22:55 Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

يخبر تعالى عن حالة الكفار، وأنهم لا يزالون في شك مما جئتهم به يا محمد، لعنادهم، وإعراضهم، وأنهم لا يبرحون مستمرين على هذه الحال { حَتَّى تَأْتِيَهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً } أي: مفاجأة { أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَقِيمٍ } أي: لا خير فيه، وهو يوم القيامة، فإذا جاءتهم الساعة، أو أتاهم ذلك اليوم، علم الذين كفروا أنهم كانوا كاذبين، وندموا حيث لا ينفعهم الندم، وأبلسوا وأيسوا من كل خير، وودوا لو آمنوا بالرسول واتخذوا معه سبيلا، ففي هذا تحذيرهم من إقامتهم على مريتهم وفريتهم.

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن الكفار أنهم لا يزالون في مرية أي في شك من هذا القرآن قاله ابن جريج واختاره ابن جرير وقال سعيد بن جبير وابن زيد " أي مما ألقى الشيطان " حتى تأتيهم الساعة بغتة " قال مجاهد فجأة وقال قتادة " بغتة " بغت القوم أمر الله وما أخذ الله قوما قط إلا عند سكرتهم وغرتهم ونعمتهم فلا تغتروا بالله إنه لا يغتر بالله إلا القوم الفاسقون وقوله " أو يأتيهم عذاب يوم عقيم " قال مجاهد قال أبي بن كعب هو يوم بدر وكذا قال مجاهد وعكرمة وسعيد بن جبير وقتادة وغير واحد واختاره ابن جرير قال عكرمة ومجاهد في رواية عنهما هو يوم القيامة لا ليل له وكذا قال الضحاك والحسن البصري وهذا القول هو الصحيح وإن كان يوم بدر من جملة ما أوعدوا به لكن هذا هو المراد.

The Disbelievers will remain in Doubt and Confusion

Allah tells us that the disbelievers will remain in doubt concerning this Qur'an. This was the view of Ibn Jurayj and was the view favored by Ibn Jarir.

حَتَّى تَأْتِيَهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً

(until the Hour comes suddenly upon them,) Mujahid said: "By surprise." Qatadah said:

بَغْتَةً

(suddenly) means, the command of Allah will catch the people unaware. Allah never seizes a people except when they are intoxicated with pride, enjoying a life of luxury, and they think that the punishment will never come upon them, but Allah does not punish anyone except the evildoers.

أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَقِيمٍ

(or there comes to them the torment of Yawm `Aqim.) Mujahid said, "Ubay bin Ka`b said: `Yawm `Aqim means the day of Badr."' `Ikrimah and Mujahid said: "Yawm `Aqim means the Day of Resurrection, following which there will be no night." This was also the view of Ad-Dahhak and Al-Hasan Al-Basri. Allah says:

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ للَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ

(The sovereignty on that Day will be that of Allah. He will judge between them.) This is like the Ayat:

مَـلِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

(The Only Owner of the Day of Recompense) 1:4

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَـنِ وَكَانَ يَوْماً عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ عَسِيراً

(The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty), belonging to the Most Gracious (Allah), and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers.) 25:26

فَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ

(So those who believed and did righteous good deeds) means, their hearts believed in Allah and His Messenger , and they acted in accor- dance with what they knew; their words and deeds were in harmony.

فِى جَنَّـتِ النَّعِيمِ

(in Gardens of Delight.) means, they will enjoy eternal bliss which will never end or fade away.

وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَكَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَآ

(And those who disbelieved and denied Our Ayat,) means, their hearts rejected and denied the truth; they disbelieved in it and resisted the Messengers and were too proud to follow them. e

فَأُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ

(for them will be a humiliating torment. ) means, in recompense for arrogantly turning away from the truth.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدْخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَخِرِينَ

(Verily, those who scorn My worship they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!) 40:60

And those who disbelieve will not cease to be in doubt of it that is the Qur’ān — because of what Satan had cast onto the tongue of the Prophet s and what had thereafter been nullified — until the Hour comes upon them unawares that is the Hour of their death or of resurrection comes upon them suddenly or there come upon them the chastisement of a day of desolation ‘aqīm namely the day of Badr which held nothing of good for disbelievers much like a sterile wind rīh ‘aqīm that bears no good; or it means the Day of Resurrection referred to as ‘desolate’ because thereafter there will be no more night.

Commentary

مِن رَّ‌سُولٍ وَلَا نَبِيٍّ (any messenger and any prophet - 22:52) This shows that the words Rasul رَّ‌سُولٍ and Nabi carry different meanings, though there is no consensus as to the precise nature of the difference. For our purpose it is enough to understand that Nabi نَبِيٍّ is a person whom Allah Ta’ ala designates with a mission to reform his people and who receives revelations from Him. He may receive a Scripture and a code of laws or he may be commanded to convey the message of an earlier Book and code of laws. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and ` Isa' (علیہ السلام) belong to the first category, whereas Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) ، who was directed to propagate the teachings of Torah and the Mosaic Laws, falls in the second category. On the other hand a Rasul رَّ‌سُولٍ is a person who receives from Allah Ta’ ala a Scripture and a code of laws. Thus every رَّ‌سُولٍ Rasul is necessarily a Nabi also, but every Nabi is not a Rasul. These distinctions are applicable to human beings only. That an angel who carries wahy from Allah Ta’ ala is also named as Rasul does not contradict this position. This subject has already been discussed in detail in Surah Maryam in the beginning of this volume.

أَلْقَى الشَّيْطَانُ فِي أُمْنِيَّتِهِ (The Shaitan cast (doubts) about what he recited - 22:52) In this verse the word تَمَنَّىٰ has been used as a synonym for قَرَأَ thus أُمْنِيَّتِهِ would mean قِرَأت (recitation). This verse explains that the disputes raised by the disbelievers in regard to Allah's message is not something new as similar doubts were raised by earlier people as well when their prophets presented to them the message of Truth, and the Shaitan cast doubts about it in the hearts of disbelievers. This explanation of the verse is quite clear and straight-forward, and has been adopted by many commentators including Abu Hayyan in his Bahr-ul-Muhit. However, some books of traditions have reported here an incident which is not proved by authentic sources. The incident is known as حَدِیث الٖغرانیق (hadith-ulgharaniq). Some scholars have held that it is invented by some heretics and enemies of Islam. But even those who believe this tradition to be worthwhile have taken pains to remove the doubts, which the words raise about the categorical and undisputed laws of Qur'an and Sunnah. The plain and simple meaning of the verse has been explained above and the alleged incident in no way affects this meaning. Making this incident as a part and parcel of the commentary on this verse, thereby creating unnecessary doubts, and then attempting to answer those doubts is an exercise in futility and absolutely undesirable وَاللہُ سبحانَہُ و تعالیٰ اَعلَم .