Surah 45. Al-Jathiyah

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Verses [Section]: 1-11[1], 12-21 [2], 22-26 [3], 27-37 [4]

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Quran Text of Verse 22-26وَ خَلَقَAnd Allah createdاللّٰهُAnd Allah createdالسَّمٰوٰتِthe heavensوَ الْاَرْضَand the earthبِالْحَقِّin truthوَ لِتُجْزٰیand that may be recompensedكُلُّeveryنَفْسٍۭsoulبِمَاfor whatكَسَبَتْit has earnedوَ هُمْand theyلَاwill not be wrongedیُظْلَمُوْنَ will not be wronged 45. Al-Jathiyah Page 501اَفَرَءَیْتَHave you seenمَنِ(he) whoاتَّخَذَtakesاِلٰهَهٗ(as) his godهَوٰىهُhis desireوَ اَضَلَّهُand Allah lets him go astrayاللّٰهُand Allah lets him go astrayعَلٰیknowinglyعِلْمٍknowinglyوَّ خَتَمَand He sets a sealعَلٰیuponسَمْعِهٖhis hearingوَ قَلْبِهٖand his heartوَ جَعَلَand putsعَلٰیoverبَصَرِهٖhis visionغِشٰوَةً ؕa veilفَمَنْThen whoیَّهْدِیْهِwill guide himمِنْۢafterبَعْدِafterاللّٰهِ ؕAllahاَفَلَاThen will notتَذَكَّرُوْنَ you receive admonition وَ قَالُوْاAnd they sayمَاNotهِیَitاِلَّا(is) butحَیَاتُنَاour lifeالدُّنْیَا(of) the worldنَمُوْتُwe dieوَ نَحْیَاand we liveوَ مَاand notیُهْلِكُنَاۤdestroys usاِلَّاexceptالدَّهْرُ ۚthe timeوَ مَاAnd notلَهُمْfor themبِذٰلِكَof thatمِنْanyعِلْمٍ ۚknowledgeاِنْnotهُمْtheyاِلَّا(do) butیَظُنُّوْنَ guess وَ اِذَاAnd whenتُتْلٰیare recitedعَلَیْهِمْto themاٰیٰتُنَاOur Versesبَیِّنٰتٍclearمَّاnotكَانَisحُجَّتَهُمْtheir argumentاِلَّاۤexceptاَنْthatقَالُواthey sayائْتُوْاBringبِاٰبَآىِٕنَاۤour forefathersاِنْifكُنْتُمْyou areصٰدِقِیْنَ truthful قُلِSayاللّٰهُAllahیُحْیِیْكُمْgives you lifeثُمَّthenیُمِیْتُكُمْcauses you to dieثُمَّthenیَجْمَعُكُمْHe will gather youاِلٰیtoیَوْمِ(the) Dayالْقِیٰمَةِ(of) the Resurrectionلَاnoرَیْبَdoubtفِیْهِabout itوَ لٰكِنَّButاَكْثَرَmostالنَّاسِ(of) the peopleلَا(do) notیَعْلَمُوْنَ۠know

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Translation of Verse 22-26

(45:22) Allah created the heavens and the earth in Truth²⁸ that each person may be requited for his deeds. They shall not be wronged.²⁹

(45:23) Did you ever consider the case of him who took his desire as his god,³⁰ and then Allah caused him to go astray despite knowledge,³¹ and sealed his hearing and his heart, and cast a veil over his sight?³² Who, after Allah, can direct him to the Right Way? Will you not take heed?³³

(45:24) They say: “There is no life other than our present worldly life: herein we live and we die, and it is only (the passage of) time that destroys us. Yet the fact is that they know nothing about this and are only conjecturing.³⁴

(45:25) And when Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them,³⁵ their only contention is: “Bring back to us our fathers if you are truthful.”³⁶

(45:26) Tell them, (O Prophet): “It is Allah Who gives you life and then causes you to die,³⁷ and He it is Who will then bring all of you together on the Day of Resurrection, a Day regarding which there can be no doubt.³⁸ Yet most people do not know.³⁹

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Commentary

28. God has not created the heavens and the earth as a sport. Rather, their creation is animated by perfect wisdom and a sense of purpose. It is, therefore, inconceivable that the upright and the wicked will be reduced to dust after death and that there will be no Afterlife in which they will be recompensed proportionate to their good and bad deeds. Those who properly utilized the faculties and resources bestowed upon them by God in doing good should be rewarded. On the contrary, those who misused _ these and perpetrated mischief must be punished. (For further details, see al-An‘am 6, n. 46, vol. II, pp: 243-4; Yunus 10, n. 11, Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. IV, pp. 10-11; Ibrahim 14, n. 26, vol. IV, Pp. 263; al-Nahl 16, n. 6, vol. IV, p. 313; al-‘Ankabut 29,n. 75, vol. VIL p. 40; al-Rum 30, n. 6, vol. VIEL, pp. 76-8.)

29. The meaning of this verse is quite clear in the present context: if the upright are not rewarded for their good conduct and the wrongdoers are not punished for their wrongs and if the wrongs of the victims are not redressed this would amount to injustice. Such injustice is out of the question with regard to God’s realm. Likewise, the other form of injustice is that an upright person is rewarded less than what he deserves or a wicked person is punished more than what his wickedness warrants.

This is also inconceivable with regard to God.

30. To take one’s desires as one’s god means that one fully becomes the slave of one’s desires. Such a person does whatever yields pleasure, irrespective of the fact that it is forbidden by God. Likewise, he will not do what is prescribed by God as an obligatory duty if he doesn’t want to do it. If someone behaves as described above, he is the servant of his unbridled desires, no matter whether he verbally calls them his god or not and whether he worships them as idols or not. This because such an attitude amounts to treating his desires as deities. In the case of such behavior, one cannot deny committing idolatry on the technical grounds that one had not verbally declared any of one’s desires to be one’s lord _ a or that one had not literally prostrated before them.

This is how distinguished Qur’anic scholars have understood this verse. In the words of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari: ‘This person has made his base self his deity. He does all that his base self asks for. In so doing, he fails to observe the limits of the lawful and the unlawful laid down by God’. (Tabari, Tafsir, comments on Surah al-Jathiyah 45: 23.) According to Abu Bakr al-Jassas: ‘Such a person obeys the promptings of his base self so religiously as one should serve God.’ (Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur’an, comments on Surah al-Jathiyah 45: 23.) Zamakhshari offers the following interpretation: ‘He is led by his base self and follows it blindly. In other — words, he looks after his self with a devotion that one consecrates to God.’ (Zamakhshari, al-Kashshaf, comments on Surah al-Jathiyah 45: 23.) (For further details, see al-Furgan 25, n. 56, Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. VIL, pp. 27-8; Saba’ 34, n. 63, vol. IX, pp. 197-8; Ya Sin 36, n. 53, vol. IX, pp. 268-9; al-Shura 42, n. 38 above.)

31. This is open to more than one meaning. It may mean that notwithstanding that person’s knowledge, God directed him to error for he was a slave of his own desires. Or, it might mean that in view of God’s knowledge that one deifies one’s desires, God pushes him into error and misguidance.

32. God’s causing some people to go astray and His sealing of their hearing and His casting a veil over their sight has been explained by us. For details, see al-Bagarah 2, nn. 10 and 16, Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. I, pp. 48-9, 51; al-An‘am 6, nn. 17 and 28, vol. II, pp..223-4 231; al-A‘raf 7,nn. 80-1, vol. HI, p. 62; al-Tawbah 9, n. 89, vol. Il, p. 239; Yunus 10, n. 71, vol. IV, pp. 53-4; al-Ra‘d 13, n. 44, vol. IV, pp. 239-40; Ibrahim 14, n. 40, vol. IV, p. 270; al-Nahl 16: 107-8; Bani Isra’il 17, n. 51, Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. V, pp. 47-8; al-Rum 30, n. 84 vol.

VIEL, p. 116; Fatir 35, nn. 16-17, vol. IX, pp. 212-14; and al-Mu'min 40 n 54 above.

33. It becomes evident from the context of the verse that those who are bent on unbridled gratification of their desires are none else than those that deny the Hereafter. Such people look upon the idea of the Hereafter as so many shackles and fetters upon their freedom. Once they deny the Hereafter, they become even more engrossed in gratifying their desires and wander about in error, committing all conceivable misdeeds. They feel no scruples in usurping what belongs to others. Since they are given to committing injustices and excesses, even the fear of the law does not deter them from evil-doing. They also tend to disregard the incidents that should serve as lessons for them. Lost in self-complacency, they feel satisfied with their conduct even when itis evil. They pay no heed to any admonition. An argument that generally dissuades people from doing evil is misconstrued by them as an incentive for committing further evil. They look for any pretext to justify their unbridled freedom. As a result, rather than being concerned with doing good, their hearts and minds are given wholly to the gratification of desire. This proves beyond any shadow of doubt that denial of the Hereafter is fatal for morality. What can restrain and keep man under control is his belief in accountability to God for his deeds. Even a learned person, who is devoid of this consciousness, is apt to behave like a brute.

34. The unbelievers do not have any definite source of knowledge - that categorically informs them that there is no Afterlife. Likewise, they are not on sure ground in holding that the human soul is not seized by God’s command and that man simply dies in the course of time. These ideas are simply their speculations. They may, at most, claim that they do not know whether there is an Afterlife or not. However, they have no grounds to rule it out categorically. By the same token, they cannot claim with certainty that the human soul is not seized by God and that man dies as a result of a mechanical process. Since both options exist, the unbelievers are not justified i in dismissing one altogether and insisting only on the other. In fact, in so doing, they are swayed by their own biases.

Far from basing their view on any weighty argument, it is their desire that there should not be any Afterlife. In other words, it is their wishful thinking which prompts them to deny the reality of the Hereafter.

35. That is, those signs which provide weighty arguments in support of the Hereafter. These prove that both justice and common sense demand that there should be an Afterlife. For, in its absence the present order’ loses its meaning.

36. The unbelievers refused to believe in resurrection. They insisted that the Hereafter can be affirmed only if they see with their own eyes the dead rising from their graves. If this did not happen, they were not prepared to believe in resurrection. However, the fact remains that they were never told that the dead will rise from their graves in this world.

Rather, the Qur’anic doctrine is that it is on the Day of Judgement that God will resurrect all mankind and recompense them.

37. This is a rejoinder to their fallacious notion that the death of humans is caused simply by the passage of time. They are told that life and death are not a chance happening. It is God Who grants life to people and it is He who seizes their soul.

38. This is said in response to the demand to resurrect their ancestors.

Itis pointed out that it is not a few individuals who will be brought back to life. Rather, on the Day of Judgement, all humans will be resurrected.

39. Their ignorance and myopic vision account for their denial of the Hereafter. This doctrine is neither novel nor bizarre. On the contrary, its q absence is unthinkable. Anyone who studies the workings of the universe and his own existence will realize that the Hereafter is imminent.