Худ 11:13–24

In the cited verses, the Mushriks had demanded the kind of miracles they chose. Verses that follow tell them that they already have a miracle, the miracle of the Qur'an shown at the hands of the Holy Prophet ﷺ before them, a miracle even they could not deny. Now if they were demanding these miracles honestly, only to determine the veracity of the messenger of Allah, then, their demand stands accepted (and the miracle is on). And if this demand is simply to gratify their hostility, the showing of miracles demanded by them would remain redundant, for who could expect from such hostile people that they would embrace Islam, even after having seen those miracles. So, the essential point is that the Holy Qur'an is a clear miracle that cannot be denied.

A refutation of the false doubts engineered by Mushriks and Kafirs in it has been made in the next two verses (13, 14): These people say that the Prophet of Islam has himself made up the Qur'an - it is no book of Allah.

In answer, it was said: If you really think so, that Muhammad ﷺ can make a Qur'an like this, all by himself, then, you too, better come up with only ten Surahs like that. And it is not necessary either that these ten Surahs have to be made by any one person. Instead, let everyone in the world join forces and come up with it. And when they fail to make even ten Surahs, then, the Holy Prophet ﷺ was to tell them: Now the reality stands out loud and clear, for had this Qur'an been the word of some human being, other human beings could have also been able to make something like this. And that they all fail to do so is a strong proof of the fact that this Qur'an has been revealed only with the knowledge of Allah in which there is no room for the least increase or decrease and that it is beyond human power.

At this place, the Holy Qur'an has said that they should come up with ten Surahs like it. And in another verse it was also said: ` Then, bring a Sarah the like of this - al-Baqarah, 2:23.'

The reason is that they were first asked to bring ten Surahs. They failed to do so. Then, to make their inability look more pronounced, it was said in the verse of Surah al-Baqarah quoted above: If you take the Qur'an to be a word of man, then, you too, bring no more than just one Surah being the like of it. But, despite this challenge of the Qur'an, made so easy for them, they could do nothing. It stood proved that the Holy Qur'an was a miracle, and the Word of Allah without any doubt. Therefore, at the end, it was said: , that is, 'would you now believe and obey, or would you prefer to remain heedless as before?'

Commentary

When warnings of punishment were given to opponents of Islam, they referred to the charities they contributed to and the social welfare work they did. With this testimonial of good deeds in their hands, why would they be punished? It is interesting that, in our time too, there are a lot of unaware Muslims who seem to be suffering from the same doubt. They look at disbelieving non-Muslims who impart a good image of their outward deeds and morals, are active in social work, give out in charities, and make roads, bridges, hospitals, free drinking water counters. This view leads them to hold the opinion that they were better than Muslims. This has been answered in the first (15) of the three verses cited above.

In gist, the answer is that every deed, in order to be accepted as a source of salvation in the Hereafter, must fulfill the first condition of absolute sincerity - that this deed should have been done for the sake of Allah. And the only valid way of doing it for Allah is that it is done in accordance with the way taught and shown in practice by His Messenger. A person who simply does not believe in Allah and His Messenger is a person the sum total of whose deeds and morals is a skeleton without soul. It may look handsome (even slim) but because it has no soul or spirit, it has no weight or effect in the home of the Here-after. Yes, the contribution of such a person in the mortal world has benefited people. At least in terms of its outward form, what he had done was good, therefore, Allah, the Lord Almighty has, in consideration of His supreme equity and justice, not allowed this deed to go to waste totally. Instead, things were arranged in terms of the objectives the doers of these deeds had before them. If they had worked for recognition in society or an image as philanthropist, man of charity, good-will or distinction, or had simply aspired for health and material wealth and comfort, Allah Ta` ala lets them have all this right here in this world. They had no concept of the Hereafter. They had never cared to think of salvation there, nor their deeds, being without the essential spirit, could have qualified them to become deserving of it. Therefore, no return waits for them there, against their deeds, while the added burden of disbelief and disobedience will keep them in Hell. This was a gist of what was said in the first verse. Now, we can have a look at some of the words used there.

It was said that a person who kept striving for the life of this world and its embellishments gets from Allah the full return for his or her deeds right here in this world. For them, nothing is cut short in Dunya. These are the kind of men and women for whom there is nothing in Akhirah (Hereafter), except the Hell.

It is noteworthy at this point that the expression opted for in the Qur'an is: مَن کَانَ یُریدُ (those who have been intending) which bypasses something brief like: مَن اَرَادَ (those who wanted). The Qur'anic expression denotes continuity and carries the sense of ` kept striving for' as trans-lated a little earlier. This tells us that it is the condition of people who never wanted to have anything out of what they did but the good of this world. They just never bothered to worry about what would hap-pen in the life to come. As for the person who feels concerned about the Hereafter and does what would bring salvation there and, along with it aims and plans to have his share from the world, then, it is not included in the purview of this verse.

Is this verse related to kafirs or Muslims or to both Muslims and kafirs? Major authorities in Tafsir differ about it.

The words in the last sentence of the verse - for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter except the fire of Hell - seem to suggest that it is related to kafirs, because a Muslim, no matter how sinning, would ultimately go to Paradise after having undergone the punishment of sins. Therefore, Dahhak and other commentators have interpreted it as related to kafirs only.

Some commentators have said that it refers to Muslims who, through their good deeds, aim to acquire only the comfort, wealth and recognition from this worldly life. In other words, they do their good deeds with the sole intention of having comfort and recognition in the world they live in. And the sentence we are talking about would thus mean that, until they undergo the punishment of their evil deeds, they would have nothing except the fire of Hell.

However, the weightier and clearer approach is to take this verse as relating to people who do their good deeds only with the intention of acquiring worldly benefits, such as wealth, health and recognition. Those who do so may be kafirs or disbelievers who do not believe in the Hereafter from the very outset. Or, they may be Muslims who believe in the Hereafter theoretically but do not apply their belief to what they do practically. In fact, they would keep all concerns of their life exclusively attached to worldly benefits and interests. From among the ear_ ly commentators, Mujahid, Maimun ibn Mihran and Sayyidna Mu’ awiyah ؓ have gone by this view.

This meaning is also supported by the well-known Hadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ : اِنَّما الاَعمال بِالنِّیَات (Actions are [ judged ] according to Intentions). What one intends to have by his action gets exactly that. Whoever intends to have Dunya (worldly benefits) gets Dunya. Whoever intends to have Ahhirah gets Akhirah. Whoever intends to have both gets both. That all actions depend on intention is a principle approved of in every community and religion. (Qurtubi)

Therefore, says a Hadith, those who devoted themselves to acts of worship in the mortal world to look respectable before others will be brought forth on the day of Qiyamah. It would be said to them: ` you said your prayers, gave in charity, fought in Jihad, recited the Qur'an, but you did all that with the intention that you should be known as devotees to prayers, givers in charity, veteran warriors of Jihad and great reciters of Qur'an. Now you have had what you wanted to have. The honors you were looking for have already come to you in the mortal world. Now, there is no return for your deeds here. And these people will be the first to be thrown into the Hell.'

While reporting this Hadith, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ broke into tears and said, ` the verse of the Qur'an: مَن كَانَ يُرِ‌يدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا (Those who have been intending (to achieve) the worldly life and its beauty –11:15 ) confirms this Hadith.

Sahih Muslim reports on the authority of Sayyidna Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` Allah Ta` ala does no injustice to anyone. For the good deed a believer does, he gets some return for it in the mortal world while gets the real reward in the Hereafter. As for a kafir (since he does not bother about what would happen to him in the Hereafter), his account is cleared within his life in the mortal world. The return for his good deeds, if any, is given to him in the form of worldly wealth, recognition, health and comfort - until comes the time when he reaches the stage of the Hereafter where he is left with nothing that could bring any return there.

It appears in Tafsir Mazhari that, though a believer looks forward to having prosperity in the mortal world as well, but his intention to have the best of the Hereafter remains on top of everything. Therefore, he gets what he does in the mortal world only to the measure of his needs. However, he does get the larger return and reward in the Here-after.

Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ عنہ once visited the home of the Holy Prophet ﷺ When he saw virtually nothing in the house but a few things here and there, he said to him: ` please pray that Allah Ta` ala blesses your Ummah too with extended material means. We see Persia and Byzantine. They are very prosperous in this world although they do not worship Allah Ta` ala.' The Holy Prophet ﷺ was reclining on a pillow behind his waist. When he heard these words of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ he sat up straight and said, ` O ` Umar, you are still lost in those thoughts. As for these people, they are the ones who have been given the return of their good deeds right here in this world.' (Mazhari)

Jami` Tirmidhi and the Musnad of Ahmad report on the authority of Sayyidna Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` Whoever intends to have (the best of) the Hereafter through his deeds, Allah Ta` ala makes his heart need-free in this world. He (Himself) takes care of what he must have, and (the desire of) the world comes to him all humbled. And whoever intends to have (the best of) the present world, Allah Ta’ ala makes want and need stand before him to the effect that they can never shake them off. There is no end to his needs because he is constantly being driven by worldly greed. No sooner does one need gets fulfilled, another gaping need stands before him. Countless concerns gang upon him but what he gets is what Allah Ta'ala has written for him.

Regarding what has been said in this verse: ` those who aimed for worldly life are fully recompensed for their deeds within this world,' someone may raise a doubt. It could be said that there are many people who, despite aiming and striving to have worldly benefits, fail to achieve their objective even in this world and, on occasions, they would get just about nothing. The answer is that, in this verse, the Qur'an has dealt with the subject briefly. Details appear in the following verse of Surah al-Isra' (Banu Isra'i1) where it was said: مَّن كَانَ يُرِ‌يدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَن نُّرِ‌يدُ (whoever keeps aspiring for the immediate, We shall give soon what We will to whom We will). It means whoever keeps aiming for nothing but worldly life, Allah gives it to him right here within the world, but this giving is restricted by two conditions. Firstly, He gives as much as He wants. It is not necessary to let them have what matches their desires. Secondly, He gives only to a person it is appropriate to give him according to His wisdom. Giving to everyone is not necessary.

The second verse (17) presents the high ground the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the purely sincere believers with him occupy. This is in sharp contrast to those the sum total of whose knowledge and the end of whose quest is restricted to worldly life only - so that the whole world could see that these two groups could not be equal. After having focused on this phenomena, it has been stated that the mission and message of the Holy Prophet ﷺ as a prophet and messenger of Allah is open to mankind right through the Last Day of Qiyamah. Then, it has been stressed that anyone who does not believe in him will be considered, irrespective of what one does, astray and Hell-bound.

In the first sentence, it was asked: Can a denier of the Qur'an be equal to the one who adheres to the Qur'an that has come from his Lord? And along with it there is a witness present within it, while a witness earlier to this is the Book of Musa A.L that was sent to be followed and to be mercy for people?

The word: bayyinah (بینہ) appearing in this verse refers to the Qur'an. As for the meaning of ` shahid' (شاھِد evidence), statements of Tafsir authorities differ. The author of Bay-an a1-Qur'an takes ` shahid' to mean the miracle of the Qur'an that is present in the Qur'an as such. Thus, it comes to mean that those who adhere to the Qur'an, they already have a witness to the veracity of the Qur'an within it, that is, its miracle. Then, the other witness has already come in the form of Torah. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had brought it as guidance and mercy for people. The reason is that the Torah confirms the truth of the Qur'an clearly.

In the second sentence, in order to stress that salvation, up to the Last Day, depends on faith in the Holy Prophet ﷺ it has been said that anyone from any religion or community of the world who refuses to have faith in him will have his abode in Jahannam.

The Sahih of Muslim reports on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, ` by the One in whose hands rests my life, any Jew or Christian who hears my call and still does not believe in the teachings I have brought, then, he or she will be of the people of Jahannam.'

This should remove the misunderstanding of those who regard the Jews and Christians or the adherents of other religions as being on haqq (the truth) on the basis of some outward deeds and consider these to be sufficient for salvation without having faith in the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the Qur'an. This is an open clash with the present ayah of the Holy Qur'an, and the authentic ahadith. اَلعَیَاذ بِاللہ (Allah may save us from that! )