Verse Number 39
انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَلاٌّخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَـتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلاً
(See how We favor one above another, and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in favor.) (17:21). This means that just as there are differences between them in this world — where one may be poor and in straitened circumstances while another is rich and enjoys a life of plenty — so they will be in the Hereafter. There one will reside in apartments in the highest levels of Paradise, whilst another will be in the lowest levels of Hell. As the Prophet said, describing the best of people in this world:
«قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ وَرُزِقَ كَفَافًا وَقَنَّعَهُ اللهُ بِمَا آتَاه»
(He truly succeeds who becomes Muslim and is given just enough provision and Allah makes him content with what He has given.)” It was recorded by Muslim.
وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُمْ مِّن شَىْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ
(39 cont. – and whatsoever you spend of anything, He will replace it.) means, `whatever you spend in the ways that He has commanded you and permitted you, He will compensate you for it in this world by giving you something else instead, and in the Hereafter by giving you reward.’ It was reported that the Prophet said:
«يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: أَنْفِقْ، أُنْفِقْ عَلَيْك»
(Allah says: “Spend, I will spend on you.”) In another Hadith it is reported that every morning, two angels come, and one says, “O Allah, bring destruction upon the one who withholds (does not spend).” The other one says, “O Allah, give compensation to the one who spends.” And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«أَنْفِقْ بِلَالُ، وَلَا تَخْشَ مِنْ ذِي الْعَرْشِ إِقْلَالًا»
(Spend, O Bilal, and do not fear that the One Who is on the Throne will withhold from you. )
Verse Number 40-42
The Angels will disown Their Worshippers on the Day of Resurrection
Allah tells us that on the Day of Resurrection, He will rebuke the idolators before all of creation. He will ask the angels whom the idolators used to worship, claiming that their idols were in the form of these angels and that they could bring them nearer to Allah. He will ask the angels:
أَهَـؤُلاَءِ إِيَّاكُمْ كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَ
(Was it you that these people used to worship) meaning, `did you command them to worship you’ Allah says in Surat Al-Furqan:
أَءَنتُمْ أَضْلَلْتُمْ عِبَادِى هَـؤُلاَءِ أَمْ هُمْ ضَلُّوا السَّبِيلَ
(Was it you who misled these My servants or did they (themselves) stray from the (right) path) (25:17). And He will say to `Isa, peace be upon him:
أَءَنتَ قُلتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبْحَـنَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِى أَنْ أَقُولَ مَا لَيْسَ لِى بِحَقٍّ
(Did you say unto men: “Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah,’ He will say: “Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say).”) (5:116). Similarly, the angels will say:
سُبْحَـنَكَ
Glorified be You! meaning, exalted and sanctified be You above the notion that there could be any god besides You.
أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا مِن دُونِهِمْ
You are our Protector instead of them. means, we are Your servants and we disown these people before You.
بَلْ كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ
(Nay, but they used to worship the Jinn;) meaning, the Shayatin, because they are the ones who made idol worship attractive to them and who misguided them.
أَكْـثَرُهُم بِهِم مُّؤْمِنُونَ
most of them were believers in them. This is like the A0yah:
إِن يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ إِلاَّ إِنَـثاً وَإِن يَدْعُونَ إِلاَّ شَيْطَـناً مَّرِيداً لَّعَنَهُ اللَّهُ
(They invoke nothing but females besides Him, and they invoke nothing but Shaytan, a persistent rebel! Allah cursed him) (4:117-118). Allah says:
فَالْيَوْمَ لاَ يَمْلِكُ بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ نَّفْعاً وَلاَ ضَرّاً
(So Today, none of you can profit or harm one another.) means, `none of those idols and rivals whom you hoped would benefit you, will be of any avail to you, those whom you worshipped in the hope that they would help you at times of stress and calamity. Today they will have no power either to benefit you or to harm you.’
وَنَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ
And We shall say to those who did wrong: — meaning the idolators —
ذُوقُواْ عَذَابَ النَّارِ الَّتِى كُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ
(“Taste the torment of the Fire which you used to deny.”) meaning, this will be said to them by way of rebuke.
Verse Number 43-45
4
The Saying of the Disbelievers about the Prophets, and its refutation
Allah tells us that the disbeliever deserve to be severely punished by Him, because when His clear Verses were recited to them, and they heard them fresh from the lips of His Messenger , they said:
قَالُواْ مَا هَـذَا إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَن يَصُدَّكُمْ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ
(They say: “This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.”) meaning, that the religion of their fathers was the truth and that what the Messenger brought to them was false — may the curse of Allah be upon them and their fathers!
وَقَالُواْ مَا هَـذَآ إِلاَّ إِفْكٌ مُّفْتَرًى
(And they say: “This is nothing but an invented lie.”) referring to the Qur’an. l
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ
(And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them: “This is nothing but evident magic!”) Allah says:
وَمَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهُمْ مِّنْ كُتُبٍ يَدْرُسُونَهَا وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَكَ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ
(And We had not given them Scriptures that they could study, nor sent to them before you any warner) meaning, Allah did not reveal any Book to the Arabs before the Qur’an, and He did not send any Prophet to them before Muhammad ﷺ . They used to wish for that and say, `if only a warner comes to us or a Book is revealed to us, we would be more guided than others,’ but when Allah blessed them with that, they disbelieved him and stubbornly rejected him. Then Allah says:
وَكَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبلِهِمْ
(And those before them denied;) meaning, other nations.
وَمَا بَلَغُواْ مِعْشَارَ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهُمْ
(these have not received even a tenth of what We had granted to those (of old);) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Of the power of this world.” This was also the view of Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd. This is like the Ayat:
وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَـهُمْ فِيمَآ إِن مَّكَّنَّـكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعاً وَأَبْصَـراً وَأَفْئِدَةً فَمَآ أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلاَ أَبْصَـرُهُمْ وَلاَ أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ مِّن شَىْءٍ إِذْ كَانُواْ يَجْحَدُونَ بِـَايَـتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهم مَّا كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ
(And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you! And We had assigned them the hearing, seeing, and hearts; but their hearing, seeing, and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!) (46: 26)
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُواْ أَكْـثَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ قُوَّةً
(Have they not traveled through the earth and seen what was the end of those before them They were more in number than them and mightier in strength) (40:82). but that did not protect them from the punishment of Allah, and Allah destroyed them because they denied His Messengers. Allah says:
فَكَذَّبُواْ رُسُلِى فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ
(yet they denied My Messengers. Then how (terrible) was My denial!) meaning, `how severe was My wrath and how great was My avenging of My Messengers.’