Tafsir of Surah Al-Hijr - Verse 24

The Supplies for All Things are with Allah

Allah tells us that He is the Owner of all things, and that everything is easy for Him. He has the supplies for all things with Him.

وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُ إِلاَّ بِقَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ

(and We do not send it down but in a known measure.) meaning, as He wills and as He wants. Doing so out of His great wisdom and mercy towards His servants, in a way that He is under no obligation to do. But He has decreed mercy for Himself. Yazid bin Abi Ziyad reported from Abu Juhayfah that `Abdullah said: "No year has more rain than another, but Allah divides the rain between them as He wills, it rains here a year and there a year. Then he recited:

وَإِن مِّن شَىْءٍ إِلاَّ عِندَنَا خَزَائِنُهُ

(And there is not a thing, but the supplies for it are with Us...) Reported by Ibn Jarir.

Benefits of the Winds

وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ

(And We send the winds fertilizing.) i.e., fertilizing the clouds so that they give rain, and fertilizing the trees so that they open their leaves and blossoms. These winds are mentioned here in the plural form because they give results, unlike the barren wind (Ar-Rih Al-'Aqim, see Adh-Dhariyat 51:41), which is mentioned in the singular and described as barren since it does not produce anything; because results can only be produced when there are two or more things.

وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ

(And We sent the winds fertilizing.) `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "The wind is sent bearing water from the sky, then it fertilizes the clouds until rain begins to generously fall, just as the milk of the pregnant camel flows generously." This was also the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and Qatadah. Ad-Dahhak said: "Allah sends it to the clouds and it gets fertilized and becomes full of water." `Ubayd bin `Umayr Al-Laythi said: "Allah sends the wind which stirs up the earth, then Allah sends the wind which raises clouds, then Allah sends the wind which forms clouds, then Allah sends the fertilizing wind which pollinates the trees. Then he recited,

وَأَرْسَلْنَا الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ

(And We sent the winds fertilizing,)

Fresh Water is a Blessing from Allah

فَأَسْقَيْنَاكُمُوهُ

(and We give it to you to drink,) This means, "and We send it down to you fresh and sweet, so that you can drink it; if We had wished, We could have made it salty (and undrinkable)", as Allah points out in another Ayah in Surat Al-Waqi`ah, where He says:

أَفَرَءَيْتُمُ الْمَآءَ الَّذِى تَشْرَبُونَ - أَءَنتُمْ أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنزِلُونَ - لَوْ نَشَآءُ جَعَلْنَـهُ أُجَاجاً فَلَوْلاَ تَشْكُرُونَ

(Tell Me! The water that you drink, is it you who cause it to come down from the rain clouds, or are We the cause of it coming down If We willed, We verily could make it salty (and undrinkable), why then do you not give thanks (to Allah)) (56:68-70). And Allah says:

هُوَ الَّذِى أَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَآءً لَّكُم مَّنْهُ شَرَابٌ وَمِنْهُ شَجَرٌ فِيهِ تُسِيمُونَ

(He it is Who sends water down from the sky; from it you drink and from it (grows) the vegetation on which you send your cattle to pasture.) (16:10)

وَمَآ أَنْتُمْ لَهُ بِخَـزِنِينَ

(and it is not you who are the owners of its supply.) The meaning is, "You are not taking care of it; rather We send it down and take care of it for you, making springs and wells flourish on the earth. " If Allah so willed, He could make it disappear, but by His mercy He sends it down and makes it fresh and sweet, maintaining the springs, wells, rivers and so on, so that they may drink from it all year long, water their livestock and irrigate their crops.

The Power of Allah to initiate and renew Creation

وَإنَّا لَنَحْنُ نُحْىِ وَنُمِيتُ

(And certainly We! We it is Who give life, and cause death,) Here Allah tells us of His power to initiate creation and renew it. He is the One Who brings life to creatures out of nothingness, then He causes them to die, then He will resurrect all of them on the Day when He will gather them together. He also tells us that He will inherit the earth and everyone on it, and then it is to Him that they will return. Then He tells us about His perfect knowledge of them, the first and the last of them. He says

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنكُمْ

(And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away...). Ibn `Abbas said, "The first generations are all those who have passed away since the time of Adam. The present generations and those who will come afterward refer to those who are alive now and who are yet to come, until the Day of Resurrection." Something similar was narrated from `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ka`b, Ash-Sha`bi and others. Ibn Jarir reported from Muhammad bin Abi Ma`shar, from his father, that he heard `Awn bin `Abdullah discussing the following Ayah with Muhammad bin Ka`b:

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنكُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَـْخِرِينَ

(And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away, and indeed, We know the present generations of you (mankind), and also those who will come afterwards), and it was stated that it refers to the rows for prayer. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, "This is not the case.

وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنكُمْ

(And indeed, We know the first generations of you who had passed away) it refers to those who are dead or have been killed, and;

الْمُسْتَـْخِرِينَ

(and also those who will come afterwards) meaning those who have yet to be created.

وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ إِنَّهُ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ

(And verily your Lord will gather them together. Truly, He is Most Wise, (and) Knowing)." `Awn bin `Abdullah said, "May Allah help you and reward you with good."

Going Ahead and Remaining Behind in Righteous Deeds: The Difference in Degrees

Some exegetic interpretations of the words: (al-mustaqdimin) : 'those who go ahead' and: (al-musta'khirin) : 'those who remain behind' appearing in verse 24: الْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ ~.A11 have been variously reported from Tafsir authorities among the Sahabah ؓ and Tabi` in. These are:

1\. 'Al-Mustaqdimin' are those born to date, and 'Al-Musta'khirin' are those not born yet [ Qatadah and ` Ikrimah ].

2\. 'Al-Mustaqdimin' means the dead, and 'Al-Musta'khirin' means those alive till now [ Ibn ` Abbas and Dahhak ]

3\. 'Al-Mustaqdimin' signifies good people who came before the appearance of the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and 'Al-Mustakhirin' refers to his Ummah itself [ Mujahid ].

4\. 'Al-Mustaqdimin' denotes people who obey Allah and do good deeds while 'Al-Musta'khirin' refers to people who disobey Him and neglect what is good [ Hasan and Qatadah ]

5\. 'Al-Mustaqdimin' are people who remain ahead in the rows of Sal, or in the front lines of Jihad, and in other righteous deeds - and 'Al-Musta'khirin' are those who remain behind in these deeds of merit, stay in the rear rows and are used to being late [ which is the Tafsir given by leading authorities Hasan al-Basri, Said ibn al-Musaiyyab, al-Qurtubi, al-Sha` bi and others ]

It is obvious that there is no distinct conflict or contradiction in these sayings, in the real sense. They can be accommodated all in one because the all-encompassing knowledge of Allah Ta` ala covers all kinds of people 'who go ahead' or 'remain behind.'

In his Tafsir, Al-Qurtubi has said that this verse indicates the merit of performing Salah in the first row, and soon after the time it becomes due. This is in accordance with the Hadith where the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said: If people were to find out the enormous merit of calling the Adhan and standing in the first row of Salah, everyone would have started making the effort to necessarily stand in the first row, and when there would remain no space for everybody to stand there, lots would have to be drawn.

With this, Al-Qurtubi has also reported the saying of Sayyidn Ka'b ؓ : 'There are some people in this Ummah who, when they put their forehead on the ground for their Sajdah, forgiveness is granted to all those who are praying behind them.' Therefore, Sayyidna Ka'b liked to be in the last row in the hope that 'perhaps, there may be in the front rows, some servant of Allah of the class, because of whose barakah (blissful presence), I may be forgiven.'

What is apparent here is that real merit does lie in praying in the first row - as stands proved from the clear statements of the Qur'an and Sunnah. But, a person who does not, for some reason, find a place in the first row, then, he too will have a sort of merit in that there may perhaps be some righteous servant of Allah praying in the front rows for whose sake, he too may be forgiven. And the way praying in the first row of Salah stands proved from this verse, also proved is the superiority of being in the front lines of Jihad.

The settling of human beings in the world and then their being taken away from here are events which occur at the behest of God. Had this been dependent on the will of man, he could never have come here and after coming here, he would never have gone on to the world of the Hereafter. This also proves that before the creation of human beings, heaven and earth belonged to God and thereafter they will also belong to God. There are innumerable things on earth, but everything has its own individuality. Everything performs the special role assigned to it. This proves that the Creator of the earth has knowledge of each and every thing. He has allocated a particular function to everything, so much so that the thumb impression of one man is different from that of any other man. For such a Powerful and Knowledgeable Being (that is, God) it is not difficult to keep every man’s reckoning separately and deal with him in exactly the way he deserves to be treated.