Tafsir of Hud 11:20

Those described with attributes that necessitate destruction were not capable of frustrating Allah, the Exalted, nor were they able to escape His grasp if He willed it upon the earth, despite its vastness, even if they were to flee from it by every means of escape. Some consider this a metonymy for the world. "And they did not have, besides Allah, any protectors" to rescue them from His punishment. However, that was delayed for a wisdom that requires it. The "min" (in min awliya') is redundant (za'idah) for the purpose of encompassing the negation. The pluralization of "protectors" (awliya') is either in consideration of the individuals among the disbelievers—as if it were said: "And no one among them had any protector"—or in consideration of the multiplicity of those whom they invoked besides Allah, the Exalted, thereby clarifying the state of their deities regarding their deficiency and lack of authority.

"The punishment will be doubled for them": This is a resumed sentence (jumlah musta'nafah) in which it is clarified what will happen to them and what will befall them. It is claimed that it contains the wisdom behind delaying the retribution. Some have conjectured that it is the speech of the witnesses (al-ashhad) and that it is an imprecation; this has no basis.

Ibn Kathir, Ibn 'Amir, and Ya'qub read yuda'afu (will be doubled) with a shaddah (emphatic doubling).

"They were not able to hear": That is, they found hearing the truth brought by the Messenger, peace be upon him, to be heavy and detested it to the utmost degree, to the extent that it was as if they were unable to hear it. It is analogous to the saying: "The lover cannot bear to hear the words of the critic." Thus, there is in the statement a derivative metaphorical expression (isti'arah tasrihiyyah taba'iyyah). There is no obstacle to considering it a representational metaphor (isti'arah tamthiliyyah) instead, even if such a claim is made. In any case, the verse does not constitute an argument against the Mu'tazila, nor against the Sunnis, because they do not deny capacity (istita'ah) in principle, even if they deny that the servant brings things into existence. It is as if, because their base state in not responding to the Quran—the method of receiving which is hearing—is more severe than their lack of acceptance of other signs that depend on sight, He, the Glorified, magnified the negation of the former concerning them, as you have learned, and sufficed in the latter with the negation of sight, saying, "And they were not able to see."

(20) That is, they were willfully blind to the signs of Allah, the Exalted, which are spread throughout the souls and the horizons. The sentence is as if it were an answer to an implied question regarding the reason for the doubling of the punishment, as if it were asked: "Why have they merited such doubling?" It is answered: "Because they detested the truth with the utmost hatred, found hearing it to be the greatest burden, and were willfully blind to the signs of the Almighty Sovereign." This does not conflict with His, the Glorified's, saying: "Whoever brings an evil deed shall not be requited except with the like thereof, and they shall not be wronged," based on the understanding that the "like of the evil deed" means the punishment that it necessitates according to Allah, the Exalted. Perhaps the evil deeds they committed necessitate that doubling, so it is the "like." Just as the "like" of the evil of disbelief is eternal abode in the Fire.

It is also said: The doubling is because of their fabrication and lying about their Lord, their obstructing the path of Allah, the Exalted, their seeking to make it crooked, and their disbelief in the Hereafter, as is indicated by the attribution of the doubling of the punishment to those described with these traits. By this, the reconciliation is made between this verse and His, the Glorified's, saying, "Whoever brings an evil deed," and so on. Perhaps the explanation provided by the sentence in this context is because it is the fundamental root of all their other evils and sins.

Some have claimed that the doubling is to preserve the essence [of the punishment], for without it, it would vanish and cease to be a punishment due to the habituation of the passage of time; there is much to be said about this. It is also said that the sentence is a clarification of what was negated regarding the protection of the deities, for that which does not hear and does not see is removed from the rank of guardianship. His, the Glorified's, saying, "It will be doubled," etc., is an interruption (i'tirad) placed between them, rebuking them from the start for their evil end. The objection to this is that it contradicts the context and necessitates a disconnection of the pronouns. Abu al-Baqa' allowed that "ma" could be a masdariyyah (infinitive) acting as a temporal adverb; meaning: "The punishment will be doubled for them for the duration of their ability to hear and their sight." The meaning is that the punishment and its doubling are eternal and persistent for them. Al-Farra' permitted "ma" to be a masdariyyah with the preposition omitted, as it is omitted from an and anna. There is remoteness in this, both in wording and meaning.