Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara' - Verse 88

The Prayer of Ibrahim for Himself and for His Father

Here Ibrahim, upon him be peace, asks his Lord to give him Hukm. Ibn `Abbas said, "This is knowledge."

وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِالصَّـلِحِينَ

(and join me with the righteous.) means, `make me one of the righteous in this world and the Hereafter.' This is like the words the Prophet said three times when he was dying:

«اللَّهُمَّ فِي الرَّفِيقِ الْأَعْلَى»

(O Allah, with the Exalted Companion (of Paradise)).

وَاجْعَل لِّى لِسَانَ صِدْقٍ فِى الاٌّخِرِينَ

(And grant me an honorable mention in later generations.) meaning, `cause me to be remembered in a good manner after my death, so that I will be spoken of and taken as a good example.' This is like the Ayah,

وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِى الاٌّخِرِينَ سَلَـمٌ عَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِى الْمُحْسِنِينَ

(And We left for him (a goodly remembrance) among the later generations: "Salam (peace) be upon Ibrahim. Thus indeed do we reward the good doers.) (37:108-110)

وَاجْعَلْنِى مِن وَرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ النَّعِيمِ

(And make me one of the inheritors of the Paradise of Delight.) meaning, `bless me in this world with honorable mention after I am gone, and in the Hereafter by making me one of the inheritors of the Paradise of Delight.'

وَاغْفِرْ لاًّبِى

(And forgive my father,) This is like the Ayah,

رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لِى وَلِوَالِدَىَّ

(My Lord! Forgive me, and my parents) (71:28). But this is something which Ibrahim, peace be upon him, later stopped doing, as Allah says:

وَمَا كَانَ اسْتِغْفَارُ إِبْرَهِيمَ لاًّبِيهِ إِلاَّ عَن مَّوْعِدَةٍ وَعَدَهَآ إِيَّاهُ

(And Ibrahim's supplication for his father's forgiveness was only because of a promise he had made to him) (9:114) until:

إِنَّ إِبْرَهِيمَ لأَوَّاهٌ حَلِيمٌ

(Verily, Ibrahim was Awwah and was forbearing) (9:114). Allah stopped Ibrahim from asking for forgiveness for his father, as He says:

قَدْ كَانَتْ لَكُمْ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ فِى إِبْرَهِيمَ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ

(Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim and those with him), until His saying:

وَمَآ أَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ

(but I have no power to do anything for you before Allah. ) (60:4),

وَلاَ تُخْزِنِى يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ

(And disgrace me not on the Day when they will be resurrected.) means, `protect me from shame on the Day of Resurrection and the Day when all creatures, the first and the last, will be raised.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ رَأَى أَبَاهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَيْهِ الْغَبَرَةُ وَالْقَتَرَة»

(Ibrahim will see his father on the Day of Resurrection, covered with dust and darkness.) According to another narration, also from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet said:

«يَلْقَى إِبْرَاهِيمُ أَبَاهُ فَيَقُولُ: يَا رَبِّ إِنَّكَ وَعَدْتَنِي أَنَّكَ لَا تُخْزِينِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ، فَيَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى الْكَافِرين»

(Ibrahim will meet his father and will say: "O Lord, You promised me that You would not disgrace me on the Day when all creatures are resurrected." And Allah will say to him: "I have forbidden Paradise to the disbelievers.") He also recorded this in the Hadiths about the Prophets, upon them be peace, where the wording is:

«يَلْقَى إِبْرَاهِيمُ أَبَاهُ آزَرَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَعَلَى وَجْهِ آزَرَ قَتَرَةٌ وَغَبَرَةٌ، فَيَقُولُ لَهُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ: أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكَ لَا تَعْصِينِي، فَيَقُولُ أَبُوهُ: فَالْيَوْمَ لَا أَعْصِيكَ، فَيَقُولُ إِبْرَاهِيمُ: يَا رَبِّ إِنَّكَ وَعَدْتَنِي أَنْ لَا تُخْزِيَنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ، فَأَيُّ خِزْيٍ أَخْزَى مِنْ أَبِي الْأَبْعَدِ فَيَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ، ثُمَّ يُقَالُ: يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ انْظُرْ تَحْتَ رِجْلِكَ، فَيَنْظُرَ،فَإِذَا هُوَ بِذِيخٍ مُتَلَطِّخٍ، فَيُؤْخَذُ بِقَوَائِمِهِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّار»

(Ibrahim will meet his father Azar on the Day of Resurrection, and there will be dust and darkness on Azar's face. Ibrahim will say to him, "Did I not tell you not to disobey me" His father will say to him: "Today I will not disobey you." Ibrahim will say: "O Lord, You promised me that You would not disgrace me on the Day when they are resurrected, but what disgrace can be greater than seeing my father in this state" Allah will say to him: "I have forbidden Paradise to the disbelievers." Then it will be said: "O Ibrahim! Look beneath your feet." So he will look and there he will see (that his father was changed into) a male hyena covered in dung, which will be caught by the legs and thrown in the Fire.) This was also recorded by Abu `Abdur-Rahman An-Nasa'i in the Tafsir of his Sunan Al-Kubra.

يَوْمَ لاَ يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلاَ بَنُونَ

(The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,) means, a man's wealth will not protect him from the punishment of Allah, even if he were to pay a ransom equivalent to an earthful of gold.

وَلاَ بَنُونَ

(nor sons) means, `or if you were to pay a ransom of all the people on earth.' On that Day nothing will be of any avail except faith in Allah and sincere devotion to Him, and renunciation of Shirk and its people. Allah says:

إِلاَّ مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

(Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart. ) meaning, free from any impurity or Shirk. Ibn Sirin said, "The clean heart knows that Allah is true, that the Hour will undoubtedly come and that Allah will resurrect those who are in the graves." Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib said, "The clean heart is the sound heart." This is the heart of the believer, for the heart of the disbeliever and the hypocrite is sick. Allah says:

فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ

(In their hearts is a disease) (2:10). Abu `Uthman An-Nisaburi said, "It is the heart that is free from innovation and is content with the Sunnah."

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ ﴿88﴾ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّـهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ ﴿89﴾

The Day when neither wealth will be of any use (to any one) nor sons, [ 88] except to one who will come to Allah with a sound heart, [ 26:89]

This verse has declared that wealth and children will not be of any help to a person on the Day of Judgment. This declaration is subjected to exception in the words, "except to one who will come to Allah with sound heart". (coming with sound heart means to come to Him with true faith). Now, this exception has been interpreted in two different ways. According to one interpretation adopted by some commentators this exception is not meant to exclude the believers from the rule. It is an exception of a special type which is known in Arabic grammar as "munqati" (This type of exception does not exclude anything from the aforementioned statement. It simply says that the thing negated in the first sentence is found in someone else.) A simple example for this expression is that a person is asked about Zaid whether he has some wealth and children, and he replies, "No, his wealth and children are nothing but his sound heart." The same expression is used in this verse. The gist of the verse, according to this interpretation would be that wealth and children will not be helpful to anyone, neither to a believer nor to a disbeliever; what will be helpful, instead of wealth and children, is one's sound heart, i.e. the true faith and righteous deeds.

The second interpretation, adopted by the majority, is that it is a normal exception which means that wealth and children may be helpful to the one who will come to Allah with sound heart, i.e. with faith and righteous deeds, but these things will not be of any use to a disbeliever.

Another point worth noting in this verse is that while referring to 'children' the Holy Qur'an has used the word بَنُون (Banun) which is literally restricted to the male children. Probably the reason is that it is the male children from whom an effective help is expected in adverse situations. The expectation of help from female children in some calamities is very rare even in this world. Therefore, the male children are specifically mentioned in the context of the Hereafter to indicate that even those who were expected to help in the world will not be of any use there.

It may also be noted that "sound heart" literally means a healthy heart. But according to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ here it means that heart of a believer that testifies the Oneness of Allah and is pure from shirk. The same interpretation is reported from Mujahid, Hasan al-Basri and Said ibn al-Musayyab رحمۃ اللہ علیہم with different expressions. Said ibn al-Musayyab (رح) says that the sound heart is only that of a believer because the heart of a disbeliever is sick. The Holy Qur'an says, فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَ‌ضٌ(In their heart there is a malady (2:10).

Wealth, children and the family relationship can also be beneficial in the Hereafter to a believer

In accordance with the commonly adopted explanation of the verse it has now become clear that the wealth of a person could be of help to him on the Dooms Day, provided he is a Muslim. It can be elaborated by saying that the one who has spent his wealth in this world in the way of Allah and in the cause of righteous deeds or has spent in an ongoing charity (Sadaqah Jariyah), will get its benefit in the Hereafter if he dies with the faith of Islam and is listed as a believer on the Day of Judgment. On the other hand if he was not a Muslim or God-forbid became an apostate before his death, then all the good deeds he had done in this world will be of no benefit to him. The same rule will apply in the case of children, that is, if a person is Muslim, he can benefit from them in the Hereafter in that his children supplicate for his forgiveness after his death. Also, if he had tried to train the children to be pious, whatever good they will do, its benefit will also be passed on to him as long as they do righteous deeds. It is also possible that his pious children obtain his pardon in the Hereafter by intercession. In a few Ahadith it is reported about such an intercession and its acceptance, especially the intercession of the young children yet to attain puberty. Likewise, the children will also benefit from their parents on the condition of faith in that if they were Muslims but their righteous deeds could not attain the level of their parents, then Allah Ta’ ala by taking into account their parents good deeds would place them also at the high position of their parents. The Holy Qur'an has elucidated it in these words أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّ‌يَّتَهُمْ (52:21) that is ` We will join together with Our righteous servants their progeny'. The above quoted famous explanation of this verse has made it clear that wherever it is mentioned in the Qur'an or hadith that the family connection will be of no avail in the Hereafter, the reference is to the non-believers. This principle is applicable to the extent that even if the wife and children of the messenger are not believers, they too would not benefit from his prophethood in the Hereafter, as is the case of the son of Sayyidna Nuh (علیہ السلام) the wife of Lut (علیہ السلام) and the father of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) . The Qur'anic verses فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ‌ فَلَا أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ "Thereafter, when the Sur صُور (the trumpet) is blown, there are no ties of kinship between them" (23:101) and يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ‌ الْمَرْ‌ءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ ﴿34﴾ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ ﴿35﴾; (upon the day when a man shall flee from his brother, his mother, his father - 80:34) and لَّا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ "nor will a son be standing for his father in any way" (31:33) all reflect this very theme. (واللہُ اعلم)

These verses deal with right understanding, i.e. seeing things as they really are. For a subject of God, this is the greatest blessing next to prophethood. That is why it is mentioned in a tradition which says, ‘If God wants to do something good to a man, He bestows on him the understanding of religion.’ Whatever Abraham asked for in his prayer was granted to him, but the prayer for the pardon of his father (Azar) was rejected. One can imagine from this that prayer (du‘a) is mostly a matter between God and His subject. One man’s prayer cannot obtain pardon for another man. Before Almighty God, real value attaches to a pure heart (qalb salim). This means the right kind of pure heart, i.e. a heart which is free from the tendency to ascribe partners to God, feelings of hypocrisy, jealousy and ill-will. In other words, the believer should go before God with a heart as pure as it was at the time of his birth. He should not present himself before God with any other heart.