Tafsir of At-Tahreem 66:6

(O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire) i.e., a certain kind of Fire (whose fuel is people and stones), which burns with them just as other fires burn with firewood. Protecting the self from the Fire is by abandoning sins and performing acts of obedience, and protecting one's family is by urging them toward that through counsel and discipline. It is narrated that when this verse was revealed, ‘Umar said: “O Messenger of Allah, we protect our own selves, but how can we manage our families?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: “Forbid them from what Allah has forbidden you, and command them with what Allah has commanded you; that shall be a shield between them and the Fire.”

Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Hakim—who authenticated it—and a group of others narrated from ‘Ali—may Allah ennoble his countenance—that he said regarding this verse: “Teach yourselves and your families goodness, and discipline them.” The intended meaning, according to what has been said, includes the wife, the child, the male slave, and the female slave.

It has been inferred from this that it is incumbent upon a man to learn the obligatory religious duties and to teach them to these dependents. Some have included children under "yourselves," for the child is a part of his father. In a Hadith: "May Allah have mercy on a man who says: 'O my family, your prayers, your fasting, your Zakat, your poor, your orphans, your neighbors; perhaps Allah will gather you with him in Paradise.'" It is also said: "The most severely punished people on the Day of Resurrection are those who kept their families in ignorance."

It is read as wa-ahlukum with a waw, acting as a conjunction to the pronoun in qu (protect). The conjunction is made appropriate by the separation caused by the object. The interpretation, according to some, is "and let your families protect themselves." Zamakhshari did not approve of this; he argued that the origin is: "Protect—you and your families—yourselves and themselves, by every one of you and them protecting and safeguarding his soul from that which brings ruin." Thus, he placed "yourselves" first, and made the pronoun joined to the souls encompass the families through the rule of taghlib (predominance), so the address included them. Likewise, the taghlib is considered in qu. This involves less omission and prefers the conjunction of the singular, which is the original structure, and the taghlib, the subtlety of which is to denote both essence and subordination.

Al-Hasan and Mujahid read waquduha with a damma on the waw, meaning "possessing its fuel." The completion of the discussion on this verse is known from what has passed in Surah al-Baqarah.

(Over it are angels) meaning they are appointed over it, managing its affairs and the tormenting of its inhabitants; they are the nineteen Zabaniyah (guards). It is said: and their assistants. (Stern and severe) stern in speech, severe in action; or stern in nature, severe in temperament, powerful in performing harsh deeds. ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad narrated in Zawa’id az-Zuhd from Abu ‘Imran al-Jawni: “It reached us that the keepers of the Fire are nineteen. The distance between the shoulders of one of them is a journey of a hundred autumns. There is no mercy in their hearts; they were created only for torment. One of them strikes a man from the people of the Fire with a single blow, leaving him pulverized from his crown to his feet.”

(They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them) is another description of the angels. "What" (ma) is in the accusative case as a substitution (of the object), meaning they do not disobey what Allah has commanded—i.e., His command, the Exalted—similar to His saying: "Did you disobey my command?" Or it is on the basis of dropping the preposition, meaning they do not disobey regarding what He has commanded them. (And they do what they are commanded)

i.e., that which He, the Almighty and Majestic, commands them. The first sentence serves to negate opposition and arrogance from them—may the blessings of Allah be upon them—so it is like His saying: "They do not grow arrogant toward His worship." The second serves to establish their diligence and negate laziness from them, so it is like His saying: "They do not weary" up to "they do not slacken."

In other words, the first is to signify internal acceptance, for disobedience in its root is resistance and refusal; disobedience of a command is fundamentally a state of the inner self, because the performance of a commanded act is only considered obedience if it is done with the intent of compliance. When disobedience is negated from them, it indicates their acceptance and lack of internal resistance. The second is for the execution of the commanded act without heaviness or tardiness, as implied by the continuity derived from "they do" (yaf‘alun). Thus, there is no redundancy.

In al-Mahsul, it is stated that "they do not disobey" refers to the past, assuming the imperfect tense is for narrating a past state, while "and they do what they are commanded" refers to the future. It is also permissible that this is a case of "expulsion and reversal," where each of the two statements establishes the first by its explicit text and the second by its implication, and vice versa, as an exaggeration that no compassion seizes them in executing the commands of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, or in showing anger for His sake, the Glorified.