Tafsir of Surah Al-Isra - Verse 63

اذْهَبْ

`(Go,) I will give you respite.' According to another Ayah (Allah) said:

قَالَ فَإِنَّكَ مِنَ الْمُنظَرِينَ - إِلَى يَوْمِ الْوَقْتِ الْمَعْلُومِ

(Verily, you are of those allowed respite till the Day of the time appointed.) (38:80-81). Then Allah warned him and those who follow him among the progeny of Adam about Hell:

قَالَ اذْهَبْ فَمَن تَبِعَكَ مِنْهُمْ فَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ جَزَآؤُكُمْ

((Allah) said: "Go, and whosoever of them follows you, surely, Hell will be the recompense of you (all)) meaning, for your deeds.

جَزَاءً مَّوفُورًا

(an ample recompense.) Mujahid said, "Sufficient recompense." Qatadah said, "It will be abundant for you and will not be decreased for you."

وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ

(And fool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice,) It was said that this refers to singing. Mujahid said, "With idle entertainment and singing," meaning, influence them with that.

وَاسْتَفْزِزْ مَنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ

(And fool them gradually those whom you can among them with your voice,) Ibn `Abbas said, "Every caller who calls people to disobey Allah." This was the view of Qatadah, and was also the opinion favored by Ibn Jarir.

وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِم بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ

(Ajib upon them with your cavalry and your infantry.) Send your troops and cavalry and infantry against them. The meaning is, send whatever forces you have at your disposal against them. This is a command (related to the divine decree), as Allah says elsewhere:

أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا الشَّيَـطِينَ عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ تَؤُزُّهُمْ أَزّاً

(See you not that We have sent the Shayatin against the disbelievers to push them to do evil. ) (19:83), meaning, to provoke them and drive them towards evil.

وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِم بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجِلِكَ

(Ajlib upon them with your cavalry and your infantry,) Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "Everyone who rides or walks to go and commit sin and disobey Allah." Qatadah said, "He has infantry and cavalry among the Jinn and among humans. They are the ones who obey him." The Arabs use the verb Ajlaba when describing somebody shouting at another person. Hence it is forbidden in races to shout at one another and push one another. From this root is also derived the word Jalabah, which means raising voices.

وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِى الاٌّمْوَلِ وَالاٌّوْلَـدِ

(and share with them wealth and children,) Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "This means what he commands them to do of spending money in disobedience to Allah, may He be exalted."

وَالاٌّوْلْـدِ

(and children,) Ibn' Abbas, as reported by Al-`Awfi, Mujahid and Ad-Dahhak said, "This means the children of Zina (i.e., illegitimate children)." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "This means the children whom they used to kill out of folly, without knowledge." Qatadah reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "Allah caused Shaytan to take a share of wealth and children by making them Magians, Jews and Christians, and making them follow any religion other than Islam, and by making them give a part of their wealth to the Shaytan." Qatadah said the same.

وَشَارِكْهُمْ فِى الاٌّمْوَلِ وَالاٌّوْلَـدِ

(and share with them wealth and children.) The fact that only wealth and children are mentioned in this Ayah, does not mean that it is limited only to those things. Everything in which a person disobeys Allah or obeys the Shaytan means that he is sharing with him. It was reported in Sahih Muslim from `Iyad bin Himar that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«يَقُولُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِمْ وَحَرَّمَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَا أَحْلَلْتُ لَهُم»

(Allah the Mighty and Exalted says, "I have created My servants as Hunafa' monotheists, then the Shayatin come to them and lead them astray from their religion and (tell that) what I have permitted for them is forbidden to them.") According to the Two Sahihs, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«لَوْ أَنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ أَهْلَهُ قَالَ: بِسْمِ اللهِ اللَّهُمَّ جَنِّبْنَا الشَّيْطَانَ وَجَنِّبِ الشَّيْطَانَ مَا رَزَقْتَنَا فَإِنَّهُ إِنْ يُقَدَّرْ بَيْنَهُمَا وَلَدٌ فِي ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَضُرَّهُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَبَدًا»

(When one of you wants to have intercourse with his wife, let him say, `In the Name of Allah. O Allah, keep us away from Shaytan and keep Shaytan away from what you bestow on us (children).' Then if a child is decreed for them from that, the Shaytan will never harm him.)

وَعِدْهُمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطَـنُ إِلاَّ غُرُورًا

("...and make promises to them." But Shaytan promises them nothing but deceit.) As Allah tells us, Iblis will say, on the Day when the matter is decided:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَعَدَكُمْ وَعْدَ الْحَقِّ وَوَعَدتُّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُكُمْ

(Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth. And I too promised you, but I betrayed you.) 14:22

إِنَّ عِبَادِى لَيْسَ لَكَ عَلَيْهِمْ سُلْطَـنٌ

(Verily, My servants, you have no authority over them.) Here Allah tells us that He supports His believing servants, and guards and protects them against the accursed Shaytan. Allah says:

وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ وَكِيلاً

(And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian.) meaning, as a Protector, Supporter and Helper.

Commentary

The word: لَأَحْتَنِكَنَّ (subdue) in verse 62 is from: اِحتِنَاک (ihtinak) which means to exterminate or uproot something, or to subdue and overpower it completely. (Qurtubi) The word: وَاسْتَفْزِزْ (and entice) in verse 64 is from اِستِفزَاز (istifzaz) which basically means to cut off or to tear away from and at this place it means to tear away from the path of truth. This is followed by صَوتک (with your voice). Sawt صَوت the Arabic word for voice is well known. What is the voice of Shaitan? Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ says: The voices of songs, musical instruments and the hullabaloo of fun and games are the voices of Shaitan that he employs to tear people away from the path of truth. (Qurtubi) This tells us that (singing or listening to) music and (playing or listening to) musical instruments are prohibited. (Qurtubi)

While refusing to prostrate before Sayyidna 'Adam (علیہ السلام) ، Iblis (the Shaitan) had said two things:

(1) That 'Adam was created from mud and he was from fire and that there was no reason why mud was given precedence over fire. This question was an effort to find out the wisdom of the order given to him before he could comply with the Divine command - something the one so commanded has no right to ask. That Allah, the Exalted, would let the commanded one have the right to demand the wisdom of His command is far out specially when we see in our everyday life that human beings themselves would not give their servant the right to say no to them. Think of a master asking his servants to do something and the servant demanding the master that he should first explain the wisdom of that assignment. Therefore, this question was considered unworthy of an answer and no answer was given. In addition to that, the answer is already obvious. Giving precedence to something over the other is the prerogative of the Being that created and nurtured everyone. Whenever and whatever He declares to be superior becomes exactly so.

In the face of his threat to thoroughly mislead ‘all but a few’ of Adam’s descendants, Satan has not been given any real power over man by God. The only thing he has the power to do is tempt people by his words and by putting evil thoughts into their minds. He glorifies things which will have no value in the Hereafter. The words, ‘but over My true servants you shall have no power’ imply that, potentially, Satan does have considerable power over those who are not true servants of God. Now the question is how to save oneself in a world where Satan tries with all the strength at his command to mislead man. The only way is for man to make God his sole supporter in the real sense. One who does so will come under the protection of God, and then Satan will find himself helpless, despite the strength which God has allowed him to retain.