13:11 Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder)

{ لَه} أي: للإنسان { مُعَقِّبَاتٌ } من الملائكة يتعاقبون في الليل والنهار. { مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ } أي: يحفظون بدنه وروحه من كل من يريده بسوء، ويحفظون عليه أعماله، وهم ملازمون له دائما، فكما أن علم الله محيط به، فالله قد أرسل هؤلاء الحفظة على العباد، بحيث لا تخفى أحوالهم ولا أعمالهم، ولا ينسى منها شيء، { إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ } من النعمة والإحسان ورغد العيش { حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ } بأن ينتقلوا من الإيمان إلى الكفر ومن الطاعة إلى المعصية، أو من شكر نعم الله إلى البطر بها فيسلبهم الله عند ذلك إياها. وكذلك إذا غير العباد ما بأنفسهم من المعصية، فانتقلوا إلى طاعة الله، غير الله عليهم ما كانوا فيه من الشقاء إلى الخير والسرور والغبطة والرحمة، { وَإِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا } أي: عذابا وشدة وأمرا يكرهونه، فإن إرادته لا بد أن تنفذ فيهم. فـإنه { لَا مَرَدَّ لَهُ } ولا أحد يمنعهم منه، { وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ مِنْ وَالٍ } يتولى أمورهم فيجلب لهم المحبوب، ويدفع عنهم المكروه، فليحذروا من الإقامة على ما يكره الله خشية أن يحل بهم من العقاب ما لا يرد عن القوم المجرمين.

أي للعبد ملائكة يتعاقبون عليه حرس بالليل وحرس بالنهار يحفظونة من الأسواء والحادثات كما يتعاقب ملائكة آخرون لحفظ الأعمال من خير أو شر ملائكة بالليل وملائكة بالنهار فاثنان عن اليمين والشمال يكتبان الأعمال صاحب اليمين يكتب الحسنات وصاحب الشمال يكتب السيئات وملكان آخران يحفظانه ويحرسانه واحد من ورائه وآخر من قدامه فهو بين أربعة أملاك بالنهار وأربعة آخرين بالليل بدلا حافظان وكاتبان كما جاء في الصحيح " يتعاقبون فيكم ملائكة بالليل وملائكة بالنهار ويجتمعون في صلاة الصبح وصلاة العصر فيصعد إليه الذين باتوا فيكم فيسألهم وهو أعلم بكم كيف تركتم عبادي ؟ فيقولون أتيناهم وهم يصلون وتركناهم وهم يصلون " وفي الحديث الآخر " إن معكم من لا يفارقكم إلا عند الخلاء وعند الجماع فاستحيوهم وأكرموهم "وقال علي بن أبي طلحة عن ابن عباس في قوله " له معقبات من بين يديه ومن خلفه يحفظونه من أمر الله " والمعقبات من الله هي الملائكة وقال عكرمة عن ابن عباس " يحفظونه من أمر الله " قال ملائكة يحفظونه من بين يديه ومن خلفه فإذا جاء قدر الله خلوا عنه وقال مجاهد ما من عبد إلا له ملك موكل يحفظه في نومه ويقظته من الجن والإنس والهوام فما منها شيء يأتيه يريده إلا قال له الملك: وراءك إلا شيء أذن الله فيه فيصيبه وقال الثوري عن حبيب بن أبي ثابت عن سعيد بن جبير عن ابن عباس في قوله " له معقبات من بين يديه ومن خلفه " قال ذلك ملك من ملوك الدنيا له حرس من دونه حرس وقال العوفي عن ابن عباس " له معقبات من بين يديه ومن خلفه " يعني ولي السلطان يكون عليه الحرس وقال عكرمة في تفسيرها هؤلاء الأمراء المواكب من بين يديه ومن خلفه ; وقال الضحاك في الآية هو السلطان المحروس من أمر الله وهم أهل الشرك والظاهر والله أعلم أن مراد ابن عباس وعكرمة والضحاك بهذا أن حرس الملائكة للعبد يشبه حرس هؤلاء لملوكهم وأمرائهم وقد روى الإمام أبو جعفر ابن جرير ههنا حديث غريبا جدا فقال حدثني المثنى حدثنا إبراهيم بن عبد السلام بن صالح القشيري حدثنا علي بن جرير عن حماد بن سلمة عن عبد الحميد بن جعفر عن كنانة العدوي فال: دخل عثمان بن عفان على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال يا رسول الله أخبرني عن العبد كم معه من ملك ؟ فقال " ملك عن يمينك على حسناتك وهو أمير على الذي على الشمال فإذا عملت حسنة كتبت عشرا وإذا عملت سيئة قال الذي علىالشمال للذي على اليمين أكتبها ؟ قال لا لعله يستغفر ويتوب فيستأذنه ثلاث مرات فإذا قال ثلاثا قال اكتبها أراحنا الله منه فبئس القرين ما أقل مراقبته للة وأقل استحياءه منا يقول الله " ما يلفظ من قول إلا لديه رقيب عتيد " وملكان من بين يديك ومن خلفك يقول الله تعالى " له معقبات من بين يديه ومن خلفه " الآية ; وملك قابض على ناصيتك فإذا تواضعت لله رفعك وإذا تجبرت على الله قصمك ; وملكان على شفتيك ليس يحفظان عليك إلا الصلاة على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم وملك قائم على فيك لا يدع أن تدخل الحية في فيك وملكان على عينيك فهؤلاء عشرة أملاك على كل آدمي ينزلون ملائكة الليل على ملائكة النهار لأن ملائكة الليل سوى ملائكة النهار فهؤلاء عشرون ملكا على كل آدمي وإبليس بالنهار وولده بالليل " وقال الإمام أحمد رحمه الله حدثنا أسود بن عامر حدثنا سفيان حدثنى منصور عن سالم بن أبي الجعد عن أبيه عن عبد الله قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " ما منكم من أحد إلا وقد وكل به قرينه من الجن وقرينه من الملائكة " قالوا وإياك يا رسول الله ؟ قال " وإياي ولكن الله أعانني علم فلا يأمري إلا بخير " انفرد بإخراجه مسلم وقوله " يحفظونه من أمر الله " قيل المراد حفظهم له من أمر الله رواه على بن أبي طلحة وغيره عن ابن عباس وإليه ذهب مجاهد وسعيد بن جبير وإبراهيم النخعي وغيرهم وقال قتادة " يحفظونه من أمر الله " قال وفي بعض القراءات يحفظونه بأمر الله وقال كعب الأحبار: لو تجلى لابن آدم كل سهل وكل حزن لرأى كل شي من ذلك شيئا يقينا لولا أن الله وكل بكم ملائكة يذبون عنكم في مطعمكم ومشربكم وعوراتكم إذا لتخطفتم وقال أبو أمامة ما من آدمي إلا ومعه ملك يذود عنه حتى يسلمه للذي قدر له وقال أبو مجلز جاء رجل من مراد إلى علي رضي الله عنه وهو يصلي فقال احترس فإن ناسا من مراد يريدون قتلك 0 فقال إن مع كل رجل ملكين يحفظانه مما لم يقدر فإذا جاء القدر خليا بينه وبينه إن الأجل جنة حصينة وقال بعضهم " يحفظونه من أمر الله " بأمر الله كما جاء في الحديث أنهم قالوا يا رسول الله أرأيت رقيا نسترقي بها هل ترد من قدر الله شيئا ؟ فقال " هي من قدر الله " وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أبو سعيد الأشج حدثنا حفص بن غياث عن أشعث عن جهم عن إبراهيم قال أوحى الله إلى نبي من أنبياء بني إسرائيل أن قل لقومك إنه ليس من أهل قرية ولا أهل بيت يكونون على طاعة الله فيتحولون منها إلى معصية الله إلا حول الله عنهم ما يحبون إلى ما يكرهون ثم قال إن تصديق ذلك في كتاب الله " إن الله لا يغير ما بقوم حتى يغيروا ما بأنفسهم " وقد ورد هذا في حديث مرفوع فقال الحافظ محمد بن عثمان بن أبي شيبة في كتابه صفة العرش حدثنا الحسن بن علي حدثنا الهيثم بن الأشعث السلمي حدثنا أبو حنيفة اليماني الأنصاري عن عمير بن عبد الملك قال: خطبنا علي بن أبي طالب على منبر الكوفة قال: كنت إذا أمسكت عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ابتدأني وإذا سألته عن الخبر أنبأني وإنه حدثني عن ربه عز وجل قال " قال الرب وعزتي وجلالي وارتفاعي فوق عرشي ما من قرية ولا أهل بيت كانوا على ما كرهت من معصيتي ثم تحولوا عنها إلى ما أحببت من طاعتي إلا تحولت لهم عما يكرهون من عذابي إلى ما يحبون من رحمتي " وهذا غريب وفي إسناده من لا أعرفه.

Allah's Knowledge encompasses all Things Apparent and Hidden

Allah declares that His knowledge is encompassing all of His creation, those who declare their speech or hide it, He hears it and nothing of it ever escapes His observation. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَإِن تَجْهَرْ بِالْقَوْلِ فَإِنَّهُ يَعْلَمُ السِّرَّ وَأَخْفَى

(And if you speak aloud, then verily, He knows the secret and that which is yet more hidden.)20:7, and,

وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُخْفُونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ

(And (Allah) knows what you conceal and what you reveal.) `A'ishah said, "All praise is due to Allah Whose hearing has encompassed all voices! By Allah, she who came to complain about her husband to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was speaking while I was in another part of the room, yet I did not hear some of what she said. Allah sent down,

قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِى تُجَادِلُكَ فِى زَوْجِهَا وَتَشْتَكِى إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ يَسْمَعُ تَحَاوُرَكُمآ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ

(Indeed Allah has heard the statement of her that disputes with you concerning her husband and complains to Allah. And Allah hears the argument between you both. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer.)58:1 Allah said next,

وَمَنْ هُوَ مُسْتَخْفٍ بِالَّيْلِ

(whether he be hid by night), in his house in the darkness of the night,

وَسَارِبٌ بِالنَّهَارِ

(or goes forth freely by day.) moves about during the daylight; both are encompassed by Allah's knowledge. Allah said in other Ayat,

أَلا حِينَ يَسْتَغْشُونَ ثِيَابَهُمْ

(Surely, even when they cover themselves with their garments.) 11:5, and,

وَمَا تَكُونُ فِى شَأْنٍ وَمَا تَتْلُواْ مِنْهُ مِن قُرْءَانٍ وَلاَ تَعْمَلُونَ مِنْ عَمَلٍ إِلاَّ كُنَّا عَلَيْكُمْ شُهُودًا إِذْ تُفِيضُونَ فِيهِ وَمَا يَعْزُبُ عَن رَّبِّكَ مِن مِّثْقَالِ ذَرَّةٍ فِي الاٌّرْضِ وَلاَ فِى السَّمَآءِ وَلاَ أَصْغَرَ مِن ذَلِكَ وَلا أَكْبَرَ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

(Neither you do any deed nor recite any portion of the Qur'an nor you do any deed, but We are witness thereof when you are doing it. And nothing is hidden from your Lord (so much as) the a speck of dust on the earth or in the heaven. Not what is less than that or what is greater than that but is (written) in a Clear Record.)10:61

The Guardian Angels

Allah said next,

لَهُ مُعَقِّبَـتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ

(For him (each person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.) Allah states that there are angels who take turns guarding each servant, some by night and some by day. These angels protect each person from harm and accidents. There are also angels who take turns recording the good and evil deeds, some angels do this by day and some by night. There are two angels, one to the right and one to the left of each person, recording the deeds. The angel to the right records the good deeds, while the angel to the left records the evil deeds. There are also two angels that guard and protect each person, one from the back and one from in front. Therefore, there are four angels that surround each person by day and they are replaced by four others at night, two scribes and two guards. An authentic Hadith states,

«يَتَعَاقَبُونَ فِيكُمْ مَلَائِكَةٌ بِاللَّيْلِ وَمَلَائِكَةٌ بالنَّهَارِ، وَيَجْتَمِعُونَ فِي صَلَاةِ الصُّبْحِ وَصَلَاةِ الْعَصْرِ، فَيَصْعَدُ إِلَيْهِ الَّذِينَ بَاتُوا فِيكُمْ فَيَسْأَلُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ: كَيْفَ تَرَكْتُمْ عِبَادِي؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: أَتَيْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّونَ، وَتَرَكْنَاهُمْ وَهُمْ يُصَلُّون»

(Angels take turns around you, some at night and some by day, and all of them assemble together at the time of the Fajr and `Asr prayers. Then those who have stayed with you throughout the night, ascend to Allah Who asks them, and He knows the answer better than they about you, "How have you left My servants" They reply, "As we have found them praying, we have left them praying.") Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا وَقَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَقَرِينُهُ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَة»

(Verily, every one among you has his companion from the Jinn and his companion from the angels.") They said, "And you too, O Allah's Messenger" He said,

«وَإِيَّايَ، وَلَكِنَّ اللهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ، فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْر»

(And I too, except that Allah has helped me against him, so he only orders me to do good.) Muslim collected this Hadith. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Ibrahim said, "Allah revealed to a Prophet from among the Children of Israel, `Say to your nation: every people of a village or a house who used to obey Allah but changed their behavior to disobeying Him, then He will take away from them what they like and exchange it for what they dislike." Ibrahim next said that this statement has proof in Allah's Book,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ

(Verily, Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves.)

For him for man are attendants angels who follow him to his front and to his rear guarding him through God’s command that is by His command from the danger of the jinn and others. Indeed God does not alter the state of a people — He does not deprive them of His grace — unless they have altered the state of their souls from their comely nature through an act of disobedience. And if God wills misfortune chastisement for a people there is none that can repel it either from among the attendant angels or others; and they for whom God wills misfortune have no protector min wālin min is extra to avert it from them apart from Him that is other than God.

لَهُ مُعَقِّبَاتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ

For him there are angels replacing each other, before him and behind him, who guard him under the command of Allah - 11.

The word: مُعَقِّبَاتٌ (mu’ aqqibat) is the plural form of mu’ aqqibah. A group which comes concurrently behind another group is called mu'aqqibah or muta'aqqibah (hence, the translation: 'replacing each other' ). The expression: مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ (min bayni yadayhi) literally means in between the two hands. It denotes the direction in front of a person. And: وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ (wa min khalfihi) means 'behind him.' The particle: مِنْ (min) in the statement: مِنْ أَمْرِ‌ اللَّـهِ (min amrillah) has been placed here to serve as the ba' (بَاء) of causation. It has been used here in the sense of: بِاَمرِ اللہ (bi amrillah: under the command of Allah). In some readings (Qira'aat) of the Qur'an, this word has also been reported as: بِاَمرِ اللہ (bi amrillah). (Ruh al-Mani)

The verse means that for all human beings - whether one conceals what one says, or discloses it; or, similarly, one wishes to hide one's movement under the dark cover of the night, or goes about walking freely and openly in broad daylight - there are groups of angels appointed from Allah who provide a security cordon for them from in front of them and from behind them. Their hours of service and duty keep changing, so they keep replacing each other one after the other. The assignment given to them under the command of Allah is that they should protect human beings.

According to a Hadith of the Sahih of Al-Bukhari, there are two groups of angels who have been appointed to guard human beings, one for the day, and another for the night. These groups meet together during the prayers of Fajr and ` Asr. The night guards depart after the Salah of Fajr and the daytime guards take over. Then, they leave after the Salah of'Asr and the night guards resume their duty.

As reported by Sayyidna al-Murtada ؓ ' in a Hadith of Abu Dawud, for every human being there are guardian angels appointed to protect him or her. It is their duty to keep guarding them lest a wall or something else falls over them, or they stumble into a ditch or cave, or some animal or man causes hurt or harm to them. However, when the will of Allah itself stands enforced against a person condemned to suffer from some hardship or calamity, the guarding angels move away from the site. (Ruh al-Ma` ani)

From a narration of Sayyidna ` Uthman al-Ghani ؓ as in a Hadith of Ibn Jarir, we know that the duty of these guarding angels is not limited to protecting human beings from worldly discomforts and hardships only, instead, they also try to dissuade them from sins and do their best to keep them safe. They would go on infusing in their hearts the urge to do good and fear Allah, so that, through these, they would stay away from sinning. Now, if they still fall into sin by becoming neglectful of the angelic inspiration, they nevertheless pray for him and try that the sinner would somehow hasten to repent and become cleansed of the sin. After that, if the sinner fails to take any warning and refuses to correct himself, then, they write down a sin in his Book of Deeds.

In short, these guarding angels keep protecting human beings against the unwelcome happenings of both the present world and the world to come, all the time, awake or asleep. The well-known Tabi` i, Ka'b Al-Ahbar (رح) says: Should this protective Divine cordon be removed from around human beings, the Jinns would make their lives difficult. But, all these protective arrangements work only until such time as the Divine decree permits them to remain operative. Now, if Allah Ta` ala Himself wills to let a servant of His suffer, this arrangement of protection stands dismissed.

This has been elaborated in the next verse in the following manner:

إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ‌ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُ‌وا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ ۗ وَإِذَا أَرَ‌ادَ اللَّـهُ بِقَوْمٍ سُوءًا فَلَا مَرَ‌دَّ لَهُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَالٍ

Surely, Allah does not change what is in a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends evil for a people, there is no way to turn it back, and for them there is no patron other than Him-11

It means that Allah Ta` ala does not change the state of peace and security enjoyed by a people into a state of distress and instability until such time that those people themselves change their deeds and ways into evil and disorder. And when a whole people change to commit themselves and their surrounding conditions into rank contumacy and disobedience, then, Allah Ta` ala too changes His way with them. And it is obvious that, should Allah Ta` ala Himself intend evil and punishment for any-one, then, there is no way that could be averted and there is no one who can rise to help them out against the Divine decree.

The outcome is that human beings remain actively protected by an-gels under the command of Allah Ta` ala, but should a people become ungrateful for His blessings and forsake being obedient to him only to take to evil doings and become contumacious in the end, then, the posse of protection posted by Allah Ta ala is called off duty. At that time, the wrath and punishment of Allah Ta` ala descends upon them and there remains no way they could escape from these.

This explanation tells us that the 'change' referred to in the cited verse means: When a people abandon gratitude and obedience and settle for a change to worse around them, then, Allah Ta` ala too brings about a change in His way of mercy and protection.

According to a common explanation of this verse, no positive revolution appears among a people unless they themselves do not correct conditions around them to bring about that positive revolution. There is a very popular Urdu couplet by poet Half which carries this very sense:

اللہ نے آج تک اس قوم کی حالت نہیں بدلی

نہ ہو جس کو خیال آپ اپنی حالت کے بدلنے کا

To this day, God has never changed the condition of a people Who have no plan of changing their condition themselves.

What has been said here is, no doubt, correct to a certain extent. But, this is not the sense of the Verse cited here. And its being correct too has to be viewed in terms of a general principle, that is, for a person who has no intention of correcting himself, there is no promise of help and support from Allah Ta’ ala. Instead, this promise is valid under the condition that someone would himself think and do something about it - as we learn from the noble verse: وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا (that is, 'those who strive in Us, them We do lead to Our paths - (29:69) ' which tells us that the pathways of guidance from Allah Ta` a1a too open up only when the urge to have such guidance is present there. But, Divine blessings are not bound by this restriction. They would, at times, come even without it.

Take our own existence and its countless blessings. These are not the outcome of our effort, nor had we ever prayed that we be given such a presence with eyes, nose, ears and rest of the most perfect body. These are wonderful blessings - and we have them without having to ask for them. However, the right to deserve blessings and to become worthy recipients of the fruits of the Divine promise cannot be received without making one's own effort to earn it - and should a people keep waiting for Divine rewards without putting in the due effort and deed, it would amount to nothing but self-deception.