23:62 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

ولما ذكر مسارعتهم إلى الخيرات وسبقهم إليها، ربما وهم واهم أن المطلوب منهم ومن غيرهم أمر غير مقدور أو متعسر، أخبر تعالى أنه لا يكلف { نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا } أي: بقدر ما تسعه، ويفضل من قوتها عنه، ليس مما يستوعب قوتها، رحمة منه وحكمة، لتيسير طريق الوصول إليه، ولتعمر جادة السالكين في كل وقت إليه. { وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنْطِقُ بِالْحَقِّ } وهو الكتاب الأول، الذي فيه كل شيء، وهو يطابق كل واقع يكون، فلذلك كان حقا، { وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ } أي لا ينقص من إحسانهم، ولا يزداد في عقوبتهم وعصيانهم.

يقول تعالى مخبرا عن عدله في شرعه على عبادة في الدنيا أنه لا يكلف نفسا إلا وسعها أي إلا ما تطيق حمله والقيام به وأنه يوم القيامة يحاسبهم بأعمالهم التي كتبها عليهم في كتاب مسطور لا يضيع منه شيء ولهذا قال " ولدينا كتاب ينطق بالحق " يعني كتاب الأعمال " وهم لا يظلمون " أي لا يبخسون من الخير شيئا وأما السيئات فيعفو ويصفح عن كثير منها لعباده المؤمنين ثم قال منكرا على الكفار والمشركين من قريش.

The Justice of Allah and the Frivolity of the Idolators

Allah tells us of His justice towards His servants in this world, in that He does not task any person except according to his capacity, i.e., He does not burden any soul with more than it can bear. On the Day of Resurrection He will call them to account for their deeds, which He has recorded in a written Book from which nothing is omitted. He says:

وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنطِقُ بِالْحَقِّ

(and with Us is a Record which speaks the truth,) meaning, the Book of deeds

وَهُمْ لاَ يُظْلَمُونَ

(and they will not be wronged.) means, nothing will be omitted from their record of good deeds. As for evil deeds, He will forgive and overlook many of them in the case of His believing servants. Then Allah says, denouncing the disbelievers and idolators of the Quraysh:

بَلْ قُلُوبُهُمْ فِى غَمْرَةٍ

(Nay, but their hearts are covered), meaning because of negligence and misguidance,

مِّنْ هَـذَا

(from this.) means, the Qur'an which Allah revealed to His Messenger .

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ مِّن دُونِ ذَلِكَ هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(and they have other deeds, besides which they are doing.) Al-Hakam bin Aban narrated from `Ikrimah, from Ibn `Abbas that

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ

(and they have other deeds,) means, evil deeds apart from that, i.e., Shirk,

هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(which they are doing.) means, which they will inevitably do. This was also narrated from Mujahid, Al-Hasan and others. Others said that this phrase means:

وَلَهُمْ أَعْمَـلٌ مِّن دُونِ ذَلِكَ هُمْ لَهَا عَـمِلُونَ

(And they have other deeds, besides which they are doing.) It was decreed that they would do evil deeds, and they will inevitably do them before they die, so that the word of punishment may be justified against them. A similar view was narrated from Muqatil bin Hayyan, As-Suddi and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam. This is a clear and appropriate meaning. We have already quoted from the Hadith of Ibn Mas`ud:

«فَوَ الَّذِي لَا إِلهَ غَيْرُهُ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا ذِرَاعٌ، فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا»

(By Him besides Whom there is no other God, a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is no more than a forearm's length between him and it, then the decree will overtake him and he will do the deeds of the people of Hell, then he will enter Hell...)

حَتَّى إِذَآ أَخَذْنَا مُتْرَفِيهِمْ بِالْعَذَابِ إِذَا هُمْ يَجْـَرُونَ

(Until when We seize those of them who lead a luxurious life with punishment; behold, they make humble invocation with a loud voice.) means, when the punishment and vengeance of Allah comes to those who are living a happy life of luxury in this world and overtakes them,

إِذَا هُمْ يَجْـَرُونَ

(behold, they make humble invocation with a loud voice.) means, they scream their calls for help. This is like the Ayat:

وَذَرْنِى وَالْمُكَذِّبِينَ أُوْلِى النَّعْمَةِ وَمَهِّلْهُمْ قَلِيلاً - إِنَّ لَدَيْنَآ أَنكَالاً وَجَحِيماً

(And leave Me Alone (to deal) with the beliers, those who are in possession of good things of life. And give them respite for a little while. Verily, with Us are fetters, and a raging Fire.) 73:11-12

كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(How many a generation have We destroyed before them! And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) 38:3

لاَ تَجْـَرُواْ الْيَوْمَ إِنَّكُمْ مِّنَّا لاَ تُنصَرُونَ

(Invoke not loudly this day! Certainly you shall not be helped by Us. ) means, no one is going to save you from what has happened to you, whether you scream aloud or remain silent. There is no escape and no way out. It is inevitable: the punishment will surely come to you. Then Allah mentions the greatest of their sins:

قَدْ كَانَتْ ءَايَـتِى تُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَكُنتُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَـبِكُمْ تَنكِصُونَ

(Indeed My Ayat used to be recited to you, but you used to turn back on your heels.) meaning, when you were called, you refused and resisted.

ذَلِكُم بِأَنَّهُ إِذَا دُعِىَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ كَـفَرْتُمْ وَإِن يُشْرَكْ بِهِ تُؤْمِنُواْ فَالْحُكْمُ للَّهِ الْعَلِـىِّ الْكَبِيرِ

("This is because, when Allah Alone was invoked, you disbelieved, but when partners were joined to Him, you believed! So the judgment is only with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great!") 40:12

مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَـمِراً تَهْجُرُونَ

(In pride, talking evil about it by night.) refers to the arrogant pride which the Quraysh felt because they believed themselves to be the guardians of the Ka`bah, when in fact this was not the case. As An-Nasa'i said in his Tafsir of this Ayah in his Sunan: Ahmad bin Sulayman told us that `Ubaydullah told us from Isra`il, from `Abdul-A`la that he heard Sa`id bin Jubayr narrating that Ibn `Abbas said, "Talking by late night became disapproved of when this Ayah was revealed:

مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ سَـمِراً تَهْجُرُونَ

(In pride, talking evil about it by night.) He said, "They boasted about the Ka`bah and said, `We are its people who stay up talking at night.' They used to boast and stay up and talk at night around the Ka`bah. They did not use it for the proper purpose, and so in effect they had abandoned it."

أَفَلَمْ يَدَّبَّرُواْ الْقَوْلَ أَمْ جَآءَهُمْ مَّا لَمْ يَأْتِ ءَابَآءَهُمُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ

And We do not task any soul beyond its capacity what it can bear — thus he who is not able to pray standing let him pray sitting down and he who is not able to fast let him eat; and with Us is a Record that speaks the truth regarding what it a soul has done — and this Record is the Preserved Tablet al-lawh al-mahfūz wherein deeds are written down; and they namely the souls in their acts will not be wronged in a single thing thereof and so nothing is diminished of the reward for good deeds nor is anything extra added to the evil deeds.

أُولَـٰئِكَ يُسَارِ‌عُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَ‌اتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ

Those people are accelerating towards the (real) good things, and they are the foremost to attain them. - 23:61

The meaning of مُسَارَعَت فِی الخَیرَات is that just as ordinary human beings run after worldly gains and try to leave other competitors behind, these good and virtuous people strive to gain spiritual reward and try to excel others in their efforts to fulfill their religious obligations.

We burden no soul save to its capacity. The highway of the religion has a beginning and an end. The beginning belongs to the folk of the Shariah and the end to the lords of the Haqiqah. The practice of the folk of the Shariah is service according to the Shariah, and the attribute of the lords of the Haqiqah is exile in contemplation. The foundation of the folk of the Shariah was built with easiness. MuṣṬafā said, “I was sent out with easy and indulgent unswervingness.” The weak and the folk of concessions do not have the capacity for heavy burdens. The Exalted Lord put concessions into the Shariah for their sake and set aside heavy burdens: We burden no soul save to its capacity. This is the same as saying, “He placed no hardship upon you in the religion [22:78]. God desires for you ease and does not desire for you hardship [2:185].” As for the traveling of the lords of the Haqiqah, God founded that on discipline and difficulty. They are addressed by the words, “Struggle in God as is the rightful due of His struggle [22:78]. Be wary of God as is the rightful due of His wariness [3:102]. Whether you show what is within your souls or you hide it, God will bring you to account for it [2:284].” The Pir of the Tariqah was asked about Sufism. He said, “It is nothing but throwing away the spirit; otherwise, do not busy yourself with the nonsense of the claimants.” Al-Jurayrī said, “God does not burden the servants with recognizing Him in His measure; He only burdens them in their measure, for He says, 'We burden no soul save to its capacity.' Were He to burden them in His measure, they would be ignorant of Him and would not recognize Him, for no one but He recognizes His measure and no one other than He recognizes Him in reality.” God burdened the servants with recognizing Him in the measure of their obedience and the extent of their ability, not in the measure of His majesty and exaltedness. Everyone can know Him in his own measure, but only He knows and recognizes how He is in Himself. God says, “They encom- pass Him not in knowledge [20:110]. The All-Merciful.