Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:76

"And indeed We seized them with the punishment" (76).

A group [of scholars] narrates from Ibn Abbas that which is definitive evidence that the story of Thumamah is the cause for the revelation of His saying, exalted be He: "And indeed We seized them with the punishment" until the end. Thus, hunger is intended by the punishment mentioned therein according to that [interpretation]. It is not an objection against those who hold this view to cite His saying: "Yet they did not humble themselves to their Lord" (76), for one may say: The intent by humbling oneself to Him, the Mighty and Majestic, is submission to His command, glorified be He, and belief in Him, the Exalted and Sublime; and what they displayed before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was not from that in any way.

The well-known opinion is that the punishment refers to what befell them on the day of Badr, namely slaughter and captivity. It is not an objection against those who interpret the "punishment" in His saying, the Glorified: "Until when We seized their affluent ones with the punishment" (23:64) in the same way, to argue that there is a contradiction between what is there—His saying, "then they cry out"—and what is here—the negation of humbling themselves to their Lord and the negation of supplication (tadarru') derived from His saying, the Glorified: "And they do not supplicate."

For one may say: "Crying out" (al-ju'ar) is absolute screaming, and it is not the same as humbling oneself to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, nor is it the same as supplicating to Him, the Glorified. This is evident. The same applies if "crying out" is intended as screaming for help, based on the understanding that the "humbling" to Him, the Exalted, is what you previously learned—namely, submission to His command, the Mighty and Majestic—and that "supplication" is that which comes from the depths of the heart, while "crying out" is that which is not so. It is as if the expression "crying out" was used there to indicate that their seeking of help was most similar to the sounds of animals.

It is said: The former [verse in Surah Al-Mu'minun] is to clarify the state of the fabricators, while this is to clarify the state of the remaining ones. The present tense was used in "they do not supplicate" to signify continuity, except that the intent is the continuity of the negation, not the negation of continuity; meaning, it is not their habit to supplicate to Him, the Exalted, at all. Even if it were interpreted as the negation of continuity, as is apparent, there would still be no objection regarding the perceived contradiction between His saying, "then they cry out," and His saying, the Glorified, "and they do not supplicate."

Istakana is in the form istaf'ala derived from al-kawn (being), and its original meaning is to transition from one state to another, like istahjara (to become like stone). Then, common usage prevailed in its employment for the transition from the state of arrogance to the state of humility; thus, there is no ambiguity in it by convention.

Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Faris said: I was asked about this in Baghdad when I entered it during the time of Imam al-Nasir, and its scholars were gathered for me. I said—and it was considered excellent from me—that it is derived from the Arabs' saying, "I became kuntu (subservient) to you when I humbled myself," which is a Hudhali expression. Abu Ubaydah recorded it in al-Gharibayn. According to this, it is of the category of qarra and istaqarra (to settle), and it is not considered an istaf'ala form built for emphasis, like ista'sama and istasara, unless it is intended in the verse as emphasis in the negation, not the negation of emphasis.

It is said that it is from al-kayn, the flesh hidden in the private parts, implying the baseness of the one who is mustakin (abased). Al-Zamakhshari permitted that it be the ifta'ala form from al-sukoon (stillness), and the alif is for ishba' (lengthening/saturation), as in the saying: "And you are from the calamities when you throw," and as in the saying: "I seek refuge in Allah from the scorpions with raised stingers." It was objected to this by stating that the aforementioned ishba' is specific to the necessities of poetry and that it is not known for it to apply to all inflections of a word; yet istakana and all its inflections are likewise, which indicates that it is not from that which contains ishba'.