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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Commentary on Tafsir al-Jalalayn: “And who is better in speech” meaning no one is better in speech “than one who calls to Allah” through tawhid (the oneness of Allah) “and does good deeds and says

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Then He, the Exalted, said:
And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims." ومَن أحسن قولًا ممن دعا إلى الله وعمل صالِحًا وقال إنني من المسلمين
[Fussilat 41:33]
These are three descriptions; if a person possesses them, there is no better speech than his. Allah the Exalted says:
And who is better in speech ومن أحْسَن قولًا
[Fussilat 41:33]
“meaning no one is better in speech” The author’s interpretation of this phrase indicates that
Whoeverمَن
is an interrogative name, but it carries the meaning of negation,
Who is betterمَن أحسن
meaning no one is better. Pay attention: when an interrogative name or an interrogative comes with the meaning of negation, it is imbued with the meaning of challenge. Which is more eloquent: to say “no one is better in speech than one who calls to Allah,” or to say “who is better?” The second is more eloquent because it includes both the negation and the challenge, as if it says: “Bring me proof that there is anyone better than one who calls to Allah.” Pay attention! Every interrogative that comes with the meaning of negation is imbued with the meaning of challenge, because when you say “who is such-and-such,” it means I challenge you to bring me something other than that. So,
Whoeverمَن
“who is better” is a stronger negation than saying “what?”
No one is betterلا أحد أحسن
, because it is an interrogative sentence imbued with the meaning of challenge.
Betterأحسن
“better” is the predicate of the subject, and
Whoمن
is the subject, and
a statementقولًا
is the specification, because whenever a noun in the accusative case comes after a superlative noun, it is its specification.
who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah من أحسن قولا ممن دعا إلى الله
[Fussilat 41:33]
The author said: “through tawhid (the oneness of Allah)” This is undoubtedly good, but the verse is more comprehensive than tawhid (the oneness of Allah)
than one who invites to Allah ممن دعا إلى الله
[Fussilat 41:33]
through tawhid (the oneness of Allah), good deeds, and other things ... to Allah. And His saying:
than one who invites to Allah ممن دعا إلى الله
[Fussilat 41:33]
means to the religion of Allah, and the religion of Allah includes tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and good deeds ... He said:
And does good deeds وعمِل صالحًا
So he began with reforming others, then followed with reforming the self, even though one who calls to Allah is also reforming his own self.
and did a righteous deed وعمل صالحا
Good deedsصالحا
is an attribute of a described noun that is omitted; the intended meaning is: “and he did a good deed.” And a deed is not good except with two conditions: sincerity to Allah and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Okay ... it is an attribute of a described noun that is omitted; the intended meaning is: “he did a good deed.” Okay, when is a deed good? The question is for you. Okay, you have done well: sincerity to Allah the Exalted and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So, is the deed of the one who shows off in worship a good deed? ... It lacks sincerity. And is the deed of the innovator good? No, because it lacks following [the Prophet]. And thus we say to these innovators who have sincerity to Allah: your deeds are futile. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
He who did any act for which there is no sanction from our behalf, that is to be rejected. مَن عمِل عملًا ليس عليه أمرنا فهو رد
Sahih Muslim 1718b
Then we say: the reality of sincerity necessitates that you do not worship Allah except by what He has prescribed; do not worship Him by your desires. Because if you worship Allah by your desires through religious innovation, you are not sincere. The sincere one must worship Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, by what He has prescribed. So, the good deed consists of two things: first, sincerity. Second, following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
He said:
and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims." وقال إنني من المسلمين
[Fussilat 41:33]
Did he say it with his tongue or with his heart? With both. If someone says: His saying:
Indeed, I am of the Muslims." إني من المسلمين
[Fussilat 41:33]
is undoubtedly part of the good deed, so what is the benefit of that? We say: the benefit is that he declares this statement and does not care about opposition, because some people do good deeds but you find them hiding, lacking the courage to declare it. But this one declares it and says it with his speech.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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