Surah Quraysh

Abstract

For the civilizing (taming) of the Quraysh For their civilizing We
have caused the caravans to move forth In Winter and in Summer
So let them worship the Lord of this House who has fed them
against hunger And has made them safe from fear
The Glorious Quran (Surah 106)
(translated by M. Pickthall)
The nature and scope of an Islamic economic system has been the subject
of considerable discussion in recent years. While there is something of a
consensus on the point that Islamic economics is neither Capitalism nor
Socialism, there is considerably more debate on the prevalence and extent
of state intervention in an Islamic economy. Perhaps a closer look at Surah
Quraysh may be helpful in this context. The surah is one of the earliest surahs
to be revealed and it belongs to a period when Islam was laying forth its
general ideological outlines to the idolators of Makkah. It extracts a message
from commercial life of Quraysh and it adumbrates a world view which can
be helpful in guiding us to fmt principles.
The translation I am using is that of Pickthall and it is important that
he tries to provide as literal an interpretation of the Holy Qur’an as is feasible.
The word “i-la-f,” which Pickthall translates as ’’taming” civilizing” has been
variously translated by other authors as “gathering,” “security,” and ”union.”
Without claiming any expertise in Arabic etymology, it may be pointed out
that neither “gathering” nor “union” is quite consistent with the subsequent
text, which focuses on the commercial success of Quraysh due to the location
of the Ka'bah at Makkah. It is not Quraysh who were “gathered” or ”united”,
at the religious fairs, if one may so term the occasions. “Security,” on the
other hand, is not in direct opposition to the meaning of the next siimh but
the connotation, as relating to armed warfare, is inappropriate in this context ...