11:107 Hud (Hud)

{ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا ْ} أي: في النار، التي هذا عذابها { مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ ْ} أي: خالدين فيها أبدا، إلا المدة التي شاء الله, أن لا يكونوا فيها، وذلك قبل دخولها، كما قاله جمهور المفسرين، فالاستثناء على هذا، راجع إلى ما قبل دخولها، فهم خالدون فيها جميع الأزمان، سوى الزمن الذي قبل الدخول فيها. { إِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِمَا يُرِيدُ ْ} فكل ما أراد فعله واقتضته حكمته فعله، تبارك وتعالى، لا يرده أحد عن مراده.

"خالدين فيها ما دامت السموات والأرض" قال الإمام أبو جعفر بن جرير: من عادة العرب إذا أرادت أن تصف الشيء بالدوام أبدا قالت هذا دائم دوام السموات والأرض وكذلك يقولون هو باق ما اختلف الليل والنهار وما سمر أبناء سمير وما لألأت العير بأذنابها. يعنون بذلك كله أبدا فخاطبهم جل ثناؤه وبما يتعارفونه بينهم فقال "خالدين فيها ما دامت السموات والأرض" قلت: ويحتمل أن المراد بما دامت السموات والأرض الجنس لأنه لا بد في عالم الآخرة من سموات وأرض كما قال تعالى "يوم تبدل الأرض غير والأرض والسموات" ولهذا قال الحسن البصري في قوله "ما دامت السموات والأرض" قال: يقول سماء غير هذه السماء وأرض غير هذه فما دامت تلك السماء وتلك الأرض. وقال ابن أبي حاتم: ذكر عن سفيان بن حسين عن الحكم عن مجاهد عن ابن عباس قوله "ما دامت السموات والأرض" قال: لكل جنة سماء وأرض وقال عبدالرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم: ما دامت الأرض أرضا والسماء سماء. وقوله "إلا ما شاء ربك إن ربك فعال لما يريد" كقوله "النار مثواكم خالدين فيها إلا ما شاء الله إن ربك حكيم عليم" وقد اختلف المفسرون في المراد من هذا الاستثناء على أقوال كثيرة حكاها الشيخ أبو الفرج بن الجوزي في كتابة زاد المسير وغيره من علماء التفسير ونقل كثيرا منها الإمام أبو جعفر بن جرير رحمه الله في كتابه واختار هو ما نقله عن خالد بن معدان والضحاك وقتادة وابن سنان ورواه ابن أبي حاتم عن ابن عباس والحسن أيضا أن الاستثناء عائد على العصاة من أهل التوحيد ممن يخرجهم الله من النار بشفاعة الشافعين من الملائكة والنبيين والمؤمنين حتي يشفعون في أصحاب الكبائر ثم تأتي رحمة أرحم الراحمين فتخرج من النار من لم يعمل خيرا قط وقال يوما من الدهر لا إله إلا الله كما وردت بذلك الأخبار الصحيحة المستفيضة عن رسول الله صلي الله عليه وسلم بمضمون ذلك من حديث أنس وجابر وأبي سعيد وأبي هريرة وغيرهم من الصحابة ولا يبقي بعد ذلك في النار إلا من وجب عليه الخلود فيها ولا محيد له عنها وهذا الذي عليه كثير من العلماء قديما وحديثا في تفسير هذه الآية الكريمة. وقد روي في تفسيرها عن أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب وابن مسعود وابن عباس وأبي هريرة وعبدالله بن عمرو وجابر وأبي سعيد من الصحابة وعن أبي مجلز والشعبي وغيرهما من التابعين وعن عبدالرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم وإسحاق بن راهويه وغيرهما من الأئمة في أقوال غريبة وورد حديث غريب في معجم الطبراني الكبير عن أبي أمامة صدي بن عجلان الباهلي ولكن سنده ضعيف والله أعلم. وقال قتادة: الله أعلم بثنياه; وقال السدي هي منسوخة بقوله "خالدين فيها أبدا".

The Condition of the Wretched People and their Destination

Allah, the Exalted, says,

لَهُمْ فِيهَا زَفِيرٌ وَشَهِيقٌ

(in it they will experience Zafir and Shahiq.) Ibn `Abbas said, "Az-Zafir is a sound in the throat and Ash-Shahiq is a sound in the chest. This means that their exhaling will be Zafir and their inhaling will Shahiq." This will be due to the torment that they will be experiencing. We seek refuge with Allah from such evil.

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ

(They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure,) Imam Abu Ja`far bin Jarir said, "It was from the customs of the Arabs that when they wanted to describe something that would last forever, they would say, `This is as enduring as the heavens and the earth.' Or, `It will last as until the night and day separate.' They would say, `As long as talkers at night continue to chat.' They meant by these statements the condition of eternity. Therefore, Allah addressed them in a manner that they were familiar with among themselves. Thus, He said,

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ

(They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure,) The literal meaning is also intended with; "for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure." This is due to the fact that there will be heavens and earth in the life of the next world, just as Allah said,

يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ الاٌّرْضُ غَيْرَ الاٌّرْضِ وَالسَّمَـوَتُ

(On the Day when the earth will be changed to another earth and so will be the heavens.) 14:48 For this reason, Al-Hasan Al-Basri said concerning the statement of Allah,

مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ

(the heavens and the earth endure.) "Allah is referring to a heaven other than this heaven (which we see now) and an earth other than this earth. That (new) heaven and earth will be eternal." Concerning Allah's statement,

إِلاَّ مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ

(except as your Lord wills. Verily, your Lord is the doer of whatsoever He intends.) This is similar to His statement,

النَّارُ مَثْوَاكُمْ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ إِلاَّ مَا شَآءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ

(The Fire be your dwelling place, you will dwell therein forever, except as Allah may will. Certainly your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.) 6:128 It has been said that the exception mentioned in this verse refers to the disobedient among the people of Tawhid. It is these whom Allah will bring out of the Fire by the intercession of the interceders. Those who will be allowed to intercede are the angels, the Prophets and the believers. They will intercede even on behalf of those who committed major sins. Then, the generous mercy of Allah will remove from the Fire those who have never done any good, except for saying La ilaha illallah one day of their life. This has been mentioned in numerous authentic reports from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, including narrations from Anas bin Malik, Jabir bin `Abdullah, Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri, Abu Hurayrah and other Companions. No one remains in the Fire after this final intercession, except those who will remain there forever without escape. This is the opinion held by many of the scholars, both past and present, concerning the explanation of this verse.

abiding therein for as long as the heavens and the earth endure that is for the length of the duration of both in this world except other than what your Lord may will in the way of adding to the duration of these two such that it their abiding becomes indefinite meaning that they will abide therein forever. Truly your Lord is Doer of what He desires.

After having given this good counsel to them, he warned them of the punishment of Allah Ta` ala. He said:

وَيَا قَوْمِ لَا يَجْرِ‌مَنَّكُمْ شِقَاقِي أَن يُصِيبَكُم مِّثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ قَوْمَ نُوحٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ هُودٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ صَالِحٍ ۚ وَمَا قَوْمُ لُوطٍ مِّنكُم بِبَعِيدٍ

And 0 my people, let not your hostility towards me cause you to suffer what was suffered by the people of Nuh, or the people of Hud, or the people of Salih. And the people of Lut are not far from you.

The sense of the last sentence is that the overturned habitations of the people of Sayyidna Lut (علیہ السلام) were close to Madyan where they were. Then, in terms of time, the punishment that came upon them was very close. From this they could learn their lesson and leave their obstinacy.

Hearing this, his people were enraged. They said that had it not been for the support he had from his clan, they would have stoned him to death. Despite this threat, Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) true to his mettle as a prophet, did not hesitate to tell them that they feared his clan all right, but would have no fear of Allah who holds everything in His power.

Finally, when his people did not listen to anything said to them, Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) told them that they could now wait for the punishment. After that, Allah Ta ala took out Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) and those who had believed in him, as is the Divine practice, from that habitation and the rest of them were destroyed instantly at the harsh Cry of Sayyidna Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) .

Injunctions and Rulings:

Rules about Lessening of Weights and Measures

One of the reasons why punishment fell on the people of Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) was their practice of weighing and measuring less than due - called tatfif. The Holy Qur'an has described the severe punishment for those who do that in Surah al-Mutaffifin which opens with the verse: وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُطَفِّفِينَ (Woe to those who give less - 83:1). There is a consensus of the entire Muslim Ummah that doing so is strictly Haram (unlawful). Quoting a saying of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ ، Imam Malik has said in Mu'atta' that weighing and measuring less essentially means that someone does not fulfill the right of another person due on him, fully and duly. In fact, makes it less, whether it happens to be something given by weight, or measure, or something of another kind. If an employee falls short in performing his or her assigned duty, or an office worker, or a laborer cuts his working hours short, or fails to fulfill his job assignment as due, then, they all will be counted in this cat-egory. Anyone who does not perform his or her Salah with due consideration of everything obligatory and mash En in it has also committed the crime of this ` tatfif.' May Allah keep all of us protected from it!

Ruling

It appears in Tafsir al-Qurtubi that the people of Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) would save gold and silver by trimming the edges of gold and silver coins, like dinar and dirham, circulating in the country as official currency, and which they would channel back into circulation at par value. Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) prohibited them from doing so.

In Hadith as well, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has declared the chipping of the coins of an Islamic state to be Haram (unlawful). Tafsir authority, Zayd ibn Aslam has said exactly this while explaining the

verse of the Qur'an: تِسْعَةُ رَ‌هْطٍ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ ; (nine family heads spreading corruption in the land and not correcting [ their ways ] - 27:48). He says that these people of the city mentioned in the verse used to chip off gold and silver from dinar and dirham coins and ran a profitable business of their own through this source - something the Qur'an calls a great corruption.

During the Khilafah of Sayyidna ` Umar ibn ` Abd al-` Aziz (رح) ، someone was arrested while he was cutting a dirham coin. He was awarded a punishment of lashes and was paraded around head shaved. (Tafsir al Qurtubi)