23:108 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

فقال الله جوابا لسؤالهم: { اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ } وهذا القول - نسأله تعالى العافية- أعظم قول على الإطلاق يسمعه المجرمون في التخييب، والتوبيخ، والذل، والخسار، والتأييس من كل خير، والبشرى بكل شر، وهذا الكلام والغضب من الرب الرحيم، أشد عليهم وأبلغ في نكايتهم من عذاب الجحيم

هذا جواب من الله تعالى للكفار إذا سألوا الخروج من النار والرجعة إلى هذه الدار. يقول " اخسئوا فيها " أي امكثوا فيها صاغرين مهانين أذلاء " ولا تكلمون " أي لا تعودوا إلى سؤالكم هذا فإنه لا جواب لكم عندي. قال العوفي عن ابن عباس: " اخسئوا فيها ولا تكلمون " قال هذا قول الرحمن حين انقطع كلامهم منه. وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أبي حدثنا عبدة بن سليمان المروزي حدثنا عبدالله بن المبارك عن سعيد بن أبي عروبة عن قتادة عن أبي أيوب عن عبدالله بن عمرو قال: إن أهل جهنم يدعون مالكا فلا يجيبهم أربعين عاما ثم يرد عليهم إنكم ماكثون قال هانت دعوتهم والله على مالك ورب مالك ثم يدعون ربهم فيقولون " ربنا غلبت علينا شقوتنا وكنا قوما ضالين ربنا أخرجنا منها فإن عدنا فإنا ظالمون " قال فيسكت عنهم قدر الدنيا مرتين ثم يرد عليهم " اخسئوا فيها ولا تكلمون " قال فوالله ما نبس القوم بعدها بكلمة واحدة وما هو إلا الزفير والشهيق في نار جهنم قال فتشبهت أصواتهم بأصوات الحمير أولها زفير وآخرها شهيق وقال ابن أبي حاتم أيضا حدثنا أحمد بن سنان حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن مهدى حدثنا سفيان عن سلمة بن كهيل حدثنا أبو الزعراء قال: قال عبدالله بن مسعود إذا أراد الله تعالى أن لا يخرج منهم أحدا يعني من جهنم غير وجوههم وألوانهم فيجيء الرجل من المؤمنين فيشفع فيقول يا رب فيقول الله من عرف أحدا فليخرجه فيجيء الرجل من المؤمنين فينظر فلا يعرف أحدا فيناديه الرجل يا فلان أنا فلان فيقول ما أعرفك قال فعند ذلك يقولون " ربنا أخرجنا منها فإن عدنا فإنا ظالمون " فعند ذلك يقول الله تعالى " اخسئوا فيها ولا تكلمون " فإذا قال ذلك أطبقت عليهم النار فلا يخرج منهم أحد ثم قال تعالى مذكرا لهم بذنوبهم في الدنيا وما كانوا يستهزئون بعباده المؤمنين وأوليائه.

Allah's Response and Rejection of the Disbelievers

This is the response of Allah to the disbelievers when they ask Him to bring them out of the Fire and send them back to this world. He will say:

اخْسَئُواْ فِيهَا

(Remain you in it with ignominy!) meaning, abide therein, humiliated, despised and scorned.

وَلاَ تُكَلِّمُونِ

(And speak you not to Me!) means, `do not ask for this again, for I will not respond to you. Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas concerning this Ayah,

اخْسَئُواْ فِيهَا وَلاَ تُكَلِّمُونِ

(Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me!) "These are the words of Ar-Rahman when silencing them." Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said, "The people of Hell will call on Malik for forty years, and he will not answer them. Then he will respond and tell them that they are to abide therein. By Allah, their cries will mean nothing to Malik or to the Lord of Malik. Then they will call on their Lord and will say,

قَالُواْ رَبَّنَا غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا وَكُنَّا قَوْماً ضَآلِّينَ - رَبَّنَآ أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْهَا فَإِنْ عُدْنَا فَإِنَّا ظَـلِمُونَ

(Our Lord! Our wretchedness overcame us, and we were (an) erring people. Our Lord! Bring us out of this. If ever we return (to evil), then indeed we shall be wrongdoers.) 23:106-107 Allah will not answer them for a time span equivalent to twice the duration of this world. Then He will reply:

اخْسَئُواْ فِيهَا وَلاَ تُكَلِّمُونِ

(Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me!) By Allah, the people will not utter a single word after that, and they will merely be in the Fire of Hell, sighing in a high and low tone. Their voices are likened to those of donkeys, which start in a high tone and end in a low tone." Then Allah will remind them of their sins in this world and how they used to make fun of His believing servants and close friends:

إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِى يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الرَحِمِينَ فَاتَّخَذْتُمُوهُمْ سِخْرِيّاً

(Verily, there was a party of My servants who used to say: "Our Lord! We believe, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the Best of all who show mercy!" But you took them for a laughing stock,) meaning, `you made fun of them for calling on Me and praying to Me,'

حَتَّى أَنسَوْكُمْ ذِكْرِى

(so much so that they made you forget My remembrance) means, your hatred for them made you forget what I would do to you.

وَكُنْتُمْ مِّنْهُمْ تَضْحَكُونَ

(while you used to laugh at them!) means, at their deeds and worship. This is like the Ayah:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُواْ كَانُواْ مِنَ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ يَضْحَكُونَ - وَإِذَا مَرُّواْ بِهِمْ يَتَغَامَزُونَ

(Verily, those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed. And, whenever they passed by them, used to wink one to another.) 83:29-30 meaning, they used to slander them in mockery. Then Allah tells us how He will reward His friends and righteous servants, and says:

إِنِّى جَزَيْتُهُمُ الْيَوْمَ بِمَا صَبَرُواْ

(Verily, I have rewarded them this Day for their patience;) meaning, `for the harm and mockery that you inflicted on them,

أَنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْفَآئِزُونَ

(they are indeed the ones that are successful.) I have caused them to attain the victory of joy, safety, Paradise and salvation from the Fire.'

He will say to them by the tongue of a Keeper of Hell whose proportion is twice the size of this world ‘Begone in it away with you in the Fire despicable as you are and do not speak to Me about relieving you from the chastisement — so that all their hope is extinguished.

وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ (Do not speak to Me - 23:108). According to Hasan al-Basri (رح) these will be the last words of the people who are cast in hell and in reply Allah will say, "Do not speak to Me." After this they will not be able to speak like human beings, but will make animal sounds to each other. Baihaqi and others have quoted Muhammad Ibn Ka` b as saying that the Qur'an mentions five requests made by the people condemned to hell. Out of the five, replies were furnished to four, but in reply to the fifth Allah commanded them not to speak to Him. Thus these are the last words to be uttered by them after which they will not be able to speak. (Mazhari)