Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 143

(Ayah 143)➊ The meaning of "wasat" is "middle." The best thing is also called "wasat" because the thing in the middle is the best. Here, it means "the best," as He said: «كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ اُمَّةٍ اُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ » [ آل عمران : ۱۱۰] "You are the best nation brought forth for mankind." Because between two points, the shortest and most correct line is the straight one. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that here it means "justice." [ بخاری، التفسیر : ۴۴۸۷] The meaning of "justice" is trustworthy and reliable, moderate in belief, morals, and actions, and free from the excesses and deficiencies of previous nations. There is neither the severity of the Jews nor the leniency of the Christians here. (Kabir, Qurtubi)

➋ {وَ كَذٰلِكَ … :} That is, just as these two things are complete with you and deficient with your opponents: first, that you believe in all the prophets, while the Jews and Christians believe in some and disbelieve in others; second, that your qiblah is the Ka'bah, which has been appointed since the time of Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is the leader of all, while the Jews, Christians, and their qiblah came later. In the same way, We have made you the best nation in every matter. Therefore, now it is your duty to guide others; it is not their duty to guide you. (Muwaddih)

➌ { لِتَكُوْنُوْا شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ } …: Three types of testimony are meant by this. The first is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) will testify that he conveyed the message of truth to the Companions, the Companions to the Followers, and likewise every generation of the Ummah will testify to those who come after them. The reason for this Ummah being the best is that they enjoin good and forbid evil, as stated in Surah Al-Imran (110): «كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ اُمَّةٍ اُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ », so Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave a sermon: "O people! You will be gathered before Allah barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised." Then he said: "And some people from my Ummah will be taken to the left, so I will say, 'O Lord! These are my companions.' It will be said, 'You do not know what they innovated after you.' So I will say as the righteous servant (Isa, peace be upon him) said: «وَ كُنْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيْدًا مَّا دُمْتُ فِيْهِمْ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِيْ كُنْتَ اَنْتَ الرَّقِيْبَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ اَنْتَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيْدٌ» [ المائدۃ : ۱۱۷] 'And I was a witness over you while I was among them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over you, and You are Witness over all things.'" [ بخاری، التفسیر، باب : «و کنت علیہم شہیدًا …» :۴۶۲۵] The same thing happened when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked the Companions in the Farewell Pilgrimage: "Have I conveyed (Allah's) message to you?" They all said: "Indeed, you have conveyed it." [بخاری، الحج، باب الخطبۃ أیام منٰی : ۱۷۴۱]

Now it is the duty of each of us to convey this message to those who come after, only then will he be able to testify over you and only then will he deserve to be called the "Ummah Wasat." And whoever remains silent despite seeing all the misguidance of the Muslim Ummah will neither be able to testify nor be included among the "Ummah Wasat." The second testimony is that which the Muslim Ummah will give over all previous nations based on the information given by Allah's Book, that their prophets conveyed Allah's commands to them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Nuh (peace be upon him) and his nation will come, and Allah will say, 'Did you convey the message?' He will say, 'Yes, O my Lord!' Then his nation will be asked, 'Did he convey the message to you?' They will say, 'No! No prophet came to us.' Then Allah will say to Nuh (peace be upon him), 'Who will testify for you?' He will say, 'Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Ummah.' Then we will testify that indeed he conveyed the message, and that is the saying of Allah: «وَ كَذٰلِكَ جَعَلْنٰكُمْ اُمَّةً وَّسَطًا لِّتَكُوْنُوْا شُهَدَآءَ عَلَى النَّاسِ » [ بخاری، أحادیث الأنبیاء، باب قول اللہ عزوجل : «ولقد أرسلنا … » : ۳۳۳۹، ۴۴۸۷، عن أبی سعید الخدری رضی اللہ عنہ ]

The third testimony is in this world, when Muslims testify to someone's goodness or badness, because of which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared Paradise for one funeral and Hell for another, and said: [ أَنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءُ اللّٰهِ فِي الْاَرْضِ] "You are Allah's witnesses on earth." [ بخاری، الجنائز، باب ثناء الناس علی المیت : ۱۳۶۷]

➍ {وَ مَا جَعَلْنَا الْقِبْلَةَ… :} This states one of the wisdoms of the change of qiblah. The Quraysh cherished the Ka'bah as their qiblah, and the People of the Book cherished Bayt al-Maqdis. First, Bayt al-Maqdis was appointed as the qiblah to test the Quraysh and their followers, then the Ka'bah was appointed to test the People of the Book. Abandoning one's beloved qiblah in obedience to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was extremely difficult for anyone except those who were rightly guided, so those who were not granted this guidance faltered. This verse also shows that the previous qiblah you used to face was also appointed by Allah, even though this command is not mentioned in the Qur'an. This is evidence that rulings were revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) besides the Qur'an, which are called "hidden revelation" or hadith, and believing in them is also obligatory like the Qur'an.

➎ {وَ مَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُضِيْعَ اِيْمَانَكُمْ:} Al-Bara' (may Allah be pleased with him) said that before the change of qiblah, several people had been killed or had died during the time of the previous qiblah, and we did not know what to say about them, so Allah revealed: «وَ مَا كَانَ اللّٰهُ لِيُضِيْعَ اِيْمَانَكُمْ » "And Allah would never cause your faith to be lost." That is, Allah will never waste your previous prayers. [بخاری، الإیمان، باب الصلاۃ من الإیمان : ۴۰] In this verse, Allah has called prayer "faith." It is clear from this that those who consider only affirmation by heart and declaration by tongue as faith are not correct; rather, actions are also a part of faith, and prayer and zakah are such parts that without them a person does not even become a part of the Islamic community «اِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ اِخْوَة», because Allah said: «فَاِنْ تَابُوْا وَ اَقَامُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَ اٰتَوُا الزَّكٰوةَ فَاِخْوَانُكُمْ فِي الدِّيْنِ» [ التوبۃ : ۱۱] "So if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakah, then they are your brothers in religion." And Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِنَّ بَیْنَ الرَّجُلِ وَ بَیْنَ الشِّرْکِ وَالْکُفْرِ تَرْکَ الصَّلاَۃِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب بیان إطلاق اسم … : ۸۲] "Between a man and shirk and disbelief is abandoning the prayer."