32:5 As-Sajda (The Prostration)

{ يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ } القدري والأمر الشرعي، الجميع هو المتفرد بتدبيره، نازلة تلك التدابير من عند المليك القدير { مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ } فَيُسْعِدُ بها ويُشْقِي، ويُغْنِي ويُفْقِرُ، ويُعِزُّ، ويُذِلُّ، ويُكرِمُ، ويُهِينُ، ويرفع أقوامًا، ويضع آخرين، ويُنزِّل الأرزاق.{ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ } أي: الأمر ينزل من عنده، ويعرج إليه { فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ } وهو يعرج إليه، ويصله في لحظة.

وقوله تعالى "يدبر الأمر من السماء إلى الأرض ثم يعرج إليه" أي يتنزل أمره من أعلى السماوات إلى أقصى تخوم الأرض السابعة كما قال تعالى "الله الذي خلق سبع سماوات ومن الأرض مثلهن يتنزل الأمر بينهن" الآية وترفع الأعمال إلى ديوانها فوق سماء الدنيا ومسافة ما بينها وبين الأرض مسيرة خمسمائة سنة وسمك السماء خمسمائة سنة: وقال مجاهد وقتادة والضحاك النزول من الملك في مسيرة خمسمائة عام وصعوده في مسيرة خمسمائة عام ولكنه يقطعها في طرفة عين. ولهذا قال تعالى "في يوم كان مقداره ألف سنة مما تعدون".

Allah is the Creator and Controller of the Universe

Allah tells us that He is the Creator of all things. He created the heavens and earth and all that is between them in six days, then He rose over the Throne -- we have already discussed this matter elsewhere.

مَا لَكُمْ مِّن دُونِهِ مِن وَلِيٍّ وَلاَ شَفِيعٍ

(You have none, besides Him, as a protector or an intercessor) means, only He is the Sovereign Who is in control of all affairs, the Creator of all things, the Controller of all things, the One Who is able to do all things. There is no Creator besides Him, no intercessor except the one to whom He gives permission.

أَفَلاَ تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

(Will you not then remember) -- this is addressed to those who worship others apart from Him and put their trust in others besides Him -- exalted and sanctified and glorified be He above having any equal, partner, supporter, rival or peer, there is no God or Lord except Him.

يُدَبِّرُ الاٌّمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَآءِ إِلَى الاٌّرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ

(He directs the command from the heavens to the earth; then it will go up to Him,) means, His command comes down from above the heavens to the furthest boundary of the seventh earth. This is like the Ayah,

اللَّهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَـوَتٍ وَمِنَ الاٌّرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الاٌّمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ

(It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof. The command descends between them, ) (65:12) Deeds are raised up to the place of recording above the lowest heaven. The distance between heaven and earth is the distance of five hundred years traveling, and the thickness of the heaven is the distance of five hundred years. Mujahid, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak said, "The distance covered by the angel when he descends or ascends is the distance of five hundred years, but he covers it in the blink of an eye." Allah says:

فِى يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِّمَّا تَعُدُّونَذَلِكَ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَـدَةِ

(in one Day, the measurement of which is a thousand years of your reckoning. That is He, the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen,) meaning, He is controlling all these affairs. He sees all that His servants do, and all their deeds, major and minor, significant and insignificant, ascend to Him. He is the Almighty Who has subjugated all things to His control, and to Whom everybody submits, and He is Most Merciful to His believing servants. He is Almighty in His mercy and Most Merciful in His might. This is perfection: might combined with mercy and mercy combined with might, for He is Merciful without any hint of weakness.

He directs the command from the heaven to the earth for the duration of this world then it ascends then the command and the direction thereof returns to Him in a day whose measure is a thousand years by your reckoning in this world. In sūrat sa’ala An asker asked the measure is said to be ‘fifty thousand years’ Q. 704 — and this day is the Day of Resurrection reckoned so because of the severity of its terrors for the disbeliever. As for the believer however for him it will be easier than performing any one of his obligatory prayers in this world — as is stated in hadīth.

Commentary

At this place, the word: نَّذِيرٍ (nadhir: warner) in: مَّا أَتَاهُم مِّن نَّذِيرٍ (to whom no warner has come.. -3)means a rasul or messenger.The sense is that no messenger had appeared amidst the Quraish of Makkah before the Holy Prophet t. This does not mean that the call of the messengers had just not reached them until that time, because it was clearly said in another verse of the Qur'an: وَإِن مِّنْ أُمَّةٍ إِلَّا خَلَا فِيهَا نَذِيرٌ (And there was no community without a warner having passed among them - 35:24). In this verse, (i.e. the verse 35:24) the word: نَّذِيرٍ (warner) appears in its general lexical sense, that is, one who calls people towards Allah, whether a messenger or prophet or one of their deputies, khali'fah or the ` alim of din. So, from this verse, it seems that the call of pure monotheism (tauhid) had reached all communities and groups. That is correct in its place and certainly the dictate of universal Divine mercy. Commentator Abu Hayyan says that the call to tauhid and 'iman has never ceased in any time or place or people. And wherever a long time passed after the appearance of a prophet, it resulted in the dearth of those having the knowledge of the legacy of prophethood. Thereupon, some new prophet or messenger was sent. This requires that the call to tauhid should have reached the Arab peoples definitely, and much earlier. But, for this it is not necessary that the call should have been brought in by some prophet or messenger in person. It is possible that it may have reached through the learned serving as deputies to the prophetic mission. Therefore, the verses of this Surah, Surah Ya Sin and others which prove that no nadhir (warner) had appeared amidst the Quraish of Arabia before the Holy Prophet ﷺ must be approached with the necessary consideration that the word: نَّذِيرٍ (nadhir) used there should mean a prophet and messenger in the technical sense denoting that no prophet and messenger had come amidst those people before the Holy Prophet ﷺ - even though, the call to tauhid and 'iman may have reached there too through other means.

Before the period of فَترَۃ fatrah, that is, before the appearance of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، it stands proved about some blessed souls who firmly adhered to the faith of Sayyidna Ibrahim and Ismail (علیہما السلام) . They believed in the Oneness of Allah and were averse to the worship of and sacrifices for idols.

Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani reports from the Maghazi of Musa Ibn 'Uqbah about one such person whose name was Zayd Ibn ` Amr Ibn Nufayl. He had also met the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، before he was ordained as a prophet. But, it was still before his prophethood that he died in the year the Quraish had built the edifice of the Baytullah - and this happened five years prior to his prophethood. About him, Musa Ibn 'Uqbah says, ` He used to stop the Quraish from indulging in the worship of idols. He opposed the offering of sacrifices in the name of idols as an evil practice and would not eat the meat from animals slaughtered by the Mushriks.'

Abu Dawud Tayalisi has reported from Sayyidna Said Ibn Zayd Ibn Amr ؓ ، the son of Zayd Ibn ` Amr Ibn Nufayl, one of the celebrated ten (عَشرۃ مُبَشّرّۃ) among the noble Sahabah, that he had submitted before the Holy Prophet ﷺ saying: "You already know about my father that he adhered to pure monotheism and rejected idolatry. Can I, then, pray for his forgiveness?" The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes, for him the prayer of forgiveness is permissible. He will, on the day of Qiyamah, rise as a community of his own." (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)

Similarly, Warqah Ibn Nawfal ؓ who was present during the initial period of the prophethood and the revelation of the Qur'an was an adherent of pure monotheism (tauhid). He had expressed his resolve to help the Holy Prophet ﷺ but he died soon after. These examples prove that the people of Arabia were though not totally deprived of the Divine call to faith and monotheism, but that no prophet had appeared amidst them as such. Allah knows best.

All three verses cited above carry an affirmation of the veracity of the Qur'an and the Prophet of Islam.