Tafsir of Surah Az-Zumar - Verse 67

The Idolators did not make a just Estimate of Allah such as is due to Him

وَمَا قَدَرُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ

(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him.) means, the idolators did not give Allah His due when they worshipped others alongside Him. He is the Almighty, and there is none mightier than Him; He is the One Who is able to do all things; He is the Owner of all things and everything is under His control and power. Mujahid said, "This was revealed concerning Quraysh." As-Suddi said, "They did not venerate Him as He deserves to be venerated." Muhammad bin Ka`b said, "If they had made a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him, they would not have lied." `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

وَمَا قَدَرُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ

(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him.) "These are the disbeliever who did not believe that Allah had power over them. Whoever believes that Allah is able to do all things, has made a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him, and whoever does not believe that, has not made a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him." Many Hadiths have been narrated concerning this Ayah and how it and other Ayat like it are to be interpreted and accepted without any attempts to twist or change the meaning. Concerning the Ayah,

وَمَا قَدَرُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ

(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. ) Al-Bukhari recorded that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "One of the rabbis came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, `O Muhammad! We learn that Allah will put the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the trees on one finger, the water and dust on one finger, and the rest of creation on one finger, then He will say: I am the King.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled so broadly that his molars could be seen, in confirmation of what the rabbi had said. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited:

وَمَا قَدَرُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالاٌّرْضُ جَمِيعـاً قَبْضَـتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ

(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand)." Al-Bukhari also recorded this in other places of his Sahih. It was also recorded by Imam Ahmad and Muslim, and by At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i in the (books of) Tafsir in their Sunans. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

«يَقْبِضُ اللهُ تَعَالَى الْأَرْضَ، وَيَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ بِيَمِينِهِ، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: أَنَا الْمَلِكُ، أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الْأَرْضِ؟»

(Allah will grasp the earth and roll up the heavens in His Right Hand, then He will say: "I am the King, where are the kings of the earth")" This version was recorded only by Al-Bukhari; Muslim recorded another version. Al-Bukhari also recorded from Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى يَقْبِضُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ الْأَرَضِينَ عَلَى أُصْبُعٍ، وَتَكُونُ السَّموَاتُ بِيَمِينِهِ، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: أَنَا الْمَلِك»

(On the Day of Resurrection, Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, will grasp the earth with one finger, and the heavens will be in His Right Hand, then He will say, "I am the King.") This version was also recorded by Al-Bukhari It is recorded that Ibn `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited this Ayah on the Minbar one day:

وَمَا قَدَرُواْ اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالاٌّرْضُ جَمِيعـاً قَبْضَـتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَالسَّمَـوَتُ مَطْوِيَّـتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ سُبْحَـنَهُ وَتَعَالَى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

(They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. On the Day of Resurrection the whole earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified be He, and High be He above all that they associate as partners with Him!) The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said while moving his hand forward and backward:

«يُمَجِّدُ الرَّبُّ نَفْسَهُ: أَنَا الْجَبَّارُ، أَنَا الْمُتَكَبِّرُ، أَنَا الْمَلِكُ، أَنَا الْعَزِيزُ، أَنَا الْكَرِيم»

(And the Lord will glorify Himself, saying "I am Compeller, I am the Proud, I am the King, I am the Mighty, I am the Most Generous.") And the Minbar shook so much that we feared that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would fall." This was also recorded by Muslim, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.

In the last verse (67), it was said: وَالْأَرْ‌ضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ(and the whole earth will be in a single grip of His hand on the Day of Doom and the heavens, rolled up on His right hand). The earth being in the hand-grip of Allah Ta’ ala and the heavens being rolled up on His right hand appears here, in the view of the early forbears of Islam, in its real sense. But, the subject of the verse falls in the category of al-mutashabihat (of hidden meaning) the reality of which is not known to anyone except Allah Ta’ ala. For people in general, even trying to find out its reality is forbidden. Hence, the thing to do is no more but to believe that whatever Allah Ta’ ala means thereby is true and correct. And since the apparent words of this verse seem to suggest grasp, grip or a hand holding something ('qabdah', mutthi, handful) as well as the presence of a right hand that are parts of a body while Allah Ta’ ala is pure and free from body and physicality. To this, towards the end of the verse, a hint was released: Do not take these words on the analogy of your body limbs. Allah Ta` la is free from these: سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِ‌كُونَ (Pure is He, far too high from what they ascribe to Him - 39:67).

Later day scholars, taking this verse to be metaphorical, explain it by saying that having something grasped in hand and having something in the right hand is an allusion to having something under full possession and control - and it is this perfect possession and control that is meant here. And Allah, He is pure and high - He knows best.

The root of many deviations is, in fact, the underestimation of God. Man is lost in admiration of other kinds of greatness, because he is unaware of God’s unlimited Greatness. He considers attachment to great men the means of his salvation. When Doomsday removes the veils over people’s eyes, they will come to know that God was and still is so great that the world could be enclosed in His fist like a small coin and the sky could be wrapped around His hand like an ordinary piece of paper. Just as a bell rings as soon as an examination is over, similarly as soon as the time of the world is over, a trumpet will be blown. After that, the whole system will change. Thereafter, a new world will come into existence. This present world of ours is illuminated by the light of the sun, which is able to show us only tangible things. The world of the Hereafter will be directly illuminated by God’s light (nur). So even the intangible realities of the world will become visible to man’s eyes. At that time, people will be brought in to the Court of God. In the present world, people ignored the prophets and the preachers operating under their guidance. But, in the Hereafter, people will be wonderstruck to find that their future is decided on the basis of the support or rejection of these prophets and preachers.