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Qur'an 3:140

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Qur'an 3:140
Verse's Information
SuraSura Al Imran
Verse140
Juz'4
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Battle of Uhud
AboutConsolation for Muslims and warning against despair in defeats and hardships
Related VersesQur'an 3:139, Qur'an 3:141, Qur'an 4:104


Verse 140 of Sura Al Imran (Arabic: آیة 140 من سورة آل‌عمران) (Qur'an 3:140) deals with consoling Muslims and strengthening their morale after their defeat in the Battle of Uhud at the hands of the polytheists. In this verse, by comparing the injuries inflicted on Muslims in the Battle of Uhud with those inflicted on the polytheists in the Battle of Badr, Muslims are consoled and warned against weakness, grief, and despair.

This verse refers to one of the divine traditions (Sunnat Allah), according to which life is full of ups and downs, bitterness and sweetness. Among the effects of this divine tradition are considered to be Muslims not attaching their hearts to worldly pleasures and that the faith of believers should be logical and sincere. In another part of the verse, recognizing the believer from the non-believer is considered another effect of the vicissitudes of time.

Consoling Muslims after the Battle of Uhud

Qur'an 3:140 is considered to be in the position of condolence and consolation for Muslims[1] and strengthening their morale after the defeat in the Battle of Uhud.[2] Allama Tabataba'i considers this verse as the reason for the recommendation given to Muslims in the previous verse not to be weak and not to grieve, and believes that this verse warns Muslims against weakness and grief by stating the condition of believers and their enemies and expressing some wisdoms and expediencies of the rotation of days.[3]

According to Abu l-Futuh al-Razi, a Shi'a exegete, seventy or seventy-five Muslims were killed and seventy were wounded in the Battle of Uhud; in the Battle of Badr, seventy polytheists were also killed and seventy were taken captive.[4] Therefore, in this verse, Muslims are advised not to despair and to strive to compensate for their defeat.[5]

It is narrated that when the Prophet (s) returned from the Battle of Uhud, he encountered women and children mourning for their dead. At this moment, the Prophet (s) said: "O God, do they treat Your Prophet like this!" Then this verse was revealed.[6]

Ups and Downs of Life as Divine Traditions

In a part of verse 140 of Al Imran, it is stated that days are constantly rotating and changing among people.[7] According to some exegetes, this phrase refers to one of the divine traditions, that human life is full of ups and downs and bitter and sweet events such as defeats and victories, and it is not always favorable to a specific group.[8] Since the ups and downs and bitterness and sweetness of life are not permanent, defeat in war should not be considered permanent, and one should seek victory by examining the causes of defeat.[9] It is said that if, due to the rotation of time, oppressors and polytheists dominate believers, this is not due to God's help or love for oppressors; rather, it is due to some expediencies, including the forgiveness of believers' sins.[10]

God's Knowledge of Believers

In the sentence "and that Allah may know those who believe" (Arabic: وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا), God's Knowledge of believing individuals is mentioned,[11] and it is said that with the rotation of time, believers are distinguished from non-believers.[12] Allama Tabataba'i believes that the meaning of this sentence is that although God has knowledge of the faith of believers, He willed that their faith, which was hidden, become manifest. He believes that the faith of believers becomes manifest based on divine tradition and the system of causes and effects, through affairs and events.[13] Some exegetes have said that this phrase is not intended to prove divine knowledge; rather, it is to prove the known (the faith of believers).[14] Some exegetes have also said that the meaning of this sentence is that divine saints recognize believers; not that God recognizes them, and attributing this awareness to God was for the purpose of honoring the saints.[15]

Meaning of Shuhada in the Verse

The sentence "and may take witnesses from among you" (Arabic: وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنْكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ) is considered one of the results of the defeat in the Battle of Uhud.[16] Exegetes such as al-Shaykh al-Tusi and Nasir Makarim Shirazi have interpreted the word "shuhada" (witnesses) as martyrs and those killed in the way of God.[17] According to Makarim Shirazi, Muslims gave martyrs in the Battle of Uhud so that they would know that Islam was not obtained cheaply and easily.[18] According to Allama Tabataba'i, the word "martyr" (shahid) is not used in the Qur'an to mean one killed in war, and this is a new term that became common in the Islamic community.[19] Based on this, he, like some other exegetes such as Abu l-Futuh al-Razi, considered the meaning of "shuhada" to be witnesses.[20] With this assumption, they have said that God, due to the dignity and status of believers, made them witnesses over the deeds and sins of people[21] or that God wanted to take witnesses from Muslims for the disobedience of some other Muslims and future generations through defeat in war.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 2, p. 600.
  2. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 107.
  3. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 27.
  4. ↑ Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, vol. 5, p. 84; Ṭabarānī, Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 2, p. 133.
  5. ↑ Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 2, p. 345; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 108.
  6. ↑ Wāḥidī, Asbāb nuzūl al-Qurʾān, p. 128; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, vol. 5, p. 84.
  7. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 28; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  8. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 28; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 2, p. 845; Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 2, p. 346; Ṭabarānī, Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 2, p. 134.
  11. ↑ Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, vol. 5, p. 85.
  12. ↑ See: Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 2, p. 844; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, pp. 28-29.
  14. ↑ Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 2, p. 347.
  15. ↑ See: Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 2, p. 844; Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 2, p. 347.
  16. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  17. ↑ See: Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 2, p. 602; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109; Ṭabarānī, Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 2, p. 134.
  18. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 109.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 29.
  20. ↑ See: Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, vol. 5, p. 86; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 29; Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 2, p. 347.
  21. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 2, p. 845.
  22. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, pp. 109-110.

References

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  • Kāshānī, Mullā Fatḥ Allāh. Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn fī ilzām al-mukhālifīn. Tehran, Kitābfurūshī wa Chāpkhāna-yi Muḥammad Ḥasan ʿIlmī, 1336 Sh.
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  • Ṭabarānī, Sulaymān b. Aḥmad al-. Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr: Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm. Irbid, Jordan, Dār al-Kitāb al-Thaqāfī, 1st ed, 2008.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Faḍl Allāh Yazdī Ṭabāṭabāʾī and Sayyid Hāshim Rasūlī Maḥallātī. Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd ed, 1372 Sh.
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