7. Al-A'raaf

Commentary

An overview of the Surah shows that most of the subjects it deals with are related to Ma` ad (Return to the Hereafter) and Risalah (Prophethood). The former appear from the beginning of the Surah upto approximately the end of the sixth section. Then, from the eighth to the twenty first sections, there is a detailed description of past prophets, events about their communities, their reward and punishment and the punishment which overtook them.

In the statement فَلَا يَكُن فِي صَدْرِ‌كَ حَرَ‌جٌ appearing in the first verse, the address is to the Holy Prophet . ؓ and he has been told: This Qur'an is the Book of Allah sent down to you. This should not cause any constraint on your heart. The word: حَرَج (haraj) translated here as ` constraint' means that ` you should have no anguish or apprehension in conveying the Qur'an and its injunctions lest people belie it and hurt you.' (As reported from Abu Al-` Aliyah - Mazhari)

The hint given here is that Allah who has sent down this Book on you has also made arrangements that you shall remain protected and that takes care of any anguish on your part. Some commentators have said that ` haraj' or ` constraint on the heart' refers to the constraint experienced by the Holy Prophet ؓ who, because of his affectionate concern for people, felt pain when they would not believe despite having heard the Qur'an and its injunctions. To offset this constraint, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been told that the duty with which he has been obligated is simply to make the call and convey the message. Once this is done, it is not his responsibility to see who becomes a Muslim and who does not. Therefore, there was no reason for him to be anxious.

In the statement فَلَا يَكُن فِي صَدْرِ‌كَ حَرَ‌جٌ appearing in the first verse, the address is to the Holy Prophet . ؓ and he has been told: This Qur'an is the Book of Allah sent down to you. This should not cause any constraint on your heart. The word: حَرَج (haraj) translated here as ` constraint' means that ` you should have no anguish or apprehension in conveying the Qur'an and its injunctions lest people belie it and hurt you.' (As reported from Abu Al-` Aliyah - Mazhari)

The hint given here is that Allah who has sent down this Book on you has also made arrangements that you shall remain protected and that takes care of any anguish on your part. Some commentators have said that ` haraj' or ` constraint on the heart' refers to the constraint experienced by the Holy Prophet ؓ who, because of his affectionate concern for people, felt pain when they would not believe despite having heard the Qur'an and its injunctions. To offset this constraint, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been told that the duty with which he has been obligated is simply to make the call and convey the message. Once this is done, it is not his responsibility to see who becomes a Muslim and who does not. Therefore, there was no reason for him to be anxious.

In the statement فَلَا يَكُن فِي صَدْرِ‌كَ حَرَ‌جٌ appearing in the first verse, the address is to the Holy Prophet . ؓ and he has been told: This Qur'an is the Book of Allah sent down to you. This should not cause any constraint on your heart. The word: حَرَج (haraj) translated here as ` constraint' means that ` you should have no anguish or apprehension in conveying the Qur'an and its injunctions lest people belie it and hurt you.' (As reported from Abu Al-` Aliyah - Mazhari)

The hint given here is that Allah who has sent down this Book on you has also made arrangements that you shall remain protected and that takes care of any anguish on your part. Some commentators have said that ` haraj' or ` constraint on the heart' refers to the constraint experienced by the Holy Prophet ؓ who, because of his affectionate concern for people, felt pain when they would not believe despite having heard the Qur'an and its injunctions. To offset this constraint, the Holy Prophet ﷺ has been told that the duty with which he has been obligated is simply to make the call and convey the message. Once this is done, it is not his responsibility to see who becomes a Muslim and who does not. Therefore, there was no reason for him to be anxious.

The statement: فَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الَّذِينَ أُرْ‌سِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الْمُرْ‌سَلِينَ ﴿6﴾ in verse 6 refers to the day of Qiyamah when people will be asked by Allah how did they receive the messengers and Books sent to them by Him - and the messengers will be asked if they did convey to their communities the message and injunctions Allah had sent them with. (Narrated by Baihaqi from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ - Mazhari)

It appears in Sahib Muslim on the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked people during the address of his Last Hajj: When, on the day of Qiyamah, you will be asked about me - whether or not I have conveyed the message of Allah to you - what will you, then, say in reply? (فَمَا انتم قَائِلُونَ ). All Sahabah present there said: We will say that you have conveyed the message of Allah to us and you have fulfilled the trust of Allah at its best and you have wished and done what was most beneficial for the community. Hearing this, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: اَشھَدُاَللَّھُمَّ Allah, You be witness).

According to a narration in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: On the day of Qiyamah, Allah Ta'ala will ask me if I have conveyed His message to His servants and I shall say in response: Yes, I have. Therefore, all of you should make sure that those who are present do convey my message to those absent. (Mazhari)

` Those absent' refers to people who were present during that time but were not present at that particular occasion - as well as generations which would come later on. To convey to them the message of the Holy Prophet ﷺ means that people of every time should continue the chain of conveying this message to the generations coming next, so that all children of Adam to be born right through the day of Qiyamah will have received this message.

The statement: فَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الَّذِينَ أُرْ‌سِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الْمُرْ‌سَلِينَ ﴿6﴾ in verse 6 refers to the day of Qiyamah when people will be asked by Allah how did they receive the messengers and Books sent to them by Him - and the messengers will be asked if they did convey to their communities the message and injunctions Allah had sent them with. (Narrated by Baihaqi from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ - Mazhari)

It appears in Sahib Muslim on the authority of a narration from Sayyidna Jabir ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ asked people during the address of his Last Hajj: When, on the day of Qiyamah, you will be asked about me - whether or not I have conveyed the message of Allah to you - what will you, then, say in reply? (فَمَا انتم قَائِلُونَ ). All Sahabah present there said: We will say that you have conveyed the message of Allah to us and you have fulfilled the trust of Allah at its best and you have wished and done what was most beneficial for the community. Hearing this, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: اَشھَدُاَللَّھُمَّ Allah, You be witness).

According to a narration in the Musnad of Ahmad, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: On the day of Qiyamah, Allah Ta'ala will ask me if I have conveyed His message to His servants and I shall say in response: Yes, I have. Therefore, all of you should make sure that those who are present do convey my message to those absent. (Mazhari)

` Those absent' refers to people who were present during that time but were not present at that particular occasion - as well as generations which would come later on. To convey to them the message of the Holy Prophet ﷺ means that people of every time should continue the chain of conveying this message to the generations coming next, so that all children of Adam to be born right through the day of Qiyamah will have received this message.

Commentary

In the first verse, it was said: وَالْوَزْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ ` (And the Weighing on that day is definite). It means that the weighing of good and bad deeds on the day of Judgment is due and true. There is no room for doubt in it. Here, the hint given is that let no one be deceived by the idea that things which usually get to be weighed or measured are things having some weight or heaviness. Human deeds, good or bad, have no body or mass which could be weighed. How, then, would deeds be weighed? First of all, the reason is that the authority of Allah is absolute. He is powerful over everything. Why then, would it be necessary that something we cannot weigh could not be weighed by Allah Almighty as well? Then, other than that, we have before us, in our time, countless new instruments which claim to weigh or measure anything in the world. They no more need the traditional balance or scales or rod or tip. Modern instruments can weigh what nobody ever thought could be weighed, air, electric current, heat, cold, and so many other things. A meter is all you need. Now, if Allah Almighty, the Maker of makers, in His perfect power, could weigh or measure human deeds - with or without a device - what is there in it which would make it to be something far out to believe? Leaving this aside for a moment, the Creator of the Universe does have the power to transform our deeds at some time into a material presence, even give it some shape or form (interesting that people would believe something like this happening in a Speilberg movie, yet squirm at the religious view of things as would come to pass). There are many Ahadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` which confirm that human deeds will appear in particular shapes and forms during Barzakh (the post-death - pre-resurrection state) and Mahshar (Resurrection). Good deeds of a person will, in forms beautified, become the companions of the grave - and evil deeds would crawl all over in the form of snakes and scorpions. A Hadith says that a person who has not paid the Zakah due against his wealth, that wealth will reach his grave in the shape of a poisonous snake to bite him and say: I am your wealth, I am your treasure.

It is said in a Sahih Hadith that Al-Baqarah and 'Al-` Imran, the two Surahs of the Holy Qur'an will come on the plains of Resurrection in the form of two dense clouds and cast their shade over those who used to recite these Surahs.

Similarly, there are countless narrations from Hadith, all authentic and reported reliably, which indicate that once these good and bad deeds of ours pass away from this mortal world, they will transform into particular shapes and forms and be there on the plains of Resurrection in a material presence.

There are even verses of the Qur'an which confirm it. It is said: وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرً‌ا ، that is, ` what people had done in the world, they would find that present there - 18:49.' In a verse of Surah Az-Zalzalah, it is said: مَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ خَيْرً‌ا يَرَ‌هُ ﴿7﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ شَرًّ‌ا يَرَ‌هُ that is, ` whoever does good even the weight of a particle shall see it on the day of Qiyamah, and whoever does evil …

Commentary

In the first verse, it was said: وَالْوَزْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ ` (And the Weighing on that day is definite). It means that the weighing of good and bad deeds on the day of Judgment is due and true. There is no room for doubt in it. Here, the hint given is that let no one be deceived by the idea that things which usually get to be weighed or measured are things having some weight or heaviness. Human deeds, good or bad, have no body or mass which could be weighed. How, then, would deeds be weighed? First of all, the reason is that the authority of Allah is absolute. He is powerful over everything. Why then, would it be necessary that something we cannot weigh could not be weighed by Allah Almighty as well? Then, other than that, we have before us, in our time, countless new instruments which claim to weigh or measure anything in the world. They no more need the traditional balance or scales or rod or tip. Modern instruments can weigh what nobody ever thought could be weighed, air, electric current, heat, cold, and so many other things. A meter is all you need. Now, if Allah Almighty, the Maker of makers, in His perfect power, could weigh or measure human deeds - with or without a device - what is there in it which would make it to be something far out to believe? Leaving this aside for a moment, the Creator of the Universe does have the power to transform our deeds at some time into a material presence, even give it some shape or form (interesting that people would believe something like this happening in a Speilberg movie, yet squirm at the religious view of things as would come to pass). There are many Ahadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` which confirm that human deeds will appear in particular shapes and forms during Barzakh (the post-death - pre-resurrection state) and Mahshar (Resurrection). Good deeds of a person will, in forms beautified, become the companions of the grave - and evil deeds would crawl all over in the form of snakes and scorpions. A Hadith says that a person who has not paid the Zakah due against his wealth, that wealth will reach his grave in the shape of a poisonous snake to bite him and say: I am your wealth, I am your treasure.

It is said in a Sahih Hadith that Al-Baqarah and 'Al-` Imran, the two Surahs of the Holy Qur'an will come on the plains of Resurrection in the form of two dense clouds and cast their shade over those who used to recite these Surahs.

Similarly, there are countless narrations from Hadith, all authentic and reported reliably, which indicate that once these good and bad deeds of ours pass away from this mortal world, they will transform into particular shapes and forms and be there on the plains of Resurrection in a material presence.

There are even verses of the Qur'an which confirm it. It is said: وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرً‌ا ، that is, ` what people had done in the world, they would find that present there - 18:49.' In a verse of Surah Az-Zalzalah, it is said: مَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ خَيْرً‌ا يَرَ‌هُ ﴿7﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ شَرًّ‌ا يَرَ‌هُ that is, ` whoever does good even the weight of a particle shall see it on the day of Qiyamah, and whoever does evil …

Commentary

In the first verse, it was said: وَالْوَزْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ ` (And the Weighing on that day is definite). It means that the weighing of good and bad deeds on the day of Judgment is due and true. There is no room for doubt in it. Here, the hint given is that let no one be deceived by the idea that things which usually get to be weighed or measured are things having some weight or heaviness. Human deeds, good or bad, have no body or mass which could be weighed. How, then, would deeds be weighed? First of all, the reason is that the authority of Allah is absolute. He is powerful over everything. Why then, would it be necessary that something we cannot weigh could not be weighed by Allah Almighty as well? Then, other than that, we have before us, in our time, countless new instruments which claim to weigh or measure anything in the world. They no more need the traditional balance or scales or rod or tip. Modern instruments can weigh what nobody ever thought could be weighed, air, electric current, heat, cold, and so many other things. A meter is all you need. Now, if Allah Almighty, the Maker of makers, in His perfect power, could weigh or measure human deeds - with or without a device - what is there in it which would make it to be something far out to believe? Leaving this aside for a moment, the Creator of the Universe does have the power to transform our deeds at some time into a material presence, even give it some shape or form (interesting that people would believe something like this happening in a Speilberg movie, yet squirm at the religious view of things as would come to pass). There are many Ahadith from the Holy Prophet ﷺ ` which confirm that human deeds will appear in particular shapes and forms during Barzakh (the post-death - pre-resurrection state) and Mahshar (Resurrection). Good deeds of a person will, in forms beautified, become the companions of the grave - and evil deeds would crawl all over in the form of snakes and scorpions. A Hadith says that a person who has not paid the Zakah due against his wealth, that wealth will reach his grave in the shape of a poisonous snake to bite him and say: I am your wealth, I am your treasure.

It is said in a Sahih Hadith that Al-Baqarah and 'Al-` Imran, the two Surahs of the Holy Qur'an will come on the plains of Resurrection in the form of two dense clouds and cast their shade over those who used to recite these Surahs.

Similarly, there are countless narrations from Hadith, all authentic and reported reliably, which indicate that once these good and bad deeds of ours pass away from this mortal world, they will transform into particular shapes and forms and be there on the plains of Resurrection in a material presence.

There are even verses of the Qur'an which confirm it. It is said: وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرً‌ا ، that is, ` what people had done in the world, they would find that present there - 18:49.' In a verse of Surah Az-Zalzalah, it is said: مَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ خَيْرً‌ا يَرَ‌هُ ﴿7﴾ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّ‌ةٍ شَرًّ‌ا يَرَ‌هُ that is, ` whoever does good even the weight of a particle shall see it on the day of Qiyamah, and whoever does evil …