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Towards Understanding the Quran
With kind permission: Islamic Foundation UK
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Tafsirs: Maarif | Dawat | Ishraq | Clear

 Surah Al-Ahzab 33:69-73 [9/9]
  
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Verse Summary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْO you who believe!
لَا(Do) not
تَكُونُواْbe
كَٱلَّذِينَlike those who
ءَاذَوْاْannoyed
مُوسَىٰMusa
فَبَرَّأَهُ ٱللَّهُthen Allah cleared him
مِمَّاof what
قَالُواْۚthey said.
وَكَانَAnd he was
عِندَnear
ٱللَّهِAllah
وَجِيهًاhonorable.
﴿٦٩﴾
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْO you who believe!
ٱتَّقُواْFear
ٱللَّهَAllah
وَقُولُواْand speak
قَوْلاًa word
سَدِيدًاright.
﴿٧٠﴾
يُصْلِحْHe will amend
لَكُمْfor you
أَعْمَـٰلَكُمْyour deeds
وَيَغْفِرْand forgive
لَكُمْyou
ذُنُوبَكُمْۗyour sins.
وَمَنAnd whoever
يُطِعِobeys
ٱللَّهَAllah
وَرَسُولَهُۥand His Messenger
فَقَدْcertainly
فَازَhas attained
فَوْزًاan attainment
عَظِيمًاgreat.
﴿٧١﴾
إِنَّاIndeed, We
عَرَضْنَا[We] offered
ٱلْأَمَانَةَthe Trust
عَلَىto
ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِthe heavens
وَٱلْأَرْضِand the earth
وَٱلْجِبَالِand the mountains,
فَأَبَيْنَbut they refused
أَنto
يَحْمِلْنَهَاbear it
وَأَشْفَقْنَand they feared
مِنْهَاfrom it;
وَحَمَلَهَاbut bore it
ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُۖthe man.
إِنَّهُۥIndeed, he
كَانَwas
ظَلُومًاvery unjust
جَهُولاًvery ignorant.
﴿٧٢﴾
لِّيُعَذِّبَ ٱللَّهُSo that Allah may punish
ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَthe hypocrite men
وَٱلْمُنَـٰفِقَـٰتِand the hypocrite women
وَٱلْمُشْرِكِينَand the polytheist men
وَٱلْمُشْرِكَـٰتِand the polytheist women
وَيَتُوبَ ٱللَّهُand Allah will turn (in Mercy)
عَلَىto
ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَthe believing men
وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِۗand the believing women.
وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُAnd Allah is
غَفُورًاOft-Forgiving,
رَّحِيمَۢاMost Merciful.
﴿٧٣﴾


يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَا تَكُوۡنُوۡا كَالَّذِيۡنَ اٰذَوۡا مُوۡسٰى فَبَـرَّاَهُ اللّٰهُ مِمَّا قَالُوۡا ؕ وَكَانَ عِنۡدَ اللّٰهِ وَجِيۡهًا ؕ‏  يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَقُوۡلُوۡا قَوۡلًا سَدِيۡدًا ۙ‏  يُّصۡلِحۡ لَـكُمۡ اَعۡمَالَـكُمۡ وَيَغۡفِرۡ لَـكُمۡ ذُنُوۡبَكُمۡؕ وَمَنۡ يُّطِعِ اللّٰهَ وَرَسُوۡلَهٗ فَقَدۡ فَازَ فَوۡزًا عَظِيۡمًا‏  اِنَّا عَرَضۡنَا الۡاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ وَالۡجِبَالِ فَاَبَيۡنَ اَنۡ يَّحۡمِلۡنَهَا وَاَشۡفَقۡنَ مِنۡهَا وَ حَمَلَهَا الۡاِنۡسَانُؕ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ ظَلُوۡمًا جَهُوۡلًا ۙ‏  لِّيُعَذِّبَ اللّٰهُ الۡمُنٰفِقِيۡنَ وَالۡمُنٰفِقٰتِ وَالۡمُشۡرِكِيۡنَ وَالۡمُشۡرِكٰتِ وَيَتُوۡبَ اللّٰهُ عَلَى الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ وَالۡمُؤۡمِنٰتِؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ غَفُوۡرًا رَّحِيۡمًا‏ 

Translation
(33:69) Believers,118 do not be like those who distressed Moses and then Allah declared him quit of the ill they spoke about him; and he had a high standing with Allah.119 (33:70) Believers, fear Allah and speak the truth: (33:71) Allah will set your deeds right for you and will forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has achieved a great triumph. (33:72) We offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to carry it and were afraid of doing so; but man carried it. Surely he is wrong-doing, ignorant.120 (33:73) (The consequence of man's carrying the trust is) that Allah may chastise hypocritical men and hypocritical women and accept the repentance of believing men and believing women. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Commentary

118. One should note that the Quran has at some places addressed the true Muslims with: “O you who have believed,” and at others places the Muslim community as a whole, which includes the believers as well as the hypocrites and the Muslims of the weak faith, and at still others places only the hypocrites. When the hypocrites and the Muslims of the weak faith are addressed with: “O you who have believed,” it is meant to put them to shame, as if to say, “You claim to have affirmed faith, but your acts and deeds do not support your claim.” A little study of the context can easily show which class of the people has been addressed at a particular place. Here, obviously, the common Muslims are being addressed.

119. In other words, it means: “O Muslims, do not behave like the Jews. You should not behave towards your Prophet (peace be upon him) as the children of Israel behaved towards the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him).” The Israelites themselves admit that the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was their greatest benefactor. Whatever they achieved as a nation was only due to him: otherwise in Egypt they would have been doomed to a worse fate than that of the Shudras in India. But how the Israelites treated the greatest benefactor of theirs can be judged by a cursory glance at the following places of the Bible: Exodus, 5: 20-21, 14: 12, 16: 2-3, 17: 3-4. Numbers, 11:1-15, 14:1-10, 16 (the whole chapter), 20: 1-5.

The Quran by referring to this ingratitude of the children of Israel, warns the Muslims, so as to say: “Refrain from adopting this same attitude towards Muhammad (peace be upon him); otherwise you should be ready to face the same fate as the Jews.”

This same thing was said by Prophet (peace be upon him) himself on several occasions. Once he was dividing some goods among the Muslims. When the people dispersed, a man said; “Muhammad in this division has shown no regard for Allah and the Hereafter.” Abdullah bin Masud heard this remark and told the Prophet (peace be upon him) what had been said concerning him that day. He replied, “May Allah show mercy to Moses (peace be upon him): he was maligned even more severely, but he showed patience.” (Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Daud).

120. In the end, Allah wants man to realize his real position in the world; if in that position he regarded the life of the world as mere fun and sport and adopted a wrong attitude carelessly, he would only be working for his own doom.

Here, the word “amanat” (trust) implies khilafat (caliphate) which, according to the Quran, man has been granted in the earth. The inevitable result of the freedom given to man to choose between obedience and disobedience, and the powers and authority granted him over countless creations for using that freedom, is that he himself be held responsible for his voluntary acts and should deserve rewards for his righteous conduct and suffer punishment for his evil conduct. Since man has not attained these powers by his own efforts but has been granted these by Allah, and he is answerable before Allah for their right or wrong use, these have been described by the word khilafat at other places in the Quran, and by amanat here.

In order to give an idea of how important and heavy this “trust” (amanat) is, Allah says that the heavens and the earth, in spite of their glory and greatness, and the mountains, in spite of their size and firmness, could not have the power and courage to bear it. But man, the weak and frail man, has borne this heavy burden on his tiny self.

The presentation of the trust before the earth and the heavens and their refusal to bear it and their being afraid of it may be true literally, or it may have been said so metaphorically. We can neither know nor can comprehend Allah’s relationship with His creations. The earth and the sun and the moon and the mountains are dumb, deaf and lifeless for us but they may not be so for Allah. Allah can speak to each of His creations and it can respond to Him, though its nature is incomprehensible for us. Therefore, it is just possible that Allah, in fact, might have presented this heavy trust before them, and they might have shuddered to see it, and they might have made this submission before their Master and Creator.

“Lord, we find our good and our convenience only in remaining as Your powerless servants: we do not find courage to ask for the freedom to disobey and do justice to it, and then suffer Your punishment in case we cannot do justice to it.” Likewise, it is also quite possible that before this present life Allah might have given another kind of existence to mankind and summoned it before Himself, and it might have willingly undertaken to accept the delegated powers and authority. We have no rational argument to regard this as impossible. Only such a person, who might have made a wrong estimate of his mental and intellectual powers and capabilities, can think of regarding it as impossible.

However, this is also equally possible that Allah may have said so allegorically. In order to give an idea of the extraordinary importance of the matter, He may have depicted the scene as if the earth and the heavens and the mountains like the Himalayas were present before Him on one side and a 5 to 6 foot man, on the other. Then Allah might have asked:

“I want to invest someone of My creation with the power that being a subject of My Kingdom, it may acknowledge My Supremacy and obey My commands of its own free will; otherwise it will also have the power to deny Me, even rebel against Me. After giving him this freedom I shall so conceal Myself from him as if I did not exist at all. And to exercise this freedom I shall invest him with vast powers, great capabilities, and shall give him dominion over countless of My creations so that he may raise any storm that he may in the universe. Then I shall call him to account at an appointed time. The one who will have misused the freedom granted by Me, will be made to suffer a most terrible punishment; and the one who will have adopted My obedience in spite of all chances and opportunities for disobedience, will be raised to such high ranks as no creation of Mine has ever been able to attain. Now tell, which of you is ready to undergo this test?”

Hearing this discourse a hush might have prevailed for a while all through the universe. Then one huge creation after the other might have bowed down and submitted that it should be excused from the severe test. Then, at last, this frail creation might have risen and submitted: “O my Lord, I am ready to undergo this test. I shall brave all the dangers inherent in the freedom and independence only in the hope that I shall be blessed with the highest office in Your Kingdom if I pass the test.”

By imagining this scene through his heart’s eye only can man judge exactly what delicate position he holds in the universe. Allah in this verse has called the person unjust and ignorant, who lives a carefree life in the place of test, and has no feeling at all of how great a responsibility he is shouldering, and what consequences he will encounter of the right or wrong decisions that he makes in choosing and adopting an attitude for himself in the life of the world. He is ignorant because the fool holds himself as responsible to no one; he is unjust because he is himself preparing for his doom and is also preparing the doom of many others along with him.