Tafsir of Surah Al-Hajj - Verse 57

The Disbelievers will remain in Doubt and Confusion

Allah tells us that the disbelievers will remain in doubt concerning this Qur'an. This was the view of Ibn Jurayj and was the view favored by Ibn Jarir.

حَتَّى تَأْتِيَهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً

(until the Hour comes suddenly upon them,) Mujahid said: "By surprise." Qatadah said:

بَغْتَةً

(suddenly) means, the command of Allah will catch the people unaware. Allah never seizes a people except when they are intoxicated with pride, enjoying a life of luxury, and they think that the punishment will never come upon them, but Allah does not punish anyone except the evildoers.

أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَقِيمٍ

(or there comes to them the torment of Yawm `Aqim.) Mujahid said, "Ubay bin Ka`b said: `Yawm `Aqim means the day of Badr."' `Ikrimah and Mujahid said: "Yawm `Aqim means the Day of Resurrection, following which there will be no night." This was also the view of Ad-Dahhak and Al-Hasan Al-Basri. Allah says:

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ للَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ

(The sovereignty on that Day will be that of Allah. He will judge between them.) This is like the Ayat:

مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

(The Only Owner of the Day of Recompense) 1:4

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَكَانَ يَوْماً عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ عَسِيراً

(The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty), belonging to the Most Gracious (Allah), and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers.) 25:26

فَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ

(So those who believed and did righteous good deeds) means, their hearts believed in Allah and His Messenger , and they acted in accor- dance with what they knew; their words and deeds were in harmony.

فِى جَنَّـتِ النَّعِيمِ

(in Gardens of Delight.) means, they will enjoy eternal bliss which will never end or fade away.

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَكَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَآ

(And those who disbelieved and denied Our Ayat,) means, their hearts rejected and denied the truth; they disbelieved in it and resisted the Messengers and were too proud to follow them. e

فَأُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ

(for them will be a humiliating torment. ) means, in recompense for arrogantly turning away from the truth.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَخِرِينَ

(Verily, those who scorn My worship they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!) 40:60

Commentary

مِن رَّ‌سُولٍ وَلَا نَبِيٍّ (any messenger and any prophet - 22:52) This shows that the words Rasul رَّ‌سُولٍ and Nabi carry different meanings, though there is no consensus as to the precise nature of the difference. For our purpose it is enough to understand that Nabi نَبِيٍّ is a person whom Allah Ta’ ala designates with a mission to reform his people and who receives revelations from Him. He may receive a Scripture and a code of laws or he may be commanded to convey the message of an earlier Book and code of laws. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and ` Isa' (علیہ السلام) belong to the first category, whereas Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) ، who was directed to propagate the teachings of Torah and the Mosaic Laws, falls in the second category. On the other hand a Rasul رَّ‌سُولٍ is a person who receives from Allah Ta’ ala a Scripture and a code of laws. Thus every رَّ‌سُولٍ Rasul is necessarily a Nabi also, but every Nabi is not a Rasul. These distinctions are applicable to human beings only. That an angel who carries wahy from Allah Ta’ ala is also named as Rasul does not contradict this position. This subject has already been discussed in detail in Surah Maryam in the beginning of this volume.

أَلْقَى الشَّيْطَانُ فِي أُمْنِيَّتِهِ (The Shaitan cast (doubts) about what he recited - 22:52) In this verse the word تَمَنَّىٰ has been used as a synonym for قَرَأَ thus أُمْنِيَّتِهِ would mean قِرَأت (recitation). This verse explains that the disputes raised by the disbelievers in regard to Allah's message is not something new as similar doubts were raised by earlier people as well when their prophets presented to them the message of Truth, and the Shaitan cast doubts about it in the hearts of disbelievers. This explanation of the verse is quite clear and straight-forward, and has been adopted by many commentators including Abu Hayyan in his Bahr-ul-Muhit. However, some books of traditions have reported here an incident which is not proved by authentic sources. The incident is known as حَدِیث الٖغرانیق (hadith-ulgharaniq). Some scholars have held that it is invented by some heretics and enemies of Islam. But even those who believe this tradition to be worthwhile have taken pains to remove the doubts, which the words raise about the categorical and undisputed laws of Qur'an and Sunnah. The plain and simple meaning of the verse has been explained above and the alleged incident in no way affects this meaning. Making this incident as a part and parcel of the commentary on this verse, thereby creating unnecessary doubts, and then attempting to answer those doubts is an exercise in futility and absolutely undesirable وَاللہُ سبحانَہُ و تعالیٰ اَعلَم .

A prophet’s call is marked by the greatness of convincing arguments. But those who are accustomed to seeing only outward greatness, are unable to detect the inner greatness of the prophet and consequently deny it. Such people are always in doubt because they want to see the Truth in external glory. And it is the way of God that He brings Truth in the abstract to people, so that those who recognise Truth may acknowledge it and attach themselves to it and those who are enamoured of outward show may ignore it and prove themselves finally guilty. Denying the signs means that man ignores the Truth, even when it is supported by sound argument. He is not willing to accept the Truth, even if it is staring him in the face.