Tafsir of Hud 11:18

(And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah?) By attributing to Him that which does not befit Him, such as their saying: "The angels are the daughters of Allah"—Exalted is Allah far above that with great exaltation—and their saying to their idols: "These are our intercessors with Allah."

The objective of the verse is to censure those disbelievers, indicating that, in addition to their disbelief in the signs of Allah Almighty, they are fabricators against Him—Glorified be He. It is also permissible that this serves as another type of evidence that the Quran is not a fabrication; for whoever knows the condition of one who fabricates against Allah Almighty understands how he commits such an act. It could also be an expression of fairness—meaning: "There is no one more unjust than I, if I were to say of that which is not the word of Allah, that it is His word, as you have claimed," or "than you, if you deny that it is His word despite the certainty that it is the word of the Majestic and Exalted." This contains an intimidation and a sense of awe that is evident.

In my view, if the preceding verses were regarding the believers of the People of the Book, then this may be a description of the state of their disbelievers, who attributed to Him—Glorified be He—that which He did not reveal, from the distortions they crafted, and who denied that which He did reveal—whether of the Quran or the description of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Regardless, the meaning is to negate that there is anyone more unjust than that, or equal to him in injustice, as previously mentioned.

(Those)—meaning those described by this profound injustice, which is fabrication—(will be presented before their Lord)—that is, their true Master, who disposes of them as He wills. In this, as has been said, there is an allusion to the invalidity of their belief in taking lords other than Him, the Almighty and Exalted. Some have interpreted the speech as having an implicit noun—meaning: "Their works are presented"—or as employing a metaphor. However, there is no need for this, as indicated, because their being presented in that capacity and under that title is a presentation of their works in a more eloquent manner; for the presentation of the worker with his work is more dreadful than the presentation of the work alone while the worker is absent. The manifest interpretation is that there is no omission in His saying: (before their Lord).

(And the witnesses will say): It is said that there is an implicit noun there—meaning: "before the angels of their Lord" and "the prophets of their Lord," and they are the ones intended by "the witnesses" in His saying: (And the witnesses will say). Interpreting them generally as the angels is what is narrated from Mujahid. From Ibn Jurayj, it is interpreted as the preserving angels (the Hafazah), peace be upon them. Others say they are the angels, the prophets, and the believers. Others say they are their own limbs. According to Muqatil and Qatadah, they are all those present at the gathering (the Mawqif). "Witnesses" (al-ashhad) is the plural of shahid (present), like sahib (companion) and ashab (companions), based on the permissibility of pluralizing fa’il as af’al, or it is the plural of shahid (witness), like sharif (noble) and ashraf (nobles). That is: "And those present at the presentation or at the station of the Resurrection will say, (These are the ones who lied against their Lord)."

It is possible that this is testimony identifying those who committed the lie, as if its occurrence is a manifest matter, independent of the need for testimony, yet it is this identification that is required—hence they did not say: "These lied" without the relative pronoun (the "those who"). It is also possible that it is a denunciation of them for that heinous act, not testimony against them, as is suggested by His saying: (and will say) rather than "and will testify." It serves as a prelude to what follows: (Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.)

** (i.e., by the aforementioned fabrication).** It is apparent that this is part of the speech of the witnesses under both interpretations. This is supported by what the two Sheikhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) and many others recorded from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying: "Allah will draw the believer near, place His covering over him, and shield him from the people. He will make him confess his sins, saying: 'Do you acknowledge such-and-such sin? Do you acknowledge such-and-such sin?' He will reply: 'Yes, my Lord, I acknowledge.' Then, when he has confessed his sins and sees in himself that he is ruined, He will say: 'I concealed them for you in the world, and I forgive them for you today.' Then he will be given the record of his good deeds. As for the disbelievers and the hypocrites, the witnesses will say: 'These are the ones who lied against their Lord. Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.'"

Under the first interpretation, it is permissible that this is the speech of Allah Almighty. In that case, "the wrongdoers" could be intended to encompass those who are unjust through fabrication and those who are unjust in other ways, with the former being included as a primary instance. This is supported by what Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Maymun ibn Mahran, who said: "A man might be praying and cursing himself in his recitation, saying: 'Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers,' while he himself is a wrongdoer."

This is perhaps also permissible under the second interpretation. In any case, "These" (Ha’ula’i) is the subject, and "those who" (alladhina) is its follower, and the sentence "(Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers)" is its predicate. The explicit noun has been placed in the stead of the pronoun—meaning: "upon them"—to denounce them by the root of the derivative, while pointing to the cause of the judgment, as you see. The sentence "The witnesses will say" is considered, by some, as a new start (inaugural), answering an implied question: as if someone asked, "When they hear that they are being presented before their Lord, what happens then?" and was answered by what was mentioned. Others say, which is the most manifest, that it is conjoined to the sentence (will be presented) in the sense of: "Those will be presented, and the witnesses will say regarding them..." or "Their witnesses and those present at their presentation will say: 'These...' etc." It is as if this explanation is linked in the underlying structure to the subject, just as the conjoined sentence is linked to it. It is also said that the demonstrative pronoun, standing in place of the pronoun, is a sufficient link for the purpose of denigration. So reflect.