Tafsir of Surah Ar-Ra'd - Verse 32

Comforting the Messenger of Allah ﷺ

Allah says to His Messenger, while comforting him in facing his people's denial of him,

وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِىءَ بِرُسُلٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ

`(And indeed (many) Messengers were mocked at before you), so you have a good example in them,

فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ

(but I granted respite to those who disbelieved,) deferred their judgment for a term appointed,

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ

(and finally I punished them.) with encompassing punishment. How did you obtain the news of how I gave them respite and then took them with punishment' Allah said in another Ayah,

وَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَمْلَيْتُ لَهَا وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهَا وَإِلَىَّ الْمَصِيرُ

(And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrongdoing. Then (in the end) I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the (final) return (of all).)22:48 It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that the Prophet said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»

(Verily, Allah gives respite to the unjust until when He seizes him, He never lets go of him.) The Messenger ﷺ next recited this Ayah,

وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ

(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the (population of) towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful, (and) severe.)11:102

أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَآئِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ وَجَعَلُواْ للَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ قُلْ سَمُّوهُمْ أَمْ تُنَبِّئُونَهُ بِمَا لاَ يَعْلَمُ فِى الاٌّرْضِ أَم بِظَـهِرٍ مِّنَ الْقَوْلِ بَلْ زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ مَكْرُهُمْ وَصُدُّواْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ هَادٍ

it was said to comfort him: وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُ‌سُلٍ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَأَمْلَيْتُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ ۖ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عِقَابِ (And Messengers have been mocked at before you, so I let the disbelievers go on for a while. Then I seized them. So, how was My punishment?) In other words, it means that conditions faced by the Holy Prophet were not faced by him alone. There were prophets before him who had been facing similar conditions when their deniers were not seized immediately upon the commitment of their crime and they continued to make fun of the prophets. When they reached the limit, they were seized by Divine punishment and what a seizure that was which left none of them active enough to go on with their confrontation.

The real reason for denial of the truth is not any shortcoming in reasoning. It is due rather to man having been given the freedom to accept it or not. As long as a man has the freedom to reject, he can seek an excuse to reject anything. If an argument is presented to him using a particular mode of expression, he will find some other mode of expression to reject it. If reference is made to some signs of the universe, he will produce some explanation of his own devising to contradict it, so much so that if mountains were made to move on the surface of the earth, or dead bodies were brought to life, even then nothing could prevent him from saying that this was all magic. Sometimes it happens that a rejecter apparently demands an explanation, but in actual fact he is indulging in ridicule; he wants to show that whatever the missionary is presenting is not the truth. Had his message really been true, the missionary would have had an argument with him which everyone would have been compelled to accept. God has given mankind a period of respite, due to which people have become fearless, but when this period ends and God catches hold of people, then man will see that he had all along been powerless, though he had supposed himself to be powerful.