"Hold fast together to Allah's cord and let nothing divide you. Remember the favour of Allah upon you, when you were enemies to one another. Then He united your hearts, and by His grace, you became like brothers, and you were on the brink of the abyss of fire and He rescued you from it. Thus does Allah make His signs clear to you that you may find the right Path to true success by this. There should always be among you some people who invite what is good and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong: They alone will attain true success. And do not be like those who became divided into sects and got involved with differences of opinion even after receiving clear teaching». Those, (who have caused divisions) shall suffer a terrible punishment.
"Allah's cord" is the way of life prescribed by Him. It is a' cord' because it keeps intact the relations of the Believers with Allah and also binds and unites them into a community. The simile is that of people struggling in deep water, to whom a benevolent providence stretches out a strong and unbreakable rope of rescue . If all hold fast to it together, their mutual support adds to the chance of their safety:
"Hold fast together to Allah's cord" implies that the Muslims should give the greatest importance to Allah's Way, and should make it the centre of all their interests, and exert their utmost to establish it and co-operate with one another for its service. When and if they let loose this cord and deviate from its basic principles, they would inevitably suffer from disunity and would be divided into sections and sub-sections, like the communities of the former Prophets (PBUH). As a consequence of this, they would meet with disgrace both in this world and the next.
"Remember the favour of Allah upon you, when you were enemies to one another ... you were on the brink of the abyss of fire and He rescued you from it .. ".
This refers to that horrible state of the Arabs from which they were rescued by Islam. Before Islam, their clans were divided into hostile camps, who went to war for frivolous reasons. Human life had lost its sanctity and people were killed without any pangs of conscience. The fire of enimity would have burnt to ashes all the Arabs, if blessed isllam had not rescued them from it. This blessing had appeared in a form at Al-Madinah at the time of the revelation of these verses. The two clans-Aus and Khazraj- who had been enemies for years and had been involved in bitter feuds and bloody battles, became brethren after they embraced Islam. Not only this: they also showed that spiritor the rehabilitation of the refugees from Makkah that has no parallel in history. After that, it became the City of the Prophet (PBUH), Madinah and unmatched B of sacrifice frotherhood, and the pivot of Islam.This poor quarrelsome world is the larger Yathrib: can we establish the sacred feat on its soil, and make it a new and larger Madinah?
"..There should always be among you some people ... They alone will attain true success ... " .
Muflih, aflaha, falah: the root idea is attainment of desires; happiness, in this world and the next; success; prosperity; freedom from anxiety, care, or a disturbed state of mind; - the opposite of "azab in the next verse, which includes: failure, misery; punishment or penalty; agony or anguish. The ideal Muslim community is happy, untroubled by conflicts or doubts, sure of itself, strong, united, and prosperous: because it invites to all that is good; enjoins the right, and forbids the wrong, - a master- stroke of description in three clauses.
"..And do not be like those who became divided into sects ... ". This refers to those communities which received the guidance and clear teachings from the Messengers of Allah (PBUH) but after some time discarded the basic principles of the guidance and divided themselves into different sects on the basis of irrelevant and minor side-issues and were involved in useless and meaningless squabbles. They became so engrossed in these things that they totally forgot the mission which Allah had entrusted to them and lost interest even in the basic principles on which, in fact, depends the real success of humanity. Although "...those (who have caused division) ... " refers to the way the Jews and the Christians follow their whims and caprices to dissect their religion into sects, this is to warn the Muslims of the dangers of discord and disagreements. Such people "...shall suffer a terrible punishment". The punishment is so strong that even their repentance will not be accepted. When the Prophet (PBUH) read this verse, he said:
"this people are those who invent new things in their religion and the followers of their vain desire in this (Muslim) nation, and their repentance will not be accepted by Allah. " (At-Tabari at al).
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited