“Have You Seen Those Who Take Their Desires As Their God?”: Tafsir al-Baghawi

Allah says in surah al-Jathiyah:

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ * وَقَالُوا مَا هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ

Have you seen those who take their desires as their god and Allah leads him astray due to some knowledge and seals his hearing and his heart and places a covering over his vision? Then who besides Allah will guide him? Won’t you take a reminder? * And they say, “There is nothing but our worldly life. We die and we live. And nothing but time destroys us.” However they do not have any knowledge of that. They are only guessing. [45:23-24]

Commenting on this, Imam Abu Muhammad al-Husayn al-Baghawi wrote:

ـ ( أفرأيت من اتخذ إلهه هواه ) قال ابن عباس والحسن وقتادة : ذلك الكافر اتخذ دينه ما يهواه ، فلا يهوى شيئا إلا ركبه لأنه لا يؤمن بالله ولا يخافه ، ولا يحرم ما حرم الله . وقال آخرون : معناه اتخذ معبوده هواه فيعبد ما تهواه نفسه . قال سعيد بن جبير : كانت العرب يعبدون الحجارة والذهب والفضة ، فإذا وجدوا شيئا أحسن من الأول رموه أو كسروه ، وعبدوا الآخر . ـ

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ

Have you seen those who take their desires as their god …

Ibn ‘Abbaas, al-Hasan and Qatadah all said: This is referring to a disbeliever who makes whatever he desires his religion, such that he engages in whatever he desires since he neither believes in Allah nor fears Him, nor does he treat what Allah forbade as forbidden.

Meanwhile, others said: The meaning is that this type of person makes the object of his desire the thing that he worships and he worships that thing itself.

Sa’eed ibn Jubayr said: The Arabs used to worship stones, gold and silver. Whenever they would find something more beautiful than what they already had, they would discard or destroy the first thing and worship the new thing.

Are the Seven Qira’at the Same as the Seven Ahruf?: Ibn ‘Uthaymeen

In a question and answer session following one of his lessons explaining Sahih al-Bukhari, sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen received and responded to the following question:

الشيخ :إذا قال قائل هل القراءات السبع هي الأحرف السبعة أو لا؟ نعم. ـ

Sheikh: Now, what if someone were to ask, “Are the seven qira’at the same as the seven ahruf, or not?” Ok?

[the sheikh received some brief answers from students which were difficult to make out in the recording]

الشيخ : بل هي حرف من الأحرف السبعة، نعم، وقد قال كثير من أهل العلم إن هذا الحرف هو الذي كانت عليه العرضة الأخيرة التي عرض النبي صلى الله عليه وسلّم فيها القرءان على جبريل وأن ما سواه منسوخ لأنه كان في زمن احتاج الناس فيه إلى التوسّع، فلما توطدت اللغة القرشية وصارت هي الغالبة صار في القراءة على حرف واحد سهلة، فنسخ ما عداها ولكن هذا احتمال والله أعلم. ـ. ـ

Sheikh: No, they are one harf out of the seven ahruf. Most of the scholars have said that this harf was the one that was used in the Final Review in which the Prophet recited the entire Qur’an to Jibril and that the others were abrogated. For at that time the people needed some leeway, but then when the Qurayshi dialect became more widespread and became the dominant form of the language, then reciting according to just one harf became easy. So the other ahruf were abrogated. That being said, this topic is not completely cut and dry, and Allah knows best.

The Sahabah & The Context of the Qur’an

Context is one of the tools that the salaf used to understand and explain the Qur’an. As one of the tabi’oon, Muslim ibn Yasar, said:

إذا حدثت عن الله فقف حتى تنظر ما قبله وما بعده

When you want to speak about what Allah has said, hold off until you have looked at the ayaat preceding it and the ayaat following it.

[Tafsir ibn Kathir 1/12]

What follows is a small collection of statements specifically from the Sahabah in which they referenced the context of an ayah to derive an explanation. These narrations were originally found in an article from Markaz Tafsir discussing how the Sahabah used context to explain the Qur’an, and we have translated and arranged them below:

Narration #1:

عن يُسَيْعٍ الحضرمي قال: «كنت عند عليِّ بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه، فقال رجل: يا أمير المؤمنين، أرأيت قول الله -عز وجل-: ﴿وَلَنْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ ‌لِلْكَافِرِينَ ‌عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا﴾ [النساء: 141]، وهم يقاتلوننا فيَظهرون ويَقتلون؟ قال له عليٌّ رضي الله عنه: ادنُه، ادنُه! ثم قال: ﴿فَاللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَنْ يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ ‌لِلْكَافِرِينَ ‌عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا﴾ [النساء: 141]، يوم القيامة»ـ

Yusay’a al-Hadhrami said: I was with ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib when a man said, “O Leader of the Faithful, have you seen Allah’s statement:

وَلَن يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا

And Allah will never make a way for the disbelievers over the believers. [4:141]

yet they fight against us, winning and killing?”

‘Ali said, “Look closer, look closer!” and then recited:

فَاللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ

Allah will judge between you all on the Day of Resurrection [4:141]

This is referring to the Day of Resurrection.”

[Tafsir al-Tabari 9/327]

Ibn Kathir’s Comments on the Story of Moosaa in the Qur’an

In part of his tafsir of surah yunus, al-haafidh ibn Kathir wrote:

وكثيرا ما يذكر الله تعالى قصة موسى ، عليه السلام ، مع فرعون في كتابه العزيز ؛ لأنها من أعجب القصص ، فإن فرعون حذر من موسى كل الحذر ، فسخره القدر أن ربى هذا الذي يحذر [ ص: 286 ] منه على فراشه ومائدته بمنزلة الولد ، ثم ترعرع وعقد الله له سببا أخرجه من بين أظهرهم ، ورزقه النبوة والرسالة والتكليم ، وبعثه إليه ليدعوه إلى الله تعالى ليعبده ويرجع إليه ، هذا مع ما كان عليه فرعون من عظمة المملكة والسلطان ، فجاءه برسالة الله ، وليس له وزير سوى أخيه هارون عليه السلام ، فتمرد فرعون واستكبر وأخذته الحمية ، والنفس الخبيثة الأبية ، وقوى رأسه وتولى بركنه ، وادعى ما ليس له ، وتجهرم على الله ، وعتا وبغى وأهان حزب الإيمان من بني إسرائيل ، والله تعالى يحفظ رسوله موسى وأخاه هارون ، ويحوطهما ، بعنايته ، ويحرسهما بعينه التي لا تنام ، ولم تزل المحاجة والمجادلة والآيات تقوم على يديموسى شيئا بعد شيء ، ومرة بعد مرة ، مما يبهر العقول ويدهش الألباب ، مما لا يقوم له شيء ، ولا يأتي به إلا من هو مؤيد من الله ، وما تأتيهم من آية إلا هي أكبر من أختها ، وصمم فرعون وملؤه – قبحهم الله – على التكذيب بذلك كله ، والجحد والعناد والمكابرة ، حتى أحل الله بهم بأسه الذي لا يرد ، وأغرقهم في صبيحة واحدة أجمعين ، ( فقطع دابر القوم الذين ظلموا والحمد لله رب العالمين ) [ الأنعام : 45 ] . ـ

How often Allah mentions the story of Moosaa and Fir’awn throughout the Qur’an!

That is because it is one of the most amazing stories, for Fir’awn took every precaution against Moosaa, but Allah’s decree would have it that he ended up providing for the one he was trying to avoid from his very own bed and table, treating him like a son.

Then after Moosaa had grown up, Allah enacted the event that removed him from Fir’awn’s presence and He endowed Moosaa with prophethood, messengership and spoke to Him directly, and He sent him to call Fir’awn to worship Allah and turn back to him. All of this while Fir’awn held tremendous authority and power.

The Story of Tu’mah ibn Ubayriq: Tafsir al-Baghawi

In his tafsir of surah al-Nisa’ ayaat 105-116, Imam Abu Muhammad al-Husayn al-Baghawi explained the context of their original revelation which revolves around the story of Tu’mah ibn Ubayriq:

قوله تعالى : ( إنا أنزلنا إليك الكتاب بالحق لتحكم بين الناس بما أراك الله ) الآية ، روى الكلبي عن أبي صالح عن ابن عباس قال : نزلت هذه الآية في رجل من الأنصار يقال له طعمة بن أبيرق من بني ظفر بن الحارث سرق درعا من جار له يقال له قتادة بن النعمان ، وكانت الدرع في جراب فيه دقيق فجعل الدقيق ينتثر من خرق في الجراب حتى انتهى إلى الدار ، ثم خبأها عند رجل من اليهود ، يقال له زيد بن السمين ، فالتمست الدرع عند طعمة فحلف : بالله ما أخذها وما له بها من علم ، فقال أصحاب الدرع : لقد رأينا أثر الدقيق حتى دخل داره ، فلما حلف تركوه واتبعوا أثر الدقيق إلى منزل اليهودي فأخذوه منه ، فقال اليهودي دفعها إلي طعمة بن أبيرق ، فجاء بنو ظفر وهم قوم طعمة إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وسألوه أن يجادل عن صاحبهم ، وقالوا له : إنك إن لم تفعل افتضح صاحبنا ، فهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يعاقب اليهودي . ـ

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِتَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِمَا أَرَاكَ اللَّهُ ۚ وَلَا تَكُن لِّلْخَائِنِينَ خَصِيمًا

We certainly sent the Scripture down to you in truth in order for you to judge between the people according to what Allah has showed you. And do not be an advocate for the deceitful ones. [4:105]

al-Kalbi narrated from Abu Salih that ibn ‘Abbas said:

This ayah was revealed about an Ansari man named Tu’mah ibn Ubayriq of the Banu Thafr ibn al-Harith tribe. He stole a piece of armor from one of his neighbors, Qatadah ibn al-Nu’man. The armor was in a bag with some flour and the flour spilled out through a hole in the bag such that it left a trail back to his house. Tu’mah then hid it with a Jewish man named Zayd ibn al-Sameen. The armor’s owners went to look for it with Tu’mah, but Tu’mah swore by Allah that he hadn’t taken it and that he didn’t know anything about it. The armor’s owners said, “We saw a trail of flour leading into your house,” but when Tu’mah swore they let him be and followed the trail of flour to the Jew’s house where they took the armor from him. The Jew said, “Tu’mah ibn Ubayriq gave it to me!” Banu Thafr – Tu’mah’s tribe – went to the Prophet and asked him to weigh in on the dispute on behalf of their kinsman, saying, “If you don’t, then our kinsman will be disgraced!” At that point, the Prophet intended to punish the Jewish man [and then this ayah was revealed].

Forgetting Part of the Qur’an: ibn Hajr

In his famous commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari, al-haafidh ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalaani wrote:

واختلف السلف في نسيان القرآن فمنهم من جعل ذلك من الكبائر ، وأخرج أبو عبيد من طريق الضحاك بن مزاحم موقوفا قال : ما من أحد تعلم القرآن ثم نسيه إلا بذنب أحدثه ، لأن الله يقول : وما أصابكم من مصيبة فبما كسبت أيديكم ونسيان القرآن من أعظم المصائب

The salaf held different opinions when it came to forgetting portions of the Qur’an, for some of them held that that was a major sin.

Abu ‘Ubayd brought a narration that stopped at al-Dhahhaak ibn Muzaahim who said:

There is no one who learns the Qur’an and then forgets it except because of a sin that he committed. That is because Allah says:

وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ

And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much. [42:30]

And forgetting the Qur’an is one of the worst disasters!

واحتجوا أيضا بما أخرجه أبو داود والترمذي من حديث أنس مرفوعا [ ص: 705 ] ” عرضت علي ذنوب أمتي فلم أر ذنبا أعظم من سورة من القرآن أوتيها رجل ثم نسيها ” في إسناده ضعف . ـ

Those who hold this position also support it with the hadith of Anas reported by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi that the Prophet said:

The sins of my Ummah were displayed before me and I did not see any sin worse than a surah of the Qur’an that a man had memorized and then forgotten.

But this chain has weakness in it.

Assorted Qur’an Benefits #67

In addition to our regular article schedule, we also periodically share shorter benefits from the books of tafsir on our social media pages. The following benefits were originally posted on our Facebook and Telegram channels in the latter part of May 2021 and the beginning of June 2021 and have been collected here on the website to give them a more permanent home:

♦ The Subtext of the Title “People of the Book”

Allah says in surah al-Ma’idah:

يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولُنَا

O People of the Book, Our messenger has come to you … [5:15 & 5:19]

While discussing Allah’s address of the Jews and Christians by this term “People of the Book”, sheikh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen said:

سمّاهم الله أهل كتاب لا إكراما لهم، ولكن إقامة للحجة عليهم؛ لأن أهل الكتاب هم الذين يجب عليهم أن يكونوا أول عاملٍ به، كما قال تعالى في أول سورة البقرة: ﴿ولا تكونوا أوَّل كافرٍ به ﴾”. ـ

Allah has called them “People of the Book” not to honor them but instead to establish a proof against them. That is because the People of the Book are those who should be the first to act according to it, just as Allah said at the beginning of surah al-Baqarah:

وَلَا تَكُونُوا أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍ بِهِ

And do not be the first to disbelieve in it [2:41]

[Tafsir Surah al-Ma’idah 1/211]

♦ Being Neither Misguided Nor Subject to Wrath

Tafsir of Surah al-Muddathir: al-Tafsir al-Muyassar

The book Al-Tafsir al-Muyassar was written by a group of scholars under the direction of sheikh Saalih Aal al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was designed to be a simple and easy-to-understand tafsir according to the understanding of the salaf. What follows is its brief tafsir of surah al-Muddathir (74) and translation:

ـ{يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ (1) قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ (2) وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ (3) وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ (4) وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ (5) وَلا تَمْنُنْ تَسْتَكْثِرُ (6) وَلِرَبِّكَ فَاصْبِرْ (7)}
يا أيها المتغطي بثيابه، قم مِن مضجعك، فحذِّر الناس من عذاب الله، وخُصَّ ربك وحده بالتعظيم والتوحيد والعبادة، وَطَهِّر ثيابك من النجاسات؛ فإن طهارة الظاهر من تمام طهارة الباطن، ودُمْ على هَجْر الأصنام والأوثان وأعمال الشرك كلها، فلا تقربها، ولا تُعط العطيَّة؛ كي تلتمس أكثر منها، ولمرضاة ربك فاصبر على الأوامر والنواهي. ـ

يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ * قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ * وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ * وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ * وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ * وَلَا تَمْنُن تَسْتَكْثِرُ * وَلِرَبِّكَ فَاصْبِرْ

O you covered up (1) Stand and warn (2) And magnify your Lord (3) And purify your clothes (4) And avoid filth (5) And no not do favors in order to gain something (6) And be steadfast for your Lord. (7)

O you who is wrapped up in your clothing, get up from your bed and warn the people of Allah’s punishment. And single out your Lord alone for magnification, tawheed and worship. And purify your clothing from any forms of filth, for outer purification is part of the completion of inward purification. Be resolute in your abandonment of any idols, statues or any other form of shirk; do not even come near to them. And do not give a gift in the hopes that you might receive more in return. And steadfastly persist in fulfilling the commands and prohibitions for the pleasure of your Lord.

ـ {فَإِذَا نُقِرَ فِي النَّاقُورِ (8) فَذَلِكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوْمٌ عَسِيرٌ (9) عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ غَيْرُ يَسِيرٍ (10)}
فإذا نُفخ في القرن نفخة البعث والنشور، فذلك الوقت يومئذ شديد على الكافرين، غير سهل أن يخلصوا مما هم فيه من مناقشة الحساب وغيره من الأهوال. ـ

فَإِذَا نُقِرَ فِي النَّاقُورِ * فَذَٰلِكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوْمٌ عَسِيرٌ * عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ غَيْرُ يَسِيرٍ

And when the horn is blown (8) That Day will be a difficult Day (9) It will not be easy for the disbelievers. (10)

Then when the horn is sounded with the blow for the resurrection and gathering of the dead, that time on that Day will be extremely trying for the disbelievers, not easy for them to escape the interrogation of the Reckoning or the other terrifying things they will experience.

Du’a of the Qur’an Part 8: al-Sa’di

In his collection of various reflections on the Qur’an that he penned one Ramadan, sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di included a beautiful section on some of the du’a found within the Qur’an. What follows is his explanation of the du’a found towards the end on surah al-Furqan:

ومِن ذلك: دعاءُ عبادِ الرحمن الذين وصفهم الله بكل خُلقٍ جميل، وأعد لهم المنازل العالية؛ فدعوا بدعوتين: دعوةٍ استُجيبت لجميعِهم – كاملَ الدرجة ومَن دونه – ودعوةٍ استُجيبت لخواصهم وأئمتهم وقدوتهم، قال تعالى: ﴿وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ هَوْنًا﴾ – إلى أن قال عنهم -: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا اصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا﴾[الفرقان: الآيات 63 – 65]

Another comprehensive du’a is the du’a of the ‘ibad al-Rahman – servants of the Most Merciful – whom Allah described with all kinds of beautiful characteristics and promised them elevated ranks.

They made two supplications:

One supplication which was answered for all of them, both those who attained the highest level of excellence as well as those below that

and another supplication which was answered for the elite ones, the leading figures and role models among them.