Session Eight, Verses 58 and 59, The Five Parts of Verse 58, Part One

Session Eight

Verses 58 and 59 – The Five Parts of Verse 58 – Part One: “And [Recall] When We Said: Enter This Town” – Point One

October 29, 2024

The Five Parts of Verse 58

After the general explanation of these two verses and the discussion of their individual terms and their connection to the preceding verses, in the exegetical discussion, following the established method of this course, we divide these verses into several parts. Verse 58 may be divided into five parts. These five parts comprise four commands together with the fruit and outcome resulting from these divine commands. Among these four commands, it should be noted, some carry an instrumental aspect (muqaddami) while others carry an intrinsic aspect (nafsi).

Part One: “And [recall] when We said: Enter this town” («وَإِذْ قُلْنَا ادْخُلُوا هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةَ») — remember the time when We commanded you to enter this town. This is one command: the command to enter this town.

Part Two: “and eat freely therein wherever you wish” («فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ رَغَدًا») — this part likewise contains a further command.

Part Three: “and enter through the gate prostrating” («وَادْخُلُوا الْبَابَ سُجَّدًا») — this too contains a command: the command to enter that town in a state of humility and reverence.

Part Four: “and say, ‘Hittah‘” («وَقُولُوا حِطَّةٌ») — the command to utter and give voice to the request for the forgiveness of sins and the seeking of pardon.

Part Five: “so that We may forgive you your sins, and We shall surely grant increase to those who do good” («نَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطَايَاكُمْ وَسَنَزِيدُ الْمُحْسِنِينَ») — this part addresses the fruit, recompense, and reward for compliance with the preceding four commands.

These, then, are the five parts which we must, God willing, set forth in exegesis.

Part One: “And [Recall] When We Said: Enter This Town”

This is the first of the four commands contained in this verse. A command has been given to enter this town.

Point One

The first point we must address here is whether this command is obligatory or non-obligatory. That is, does “enter” («ادخلوا») mean that entry is absolutely required, or is the command non-obligatory — or, to put it another way, does it convey mere permissibility (ibahah); that is, you are permitted to enter this town.

Indication of a Non-Obligatory Command

The reasoning behind this possibility is that they had previously been forbidden from entering this land. We have noted that, on account of the ingratitude, sin, transgression, and rebellion that the Children of Israel displayed, they wandered for forty years in that wilderness and were forbidden from entering this land. Hence, since this command was preceded by a prohibition or restriction — or, to put it another way, since the command here stands in the position of lifting a prior restriction — it therefore indicates mere permissibility.

Two Indications of an Obligatory Command

Some exegetes have stated that this command is in fact obligatory; “enter this town” («ادخلوا هذه القرية») means that you must, without fail, enter this town and this land. Al-Razi has referred to two grounds and arguments in support of the obligatory nature of this command:

The first is that this is obligatory on the basis of being a necessary precondition (muqaddamah) for an obligation; for the obligation here is entering through the gate while prostrating, and this is a religious obligation. When the verse says “enter,” this command is naturally an obligatory command and a religious duty. Hence, since entering through this gate and entering it in a state of humility and reverence is contingent and conditional upon entering the town, it follows that, on the principle that a necessary precondition for an obligation is itself obligatory, this too becomes obligatory. Or, put another way, on the principle that “that without which an obligation cannot be fulfilled is itself obligatory” (la yatimmu al-wajibu illa bihi fa-huwa wajibun). Hence, on the basis of being a precondition for an obligation, this too must be obligatory and required.
The second ground is the verse “Enter the holy land which God has ordained for you, and do not turn back” («ادْخُلُوا الْأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ الَّتِي كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَرْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِكُمْ»). This verse bears a fairly clear indication that entry into the holy land is a divine obligation — a land which God has made it necessary for you to enter. Here, “kataba” carries the meaning of “wajaba” (made obligatory) — that is, a land which He has made obligatory for you to be in, or a land which God has appointed for you, that is, “kataba” in the sense of “ja’ala” (designated). In any case, al-Razi states that, since this verse makes fairly clear that God has ordained this for you — “kataba Allahu lakum,” meaning that you should be within this holy land — it becomes evident that the command to enter this town is an obligatory command.

The case for permissibility, too, has been set forth: were we to say that the command to enter this town is non-obligatory, this would be on the grounds that the command follows a prior restriction and prohibition against entering this town. When this prohibition is lifted, this means that you are now able to do so, and that this is permitted and lawful for you; it does not mean that you must necessarily go, and that anyone who does not enter has thereby committed a sin.

It is not unlikely that we should adopt the first possibility — namely, that this command is obligatory — on account of the two grounds referred to, and we may, of course, append certain further indications to this. For this command was issued in the context of a set of commands; aside from “and enter through the gate prostrating,” which has already been discussed, there is the command to request the forgiveness of sin, followed by God’s statement that We shall forgive you. It is as though this entire set of commands and instructions constituted a difficult and demanding obligation for this people, so that their sins might be forgiven — that is, the granting of a second opportunity to the Children of Israel to cover over and remedy their past errors. Although here too a further act of ingratitude was subsequently revealed, nevertheless, given the series of acts of opposition and rebellion that followed, God here refers to a further blessing — namely, as I have noted, their emergence from forty years of bewilderment and wandering in that land, and their entry into a place where every variety of blessing was made available to them.

In addition to the two indications referred to, we may cite further indications as well: one is the context (siyaq) of these two verses themselves, and another is the preparation of the ground for divine forgiveness, pardon, and mercy, so that their sins might be cleansed — along with certain other indications.

The second point is whether this command is intrinsic (nafsi) or instrumental (ghayri). As noted, it is not unlikely that we should say this command is instrumental; that is, entry into this town serves the purpose of making use of these blessings and bringing about a state of humility and reverence. This point, however, carries little importance.

Topic of the Next Session

The more important matter, however, concerns the town itself — namely, to which city or land this town is here applied. We have already set forth the general meaning of the term qaryah and explained this term. What matters now is whether what is meant by “town” is Egypt itself, or Jerusalem, or Jericho — each of these views has its proponents; there are several possibilities here, which we shall pursue in the coming session.