Tafsir of Surah As-Sajdah - Verse 30

How the Disbelievers sought to hasten on the Punishment, and what happened to Them

Allah tells us how the disbelievers sought to hasten on the punishment, and to bring the wrath and vengeance of Allah upon themselves, because they thought this punishment would never happen, and because of their disbelief and stubbornness.

وَيَقُولُونَ مَتَى هَـذَا الْفَتْحُ

(They say: "When will this Fath be...") meaning, `when will you prevail over us, O Muhammad, since you claim that there will be a time when you will gain the upper hand over us and take your revenge on us, so when will that happen All we see of you and your companions is that you are hiding, afraid and humiliated.' Allah says:

قُلْ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ

(Say: "On the Day of Al-Fath...") meaning, `when the wrath and punishment of Allah befall you, in this world and the next,'

لاَ يَنفَعُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِيَمَـنُهُمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

(no profit will it be to those who disbelieve if they (then) believe! Nor will they be granted a respite.) This is like the Ayah,

فَلَمَّا جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ فَرِحُواْ بِمَا عِندَهُمْ مِّنَ الْعِلْمِ

(Then when their Messengers came to them with clear proofs, they were glad with that which they had of the knowledge...) (40:83-85) Those who claim that this refers to the conquest of Makkah go too far, and have made a grievous mistake, for on the day of the conquest of Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ accepted the Islam of the freed Makkan prisoners-of-war, who numbered nearly two thousand. If what was meant by this Ayah was the conquest of Makkah, he would not have accepted their Islam, because Allah says:

قُلْ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ لاَ يَنفَعُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ إِيَمَـنُهُمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ

(Say: "On the Day of Al-Fath, no profit will it be to those who disbelieve if they (then) believe! Nor will they be granted a respite.") What is meant by Al-Fath here is Judgement, as in the Ayat:

فَافْتَحْ بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَهُمْ فَتْحاً

(Nuh said: So Aftah (judge) between me and them) (26:118). and:

قُلْ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا رَبُّنَا ثُمَّ يَفْتَحُ بَيْنَنَا بِالْحَقِّ

(Say: "Our Lord will assemble us all together, then He will judge between us with truth") (34:26).

وَاسْتَفْتَحُواْ وَخَابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ

(And they sought judgement and every obstinate, arrogant dictator was brought to a complete loss and destruction. ) (14:15)

وَكَانُواْ مِن قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ

(although aforetime they had invoked Allah to pass judgement over those who disbelieved) (2:89)

إِن تَسْتَفْتِحُواْ فَقَدْ جَآءَكُمُ الْفَتْحُ

(If you ask for a judgement, now has the judgement come unto you) (8:19). Then Allah says:

فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَانتَظِرْ إِنَّهُمْ مُّنتَظِرُونَ

(So turn aside from them and await, verily, they (too) are awaiting.) meaning, `turn away from these idolators, and convey that which has been revealed to you from your Lord.' This is like the Ayah,

اتَّبِعْ مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ

(Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord, there is no God but Him.) (6:106) `Wait until Allah fulfills that which He has promised you, and grants you victory over those who oppose you, for He never breaks His promise.'

عَنْهُمْ وَانتَظِرْ

(verily, they (too) are awaiting.) means, `you are waiting, and they are waiting and plotting against you,'

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَّتَرَبَّصُ بِهِ رَيْبَ الْمَنُونِ

(Or do they say: "A poet! We await for him some calamity by time!") (52:30). `You will see the consequences of your patience towards them, and the fulfillment of the promise of your Lord in your victory over them, and they will see the consequences of their wait for something bad to befall you and your Companions, in that Allah's punishment will come upon them.' Sufficient unto us is Allah, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat As-Sajdah.

To answer that, Allah Ta'ala said: قُلْ يَوْمَ الْفَتْحِ لَا يَنفَعُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا إِيمَانُهُمْ (Say, 'On the day of decision their belief will not be of any use to disbelievers,'-29) This amounts to saying: Why are you asking us about the day of our victory while that day is going to be a day of trouble for you? When victory comes to us, you would have already been overtaken by punishment. May be, right here in this world - as it happened in the battle of Badr - or, in the Hereafter. And when the punishment of Allah seizes someone, then, no profession of faith at that time, no declaration of 'Iman at that stage is accepted. (as mentioned by Ibn Kathir)

There are some others who have interpreted the 'day' in: مَتٰی ھٰذا الفَتح ("When will this decision take place?" ) as the day of Qiyamah. The summarized explanation of this verse in Bayan-ul-Qur'an appearing in the original edition of Ma` ariful-Qur'an is based on this tafsir. ( The translation of al-lath as 'decision' as given in the text admits both probablities)

Al-hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah As-Sajdah

Ends here.

In ancient Makkah the polytheists were dominant, while Islam was in a very weak position, so much so that the polytheists used to ridicule Islam and Muslims. In response to this, Almighty God has given an example: He asks people to consider a land which is dry and barren. To all appearances, it seems impossible that it will ever become covered with greenery. But, God causes the clouds to pour rain-water on it. In a few days time, the dry land is replaced with lush green fields. Similarly, God’s powers can cause Islam to flourish and become the predominant ideology of the world.