2. Al-Baqara

O you who believe when you contract when you are dealing with a debt such as in prepayment for future delivery of goods or a loan one upon another for a stated a known term write it down as confirmation and security against any dispute; and let a writer write it the contract of debt down between you justly accurately not increasing or decreasing the amount or the terms; and let not any writer refuse to write it down if he is requested for such a task as God has taught him the kāf of ka-mā ‘as’ is semantically connected to the verb ya’ba ‘refuse’ that is just as He has given him the advantage of knowing how to write he should not be niggardly in this respect; so let him write repeated for emphasis and let the debtor dictate to the one writing the contract for he is the one being witnessed and must be fully aware of his obligations; and let him fear God his Lord when dictating and not diminish anything of it of the debt due. And if the debtor be a fool a squanderer or weak not up to dictating on account of old age or immaturity or unable to dictate himself on account of being dumb or not knowing the language and so forth then let his guardian the one in charge of his affairs be it a parent an executor a custodian or an interpreter dictate justly. And summon to bear witness the debt two witnesses men mature Muslim free men; or if the two witnesses be not men then one man and two women to bear witness such witnesses as you approve of on account of their piety and probity; the number of women is because of the fact so that if one of the two women errs forgets the testimony given their lesser astuteness and accuracy; the other the one remembering will remind her read fa-tudhakkira or fa-tudhkira the one that has forgotten — the ‘reminding’ clause is the reason for the choice of two women that is to say so that she may be reminded if she errs or strays into error because this forgetfulness is the cause of it a variant reading for an ‘that’ has the conditional in ‘if’ with the verb inflected as tudhakkiru ‘she will remind’ making it a new sentence the response to which follows; and let the witnesses not refuse whenever the mā of idhā mā ‘whenever’ is extra they are summoned to bear witness and take responsibility for the testimony; and be not disdainful lazy to write it down that which you have witnessed in truth for this frequently occurred be it small or great a little or much with its term that is the date on which it is due ilā ajlihi is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the pronominal suffix hā’ of taktubū-hu ‘you write it down’; that writing down is more equitable more just in God’s sight more upright for testimony that is to say that is more helpful in summoning witness because it contains the reminder; and nearer closer to attaining the desired state that you will not be in doubt with regard to the amount and the due dates; unless it be that there is trade carried out there and then tijāratun hādiratun a variant reading has tijāratan hādiratan in which case the nominal sentence is missing its subject and must be the pronoun for tijāra ‘trade’ that is hiya ‘it fem.

And if you are upon a journey travelling and you contract a debt and you do not find a writer then a pledge ruhun or rihān plural of rahn in hand as a guarantee for you. The Sunna clarifies the permissibility of making pledges in towns where writers may be forthcoming; but the stipulation is made in the event of travel because in this case it is more important to have a guarantee; God’s reference to it being ‘in hand’ maqbūda is a condition for the pledge given to be valid and to satisfy the pledgee or his representative. But if one of you the creditor trusts another the debtor over the debt and does not require a pledge let him who is trusted the debtor deliver his trust the debt; and let him fear God his Lord when delivering it. And do not conceal the testimony if you are summoned to give it; whoever conceals it his heart is sinful the heart is mentioned because it is the locus of the testimony and because if it sins there are other sinful consequences and so the person will be punished as though he were a sinner; and God knows what you do nothing of which can be hidden from Him.

To God belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Whether you disclose manifest what is in your hearts or hide it of evil and resolve for it God shall take you to account for it informing you of it on the Day of Resurrection. Then He will forgive whom He will to forgive and chastise whom He will to chastise both verbs are apocopated fa-yaghfir ‘he will forgive’ wa-yu‘adhdhib ‘he will chastise’ if taken as the responses to the conditional in tubdū ‘if you proclaim’; but they may also be read with a final nominative inflection yaghfiru yu‘adhdhibu in which case it would constitute a new clause and follow on from an implicit fa-huwa ‘then He’. And God has power over all things including reckoning with you and requiting you.

The Messenger Muhammad (s) believes in affirms the truth of what was revealed to him from his Lord namely the Qur’ān and the believers wa’l-mu’minūna is a supplement to al-rasūlu ‘the Messenger’; each one the tanwīn of kullun stands in place of the second noun in an annexation sc. kullu wāhidin believes in God and His angels and in His Books all of them and each of them and His messengers and they say ‘we make no distinction between any of His messengers’ believing in some and disbelieving in others in the manner of the Jews and the Christians. And they say ‘We hear what we have been enjoined to hear and accept and obey; we ask you Your forgiveness our Lord; to You is the homecoming’ that is the return at the Resurrection. When the previous verse was revealed the believers complained of evil whisperings and it grieved them that they should be taken to account according to the principle expressed in it and so the following was revealed

God charges no soul save to its capacity that is what it is capable of bearing; for it is what it has merited of good and its reward and against it is what it has earned of evil and its burden no person shall be requited for another’s sin or for what he has not earned even if he was tempted to do it. Say Our Lord take us not to task by way of chastisement if we forget or err by straying from the right path unknowingly — as You used to take to task those before us God has lifted this burden from this community as reported in hadīth. The petition here then is a way of acknowledging God’s favour; our Lord burden us not with a load an affair which we cannot bear such as You did lay upon those before us namely upon the Children of Israel as for example the killing of oneself in repentance the paying of a quarter of one’s property for alms and the severing of the impure part. Our Lord do not burden us beyond what we have the power the strength to bear of obligations and trials; and pardon us effacing our sins and forgive us and have mercy on us with mercy added to Your forgiveness; You are our Patron our Master and the Guardian of our affairs; so grant us assistance against the disbelieving folk by establishing definitive proof for us and victory over them in battle for it is expected of a patron that he assist his clients against their enemies. In a hadīth it is stated that when this verse was revealed and the Prophet s was reciting it after each word it was said to him “Granted”.