Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:38-39

Surah Ar-Ra'd (13): Verses 38-39

Verse 38-39: And We have certainly sent messengers before you, and We appointed for them spouses and offspring. And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign except by permission of Allah. For every term there is a decree [written].

Know that the people [who rejected the Prophet] used to raise various types of doubts to invalidate his prophethood.

The First Doubt: Their saying: "This messenger eats food and walks in the marketplaces" (Surah Al-Furqan: 7). However, Allah mentioned this doubt in another Surah.

The Second Doubt: Their saying: A messenger sent by Allah must be of the same species as the angels, as Allah recounted about them: "Why do you not bring us angels?" (Surah Al-Hijr: 7) and "Why was a messenger not sent down to him...?" (Surah Al-An'am: 8).

Allah responded here by saying: "And We have certainly sent messengers before you, and We appointed for them spouses and offspring." This means that the Prophets before him were human beings, not angels. If this was permissible for them, why should it not be permissible for him?

The Third Doubt: They criticized the Prophet (PBUH) for having many wives, arguing that if he were a messenger from God, he should be preoccupied with worship and asceticism, abstaining from women.

Allah responded to this by the same phrase: "And We have certainly sent messengers before you, and We appointed for them spouses and offspring." In summary, this statement serves as a response to both the preceding doubt (about being human) and this doubt (about marriage). For instance, Solomon (peace be upon him) had three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines, and David had one hundred wives.

The Fourth Doubt: They said: If he were a messenger from Allah, he would bring any miracle we requested without hesitation. Since he does not do this, we know he is not a messenger.

Allah responded by saying: "And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign except by permission of Allah." The reasoning is that a single miracle is sufficient to remove excuses and establish the proof and clear evidence. Any additional miracles are left to the will of Allah; He may show them if He wills, or withhold them if He wills, and no one has the right to object.

The Fifth Doubt: The Prophet (PBUH) warned them about the descent of punishment and the manifestation of victory for him and his people. When these promised events were delayed, they used this delay as grounds to attack his prophethood, saying, "If he were a truthful prophet, his falsehood would not have appeared."

Allah responded by saying: "For every term there is a decree [written]." This means that the descent of punishment upon the disbelievers and the manifestation of victory for the allies were decreed by Allah to occur at specific, appointed times. Every event has a set time. Before that time arrives, the event does not happen. Therefore, the delay of these promises does not indicate that he was a liar.

The Sixth Doubt: They said: If he were truthful in his claim of prophethood, he would not abrogate the rulings that Allah established as permanent in previous divine laws, such as the Torah and the Gospel. Yet, he abrogated and altered them, such as changing the Qibla and abrogating most rulings of the Torah and the Gospel. Therefore, he cannot be a true prophet.

Allah responded by saying: "Allah blots out what He wills and He establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book." It is also possible that the preceding statement, "For every term there is a decree," serves as an introduction to this answer. We observe that Allah creates a strangely formed animal from a drop of semen, keeps it for a specific duration, then causes it to die and its parts to decompose. Since it is not impossible for Him to create first and then destroy, how can it be impossible for Him to legislate a ruling for a certain time and then abrogate it for other times? Thus, the meaning of "For every term there is a decree" is what we mentioned. After establishing this premise, Allah says: "Allah blots out what He wills and He establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book." This means He sometimes brings things into existence and sometimes annihilates them; sometimes He gives life and sometimes causes death; sometimes enriches and sometimes impoverishes. Similarly, it is not far-fetched that He legislates a ruling at one time and abrogates it at another, according to what divine Will dictates (according to the Sunnis), or according to what serves the public interest (according to the Mu'tazilites). This completes the verification regarding the interpretation of this verse.

Issue 1: Regarding the saying, "For every term there is a decree [written]" (لكل أجل كتاب)

There are several opinions:

1. First Opinion: Everything has a predetermined time. The signs they requested have a specific time decreed and written by Allah in the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfūẓ), and this decree will not change due to their corrupt demands. If Allah had granted them what they sought, it would have resulted in great corruption.
2. Second Opinion: Every event (like life, death, wealth, poverty, happiness, or misery) has a specific time decreed by Allah for its occurrence, and it will never deviate from that time.
3. Third Opinion (Reversal): The meaning is reversed: For every revealed Book, there is a term (time) during which it is sent down. That is, every Book has a time during which it is acted upon. The time for acting upon the Torah and the Gospel has passed, and the time for acting upon the Qur'an has arrived.
4. Fourth Opinion: For every specific term, there is a decree recorded with the guardian angels. A person has stages: drop of semen, then a clinging clot, then a chewed lump, then youth, then old age. The same applies to states like faith/disbelief, happiness/misery, and good/bad.
5. Fifth Opinion: Every specific time contains a hidden benefit and utility known only to Allah. When that time arrives, the event occurs, and it is not permissible for it to occur at any other time.

Know that this verse is explicit proof that everything occurs by the decree and measure of Allah, and that matters are contingent upon their appointed times. The phrase "For every term there is a decree" means that under every term lies a specific event. It is impossible for this specification to be due to the inherent nature of the time itself, as that is impossible (since successive moments are equal). Therefore, the specificity of each time for the event occurring within it must be due to the action and choice of Allah. This indicates that everything originates from Allah, similar to the Prophet's saying: "The pen has dried regarding what is to be until the Day of Resurrection."

Issue 2: Regarding "Allah blots out what He wills and He establishes" (يمحو الله ما يشاء ويثبت)

Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, and 'Asim recited wa yuthbitu (وَيُثْبِتُ) with a silent Thā’ and a light Bā’ (from athbata, yuthbitu - to establish). The rest recited it with an open Thā’ and a doubled Bā’ (from tathbīt - confirmation/strengthening).

The argument for the lighter recitation (yuthbitu) is that the opposite of blotting out (maḥw) is establishing (ithbāt), not strengthening (tathbīt). Since doubling the letter implies intensification, and the intent of blotting out is not intensification, its opposite should also not imply intensification.

Those who use the heavier recitation (yuthabbitu) cite verses like: "and more firm in establishment" (An-Nisa: 66) and "then stand firm" (Al-Anfal: 12).

Issue 3: The meaning of Maḥw (blotting out) and Ithbāt (establishing)

Maḥw means the disappearance of the trace of writing. One says maḥāhu yamḥūhu maḥwan (he blotted it out) when he removes its trace.

Regarding "and He establishes" (wa yuthbitu), grammarians state that the intended meaning is wa yuthbituhu (and He establishes it). However, the verb is made transitive by the first verb (yamḥū), making the second verb implicitly transitive as well. This is like the verse: "and those who guard their private parts, and those who guard them" (Al-Ahzab: 35).

Issue 4: Interpretations of the verse {Allah blots out what He wills and He establishes}

There are two main views:

First View: The verse is general and applies to everything, as its literal wording suggests. They say Allah blots out from sustenance and increases it, and similarly regarding lifespan, happiness, misery, faith, and disbelief. This was the view of 'Umar and Ibn Mas'ud. Those who hold this view supplicated fervently to Allah to make them happy rather than miserable. This interpretation is narrated by Jabir from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH).

Second View: The verse is specific to certain unfortunate individuals and not others. Under this view, there are several interpretations:

1. The meaning of blotting out and establishing is the abrogation of a previous ruling and the establishment of another in its place.
2. Allah blots out from the record books of the recording angels what is neither a good deed nor a bad deed, because they are commanded to record every word and action, and He establishes the rest. Abu Bakr al-Aṣamm objected to this, citing: "He leaves nothing small or great except that He has enumerated it" (Al-Kahf: 49) and "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it" (Az-Zalzalah: 7-8).
   • The Judge (Al-Qadi) responded by saying that "small and great" refers to sins, not permissible acts (mubāḥāt). Al-Aṣamm could reply that the scholars define "small" as a minor sin and "great" as a major sin, which is merely a terminological convention. In original language, small and great encompass every action and attribute; if it is insignificant, it is small; otherwise, it is great. Under this interpretation, the verse in Al-Kahf also covers permissible acts.
3. The meaning of blotting out is that when a person commits a sin, it is recorded in his ledger; if he repents, it is blotted out from his ledger.
4. "Allah blots out what He wills" refers to those whose appointed time has come (and He blots them out from the living), and He establishes those whose time has not yet come.
5. Allah establishes the decree for a year at the beginning of that year, and when the year passes, it is blotted out, and a new decree is established for the future.
6. He blots out the light of the moon and establishes the light of the sun.
7. He blots out the world and establishes the Hereafter.
8. Regarding provisions, trials, and calamities, He establishes them in the Book, then removes them through supplication and charity. This encourages reliance upon Allah.
9. The changing states of a servant: what has passed is the blotting out, and what has arrived and is present is the establishment.
10. He removes what He wills and establishes what He wills of His ruling. None is informed of His unseen matters; He is singular in ruling as He wills, independent in creation and annihilation, giving life and causing death, enriching and impoverishing, such that none of His creation knows these unseen matters.

Know that this topic allows for extensive discussion.

If someone asks: "Do you not claim that predestinations are ancient, the pen having dried regarding them, and that nothing is new? How can blotting out and establishing be reconciled with this?"

We reply: That blotting out and establishing are themselves things that the pen has already decreed. Thus, He only blots out what was previously known and decreed by Him to be blotted out.

Issue 5: The Rāfiḍah (Shi'a sect) claim that Badā’ (change of opinion) is permissible for Allah.

They base this on the verse: "Allah blots out what He wills and He establishes."

Know that this is false, because Allah's knowledge is an essential attribute of His unique essence, and it is impossible for change or alteration to enter something that is essential.

Issue 6: Regarding "and with Him is the Mother of the Book" (وَعِندَهُ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ)

The intended meaning of Umm al-Kitāb (Mother of the Book) is the original source/root of the Book. Arabs use Umm for anything that serves as the origin or basis for something else: the Umm of the head is the brain, Umm al-Qurā (Mother of Cities) is Mecca, and every city is the Umm of the surrounding villages. Thus, Umm al-Kitāb is that which is the origin for all Books. There are two opinions regarding it:

1. First Opinion: Umm al-Kitāb is the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Maḥfūẓ). All events of the upper and lower worlds are recorded therein. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Allah was, and nothing was with Him. Then He created the Tablet and recorded therein the conditions of all creation until the Hour." The theologians state that the wisdom behind this is to manifest to the angels His comprehensive knowledge of all information in detail. Under this view, Allah possesses two Books:
   • The first is the Book written by the angels concerning creation, which is subject to blotting out and establishing.
   • The second is the Preserved Tablet, which contains the precise determination of all upper and lower conditions, and this one remains permanent. Abu Ad-Dardā’ narrated from the Prophet (PBUH): "In the last three hours of the night, Allah looks into the Book that no one else looks into, and He blots out what He wills and establishes what He wills." The philosophers have profound words and hidden secrets regarding the interpretation of these two Books.
2. Second Opinion: Umm al-Kitāb is Allah's Knowledge itself. Allah knows all information concerning existing and non-existing things, even if circumstances change, yet His knowledge of them remains, purified from alteration. Therefore, Umm al-Kitāb refers to that. (And Allah knows best.)

Verse 40: And whether We show you some of what We promise them or take you in death, then upon you is only the delivery of the message, and upon Us is the accounting.