Tafsir of Surah Al-Isra - Verse 64

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.

(2) Secondly, he had said if he was given respite till the day of Qiyamah, he will mislead the entire progeny of 'Adam, except a few of them. That Allah Ta’ ala has elected to answer in the later verses. He said that the Shaitan will have no control over His sincere servants even if he were to rally his entire forces against them and as for the insincere who fall into his trap, they will meet the same fate as his, all consigned to Hell. When this verse (64) mentions the horsemen and footmen of the Shaitanic army, it does not necessarily mean that the Shaitan actually has combat support in that formation. In fact, this is a manner of referring to the full force and power of the Shaitan. And if the Shaitan does have horsemen and footmen actually, even that too cannot be denied. Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: Those who come out in support of disbelief and sin, horsemen or footmen, they are nothing but the army of the Shaitan. Now remains the question as to how the Shaitan came to know that he would succeed in enticing and misleading the progeny of 'Adam (علیہ السلام) ، the basis on which he claimed that he will subdue them. There are two possibilities. Perhaps, by looking at the ingredients that went into the making of man, he had gathered that man would be desire-prone and it would not be difficult to entice him successfully. And then, it is also not far out to believe that his very claim was nothing but a bland lie.

As for the sense of: وَشَارِ‌كْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ (and share with them in their wealth and their children - 64), Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: Wealth and property acquired by false, impermissible and unlawful means or spent on what is haram is the sharing of the Shaitan in it. As for the sharing of the Shaitan in children, it could either be through illegitimacy, or by naming them like disbelievers and polytheists, or by indulging in polytheistic customs to ensure their security, or by taking to Haram sources of income to bring them up. (Qurtubi)

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.