KHUTAB XI: 24. COMMENTARY OF Q. 41:30-35 (1)

24. COMMENTARY OF Q. 41:30-35 (1)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ. نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ. نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ . وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِمَّنْ دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ . وَمَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا وَمَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا ذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ (فصلت:30-35 (

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ

أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ

Verily, those who say: “Our Lord is Allah (Alone),” and then

they stand firm, on them the angels will descend (at the time

of their death) (saying): “Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!”

M.M. Pickthall: “Lo! Those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and afterwards are upright, the angles descent upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised.”

A.Y. Ali: “In the case of those who say, ‘Our Lord is God’, and, further, stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time): ‘Fear you not!” (they suggest), nor grieve But receive the Glad Tidings of the Garden (of Bliss), that which you were promised.”

M. Asad: “[But,] behold, as for those who say, ‘Our Sustainer is God,’ and then steadfastly pursue the right way-upon them do angels often descend, [saying:] ‘Fear not and grieve not, but receive the glad tidings of that paradise which has been promised to you!’”

Commentary:

‘Aṭā’ reported from Ibn ‘Abbās that the verse was revealed in the case of Abū Bakr r.a. The idolaters said, “Our Lord was Allah and the angels are His daughters which are our intercessors to Allah,” but they were not firm. Then Abū Bakr r.a. told them: “Our Lord is Allah Alone, no partner with Him, and Muhammad, may Allah bless him, is His servant and His Messenger,” then he stood firm.

The meanings of istiqāmah (being steadfast, standing firm) are as follows:

1.  Abū Bakr and Mujāhid: It is not taking partner with Allah

2.  ‘Umar: It is standing firm in what is enjoined and what is prohibited without turning away like the trick of the fox.

3.  ‘Uthmān: It is standing firm in working for Allah’s sake.

4. ‘Ali, al-Ḥasan, Qatādah, Ibn Zayd and ibn ‘Abbās: It is performing the duty, obeying Allah in His injunction and His prohibition.

5.  Ibn ‘Abbās, Mujāhid, and ‘Ikrimah: It is sticking to the shahādah,   that there is no god but Allah until death

6.  Abū ‘l-‘Āliyah and al-Suddī: It is sincerity in religion and in practicing it till death.

7.  Anas reporting from the Prophet: It is sincerity and stick to it until death.

8.  It is standing firm in words and action.

9.  It is standing firm secretly and openly

10. Ibn Sīrīn: It is not deviating.

11. Sufyān al-Thawrī: It is standing firm in practicing what      they say.

12. Muqātil ibn Sulaymān: It is standing firm in believing in Allah as their Lord.

13. Al-Rabī‘: It is turning away from other than Allah.

14. Al-Qutabī (i.e., Ibn Qutaybah): It is standing firm in obeying Allah.

15. Muqātil ibn Ḥayyān: It is standing firm in what they know as the truth (المَعْرِفَة), and do not retrieve from it.

16. Fuḍayl ibn ‘Iyāḍ: They forsake the transient, namely, worldly things, and desire the eternal, namely, the Hereafter.

          The meanings of “the angels descend on them …etc.”

1.  Ibn ‘Abbās, Zayd ibn Aslam, and Mujāhid: The angels will descend on them after their death. This is also the view of the vast majority of Muslim scholars. They say that the angels will descend on dying people, while they are leaving the world and facing the Hereafter. They become extremely fearful of what they will be facing, and extremely sad of what they are leaving. The angels will comfort them not to fear of the future, because they have been upright and stood straight. They told them not to grieve over the past, as nobody who leaves the world but feels sorry for not doing more good deeds.

2.  Muqātil and Qatādah: This will happen were they are raised from their graves.  

3.  Wakī‘ ibn al-Jarrāḥ, and Zayd ibn Aslam: The angels will descend on them and give good tidings in three places: when they die, when they are in their graves, and when there are raised on the Judgment day.

4.  Al-Kalbī: “When they die, the angels descend on them and give them good news, saying “do not be afraid of punishment in front of you, and do not be sad of what you have left behind in the world.”

5.  Muqātil ibn Sulaymān: The angels who record man’s actions will come to them (after their death), introducing themselves that they are the keeper of men’s deeds, and gave them the good-tiding that they will enter Paradise.

6.  ‘Aṭā’ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: The angels will tell them not to fear that their good deeds will not be rewarded, and not to grief for their sins, as Allah will forgive them.

7.  Mujāhid: The angels will tell them not to fear death, and what they have done for the Hereafter, and not to grieve their families and children they have left behind, for they will have substitute them all for you (فإنا نخلفكم في ذلك كله) .

8. ‘Ikrimah: The angels with tell them not to fear what they are facing and not to grieve for those whom they left behind, such as their families and their children.

نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ  وَلَكُمْ  فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي

أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ. نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ

We have been your friends in the life of this world

and are (so) in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have

(all) that your inner selves desire, and herein you

shall have (all) for which you ask. An entertainment

(from Allah), the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

M.M. Pickthall: We are your protecting friends in the life on the world and in the Hereafter. There ye will have (all) that your souls desire, and there ye will have (all) for which ye pray. A gift of welcome from the Forgiving, the Merciful.

A.Y. Ali: We are your protectors in this life and in the Hereafter: therein shall you have all that your souls shall desire; therein shall you have all that you ask for--! A hospitable gift from One Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful!

M. Asad: We are close unto you in the life of this world and [will be so] in the life to come; and in that [life to come] you shall have all that your souls may desire, and in it you shall have all that you ever prayed for, as a ready welcome from Him who is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!

Commentary:

Mujāhid: It means, the angels say, “We are your associates who have been with you in the world,” and in the Hereafter they will say, “We shall not leave you until we take you to Paradise.”

Al-Suddī: It means, the angels say, “We are the keepers of your deeds in the world, and your sponsors in the Hereafter.”

(Unidentified): It means, the angels say, “We are the keepers of your deeds in the world, and we shall not leave you in the Hereafter until you enter Paradise.”

(Unidentified): It means, the angels say, “We are your sponsors in the world with guidance, and in the Hereafter with   honour (generosity).”

Ibn Zayd: “There ye will have (all) that your souls desire” means the eternity, as they wished it when they were in the world.

Abū Umāmah: “There ye will have (all) that your souls desire” means the blessings (of Allah).

Ibn Kathīr:  The angels will say to believers when they are dying, “We have been your companions in the lives of the world, we have shown you the right way, we have made you successful, and we have protected you with Allah’s decree. Likewise, we shall be with you in the Hereafter, we shall entertain you in your loneliness in the graves, when the trumpet is blown, warrant you on the Day of Resurrection, and pass over the straight path with you, and will take you to  Paradise. In Paradise you can get whatever you like, as hospitality, gift, and a favour from the Most Forgiving Who has forgiven your sins, and the Most Merciful Who has mercy on you.”  

وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلاً مِمَّنْ دَعا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صالِحاً وَقالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

And who is better in speech than he who invited

(men) to Allah, and does righteous deeds, and says:

I am one of the Muslims”

M.M. Pickthall:  And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who surrender (unto him).

A.Y. Ali: Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to God, works righteousness, and says “I am of those who bow in Islam”?

M. Asad: And who could be better of speech than he who calls [his fellow-men] unto God, and does what is just and right, and says: “Verily, I am of those who have surrendered themselves to God”?

          Commentary:

The best discourse is the Qur’ān, and the person intended in the above verse is Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., according to Ibn Sīrīn, al-Suddī, Ibn Zayd, and al-Ḥasan. When al-Ḥasan read this verse he said, “This is the Messenger of Allah, this is Allah’s beloved, this is Allah’s friend, this is Allah’s best friend, this is Allah’s best choice, by Allah, he is the person among the people of the earth whom Allah loves most; Allah answered his call, and he called people to what Allah answered.

According to ‘Āishah r.a., ‘Ikrimah, Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, and Mujāhid, the above verse was revealed upon mu’adhdhinīn (callers for prayers). Abū Bakr ibn al-‘Arabī says that the above verse was a Makkan (revealed in Makkah), whereas the ādhān (calling for prayer) was a Madinian, namely, instituted in Madinah. However, they are included in the meaning of the verse, although they are not included when the verse was just revealed. Any good speech containing tawḥīd (the Oneness of Allah), and faith is included in the above verse, such as the statement of Abū Bakr to a person strangling the Prophet, “Are you going to kill a person just because he said that Allah is His Lord?”

(CIVIC, 24  February, 2017)

المراجع:

 المكتبة الشاملة

تفسير الطبري (ت. 310\992(

تفسير القرطبى (611 - 671 هـ / 1214 - 1273 م(

تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774\1373)

تفسير ابن عباس (3 ق هـ - 68 هـ / 619 - 687 م(

تفسير الخازن (678-741 هـ / 1280-1341م(

تفسير الماوردي (364 - 450 هـ / 974 - 1058 م(

المسالك في شرح مؤطأ مالك

The Noble Qur’ān: Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Muhammad Asad. The Message of Islam.

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. The Glorious Qur’ān.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali. The Meaning of the Holy Qur’ān.