Tafsir of Surah Al-Hijr - Verse 27

The Substances from which Mankind and Jinns were created

Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah said that Salsal means dry mud. The apparent meaning is similar to the Ayah:

خَلَقَ الإِنسَـنَ مِن صَلْصَـلٍ كَالْفَخَّارِ - وَخَلَقَ الْجَآنَّ مِن مَّارِجٍ مِّن نَّارٍ

(He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the potter's clay, And He created the Jinns from a smokeless flame of fire.) (55:14-15) It was also reported from Mujahid that,

صَلْصَـلٍ

(dried (sounding) clay) means "putrid", but it is more appropriate to interpret an Ayah with another Ayah.

مِّنْ حَمَإٍ مَّسْنُونٍ

(of altered mud) means the dried clay that comes from mud, which is soil. "Altered" here means smooth.

وَالْجَآنَّ خَلَقْنَـهُ مِن قَبْلُ

(And the Jinn, We created earlier) means before creating humans.

مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ

(from the smokeless flame of fire.) Ibn `Abbas said, "It is the smokeless flame that kills." Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi said that Shu`bah narrated to them from Abu Ishaq, who said: "I visited `Umar Al-Asamm when he was sick, and he said: `Shall I not tell you a Hadith that I heard from `Abdullah bin Mas`ud He said: `This smokeless flame is one of the seventy parts of the smokeless fire from which the Jinn where created. Then he recited,

وَالْجَآنَّ خَلَقْنَـهُ مِن قَبْلُ مِن نَّارِ السَّمُومِ

(And the Jinn, We created earlier from the smokeless flame of fire)."' The following is found in the Sahih,

«خُلِقَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ نُورٍ، وَخُلِقَتِ الْجَانُّ مِنْ مَارِجٍ مِنْ نَارٍ، وَخُلِقَ آدَمُ مِمَّا وُصِفَ لَكُم»

(The angels were created from light, the Jinn were created from a smokeless flame of fire, and Adam was created from that which has been described to you.) The Ayah is intended to point out the noble nature, good essence and pure origin of Adam.

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 existence of man is a combination of two things—one is body and the other is soul. The body is totally made up of materials of the earth. The analysis of the body shows that it consists of the same elements that are commonly known as water and earth. In other words, as far as the body is concerned, man is the name of a completely lifeless and unaware existence. But when God infuses a soul into it through His Will, this very body suddenly becomes the possessor of such capacities as are not found in any other creation in the known universe. The other creatures here on earth are known as ‘jinn’. The jinn, rivals of human beings, are made out of fire. They are fiery creatures, and just as the earth keeps itself away from the fiery sun, so that it should not burn out, similarly, man should keep himself away from the jinn, otherwise they will scorch him in the spheres of morality and religion.