See 2:239.

To remain under God's domain and receive his blessings and support, the Quran teaches us to commemorate God constantly (2:152,200; 3:191, 33:41,42). However, a great majority of the human population does not use their innate critical thinking and reasoning skills, and thus they believe in superstitions and false teachings that lead them to associate partners with God (12:106; 23:84-89; 29:61-63; 31:25; 39:38; 43:87). Also, see 3:191.

Lit., "the prayer": a reference to the five obligatory daily prayers - at dawn, noon, afternoon, after sunset and late in the evening - which may be shortened and combined (the noon prayer with that of the afternoon, and the sunset prayer with that of the late evening) if one is travelling or in actual danger. While the extension of this permission to peaceful travel has been authorized by the Prophet's sunnah, the Qur'an mentions it only in connection with war situations; and this justifies the interpolation, in the opening sentence, of the words "to war". The prayer described in the next verse - with the congregation praying in shifts - is called salat al-khawf ("prayer in danger").

Lit., "might cause you an affliction" - implying, according to almost all the commentators, a sudden attack.

Lit., "among them". The "thou" in this sentence refers, primarily, to the Prophet and, by implication, to the leader of every group of believers at war with "those who deny the truth".

Lit., "when they have prostrated themselves, let them [i.e., the other group] be behind you". This idiomatic expression is not to be taken literally: in classical Arabic usage, the phrase kana min wara'ika (lit., "he was behind thee") signifies "he protected thee" or (in military parlance) "he covered thee", and is not meant to describe the physical relative position of the two persons or groups.

Lit., "turn upon you in one turning".

I.e., if there is a risk of their weapons being damaged by exposure to unfavourable weather conditions, the warriors are exempted from the obligation of keeping their arms with them while praying. This exemption applies, of course, only to such of the soldiers as are in charge of particularly sensitive weapons; and the same applies to the individual cases of illness mentioned in the sequence. It must, however, be remembered that the term matar (lit., "rain") is often used in the Qur'an to denote "an affliction": and if we adopt this meaning, the above phrase could be rendered as "if you suffer from an affliction"- thus allowing for a wide range of possible emergencies.

The "thou" in this and the following two verses - as well as in verse 113 - refers, on the face of it, to the Prophet; by implication, however, it is addressed to everyone who has accepted the guidance of the Qur'an: this is evident from the use of the plural "you" in verse 109. Con­sequently, the attempt on the part of most of the commentators to explain this passage in purely historical terms is not very convincing, the more so as it imposes an unnecessary limitation on an otherwise self-explanatory ethical teaching of general purport.

This obviously refers to the hypocrites as well as to the half-hearted followers of the Qur'an spoken of earlier in this surah: both are accused of having betrayed the trust reposed in them, inasmuch as they pretend to have accepted the Qur'anic message but, in reality, are trying to corrupt it (see verse 81). Since they are already aware of what the Qur'an demands of them and are, nevertheless, bent on evading all real self-surrender to its guidance, there is no use in arguing with them.

I.e., "you may ask God to forgive them, but do not try to find excuses for their behaviour". It is significant that the Qur'an characterizes a betrayal of trust, whether spiritual or social, as "being false to oneself" - just as it frequently describes a person who deliberately commits a sin or a wrong (zulm) as "one who sins against himself" or "wrongs himself" (zalim nafsahu) - since every deliberate act of sinning damages its author spiritually.

Lit., "that of belief" (min al-qawl). It is to be remembered that the noun qawl does not denote merely "a saying" or "an utterance" (which is its primary significance): it is also employed tropically to denote anything that can be described as a "conceptual statement" - like an opinion, a doctrine, or a belief - and is often used in this sense in the Qur'an.

Verses 4:101-103 indicate two units of Namaz (the ritual Salaat) and that it will always be congregational. Half of Namaz will be one unit only. Salaat = Closely following commands

4:81

The way to achieve God's forgiveness (protection from the detriment of violations) is repentance (returning to the right path), taking corrective action (Islaah), and restoring human rights. 4:17, 11:114