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Tafseer -
Explanation of the Qur'aan |
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VERSE SEVEN
·
The saying
of the Exalted, "The Path of those whom You have favoured"
Who
are the people on whom Allah has bestowed His Mercy? -
After the
servant has requested for guidance to the Straight Path, Allah then proceeds
to clarify further what this Straight Path is, and this in turn is explained
in greater detail in Surah an-Nisaa: "And whosoever obeys Allah and the
Messenger then they will be in the company of those upon whom Allah has
bestowed His favour: the Prophets, the sincerely truthful, the martyrs and the
righteous. What an excellent company these are!" [Soorah An-Nisaa` (4):
65-69]
Ibn
Abbaas (radiyallahu anhu) said in commentary to this verse: [Those who you
have favored] by making them obedient to You and worship You from the Angels,
the Prophets, the sincerely truthful, the martyrs and the righteous. This is
like what our Lord, the Exalted has said, "they will be in the company of
those upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor…”
·
The
saying of the Exalted, "not the path of those who have earned [Your]
anger, nor those who have gone astray":
Meaning
of the word Al-Ghadab: Al-Ghadab
linguistically means anger, it is the opposite of pleasure (ridaa) and one of
the Attributes of Allah. Maghdoob refer to the objects of Anger.
Meaning
of the word Dalaal: Dalaal
linguistically means to divert from the intended goal or to diverge from the
true path and it is the opposite of guidance.
Who
are the people who have earned the Anger of Allah and who are those who have
gone astray?
At-Tirmidhee
reports from Adee bin Haatim who said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah
(sallallahu alahi wa-sallam) about Allah’s saying about, ‘those who have
earned [Your] Anger’, and He said, ‘it refers to the Jews.’ I then asked
about, ‘those who have gone astray’ and he said, ‘the Christians are
those who have gone astray.’ [Reported by at-Tirmidhee and Ahmad and it is
saheeh.]
The
Jews and the Christians even though both of them are misguided and both of
them have Allah’s Anger on them - the Anger is specified to the Jews, even
though the Christians share this with them, because the Jews knew the truth
and rejected it and deliberately came with falsehood. Therefore the Anger of
Allah being upon them was the description most befitting them. The Christians
were ignorant, not knowing the truth, so misguidance was the description most
befitting them. This is further proven by the sayings of Allah concerning the
Jews: ‘So they have drawn on
themselves anger upon anger.’ [Soorah Al-Baqarah (2): 90]
“Say:
shall I inform you of something worse than that, regarding the recompense from
Allah: those (Jews) who incurred the Curse of Allah and His Anger.’ [Soorah
Al-Maa`idah (5): 60]
‘Indeed
those who took the calf (for worship), anger from their Lord and humiliation
will come upon them.’ [Soorah Al-A`raaf (7): 152]
He
says concerning Christians ‘And do not follow the vain desires of people
(i.e. the Christians) who went astray in times gone by, and misled many, and
have themselves strayed from the Straight Path’ [(5): 77]
Composition
In
this verse the blessings of Allah have been mentioned in the second person
such that Allah is directly referred to, ‘the path of those whom You have
favored.’ However when the Anger or punishment of Allah is mentioned in
the third person such that Allah is not directly referred to, ‘not the
path of those who have earned [Your] Anger, nor of those who have gone
astray.’ Even though He is the One in reality Who is Angry with them,
and He is the One by Whose decree (Will, Permission) they were misguided.
This
is a method that is used throughout the Qur`aan and it is a way of showing
respect to Allah and not attributing evil to Him as well as showing how
belittled such people are. This was clearly expressed in the supplication of
the Messenger of Allah when he said: "I am completely at Your service and
doing all I can to please You. All good is in Your Hands and evil does not
pertain to You." [Reported by Muslim [Eng. Trans. 1/373 no. 1695], Abu
Daawood [Eng. Trans. 1/195 no. 759] and Nasaa`ee [2/130]
Evil
is not attributes to Allah
Prophet
(sallallahu alahi wa-sallam) said: “I respond to your call (O Allah!) and I
am obedient to your orders, all Good is your Hands, and the evil is not
attributed to You…” [Saheeh Muslim Arabic: 1: 535 # 771]
In
the matters of fate, there is Al-Qadar (the Divine Decree) and al-Maqdoor
(What is decreed).
Al-Qadr
i.e. The Divine Decree which represents Allah’s Absolute Knowledge, His
absolute Ability, Writing (Al-Lauh al-Mahfoodh), His Will (Mashee’ah), His
Creation (Al-Khalq). And evil is not in His Decree because all of these
Actions and Attributes of Allah are Perfect and good as Allah is perfectly
Wise, Just, and Merciful in all His Actions.
The
Maqdoor represents what Allah has decreed. Good or evil is in what Allah
decreed in Allah’s creation i.e. evil is in Allah’s creation not in
Himself, Attributes, Names or Actions.
The
Prophet (sallallahu alahi wa-sallam) said in one of his supplication: “And
protect us from the evil of what You decreed.”
What
is Evil - Evil is placing things in their unsuitable place (i.e. injustice).
Although,
Allah is the Creator of everything including good and evil, He is High above
being unjust, because He places everything in their proper place due to His
Absolute Knowledge
and Great Wisdom
and this is all good.
Two
types of Evil – Potential Evil and Existent Evil.
1.
The
Potential Evil:
“And Allah has brought you our from the wombs of your mothers while you know
nothing.” [16: 78]
Allah
bestows knowledge, ability and richness on the self. The resulting good is
therefore from Allah.
The
lack of knowledge, faith, willingness to do-good deeds, etc. is absolute Adam
(non-existing) without a Fail’ (Doer). Therefore, the lack of good
attributes is from the self.
This
‘Adam and what it entails is the first kind of evil and is an attribute of
the nature of the self and is therefore, not attributed to Allah. It is
described as ‘deficiency’ which is Jahl (Ignorance – lack of knowledge)
and Thulm (injustice).
This deficiency of the self entails evil, and this evil is proportional
(comparative) to the self’s inherent (existing in something as an essential
or permanent attribute) strength or weakness.
For
example, the first deficiency that came upon the Father of mankind. It came as
a result of the lack of knowledge (or patience) and determination (process of
deciding).
2.
The Existent Evil - The mere existence of evil is not evil in itself.
It becomes evil when it is deprived from good and its means. And when it is
placed in other than its proper place. For example, prostration is not evil in
itself, but it may turn evil when it is linked to other than Allah. Certainly,
Allah is free from doing this evil, and it cannot be attributed to Him.
Even
though Allah is the Sole creator of everything, He created the deeds of His
slaves, their movements, and their sayings. The slave of Allah commits evil
when he does something, which Allah has made unlawful.
Indeed,
Allah is the One Who is Ja’alahu (i.e. He enabled him by making for him a
will and an ability). The Ja’l (making) is from Allah and it (making him
able) is just, wise, and correct because making him able to do is good, but
what was done is ugly.
So,
the second kind of evil (Asharul Wajudi) Existential Evil, is corrupt beliefs
and wills, anything that opposes life and existence like illness and its
causes, pain and its causes, existent impediments (obstruction) that prevent
the attainment and deliverance of good to its suitable place, e.g. False
beliefs and corrupt wills will prevent its opponent (good beliefs and wills)
from reaching the heart.
This
Existential evil is not evil itself but rather contributory (facilitating,
helping) and relative i.e. it is evil in one respect and good in another. It
is due to Allah’s Great Wisdom for which He is praised for.
For
example:
1.
The perfection of fire is in its burning what is required to be burned,
this is good. If however, it meets what is not required to be burned it will
ruin it. This is relative evil.
2.
The will and anger are both created to assist man in achieving what
benefits him and destroying what might harm him. When they are used to fulfill
such purposes, then they achieve their state of perfection, and this is good.
However, if they are diverted from their good course and used improperly in
places where they should not be used, then this becomes the contributory
relative evil.
3.
Similarly, The movement of our limbs and all our limbs follow the same
concept. Their mere existence is not evil. It is relative, using these body
parts in ways and places that are not proper or suitable make it contributory
relative evil.
With
the above in mind Ibn Taymeeyah, gave some example that explain the human
self. One of these examples is…
1.
A fast
rotating wheel or mill
– It will lay waste whatever it may snatch. The miller is in charge, making
good use of it. Suddenly, the heedless one comes close to it and it tears
apart his clothes or parts of his body. If it is said to the miller: “Why
did you not make it still so that it does not harm the one who comes close to
it? He says: “This is inherent nature by which it is mill. Had it been other
than this nature, the required nature behind its being it would not had been
achieved.” [Refer to ‘The Salaf’s Guide to the Understanding of Qadaa’
and Qadar – by Dr. Saleh as-Saleh]
It
is also said ‘the milk dalla in the water’ when it is mixed such that
it disappears. In this respect also is His saying,
And
they say: when we become dalal in the earth."
[As-Sajdah (32): 10]
Meaning
when we die and disappear into the earth by becoming dust. Ad-Daalleen
refers to those who gone astray
As Allah says: “But man bore it (i.e. Al-Amanah: the trust or moral
responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained).
Verily! He was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results). [33: 72]
