Commentary:

Not accepting the decision of the Holy Prophet is Kufr

This verse, while projecting a powerful view of the highly exalted station of the noble Prophet(saws), presents a very explicit statement concerning the need to obey him, something conclusively proved by so many verses of the Holy Qur’an. The verse opens with the ultimate oath, "by your Lord", following which Allah Almighty proclaims that nobody can become a Muslim unless he accepts the verdict of the Holy Prophet willingly, calmly and fully to the extent that there remain seven in his heart not the slightest strain because of this verdict.

The Holy Prophet (saws) is himself the exerciser of God-given authority over his community in his capacity as the Messenger of Allah and he is thus responsible for adjudicating in every dispute that may arise. The authority he exercises in making decisions certainly does not depend upon his being made a judge by some litigants. We should also keep in mind that Muslims have been asked to make the Prophet their judge because people are generally not satisfied with judgements delivered by someone appointed by the government as compared with an arbitrator they themselves choose to have. But, the Holy Prophet is not only the ruler of a state, he is a Messenger of Allah, protected by Him against sins, and sent as mercy for the worlds, and also a loving father for his community - so, the compassionate instruction given is that, whenever a situation of conflict arises in social or religious matters, the contesting parties are duty-bound to make the Holy Prophet the arbitrator and judge and have him give the final verdict, and once the verdict has been given by him, let them all accept it whole-heartedly and act accordingly.

The Authority of the Holy Prophet extends to all times

Commentators say that acting in accordance with this command of the Holy Qur’an is not restricted to the blessed times when he graced this mortal world. After him, the verdict of the sacred Law left by him, is nothing but his own verdict. Therefore, the rule reigns supreme right through the Last Day, the rule that guidance should be sought by turning directly to the Holy Prophet during his blessed life-time, and after him, one must turn to his Shariah which is, in all reality, a return to him, may Allah bless him for ever and ever.

Some problems and their solutions

1. To begin with, as already stated earlier, the rule is that a person who is not satisfied with the decision given by the Holy Prophet in every dispute and in every problem or issue, is not a Muslim. As we already know, this was the reason why Sayyidna 'Umar killed the person who was not satisfied with the decision given by the Holy Prophet, following which he carried the case to Sayyidna' Umar for an alternate judgement. The heirs of the person killed went to the court of the Holy Prophet with a suit against Sayyidna 'Umar accusing him of having killed a Muslim without a valid legal reason. It is important to note here, and this has not been taken up earlier that the following words, when the case was presented before the Holy Prophet came out spontaneously from his blessed lips: "I never thought 'Umar will ever dare killing a believing Muslim. This proves that the higher authority, when approached with an appeal against the decision of a lower authority, should not take sides with his subordinate authority, but should come up with a decision based on justice and fairness alone, as it has been 'illustrated above where the Holy Prophet expressed his displeasure over the decision of Sayyidna 'Umar - before the revelation of the verse had a bearing on this incident. Once this verse was revealed, the reality came out in the open that the person killed was not a believing Muslim as confirmed by this verse.

2. The second ruling which emerges from the expression: (in the disputes which arise) settles that it is not restricted to dealings and rights alone; it covers articles of belief, ideas and many other theoretical problems. (al -Bahral -Muhit) Therefore, given such a wide spectrum of intellectual and social activity, it is not unlikely that things could go to the undesirable limits of mutual differences in views and ways when confronting a certain problem. When this does happen, it is the duty of a Muslim not to continue mutual disputation, instead of which, both parties should revert back to the Holy Prophet (saws), and when he is not with them personally, they must revert back to his Shariah to search for the solution of their problems.

3. The third rule of self-assessment that we find from here is: Doing something, which was provenly said or done by the Holy Prophet with a heavy heart is a sign of weakness in faith. For example, there are occasions when the Shariah has allowed the performance of Salah by making tayammum in place of the regular wudu with water; now, if a person feels uneasy and not so satisfied with the idea of making the symbolic tayammum in place of a regular wudu would very much like to do, then, he should not take this attitude of his as a sign of taqwa or piety, instead,he should take it to be caused by some spiritual sickness. Who can be more muttaqi, more God-fearing than the Holy Prophet? If the form and condition in which he allowed people to perform their prayers while sitting - and he himself performed it while sitting - does not find favour with a person looking for the satisfaction of his heart, and he elects to undergo unbearable hardship by insisting to stand and perform his prayer in that position, then, he better be sure that there is some sickness in his heart. However, if a person, whose pain or discomfort or need is not that acute, elects not to use the leave (rukhsah) given to him by the Shariah and, instead of that, chooses to take the path of high determination (Azimah) which is, then, correct in accordance with the very teaching of the Holy Prophet. But feeling any strain in utilizing the leaves (rukhsah)granted by the Shariah as some sort of absolute rule is no taqwa. It is for this reason that the Holy Prophet (saws) has said: 'the way Allah Almighty is pleased with what is done with high determination, so is He pleased with what is done by using leaves.'