Commentary
Clear proofs of Islam being the true religion and the Holy Prophet ﷺ being the true prophet were there before the disbelievers of Makkah. They could see the signs from every department of his life, and from his many miracles, openly and comprehensively. The chief of the disbelievers, Abu Jahl had already declared that they stood in competition with the tribe of Banu Hashim. How could they ever accept their superiority in a matter so crucial - that the Messenger of Allah had to rise from among them? So, let them say what they have to say, and let them show whatever signs they must show. As for them, they were not going to believe in him under any condition whatsoever. Therefore, bent on confron-tation, they lost no opportunity to display their obstinacy asking absurd questions and making unreasonable demands. The present verses too have been revealed in response to a question asked by Abu Jahl and his accomplices.
According to Tafsir al-Baghawi, once the disbelievers of Makkah, Abu Jahl ibn Hisham and ` Abdullah ibn Umaiyyah among them, came to the Baytullah and sat down on its rear side. They sent the later to the Holy Prophet ﷺ with some demands. He said to him: If you want that your people and all of us accept you as a Messenger of Allah and follow you, then we have some demands. Fulfill them through your Qur’ an and we all shall embrace Islam.
One of the demands was that the land of Makkah was too short on space. at they have is a long stretch of land surrounded by mountains on all sides in which there is no room for cultivation and farming and no place to grow fruits or provide other needs. So, they asked him: You move these mountains farther away through your miracle so that the land area of Makkah becomes more extensive. Reminding him of his own saying they said that mountains were subjugated for Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) - when he recited the praises of Allah, the mountains did the same with him. And they reminded him again that he was no less a person than Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) in the sight of Allah.
The second demand they put forward was that the way Allah Ta` ala had subjugated the wind for Sayyidna Sulayman (علیہ السلام) - as he himself had told them - and had thereby reduced great distances on the earth into brief spans, so, they demanded that he too should do the same for them so that their travels to Syria and Yaman become easy on them.
Their third demand was that the way Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) made the dead come alive, he too should do that for them. Since he was for them no less than him, let him bring their forefather, Qusayy, back to life so that they could ask him whether or not this religion brought by the Arab prophet was true. (Mazhari with reference to al-Baghawi and Ibn Abi Uatim and Ibn Marduwayh)
The hostile demands mentioned in the verses cited above were answered in the following words:
وَلَوْ أَنَّ قُرْآنًا سُيِّرَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ أَوْ قُطِّعَتْ بِهِ الْأَرْضُ أَوْ كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَىٰ ۗ بَل لِّلَّـهِ الْأَمْرُ جَمِيعًا
And even if there were a Qur'an wherewith mountains could be moved, or the earth could be split apart, or wherewith the dead are spoken to (they would not believe). But all the judgments are of Allah - 31.
Lexically, the expression: سُيِّرَتْ بِهِ الْجِبَالُ refers to the moving of mountains from their place, and: قُطِّعَتْ بِهِ الْأَرْضُ signifies the traversing of long distances in a short time, and: كُلِّمَ بِهِ الْمَوْتَىٰ denotes talking to the dead after they have been brought back to life. As for the principal clause of the conditional clause beginning with the word لَو (if), it stands understood under the necessity of the textual situation, that is: لَمَا آمَنُوا (they would not believe). The nature of this complement is the same as specifically mentioned at another place in the Holy Qur’ an while dealing with a similar subject. There it was said: وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَىٰ وَحَشَرْ نَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ قُبُلًا مَّا كَانُوا لِيُؤْمِنُوا 6:111).
It means that, even if these demands were to be met through the Qur’ an, as a miracle, they were still not going to believe because they have already seen such miracles before their present demands, miracles which are far more impressive than what they want now. The splitting of the moon in two at the hands of the Holy Prophet is far more miraculous than mountains moving away from their place, or the subjugation of the wind. Similarly, the talking of inert pebbles in his blessed hands and their recitation of praises for Allah is certainly far greater a miracle than the talking of a dead person brought back to life. During the Night of the Ascent (al-Mi` raj), the journey to al-Masjid al-Aqsa (Jerusalem), and then onwards from there, the journey through the heavens, and then the return back to Makkah in a very short span of time is indeed far more striking than the miraculous subjugation of the wind and the throne of Sulaymn (علیہ السلام) . But these arrogant people, despite having seen all this with their own eyes, did not believe. And when they acted in that unreasonable manner, it is obvious that their demands tell on their intention which is no more than a device to gain time. They have to accept nothing and they have to do nothing. Since the objective behind these demands made by the disbelievers was to reach a stage when their demands will not be fulfilled whereupon they will have a good occasion to say that, Ma’ adh Allah, these are things Allah Ta ala Himself has no control over. Or, may be the request made by the Holy Prophet has no effect and that it is either not heard by Allah or is not accepted by Him - which gives the impression that he is no Messenger of Allah. After that, it was said: بَل لِّلَّـهِ الْأَمْرُ جَمِيعًا (But all the judgments are of Allah). It means that power, choice and control, all of it, belongs to Allah which strongly suggests that not fulfilling the demands made is not because they are beyond the power and control of Allah Ta ala. Instead, the truth of the matter is that He alone is the One who knows the considerations and ex-pediencies which go into the working of this universe. It was in His ultimate wisdom that He did not consider it appropriate to fulfill these demands - because He knows the doggedness and ill-intention of the makers of the demands. He knows that, should all demands made by them were to be fulfilled, they would still not believe.
Now said in the third sentence of verse 31 was: أَفَلَمْ يَيْأَسِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن لَّوْ يَشَاءُ اللَّـهُ لَهَدَى النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا (Are the believers not aware that if Allah wills, He would bring all the people to the right Path?).
Commenting on this statement, Imam al-Baghawi has reported that the noble Sahabah ؓ ، when they heard these demands of the disbelievers, started nursing the thought that it would be better if these demands were fulfilled for, by doing so, all Makkans will become Muslims and Islam itself would move to a position of greater strength. Thereupon, the present verse was revealed. It means: Is it that believing Muslims, despite seeing and knowing the habit of excuse-seeking and hostile argumentations practiced by the disbelievers, have not yet lost hope in their potential to enter the fold of faith? If not, why would they start indulging in such wishes and hopes while they also know that, had Allah Ta’ ala so willed, He would have Himself given to all human beings such guidance as would have left for them no choice but to become Muslims. But, His wisdom did not stipulate that everyone should be compelled to enter the fold of Islam and 'Iman (faith). In fact, the very wisdom was to let everyone have his or her choice, and opt for Islam or Kufr (disbelief) on the basis of that personal choice.
Said in the fourth sentence of verse 31 was: وَلَا يَزَالُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا تُصِيبُهُم بِمَا صَنَعُوا قَارِعَةٌ أَوْ تَحُلُّ قَرِيبًا مِّن دَارِهِمْ (And the disbelievers shall keep receiving disaster for what they did, or it will visit somewhere close to their homes). According to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، the word: قَارِعَةٌ (Qari'ah) means disaster, hardship or calamity. The sense of the verse is that the demands of these disbelievers were not acceded to as their ill-intention and doggedness were already known, that is, even if these demands were fulfilled, they would still not believe. In the sight of Allah, these people de-serve nothing less than that disasters keep coming upon them in this mortal world as well, as it happened with the people of Makkah who were either hit by famine, or had the misfortune of being killed or caught during the Islamic battles of Badr and Uhud, or had someone struck by lightening, or yet another became a victim of some calamity. Then, the statement أَوْ تَحُلُّ قَرِيبًا مِّن دَارِهِمْ (or it will visit somewhere close to their homes) means that there will be times and occasions when the disaster will not hit them directly. Rather, it would come upon habitations close to them. The purpose would be to teach them a lesson and help them see their own evil end in the backdrop of a vicinity close by.
Verse 31 concludes with the statement: حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ وَعْدُ اللَّـهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ (until Allah's promise comes to pass. Surely, Allah does not back out on His promise). It means that this cycle of disasters will continue until such time that the promise of Allah stands fulfilled, because the promise of Allah can never go unfulfilled. The promise referred to here is the promise of the conquest of Makkah. The sense is that different kinds of disasters will keep visiting these people until comes the time when Makkah al-Mukarramah will be finally conquered and all antagonists will stand subdued.
Before we part with the subject, let us go back to the statement: أَوْ تَحُلُّ قَرِيبًا مِّن دَارِهِمْ (or it will visit somewhere close to their homes - 31) which tells us that a disaster or calamity or punishment which visits the environs of a people has a concealed wise consideration of Allah Ta ala behind it. The message it delivers is that people living nearby should stand warned, learn from what happened to others and thereby correct their own doings. If taken seriously, what came as punishment for others could become a message of mercy for them. Otherwise, a day will come when they too will end up the way others did under their eyes.
Today, in our countries and in areas close to them, we keep hearing of different kinds of calamities hitting some community or locality almost every day. There are floods, cyclones, earthquakes or some other punishing disasters. According to this statement of the Qur'an, these are not simply punishments meted out to such localities and communities, in fact they also serve as warnings to people living in surrounding areas. In old days, though awareness through the arts and sciences was not so spick and span, but people did have the fear of Allah in their hearts. If some disaster of this nature struck a place, the people who lived there and even those who lived in adjoining areas would get alarmed and frightened. In that state, they would turn to Allah Ta’ ala, repent from their sins, seek forgiveness from Him and take the giving of charity (sadaqah) at a time like this a source of salvation. And they could see with their own eyes that their difficulties stood removed very easily by doing so. Here we are in our day, so heedless that, even at a time so terrible, we seem to remember everything except Allah. When we do that, we become very much like the general run of non-Muslims - our eyes get fixed on material means only. Turning for help to the Causer of all Causes (the Musabbibul-Asbab), even at such a crucial time, is something very few people have the Tauf` iq of doing. It is the direct result of this failing that the world always keeps experiencing unwelcome happenings of this nature.
Given below are some additional comments on the last sentence of verse 31, explained a little earlier. There it was said: حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَ وَعْدُ اللَّـهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ (until Allah's promise comes to pass. Surely, Allah does not back out on His promise).
As explained earlier, 'wa` dah' or 'promise' at this place means the Conquest of Makkah, a promise Allah Ta’ ala had made to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The sense of the verse thus comes to be that Makkah will be conquered ultimately, and the disbelievers will be destroyed, subdued and overpowered. Now before that comes to be, let them taste a little punishment as well for their crimes before that happens. And it is also possible that the expression: وَعْدُ اللَّـهِ (the promise of Allah) refers to the day of Judgment at this place, a promise which has been made to all prophets and has been made since ever. So, on that day particularly, every disbelieving criminal will receive the full punishment for his or her doings.
The hostile questions asked by the disbelievers and the obstinacy shown by them as described in the event mentioned above posed the problem that these may cause pain to the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، therefore, in the next verse,
