Surah Al-Muddaththir 74:1-31 - Quran Translation Commentary

31. and WE have made none but angels as guardians of the Hell and have made their number a trial for the disbelievers, so that the People of the Book may gain certainty and the Faith of believers may increase and the People of the Book and the believers may have no doubt and those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers may say what does Allah mean by this description.²⁴ Thus Allah leaves in error whom HE will and guides whom HE will. And none knows the army of your LORD but He.²⁵ And this Quran is an admonition all in all for the mankind.²⁶

Commentary

1. The first revelation to descend on the holy prophet was the opening ayah of Surah Alaq:

Thereafter the second revelation came In the form of the opening ayah of Surah Muddath-thir. Since it was the first occasion of the arrival of a revelation and of seeing an angel, it was but natural for the prophet to get somewhat Frightened, as mentioned in a tradition. (Please see Bukhari, Kitabut Tafseer, Baab Surah Muddath-thir). The holy prophet had covered himself in a sheet due to the said fear. Therefore, on this occasion he has been addressed with the sweet words of YAA AYYUHAL MUDDATHTHIR( O you wrapped up) so as to remove his natural fear and to make him conversant with revelation.

It should be remembered that when the prophets receive revelation for the first time they never entertain any doubt regarding its being a Divine revelation. The holy prophet too did not have any doubt. Of course on seeing an angel for the first time he had become fearful but it was a temporary uneasiness.

Here Note: 1 of Surah Muzzammil may also be kept in mind.

2. Here ‘Get up’ does not mean that he was deeply asleep in comfort and that he should wake up from that slumber. But the meaning is that he may get up with courage and enthusiasm to do the work of cautioning the common people who were unmindful of God and the Hereafter.

It becomes clear from this ayah that the first instruction given to the prophet was regarding ‘Inzaar’ (cautioning). And this is the most important speciality of the call of the prophets (peace be upon them all) according to which they, first of all, frighten the people about the torment of Allah so that they may be alarmed and concerned about their improvement. The focus of their message is the heart of man. To remove the corruption in collective life and to establish a pious system (order) are the demands of the Shariat. But the manner of Messengers’ call has fixed a particular place for every thing. So it is necessary to keep it at the same place. Otherwise the balance is upset which can be seen in the missionary work in our age. It appears that the missionaries have tied the cart before the horse. Hence the invitation does not get enough response.

Here note: 2 of Surah Nooh may be kept in view.

3. Means the Greatness is only for Allah. Therefore only HIS Greatness should always be on your tongue and the same should be got circulated among people. The Salat begins with the words “Allahu Akbar’ (God is the Greatest) and the same phrase is being repeated in Azan (Call of the Mosque) too, so that the whole atmosphere may be rent with the proclamation of God’s greatness.

The order for Takbeer is given in the last ayah of Surah Bani Israil also:

“WA KABBIRHU TAKBEERAH” (And proclaim His Greatness as is His due).

There is both the negation of shirk (polytheism) and the affirmation of Tawheed (Oneness of God) in the proclamation of God’s Greatness (Takbeer) The polytheists have made some one a ‘Mahatma’ and some one a ‘Mahadeo’ and they worship them. But these are mere claims. The truth is that Greatness is for none save Allah and hence there is no deity except HIM who may be worshipped.

4. The outward cleanliness evokes inner cleanliness. Therefore Islam has attached much importance to outward cleanliness. Accordingly clean clothes is a must for performing salat. And when it has been commanded to keep clothes clean then the cleanliness of the body becomes all the more essential.

Islam has shown the best way to get purified from the filths of urine and other impurities and of keeping clothes clean. The concern for purity is the first virtue of those who perform salat. But many ‘civilized’ people of modern times are totally unaware even of this idea of cleanliness!

5. The meaning of ‘Rujz’ as mentioned in ‘Al Qamoos- al-Muheet is like this:

Filth, worship of idol, torment and shirk. And ‘Hijr’ also means to keep away (Lisan-ul- Arab, 5: 252)

What is specifically meant is the dirt or filth of idols and to keep away from their uncleanness. For the holy prophet, this command was an emphatic command just as prophet Ibrahim was told:

“Ascribe nothing as partner to me.” (Hajj: 26)

Otherwise, the holy prophet had kept away from idol worship even in the days of pre-Islamic ignorance. Moreover, this command also, wanted to convey it to the people and to make them understand that Allah has commanded that idol worship should be given up and so they must refrain from it.

6. Man does some favour to others so that he may gain more in exchange or there is some self interest underlying it. This is low morality. The lofty morality is that man may do good to others with a pure heart. There are several aspects of this instruction. The outstanding aspect here is that of the messenger ship and well-wishing of people. It was an important aspect of the Holy prophet’s life that he never demanded any return for conveying God’s message to the people.

(Say (O Prophet!): I ask of you no recompense for this). (Saad:86)

This shows how grand the teaching of Quran is. What will be the climax of a teaching which begins with such a lofty level! That the Quran is a miracle can also be seen from its teachings.

7. That is, when you will rise up to warn the people you will have to face hard difficulties. So patience should become your habit and such a patience should be purely to please Allah. HE will give its best reward.

8. The trumpet of Qiyamat (Resurrection) will be blown into.

9. It means that day will prove very hard for the disbelievers. So much hard that there will be no hope of ease from any corner.

10. I am the ONE who alone has created him and am sufficient to deal with him. In these words there is a solace for the holy prophet that he need not worry about the people who are leading the opposition to his call and on the other hand there is also a warning to the opponents that they must know that they are dealing with Allah whose grip is very hard.

11. That is, he made wealthy.

12. Means such sons who may help him in his business and be ready to serve him.

13. May make the Pathways to worldly power smooth for him.

Then he hopes that I will give him more. Never, he bears malice toward Our ayah.Soon I will make him climb a stiff climbing. He pondered and made a plan. So, be he killed, how he planned! Again, be he killed how he planned! Then he looked around. Then he frowned and scowled. (Al-Quran)

14. Instead of thanking Allah who gave him so many bounties, he became more greedy of wealth and position, and is wishfully thinking that if there is a resurrection he will be forgiven despite his disbelief and polytheism and will be bestowed with the bounties of the other world also!

15. That is, this is his wishful thinking. When he is disbelieving our ayah (signs) and is not prepared to put faith in Our messenger nor in our Word, how can he be worthy of the other world’s wealth?

The above verses pictures those leaders who were well-to-do from the worldly view-point but were in the forefront of opposition to the holy prophet. This fully applies to Waleed bin Mugheerah.

16. A man pants while climbing up. So what will be the extent of hardship if one has to make such a difficult climbing and that too in Hell!!

17. This thinking of his was like that of a fool and the thing which he proposed regarding the holy prophet and the holy Quran is mentioned in the forthcoming ayah No: 24 and 25.

18. These ayah describe the gestures of the disbelieving leader which he made after being displeased with the ayah of Quran which he heard.

19. That is, he tried to give such an impression to the people that he has reached, after enough thinking, to the conclusion that Quran is a human word and that it is only the verbal enchantment that fascinates the people, and that the fascination of talking is not a new thing; that it is an old trick. It is recorded in traditions that Waleed bin Mugheerah had advised Abu Jahl to propagate among the people that Quran was a kind of magic.

20.’Saqar’ is one the names of Hell. Here the word means extreme heat.

21. That is do not think that the Hell is something ordinary. It is the place of a painful torment.

22. The fire of Hell will not give any let up in burning the man. Even after burning him it will not leave him but will continue the work of burning. Hell will not allow man to live nor to die. Also. It will never free anyone from its grip.

23. Skin is a tender part of man’s body and he feels pain with the skin. What will be the condition when the Hell-fire will burn down his skin! God Almighty is warning man by giving such details of the Hell so that he may try to save himself from that intolerable ordeal.

24. No act of Allah is without wisdom. Hence the appointment of guards of the Hell too is a wise decision of Allah even though we do not comprehend the strategy behind it. Nor we have any knowledge of the nineteen angel guards. Of course, we do know that the angels have been given a strength which we are unable to measure. For example, their dissension from heaven, capturing of souls by the angel of death (Malakul maut) etc. Therefore it is sheer foolishness to think the number of nineteen as negligible (imagining that how can they be sufficient to deal with a very big number of people confined to Hell). But the disbelievers expressed this very foolishness after hearing the news given by the Quran. This ayah warns them.

Regarding the wisdom behind describing this number it is also stated that it may be a thing of trial for the disbelievers. That is, if they, instead of being cautioned, want to enjoy by making Hell an object of mockery, they may do so, and may drown themselves deep in their waywardness. Another strategy can be that by observing such minute details of the Hell, the people of the Book may be convinced that Quran is indeed the Divine Revelation, because, the description of hell was, already there in their Books but the holy Quran presented a detailed picture of it. The third strategy, it seems, is that it may increase the Faith of the Faithful, because, it is not their way that they should believe each and every statement of Quran only after understanding the wisdom behind it. Rather they should put Faith in whatever is said by the Divine Book notwithstanding whether its strategy is explained by Allah or not. The job of a slave is only to believe unconditionally whatever is said by Allah. For his trust it is enough to learn that it is Allah’s Word. When the Faithful people believe in the description of the Hereafter, which is now unseen their Faith increases. The fourth wisdom is stated thus: that the objections raised by the disbelievers may not confuse the Muslims and the People of the Book, rather they may become assured that only a prophet can narrate these things so authentically (hence Muhammad, peace be upon him, is indeed the prophet of Allah).The fifth reason is that those who are victims of uncertainty and those who are the adamant deniers may remain calm after expressing their wonder.

It should be remembered that some of the commentators have given various reasons for the appointment of nineteen angels for guarding Hell. But it is all mere imagination and formality. When Allah has not shown the reason for this number and has put us to test by mentioning it in abstract why should we indulge in a discussion over it (the number)?

25. Do not think that Allah has a shortage of manpower for His army and hence HE put only 19 angels to guard Hell. Though this number is apparently small, in view of their great powers and resources, they will surely suffice to control the Hell. When a man himself can, by resorting to chemical warfare, annihilate thousands of people instantly and can kill millions by dropping a nuclear bomb, what to talk about the angels. Who can measure the strength given to them by Almighty Allah for controlling the Hell? When it is possible for man to target someone or something which is thousands of miles away by using a scud or a patriot missile why the powerful angels will not be able to target far off people in a vast Hell?

Allah’s armies are numerous and only HE knows their number. No man can make an estimate of it by guessing.

26. Whatever the Holy Quran describes about Hell contains a lot of admonition for the people. Wise, among them are those who pay attention to it without entering into arguments.