Ruh al-Ma'ani on Ar-Ra'd 13:39

Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:39

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ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ

Allah eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.

"Allah effaces what He wills": That is, He abrogates what He wills of the rulings—an abrogation required by wisdom according to the time.
- "And He establishes": Instead of it, that which contains wisdom, or He keeps it in its state without abrogation, or He establishes whatever He wills to establish absolutely, which is more general than the former two and than original creation.
- Ikrimah said: He effaces all sins through repentance and establishes good deeds in their place, as the Almighty said: "Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous work—for them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good deeds."
- Ibn Jubayr said: He forgives whom He wills of His servants' sins and leaves what He wills, so He does not forgive it. He also said: He effaces what He wills whose term has come, and establishes what He wills of those whose term has not yet come.
- Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—said: He effaces whom He wills of the generations, according to the Almighty’s saying: "Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them?" And He establishes whom He wills of them, according to His saying, Glory be to Him: "Then We brought forth after them other generations."
- Al-Rabi' said: This concerns souls during sleep; Allah Almighty seizes them to Himself, so whoever He wills to die suddenly, He holds his soul and does not send it back, and whoever He wills to remain, He sends his soul back, as explained by the Almighty’s saying: "Allah takes the souls at the time of their death" [the verse].
- From Ibn Abbas and Al-Dahhak: He effaces from the register of the Recording Angels that which is neither a good deed nor a bad deed, because they are commanded to write down every word and deed, and He establishes that which is a good deed or a bad deed.
- It is said: He effaces some of the creatures and establishes some—of humans, other animals, plants, and trees, and their qualities and conditions.
- It is said: He effaces the world and establishes the Hereafter.
- Al-Hasan and a group said: This refers to the life-spans of the children of Adam; the Almighty writes them on the Night of Decree. It is also said: On the night of the middle of Sha'ban, He writes the life-spans of the dead, so He effaces people from the register of the living and establishes them in the register of the dead.
- Al-Suddi said: He effaces the moon and establishes the sun, as explained by the Almighty’s saying: "We effaced the sign of the night and made the sign of the day illuminating."
- In a narration from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both—He effaces what He wills of the affairs of His servants and establishes, except for happiness, misery, and life-spans, for there is no effacement in them. Ibn Mardawayh narrated this from him as marfu' (attributed to the Prophet).
- It is said: It is general regarding provision, life-span, happiness, and misery, and this is attributed to a group of the Companions and the Successors. They used to implore Allah Almighty to make them happy. Ibn Abi Shaybah extracted in Al-Musannaf and others from Ibn Mas'ud—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said: "No servant has ever prayed these prayers without being granted expansion in his livelihood: 'O Possessor of bounty, do not be bountiful over me! O Possessor of Majesty and Honor, O Possessor of greatness, there is no god but You, the refuge of those who seek refuge, the neighbor of those who seek neighborhood, and the security of those who fear. If You have written me with You in the Mother of the Book as miserable, then efface from me the name of misery and establish me with You as happy. And if You have written me with You in the Mother of the Book as deprived, with my provision restricted, then efface my deprivation, facilitate my provision, and establish me with You as happy and successful in goodness, for You say in Your Book which You revealed: Allah effaces what He wills and establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.'"
- 'Abd bin Humayd and others extracted from Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—that he said while circumambulating the House: "O Allah, if You have written upon me misery or sin, then efface it and make it happiness and forgiveness, for You efface what You will and establish, and with You is the Mother of the Book."
- Ibn Jarir extracted from Shaqiq Abu Wa'il that he used to frequently pray with these invocations: "O Allah, if You have written us as miserable, then efface us and write us as happy; and if You have written us as happy, then establish us, for You efface what You will and establish."
- Ibn Sa'd and others extracted from Al-Kalbi that he said: Allah Almighty effaces from provision and adds to it, and effaces from the life-span and adds to it. He was asked: "Who told you this?" He said: "Abu Salih, from Jabir bin Abdullah bin Ri'ab al-Ansari, from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace."
- Abu Hayyan says: If any of this is authentic, it should be interpreted. It is known that happiness, misery, provision, and life-span—none of these change.
- The Sheikh al-Islam favored generalization. He said after citing many opinions: "The most appropriate is the generalization of both effacement and establishment to encompass everything, and cases of rejection enter into this primarily."
- Regarding what Ibn Jarir extracted from Ka'b, that he said to Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—"O Commander of the Faithful, were it not for a verse in the Book of Allah Almighty, I would have told you what is to come until the Day of Resurrection," he said, "And what is it?" He said: The Almighty’s saying: Allah effaces what He wills... [the verse] implies that.
- You know that if the effacement and establishment are relative to what is in the hands of the angels and the like, then there is no difference between happiness, misery, provision, life-span, and others in that they all accept effacement and establishment. And if they are relative to what is in the [Divine] Knowledge, then there is also no difference between those matters and others in that they do not accept such, for Knowledge is only attached to them as they are in reality; otherwise, it would be ignorance. And that which is in reality is not imagined to undergo change and alteration. How could the evenness of the number four, for example, be imagined to change into oddness while the four remains four? This is something that cannot be at all, and I do not think you are in doubt about that. This does not contradict the generality of the evidence indicating that whatever Allah Almighty wills comes to pass, for the will is subordinate to knowledge, and knowledge of a thing is subordinate to what the thing is in reality. Thus, He, Glory be to Him, does not will except what the thing is in reality.
- It is said: The Almighty’s saying, And with Him is the Mother of the Book, points to the fact that what is in Knowledge does not change, based on the fact that the "Mother of the Book" is Knowledge; because everything written in the scrolls of the angels and others does not occur except in accordance with what is established therein. Thus, it is a "mother" for it—that is, a root for it. It is as if it were said: He effaces what He wills to efface and establishes what He wills to establish of what is written in the books, while with Him is the eternal Knowledge in which nothing exists except in accordance with what is therein.
- The interpretation of the "Mother of the Book" as the Knowledge of Allah Almighty is narrated by 'Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn Jarir from Ka'b—may Allah be pleased with him. The famous view is that it is the Preserved Tablet. They said: It is the root of the books, as there is nothing—past or established—except that it is written in it as it is.
- The apparent meaning is that what is intended is the past and established [events] that relate to the world, not those relating to it and the Hereafter, due to the existence of rational evidence for the finitude of dimensions absolutely, and textual evidence for the finitude of the Tablet specifically. It has come down that it is of white pearl, with two covers of chrysolite, its length being a travel distance of five hundred years, and the impossibility of a finite [vessel] containing the infinite is necessary. Perhaps those who hold the generality of the "past and established" accept the statement of ambiguity where detail is impossible. Some have gone to interpret the "Mother of the Book" as what is famous, and committed to saying that what is in it does not change, and that change is only for what is in the other books. This is a speaker who denies the change of what is in the Knowledge, as you have known and seen.
- In a copy by some of the learned that I possessed—which was lost in the Baghdad incident—there was a treatise on this issue. It stated that there is nothing but that it can be changed and altered, even the eternal decree. It offered evidence for this with matters, among which is the authenticity of his supplication—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in the Qunut: "Protect me from the evil of what You have decreed." This contains a request for protection from the evil of the primary decree; if it were not possible to change it, the request for protection from it would not be valid. Among them is what is authentic in the hadith of Tarawih regarding his excuse—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for not going out to them, while the people had gathered waiting for him, saying: "I feared that it might become obligatory upon you, and you would be unable to perform it." There would be no meaning to this fear if the eternal decree did not accept change, for if it had already been decreed that it would become obligatory, then it must become obligatory, and if it had been decreed that it would not become obligatory, it is impossible for it to become obligatory. Moreover, it has come in the hadith of the obligation of prayer on the night of the Ascension after what is apparent in the prior decree that it is five prayers ordained and no more. What, then, is the meaning of the fear after knowing that, if not for the knowledge of the possibility of change and alteration? Among them is that it is authentic that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—used to be in a state of agitation on nights of severe wind, to the extent that he would not sleep, and he would say: "I fear the Hour may arrive." There is no meaning to this fear either, despite the information from Allah Almighty that there are conditions before it that had not yet existed, such as the appearance of the Mahdi, the emergence of the Dajjal, the descent of Isa—peace be upon him—the emergence of Gog and Magog, the Beast of the Earth, the rising of the sun from its setting, and other things that require a long time to be realized. If the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—did not know that the decree could be changed and that what was decreed of its signs could be altered, he would not have feared that. Among them is that those who were given glad tidings of Paradise were the most fearful of people of the Fire, to the extent that some of them would say, "Would that my mother had not borne me!" And Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—used to say, "If a crier called out, 'All people will enter Paradise except one,' I would think that I am that one." This is something that should not be, given the information of the Truthful One and his glad tidings to him of Paradise, and the knowledge that the decree does not change. Among them is that were it not for the possibility of change, supplication would be futile, for that which is prayed for either has had a decree passed that it will be, so it must be; otherwise, it is impossible for it to be. Asking for what must be or what is impossible to be is futile, despite the fact that a command for it has been issued. The statement that it is merely for demonstrating servitude and poverty to Allah Almighty—and that is a sufficient benefit—is rejected by the apparent meaning of the Almighty’s saying: "Call upon Me, I will respond to you." Also, Al-Hakim extracted, and authenticated, from Ibn Abbas that he said: "Caution does not benefit against the decree, but Allah Almighty effaces by supplication what He wills of the decree."
- Ibn Mardawayh and Ibn 'Asakir extracted from Ali—may Allah ennoble his face—that he asked the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—about the Almighty’s saying: Allah effaces what He wills... [the verse]. He said: "I will gladden your eyes with its interpretation, and I will gladden the eyes of my nation after me with its interpretation: Charity in its proper way, kindness to parents, and doing good deeds convert misery into happiness, increase life-span, and protect against evil ends." This is barely conceivable on the assumption that the decree does not change. In reports and traditions, there is countless evidence of the possibility of change. Perhaps the aforementioned supplication from Ibn Mas'ud is among them.
- Then, the "conditional decree" reverts in the end to the "absolute decree" in the view of the One who establishes it; thus, the condition does not benefit it in what befalls it.
- The repulsion of what is directed at the view of change—that it necessitates change in the Essence of the Almighty because it leads to a change in Knowledge, which necessitates change in His Essence from one attribute to another, or necessitates ignorance—is taken from the doubt mentioned by the majority of philosophers in denying Allah Almighty's knowledge of changing particulars. They said: If He knows, for example, that Zayd is in the house now, then he leaves, either that knowledge ceases and He does not know he is in the house, or that knowledge remains in its state. The first necessitates change in His Essence, and the second necessitates ignorance, and both are deficiencies that Allah Almighty must be declared above.
- They repelled that doubt with what is mentioned in Al-Mawaqif and its commentary, by denying the necessity of change in the Almighty; rather, the change is only in the relations, because knowledge—according to us—is a specific relation and connection between the knower and the known, or a real attribute with a relation. According to the first, knowledge itself changes, and according to the second, only its relations change. Under both, change in an existing attribute is not necessitated, but rather in a conceptual notion, which is permissible.
- Many of the Ash'arites and Mu'tazilites answered that the knowledge that a thing has existed and the knowledge that it will exist is one. For he who knows that Zayd will enter the city tomorrow, when tomorrow comes, he knows by this same knowledge that he has entered the city now, provided that his knowledge continues without an obscuring distraction. We, as humans, need new, renewed knowledge because of the intrusion of distraction from the first. The Creator, Exalted is He, is immune to distraction; thus, His knowledge that it has existed is the same as His knowledge that it will exist. Therefore, a change in the known does not necessitate a change in the knowledge.
- The conclusion of his words in this place is that it is permissible for what is in the Knowledge of Allah Almighty to change; otherwise, action or inaction would be necessitated upon the Almighty, and in that is an encroachment upon Him—Glory be to His Majesty—that is not hidden. And there is no necessity of change from that except change in relations, which is harmless.
- It was objected that according to this view, there remains no trust in any of the unseen reports, such as the Resurrection, nor trust in the reports that he—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is the Seal of the Prophets, because of the possibility that Allah Almighty may have known that when He informed, then His knowledge attached to its opposite, but He did not inform. There is no deficiency in the first reports because they are reports of what was attached to knowledge at that time. Furthermore, this necessitates the denial of reality or the denial that the attachment of knowledge is in accordance with reality, and both negations are as you see.
- The answer to what was held fast is that some of it is apparent, and some requires reflection, so reflect. Some of the Shia who claim the permissibility of bada' (change of intention) for Allah the Exalted used the verse as evidence, and in that is what is in it.
- An meaning occurs to me regarding the verse which I have not seen anyone mention: that by His saying, Glory be to Him, Allah effaces what He wills and establishes, we mean what we mentioned first before citing the opinions, which is what Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Al-Madkhal and others from Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Jarir from Qatada, and that this is specified for the derivative rulings, and by the "Mother of the Book" is meant the foundational rulings, for they do not accept abrogation and are a "mother" (root) for every book, in the sense that the derivative rulings in it are only valid from the one who brought them. But the transmitted [narrations] from the predecessors do not support this, though it is suitable for the context, as is not hidden.
- Al-Dahhak and Al-Farra' claimed that there is an inversion (qalb) in the verse, and the origin is "for every book is a term." It was countered that one should not claim inversion except in the necessity of poetry; moreover, there is no need for it here, and one may even claim the corruption of meaning thereby. Regardless, the al- (definite article) in "the Book" is for the genus, so it is inclusive of the many; hence, more than one interpreted it as the plural. Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir recited yuthbitu with the shaddah.

Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:39

Ruh al-Ma'ani