Tafsir of As-Sajdah 32:11

(Say)—in response to them—(the angel of death will take you), meaning he shall exhaust your souls, leaving none of their parts behind, or leaving none of their particulars. None of you shall remain. The original meaning of tawaffi is to take something in its entirety. It is interpreted as istifa’ (exact extraction/completion), because the forms tafa''ul and istif'al often converge, such as taqadhaytu and istaqdhaytu (I satisfied my debt), and ta'ajaltuhu and ista'jaltuhu (I sought to hasten it). Attributing this tawaffi to the Angel of Death is in view of the fact that he—peace be upon him—directly carries out the seizing of souls by His command, Exalted be He, as indicated by His saying, the Almighty: (who has been entrusted with you), meaning he seizes your souls and knows the expiration of your terms.

Ibn Abi Hatim and Abu al-Shaykh narrated from Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered upon a man of the Ansar to visit him, and found the Angel of Death—peace be upon him—at his head. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: "O Angel of Death, be gentle with my companion, for he is a believer." He replied: "Rejoice, O Muhammad, for I am gentle with every believer. Know, O Muhammad, that I seize the soul of the son of Adam while his family screams, so I stand in a corner of the house and say: 'By Allah, I have no guilt, and I have a return and a return (to visit), so beware, beware. Allah the Almighty has not created a household, nor dwellers of mud, hair, or fur—on land or sea—but that I inspect them five times every day and night, until I know their young and old better than they know themselves. By Allah, O Muhammad, I am not even able to seize the soul of a gnat until Allah—Blessed and Exalted be He—commands its seizure.'" Al-Tabarani, Abu Nu'aym, and Ibn Mandah narrated something similar.

As for attributing it to Him, the Almighty, in His saying, the Almighty: (Allah takes the souls), it is in view of the fact that all the actions of the servants are created by Him, the Majestic and Exalted, and the servants have no role in them other than kasb (acquisition), as the Ash'aris say; or it is in view of the fact that this occurs by His permission and His will, the Majestic and Exalted. Attributing it to the Messengers in His saying: (Our messengers take him), and to the angels in His saying, the Almighty: (Those whom the angels take while they are wronging themselves), is because the Angel of Death does not act alone; he has assistants, as narrated in the reports, who work at extracting the soul until, when its exit is near, the Angel of Death seizes it.

It is said: The intent by "the Angel of Death" is the genus (the category). Some say: Certain people have their souls taken by the Angel of Death, and others have their souls taken by Allah the Almighty Himself. Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Umamah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah—peace be upon him—say: "Allah the Almighty has entrusted the Angel of Death—peace be upon him—with the seizing of souls, except for the martyrs of the sea; for He, the Almighty, takes charge of seizing their souls Himself."

It is also mentioned in another report that the Angel of Death for humans is not the same as the Angel of Death for the Jinn, the devils, and those lacking intellect. Ibn Jubayr narrated from al-Dahhak from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—that he said: "The Angel of Death—peace be upon him—is entrusted with seizing the souls of the believers; he is the one who performs that. And there is an angel for the Jinn, an angel for the devils, and an angel for the birds, beasts, predators, whales, and ants. They are four angels." The angels themselves die at the first blast, and the Angel of Death performs the seizing of their souls, then he dies. As for the martyrs of the sea, Allah the Almighty takes charge of seizing their souls, not entrusting this to the Angel of Death, due to their honor before Him, the Almighty.

The position held by the majority is that the Angel of Death for those who possess intellect and those who do not, among the animals, is one, and he is Azra'il, which means "Abdullah" (Servant of Allah), according to what is said. Yes, he has assistants as we mentioned. As for the report of al-Dahhak from Ibn Abbas, Allah the Almighty knows best its authenticity.

(Then to your Lord you will be returned) by resurrection for reckoning and recompense. The relevance of this verse to the preceding one, based on what we mentioned regarding the redirection of the discourse, is apparent. For when they denied meeting the angels of their Lord at the time of death and what follows thereafter, the account of the Angel of Death taking them was mentioned to them, hinting that they shall indeed meet him, along with the account of returning to Allah the Almighty via resurrection for reckoning and recompense.

As for what has been said otherwise, the aspect of relevance is that when they denied resurrection and the afterlife, He responded to them with what was mentioned, because His saying, the Almighty: (Then to your Lord you will be returned) entails resurrection, and the additional mention of the Angel of Death taking them—and his being entrusted with them—serves to show that resurrection depends upon their death, to threaten and frighten them, and to indicate that He who is capable of causing death is capable of bringing to life. It is also said that this is to refute what their speech implies—that death occurs by the necessity of nature—as they attributed it to themselves in their saying: (When we have strayed in the earth); so, in their view, it is not an act of Allah or the direct work of His angels. Its remoteness is not hidden. Even more remote is what was said regarding the relevance: "Since Azra'il, a servant among the servants of the Almighty, is able to extract the soul from the body while it permeates it—the permeation of rosewater in the rose and fire in the ember—how then could the Creator of these forces, the Majestic and Exalted, not be able to distinguish their parts mixed in the soil? And how can resurrection be considered unlikely when He, the Majestic and Exalted, possesses complete power, especially since that permeation is something hidden from the wise, such that some have denied it, let alone the ignorant polytheists?" So contemplate this.

Zayd ibn Ali—may Allah be pleased with them both—recited (turja'un) in the active voice.