37:29 As-Saaffaat (Those drawn up in Ranks)

{ قَالُوا } لهم { بَلْ لَمْ تَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ } أي: ما زلتم مشركين، كما نحن مشركون، فأي: شيء فضلكم علينا؟ وأي: شيء يوجب لومنا؟

تقول القادة من الجن والإنس للأتباع ما الأمر كما تزعمون بل كانت قلوبكم منكرة للإيمان قابلة للكفر والعصيان.

The arguing of the Idolators on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us that the disbeliever will blame one another in the arena of Resurrection, just as they will argue with one another in the levels of Hell:

وَإِذْ يَتَحَآجُّونَ فِى النَّـارِ فَيَقُولُ الضُّعَفَاءُ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْـبَرُواْ إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعاً فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا نَصِيباً مِّنَ النَّارِ - قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ إِنَّا كُلٌّ فِيهَآ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَكَمَ بَيْنَ الْعِبَادِ

(The weak will say to those who were arrogant: "Verily, we followed you, can you then take from us some portion of the Fire" Those who were arrogant will say: "We are all (together) in this (Fire)! Verily, Allah has judged between (His) servants!") (40:47-48)

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الظَّـلِمُونَ مَوْقُوفُونَ عِندَ رَبّهِمْ يَرْجِعُ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ الْقَوْلَ يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ لَوْلاَ أَنتُمْ لَكُنَّا مُؤْمِنِينَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ أَنَحْنُ صَدَدنَـكُمْ عَنِ الْهُدَى بَعْدَ إِذْ جَآءكُمْ بَلْ كُنتُمْ مُّجْرِمِينَ وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُواْ لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ بَلْ مَكْرُ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ إِذْ تَأْمُرُونَنَآ أَن نَّكْفُرَ بِاللَّهِ وَنَجْعَلَ لَهُ أَندَاداً وَأَسَرُّواْ النَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُاْ اْلَعَذَابَ وَجَعَلْنَا الاْغْلَـلَ فِى أَعْنَاقِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلاَّ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(But if you could see when the wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Lord, how they will cast the (blaming) word one to another! Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant: "Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!" And those who were arrogant will say to those who were deemed weak: "Did we keep you back from guidance after it had come to you Nay, but you were criminals." Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant: "Nay, but it was your plotting by night and day, when you ordered us to disbelieve in Allah and set up rivals to Him!" And each of them (parties) will conceal their own regrets, when they behold the torment. And We shall put iron collars round the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they requited aught except what they used to do) (34:31-33) Similarly, they are described here as saying:

إِنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ

(It was you who used to come to us from the right side.) Ad-Dahhak reported that Ibn `Abbas said; "They will say, `You used to force us because of your position of power over us, for we were weak and you were strong."' Qatadah said, "Men will say to the Jinn, `You used to come to us from the right side to block every good deed, and you told us not to do it and you tried to put obstacles in our way."' As-Suddi said, "`You used to come to us to block the truth, and you made falsehood look attractive to us, and you prevented us from seeing the truth." Ibn Zayd said, it means: "`You stood in the way between us and goodness, and you repelled us from Islam and faith and doing the good deeds that we had been commanded to do." Yazid Ar-Rishk said, "from La ilaha illallah."

قَالُواْ بَلْ لَّمْ تَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ

(They will reply: "Nay, you yourselves were not believers.") The leaders of the Jinn and mankind will say to their followers, "It is not as you say; your hearts denied faith and were open to disbelief and sin."

وَمَا كَانَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُمْ مِّن سُلْطَـنٍ

(And we had no authority over you.) means, `we had no proof of the truth of that to which we called you.'

بَلْ كُنتُمْ قَوْماً طَـغِينَ

(Nay! But you were a transgressing people.) `You yourselves were evildoers and transgressors against the truth, so you responded to us and neglected the truth which the Prophets brought with proof, and you went against them.'

فَحَقَّ عَلَيْنَا قَوْلُ رَبِّنَآ إِنَّا لَذَآئِقُونَ - فَأَغْوَيْنَـكُمْ إِنَّا كُنَّا غَـوِينَ

(So now the Word of our Lord has been justified against us, that we shall certainly (have to) taste (the torment). So we led you astray because we were ourselves astray.) Those who were arrogant will say to those who were deemed weak, `the Word of Allah has been justified against us, that we are among the doomed who will taste the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.'

فَأَغْوَيْنَـكُمْ

(So we led you astray) means, `so we called you to misguidance,'

إِنَّا كُنَّا غَـوِينَ

(because we were ourselves astray. ) means, `we called you to follow the path which we were on, and you responded.' Allah says:

فَإِنَّهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ فِى الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ

(Then verily, that Day, they will (all) share in the torment.) means, all of them will be in Hell, each according to what he deserves.

إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِالْمُجْرِمِينَ - إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ

(Certainly, that is how We deal with criminals. Truly, when it was said to them: "La ilaha illallah," they puffed themselves up with pride.) means, in this world they were too arrogant to say these words as the believers said them. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أُقَاتِلَ النَّاسَ حَتْى يَقُولُوا: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، فَمَنْ قَالَ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، فَقَدْ عَصَمَ مِنِّي مَالَهُ وَنَفْسَهُ إِلَّا بِحَقِّهِ، وَحِسَابُهُ عَلَى اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَل»

(I have been commanded to fight the people until they say La ilaha ill-Allah. Whoever says La ilaha illallah, he and his property are safe from me except for his obligation, and his reckoning will be with Allah, may He be glorified.) Allah revealed in His Book the story of people who were arrogant, as He says:

إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ - وَيَقُولُونَ أَءِنَّا لَتَارِكُو ءَالِهَتِنَا لِشَاعِرٍ مَّجْنُونٍ

(Truly, when it was said to them: "La ilaha illallah," they puffed themselves up with pride. And (they) said: "Are we going to abandon our gods for the sake of a mad poet") meaning, `Shall we stop worshipping our gods and the gods of our forefathers just because of the words of this mad poet' -- meaning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Allah said in refutation of their attitude:

بَلْ جَآءَ بِالْحَقِّ

(Nay! he has come with the truth) meaning, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has brought the truth with all that Allah has revealed to him of stories and commandments.

وَصَدَّقَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(and he confirms the Messengers.) means, he fulfills their prophecies of his praiseworthy characteristics and his perfect way, and he tells people of the Laws and commands of Allah, as they said he would.

مَّا يُقَالُ لَكَ إِلاَّ مَا قَدْ قِيلَ لِلرُّسُلِ مِن قَبْلِكَ

(Nothing is said to you except what was said to the Messengers before you) (41:43).

They the ones who were followed say to them the followers ‘On the contrary! You were simply not believers for it would only be true that we led you astray if you had actually been believers in the first place and then rejected faith and followed us.

Commentary

When the leading elders among disbelievers who had misled their common adherents appear before their followers on the plains of resurrection, they would, rather than help each other, start arguing among themselves. The present verses carry a sampling of the same mutual argumentation between the contesting parties as well as the sad end they will have to face. Two things are noteworthy here:

1. The word: يَمِينِ (yamin) in:إِنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ (You were the ones who used to come to [ mislead ] us forcefully.- 37:28) may have several meanings. One possible meaning of the expression: عَنِ الْيَمِينِ ('ani'l-yamin) is 'powerfully' or 'forcefully'. The translation given in the text above is based on this meaning, which seems to be fairly clear and cloudless. In addition to that, 'yamin' is also used to mean oath. Some commentators have explained it as: 'you came to us with oaths,' that is, 'you made us believe on oath that our creed is correct and the teaching of the messenger of Allah is, God forbid, false.' In terms of the words of the Qur'an, both these explanations are possible and acceptable comfortably.