Hajj: (17-18) Indeed, those who have believed...

Recitation and Context

Recitation: The word {حَقَّ} (Haqqa) is read with a dammah (on the ḥā’), and it is also read as {حَقًّا} (Haqqan), meaning the punishment is justly due to them. The word {مُكْرَم} (Mukram) is read with a fatḥah on the rā’, meaning honored.

Contextual Link: After Allah stated, {وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ} (And that Allah guides whom He wills), He follows this verse by explaining who He guides and who He does not guide.

A Muslim, in fundamental theological matters, only disagrees with others in three categories:

1. Those who share the belief in the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH): This includes disagreements between the Jabariyyah (predestinarians) and the Qadariyyah (free-will proponents) regarding the creation of human actions, and disagreements over affirming or denying the Divine Attributes and the vision of God.
2. Those who disagree on prophethood but agree on the existence of an Agent with Will (God): This is the disagreement between Muslims, Jews, and Christians regarding the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH), Jesus, and Moses (peace be upon them).
3. Those who disagree on the very concept of God: These are the Sophists who suspend judgment on truths, the Materialists (Dahriyyah) who deny any effective cause in the universe, and the Philosophers who affirm a necessary, non-volitional cause.

The greatest point of divergence lies in the third category. This third category, in all its subdivisions, is not openly declared by those who profess their beliefs publicly; rather, they remain concealed.

As for the second category (disagreements concerning the Prophets), those who affirm an Agent with Will are either:

• Confessors of the existence of Prophets: These are the followers of true Prophets (Muslims, Jews, Christians, and the Sabians, who are a group between Jews and Christians).
• Followers of false claimants to prophethood: Such as the Magians (Zoroastrians).
• Deniers of all Prophets: These are the idolaters and worshippers of statues, known as the Polytheists (Mushrikūn), which includes the various sects of the Brahmins.

Thus, the religions arising from disagreements concerning the Prophets are the six mentioned by Allah in this verse. Qatadah and Muqatil said: "The religions are six: one for Allah, which is Islam, and five for Satan." The full discussion on this verse was previously covered in Surah Al-Baqarah.

On the Verse: {إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ} (Indeed, Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection)

This phrase involves two issues:

Issue 1: Al-Zajjaj said this is a statement confirming the preceding clause, {إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا} (Indeed, those who have believed), similar to saying, "Indeed, your brother [has a duty] upon you." Jarir said:

Indeed, the Caliph, Allah has clothed him In the garment of kingship, by which outcomes are hoped for.

Issue 2: The word Faṣl (judgment/separation) is absolute, implying separation in all states and places. They will not receive one uniform recompense without distinction, nor will they be gathered in one location. It is also said that Faṣl means He will judge between them.

On the Verse: {إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ} (Indeed, Allah is Witness over all things)

This means that when He judges between them, He is fully aware of what each party deserves, so no injustice or unfairness will occur in that judgment.

On the Verse: {أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَسْجُدُ لَهُ} (Have you not seen that Allah is prostrated to by...)

This raises several questions:

Question 1: What is the meaning of "seeing" (Tarā) here? Answer: It means "knowing" (Ta‘lam): Have you not known that everyone in the heavens and everyone on earth prostrates to Him? This knowledge comes through the report of Allah, not by direct sight.

Question 2: What is the meaning of "prostration" (Sujūd) here? Answer: There are several interpretations:

1. Obedience and Submission: Al-Zajjaj offered the best view: these entities prostrate in obedience to Allah. This is like His saying: {ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ اِئْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ} (Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come willingly or unwillingly." They said, "We come willingly") (Fussilat: 11), and {إِنَّمَا أَمْرُنَا إِذَا أَرَدْنَا شَيْئًا أَن نَّقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ} (Our command, when We intend a thing, is only that We say to it, "Be," and it is) (An-Nahl: 40), and {وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ} (And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise) (Al-Isra: 44). The meaning is that since these physical bodies are capable of accepting all accidents (states/properties) that Allah creates in them without any refusal, they resemble obedience and submission, which is Sujūd.

• Objection: This interpretation is invalidated by the phrase {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ} (And many of the people [disobey]). If Sujūd means general submission, then applying it to "many" people is an unnecessary specification.
  • Rebuttal (Multiple views):
    • View 1: Although this submission is general for all things, some people rebel and become arrogant, abandoning outward prostration. While the person is inherently submissive (by nature), their outward appearance is rebellious. The believer, however, is submissive both inherently and outwardly. This difference justifies the specific mention.
    • View 2: We separate the phrase {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ} from what precedes it. The verse structure implies: "And to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and many of the people prostrate." The first Sujūd means general submission, and the second means active worship/obedience. This separation is necessary because a single word should not be used with two distinct meanings simultaneously without justification.
    • View 3: {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ} is a new subject, and its predicate is omitted, implied by the predicate of its counterpart: {حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْعَذَابُ} (punishment is due upon them).
    • View 4: It is an emphasis on the multitude deserving punishment, linking "many" to "many," as if saying: "And many of the people, and many [others] upon whom punishment is due."
  • View 5 (Shared meaning): Those who permit using a shared term for both meanings say that for rational beings, Sujūd means active worship, and for inanimate objects, it means submission. Those who deny this say Allah used the word twice, meaning obedience for the rational and submission for the inanimate.

Question 3: Since {وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَن فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ} (R’ad: 15) is general and includes people, why is {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ} mentioned again? Answer: If the general statement stood alone, it might imply that all people prostrate, just as all angels prostrate. Therefore, it is clarified that many of them prostrate willingly, while many others refuse, and it is upon these latter ones that punishment is due.

2. Essential Need (Iftiqār Dhātī): Everything other than Allah is contingent (Mumkin) in its essence. A contingent being's existence is not favored over non-existence unless it relates to the Necessary Existent (Allah), as stated: {وَأَنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الْمُنتَهَىٰ} (And that to your Lord is the final limit) (An-Najm: 42). Just as contingency is inherent to a being during its creation and existence, its dependence on the Necessary Existent is present during both its beginning and its continuation. This essential dependence is a stronger indication of humility and submission than placing the forehead on the ground, which is merely a conventional sign of essential need that can be faked. This essential dependence cannot change or be altered. Therefore, all contingent beings are prostrating to Allah in this sense—they are humble, submissive, and acknowledge their utter need for His creation and sustenance. This is how Al-Qaffal (may Allah have mercy on him) interpreted {وَإِن مِّن شَيْءٍ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ}.

3. Shadow Prostration: The prostration of these things is the prostration of their shadows, as in the verse: {وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ مِن دَابَّةٍ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ} (And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures that move and [also] the angels, and they are not arrogant) (An-Nahl: 49, referring to the shadow verse). This is the view of Mujahid.

On the Phrase: {كَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ وَكَثِيرٌ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِ الْعَذَابُ} (Many of the people [prostrate], and many upon whom punishment is due)

Ibn Abbas, according to the narration of ‘Aṭā’, said: "Many of the people [prostrate] by affirming His Oneness, and many upon whom punishment is due are those who do not affirm His Oneness." Another narration from him states: "And many of the people [are] in Paradise." This narration supports the view that {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ} is a subject whose predicate is omitted.

Others held that the pause should be after {وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنَ النَّاسِ}, and then a new sentence begins: {وَكَثِيرٌ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِ الْعَذَابُ}, meaning punishment is due upon them due to their refusal and abstention from prostration.

On the Verse: {وَمَن يُهِنِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِن مُّكْرِمٍ} (And he whom Allah humiliates—no one can honor him)

This means that those upon whom punishment is due will have no one capable of removing that humiliation from them to grant them honor. Then, Allah clarifies with {إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاءُ} (Indeed, Allah does what He wills) that He is the One who enacts honor and humiliation on the Day of Resurrection through reward and punishment. And Allah knows best.

Hajj: (19-24) These are two adversaries...