Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:15

"Whoever thinks that Allah will not help him in this world and the Hereafter"

The pronoun in "will not help him" (yansurahu) refers to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, according to what has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, al-Kalbi, Muqatil, al-Dahhak, Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, and al-Suddi. Al-Farra’ and al-Zajjaj preferred this view. It is as if, having mentioned the one who disputes with falsehood and his abandonment in this world—because he possesses no evidence, whether necessary, theoretical, or traditional, and because of the humiliation to which his affair leads—and in the Hereafter, which is far more severe and terrible, then mentioning those who associate with him and generalizing their loss in both realms; the Exalted then mentioned the believers in contrast to them. He followed this by mentioning the one who defends them and the religion of Allah, the Exalted, in the best manner, namely His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.

He exaggerated his being helped to an extent that cannot be surpassed, and abbreviated the speech as an indication that he, peace and blessings be upon him, is the distinct sign who is not to be mistaken, and that the discourse is about him, for him, and with him, and that the mention of others is merely by way of being secondary to his mention. The meaning, therefore, is that Allah, the Exalted, is a Helper to His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, in this world by exalting his word and making his religion manifest, and in the Hereafter by exalting his rank, admitting those who believed him into Gardens through which rivers flow, and taking vengeance upon those who denied him and making them taste the punishment of the Fire. No preventer can turn Him, the Exalted, away from that, nor can any sympathizer deflect Him from it. So whoever among his enemies and the envious is enraged by that and thinks that Allah, the Exalted, will not do it because of his own interference with certain matters or by undertaking stratagems to repel it, let him exaggerate in exhausting his efforts, and let him exceed every known limit in his exertion. For the culmination of his affair is the disappointment of his endeavors, the barrenness of his premises and initiatives, and the persistence of what enrages him, along with the eternity of his grief and anxiety.

In place of this consequence, the Exalted One said: "let him extend a rope to the sky"—that is, let him extend a rope to the ceiling of his house, as ‘Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from al-Dahhak—"then let him cut [it]"—that is, let him suffocate himself, as interpreted by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both. From "cutting" (qat‘) in the sense of suffocation; its origin was "cutting off his breath" (qat‘u nafsihi), then the object was omitted and forgotten, so it became synonymous with "suffocating," a state of forced suffocation. It is mentioned that "cutting off breath" is a metonymy for suffocation. It is also said that the meaning is "let him cut the rope after suffocating," on the basis that the intention is the obligation of cutting and estimating it, just as the intention behind "looking" in His saying: "then let him see whether his plan will remove what enrages him" is the estimation and visualization of looking, for otherwise, after suffocation, looking is not possible for him. That is, let him imagine the look: "Will his plan remove what enrages him?"

It is also permitted that the meaning be: "Let him see now, if he does that, whether it will remove what enrages him." It is also permitted that the one commanded to look be someone other than the first, from whom looking is valid, or that the speech is intended as sarcasm. As for the claim that naming his action a "plan" (kayd) is outside the intended meaning, a group said that applying the term "plan" to it is due to its resemblance to one; for the plotter, when he plots, exhausts the utmost of what he is capable of, and that action is the utmost that such an envious enemy is capable of.

It is reported from Ibn Zayd that the meaning is: "Let him extend a rope to the overhanging sky and climb it, then let him cut off the revelation from him, peace and blessings be upon him." It is also said: "Let him cut through the distance until he reaches the heavens, then exert himself to repel His help, peace and blessings be upon him, which descends from that direction." The Master Abu al-Su‘ud critiqued this, saying it is rejected by the masariq of the Noble Text, for the statement is a declaration that the things assumed, upon the condition of their occurrence and realization, are far from removing what enrages, and it is evident that there is no meaning in assuming the occurrence of impossible things and ordering one to look at the result of them—especially cutting off the revelation, for the assumption of its occurrence would definitely void the intended goal. This has been debated in ways that are not hidden from the observer.

Yes, the aforementioned meaning is the most appropriate. In any case, those who think that are the envious disbelievers. It is also said that they were the Bedouin from Aslam and Ghatafan who lagged behind in Islam and said: "We fear that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, will not be helped, so what is between us and our allies among the Jews will be severed, and they will neither honor nor shelter us." It is also said that they were a group of Muslims who, due to the intensity of their rage against the polytheists, were impatient for the victory that Allah, the Exalted, and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, had promised. The meaning in this case—and likewise in the preceding one if it is said that those Bedouin were also impatient for victory—is that whoever is impatient for the help of Allah, the Exalted, and seeks it hastily, let him kill himself; for it has a time which wisdom necessitates it to occur in, so it will not occur at any other time. You know the remoteness of these two views, and that the second is even more remote.

Abu Hayyan argued that the pronoun in yansurahu returns to "whoever" (man), because he is the one mentioned, and it is possible for the pronoun to return to a mention, which is the statement of Mujahid, and some have gone to this. He interpreted "help" (nasr) as "provision" (rizq). Abu Ubaydah said: "A beggar from Banu Bakr stood before us and said: 'Whoever helps me (yansurni), Allah will help him.'" They also say: "An mansurah land," meaning one that is rained upon. Al-Faq‘asi said: "And you do not give a command beyond its right, nor do you possess the thing that you are helping," meaning "providing." It is as if it is borrowed from nasr in the sense of aid. The meaning is that provisions are in the hand of Allah, the Exalted, and are not attained except by His will, so the servant must be content with His division. Whoever thinks that Allah, the Exalted, is not providing for him and does not show patience or submission, let him reach the limit of anxiety, which is suffocation, for that does not alter the division nor restore him to being provided for. The purpose is to urge contentment with what Allah has divided, unlike one who worships Him on the edge. It is as if, when the Exalted mentioned the believers immediately after them as mentioned, He warned them against a state similar to theirs as a kindness to them, though this is not free from distance, even if the connection of the ummi (the passage) to what precedes it is close.

It is also said that the pronoun is for "whoever" (man), and "help" is the primary meaning understood from it. The meaning is: "Whoever thinks that Allah, the Exalted, will not help him, and thus becomes enraged by the lack of His help, let him contrive the greatest stratagem for Allah to help him, and let him exhaust his effort in delivering that help to himself, then let him see whether that removes what enrages him from the lack of help." The obscurity in the way of connection in this view is not hidden.

"Whoever" (man) is, as we have indicated, conditional, and it is permitted that it be a relative pronoun, with the fa in the predicate being present due to its inclusion of the conditional meaning. "Whether he will remove" (hal yudhhibanna) is in the place of an accusative as the object of "let him see," and it has been mentioned that it is due to the omission of the preposition.

The Basrans, Ibn Amir, and Warsh read "then let him cut" (thumma l-yaqta‘) with a kasrah on the lam of command, while the others read it with a sukun, based on likening thumma (then) to wa (and) and fa (so), because all of them are conjunctions.