Al-Hadid (The Iron): (21) Race towards forgiveness...

It is as if the Almighty is saying: Let your boasting and vying be not in what you are currently engaged in, but rather be eager that your competition be in seeking the Hereafter.

Know that the Almighty commanded hastening in His saying: {And hasten towards forgiveness from your Lord}. Here, He explained the manner of that hastening, saying: {Race}, meaning, race like competitors in a racetrack.

Regarding His saying: {And hasten towards forgiveness from your Lord}, there are two issues:

There is no doubt that what is meant is hastening towards what necessitates forgiveness. Some said the meaning is: race towards repentance. Others said: race towards all that you are commanded with, which includes repentance. This latter view is more sound, because forgiveness and Paradise are not attained except by ceasing from all sins and engaging in all acts of obedience.

Those who argue that a command implies immediacy used this verse as evidence. They said: This verse indicates the obligation of hastening, so delay must be prohibited.

Regarding His saying: {and a Garden whose breadth is like the breadth of the heaven and the earth}, and His saying in Al 'Imran: {and a Garden whose breadth is like the heavens and the earth} (Al 'Imran: 133), they mentioned several interpretations:

1. The first: If the seven heavens and the seven earths were laid out flat and joined together, the breadth of Paradise would equal that combined breadth. This is the view of Muqatil.
2. The second: 'Ata' (from Ibn 'Abbas) said it means that every obedient person has a Garden of this description.
3. The third: Al-Suddi said that Allah (Exalted is He) likened the breadth of Paradise to the breadth of the seven heavens and the seven earths. Since its length is undoubtedly greater than its breadth, mentioning the breadth serves as an indication that its length is many times that.
4. The fourth: This is a metaphor for the reward, using what they comprehend and what occurs to their minds and thoughts. What most often occurs to their minds is the measure of the heavens and the earth. This is the view of Al-Zajjaj.
5. The fifth (and the preferred view of Ibn 'Abbas): There are four Gardens. He said: {But for him who feared the standing before his Lord, there will be two Gardens} (Ar-Rahman: 46), and {And besides those two, there are two other Gardens} (Ar-Rahman: 62). What is meant here is likening the breadth of one of those Gardens to the breadth of the seven heavens and the seven earths.

Then the Almighty said: {Race towards forgiveness from your Lord}. This contains several issues:

The majority of our scholars used this verse as evidence that Paradise is created. The Mu'tazila argued that this verse cannot be taken literally for two reasons:

1. His saying: {Its fruit and its shade are perpetual} (Ar-Ra'd: 35) indicates that its characteristic after its existence is that it will not perish. However, if it existed now, it would perish, based on His saying: {Everything will perish except His Face} (Al-Qasas: 88).
2. Paradise is created and is currently in the seventh heaven. It is not permissible for something located in one heaven to have a breadth equal to the breadth of all the heavens.

They concluded that interpretation is necessary, which they explain in two ways:

1. Since Allah is Capable, prohibition is not valid for Him, and since He is Wise, His promise is not false. Since He promised Paradise for obedience, Paradise is as if it is prepared and ready for them, likening what will certainly occur to what has already occurred. A person might say to his companion: "I have prepared the reward for you," even if he hasn't physically created it yet.
2. What is meant is that when the Hereafter comes, Allah will have prepared it for them, like His saying: {And the dwellers of the Fire will call to the dwellers of Paradise} (Al-A'raf: 50), meaning, when the Day of Resurrection comes, the answer will be called out. They argue that His saying {Everything will perish} is general, while {Its fruit and its shade are perpetual} along with {prepared for the pious} is specific. The specific takes precedence over the general.

As for their second point (that Paradise is in the seventh heaven), we reply: It is created above the seventh heaven, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said regarding the description of Paradise: "Its roof is the Throne of the Most Merciful." Is it far-fetched for a created thing above something to be greater than it? Is the Throne, the greatest of created things, not created above the seventh heaven?

His saying: {Race towards forgiveness from your Lord} contains the greatest hope and strongest expectation, as He mentioned that Paradise is prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers, and He did not mention anything else alongside belief. Although the Mu'tazila claim that the word Iman (belief) implies all acts of obedience due to legal usage, they admit that when the word Iman is followed by the preposition bi (with/in), it retains its original meaning of affirmation/testimony. Thus, the verse is evidence against them.

What confirms our position is His subsequent saying: {That is the Bounty of Allah, He gives it to whom He wills}. This means that Paradise is a favor, not a transaction, so He gives it to whomever He wills among His servants, whether they obeyed or disobeyed.

If it is argued: Then you must affirm that all sinners will attain Paradise, and that they will receive no punishment? We reply: We affirm that Paradise will be attained for them, but we do not affirm the negation of punishment for them. Because if they are punished for a period and then transferred to Paradise to remain there eternally, Paradise was indeed prepared for them.

If it is argued: Then the apostate believed in Allah, so he must fall under the verse? We reply: He is excluded from the generality; thus, the generality remains evidence for everything else.

The majority of our scholars asserted that the bliss of Paradise is purely a favor, not something earned by deeds. This is also the view of Al-Ka'bi among the Mu'tazila. They used this verse to support the correctness of this doctrine.

The Judge (Al-Qadi) responded by saying: This conclusion is only necessary if it is impossible for Paradise to be both deserved and a bounty from Allah. If both descriptions can coexist, this line of reasoning is invalid. We maintain that there is no contradiction between these two descriptions because Allah is the One who bestowed the means by which the accountable person becomes capable of earning that desert. Since Allah bestowed the means to earn the causes of desert, He is bestowing upon them. He added: Since it is established that His saying {He gives it to whom He wills} must be conditional upon what is deserved, otherwise His preceding statement {Race towards forgiveness from your Lord} would have no meaning.

Know that this view is weak because Allah being the bestower of the means to earn does not necessitate that Allah is the bestower of the Paradise itself. For example, if someone gives a person paper, ink, and a pen, and that person writes a Qur'an with that ink and sells it to the giver, one would not say that paying the price is a favor; rather, it is said that it is deserved. The same applies here. As for his claim that desert is necessary, otherwise the preceding statement {Race towards forgiveness from your Lord} would be meaningless, the response is that this reasoning is strange, because the Bestower has the right to stipulate any condition He wishes in His bestowal, saying: "I will only bestow it under this condition."

Then the Almighty said: {And Allah is the Owner of Great Bounty}. What is meant by this is to draw attention to the greatness of the status of Paradise. This is because when the Owner of Great Bounty gives a gift, He praises Himself and extols Himself for it, which necessitates that the gift itself must be great.