Commentary

The first four verses (19 - 22) relate to a particular event. A cursory look into its background shows that many Mushriks of Makkah felt proud that they kept the Sacred Mosque bustling with visitors and devotees and ran a drinking water service for the pilgrims. Keeping their rival Muslims in view, they claimed that no deed by anyone could match theirs. When Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ came to Muslims as a prisoner from the battle of Badr, he had not embraced Islam by that time. His Muslim relatives reproached him for remaining deprived of the blessing of 'Iman. In response, he too had said the same things, ` you think 'Iman and Hijrah are big feathers in your cap, but we too have our own assets. We are the custodians of the building of the Sacred Mosque and serve water to the pilgrims. No deed by anyone can match these.' Revealed thereupon were these verses. (Ibn Kathir on the authority of ` Ali ibn Abi Talhah from Ibn ` Abbas)

And according to some narratives in the Musnad of ` Abd al-Razzaq, it was after the entry of Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ into the fold of Islam that Sayyidna Talhah ibn Shaybah, Sayyidna ` Abbas and Sayyidna Ali ؓ were talking together. Talhah said: ` I enjoy an excellence which none of you do. I have the keys to the Baytullah in my hands. If I wish I could go inside it and spend the night there.' Sayyidna ` Abbas said: ؓ ` I am the administrator of the water service for pilgrims and I have rights to the Sacred Mosque.' Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ said, ` I do not understand that which makes you so proud. As for me, I have said my prayers facing the Baytullah six months before anyone of you and I have participated in Jihad with the Holy Prophet ﷺ .' There-upon, these verses were revealed. They made it clear that no deed done without 'Iman, no matter how merit worthy, carries any value in the sight of Allah, and no doer of such deeds, while still involved in Shirk, is acceptable with Him.

And the Sahih of Muslim reports an event on the authority of Sayyidna Nu` man ibn Bashir ؓ who says that he was sitting with some Companions ؓ close to the Mimbar of the Holy Prophet ﷺ in his Mosque on a Friday. Someone from those present there said, ` In my view, after Islam and 'Iman, there is no deed superior to serving water to the pilgrims and I do not care about any deed other than this.' Someone else retorted, ` no, Jihad in the way of Allah is the highest of all deeds.' When an argument started between those two, Sayyidna ` Umar ﷺ ؓ reprimanded both of them and said, ` stop quarreling near the Mimbar of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .The proper thing to do is to say your Jumu'ah prayer first, then you can go and ask the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself about it.' As suggested, they did go to the Holy Prophet ؓ to find out his opinion on the matter. Thereupon, these verses were revealed where Jihad has been identified as the deed superior to the ` building' of the Sacred Mosque and the serving of water to pilgrims.

There is nothing far out about the possibility that the revelation of the verses themselves may have been aimed as an answer to the pride and arrogance of the Mushriks. Later, when unpleasant things took place among Muslims, it is quite possible that the same verses were used as the deciding argument - which might have given the listeners the feeling that these particular verses were revealed in the background of that particular event.

However, the present 'ayat of the Qur'an carry an answer to both these kinds of events - that an accomplishment, no matter how good and acceptable, is reduced to zero if it smacks of Shirk. Therefore, no Mushrik is superior to Muslims because of his association with the maintenance of the Mosque or the serving of water to pilgrims. And even after their rejection of disbelief and entry into Faith, the status of 'Iman and Jihad is much higher than the maintenance of the Sacred Mosque and the serving of water to pilgrims. Muslims who took the initiative in 'Iman and Jihad are superior to Muslims who did not take part in Jihad and remained rendering these services to the Sacred Mosque and the pilgrims.

After these introductory remarks, let us go back to the words of the verses and their translation once again. It reads:

أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَايَةَ الْحَاجِّ وَعِمَارَ‌ةَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَ‌امِ كَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ‌ وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ ۚ لَا يَسْتَوُونَ عِندَ اللَّـهِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿19﴾

Have you taken the serving of water to the pilgrims and the maintenance of Al-masjid-al-Haram as equal to (the acts) of one who believes in Allah and in the Last Day, and takes up jihad in the way of Allah? They are not equal in the sight of Allah -19)

Seen contextually, the purpose is to urge that each one from 'Iman and Jihad is superior to the serving of water to pilgrims and the maintenance of the Mosque, that is, 'Iman too is superior to both, and Jihad too. Thus, the superiority of 'Iman provides an answer to what the Mushriks said and the superiority of Jihad corrects Muslims who said that maintaining the Mosque and serving water to pilgrims were superior to Jihad.

The Dhikr of Allah is superior to Jihad

Qadi Thana'ullah has said in Tafsir Mazhari, ` the precedence given to Jihad over the maintenance of the Mosque has been done in terms of physical and outward maintenance, that is, the building, repair, cleaning and allied arrangements - for it goes without saying that Jibad takes precedence over these.'

But, the maintenance (` imarah) of the masjid is not restricted to this sense alone. It has another meaning also, that of being present in the masjid for ` Ibadah and Dhikr of Allah, which also applies here strongly. In fact, the genuine flowering of the objective of making, maintaining and manning the masjid with eager devotees comes out from this factor alone. Given this sense, the maintenance of the masjid - as very clearly stated by the Holy Prophet ﷺ - is superior to Jihad. To substantiate, we can refer to the report of Sayyidna Abu al-Darda' ؓ appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad and in Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah. According to this report, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` should I not tell you about an act that is superior to all your acts and certainly more so in the sight of your Master? - This act would raise your ranks to the highest levels, would be even superior to spending gold and silver in the way of Allah, and still be way superior to that you bravely fight your enemies in Jihad where you kill them and they kill you?' The noble Companions ؓ said, ` Do tell us about that act, Ya Rasulallah.' He said, ` that act is the Dhikr of Allah.' This tells us that the merit of the Dhikr of Allah is more pronounced than that of Jihad also. And if the ` maintenance of the masjid' is taken in the sense of the Dhikr of Allah, then, it is superior to Jihad. But, at this place, the pride shown by the Mushriks was not based on the Dhikr of Allah and the ` Ibadah performed in the masjid, instead, it was based on its structural and administrative aspects. Therefore, Jihad was deemed as su-perior to that.

And when we deliberate into different statements of the Qur'an and Sunnah as a whole, it appears that the phenomena of the superiority of one act over the other depends on attending conditions and circumstances. There are conditions when one act is superior to the other. With a change in conditions, things could be the other way round. When Islam and Muslims must be defended at all costs, at that time Jihad shall definitely be more merit worthy as compared to all ` Ibadat - as evident from the event of the battle of Khandaq where the Holy Prophet ﷺ had to miss four of his daily prayers (qada). Conversely, when the need is not so acute, the Dhikr of Allah and ` Ibadah will be more merit worthy as compared to Jihad.

At the end of the verse (19), by saying: وَاللَّـهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ (And Allah does not lead the wrongdoing people to the right path), it was pointed out that the thing they were being told about was not difficult to understand. In fact, it was clear, as clear as it can be - that 'Iman is the foundation of all that is done, and is superior to all of them. Then comes Jihad that is superior as compared to the maintenance of the masjid and serving water to pilgrims. But, Allah Ta` ala does not bless the unjust and the wrongdoing with the gift of understanding. Therefore, they keep at their crooked hairsplitting into things that are otherwise very open and obvious.