Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:15

"And to Allah prostrates whoever..."

(And to Allah)—Him alone—(prostrates), meaning: submits and yields, not to anything other than Him, may He be glorified, independently nor by way of partnership. Thus, the restriction [implied by the placement of "to Allah"] encompasses both the heart and individuals.

(Whoever is in the heavens and the earth)—the angels and the two weighty beings (mankind and jinn), as necessitated by the literal expression "who" (man). Specifying the submission of rational beings, while others are also in that state, is because they are the principals, and their submission is proof of the submission of others. Moreover, there is an explanation for this later, God willing. It is also said: the intended meaning is what includes them and others, and the expression "who" is for the sake of predominance.

(Willingly and unwillingly)—an accusative state (hal). If we assert the occurrence of the verbal noun as a state without interpretation, it is apparent; otherwise, it is interpreted as "willing" and "unwilling." That is, they are submissive to His greatness, may He be exalted, yielding to the bringing about of what He wills regarding the decrees of creation and annihilation, whether they wish it or refuse, without any intervention of a decree other than His, may He be glorified—rather, without any decree other than His in any of that.

It is also permitted that the accusative is for causation (al-illa). Thus, "unwillingness" (karhan) implies compulsion, and it is the verbal noun derived from the passive form so that the agent is unified, as this is a condition for the accusative of cause (maf'ul la-ajlihi). According to those who do not require this, it is taken literally. The criticism directed at this—that the consideration of causality for "unwillingness" is not apparent, for it is the opposite of "willingness" (which is refusal), and it is inconceivable for it to be a cause for prostration—is refuted by the fact that the cause is what leads to the act or what results from it, not necessarily what constitutes its purpose. This has been discussed recently, so keep it in mind. It is also said: the accusative is for absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq), meaning: a prostration of willingness and unwillingness.

(And their shadows)—meaning: the shadows of those who have them among them also yield to Him, may He be exalted, and they are the humans only, or those who include them and every dense body. In the Shahabiyyah glosses, it is suggested that the pronoun refers to "who is on earth," because those in heaven do not have shadows, unless it is interpreted as predominance or metaphor. The meaning of the shadows' submission to Him, may He be exalted, is that they are subservient to His disposal, may He be glorified, and His will regarding extension, contraction, lingering, and vanishing. The origin of the word "shadow" (zill), as Al-Farra' said, is a verbal noun, then it was applied to the phantom that appears for a body. It is either inverted or upright, and upon each of these, they build rulings mentioned in their proper places.

(In the morning and the evening)—This is an adverbial phrase for the implied prostration, and the ba (in bil-ghuduww) means "in," which is common. The intended meaning is perpetuity, as such expressions are used for continuity. It is said: Therefore, one should not ask why these [times] were specifically mentioned. The same is said if they are in the position of a state (hal) for the shadows. Some explain this by noting that their extension and contraction are most apparent at those two times. Al-ghuduww is the plural of ghadah (morning), like quna and qanah. Al-asal is the plural of asil, which is the time between the afternoon and sunset. It is also said: It is the plural of asl, which is the plural of asil, and its origin is a'asal with two hamzas, the second being changed into an alif. It is also said: Al-ghuduww is a verbal noun, supported by the reading of Ibn Mijlaz, "al-isal," with a kasra on the hamza, on the basis that it is the verbal noun of asalna (with elongation), meaning: we entered into the asil (evening), as Ibn Jinni said.

Furthermore, it is said that the intention is the literal prostration. For the disbelievers, in a state of emergency—which is the meaning of His saying "and unwillingly"—specifically perform prostration to Him. The Exalted says: "And when they board the ship, they call upon Allah, sincere to Him in religion." It is not far-fetched that Allah, may He be exalted, creates in shadows understandings and intellects by which they prostrate to Allah, whose majesty is exalted, just as He, the Glorified, created that for the mountains until they were occupied with glorification and the signs of manifestation appeared in them, as Ibn al-Anbari said. It is also permitted that the intention of their prostration is the form of prostration observed in them, following their owners. This, based on what is said, is built upon committing to the generality of metaphor in the prostration mentioned in the verse—that is, it means falling to the ground, so it includes the prostration of shadows in this sense, or estimating a verb that leads to this, or [making it] a lifter of the shadows, or a predicate for them as such. Or, one might commit to the idea that the intention of what was mentioned does not harm the reality because it is secondary and incidental. Or that combining the literal and the metaphorical is permissible. It is not hidden that some of these interpretations are subject to scrutiny.

From Qatada: Prostration is the specific form. He expressed the prostration of the angels, peace be upon them, and the believers as "willingly," and the prostration of those whom the sword compelled to Islam—so they prostrate "unwillingly," either through hypocrisy, or because "unwillingness" was the beginning of their state, then the attribute continues even if their faith becomes valid later. It is said: The one who prostrates willingly is he for whom prostration is not burdensome, and the one who prostrates unwillingly is he for whom it is burdensome. From Ibn al-Anbari: The first is he whose Islam has been long-standing, so he became accustomed to prostration; the second is he who began in Islam until he became accustomed to it. Regardless, "who" (man) is general but intended for specific ones, because those who do not prostrate are excluded from this. It is also said: It is general for all types of rational beings, and the intention of "prostrates" is "must prostrate," but he expressed the obligation as the occurrence, for the sake of hyperbole.

Many have chosen in the interpretation of the verse what we mentioned first. In Al-Bahr: What appears is that the sequence of the verse is that the whole world is subjugated to Allah, submissive to what He, the Glorified, wills for it, restricted to His will; nothing comes from it except what He, the Glorified and Exalted, has decreed. Thus, those you worship, whoever they may be, are included under [His] subjugation; they can neither benefit nor harm. This meaning is evidenced by including the shadows in the prostration, and they are not persons from whom the specific form of prostration can be imagined. However, they are included under His will, may He be exalted; He directs them as He wills, for they are of the world, and the world—its substances and accidents—is included under the subjugation of His will, as He, the Exalted, says: "Do they not look at what Allah has created of things: their shadows incline to the right and to the left, prostrating to Allah?" That the intention of "shadows" is the persons themselves, as some have said, is weak, and even weaker is what Ibn al-Anbari said. Comparing them to mountains is not sound, for it is possible for a mountain to have intellect on the condition of assuming life, whereas a shadow is an accident to which life cannot be attributed. The meaning of their prostration is merely their leaning from one side to another and the variation of their conditions as He, the Glorified and Exalted, willed.

In Irshad al-'Aql al-Salim, after quoting what was said first: "You are aware that the restriction of the disbeliever's prostration to Allah in a state of emergency and distress is of no avail, for his prostration to the idol in a state of choice and ease contradicts the restriction derived from placing the prepositional phrase first. Therefore, the approach is to interpret prostration as submission, and that validating the submission of all in inception and annihilation to Him is more involved in the rebuke for taking protectors other than Him, may He be exalted, than validating their prostration to Him." These statements contain what is not hidden from the discerning critic.