Tafsir of Surah Al-Hijr - Verse 90

The Messenger is a Plain Warner

Allah commanded His Prophet to tell the people:

إِنِّى أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْمُبِينُ

(I am indeed a plain warner) coming to warn the people of a severe punishment that they will suffer if they reject him, as happened to those nations before them who disbelieved in their Messengers, upon whom Allah sent His punishment and vengeance. In the two Sahihs it is reported from Abu Musa that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّمَا مَثَلِي وَمَثَلُ مَا بَعَثَنِي اللهُ بِهِ كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ أَتَى قَوْمَهَ فَقَالَ: يَا قَوْمِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ الْجَيْشَ بِعَيْنَيَّ، وَإِنِّي أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَانُ فَالنَّجَاءَ النَّجَاءَ، فَأَطَاعَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ فَأَدْلَجُوا وَانْطَلَقُوا عَلَى مُهْلِهِمْ فَنَجَوْا، وَكَذَّبَهُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ فَأَصْبَحُوا مَكَانَهُمْ، فَصَبَّحَهُمُ الْجَيْشُ فَأَهْلَكَهُمْ وَاجْتَاحَهُمْ، فَذَلِكَ مَثَلُ مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي وَاتَّبَعَ مَا جِئْتُ بِهِ وَمَثَلُ مَنْ عَصَانِي وَكَذَّبَ مَا جِئْتُ بِهِ مِنَ الْحَق»

(The parable of myself and that with which Allah has sent me is that of a man who came to his people and said, `O people! I have seen the invading army with my own eyes, and I am a naked warner, so escape, escape!' Some of his people obeyed him and set out at nightfall, setting off at a slow pace and managing to escape. Others did not believe him and stayed where they were until the next morning when the invading army overtook them and destroyed them, wiping them out. This is the parable of the one who obeys me and follows what I have brought, and the example of the one who disobeys me and rejects the truth that I have brought.)

Explanation of "Al-Muqtasimin

الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ

(the Muqtasimin) refers to those who had made a pact to oppose, deny, and insult the Prophets. Similarly, Allah tells us about the people of Salih:

قَالُواْ تَقَاسَمُواْ بِاللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ

(They said, "Swear to one another Taqasamu by Allah that we shall make a secret night attack on him and his household") 27:49 i.e., they plotted to kill him at night. Mujahid said "Taqasamu means they swore an oath."

وَأَقْسَمُواْ بِاللَّهِ جَهْدَ أَيْمَـنِهِمْ لاَ يَبْعَثُ اللَّهُ مَن يَمُوتُ

(And they swear by Allah with their strongest oaths, that Allah will not raise up one who dies)(16:38).

أَوَلَمْ تَكُونُواْ أَقْسَمْتُمْ مِّن قَبْلُ

((It will be said): "Did you not before swear that you would not leave (the world for the Hereafter)) (14:44)

أَهَـؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ أَقْسَمْتُمْ لاَ يَنَالُهُمُ اللَّهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ

(Are they those, of whom you swore that Allah would never show them mercy)7:49 It is as if they took an oath for every single thing that they denied in this world, so they are called the Muqtasimin.

الَّذِينَ جَعَلُواْ الْقُرْءَانَ عِضِينَ

(Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) meaning, they have split up the Books that were revealed to them, believing in parts of them and rejecting parts of them. Al-Bukhari reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

جَعَلُواْ الْقُرْءَانَ عِضِينَ

(Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) "They are the People of the Book, who divided the Book into parts, believing in some of it, and rejecting some of it." Some have said that Al-Mutaqasimin refers to the Quraysh, that the Qur'an means this Qur'an as opposed to the Scriptures of the People of the Book, and that "made it into parts" referred to what `Ata' said that some of them said that he (the Prophet ) was a sorcerer, some said he was crazy, or a soothsayer. These various allegations were the parts. This opinion was also reported from Ad-Dahhak and others. Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Ibn `Abbas that Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah - holding a noble position among the people - rallied a group of Quraysh behind him when Al-Mawsim (the time for pilgrims to meet in Makkah for Hajj) had come. He said to them, "O people of Quraysh! The time of Al-Mawsim has come, and delegations of Arabs will come to you during this time. They will have heard some things about this companion of yours (meaning the Prophet ), so agree on one opinion, let there be no contradicting or denials of each other's sayings". They said, "And you, O Abu `Abd Shams, give us an opinion and we will say that." He said, "No, you make the suggestions and I will listen." They said, "We say he is a soothsayer." He said, "He is not a soothsayer." They said, "We say he is crazy." He said, "He is not crazy." They said, "We say he is a poet." He said, "He is not a poet." They said, "We say he is a sorcerer." He said, "He is not a sorcerer." They said, "So what should we say" He said, "By Allah, what he says is as palatable to the average person as something sweet, so you cannot say anything against it without it being obviously false. Therefore the most appropriate thing you can say is that he is a sorcerer." So they left having agreed upon that, and Allah revealed concerning them:

الَّذِينَ جَعَلُواْ الْقُرْءَانَ عِضِينَ

(Who have made the Qur'an into parts.) meaning, of different types, and

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْـَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ - عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(So, by your Lord, We shall certainly call all of them to account. For all that they used to do) Those were the group who said that about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْـَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ - عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(So, by your Lord, We shall certainly call all of them to account. For all that they used to do.) Abu Ja`far reported from Ar-Rabi` that Abu Al-`Aliyah said, "All the people will be asked about two things on the Day of Resurrection: what they used to worship, and what their response was to the Messengers." `Ali bin Abi Talhah repor- ted that Ibn `Abbas said,

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْـَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ - عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(So, by your Lord, We shall certainly call all of them to account. For all that they used to do.) then he said:

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لاَّ يُسْـَلُ عَن ذَنبِهِ إِنسٌ وَلاَ جَآنٌّ

(So on that Day no question will be asked of man or Jinn as to his sin) (55:39). He said, "They will not be asked, `Did you do such and such' Because Allah knows better than they do about that. But He will say, `Why did you do such and such"'

Commentary

Surah Al-Fatihah is the Text and Summary of the Whole Qur'an

That Surah Al-Fatihah (The Opening) has been called the Glorious Qur’ an in this verse (87) indicates that Surah Al-Fatihah is, in a way, the whole Qur’ an - because the basic principles of Islam have been merged in it.l

1\. In order to understand this, one must keep in mind that the words: اَلسَبعَ المثانِی واَلقُرآن (the seven oft repeated verses and the glorious Qur'an) in verse (87) are interpreted by the commentators in different ways. Most of them are of the view that 'seven oft-repeated verses' refer to Surah al-Fatihah which consists of seven verses. Since these seven verses are repeated in every Salah, they have been referred to in the verse 87 as 'oft-repeated verses'. Then, the words 'and the glorious Qur'an' occurring after it are of explanatory nature which refer to the same 'seven oft repeated verses'. Therefore, the name of the 'glorious Qur'an' has been given here to the Surah al-Fatihah itself. The comment of the author is based on this interpretation.

On Being Questioned in Al-Mal} shar : About what will it be?

In verse 92, swearing by His Own sacred Being, Allah Ta’ ala has declared that all such people who came earlier or later shall definitely be questioned.

The Sahabah ؓ asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ as to what it will be about. He said that it will be about saying: لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah: there is no god worthy of worship but Allah). Al-Qurtubi, after reporting this narration in his Tafsir, has said: It means the fulfilling of this pledge practically as signified by the Kalimah Tayyibah: La ilaha illallah. A simple verbal statement is not what is desired here because, as for verbal attestation, that was done by the hypocrites (munafiqin) too. Hazrat al-Hasan al-Basri (رح) said: 'Iman (faith) does not become a living reality by taking on a particular style and form, and Din (religion) does not prosper by simply having the best of wishes for it. 'Iman is the name of that certitude which has been poured into the heart and which has been proved true by deeds. This is well illustrated by a Hadith from Sayyidna Zayd ibn Arqam in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said: A person who says: لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah : there is no god worthy of worship but Allah) with ikhlas (totally unalloyed sincerity) will definitely go to Jannah. People asked: Ya Rasul Allah, how is 'ikhlas' related to this Kalimah? He said: When this Kalimah stops a person from what has been prohibited by Allah as unlawful and impermissible, then, it is with 'ikhlas' (with sincerity in the absolute sense). (Qurtubi)

The ‘seven oft-repeated verses’ refers to the first chapter of the Quran. It is the essence of the whole Quran, and the rest of the Quran is an elaboration upon it. Undoubtedly, the Quran is the greatest gift of God. Its being a book of guidance offers the guarantee of success in the Hereafter to its believers and its being the last book makes it essential that it should necessarily overcome its opponents, because if it does not prevail, it cannot exist as the last book. The preacher of God’s word should not be despondent over those who have not embraced the Faith, but should be satisfied looking at those who have embraced the Faith and devote his full attention to making them contented and giving them training. Fragmenting the Quran (the scriptures) means fragmenting the Torah. The ancient Jews had divided their holy scriptures into two parts. They used to leave out those teachings that went against the desires of the self, while those that were consistent with the wishes of the self were welcomed by them. The first type of verses were kept only as holy relics but were disregarded. Because these verses did not find favour with them, they did not propagate them, whereas they gave wide publicity to the other type of verses which were in consonance with their desires. In other words, they had made the Book of God subservient to their self-interest, instead of it being a means to encourage human beings to obey the commands of God. There are two ways of finding a thing. One is to find its parts and the other is to find it in its totality. When a man recognises a tree in its totality, he says: ‘This is a tree.’ But if he does not recognise it in its totality, he will mention its trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit. He will not be able to utter that one word, on uttering which different parts become rooted in one root and take the shape of one unit. The same is true of God’s Book. There are many different commandments in God’s Book. At the same time it has its totality and its central point. Those who are engrossed in God’s Book will find God’s Book in its totality. On the contrary, when those who are engrossed in themselves see God’s Book, it appears to them only as a collection of miscellaneous commandments. From these they pick and choose a part which suits their taste and condition and start laying stress upon it, as if only that was what mattered most. When the roots of a tree are watered, the water reaches all of their parts. Similarly, if the central aspect of God’s Book is revivified, the moment this happens, all the remaining parts come necessarily to life. As opposed to this, if some parts are selected to the exclusion of all others and much emphasis is laid on them, there can be a great deal of outward fanfare about this, but the real revival of religion does not take place, because its core features have been ignored. And the revival can take place only by reviving its central point.