Surah Al-Ma'idah (5): 109 - The Day Allah Gathers the Messengers...

Know that it is the established practice of Allah in this Noble Book that whenever He mentions numerous types of religious laws, obligations, and rulings, He follows them either with matters of Divinity, or with an explanation of the conditions of the Prophets, or with an explanation of the conditions of the Resurrection. This serves to confirm the previously mentioned obligations and laws. Thus, after mentioning many types of laws, He first described the conditions of the Resurrection, and then mentioned the conditions of Jesus. The description of the conditions of the Resurrection is His saying: {The Day Allah gathers the Messengers}. There are several issues concerning this:

Issue 1: The Connection of the Verse

There are two opinions regarding this verse:

1. It is connected to the preceding verses.
   • First view (Al-Zajjaj): The implied meaning is: "And fear Allah on the Day Allah gathers the Messengers." It cannot be an adverbial accusative (ظرف) for the command "fear," because they are not commanded to fear on that Day. Rather, it is accusative for the sake of the implied verb (مفعول له).
   • Second view (Al-Qaffal): The implied meaning is: "And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people on the Day Allah gathers the Messengers," meaning He does not guide them to Paradise, as stated: {Nor will He guide them to any path except the path of Hell} (An-Nisa: 168-169).

2. It is disconnected from the preceding verses.
   • First view: The implied meaning is: "Mention the Day Allah gathers the Messengers."
   • Second view: The implied meaning is: "On the Day Allah gathers the Messengers, such and such happened."

Issue 2: The Meaning of "What Answer Did You Receive?"

The author of Al-Kashshaf states that mādhā (what) is accusative as the maṣdar (verbal noun) of ajabtum (you answered), meaning: "Did you answer with a denial or an affirmation?" If the meaning intended was "with what," it would have been phrased bimādhā ajabtum.

The benefit of this question is the reprimand of their people. This is similar to His saying: {And when the female infant buried alive is asked, For what sin she was killed} (At-Takwir: 8-9), where the intent is to reprimand the one who committed the act.

Issue 3: The Apparent Contradiction Regarding the Messengers' Testimony

The apparent meaning of His saying: {They will say, "We have no knowledge. Indeed, it is You who is the All-Knower of the unseen"} suggests that the Messengers do not testify concerning their nations. This conflicts with His saying: {And how will it be when We bring forth from every nation a witness and bring you as a witness against them?} (An-Nisa: 41). Furthermore, He says: {And thus We have made you a community justly balanced that you may be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger a witness over you} (Al-Baqarah: 143). If our nation testifies concerning all people, the Messengers are even more deserving of testifying for their nations.

The response to this apparent contradiction involves several points:

1. The Terrors of the Day: A group of commentators suggests that the Day of Resurrection will involve such terrors and upheavals that hearts will be displaced from their positions upon witnessing them. In that state, the Messengers (peace be upon them) will forget most matters and say, "We have no knowledge." Once their hearts return to them, they will then testify for their nations. However, I find this weak, even though many great scholars hold this view. This is because Allah described the people of reward by saying: {The greatest terror will not grieve them} (Al-Anbiya: 103). He also said: {Some faces that Day will be radiant, laughing, rejoicing} (Abasa: 38-39). Moreover, He stated: {Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabians—whoever believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will come upon them} (Al-Baqarah: 62). How could the state of the Messengers be less than this? It is known that if they feared, they would be of a lower rank than those whom Allah informed us would never fear.

2. Exaggeration for Reproach: The intent is to maximize the exposure of their people's shame. It is like asking someone about another person, and the respondent replies, "You know more about him than I do," implying the matter is too obvious to require testimony. This is also not strong, because the question concerns the entire nation, and not all of them were disbelievers such that the Messengers would negate testimony solely to shame them.

3. The Most Correct View (Chosen by Ibn Abbas): They said, "We have no knowledge," because You know what they manifested outwardly and what they concealed inwardly, whereas we only know what they manifested outwardly. Therefore, Your knowledge concerning them is more penetrating than our knowledge. For this reason, they negated knowledge from themselves, as their knowledge compared to Allah's knowledge is no knowledge at all.

4. Knowledge Limited to Their Lifetime: They said, "We have no knowledge," except concerning their response to us during our lifetime. We do not know what they did after our death. Reward and recompense are based on the final outcome (the khātimah), which is unknown to us. This is why they said, "We have no knowledge." His saying {Indeed, it is You who is the All-Knower of the unseen} supports both this and the previous answer.

5. Knowledge vs. Conjecture (The View that Occurred to Me): It is established in the principles of jurisprudence that knowledge ('ilm) is distinct from conjecture (ẓann). What everyone possesses regarding the state of others is conjecture, not certain knowledge. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "We judge based on the apparent, and Allah handles the secrets." He also said: "You bring disputes before me, and perhaps some of you are more eloquent in their argument than others. Whoever I judge in favor of based on what he presents, I am merely cutting off a piece of Fire for him." The Messengers said, "We have absolutely no knowledge of their affairs; what we had concerning their affairs was conjecture." Conjecture was considered in the world because worldly rulings were built upon it. However, in the Hereafter, conjecture is disregarded because rulings there are built upon the realities of things and the inner states of affairs. For this reason, they said, {We have no knowledge except what You have taught us}, and they did not mention the conjecture they possessed because conjecture has no weight on the Day of Resurrection.

6. Adab (Etiquette) and Submission: Since they knew that Allah is All-Knowing (not ignorant), Wise (not foolish), and Just (not oppressive), they realized that their testimony would neither bring good nor avert harm. They saw that the proper etiquette was silence and entrusting the matter to the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Just, who does not die.

Issue 4: The Reading of "Allām al-Ghuyūb"

The phrase {Allām al-Ghuyūb} (All-Knower of the unseen) was read with an accusative case (naṣb). The author of Al-Kashshaf suggests the sentence was completed with {Indeed, You are} (meaning: You are described by Your known attributes, including knowledge and others). Then, {Allām al-Ghuyūb} is in the accusative case either as an ikhtiṣāṣ (specification), or as a vocative (nidā’), or as an adjective for the noun inna.

Issue 5: The Use of the Term "Allām"

This verse indicates the permissibility of applying the term Allām (All-Knower) to Allah, just as the term Khallāq (All-Creator) is applied to Him. However, the term Allāmah (feminine form of All-Knower) is unanimously agreed upon as impermissible to apply to Him, perhaps due to the feminine suffix it contains.