In the science of commentary there are the terms nasikh and mansukh. Nasikh means “that which abrogates” and mansukh “that which is abrogated”. In the Qur’an the mansukh is divided further into two kinds:

• Mansukh Tilawatan: here the verse of the Qur’an in question is no longer present (it has been removed) but the ruling it dealt with still stands.
• Mansukh Hukman: here the verse of the Qur’an in question is still present, but the matter (the ruling) it laid down no longer applies. This is the case in surah Al-Mujaadilah verse 12, which we will discuss more deeply below.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِذَا نَٰجَيۡتُمُ ٱلرَّسُولَ فَقَدِّمُواْ بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡ نَجۡوَىٰكُمۡ صَدَقَةٗۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيۡرٞ لَّكُمۡ وَأَطۡهَرُۚ فَإِن لَّمۡ تَجِدُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٌ

Mujaadilah (QS58):12
“O you who believe, when you wish to consult (najwa) the Messenger, give charity to the poor before you consult. That is better for you and purer. And if you find nothing to give, then indeed Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

The verse above states that when the believers wished to ask something of the Messenger of Allah, they had first to meet the condition of giving charity. As has been said, Al-Mujaadilah:12 is a verse of the Mansukh Hukman class, so that ruling applied only at one time (that is, when the verse came down) and no longer applies thereafter. This of course gives the verse a particular meaning, and it is fitting that we as Muslims should understand the event behind the verse and take benefit from it.

The occasion of the verse’s revelation began with a habit of the companions of the Prophet SAAW, who after every prayer would put questions to the Messenger SAAW in his teaching circle. The custom at that time was that the well-off among the Prophet’s companions sat in the front row, while the less well-off companions sat behind them. From this Allah tested the faith of those (well-off companions) by sending down Al-Mujaadilah:12. As has been said, this verse gives a command of charity to those who are able, while it says that if one has not the means to give charity, then Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. That command applied only at that time; for the days that followed, until the Day of Resurrection, it was no longer needed.

Subhanallah! When this verse came down, not one of the companions asked anything of the Messenger SAAW, except one man: Amirul Mu’minin Ali bin Abi Thalib a.s. Tafsir Al-Kasyaf by Zamakhsyari and the book Minhajul Karomah by Abu Na’im explain that only Ali bin Abi Thalib a.s. gave charity and put questions to the Messenger of Allah SAAW. At that time Amirul Mu’minin a.s had one dinar, which he a.s. then changed into ten dirhams. Amirul Mu’minin then used each dirham of that money to put a question to the Messenger of Allah SAAW. These ten questions put by Amirul Mukminin stand for the questions of all the believers, as provision for life. For this reason Al-Mujaadilah:12 came to be known as “Ayatun Najwa”

The excellence of that Ayatun Najwa can be seen from the following report. Abdullah ibn Umar, son of Umar bin Khattab, said: “If Allah were to give me one of three excellences of Ali ibn Abi Thalib, I would like that excellence better than a red camel(1), namely: 1. Being given the banner at the battle of Khaibar. 2. Having Fathimah az-Zahra as his wife. 3. The Ayatun Najwa.”

How great is the meaning of the Ayatun Najwa! So let us try to understand the meaning of that verse by taking in and drawing wisdom from the ten questions Amirul Mukminin Ali bin Abi Thalib as put to Ar-Rasul SAAW.

Those questions are:

1. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is loyalty?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: “Syahadatun La illaha ilallah (to bear witness that there is no object of worship but Allah)”

This question about loyalty is about true loyalty, not loyalty in this illusory life. So the meaning of loyalty is not merely what is seen but loyalty in reality, namely our loyalty as creatures to Allah SWT.

وَإِذۡ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِيٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمۡ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمۡ وَأَشۡهَدَهُمۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمۡ أَلَسۡتُ بِرَبِّكُمۡۖ قَالُواْ بَلَىٰ شَهِدۡنَآۚ أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنۡ هَٰذَا غَٰفِلِينَ

Al-A’raaf (QS7) verse 172: ”... Allah called them to witness against themselves. Am I not your Lord? They answered, yes, we bear witness. Lest on the Day of Resurrection you should say, indeed we, the children of Adam, were unmindful of this.”

How then does Allah call mankind to witness? Imam Ja’far Shadiq a.s. explains that we see Allah with the eye of the heart, that is, with the reality of faith, not physically.

Allah SWT asked mankind to bear witness by asking “Am I your Lord?”, which mankind answered “Yes”. This pledge of loyalty by mankind will be called in again by Allah SWT on the Day of Resurrection(2).

وَنَفۡسٖ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا

فَأَلۡهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقۡوَىٰهَا

قَدۡ أَفۡلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا

Will mankind be able to keep its pledge?
QS 91 (Asy-Syams) verses 7 - 9: “And (by) the soul and Him who perfected it. And He inspired it with its wickedness and its piety. Indeed successful is the one who keeps that soul pure”

The verse above says “by the soul and its perfecting”, which means Allah perfected the soul in the world of spirits. For this reason the spirit of every human being is pure. In addition to that perfecting, Allah gave the human soul inspiration to attain goodness and piety, and with it to tell good from evil. So we may conclude that all human beings are in essence created not only in perfection, but also equipped with the capacity to attain goodness and piety — in other words, the capacity to keep their pledge of loyalty to Allah SWT. That is why the end of the verse says that those who prosper are the ones who keep the purity of their souls, not who purify those souls(3), because the human soul was pure to begin with.

That is the loyalty the Messenger of Allah SAAW meant in the Ayatun Najwa. Our true loyalty as creatures is to keep to our testimony, to keep our purity from the world of spirits until we return at last to Allah SWT.

2. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is corruption?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: ”Asy Syirik wa Kufur (associating partners with Allah, and disbelief)”

The corruption meant here is inward corruption, not outward. Outward corruption is the fruit of inward corruption.

The Qur’an says “corruption has appeared on land and sea by what the hands of men have wrought.” Corruption of land or sea is outward corruption. But if we think further, the people who work that corruption are people without faith, people who by shirk and disbelief work corruption on this earth.

3. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is truth (haq)?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: ”al Islam, wal Qur’an, wal Wilayah.” (Islam, the Qur’an and Wilayah)

Truth is described as Islam and the Qur’an. Why is wilayah included as well, when Islam is already the form (the vessel) and the Qur’an is already its law?

وَأَنذِرۡ عَشِيرَتَكَ ٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَ

Asy-Syu’ara (QS26):214 “And warn your nearest kindred.”

The occasion of that verse’s revelation is that the Messenger of Allah SAAW was commanded to gather the Bani Hasyim on the hill of Shafa. The Prophet then stood on the hill and called his family to tawhid, while the answer of all of them was refusal. Only Imam Ali a.s. answered the call of the Messenger of Allah SAAW, and was then appointed by the Messenger as his washi SAAW.

4. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is hilah?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: “abandon hilah”

What is hilah? Hilah is an act by which one evades an obligation of religious law. For example, when the time comes for a person to pay khums, that person spends his money so that the ruling on khums does not fall on him — when the spending was not needed at all. Another example: a person is loath to fast, and travels in and out of town so as to escape the obligation of fasting.

5. Amirul Mukminin Ali As: What must one hold to in this life?
The Messenger SAAW: “Obedience to Allah and His Messenger.”

6. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: How should I supplicate to Allah?
The Messenger SAAW: “With honesty and with certainty.”

Since Allah bids mankind ask (supplicate) of Him, the question arises how we are to ask. The answer is: with honesty and with certainty. The meaning of honesty is that when we ask, we truly ask of Allah — not so as to be seen by others, or to be noticed by others.

۞يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ أَنتُمُ ٱلۡفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۖ وَٱللَّهُ هُوَ ٱلۡغَنِيُّ ٱلۡحَمِيدُ

Fatir (QS35):15
“O mankind, you are the ones in need of Allah, and Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy”

And what of certainty? The Messenger said that when we ask of Allah we must be certain that at that moment Allah has granted our supplication. Let there be no lingering thought in the heart or word on the tongue of “may Allah grant that supplication”, because that means we are not certain Allah grants our supplication.

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدۡعُونِيٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِي سَيَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ

Al-Mu’Min (QS40):60
“Call upon Me and I will answer you. Indeed those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell in humiliation”

A hadith of the Messenger of Allah saw:
Ask of Allah your every need; take refuge in HIM when calamity comes; humble yourself before HIM and supplicate to HIM, for supplication is the essence of worship. And there is no believer who supplicates to Allah but that HE will grant it: it may be that Allah grants your supplication in this world, or defers it to be given in the hereafter, or that Allah will erase his sins to the measure of his supplication — so long as he does not ask while in a state of sin

7. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What should I ask of Allah?
The Messenger SAAW: “When you ask of Allah, do not ask for anything else first; ask for well-being (afiyah).”
Afiyah (well-being) already encompasses everything. If we recall, there is the supplication Allahumma inni as ‘alukal afwa wal afiyah, that is, grant (O Allah) pardon and well-being.

8. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What must I do for my own safety?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: “eat what is lawful and speak the truth”

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلرُّسُلُ كُلُواْ مِنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَٱعۡمَلُواْ صَٰلِحًاۖ إِنِّي بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ عَلِيمٞ

Al-Mu’minun (QS23):51 “O messengers, eat of the good things and do righteous deeds”

In discussing that verse, we must understand the science of commentary in the Qur’an, where interpretation falls into four parts:
- ibarah
- isyarah
- lathoif
- haqoiq
Ibarah is the commentary for ordinary people, such as ourselves, who understand a verse only as it reads (without examining its meaning). Isyarah is the commentary for those willing to go deeper into the Qur’an. Lathoif is the commentary for the awliya of Allah. Haqoiq is the commentary reserved for al-Anbiya wal mursalin, and also al-ma’shumin.

Back to the verse above: the Ibarah interpretation of it is as it reads, namely eat what is good and do righteous deeds. The Isyarah commentary of that verse, meanwhile, is that good and lawful food will bring us to truthfulness.

9. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is happiness?
The Messenger of Allah SAAW: “al Jannah (paradise)”
What Amirul Mu’minin a.s asked about was not illusory happiness, the happiness of this world. What is asked about here is true happiness.

For this reason the Messenger of Allah SAAW answered that true happiness is paradise.

If we speak of happiness, even a disbeliever can feel happy — but that is outward happiness. True happiness, meanwhile, is inward happiness, everlasting happiness, namely al-Jannah. All happiness other than paradise is not happiness but only illusion. All the trials that befall us are not trials, except the fire of Hell, for the fire of Hell is the true trial.

Amirul Mu’minin a.s. said in his supplication, “O Allah, I love every kind of obedience to You, whatever kind it be, though I do not practise it. And I hate every kind of disobedience to You, though I commit it. So grant me Your paradise.”

10. Amirul Mukminin Ali as: What is tranquillity?
The Messenger SAAW: “meeting with the Divine”

The tranquillity we feel now, perhaps because a problem we faced has been resolved, is only an illusory tranquillity — a worldly tranquillity. But if we ask about tranquillity in reality, everlasting tranquillity is nothing other than our meeting with Allah, the Creator.

قُلۡ إِنَّمَآ أَنَا۠ بَشَرٞ مِّثۡلُكُمۡ يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَآ إِلَٰهُكُمۡ إِلَٰهٞ وَٰحِدٞۖ فَمَن كَانَ يَرۡجُواْ لِقَآءَ رَبِّهِۦ فَلۡيَعۡمَلۡ عَمَلٗا صَٰلِحٗا وَلَا يُشۡرِكۡ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِۦٓ أَحَدَۢا

Al-Kahf (QS18):110 “..whoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and associate none with his Lord..”

What is meant by meeting in this verse is meeting with the heart, because Allah cannot be seen with the eye of sense. In paradise mankind will feel the meeting with their Lord, but in this world the people of irfan can meet their Lord. When the heart has been able to meet Allah, paradise is of no account.

Such are the ten questions of Amirul Mukminin Ali as, questions that do not cross the human heart, questions that hold real meaning and not mere illusion, which will be provision for life and a guide for mankind on the way to Allah SWT and to attaining true happiness.

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(1) At that time the red camel was a source of pride for the Arabs and very few people owned one
(2) This pledge of mankind was then affixed by Allah SWT to the Hajar Aswad. For this reason Muslims are encouraged to kiss the Hajar Aswad in the rites of Hajj and Umrah
(3) Some translations render it “Successful are those who purify their souls”. That statement is not accurate, because it is Allah who purifies the human soul