Surah No. 46
Surah No. 461
Merits of the Surah
1. Except for stray opinions, there is consensus that this Surah is entirely Makkan (Qurtubi, Alusi and others).
حم (1)
(46:1) Ha. Mim.2
2. “The appearance of these letters at the beginning of this chapter and mentioning of ‘the Revelation’ in the following verses suggests that these are the letters of the Arabic language from which ‘the Revelation’ has been composed, yet it happens to be only one of its kind, with no other composition to match with it. This is the strongest proof that it is ‘from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise.’
“These opening verses also suggest the relationship that prevails between this ‘Book, revealed by Allah,’ and the ‘Cosmic Book’ – the heavens and the earth and what is between them - that His hand has wrought: a relationship that the inner sight is able to perceive.
“Both these Books are established on Truth: ‘We have not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them but in truth.’
“Both manifest power and wisdom, and wisdom demands termination of the created world at an appointed hour.
“Both the books are open to view and display signs of Allah. They both speak of Allah’s power and testify to His wisdom. The Cosmic Book testifies to the truth of the written Book.
“The written Book asserts that God is one, that He is the Sustainer of all things, since He is the Creator of all things, Organizer of all things, Regulator of all things. And the open-to-all Cosmic Book loudly speaks out the same truth. Its own working system, its organization and arrangement .. its operation .. all of these bear to the truths stated in the Revealed Book. It speaks of the oneness of their Maker, Organizer, Regulator and Sustainer: He who creates by knowledge, originates with knowledge. In everything that He creates, there are stamps of a Creator who is One. From where then have the Associators with Him brought their deities? What have those deities created? In what of the created world do they have a share?” (Sayyid).
تَنْزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ (2)
(46:2) Sending down of the Book by Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise.
مَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى ۚ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَمَّا أُنْذِرُوا مُعْرِضُونَ (3)
(46:3) We have not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them but in truth and for an appointed term. But those who have disbelieved are turning away from what they are being warned.
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقُوا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ أَمْ لَهُمْ شِرْكٌ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ ۖ ائْتُونِي بِكِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ هَٰذَا أَوْ أَثَارَةٍ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (4)
(46:4) Say, ‘Have you considered those you invoke other than Allah, show me what is it they have created out of the earth, or, have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a Book earlier than this or any remnant of knowledge if you are true.’3
3. “Atharatan” has been read in two ways leading to varying understandings, but close in meaning. The majority opinion is expressed in the translation. A reported meaning attributed to Ibn `Abbas is that the allusion is to “Chad” but without any further elaboration.
Shawkani’s commentator points out that Ibn Hajr has (in his Fath) discounted as untrustworthy the report that comes from Ibn `Abbas. All the same, some commentators tend to believe that by “Chad” the allusion is to the science of drawing lines on the earth and predicting the future, to some accuracy. This knowledge has been withdrawn, and the discipline has disappeared. A Prophetic report confirms that once humanity did possess this knowledge of the “Chad.” A hadith in Muslim, Abu Da’ud, Nasa’i and others confirms that it was revealed knowledge. It says
“(Mu`awiyyah b. al-Hakam al-Sulami) said to the Prophet, “Some of our men draw lines. (What about it?)” He answered, “One of the Prophets used to draw lines. So, if someone’s lines agree with his, then, that’s it.”
Nawawi states that “that’s it” makes it “mubah” but since the knowledge (which could have only come through revelation) is lost, there is no chance of anyone’s lines being correct, and, therefore, drawing lines to learn of the future, is now prohibited.
Qurtubi adds: At present, there is no way left for knowing the future but true dreams. All other doors are closed, and prediction is disallowed.
وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّنْ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَنْ لَا يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَهُمْ عَنْ دُعَائِهِمْ غَافِلُونَ (5)
(46:5) And, who can be more misguided than he who invokes those that will not respond to him till the Day of Judgment. Indeed, they are unaware of their invocation.
وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُوا لَهُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَكَانُوا بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَافِرِينَ (6)
(46:6) And when the people are gathered, they will be their enemies and will be deniers of their worship of them.4
4. It is reported that pagan deities and idols will be given power of speech on the Day of Judgment (Alusi).
Whether it is idols, angels, satans or humans that were chosen for worship, they will all disown those that were devoted to them. Even Satan will disown them as in a Qur’anic verse (14: 22):
Arabic Text ???
“And Satan will say when the matter is concluded, ‘Allah promised you a true promise, and I too promised. But I failed in my promise. And I had no power over you except that I invited you and you responded to me. Therefore, do not blame me, blame your own selves. I cannot come to your aid nor can you come to my aid. I disown your former (act of) associating me (with Allah).’ Surely, a painful chastisement (awaits) the wrong-doers.”
Sayyid notes: “Another point of note is that although it is a fact that the reference at the time of the revelation was to certain false gods, familiar to humankind, it may not be ignored that the text is wider in scope, meaning, and application, and will remain so during every historical phase.
Who – of whichever age, in whatever place - can be in greater wrong than he who is devoted to other than Allah? None of them - whoever they may be - to whom the people are devoted, can respond to the call of their devotees. It is because, there is no Lord but One, who possesses all and everything, without whose approval nothing can be moved. They do not in fact have any power of doing themselves good or bad. To call them, then, is shirk, to apply to them is shirk, to fasten hope upon them is shirk, fearing them is shirk, although, admittedly, their association is not perceptible, because it is so subtle.”
Yusuf Ali expounds further: “As there is no argument at all in favour of your sham worship, what sense is there in it? Either your false gods are senseless stocks and stones which will never answer you to the end of Time, being themselves devoid of understanding, or they are real objects which will disown you at the last. If you worshipped Self, your own misused faculties will witness against you at the last (xli. 20-23). If you worshipped good men or prophets, like Jesus, they will disown you (v. 119). Similarly, if you worshipped angels, they will disown you (xxxiv. 40-41).”
وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ هَٰذَا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ (7)
(46:7) When Our revelations are recited to them as clear evidences, the unbelievers said of the truth when it came to them, ‘This is manifest magic.’
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ ۖ قُلْ إِنِ افْتَرَيْتُهُ فَلَا تَمْلِكُونَ لِي مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئًا ۖ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ ۖ كَفَىٰ بِهِ شَهِيدًا بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ (8)
(46:8) Or do they say, ‘He has forged it?’ Say, ‘If I have forged it, then you cannot avail me aught against Allah.5 He knows well that in which you indulge. Sufficient is He as a witness between me and you; He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.’
5. That is, if it is supposed that the Prophet (saws) forged the Qur’an then, Allah (swt) would have punished him and no one would have been able to help him against Allah.
Yusuf Ali again, “‘If I forged a message from myself as one purporting to come from Allah, you would not be able to see me enjoy any of the blessings from Allah which I enjoy: you would not see me calm and relying on Allah, nor would you see me bear the reputation of being a trustworthy man.’ A liar comes to an evil end. But what about those who talk so glibly and freely about things which they know not? Allah knows all and He is my witness! According to Ibn Kathir, the verse means that if the Prophet’s claim to be Allah’s messenger would have been a false one, he would have been stricken by a severe punishment from Allah and none had the power to avert that punishment.”
قُلْ مَا كُنْتُ بِدْعًا مِنَ الرُّسُلِ وَمَا أَدْرِي مَا يُفْعَلُ بِي وَلَا بِكُمْ ۖ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ وَمَا أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ مُبِينٌ (9)
(46:9) Say, ‘I am not an innovation among the Messengers,6 nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.7 I only follow that which is revealed to me; and I am not but a plain warner.’
6. That is, as a Messenger I am not a new phenomenon. There have been Messengers before me with similar messages (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).
Yusuf Ali puts it in different words, “‘What is there to forge? All prophets have taught the Unity of Allah and our duty to mankind. I bring no new fangled doctrine, but eternal truths that have been known to good men through the ages. It is to reclaim you that I have come, I do not know what will be your fate for all this callousness, nor what you will do to me. But this I know, that I am preaching truth and righteousness as inspired by Allah. My duty is only to proclaim aloud and clearly the Message entrusted to me by Allah. The rest I leave to Allah.’”
Another possible connotation is stated by Zamakhshari and Razi, “I am not an innovative Messenger to be producing every one of the miracles that you demand of me, or give you on your demand news of all that is in the Unseen.”
7. Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Hasan, Qat adah and others have said that this ayah has been abrogated (in meaning) in view of a later ayah of Surah al-Fath (no. 2) which said,
“So that Allah may forgive you what has been your shortcoming of the past and the future..”
Reports say that when this latter ayah was revealed, one of the Companions congratulated the Prophet (saws) and asked, “What about us?” So, Allah revealed (33: 47):
“And give glad tidings to the believers that for them is from Allah a great grace.”
He also revealed (48: 5-6),
“In order that He might admit the believing men and believing women into gardens beneath which run springs, abiding therein, and so that He might expiate their evil deeds and that indeed is easy for Allah, and in order that He might punish the hypocritical men and hypocritical women, the associating men and associating women: those who conjecture about Allah, an evil conjecture..” (Ibn Jarir and, Zamakhshari without quoting the verses).
Hasan al-Basri added, “As for the next world, Allah’s refuge that the Prophet should not know what will happen to him. He knew that He will be in Paradise. But in reference to this world the meaning is, ‘I do not know what will happen to me; whether I will be exiled (from Makkah) as Messengers before me were exiled, or will I be killed as Prophets before me were killed, or, will you be sunk into the earth or struck with stones (from the heaven).’” (Ibn Jarir, Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
Ibn Kathir adds: “That it cannot be said anything about anyone in certain terms, with regard to what will be done to him in the Hereafter, is established by several Prophetic reports; except of course, such of those about whom he predicted that they will be in Paradise, e.g., the ten who were given the glad tiding (al-`ashara al-mubashsharah), or, `Abdullah b. Salam, Ghumida, Bilal, Suraqah, `Abdullah (Jabir’s father), the seventy that were martyred at Bi'r Ma`una, Zayd b. Haritha, Ja`far, Ibn Raw ah a, and a few others. One of the narrations in support is in Bukhari and Ahmad:
Kharijah b. Zayd reported that Umm al-`Ala was one of their women who had pledged Islam at the hands of the Prophet. She reported that `Uthman b. Maz`un fell to their lot when they drew lots in housing the emigrants (immediately after emigration to Madinah). Umm al- `Ala said, “`Uthman was with us and I was nursing him until he died. We covered him up with a cloth until, when the Prophet (saws) entered I remarked, ‘May Allah show you mercy O Abu Sa’ib (i.e., `Uthman b. Maz`un), my testimony be for you: Allah has honored you.’ The Prophet asked, ‘How did you know that Allah has honored him?’ I said, ‘I do not know, may my parents be sacrificed for you O Messenger of Allah, (if not he) then who (should be honored?)’ He said, ‘As to him, by Allah, death has been on him. By Allah, I hope good for him although I do not know what will be done to me despite the fact that I am a Messenger of Allah.’ She said, ‘By Allah, after this I shall never bear witness to anyone’s purity.’ Later she said, ‘That aggrieved me a little. Then I slept off and saw a stream flowing for `Uthman. So I went up to the Prophet and reported it. He said, ‘That was his deeds.’”
Qurtubi refers to Tha`labi’s statement with reference to the above hadith-statement that that was the time in his mission (immediately after emigration, when `Uthman b. Maz`un died: Au.), when the Prophet (saws) had not yet been told that his past and future errors had been forgiven. Thus, the ayah is not abrogated. It carries a piece of news (which cannot be altered or abrogated: Au.).
It is plain however to deduce from the verse in discussion that the Prophet could not have known, either about himself or his followers, everything that was going to happen in every detail, in this world or the Next – to which could be the allusion (Au.).
Sayyid explains the theme: “The Prophet had no misgivings about himself. He was a human being who had been addressed by Allah. He pronounced what was revealed to him. This is the hallmark of a Prophet. He does not ask why. He does not seek proofs and evidences from his Lord. He does not seek a special status for himself. He does what he is told. He preaches what he receives in accordance with what he receives. He says, ‘I do not know what will be done to me or to you. I only follow that which is revealed to me.’
"This is also the attitude of his followers. They follow the Prophetic ways. They remain calling to Islam, without knowing what the ends will be, without knowing anything of the future. They do not seek evidences or proofs from their Lord, for enough signs are there in their hearts. They do not seek to be especial in any way, for their specialty is that they have been chosen..”
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرْتُمْ بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شَاهِدٌ مِنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَلَىٰ مِثْلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ (10)
(46:10) Say, ‘Have you considered, if it be from Allah, but you rejected it, while a witness from the Children of Israel testifies to its like,8 and entered into faith, but you waxed proud?! Surely, Allah guides not the wrongdoing folk.’
8. Although the verse is Makkan, it applied well to `Abdullah b. Salam who bore witness to the truth of this Qur’an as well as to its like, the Torah. This was the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Dahhak, `Ikrimah, Suddi, Thawri and many others (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).
Ibn Jarir and Shawkani have a long narrative here that speaks of `Abdullah b. Salam embracing Islam in a Synagogue when the Prophet (saws) was visiting it. But it contradicts the famous hadith in Sahih works, which says that he presented himself to the Prophet to embrace Islam. Therefore, we ignore it (Au.).
Imam Razi notes that no specific person could have been referred to. It is a general statement concerning anyone who studied the Torah, believed in it, and then entered into Islam testifying to its truth. Thus, to restrict it to `Abdullah ibn Salam, as thought by some, is not correct.
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَوْ كَانَ خَيْرًا مَا سَبَقُونَا إِلَيْهِ ۚ وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا بِهِ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَٰذَا إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ (11)
(46:11) And the unbelievers say with regard to the believers, ‘If it had been a good (thing), they would not have outstripped us to it;’9 and since they are not guided by it, they will surely say, ‘This is an old falsehood.’
9. The allusion was to Bilal, `Amm ar, Suhayb, Khabb ab and others of their like (Ibn Kathir), and Zinneerah, `Umar’s slave-girl (Shawkani).
Asad adds: “.. the above ‘saying’ has undoubtedly timeless import inasmuch as the poor and lowly have always been among the first to follow a prophet. Moreover, it may also have a bearing on our times as well, inasmuch as the materially powerful nations, whom their technological progress has blinded to many spiritual verities, are increasingly contemptuous of the weaknesses of those civilizations in which religion still plays an important, albeit largely formalistic, role; and so, not realizing that this very formalism and the ensuing cultural sterility, and not religious faith as such, is the innermost cause of that weakness, they attribute it to the influence of religion per se, saying, as it were, ‘If religion were any good, we would have been the first in holding on to it’ – thus ‘justifying’ their own materialistic attitude and their refusal to be guided by spiritual considerations.”
وَمِنْ قَبْلِهِ كِتَابُ مُوسَىٰ إِمَامًا وَرَحْمَةً ۚ وَهَٰذَا كِتَابٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِسَانًا عَرَبِيًّا لِيُنْذِرَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُحْسِنِينَ (12)
(46:12) Yet before it was the Book of Musa, a guide and a mercy; and this is a Book confirming, in Arabic tongue, so that it might warn the wrongdoers, and as glad tiding to those who excel.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ (13)
(46:13) Surely, those who said, ‘Allah is our Lord,’ and then stayed steadfast, no fear shall be on them nor shall they grieve.10
10. “The words, ‘Allah is our Lord,’ is not simply a statement made out. Indeed, it is not merely a catechism. But rather, it is a complete way of life that includes its every facet; in fact, every movement and every feeling. It becomes a criterion for thoughts and ideas, for the people, things, acts, events and relationships; everything in existence.
“Allah is our Lord: so, worship is His right alone, the direction is toward Him, of Him is the fear, and in Him is the trust.“Allah is our Lord: so, none is to be taken account of except Allah, and, there is no fear of anyone, no striving for anyone except He.
“Allah is our Lord: so, every activity, every thought, and every evaluation is directed to Him.
“Allah is our Lord: so, there is no seeking the commandment but from Him, and no authority but for His Laws and no guidance except His.
“Allah is our Lord: so, everything and everyone who is in existence is related to us and we meet them as related to Allah.
“Allah is our Lord: A complete way of life on this pattern; not a mere word uttered by the tongue, not a negative attitude or escape from the realities of life.
“Then comes steadfastness … after the path has been chosen, the heart’s steadfastness, the soul’s tranquility ... no regrets, no hesitancy, no doubts, no skepticism, and hence steadfastness of the deeds and acts, on the chosen path, the path filled with thorns, obstacles and hurdles, with side openings here and there (for those who wish to take the escape route).
“Such are those who shall have nothing to fear and nothing to regret” (Sayyid).
أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ (14)
(46:14) Those are the companions of Paradise, abiding therein; as a recompense for what they were doing.
وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ (15)
(46:15) We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents. His mother bore him in pain and gave birth in pain;11 and his bearing and his weaning is in thirty months;12 until when he attains his full strength13 and attains forty, he says, ‘My Lord, grant me that I be grateful for the blessings wherewith You have blessed me and my parents, and that I should do such good deeds as would please You; and make righteous for me my children. I turn to you (in penitence) and I am of those who have surrendered.’14
11. Majid quotes a few medical authorities on the pain that a woman bears in pregnancy: “Nature demands in her body a pitiless dictatorship of the ripening fetus, concentrates all her forces for the protection of this tiny lump of now living matter, and mercilessly demands for the latter the most complete self-abnegation on the part of all the organs and tissues of the mother.”.. “In case of the fertilization of her gamete by the male sex cell, woman is robbed of entire periods of her own individual life in which the biological processes are absorbed by the ‘physical altruism.’” .. “Though a physiological state, pregnancy imposes a strain on the efficient working of every system of the body..” “In no other living creature is the birth of a new individual accompanied by so much suffering as in the human race.” “Birth-giving pains are the most unbearable and, owing to the construction of woman’s body, are absolutely unavoidable.”
(Hadith literature is full of the rights of parents, and, in particular, of the mother). A single hadith may be quoted here. It is in Ibn Majah and Ahmed:
A man asked the Prophet, “Who deserves my good behavior most?” He replied, “Your mother.” He asked, “Who after her?” He said, “Your mother.” He asked, “Who after her?” He replied, “Your mother.” He asked, “Who after her?” He replied, “Your father.”
Sayyid comments: "How true..! It is reported that,
A man from Yemen appeared with his mother on his shoulders. He began to go round the Ka`ba saying, “I am her tamed camel. If she scares her mount, I will not be scared, and, she did not carry me more (than this).” Then he asked Ibn `Umar, “Have I recompensed her?” He replied, “No. Not even by a nail.”
Sayyid quotes the above as a hadith, and his commentator traces it to Al-Bahr of Bazzar. But it could not be located there. In the above two books it is preserved as a report involving Ibn `Umar and not the Prophet (Au.).
12. If this verse is compared with another of the Qur’an (2: 233):
“And (let the mothers) suckle their children two full years. This is for him who wishes to complete the suckling,” then, the conclusion drawn by the legal authorities is that a successful birth can take place six months after pregnancy, (i.e., thirty months including pregnancy and feeding, minus 24 months of feeding).
Alusi adds: The minimum is known (i.e. six months), and has been the reported observation of one of the Greek philosophers; but there is no consensus over the maximum period of pregnancy. Ibn Sina reports in his “Kitab al-Shifa’) that he came to know through very reliable sources that a woman gave birth four year after pregnancy, and that the child had grown teeth.
Ibn Kathir presents a report which says that once `Uthman had condemned a woman to stoning because she gave birth to a child in six months after pregnancy, and that `Ali intervened and explained that the possibility was there. He used these two verses to make the deduction. But the report is not found in any hadith collection, and seems to be forged, although no Hadith Doctor has said so, obviously because it is not there at all in any hadith collection. Ibn Jarir does not mention it either (Au.).
13. At this point “ashadd (fi ‘l `umuri)” [attainment of full age] perhaps alludes to forty years, as the following words of the ayah indicate (Au.).
Ibn Kathir states: “When he has attained his full age”: i.e., at the age when his physical and mental maturity is complete and he has attained (a few) abilities. (This could happen early for some, later for others). Forty years however is the time in life when the intellect is at its full maturity, comprehensive abilities are well achieved and when further changes are not likely.
In other words, the interpretation of “ashadd (fi ‘al `umuri)” will depend on the context. If basic obligations are concerned, such as Salah, Zakah, participation in Jihad, etc., the “attaining of full age” is physical maturity. But when the attainment of “full mental maturity” is concerned, it would be forty as stated by some of the Salaf (Au.). Zamakhshari writes: We could also say that the age of full maturity starts in early thirties and ends with forty.
14. It is said that the verse was revealed in reference to Abu Bakr and his father Abu Quhafa. It is also said that there was none among the Emigrants or Ansar except Abu Bakr who had the distinction of he, his parents and children (three generations) bearing testimony to the truth of Islam (Zamakhshari, Razi). Indeed, his slaves could also be mentioned (Au.).
Qurtubi writes: Although the application is general, applying to everyone who is qualified with qualities stated in this passage, its immediate application was to Abu Bakr. A single report may be presented here. It is from Muslim:
The Prophet (saws) asked a group of Companions: “Which of you is fasting today?” Abu Bakr said, “I.” He asked, “Which of you has been to the graveyard today following a bier?” Abu Bakr replied, “I.” He asked, “Which of you has fed a destitute today?” Abu Bakr replied, “I.” He asked, “Which of you has visited a sick man today?” Abu Bakr replied, “I.” The Prophet said, “Never will these qualities combine in a man but he will enter Paradise.”
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَنَتَجَاوَزُ عَنْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ فِي أَصْحَابِ الْجَنَّةِ ۖ وَعْدَ الصِّدْقِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ (16)
(46:16) They are those – among the Companions of Paradise - from whom We shall accept the best of what they did, and shall pass over their evil deeds15 - the promise of true word that they were being promised.
15. Ibn Abi Hatim reports from Yusuf b. Sa`d, who narrated on the authority of Muhammad b. Hatib, that once while `Ali lay on a couch, `Ammar, Sa`sa`ah, Ashtar and Muhammad b. Abi Bakr, who were sitting around, began to talk ill of `Uthman. One of them said, “Now, you have someone here. Why should you not get his opinion?” So they asked `Ali. He answered, “`Uthman was of those about whom Allah said, ‘They are those – in Paradise - from whom We shall accept the best of what they did, and shall pass over their evil deeds.’ Then he added, “By Allah, (it applied to) `Uthman and his companions.” At that Yusuf added, “I asked Muhammad b. Hatib, ‘By Allah, did you hear this from `Ali?’ He answered, ‘By Allah, I heard this from `Ali” (Ibn Kathir).
وَالَّذِي قَالَ لِوَالِدَيْهِ أُفٍّ لَكُمَا أَتَعِدَانِنِي أَنْ أُخْرَجَ وَقَدْ خَلَتِ الْقُرُونُ مِنْ قَبْلِي وَهُمَا يَسْتَغِيثَانِ اللَّهَ وَيْلَكَ آمِنْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ فَيَقُولُ مَا هَٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ (17)
(46:17) As for him who said to his parents, ‘Fie upon you.16 Are you promising me that I will be brought forth, when already (many) generations have passed before me?’17 while they call upon Allah for help (saying), ‘Woe unto you! Believe. Surely, Allah’s promise is true.’ But he says, ‘This is nothing but tales of the ancients.’
16. Yusuf Ali’s commentary offers solace to many: “A godly man often has an ungodly son, who flouts all that the father held sacred, and looks upon his father himself as old-fashioned and unworthy of respect or regard. The contrast in an individual family may be matched by the contrast in the passing and the rising generations of mankind. All this happens as a passing phase in the nominal evolution of mankind, and there is nothing in this to be despondent about. What we have to do is for the mature generations to bring up their successors in godly ways, and for the younger generations to realize that age and experience count for something, especially in the understanding of spiritual matters and other matters of the highest moment to man.”
Some of the earliest commentators have reportedly said that it was `Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr who had said this to his parents. But this is not correct. (Although it is true that he was late in embracing Islam, having fought against Muslims at Badr and Uhud: Qurtubi at v.71 of al-An`am), he was an excellent Muslim (who was earlier known as `Abd al Ka`ba, which was changed on the Prophet’s suggestion to `Abd al-Rahman after he embraced Islam. He was a participant at Hudaybiyyah: Qurtubi). It is said that when Marwan was trying to recruit support for Mu`awiyyah, who had decided to nominate Yezid as his successor, he (Marwan) began to say in (the Prophet’s) mosque that if Mu`awiyyah was nominating a caliph after him then (it was nothing new) as he was following the “sunnah” of Abu Bakr and `Umar, who too had nominated. At that `Abd al-Rahman interrupted him to say, “But rather this is the Sunnah of the Roman and Persian emperors.” Marwan was mad at him and tried to get him arrested. But `Abd al-Rahman escaped into the house of (his sister) `A’isha. Frustrated, Marwan said, “It is this man about whom Allah (swt) revealed, ‘He who said to his parents, fie upon you.’” When this statement reached `A’isha she reacted strongly, and said, “Marwan lied. It was not `Abd al-Rahman. If I wished I could reveal the name of the person who had said this to his parents. But rather, the Messenger of Allah had cursed Marwan’s father (Al-Hakam b. abi al-` As) while Marwan was in his loins. Thus, Marwan is an outcome of Allah’s curse” (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
Ibn Kathir and Shawkani also present a shorter version of the above report as in Bukhari.
Moreover, Alusi and some others add, the latter part of the verse tells us emphatically that it cannot be applied to `Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr. He had also participated in the battles of Yamamah against the apostates.
17. That is, so many generations have passed before, but none came back alive (Ibn Jarir).
أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ فِي أُمَمٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا خَاسِرِينَ (18)
(46:18) They are the ones against whom the Word has come true from among nations of Jinn and Men that passed away before them18 – that they were the losers.
18. This verse is evidential that the Jinn also die and are replaced by new generations (Alusi).
وَلِكُلٍّ دَرَجَاتٌ مِمَّا عَمِلُوا ۖ وَلِيُوَفِّيَهُمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ (19)
(46:19) And for everyone are degrees,19 according to what they did, so that He might recompense them in full for their deeds; and they shall not be wronged.
19. That is, ranks both in Paradise as well as in Hellfire, in accordance with the deeds (Au.).
وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ أَذْهَبْتُمْ طَيِّبَاتِكُمْ فِي حَيَاتِكُمُ الدُّنْيَا وَاسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهَا فَالْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَفْسُقُونَ (20)
(46:20) And the day the unbelievers are exposed to the Fire, ‘You exhausted your good things in the life of the world,20 and enjoyed them well. Today you shall be recompensed with a punishment of extreme humiliation for that you waxed proud in the earth without any right and for that you were wont to act corruptions.’21
20. It is reported that the Prophet went up the platform (known as Suffah) where the impoverished Muslims spent their time. He found them with tattered clothes that had been patched up with leather pieces. He asked them, in effect, “Are you better today than what you will be tomorrow, well-dressed up and covering your homes with drapes, like you cover the Ka`bah with drapes?” They replied, “That day we should be in a better condition.” He said, “Rather, today you are in a better condition” (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari).
And, Qays al-Ash`ari reports his father saying, “My son! Only if you had seen us those days with the Prophet, when it would rain upon us and we would begin to stink like goats, because we wore (rough) woolen clothes.” It is reported of `Umar that when he visited Syria, he was offered a dinner full of delicacies. He remarked, “This is for us! But what about those of the poor Muslims who left this world in a state that they could not fill their stomachs, not even from barley meals?” Khalid b. al-Walid said, “They will be rewarded with Paradise.” Umar’s eyes became wet. He said, “If this is the junk that we get, then, surely, they left us high and dry, far removed from us” (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi). `Umar also said at that point, writes Zamakhshari, “I would rather reserve the good things for the Hereafter.”
Qurtubi adds: In our modern culture, it might be enough if one ate what comes by the way, not going after the dainties and delicacies (wasting his time getting them). Today, the emphasis has to be on the consumption of that alone which is lawful.
(That is, these are times of plenty, when we need not worry over the high quality of food we consume, as against the poor quality consumed by the Salaf, but rather, we might only take care not to consume the unlawful. And of course, in all circumstances, moderation should never be lost sight of: Au.).
21. That is, they were corrupt of heart and corrupt of limbs (Alusi).
وَاذْكُرْ أَخَا عَادٍ إِذْ أَنْذَرَ قَوْمَهُ بِالْأَحْقَافِ وَقَدْ خَلَتِ النُّذُرُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (21)
(46:21) Mention the brother of `Aad22 when he warned his people in (the region of) Ahqaf,23 while warners had already been before him and after him24 (proclaiming): ‘that you worship not but Allah. I fear for you chastisement of a great day.’
22. That is, Hud (asws) – Qurtubi.
To begin by saying, “the brother of ` Ad” is to throw a hint to the Quraysh that the Messenger raised among you, is, after all, a brother of yours. Does a brother deserve the kind of treatment you have meted him? Further, does not brotherhood demand that you have good faith in him? On the other hand, the Prophet is reminded that he should not forget how other Prophets, brothers of their nations, were treated earlier. Finally, the Quraysh might be reminded that despite ties of brotherhood, or of friendship, the nations of other Prophets had to meet with the destruction because of their rejection (Sayyid, rephrased).
23. Ahqaf is plural of hiqf which, according to most commentators, is for curved sand dunes, high, but not as high as mountains. The area identified is between `Oman and Hadr al-Mawt in Yemen. Some scholars have stated that it was the name of a geographical area.
Syed Sulayman Nadwi’s research leads him to conclude in his Ard al-Qur’an, that the ` Ad lived in the Empty Quarter of today’s Saudi Arabia.
24. The statement that warners came after Hud can have two possible meanings. It is possible that after the destruction of the main body of ` Ad, the rest, as well as those that were rescued, were sent warners after Hud had died. Another possible meaning, as expressed by Zamakhshari, is that there might have been warners, (sort of minor Prophets: Au.), raised after Hud had been commissioned among the main body of `Ad, as aides to him and working for his cause in other areas of the land (Au.).
قَالُوا أَجِئْتَنَا لِتَأْفِكَنَا عَنْ آلِهَتِنَا فَأْتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَا إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (22)
(46:22) They said, ‘Have you come to us to delude us away from our gods? Then bring us what you are threatening us with, if you should be of the truthful.’
قَالَ إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَأُبَلِّغُكُمْ مَا أُرْسِلْتُ بِهِ وَلَٰكِنِّي أَرَاكُمْ قَوْمًا تَجْهَلُونَ (23)
(46:23) He said, ‘(Its) Knowledge is only with Allah.25 I merely deliver to you what I am sent with. Otherwise, I see you as a people behaving ignorantly.’
25. That is, Allah (swt) knows best whether you deserve to be punished immediately, or should you be given respite (Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).
فَلَمَّا رَأَوْهُ عَارِضًا مُسْتَقْبِلَ أَوْدِيَتِهِمْ قَالُوا هَٰذَا عَارِضٌ مُمْطِرُنَا ۚ بَلْ هُوَ مَا اسْتَعْجَلْتُمْ بِهِ ۖ رِيحٌ فِيهَا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ (24)
(46:24) Then, when they saw it as a cloud advancing towards their valleys,26 they said, ‘This is a cloud which will bring us rain.’ Rather, it is that which you sought to hasten: a wind wherein is a painful chastisement.27
26. The original term `aridh is for clouds that gather up at the horizon (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).
27. Our own Prophet would feel very concerned when he saw clouds advancing. ` A’isha reports, as in Muslim:
“I never saw the Prophet laughing out boisterously so as to see his throat. Most of the time he smiled.” Then she added, “When he saw a piece of cloud or experienced high winds, the effect could be seen on his countenance.” Once she said (to him), “I see people feel glad when they see clouds in hope that it will bring rain. But as for you, I can see concern on your face when you see them advancing.” He said, “O `A’isha, what guarantee is there that they are not laden with chastisement? A nation was punished by the wind. A people saw the chastisement (coming), but said, ‘This is a cloud which will bring us rain.’” (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others).
Another report, (shortened here: Au.), also of Muslim has `A’isha saying that when the winds blew hard the Prophet (saws) would say,
“O Allah. I ask you for its best, the best that it bears and the best for which it was sent. And I seek Your refuge from its evil, the evil it bears, and the evil for which it was sent.” She added, “When the sky was filled with it and what it contains of lightning and thunder, His (facial) hue changed. He would go out, come in, go up and come back. When it rained he would feel relieved and I could see it on his face” (Ibn Kathir).
Qurtubi adds: The Prophet said, as in the Sahih of Muslim,
“I have been helped with Saba’, while `Ad were destroyed by the Dabbur (winds).”
تُدَمِّرُ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهَا فَأَصْبَحُوا لَا يُرَىٰ إِلَّا مَسَاكِنُهُمْ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْقَوْمَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (25)
(46:25) It will destroy every thing by the command of its Lord.’ So, by morning there was nothing to be seen except their dwellings.28 That is how We recompense a criminal people.
28. Trees were uprooted, they were lifted high up in the air and dashed back against the ground. Then the winds piled sands upon them so that there was nothing left to be seen except a few of their ruined dwellings.
وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِيمَا إِنْ مَكَّنَّاكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعًا وَأَبْصَارًا وَأَفْئِدَةً فَمَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُهُمْ وَلَا أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِذْ كَانُوا يَجْحَدُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ (26)
(46:26) Indeed, We had established them in a way We have not established you. We made for them hearing, sights and hearts. But their hearing, sights and hearts did not avail them aught when they denied the signs of Allah; and that enveloped them which they were ridiculing.29
29. Yusuf Ali comments: “The ‘Ad and their successors the Thamud were more richly endowed with the faculties of the arts, sciences, and culture than ever were the Quraish before Islam. ‘Hearing and seeing’ refer to the experimental faculties; the word ‘heart’ in Arabic includes intellect, or the rational faculties, as well as the instruments of feeling and emotion, the aesthetic faculties. The Second ‘Ad, or Thamud, have left interesting traces of their architecture in the country round the Hijr.”
وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا مَا حَوْلَكُمْ مِنَ الْقُرَىٰ وَصَرَّفْنَا الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ (27)
(46:27) Surely, We have destroyed towns around you and have varied the signs that haply they will return.30
30. That is, the Makkans passed by the destroyed nations of old as they traveled about: `Ad, who were in Ahqaf above Hadr al-Mawt in Yemen; Thamud, whose dwellings were between their towns and Syria; Saba’, who had lived in Yemen; Madyan which they came across as they went to Ghazzah; and the Dead Sea where lay the dwellings of the people of Lut (Ibn Kathir).
فَلَوْلَا نَصَرَهُمُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قُرْبَانًا آلِهَةً ۖ بَلْ ضَلُّوا عَنْهُمْ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ إِفْكُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (28)
(46:28) Then, why did not those help them that they took for gods besides Allah as means of nearness? But they disappeared from them. That was their slander, and what they had been forging.
وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَا إِلَيْكَ نَفَرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقُرْآنَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُوا أَنْصِتُوا ۖ فَلَمَّا قُضِيَ وَلَّوْا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِمْ مُنْذِرِينَ (29)
(46:29) And when We turned towards you a group of Jinn31 listening to the Qur’an.32 When they attended it they said, ‘Listen in silence.’ When it was concluded, they turned back to their people warning.33
31. The word “nafar” is for any number between 3 and 20 (Sayyid).
32. The ayah was revealed to impress on the Quraysh that their rejection of the Islamic faith was, by all standards of behavior, quite unreasonable, seeing that the most ardent and fanatic of unbelievers – the Jinn – had embraced Islam (Thanwi).
A few points may be noted in connection with the timing of the Prophet’s contact with the Jinn. First, the Jinn heard the Qur’an first time when the Prophet was returning from his unsuccessful trip to Ta’if. The event took place at a time when disappointment could touch the Prophet’s heart. It must have been quite consoling for him to feel that if the humans had rejected him, as in Makkah and Ta’if, the Jinn had accepted. Secondly, had the encounter taken place right at the start of the mission, the Quraysh would have had another point against him: have not the devils believed in you? Is that not enough? Thirdly, the Quraysh had already alleged that the Prophet (saws) was influenced by a Jinn. Had he told them that they visited him regularly and that they had believed in him, he would have become known in the land more as one who controlled or was controlled by the Jinn, rather than as a simple human, but a Prophet (Au.).
33. A study of the mass of reports that have been recorded in this connection, and reproduced by Ibn Jarir Tabari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Sayyid Qutub and others suggests that the listening of the Qur’an by the Jinn, or, the Prophet delivering them the message, occurred several times, both in Makkah as well as in Madinah. (Khifaji has worked it out as six encounters in all: Thanwi, Ma`arif, Shabbir). Ibn Is-haq (and Ibn Hisham: Sami) have preserved a report which says that after the failed journey of Ta’if, as the Prophet was returning, he spent a night at Nakhlah. It was there that a group of Jinn of the Nasibin listened to his recitation. Without surrounding details, the report is also in Bukhari. It says,
Abu Hurayrah reported that he used to carry the Prophet’s gear for ablution and call of nature. One day when he began to follow him with his paraphernalia he asked, “Who is it?” He answered, “Myself, Abu Hurayrah.” He said, “Look for me some stones that I can cleanse myself with, but do not bring me a bone, nor dung.” So I gave him some stone which I was carrying in a corner of my cloak and placed them by his side and left. When he was over I walked along him and asked, “What about the bones and dung?” He answered, “They are food for the Jinn. A delegation of the Nasibin Jinn came to me and asked me for provision. So I prayed to Allah that they should not pass by a bone nor a piece of dung but should find their food therein.”
This of course is a report of the Madinan period but the Prophet (saws) could be referring to the event before Hijrah. Alternatively, he might have been referring to another occasion, taking place after Hijrah. But the fact remains that the first hearing by the Jinn happened a year or two before Hijrah; although there are differences in details, which could be, once again, because of more than one event being involved. In fact, adds Thanwi, one narrative says that due to the influence of the first batch of Jinn, a batch of 300 Jinn came to embrace Islam at his hand.
We have a report in the Sahihayn whose Muslim version suggests that although the Jinn heard the Prophet recite the Qur’an, he himself remained ignorant of their hearing. But, it might be noted that this is the opinion of Ibn `Abbas, and not a statement of the Prophet (saws). The report is as follows,
Ibn `Abbas said that the Prophet neither recited the Qur’an to the Jinn, nor did he see them. But rather, he started out with a few of his Companions intending the `Ukaz market. By that time a barrier had been placed between them and the devils, and news from the heavens; and flames of fire were being flung at them. So the devils returned to their kind. They asked, what’s wrong with you? They replied, a barrier has been placed between us and news from the heavens; and flames of fire are being flung at us. They said, this is none other than the indication that something new has happened; so spread out in the easts and wests of the lands and look for what is it because of which we are barred from the news of the heaven. So they set out to the easts and wests. A few of them who had started off towards Tihama, passed by him (the Prophet) while he was in Nakhla (a place between Makkah and Ta’if). They were heading towards the `Ukaz fair. He was then doing his Fajr Prayer along with his Companions. When they heard the Qur’an, they listened quietly and said, this is what has come between us and the news of the heaven. They went back to their kind and said, O our people, “We have heard a strange recitation that leads to right path. So we have believed, and we shall never associate anyone as partner with our Lord.” Thereupon, Allah revealed, “And when We turned towards you a group of Jinn ,,..”
Indeed, there is another report coming from Ibn `Abbas, as in Tabari which leads us to believe that the Prophet (saws) encountered the Jinn or gave his message to them more than once. This one says that they were seven in number, from Nasibin and that the Prophet appointed them messengers for their people.
Ibn Mas`ud once remarked, as in a report preserved by Abu Bakr ibn Shaybah, that they came down while he was reciting the Qur’an in Nakhlah .. They were nine and one of them was called Zawba`ah. It was in reference to this that Allah (swt) revealed, “And when We turned towards you a group of Jinn listening to the Qur’an. When they attended it they said, ‘Listen in silence.’ When it was concluded, they turned back to their people warning.”
Another report confirms that the Jinn had come to know of the Prophet’s appearance in Makkah itself; one of them says, as in Bukhari,
`Abdullah ibn `Umar reported, “I never heard `Umar saying about something that 'I guess it is this way,' except that it turned out to be the way he said. Once when he was in an assembly, a handsome man passed by. (That was Sawad b. Qarib: Ibn Hajr). `Umar said, ‘Either my guess is wrong or this man is still on his religion of pagan days. Or he must have been their soothsaying priest. Get me the man.’ So he was called in. He asked him making the same comment to him. The man said, ‘I have never experienced a Muslim who was received in such (evil) manner.’
(According to another report, the man was pretty upset at being referred to as a former soothsaying priest. But `Umar calmed him by saying that there was nothing to be so upset about it since, before Islam, ‘After all, we were worse off as associators in Allah’s divinity’: Au.).
`Umar said, ‘But I bind you to tell me the story.’ He said, ‘In pagan times I was indeed a soothsaying priest.’ He asked, ‘What’s the strangest of things that your Jinni ever brought you?’
He replied, ‘Once while I was in the market when one of those female Jinni came up to me and I could see that she was scared. She said, “Have you noticed the disappointment among the Jinn after they were turned back and so have instead begun to follow the camel-riders (i.e., the Arabs)?
`Umar said, ‘You spoke the truth. At one time, while I (`Umar) was sleeping near their idols a man appeared with a calf and slaughtered it. Thereat a crier cried out in a manner I never heard a crier cry out in a louder voice. It said, “O Jalih, (according to other reports: O the people of Dhar ih) a successful affair: an eloquent man says, there is no deity save Allah.” Thereat, the people jumped and I said, I shall not rest until I have known what is behind all this. Then, once again someone called, “O Jal ih, a successful affair: an eloquent man says, there is no deity save Allah.” I left the place and we had not attempted at anything before it was said, “Here is a Prophet.”’
A report preserved by Hakim and declared having the narrators of same quality as of the Sahihayn, has the fuller story of Sawad b. Qarib, according to which he was actually warned by one of his Jinni-companions of the Prophet’s advent while he was in India. Sawad would not believe, if not for three warnings during three nights. He came back to Arabia. By then the Prophet had already migrated to Madinah. He met him there and entered into faith. (The report in Hakim has, apart from Hakim’s own judgment, internal evidences of its trustworthiness from the kind of sentences that perhaps only the Jinn or soothsayers could make. The report mentions that the Prophet (saws) and his Companions were quite pleased by his entry into Islam, which confirms the reported version above, which says that Sawad was a soothsaying-priest in Jahiliyyah, whose conversion to Islam made the Prophet happy: Au.).
Thus it is possible that in that first instance the Jinn chanced upon the Prophet reciting the Qur’an, without he knowing of their presence. Then they retreated to their kind, warning them and sending back delegations after delegations. One of those that could be quoted is in Muslim. It goes as follows:
` Amir said that he asked `Alqamah about Ibn Mas`ud whether he was with the Prophet the night of the Jinn. `Alqamah said that he had asked Ibn Mas`ud whether anyone of you was with the Prophet the night of Jinn? He said, no, but we were with the Prophet (saws) another night when we missed him. We searched him in the valleys and mountain wedges. We said to ourselves, “Was he flown away by the Jinn, or kidnapped (by men)?” That was one of the worst nights that a people could have spent. As the morning came, there he was, coming from the Hira side. We said, “Messenger of Allah, we missed you and looked for you. But, not finding you we spent a night worse than any people spent their night.” He said, “There came to me a caller from the Jinn. I went with him and recited the Qur’an to them.” Then, Ibn Mas`ud added, he took us along and showed us their marks and their fires. They had asked him for provision and he told them, “Every bone on which Allah’s name has been pronounced that falls into your hand will be full of meat for you. And every piece of dung will be fodder for your cattle. Then the Prophet added, “Do not cleanse yourself using the two for they are food for your brothers.”
(Ibn Mas`ud saying “no” to the inquiry at the start tells us that the allusion by the ‘night of the Jinn’ was to the first encounter in Nakhlah when the Jinn chanced upon the Prophet: Au.).
Yet another report confirms that the Prophet (saws) had contacts with the Jinn at Makkah. Ibn Mas`ud reports, as in Ahmed:
The Prophet said, “I spent the last night reciting upon the Companions (from among the) Jinn in Hajun.” (Hajun: a place little outside Makkah).
Another report confirming the Prophet’s contacts with Jinn at Makkah is also in Ahmed. It has `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud saying,
Once while we were with the Prophet in Makkah in the company of a few Companions when he said, “Let one of your men rise up, but let not any man rise up with me who has the slightest of deceit in his heart.” So I got up and took with me a leather bottle that I did not imagine but that it had water. In any case, I went out with the Prophet (saws) until when we were at the upper end of Makkah I saw a huge crowd of dark bodies gathered together. He drew a line for me and said, “Stand here until I come back to you.” So I stood there and the Prophet went up to them. I saw them crowding upon him. He spent a good part of the night with them to come back to me only at Fajr. He asked, “Did you remain standing O Ibn Mas`ud?” I said, “Messenger of Allah. Had you not instructed me to stand until I come back to you?” He asked, “Do you have any water for ablution?” I said yes and opened the bottle and lo, it had a non-intoxicating beverage (of dates). I said, “Messenger of Allah, when I brought it I had not thought but that it will have water, but it is this beverage.” He said, “A good fruit and clean water.” He made ablution therewith. Then, as he got up to Pray, two of them said, “Messenger of Allah, we wish that you give us assurance with regard to the Prayer.” So the Prophet made them line up behind him and prayed. When they had left, I asked, “Who were they, Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Those were Jinn of Nasibin. They had come to me disputing over a few issues that had occurred between them. They asked me for provision and I provided them.” I asked, “Did you have something to provide them with, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “I provided them with the refuse (of others). They will not find dung but will find it barley and not a bone but enveloped (with meat).” Ibn Mas`ud added, “It was at that point that the Prophet instructed against cleansing oneself with dung or bones.”
(Nasibin was a place near Diyar Bakr in Syria, while Nakhlah at a night’s distance from Makkah. And, it is reported that the Prophet (saws) hard recited to them Surah al-Rahman: Alusi).
Other versions supply some other information such as, when the Prophet returned, he asked whether Ibn Mas`ud had crossed the line he had drawn. When told no, he said that he could not guarantee they would have ever met again until the Day of Judgment, had Ibn Mas`ud crossed the line. Ibn Mas`ud also reported that he saw them as eagles. Perhaps on another occasion they looked like dark palm trees, which started to recede like receding dark patches of the night before dawn, with merely a few remaining with him by dawn. On one occasion they were many and covered the Prophet wholly, to the extent that Ibn Mas`ud thought he should rather seek the help of the people to rescue the Prophet but changed his mind when he saw that the Prophet was using his walking stick to push them back and was saying, “Sit down.” The Prophet had then remarked, “Had you come out of the line, I could not have guaranteed that one of them would have snatched you away.” Ibn Mas`ud also heard plenty of noises and when inquired the Prophet, was told that there was a dispute over a murder between them which he had resolved.
In connection with the Jinn’s encounters with humans, especially as snakes, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others present several stories. Some involve a few of those who received the Qur’an directly from the Prophet. Ibrahim Nakha`i, for instance, reported that while he was traveling with a few students of Ibn Mas`ud (who was then not in their company) for Hajj, they came across a (white) dead snake in a field (filled with dead snakes). This one exhumed the perfume of misk. Ibrahim told his companions to proceed while he himself went up to the perfuming snake, and after some curious examination, wrapped it in a piece of cloth and buried it. Then he rejoined his colleagues. At nightfall two women showed up and asked, “Which of you buried `Amr?” They said they had buried no one that day. She said, “Sure one of you did. We are referring to the snake you buried.” Then they added that he was the last of those Jinns that had taken the Qur’an directly from the Prophet (saws). There was a battle between the believing and unbelieving Jinn, in which `Amr was killed. When it was reported to `Uthman ibn `Affan (according to other reports to `Umar ibn al-Khattab), he remarked, “If you saw this, and are true, then you are saying something strange, but if you have lied, then the lie will be on you.”
There are many stories in Tafsir works involving encounters with believing Jinn, but neither the strength of the above report could be established, nor of others. Nonetheless there are Sahih reports which say that the Prophet prohibited that snakes found in Madinan homes be killed. They might be given three day’s notice. If the snake would not leave, then it was not Jinn but the Devil, and so could be killed. The Jinn used to visit Madinah in the form of snakes to learn Islam. (Scholars say that the instructions were for the times when the Prophet was alive). There is a hadith in Muslim according to which a visitor found a snake in Abu Sa`id al-Khudri’s house. He got up to kill it but Abu Sa`id prevented him saying that during the time of the Prophet, a young man killed one such snake found in his house, but himself died immediately (Au.).
قَالُوا يَا قَوْمَنَا إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَابًا أُنْزِلَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مُوسَىٰ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ وَإِلَىٰ طَرِيقٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (30)
(46:30) They said, ‘O our people! We have indeed heard a Book sent down after Musa:34 testifying to that which was before it, guiding to the truth and to a straight path.’
34. To the question as to why did those Jinn ignore to mention the revelation given to `Isa, one answer is that they were Jewish Jinn, and the other is that because the scriptures given to `Isa were only complimentary to the main revelation, viz., Torah revealed to Musa (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others). Hence we notice that when the Prophet (saws) was taken to Waraqah b. Nawfal, at the start of the revelations, he remarked (although a Christian: Au.), “this is the same message that had been sent down to Musa (Ibn Kathir). However, adds Alusi, trustworthy sources do not say anything about the Jinn having been Jewish.
يَا قَوْمَنَا أَجِيبُوا دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ وَآمِنُوا بِهِ يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ مِنْ ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُجِرْكُمْ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ (31)
(46:31) ‘O our people! Hearken to Allah’s Caller, and believe in him. He will forgive you your sins35 and will rescue you from a painful chastisement.36
35. This translation follows the understanding of some scholars, as stated by Thanwi, who treated the textual “min” as “zaidah.” However, others have read it as “tab`idiyyah” in which case the meaning would be: “He will forgive some of the sins;” i.e., not all sins; and the reason is that entry into Islam guarantees forgiveness of sins pertaining to Allah’s rights, but not the rights of the humans, (such as usurpation of another’s property). Their rights must be restored (Zamakhshari, Thanwi).
36. Since this ayah has not mentioned Paradise as the reward for the believing Jinn, but rather, only promises rescue from the Fire, some scholars have thought that perhaps Paradise is for humans alone and that the Jinn will not enter it. Notable among such scholars were Hasan (al-Busri) and Imam Abu Hanifah. But Imam Shafe`i, Malik and Ibn Abi Layla (as also Nawawi: Alusi), held the opinion that they too will enter Paradise. A few texts are cited in support. One is (55: 56),
“Neither men nor Jinn would have touched them.”
And, (55: 74),
“And whoever feared standing before his Lord shall have two gardens; which of your Lord’s blessings then will you two deny?” (Meaning Jinn and mankind).
Qushayri however stated that this is one of those issues about which nothing has been told us in definite terms (Qurtubi).
As for Abu Hanifa’s position, the fact is that in view of non-availability of a clear text, he refused to take any stand, this way or that, because such issues can only be categorically decided by the main sources. This has been stated by Nasafi in his “Taysir” (Alusi, Thanwi).
Thanwi adds that because of the texts quoted above, and another in Surah al-An’am (6: 132), which comes after the mention of Jinn and mankind, and which says,
“For each are ranks according to their deeds,” the majority have held opinion that the Jinn will be in Paradise.
On the other hand, a figure like `Umar ibn `Abdul `Aziz said that the Jinn will be placed at the outskirts of Paradise.
On a different front, Qushayri has an interesting note in his Tafsir. With reference to the words “Respond to the caller of Allah, he writes what sounds more appealing in Arabic,
It is said that there are two kinds of responses: responding to Allah and responding to the caller. Now, response to the caller is through the presence of the means – that is, the Messenger, on whom be peace. The response to Allah should be open when the message comes from the envoy, and should be in secret when the cognizance comes from the meanings that dawns upon the heart. Thus, there is a respondent who responds with his body, another with his heart, a third with his soul and another in secret. As for he who hesitated at the caller calling him, hastening not with a response, is put off from what he was being addressed.
وَمَنْ لَا يُجِبْ دَاعِيَ اللَّهِ فَلَيْسَ بِمُعْجِزٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءُ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ (32)
(46:32) He who does not hearken to Allah’s Caller, is not the one to frustrate in the earth, and he will not have protectors besides Him. Such of them are in a manifest error.’
أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَلَمْ يَعْيَ بِخَلْقِهِنَّ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَىٰ أَنْ يُحْيِيَ الْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ بَلَىٰ إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ (33)
(46:33) Have they not seen that Allah, who created the heavens and earth and was not wearied with their creation,37 has the power over quickening the dead? Yes indeed. He has power over all things.
37. “This is to emphatically deny the idea of fatigue and weariness to God implied in the Bible. Cf. the OT: ‘And on the seventh day God ended the work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made (Gen. 2: 2,3). ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day.’ (20: 11) And the NT: ‘And God did rest the seventh day from all his works’ (He. 4: 4).” - Majid.
The idea of rest on the seventh day is extended to rest in the 'seventh year.' Western universities allow their senior teaching staff a sabbatical (every seventh year) off for rest to (Au.).
وَيَوْمَ يُعْرَضُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَلَى النَّارِ أَلَيْسَ هَٰذَا بِالْحَقِّ ۖ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ وَرَبِّنَا ۚ قَالَ فَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ (34)
(46:34) And the day those who disbelieved will be exposed to the Fire: ‘Is this not real?’ They will answer, ‘Yes, by our Lord.’ He will say, ‘Then taste the punishment for that you were disbelieving.’
فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ وَلَا تَسْتَعْجِلْ لَهُمْ ۚ كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ مَا يُوعَدُونَ لَمْ يَلْبَثُوا إِلَّا سَاعَةً مِنْ نَهَارٍ ۚ بَلَاغٌ ۚ فَهَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ (35)
(46:35) Observe patience then as the Messengers of firm resolution observed patience,38 and seek not to hasten it for them. The day they see what they are being promised, it will be as if they did not tarry but an hour of the day. A deliverance.39 Then, shall any be destroyed except the transgressing people?
38. Who were the Messengers of firm resolution? Some say that they were Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, `Isa and our own Prophet; others name others, some others mention larger numbers, while a few say that every Messenger was of firm resolution (Ibn Jarir, Zamakhshari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others). Ibn Marduwayh has a report according to which Jabir b. `Abdullah held the opinion that there were 313 Messengers of firm resolution (Shawkani).
39. One of the connotations is that the allusion is to the Qur’an which is a nothing but deliverance (of a message) – Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir and others.