It continued until Zoroaster appeared at the end of the thirtieth year of Peshtasav’s reign. The remnants of those Sabaeans are now in Ḥarrān, from which they have got their new name, Ḥarrāniyyah. Also it is said that this nomenclature refers to Hārān, son of Tārukh (Terah) and brother of Abraham, as he allegedly was one of their religious leaders and its staunchest follower.

“Ibn Sancala, the Christian, has written a book against Sabaeans. In that book he has attributed many ridiculous things to this Hārān. For example, he describes the Sabaean’s belief about Abraham in these words: ‘Abraham was removed from their community because a white spot had appeared on his foreskin, and the Sabaeans believed that a person having a white spot was unclean, and avoided mixing with such person. To remove that defect, Abraham cut his foreskin, that is circumcised himself. Then he entered one of the temples; and lo! an idol called out to him: “O Abraham! you went away from us with one deflect and came back with two; get out and do not ever come back to us.” Abraham was enraged; he smashed the idols; and went out. After some time, he felt remorse for what he had done, and decided to sacrifice his son on the altar of Jupiter, as it was their custom to kill their children to please the deities. When Jupiter was convinced of the sincerity of his repentance, it sent a lamb to him to slaughter in place of his son.’

“ ʿAbdu al-Masīḥ b. Isḥāq al-Kindi wrote a book in reply of a book by ʿAbdullah b. Ismail al-Hāshimi. In that book ʿAbdu al-Masīḥ writes about the Sabaeans:

1:256“ ‘It is generally believed that they indulge in human sacrifice, although nowadays they cannot do so openly. But so far as our own information goes, they are monotheists who believe that God is free from every defect and evil, they describe God in negative, not positive, terms; for example, they say: God cannot be defined or seen, He is not unjust or oppressive. According to them, the beautiful divine names may be used for God, but only in an allegorical sense, because no divine attribute can truly describe the reality. They believe that the management of all affairs is done and controlled by the sky and the heavenly bodies; the sky and those bodies are living things having the characteristics of speech, hearing and sight. They revere the light and the luminaries. One of their legacies is the dome above the niche in the Umayyad mosque of Damascus; it was their prayer house, and at that time even the Greeks and the Romans followed the same religion. Then it came under Jewish control and they turned it into a synagogue. Later, the Christians took it over and converted it into a church. Then came the Muslims, and they changed it into a mosque. The Sabaeans had their numerous places of worships, and their idols were named after various names of the sun, and shaped with fixed patterns, as has been described by Abū Ma‘shar al-Balkhi in his book, The Houses of Worship. For example, there was the temple of Baʿlabak which housed the idol of the sun; of Qirān, which was related to the moon and built in the moon’s shape, like a shawl worn over head and shoulders. And there is a village nearby, Salamsīn by name; it is a corruption of its original name, Sanam Sīn (the idol of the moon). Likewise, another village is called Taraʿūz, that is, the gate of venus. They do also claim that the Kaʿbah and its idols belonged to them, and that the Meccan idol-worshipers were of the Sabaean religion. According to them the idols, Lāt and ʿUzza, represented Saturn and Venus. They have many prophets in their hierarchy, most of them being the Greek philosophers, for example, Hermes of Egypt, Agadhimun, Walles, Pythagoras and Babaswar (maternal grandfather of Plato) and many others like them. Some of them do not eat fish—lest it be spume; nor poultry, because it is always hot. Also, they do not use garlic, because it creates headache and burns the blood and semen (which is the source of continuity of the human race); and they avoid beans, because it dulls the intelligence and also because it had first sprouted in a human skull. They observe three compulsory prayers: at sunrise (eight rakʿat); at noon (five rakʿat); and at the third hour of the night.

1:257“ ‘They prostrate three times in each rakʿah. Also, they observe two optional prayers—at the second and ninth hours of the day. “ ‘They pray with ṭahārah and wuḍūʾ; they take bath after janābah; but they do not circumcise their children because they have not been told to do so. Most of their laws concerning marital and penal codes are like the shariah of Islam; while the rules about touching a dead body are similar to Torah’s. They offer sacrifices to the stars, their idols and the temples; the sacrificial animals are killed by the priests and witch-doctors, who read in it the future of the man who offers the sacrifice and answer to his questions. “ ‘Hermes is sometimes called Idrīs, who is mentioned in Torah as Akhnūkh. Some of them say that Yūdhasaf was Hermes.

“ ‘Some others have said that the present-day Ḥarrāniyyah are not the real Sabaeans; rather these are mentioned in the books as heathens and idolaters. The Sabaeans were those Israelites who stayed behind at Babylon when their majority returned to Jerusalem in the reigns of Cyrus and Artaxerxes. They were favorably disposed to Zoroastrian beliefs, as well as to the religion of Nebuchadnezzar. What resulted from this exercise was a mixture of Judaism and Zoroastrianism—like the Samaritans of Syria. Most of them are found in Wasit and the rural areas of Iraq around Jaʿfar and Jamidah; they trace their genealogy to Enosh, son of Seth. They criticize and oppose the Harraniyyah and their religion. With exception of a few things, there is no similarity between the two religions: The Sabaeans face toward the North Pole in their prayers, while the Harraniyyah face toward the South Pole.

“ ‘Some people of the book have said that Methuselah had a son (other than Lamech), named Sabi, whom the Sabaeans have descended from. The people, before the shariah spread and before Yudhasaf appeared on the scene, followed Samanian beliefs; they lived in the eastern part of the world and worshiped idols. Their remnants are found in India, China and Taghazghaz, and the people of Khurasān call them Shamnān. Their relics, places of worship and idols are seen in eastern Khurasān adjoining India. They believe in eternity of the universe and transmigration of soul. According to them, the sky is falling down in an endless vacuum, and that is why it is moving round and round.’

1:258“According to some writers, a group of them rejects the theory of eternity of the universe and says that it came into being one million year ago.”

Author’s comment: All the above description has been taken from the book of al-Bīrūnī. The opinion, attributed to some writers, that Sabaeans’ religion was a mixture of Judaism and Zoroastrianism flavored with some elements of Ḥarrāniyyah’s beliefs, seems better suited in this context; after all, the verse obviously enumerates the groups which followed a divinelyinspired religion.