Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:18

"Do you not see that..."

Their compliance with Him regarding the actions He brings about within them, and the management and subjugation He conducts upon them, is termed "prostration" to Him. This is by likening their compliance to the inclusion of the accountable person’s actions under the category of obedience and submission—which is the prostration that surpasses all other forms of humility.

If you ask: What do you do with the phrase "and many of the people," and the two objections contained therein?

1. The first: That prostration, in the sense I have interpreted it, is not performed by some people to the exclusion of others.
2. The second: That prostration was attributed generally to everyone in the heavens and the earth (including humans and jinn) at the beginning, so attributing it to "many of them" at the end is a contradiction.

I say: I do not categorize "many" among the coordinated singulars falling under the governance of the [initial] verb. Rather, I elevate it [as the subject] of an implied verb indicated by the phrase "prostrate," meaning: "And many of the people prostrate to Him in a prostration of obedience and worship."

I did not say that I interpret "prostrate"—which is apparent in the sense of obedience and worship regarding these [believers]—because a single word cannot correctly be used in one instance with two different meanings.

Alternatively, I elevate it as an initial (mubtada') whose predicate is omitted—which is "rewarded"—because the predicate of its counterpart indicates it, which is the phrase: "the punishment is due upon him."

It is also permissible to make "of the people" its predicate, meaning: "Of the people who are truly people—the righteous and the God-fearing."

It is also permissible to use hyperbole in multiplying those upon whom the punishment is due, by coordinating "many" with "many," then informing about them that the punishment is due upon them, as if it were said: "And many, and many of the people, the punishment is due upon them."

It has been recited as ḥuqq (with a damma). It has also been recited as ḥaqqan (as an accusative), meaning: "The punishment is due upon them, truly."

"And whoever Allah humiliates"—by decreeing wretchedness for him due to what preceded in His knowledge of his disbelief or wickedness—"he remains humiliated; you will find no one to honor him." It has been recited as mukram (with a fatha on the ra), meaning "the act of honoring."

"Indeed, He does what He wills" regarding honoring and humiliating, and He does not will of that except what is necessitated by the deeds of the doers and the beliefs of the believers.

"These are two adversaries who have disputed over their Lord. So those who disbelieved will have cut out for them garments of fire. Poured upon their heads will be scalding water. By which is melted that within their bellies and [their] skins. And for them are maces of iron. Every time they want to get out of it from anguish, they are returned into it, and [it is said], 'Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire.'"