Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:42-44

This is a consolation for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). The present tense in the conditional particle is used despite the certainty of their denial, either because the intention is to console him—peace and blessings be upon him—regarding the expected sadness resulting from that denial, or to indicate that it is something that should not have occurred.

The feminine 'ta' (ت) is attached to the verb kudhthibat (كذبت) because the subject, qawm (people), is a collective noun that may be treated as either masculine or feminine; there is no need to interpret it as ummah (nation) or qabilah (tribe), as Abu Hayyan and his followers have done. In selecting the feminine, there is an implication of the magnitude of those who denied. The object of the verb kudhthibat is omitted due to the perfect clarity of the intended meaning. It is also permissible that the verb be treated as intransitive—meaning "they performed the act of denial."

In the cases of 'Ad and Thamud, there was no need to mention the word "people," as they are famously known by these names. The principle in expression is brevity; hence, it was not said "the people of Salih" or "the people of Hud," as there is no specific name for others besides these. It was also not said "the people of Shu'ayb"; it is said that this is because his people who denied him—peace be upon him—are these specific ones, not the People of the Thicket (Aykah), for even if he was sent to them and they denied him, they were foreigners to him, and the denial of these specific ones was earlier and more severe. The specification is because the consolation is for the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—regarding the denial of his own people; meaning: "And if your people deny you, know that you are not the only one in this, for before the denial of your people of you, the people of Nuh, etc., denied [their messengers]."

{And Musa was denied}: Those who denied him—peace be upon him—were the Copts, not his people. Rather, his people were the Children of Israel, and they did not all deny him; those among them who did deny him repented, except for a few. The denial of a few from among a people is as if there were no denial at all; do you not see that the belief of a few from the aforementioned groups was counted as no belief at all? For this reason, it does not say "the people of Musa," as was said "the people of Nuh" and "the people of Ibrahim." As for why it did not say "and the Copts" but rather the verb was repeated in the passive voice, it is to signal that their denial of him—peace be upon him—was of the utmost atrociousness, given that his signs were in perfect clarity.

{So I granted respite to the disbelievers}: That is, I gave them time until the cords of their appointed times were severed. The 'fa' (so) is for the sequence of granting respite to each group of the deniers following the denial of that specific group, not for the sequence of granting respite to all of them following the denial of all of them. The manifest noun is placed in the position of the pronoun referring to the deniers to condemn them for their disbelief, and the explicit mention of those who denied Musa—peace be upon him—is made, as they were not mentioned explicitly before.

{Then I seized them}: That is, I seized each group from the groups of deniers after the expiration of the period of their being granted respite and being given time. The "seizure" is a metaphor for destruction.

{So how was My denial?}: That is, how was My denial of them by changing what they were in of life, blessing, and the prosperity of the lands, replacing it with its opposite? It is an infinitive (masdar) from the verb nakartu 'alayhi (I denied him) when one performs an action that deters him, in the sense of rejection, like nadhir in the sense of indhar (warning). The ya of the pronoun to which it is annexed is omitted for the sake of the verse-ending (fasilah), though some reciters included it. The interrogative is for the purpose of astonishment, as if it were said: "How severe was My denial of them?" In the sentence, there is a terrifying warning to the Quraysh.