Surah 22. Al-Haj

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Verses [Section]: 1-10[1], 11-22 [2], 23-25 [3], 26-33 [4], 34-38 [5], 39-48 [6], 49-57 [7], 58-64 [8], 65-72 [9], 73-78 [10]

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Quran Text of Verse 1-1022. Al-Haj Page 33222. Al-Hajبِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِیٰۤاَیُّهَاO (mankind)النَّاسُ(O) mankindاتَّقُوْاFearرَبَّكُمْ ۚyour LordاِنَّIndeedزَلْزَلَةَ(the) convulsionالسَّاعَةِ(of) the Hourشَیْءٌ(is) a thingعَظِیْمٌ great یَوْمَ(The) Dayتَرَوْنَهَاyou will see itتَذْهَلُwill forgetكُلُّeveryمُرْضِعَةٍnursing motherعَمَّاۤthat whichاَرْضَعَتْshe was nursingوَ تَضَعُand will deliverكُلُّeveryذَاتِpregnant womanحَمْلٍpregnant womanحَمْلَهَاher loadوَ تَرَیand you will seeالنَّاسَ[the] mankindسُكٰرٰیintoxicatedوَ مَاwhile notهُمْtheyبِسُكٰرٰی(are) intoxicatedوَ لٰكِنَّbutعَذَابَ(the) punishmentاللّٰهِ(of) Allahشَدِیْدٌ (will be) severe وَ مِنَAnd amongالنَّاسِthe mankindمَنْ(is he) whoیُّجَادِلُdisputesفِیconcerningاللّٰهِAllahبِغَیْرِwithoutعِلْمٍknowledgeوَّ یَتَّبِعُand followsكُلَّeveryشَیْطٰنٍdevilمَّرِیْدٍۙrebellious كُتِبَIt has been decreedعَلَیْهِfor himاَنَّهٗthat heمَنْwhoتَوَلَّاهُbefriends himفَاَنَّهٗthen indeed heیُضِلُّهٗwill misguide himوَ یَهْدِیْهِand will guide himاِلٰیtoعَذَابِ(the) punishmentالسَّعِیْرِ (of) the Blaze یٰۤاَیُّهَاO mankindالنَّاسُO mankindاِنْIfكُنْتُمْyou areفِیْinرَیْبٍdoubtمِّنَaboutالْبَعْثِthe Resurrectionفَاِنَّاthen indeed, WeخَلَقْنٰكُمْWe created youمِّنْfromتُرَابٍdustثُمَّthenمِنْfromنُّطْفَةٍa semen-dropثُمَّthenمِنْfromعَلَقَةٍa clinging substanceثُمَّthenمِنْfromمُّضْغَةٍan embryonic lumpمُّخَلَّقَةٍformedوَّ غَیْرِand unformedمُخَلَّقَةٍand unformedلِّنُبَیِّنَthat We may make clearلَكُمْ ؕto youوَ نُقِرُّAnd We cause to remainفِیinالْاَرْحَامِthe wombsمَاwhatنَشَآءُWe willاِلٰۤیforاَجَلٍa termمُّسَمًّیappointedثُمَّthenنُخْرِجُكُمْWe bring you outطِفْلًا(as) a childثُمَّ[then]لِتَبْلُغُوْۤاthat you may reachاَشُدَّكُمْ ۚ[your] maturityوَ مِنْكُمْAnd among youمَّنْ(is he) whoیُّتَوَفّٰیdiesوَ مِنْكُمْand among youمَّنْ(is he) whoیُّرَدُّis returnedاِلٰۤیtoاَرْذَلِthe most abjectالْعُمُرِageلِكَیْلَاso that notیَعْلَمَhe knowsمِنْۢafterبَعْدِafterعِلْمٍhaving knownشَیْـًٔا ؕanythingوَ تَرَیAnd you seeالْاَرْضَthe earthهَامِدَةًbarrenفَاِذَاۤthen whenاَنْزَلْنَاWe send downعَلَیْهَاon itالْمَآءَwaterاهْتَزَّتْit gets stirredوَ رَبَتْand it swellsوَ اَنْۢبَتَتْand growsمِنْofكُلِّeveryزَوْجٍۭkindبَهِیْجٍ beautiful 22. Al-Haj Page 333ذٰلِكَThatبِاَنَّ(is) becauseاللّٰهَAllahهُوَHeالْحَقُّ(is) the Truthوَ اَنَّهٗAnd that Heیُحْیِ[He] gives lifeالْمَوْتٰی(to) the deadوَ اَنَّهٗand that Heعَلٰی(is) overكُلِّeveryشَیْءٍthingقَدِیْرٌۙAll-Powerful وَّ اَنَّAnd thatالسَّاعَةَthe Hourاٰتِیَةٌwill comeلَّا(there is) noرَیْبَdoubtفِیْهَا ۙabout itوَ اَنَّand thatاللّٰهَAllahیَبْعَثُwill resurrectمَنْ(those) whoفِی(are) inالْقُبُوْرِ the graves وَ مِنَAnd amongالنَّاسِmankindمَنْ(is he) whoیُّجَادِلُdisputesفِیconcerningاللّٰهِAllahبِغَیْرِwithoutعِلْمٍany knowledgeوَّ لَاand notهُدًیany guidanceوَّ لَاand notكِتٰبٍa Bookمُّنِیْرٍۙenlightening ثَانِیَTwistingعِطْفِهٖhis neckلِیُضِلَّto misleadعَنْfromسَبِیْلِ(the) wayاللّٰهِ ؕ(of) AllahلَهٗFor himفِیinالدُّنْیَاthe worldخِزْیٌ(is) disgraceوَّ نُذِیْقُهٗand We will make him tasteیَوْمَ(on the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) Resurrectionعَذَابَ(the) punishmentالْحَرِیْقِ (of) the Burning Fire ذٰلِكَThatبِمَا(is) for whatقَدَّمَتْhave sent forthیَدٰكَyour handsوَ اَنَّand thatاللّٰهَAllahلَیْسَis notبِظَلَّامٍunjustلِّلْعَبِیْدِ۠to His slaves

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Translation of Verse 1-10In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

(22:1) O mankind, fear the (wrath of) your Lord! Indeed, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) will be an awesome thing.¹

(22:2) On the Day when you witness it, the suckling woman shall utterly neglect the infant she suckles,² and every pregnant woman shall cast her burden, and you will see people as though they are drunk, when they are not drunk; but dreadful shall be Allah's chastisement.³

(22:3) Among people there are some who wrangle about Allah without knowledge⁴ and follow every rebellious devil,

(22:4) although it is decreed about him that he shall lead into error whosoever takes him for a friend, and will direct him to the torment of the Fire.

(22:5) O mankind! If you have any doubt concerning Resurrection, then know that it is surely We Who created you from dust, then from a drop of sperm,⁵ then from a clot of blood, then from a little lump of flesh, some of it shapely and other shapeless.⁶ (We are rehearsing this) that We may make the reality clear to you. We cause (the drop of sperm) that We please to remain in the wombs till an appointed time. We bring you forth as infants (and nurture you) that you may come of age. Among you is he that dies (at a young age) and he who is kept back to the most abject age so that after once having known, he reaches a stage when he knows nothing.⁷ You see the earth dry and barren and then no sooner than We send down water upon it, it begins to quiver and swell and brings forth every kind of beauteous vegetation.

(22:6) All this is because Allah, He is the Truth,⁸ and because He resurrects the dead, and because He has power over everything,

(22:7) (all of which shows that) the Hour shall surely come to pass - in this there is no doubt - and Allah shall surely resurrect those that are in graves.⁹

(22:8) And among people are those that wrangle¹⁰ about Allah without knowledge,¹¹ without any true guidance,¹² and without any scripture to enlighten them.¹³

(22:9) They wrangle arrogantly, intent on leading people astray from the Way of Allah.¹⁴ Such shall suffer disgrace in this world and We shall cause them to taste the chastisement of burning (in the Next).

(22:10) That is the outcome of what your own hands have wrought, for Allah never wrongs His creatures.

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Commentary

1. The earthquake mentioned here will be one of the preliminary signs of the Last Day. Most probably it will take place at a time when the earth will suddenly start whirling rapidly in a direction opposite to its erstwhile direction, and when the sun will rise from the west rather than from the east. This view is held by some of the early Qur’ anic commentators such as ‘Alqamah and Sha‘bi. (See Alusi, Ruh al-Ma‘ani, comments on the verse — Ed.) The same point is borne out by the lengthy Hadith cited on the authority of Abu Hurayrah by Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Ibn Abi Hatim. According to this hadith, the Prophet (peace be on him) said that the Trumpet would be blown three times. When blown for the first time, it would cause extreme fright and consternation; the second blowing of the Trumpet would cause everyone to die; and at the third sounding, everyone would be resurrected ‘and stand before God for His judgement. While giving a graphic account of the first Trumpet blow, the Prophet (peace be on him) said that the earth would then resemble a boat that is tossed about by tempestuous waves, or it would resemble a suspended lamp that is violently shaken by strong gusts of wind. (See Ibn Kathir’s comments on the verse — Ed.) The state of the inhabitants of the ‘earth at that moment is portrayed at several places in the Qur’an:

So, when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast, and when the earth and the mountains are borne away and crushed with one stroke, on that Day shall the Great Event come to pass (al-Haqqah 69: 13-15).

When the earth will be shaken to its utmost convulsion, and the earth will throw up its burdens, and man will cry out: ‘What is the matter with it?’ (al-Zalzalah 99; 1-3).

On the Day when the first commotion of the quake shall shake everything, followed by a repetition of the quake. On that Day people’s hearts shall shiver and their eyes shall stare with awe (al-Nazi‘at 79: 6-9).

When the earth shall be shaken to its depths, and the mountains shall be crumbled to pieces, becoming scattered dust (al-Waqi ‘ah 56: 4-6).

Then how shall you, if you reject [the Message of the Prophet], guard yourselves against the affliction of the Day that will make children grey-headed, and to whose severity will cause the heaven to be cleft asunder? (al-Muzzammil 73: 17-18).

True, a few Qur’anic commentators believe that this earthquake will coincide with the resurrection-of the dead. Several traditions are also cited in support of this view. (See Ibn Kathir’s comments on the verse — Ed.) However, the explicit statement of the Qur’an does not allow one to accept this. For, according to the Qur’an, when this quaking takes place mothers will flee from the babies they are suckling and pregnant women will abort their foetuses. Obviously, such incidents cannot take place in the Next Life. In the Next Life, no woman will suckle her baby, nor will there be. any occasion for pregnant women to abort their foetuses. This is obvious because, according to the clear statements of the Qur'an, all worldly ties will then have ended, and everyone will stand before God in his individual capacity to render an account of his deeds. For these reasons, the tradition that we have cited (see p. 5) is to be preferred over the views of the commentators just mentioned.

Even though the chain of narration of this tradition has a formal defect, this is offset by the fact that it conforms to the Qur’anic statements on the subject.

As for the traditions on this subject in opposition to this tradition, even if they appear to be more in conformity with the formal criteria of authentification, they are weakened by the fact that they do not conform to the categorical statements of the Qur'an.

2. In the above verse, the word that is used is murdi‘ah rather than murdi'.

In Arabic usage, murdi ‘denotes the woman who suckles. As for murdi‘ah, it is used with reference to a woman in the actual state of suckling a child from her breast. However, when the earthquake of Doomsday strikes, mothers will flee in fright, abandoning the babies they are suckling, too panic-stricken even to be able to think of what will happen to their babies.

3. The purpose of the above verse is not to portray the events of the Last Day. Rather, it aims at instilling fear of God’s chastisement in the hearts of people so that they may shun whatever incurs God’s displeasure. Hence, this brief description of the Last Day is followed by a discourse that addresses the main theme.

4. When one considers the discourse that follows, it is clear that the issue under debate was not whether God actually existed or not. The real issue of contention was: what are the rights of God against His creatures, what is the extent of God’s. authority, and what is the attitude that one should adopt to His directives and commands? The Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) sought to persuade people to accept that there is no God except the One True God, and that the Hereafter is bound to come to pass. It was on these matters that people questioned the Prophet (peace be on him). The debate ultimately led to the question of what lies in God’s power and what lies beyond it? Is the. universe governed by the One True God or do any other beings share His Divinity with Him?

5. This verse means either that each man was created from materials all of which are derived from the earth and that the actual process starts with creating the sperm. Or else it means that the human species began its existence with the. Prophet Adam (peace be on him), who was directly created from clay, where after all generations were created from sperm, as stated elsewhere in the Qur’ an: “He began the creation of man with clay, and made his progeny from the quintessence of a despised fluid’ (al-Sajdah 32: 7-8).

6. This refers to the different stages of gestation through which the foetus passes in the mother’s womb. The stages of gestation known today with the help of powerful microscopes, and through them alone, are not mentioned in the Qur’an. Instead, only those major changes are mentioned with which even the illiterate Bedouin of that time were familiar. What is said here is that once the sperm settles down and fertilizes, it turns into congealed blood, then into a lump of flesh which is initially devoid of any definite shape, and then it develops into a human baby whose features gradually crystallize. Since those stages. of human gestation were common knowledge because of abortion, reference is specifically made only to those stages. Thus, no detailed knowledge of embryology was required then, nor it is required now, for grasping the main stages through which the human embryo passes before its birth.

7. This refers to that state of senility when man loses awareness of the state he is in. Someone who may once have been known for his mental sharpness and for imparting wisdom to others, degenerates into a decrepit old -man; his mental state reverting to almost that of a small child. All that he once took pride in — his knowledge, experience, and wisdom — depart from him and he becomes altogether empty-headed and senseless, and the laughing-stock of even children.

8. In the context of the present discourse, this Qur’anic verse carries three meanings: first, that God alone is truthful, and that the fanciful opinion that Life after Death is beyond the range of the possible is absolutely baseless. Second, that God is not a phantom, a being invented merely to obviate the intellectual difficulties people face in comprehending the riddle of existence. He is also not a figment of the philosopher’s imagination, nor just a necessary being, nor simply the first cause. He is, instead, the True, All-Powerful Master Who acts according to His own Will. He unceasingly rules over the whole universe, of every little part of it, and does so by dint of His Infinite Power, His Will, His Knowledge and His Wisdom. Third, since God is the Truth, all His acts are animated with purposefulness and wisdom. He is far from being One Who acts in sport and play, Who contrives a plaything merely to entertain Himself with for a while and then capriciously shatters it to pieces.

9. The above verse mentions the various stages of man’s birth, the effects of rain on the earth, and the growth of vegetation as arguments in support of the following truths: (1) that God is the Truth; (2) that God restores the dead to life; (3) that God has power over everything; (4) that the Hour of Judgement is bound to come; and (5) that God will most surely raise the dead to life.

Now let us see how the above-mentioned phenomena serve as supporting evidence in favor of the five truths mentioned above. Even if one were to close one’s eyes to the working of the universe and consider merely one’s own creation, still one would be able to appreciate how God’s Will is actively involved in the life of every single individual, and that the different stages in the birth-and growth of every single individual is determined by His Will. Some people are of the opinion that all this is part of a set of laws which are regulated by a nature that is blind and mute, and devoid of both knowledge and will. However, if one sees things with open eyes and a perceptive mind, one then knows how the willful decision of an All-Powerful and Wise Being is tied up with the manner in which every single human being comes into existence, as well as the manner in which he passes through different stages of growth and development. All that man partakes is bereft of even an atom of sperm. Nor does his food contain anything which has the power to generate the properties which characterize man. When this food is digested, it is transformed into such things as hair, flesh and bones, which in themselves lack reproductive qualities. And yet, it is these lifeless ingredients that give birth to sperm in men and ovaries in women, the combination of which leads to the constant birth of living beings.

Now let us move away from this and cast a glance around us. We see that there are almost limitless seeds of a variety of things that are scattered all around by the birds and wind. There are also roots of a very large number of plants and trees which lie hidden in the earth. In this arid terrain there is no trace of any plant life. The barren tracts of land seem altogether dead, as if they were a large graveyard. But as soon as a few drops of rain fall on a piece of land, verdant life begins to pulsate all over. Every dead root is resurrected; every lifeless seed becomes a living plant. This process of the resurrection of the dead takes place every year before our very own eyes.

The third thing which is established by human observation is that God has power over everything. Man may disregard other parts of this vast universe, and simply consider the earth on which he lives; in fact, he may simply reflect over the life of plants and human beings to the ‘exclusion of all other aspects relating to the earth. Would such a reflection lead him to the conclusion that God has the power to do only what we see Him doing and that His power does not extend beyond that; and that if He decides to do something more than what He has don& up until now, it will be beyond the range of His capacity to do so? Such conclusions about God’s capacity and power are patently unjustified. In fact, this would be evident were we to consider the extent of man’s capacity up until the recent past. We know well that until the previous century, it was thought that man was capable of manufacturing only those vehicles that could operate on the earth. It was considered absolutely beyond man’s power to manufacture vessels that would fly in the air. But aero planes made by man have shown how grossly conservative people’s estimates of man’s capacity were. Now if anyone were to estimate the extent of God’s power only on the basis of what He has done until now, he would only provide evidence of the smallness of his own mind, for God's power in any case, is not bound by man’s conservative estimates.

The fourth and fifth propositions are that the Day of Judgement is inevitable and that God is bound to raise all thosé who have suffered death. These are logical corollaries of the three premises mentioned above. If one looks at God’s acts as reflections of God’s power, one is bound to be convinced that He has the power to bring about the Doomsday whenever He wills. Additionally, He can also resurrect all those that are dead, i.e. the same people whom He once brought into existence from nothing.

Now if one considers God's acts from the vantage-point of God's wisdom, human reason bears witness that God is bound to do both. This is so because without these two acts of God. the requirements of wisdom are not fulfilled and it is inconceivable that any wise person, let alone God, would disregard that.

Man is possessed of only a limited amount of wisdom. But even this limited wisdom enables him to appreciate that when a person entrusts his wealth or property or business to anyone, sooner or later he calls him to account for the same. In other words, there is a logical nexus between the bestowal of trust and calling the trustee to account, a nexus that even man, despite the limited nature of his wisdom, can never ignore. Again, it is because of this very wisdom that man distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary acts. He associates moral responsibility with acts of a voluntary character, and declares some of those acts to be good and others bad. He praises and likes to reward those who do good, whereas he likes to see those engaged in evil acts punished, so much so that he establishes a fully-fledged institution — the judiciary — to this end. Now, can one believe that He who created wisdom and which He bestowed on man, will Himself be devoid of it? Can one. seriously entertain the proposition that God, Who created man and charged him with this huge world with its immense resources and endowed him with enormous powers, would forget about man after all this and never call him to account? Can any sound-minded person be persuaded to believe that criminals, who have managed to escape the punishment they deserve or those who have not been punished in proportion to their crimes, will never be brought to book? Furthermore, can one seriously believe that those who have not been rewarded in this world for the good they have done, remain deprived of their reward ever after? If this is not the case, then there can be no escaping the conclusion that Life after Death is an inevitable concomitant of God’s wisdom. Indeed, it is not Life after Death that should be a matter of surprise; it would be surprising if it were not.

10. This refers to the knowledge that one gains through direct observation and first-hand experience.

11. That is, knowledge gained indirectly from some evidence or as a result of the guidance of a knowledgeable person.

12. This refers to the knowledge gained from the Scriptures.

13. This consists of three things: (1) adamancy and intransigence arising out of ignorance and folly, (2) arrogance and egotistic presumptuousness, and (3) indifference to the sincere counsel of others.

14. Previously mention was made of those who are themselves misguided. Here, reference is being made to those who are not simply misguided, but who are also bent upon misleading others.