Tafsir of Al-Hadeed 57:19

Surah Al-Hadid (The Iron): Verse 19

[57:19] And those who believe in Allah...

Know that the Almighty mentioned the state of the believers and the hypocrites before this verse. Now, He mentions the state of the believers and the state of the disbelievers. In this verse, there are two issues:

Siddiq (Truthful) is an adjective for one who frequently speaks the truth, combining truthfulness upon truthfulness in their belief in Allah the Exalted and His Messengers.

There are two opinions regarding this verse:

1. The verse is general: It applies to everyone who believes in Allah and His Messengers. This is the view of Mujahid, who said: "Everyone who believes in Allah and His Messengers is a Siddiq," and then recited this verse. This is supported by what is narrated from Ibn Abbas regarding the saying, {They are the Siddiqūn}, meaning the monotheists.
2. The verse is specific: This is the view of Al-Muqatil, who stated that the Siddiqūn are those who believed in the Messengers immediately upon their arrival and never denied them even for an hour, such as the people of Yasin (the believers in the People of the Yasin/Ya-Sin passage) and the believer from the family of Pharaoh. As for our religion (Islam), they are eight who preceded the people of the earth in Islam: Abu Bakr, Ali, Zayd, Uthman, Talha, Al-Zubayr, Sa'd, and Hamza. The ninth, Umar, Allah joined him to them when He knew the sincerity of his intention.

There are two opinions regarding {and the martyrs}:

1. It is a conjunction (co-ordination) with the previous phrase: The meaning is: "Indeed, those who believe in Allah and His Messengers are the Siddiqūn, and they are the Shuhadā’." Mujahid said: "Every believer is a Siddiq and a Shahid," and then recited this verse. Regarding why every believer is called a Shahid, scholars differed:
   • Some said it is because believers are witnesses before their Lord over the servants regarding their deeds, meaning they are the trustworthy witnesses of the Hereafter whose testimony is accepted.
   • Al-Hasan said the reason for this name is that every believer witnesses the honor of his Lord.
   • Al-Asamm said every believer is a Shahid because he stands firm for Allah by testifying to what He has commanded them regarding the obligation of belief, the obligation of obedience, and the sanctity of disbelief and sins.
   • Abu Muslim said: We have already mentioned that Siddiq is an adjective for one who frequently speaks the truth and combines truthfulness upon truthfulness in belief in Allah the Exalted and His Messengers, thus they become witnesses over others.

2. It is a new subject (Mubtada'): The phrase {and the martyrs} is not coordinated with what preceded it, but rather it is a subject, and its predicate is {with their Lord}, or it is an adjective, and its predicate is {for them is their reward}. Based on this view, scholars differed on the intended meaning of Shuhadā’:
   • Al-Farrā’ and Al-Zajjāj said: They are the Prophets, based on the Almighty's saying: {So how will it be when We bring from every nation a witness and bring you against them as a witness?} (An-Nisa: 41).
   • Muqatil and Muhammad ibn Jarir said: The Shuhadā’ are those who were martyred in the way of Allah. It is narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he asked: "Whom do you count as martyrs among you?" They replied: "The one killed (in battle)." He said: "If so, the martyrs of my Ummah are few. Then he mentioned that the one killed is a martyr, the one who dies of an internal disease is a martyr, and the one who dies of plague is a martyr." (Hadith)

The Almighty, after mentioning the state of the believers, followed it by mentioning the state of the disbelievers, saying: {And those who disbelieve and deny Our verses—those are the companions of the Hellfire.}

After mentioning the conditions of the believers and the disbelievers, He then mentioned what indicates the insignificance of the world and the perfection of the state in the Hereafter, saying:

[57:20] Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in the multiplication of wealth and children. It is like the example of rain whose vegetation is pleasing to the disbelievers; then it dries up and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes dry debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure. And the life of this world is not but enjoyment of delusion.