Tafsir of Surah Maryam - Verse 61

The Description of the Gardens of the Truthful and Those Who repent

Allah, the Exalted, says that the Gardens (of Paradise), which the penitent will enter, will be Gardens of `Adn, meaning, eternity. These are Gardens that the Most Beneficent promises His servants in the unseen. This means that these Gardens are from the unseen things that they believe in, even though they have never witnessed them. They believe in the unseen out of their strong conviction and the strength of their faith. Concerning Allah's statement,

إِنَّهُ كَانَ وَعْدُهُ مَأْتِيّاً

(Verily, His promise must come to pass.) This affirms the fact that this will occur, and that it is a settled matter. Allah does not break His promise, nor does He change it. This is similar to His statement,

كَانَ وَعْدُهُ مَفْعُولاً

(His promise is certainly to be accomplished.) 73:18 This means that His promise will be and there is no avoiding it. Allah's statement here,

مَأْتِيّاً

(must come to pass.) This means that it will come to His servants who are striving towards it and they will reach it. There are those commentators who said,

مَأْتِيّاً

(must come to pass.) "This means it is coming, because everything that comes to you, you also come to it. This is as the Arabs say, `Fifty years came to me, and I came to fifty years.' They both mean the same thing (I'm fifty years old)." Concerning Allah's statement,

لاَّ يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْواً

(They shall not hear therein any Laghw.) This means that in these gardens of Paradise there is no ignorant, wasteful and useless speech, like there is in this life. He said,

إِلاَّ سَلَـماً

(...but only Salam.) This is an indifferent exception, similar to Allah's statement,

لاَ يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْواً وَلاَ تَأْثِيماً - إِلاَّ قِيلاً سَلَـماً سَلَـماً

(No Laghw will they hear therein, nor any sinful speech. But only the saying of: Salam! Salam!) 56:25-26 Concerning His statement,

وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيّاً

(And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and afternoon.) This means, in what is similar to mornings and evenings. This does not mean that there is a night and a day (in Paradise), but they will be living in times that alternate. They will know its lighted times from its lights and illumination. This is as Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«أَوَّلُ زُمْرَةٍ تَلِجُ الْجَنَّةَ صُوَرُهُمْ عَلَى صُورَةِ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ لَا يَبْصُقُونَ فِيهَا،وَلَا يَتَمَخَّطُونَ فِيهَا. وَلَايَتَغَوَّطُونَ، آنِيَتُهُمْ وَأَمْشَاطُهُمُ الذَّهَبُ وَالْفِضَّةُ وَمَجَامِرُهُمُ الْأَلُوَّةُ، وَرَشْحُهُمُ الْمِسْكُ وَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمْ زَوْجَتَانِ، يُرَى مُخُّ سَاقِهَا مِنْ وَرَاءِ اللَّحْمِ مِنَ الْحُسْنِ، لَا اخْتِلَافَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَلَا تَبَاغُضَ، قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ، يُسَبِّحُونَ اللهَ بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا»

(The first group to enter into Paradise will have forms like the form of the moon on a night when it is full. They will not spit, nor will they blow their noses therein. They also will not defecate. Their containers and combs will be made of gold and silver and their censers will be of aloeswood. Their sweat will be the fragrance of musk and each of them will have two wives. The marrow of their shins will be visible from beneath the skin due to their beauty. They will not have any disputes between them, or any hatred. Their hearts will be united like the heart of one man. They will glorify Allah in the morning and evening.) Al-Bukhari and Muslim both recorded this narration in the Two Sahihs. Imam Ahmad also recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«الشُّهَدَاءُ عَلَى بَارِقِ نَهْرٍ بِبَابِ الْجَنَّةِ فِي قُبَّةٍ خَضْرَاءَ، يَخْرُجُ عَلَيْهِمْ رِزْقُهُمْ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا»

(The martyrs will be upon the banks of a river by the gates of Paradise. Over them will be a green dome. Their sustenance will be brought out to them from Paradise, morning and evening.) Ahmad is the only one who collected this narration. Ad-Dahhak reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيّاً

(And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and afternoon.) "This means the amount of time equal to night and day." Allah said,

تِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِى نُورِثُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا مَن كَانَ تَقِيّاً

(Such is the Paradise which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who had Taqwa.) This means, `This Paradise that We have described with these magnificent attributes, it is that which We will cause are pious servants to inherit.' They are those who obey Allah in happiness and times of hardship. They are those who suppress their anger and they pardon people's offenses. This is as Allah says at the beginning of Surah Al-Mu'minun,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ - الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلاَتِهِمْ خَـشِعُونَ

(Successful indeed are the believers. Those who are humble in their Salah.) 23:1-2 Until His saying,

أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْوَرِثُونَ - الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـلِدُونَ

(These are indeed the inheritors. Who shall inherit the Firdaws. In it they shall dwell forever.) 23:10-11

Commentary

فَخَلَفَ (Khalf) means bad successors, while فَخَلَفَ (Khalaf) means good successors. (Mazhari) Mujahid (رح) has reported that when the Day of Judgment would be near and the pious people would all be dead and gone, people will lose interest in prayers and indulge in all sort of vices and evil deeds.

Offering prayers outside fixed time or not with congregation (جَمَاعَت) is a default and of no avail, and is a great sin.

Most exegetes / commentators are of the view that offering prayers after its time has lapsed is a default of prayers (اضَاعُوا الصَّلٰوۃَ ). Among them are Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud, Nakhai, Qasim, Mujahid, Ibrahim and ` Umar Ibn ` Abdul ` Aziz. While others consider that any lapse in the form and conditions of prayers is اِضَاعتِ صلٰوۃ and includes the lapse of time as well. Still others believe that offering of prayers at home and not with the congregation (جَمَاعَت) is اِضَاعتِ صلٰوۃ (Qurtubi, Bahr ul-Muhit).

Sayyidna ` Umar al-Faruq ؓ ، had sent out a circular to all his governors saying:

إن أھم امرکم عندی الصلوٰۃ، فمن ضیعھافھو لما سواھا اضیع (مؤطا امام مالک)

"In my view the most important among your tasks is prayer. So, whoever defaults in this, will default in discharging his other obligations all the more."

Once Sayyidna Hudaifah ؓ saw someone offering his prayers without observing the prescribed rules, and was going through the rituals rather hurriedly without pausing. He asked the man how long he had been offering his prayers like that. The man replied for the last forty years. 'Then Sayyidna Hudaifah ؓ said:

"You have not offered a single of your prayers correctly."

He further remarked:

"If you die offering your prayers like this then remember you will die without following the course given by The Holy Prophet ﷺ .

Sayyidna Abu Mas’ ud ؓ has been quoted in Tirmidhi that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had said that the prayer of a person is lost who does not observe اِقَامَت i.e. does not stand upright in his prayers. It means that if one does not pause while bowing down (رُکُوع) and prostrating (سَجدَہ) in his prayers or who does not stand straight up after bowing down ( رُکُوع) or does not sit up in between two prostrations (سَجدُوں) his prayers would be considered as not performed. Similarly, if one is not careful about ablution (وُضُو) and his cleanliness (طَھَارَت) his prayers will also be lost.

Sayyidna Hasan-al-Basri (رح) has observed that leaving the mosques unattended and being over involved in business and enjoyments of life is included in the meaning of this verse.

Imam Qurtubi' (رح) after reproducing these sayings had said that even knowledgeable people ignore the prescribed rules of prayers and merely go through its motions. He made this observation in the 6th century Hijrah when such people were few. Presently the position is worse, and there are many more people who disregard the rules of prayers. نَعُوذُ بِاللہِ مِن شُرُورِ انفُسِنَا وَ اَعمَالِنا (and pursued desires - 19:59) (شَھَوَات ) refers to all such wordly pleasures which make people negligent of their duty to Allah making them lose interest in Prayers. Sayyidna Ali ؓ has said that palatial houses and luxurious carriages which attract people's eye, and wearing dresses which distinguish a person from the common man all fall within the category of worldly pleasures. (Qurtubi)

فَسَوفَ یَلقَونَ غَیِّاً (So they will soon face[ the outcome of their ] perversion - 19:59) The word غَیّ in Arabic language is the opposite of رشاد . All virtues and good things are رشاد and all vices and evils are غَیّ. Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Mas’ ud ؓ has reported that there is a cave in Hell by the name غَیّ which houses various types of severe punishments, more numerous than all the punishments of Hell.

Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has remarked that even Hell seeks protection from غَیّ , which is the name of a cave in the Hell. Allah Ta` ala has prepared it for habitual adulterers who persist in adultery, and for the drunkards who do not give up drinking, and for the usurers who do not stop taking interest and for those who disobey their parents, and those who give false witness and for the woman who declares someone else's child as her husband's. (Qurtubi)

This world being a place of trial, everyone has been given freedom. Here, those who perform good deeds are free and those who indulge in bad deeds are free too. Consequently, a true and righteous person never knows tranquillity in the present world. However righteous he may personally be, the fact that the unrighteous people take undue advantage of their freedom, and taint the surrounding atmosphere with ungodliness, constantly disturbs his peace of mind. Paradise is a place from which all such wrongdoers will be excluded. There, only those noble persons will be lodged who have proved in this world that they do not live like thorns, but know how to live like flowers. A life shaped in the proximity of such people will undoubtedly be a haven of eternal peace—a paradise. In this world, the hardest task is to abstain from vain pursuits and to lead one’s life as an embodiment of peace. To this end, one has, of one’s own free will, to change a life of freedom into a life of limitations. This is the most difficult sacrifice, which can be offered only by one who is truly God-fearing. Only those who fear God in this world can feel themselves to be accountable to God. They are the only ones who will be admitted to the eternal paradise of the Hereafter.