Al-Kahf: (47 - 49) And the Day We set the Mountains in Motion...

Know that when the Almighty established the baseness of the world and the nobility of the Resurrection, He followed it up with the conditions of the Resurrection, saying: {And the Day We set the mountains in motion}.

The purpose of this is to refute the polytheists who boasted to the poor Muslims about their abundance of wealth and helpers.

There are different views regarding the grammatical structure of {And the Day We set the mountains in motion}:

1. It is an addition to the preceding statement, implying: "And remember for them: {The Day We set the mountains in motion}," connecting it to the verse: {And present to them the likeness of the life of this world} (Al-Kahf: 45).
2. It implies: "{And the Day We set the mountains in motion}, such and such will happen," and they will be told: {You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time}, because the saying is implied in this context.
3. It implies an answer to the question of what is better: {Or [is it] better than the hope} in {The Day We set the mountains in motion}. The first view is the most apparent.

Having established this, we say that the verse mentions several aspects of the Resurrection.

This involves two inquiries:

First Inquiry: There are different readings for this phrase:

• Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read it as تسير (tusayyaru - passive voice), with al-jibāl (the mountains) in the nominative case, attributing the action of setting in motion to the mountains themselves, consistent with {And when the mountains are made to pass away} (At-Takwir: 3).
• The rest read it as نسير (nusayyiru - active voice, first-person plural), with al-jibāl (the mountains) in the accusative case, attributing the setting in motion to Allah (Exalted is He). This is consistent with {And We shall gather them and leave not one of them behind}.
• The meaning is the same, as their movement is only by Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala).
• The author of Al-Kashshāf narrated another reading: تسير الجبال (taseeru al-jibālu), where the verb is attributed to the mountains (active voice).

Second Inquiry: The phrase {And the Day We set the mountains in motion} does not explicitly state where they are being moved to.

• It is possible that Allah moves them to a place He wills, without specifying it to His creation.
• However, the truth is that Allah moves them toward non-existence, based on His saying: **{And they ask you about the mountains, so say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast, And leave them a level plain, In which you will see no crookedness or elevation"} (Taha: 105-107), and **{And the mountains He will remove, And they will become like scattered dust}* (Al-Waqi'ah: 5-6).

There are several interpretations for the earth being "bare":

1. Nothing will remain on its surface—no buildings, no mountains, and no trees—so it remains exposed and visible, with nothing to conceal it. This aligns with {In which you will see no crookedness or elevation}.
2. The meaning of it being bare is that it will bring forth what is inside it, casting out the buried dead. Thus, it is bare of its interior and belly, and the mention of the interior is omitted. Evidence for this is His saying: {And when the earth is cast out its contents and becomes empty} (Al-Inshiqaq: 4), and {And when the earth throws out its burdens} (Az-Zalzalah: 2), and {And they will all be presented before Allah}.
3. The surfaces of the earth were previously covered by mountains and seas. When Allah annihilates the mountains and seas, the surfaces of those places will become prominent after being concealed.

This means We gather them for the Reckoning, leaving no one behind, meaning We leave no one from the first generations or the last except that We gather them for that Day. This is similar to His saying: **{Say, "Indeed, the first and the last Will be gathered for a meeting of a known Day"}* (Al-Waqi'ah: 49-50).

The meaning of lam nughādir (We leave not behind) is "We do not forsake." It is said: ghādara-hu and agh-dara-hu if one leaves him. From this comes ghadr (treachery/breaking a promise), which is leaving fulfillment. Also, ghadīr (a pool/puddle) is what the torrents leave behind. Similarly, a woman's braid is called ghadīrah because she places it behind her.

After Allah mentioned the gathering of creation, He mentioned the manner of their presentation: {And they will be presented before your Lord in rows}.

There are several views on the meaning of ṣaffan:

1. All creation will be presented before Allah in a single row, visible so that none conceals another. Al-Qaffāl said that ṣaff likely refers to visibility and prominence, from which the term ṣaṣfā’ (open desert) is derived.
2. It is possible that creation will be in rows, standing one behind the other, like the rows surrounding the Kaaba, where some are behind others. In this case, the meaning of ṣaffan is "in rows," similar to {He brings you forth as a child} (Ghafir: 67), meaning "as children."
3. Ṣaffan means standing upright, as in His saying: {Then mention the name of Allah over them as they stand in rows (ṣawāff)} (Al-Hajj: 36), which they interpreted as standing upright.

The Anthropomorphists claim that His saying {And your Lord comes, and the angels, rank upon rank} (Al-Fajr: 22) indicates that Allah Himself will be present in that location, and the people of the Resurrection will be presented to Him in rows. Likewise, {You have certainly come to Us} indicates His presence there.

The Response: This means that Allah has designated the place where they will stand to be questioned about their deeds and judged upon—this is the presentation to Him—not that Allah is physically present in a location to see them after not having seen them before.

Then He said: {You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time}. This does not mean equality in every aspect, as they were created small, without intellect or accountability. Rather, it means He said to the polytheists who denied the Resurrection and boasted in the world about their wealth and supporters over the poor believers: {You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time}—naked, barefoot, without wealth or helpers. This is similar to His saying: {You have certainly come to Us individually just as We created you the first time, And you have left behind what We provided you beyond your backs} and His saying: {Have you seen the one who disbelieved in Our verses and said, "I will surely be given wealth and children?" ... And he will come to Us individually} (Maryam: 77-80).

Then He said: {But you assumed that We would never appoint a time [for meeting]}. Meaning, while you were proud with wealth and supporters over the believers, you denied the Resurrection. Now, you have left your wealth and supporters in the world and witnessed that the Resurrection is true.

Then He said: {And the Book will be placed}. This means the book of every person will be placed in their hand—either in the right or the left. The intent is the general category, which is the scrolls of deeds. {And you will see the criminals fearful of what is therein}, meaning afraid of what is in the book regarding their evil deeds, and afraid of its exposure to the people of the standing place, leading to their disgrace. In summary, they experience fear of punishment from the Truth and fear of public shame before creation. They will say: {Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?} This phrase means enumeration; it leaves nothing of the sins, whether small or great, except that it is recorded in this book. This is similar to His saying: **{And indeed, over you are guardians, Honorable recorders, Who know what you do} (Al-Infitar: 10-12), and {Indeed, We used to copy whatever you were doing} (Al-Jathiyah: 29). The feminine form in ṣaghīrah and kabīrah is used assuming the intent is the small and great deeds. {Except that He has enumerated it} means He has recorded and accounted for it. Some scholars said they cried out about the small sins before the great ones because those small sins led them to the great ones, so they were extremely cautious about the small ones. {And they will find what they did present}—ready in the scrolls, or the recompense for what they did. {And your Lord will not wrong anyone}. This means He will not record what they did not do, nor increase the punishment they deserve, nor punish anyone for the crime of another.

There remain some issues in the verse:

Al-Jubba'i said this verse proves the invalidity of the doctrine of the Compellers (Mujbirah) in several matters:

1. If He punished His servants without any action originating from them, He would be unjust.
2. He does not punish children without sin.
3. The claim that Allah does whatever He wills and punishes without fault is invalidated, because if that were the case, there would be no meaning to denying injustice from Him; if He does whatever He wills, it is not injustice, so the statement "He does not wrong" would be meaningless.

The Response: The response to the first two points is refutation based on knowledge and motivation. As for the third point, it is like His saying: {It is not for Allah to take a son} (Maryam: 35), which does not imply that taking a son is permissible for Him. Similarly here.

It is narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that: "People will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection concerning three: Joseph, Job, and Solomon. A slave will be summoned and asked, 'What distracted you from Me?' He will reply, 'You made me a servant to a human, so I had no time.' Joseph (peace be upon him) will be summoned, and Allah will say, 'This servant was like you, yet that did not prevent him from worshipping Me.' So he will be ordered to the Fire. Then the afflicted person will be summoned, and when he says, 'Illness distracted me,' Job (peace be upon him) will be summoned, and Allah will say, 'I afflicted this one with something more severe than your affliction, yet that did not prevent him from worshipping Me.' So he will be ordered to the Fire. Then the king in the world, with the wealth and ease Allah granted him, will be brought forth and asked, 'What did you do with what I gave you?' He will reply, 'Kingship distracted me from that.' Solomon (peace be upon him) will be summoned, and Allah will say, 'This is My servant Solomon; I gave him more than I gave you, yet that did not distract him from worshipping Me. Go, you have no excuse,' and he will be ordered to the Fire."

It is also narrated from Mu'adh from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: "The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about four things: about his body, how he wore it out; about his life, how he spent it; about his wealth, how he acquired it and how he spent it; and about his knowledge, how he acted upon it."

The verse indicates the establishment of minor (ṣaghā’ir) and major (kabā’ir) sins. This is agreed upon by Muslims, though they differed in its definition. The Mu'tazila said: A major sin is one whose punishment exceeds the reward of the doer, and a minor sin is one whose punishment is less than the reward of the doer. Know that this definition is only valid if it is established that an action necessitates reward and punishment, which we deem false for many reasons mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah regarding the invalidity of the doctrine of nullification (iḥbāṭ) and atonement.

The truth, according to us, is that acts of obedience are limited to two types: glorifying the command of Allah and showing compassion to the creation of Allah. Therefore, whatever is stronger in being ignorance of Allah is greater in being a major sin, and whatever is stronger in harming others is greater in being a sin or transgression. This is the correct measure.

< {Did I not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth and to the creation of themselves? And I would never take the misguiders as assistants.} >

< {And [mention] the Day He will say, "Call My 'partners' whom you claimed," and they will call them, but they will not respond to them. And We will put between them a barrier [of destruction].} >

< {And the criminals will see the Fire and be certain that they are to fall therein and will find from it no way of escape.} >