Al-Kahf: (102 - 106) Did those who disbelieve think...

Issues Discussed:

When the Almighty established the state of the disbelievers—that they turned away from the Reminder and refused to listen to what the Messenger brought—He followed it up with His saying: {Did those who disbelieve think that they could take My servants as allies besides Me?}

This means: Did they presume that they would benefit from what they worshipped, while turning away from contemplating the signs and rebelling against accepting His command and the command of His Messenger? This is a rhetorical question intended as a reprimand.

Abu Bakr recited {أَفَحَسِبَ} (Afahasiba) without raising the alif to 'Asim, using a sukūn (vowelization) on the sīn and a raf'a (nominative case) on the bā' (i.e., Afahasibu). This is one of the variations where he differed from 'Asim. It is narrated that this was the recitation of the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Under this recitation:

• {حَسِبُ} (Hasibu) is the subject (mubtada').
• {أَنْ يَتَّخِذُوا} (an yattakhidhū) is the predicate (khabar).
• The meaning is: Is taking My servants as allies sufficient for them?

However, the rest of the reciters read {فَحَسِبَ} (Faḥasiba) in the past tense form. Under this reading, there is an implied word (ḥadhf). The meaning is: Did those who disbelieve think that taking My servants as allies would be beneficial?

There are several opinions regarding whom "My servants" refers to:

1. It refers to Jesus ('Isa) and the angels.
2. It refers to the devils whom they follow and obey.
3. It refers to the idols, whom God calls "servants" (as in His saying: {they are but servants like you}).

Then the Almighty said: {Indeed, We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers as a lodging (Nuzulan).}

Regarding {نُزُلًا} (Nuzulan - lodging/reception):

1. Al-Zajjaj said it means the dwelling place or abode.
2. It means what is prepared for the guest (the nazeel). This is analogous to His saying: {Then give them tidings of a painful punishment.}

Then the Almighty mentioned what alerts people to the foolishness of the group, saying: {Say, "Shall We inform you of the greatest losers as to [their] deeds? * Those whose effort is lost in worldly life...}

Some commentators said they are the monks (Rāhibūn), based on His saying: {Laboring, weary} (referring to the monks in Surah Al-Ghashiyah). Mujahid said they are the People of the Book. 'Ali was asked about them by Ibn al-Kawa', and he replied: They are the people of Harūrā’ (the Khawarij).

The fundamental meaning is: They are those who perform deeds believing them to be acts of obedience, but in reality, they are sins. Even if the deeds were intrinsically acts of obedience, they are not accepted from them due to their disbelief. They performed these deeds hoping for reward and sought recompense on the Day of Resurrection. When they do not attain what they sought, it becomes clear that their efforts were lost.

Then the Almighty clarified their situation: {Those are the ones who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord and [in] the meeting with Him, so their deeds have become worthless (ḥabiṭat).}

Sub-Issue 1: The Meaning of "Meeting with Him" (لقائه)

The meeting with God is an expression for seeing Him, based on the usage: "I met so-and-so," meaning "I saw him."

If one argues that "meeting" fundamentally means arrival/reaching (as in: {And the water rose up over the matter which had been decreed} [Al-Qamar: 12]), and this is impossible concerning God, then it must be interpreted as meeting God's reward.

The response is that although the word liqā' (meeting) originally means arrival or encountering, its use to mean "seeing" is a clear and famous metaphor. Interpreting it as "meeting God's reward" requires an implied word (iḍmār). It is established that relying on a common, established metaphor is preferable to relying on an interpretation that requires an implied word.

Sub-Issue 2: The Doctrine of Annulment (Iḥbāṭ)

The Mu'tazilah use the verse {so their deeds have become worthless} as evidence for the correctness of the doctrine of Iḥbāṭ (annulment/nullification of deeds) and Takfīr (declaring deeds as disbelief). We have discussed this issue exhaustively in Surah Al-Baqarah, so we will not repeat it here.

Then the Almighty said: {Those will have no consideration (Waznan) for Us on the Day of Resurrection.} There are several interpretations for this:

1. We will hold them in contempt; they have no weight or measure with Us.
2. We will not set up scales for them because scales are established only for the monotheists who have good deeds and bad deeds, to distinguish the measure of obedience from the measure of sin.
3. The Qadi (Judge, likely Al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbār) said: For one whose sins outweigh their good deeds, any obedience they performed becomes as if it never existed, so none of their obedience enters the scale. This interpretation is based on the doctrine of Iḥbāṭ and Takfīr.

Then the Almighty said: {That will be their recompense: Hell}.

• {That} refers to the types of severe warning mentioned and detailed.
• {Hell} is an apposition (Badal) clarifying {their recompense}.

The Almighty then clarified that this recompense is for two things combined:

1. Their disbelief.
2. That they added to their disbelief the act of taking God's signs and His Messengers in jest (Huzū'an). They did not stop at rejecting and denying them, but they mocked them.

7 < {Indeed, those who believed and did righteous deeds - theirs will be the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, * Abiding eternally therein. They will not desire therefrom any removal.} > 7

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