Tafsir of Al-Waqi'ah 56:14

These are the people from the time of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, until the Day of Resurrection. His saying, "My nation will outnumber all other nations," does not contradict this. This means they will surpass them in multitude, for the majority of the "foremost of the foremost" being from the foremost of this nation does not prevent the majority of the "followers" of this nation from being more numerous than the followers of those [previous] nations.

The conclusion is that this nation as a whole prevails in number over those other than it. It is like a village that has ten scholars and a hundred commoners, and another village that has five scholars and a thousand commoners; the elite of the first are more numerous than the elite of the second, yet the commoners of the second and the total of its inhabitants are many times more than those of the first.

It cannot be said that the majority of the followers of this nation refutes the Almighty’s saying: "A multitude of the former ones and a multitude of the later ones," because that pertains to the People of the Right, and they are the followers; and in each case, the term thulla (multitude) is used, meaning a large group. For we respond that there is no indication in the verse beyond describing each of the two groups as a "multitude," and that does not negate the fact that one of them may be more numerous. Thus, it turns out that the foremost of the previous nations are more numerous than the foremost of our nation, but the followers of our nation are more numerous than the followers of the previous nations. The term "nations" includes the prophets; in that case, it is not far-fetched to say that the multitude of the foremost of the first ones is due to their prophets, so there is no harm to the foremost of this nation if the foremost of the previous nations exceed them by including the prophets, peace be upon them.

Imam Ahmad, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Marduyah narrated from Abu Hurairah, who said: When "A multitude of the former ones and a few of the later ones" was revealed, it weighed heavily upon the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then "A multitude of the former ones and a multitude of the later ones" was revealed. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then said: "I hope that you will be one-third of the people of Paradise, rather, you are half of the people of Paradise, or one-half of the people of Paradise, and you will share the second half with them." Its outward meaning is that they were distressed by the "few" used to describe them, and the second verse removed and replaced that distress with the "multitude." This is supported by what Ibn Marduyah narrated from Abu Hurairah: When "A multitude of the former ones and a few of the later ones" was revealed, the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, became sad and said: "Then there will be only a few from the nation of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace." Then, at midday, "A multitude of the former ones and a multitude of the later ones" was revealed, which abrogated "and a few of the later ones."

Al-Zamakhshari rejected this, saying: The narration is not correct for two reasons: First, the first verse refers to the "foremost" (al-sabiqin), while the second refers to the "People of the Right" (ashab al-yamin). Second, abrogation in informative statements (akhbar) is not permissible. If Allah informs of them as being "few," it is not permissible to inform of them as being "many" in that same regard. What is mentioned regarding the impermissibility of abrogation in informative statements—meaning in their intended meaning absolutely—is the preferred view.

It is said: Abrogation is permissible in matters that change if it comes from an independent authority, because Allah may erase what He decrees, and the informative statements follow that. This is the position of Al-Baydawi. It is also said: It is permissible regarding the past; this is the view of Imam al-Razi and al-Adami. As for abrogating the meaning of an informative statement when it concerns something that does not change—such as the existence of the Creator or the creation of the world—it is unanimously impermissible. If what we are discussing is among the things that change, then its abrogation is permissible according to Al-Baydawi, and the outward meaning of the second Abu Hurairah report agrees with him. However, it is not permissible according to the preferred view held by Al-Shafi'i and others. Therefore, the statement of the author of Al-Kashf—that there is no disagreement regarding the impermissibility of abrogation in the type of report mentioned as it contains no legal ruling—is not free from error.

I say: What Al-Zamakhshari mentioned might be challenged by the fact that the hadith is authentic. The fact that the first verse refers to the foremost and the second to the People of the Right does not refute the required meaning. It is possible to say: When the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, heard the first verse, they thought that the matter for this nation would follow the same pattern—that the People of the Right would be a multitude from the former ones and only a few from them, and thus those who attain Paradise from the previous nations would outnumber them—so they became sad. Then Allah revealed the verse concerning the People of the Right: "A multitude of the former ones and a multitude of the later ones," and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them what he said, which removed their sadness. There is no abrogation of an informative statement in this, as is clear.

As for Abu Hurairah's statement, "Then it abrogated 'and a few of the later ones'," if it is authentically attributed to him, it should be interpreted as: "It removed the assumption that the same would be mentioned regarding the winners of Paradise from this nation, other than the foremost." Consider this.

According to A'isha, may Allah be pleased with her: "The two groups" in the Almighty's saying, "A multitude of the former ones and a few of the later ones," refer to every prophet’s nation; in its beginning there is a multitude, and in its end there are a few. It is also said: They are from the prophets, peace be upon them, who were many in the early days of the world and few in the latter days.

Abu Hayyan said: It is mentioned in the hadith: "The two groups are within my nation; the foremost of the beginning of the nation are a multitude, and the foremost of the remainder of the nation until the Day of Resurrection are few." And similar things are mentioned regarding the two groups of the People of the Right. Musaddad, in his Musnad, as well as Ibn al-Mundhir, Al-Tabarani, and Ibn Marduyah, narrated with a hasan chain from Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, regarding His saying, "A multitude of the former ones and a multitude of the later ones": "They are both from the nation." A group also narrated with a weak chain from Ibn Abbas as a marfu' (attributed to the Prophet) narration: "They are both from my nation." According to this, the address in His saying, "And you were three groups," is to this nation only.