Clarifying “Allah does not guide the wrong-doers”: Imam al-Sa’di

In a book of assorted benefits from the Qur’an which Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Naasir al-Sa’di authored over the course of one Ramadan, he mentioned the following point of clarification on a topic of great importance:

إن قلت : إن الله أخبر في غير موضع أنه لا يهدي القوم الظالمين ، ولا يهدي القوم الفاسقين والقوم الكافرين والمجرمين ء ونحوهم والواقع أنه هدى كثير من الظالمين والفاسقين والقوم الكافرين والمجرمين مع أن قوله صدق وحق، لا يخالفه الواقع أبداً ؟! ـ

If one were to say: Allah has informed us in more than one place that He does not guide the wrongdoing people, nor does he guide those people who cross all limits, nor the disbelieving people, nor the criminal wrongdoers and so on, while the reality is that He has in fact guided many of these wrongdoing people, ruler-breakers, disbelievers and criminals. However Allah’s Word is true and correct, and never is at odds with reality. [So what is the resolution to this issue?!]

فالجواب : أن الذي أخبر أنه لا يهديهم هم الذين حقت عليهم الشقوة وكلمة العذاب، فإنها إذا حقت وتحققت وثبتت ووجبت فإن هذا لا يتغير ولا يتبدل، قال تعالى: (وَكَذَٰلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ) [الغافر 6] ، (كَذَٰلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ فَسَقُوا أَنَّهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ ) [يونس 33] ، ( إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ * وَلَوْ جَاءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ آيَةٍ حَتَّىٰ يَرَوُا الْعَذَابَ الْأَلِيمَ) [يونس 96-97]. الذين اقتضت حكمة الله تعالى أنه لا يهديهم لكونهم لا يصلحون للهداية ولا تليق بهم، ( وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّـهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَّأَسْمَعَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوا وَّهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ) [الأنفال 23] وهم الذين مردوا على أسباب الشقاء ورضوها واختاروها على الهدى . ـ

The response would be that what He has told us is that He does not guide those who are deserving of punishment and ultimate sorrow. So when this is deserved, its causes are enacted, set firmly in place and must take place. In that case there can be no change or alteration. Allah said:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ

And thus has the word of your Lord come into effect upon those who disbelieved, that they are eternal dwellers of the Fire. [40:6]

I have been Commanded to Worship the Lord of this City: Tafsir al-Sa’di

Allah concludes surah al-Naml with the following ayaat:

إِنَّمَا أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ رَبَّ هَـٰذِهِ الْبَلْدَةِ الَّذِي حَرَّمَهَا وَلَهُ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ ۖ وَأُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ * وَأَنْ أَتْلُوَ الْقُرْآنَ ۖ فَمَنِ اهْتَدَىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِي لِنَفْسِهِ ۖ وَمَن ضَلَّ فَقُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُنذِرِينَ * وَقُلِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ سَيُرِيكُمْ آيَاتِهِ فَتَعْرِفُونَهَا ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ

I have only been commanded to worship the Lord of this city, who made it sacred, and to whom belongs all things. And I am commanded to be one of the Muslims. * And that I recite the Qur’an. Then whoever is guided is only guided for the good of his own self. And whoever goes astray, then say, “I am only one of warners.” * And say, “All praise is due to Allah. He will show you His signs and you will recognize them. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.” [27:91-93]

Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa’di commented on these ayaat by writing:

أي: قل لهم يا محمد إنما أمرت أن أعبد رب هذه البلدة أي: مكة المكرمة، التي حرمها وأنعم على أهلها، فيجب أن يقابلوا ذلك بالشكر والقبول وله كل شيء من العلويات والسفليات أتى به لئلا يتوهم اختصاص ربوبيته بالبيت وحده، وأمرت لأن أكون من المسلمين أي: أبادر إلى الإسلام، وقد فعل صلى الله عليه وسلم، فإنه أول هذه الأمة إسلاما وأعظمها استسلاما. ـ

Meaning: O Muhammad, say to them:

إِنَّمَا أُمِرْتُ أَنْ أَعْبُدَ رَبَّ هَـٰذِهِ الْبَلْدَةِ

I have only been commanded to worship the Lord of this city

i.e. Mecca, which Allah has sanctified, blessing it and its people. So one must respond to that with gratitude and acceptance. And Allah is the owner of all things, from the heights of His creation to its lowest parts. He mentioned this lest anyone wrongly assume that His lordship was restricted to only one place.

And I am commanded

The Story of Saalih as explained by Mujahid and Qatadah

In addition to co-authoring Tafsir al-Jalalayn, sheikh Jalal al-Deen al-Suyooti also has another book of tafsir to his name, entitled al-Durr al-Manthoor fee Tafsir bi’l-Ma’thoor. As one might suspect from the title, al-Durr al-Manthoor was dedicated to presenting the explanations of the Qur’an transmitted from the Prophet himself, his companions, and those who followed their way in the early generations.

What follows is an excerpt from his explanation of the story of the Prophet Saalih and his people as it comes in surah al-Nahl [27:45-53]. al-Suyooti collected a number of the statements from the two leading mufassiroon of the tabi’oon, Mujahid ibn Jabr and Qatadah ibn Di’amah, found in the previous books of narration-based tafsir and arranged them to present an explanation of the passage as a whole from each of these great figures.

As mentioned in a previous post, the early generations would often only explain those parts of an ayah which were not immediately clear to their audience. As such, the reader may find it helpful to have a mushaf and/or translation nearby to follow along with the entire passage:

قوله تعالى : ولقد أرسلنا إلى ثمود الآيات . ـ

Allah’s statement:

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ

And We sent to Thamud … [27:45]

until the end of this passage [27:45-53].

أخرج الفريابي ، وابن أبي شيبة ، وعبد بن حميد ، وابن جرير ، وابن المنذر ، وابن أبي حاتم ، عن مجاهد في قوله : فإذا هم فريقان يختصمون قال : مؤمن وكافر؛ قولهم : صالح مرسل من ربه . وقولهم : ليس بمرسل . وفي قوله : لم تستعجلون بالسيئة قال : العذاب . قبل الحسنة قال : الرحمة . وفي قوله : قالوا اطيرنا بك قال : تشاءمنا . وفي قوله : وكان في المدينة تسعة رهط قال : من قوم صالح . وفي قوله : تقاسموا بالله قال : تحالفوا على هلاكه، فلم يصلوا إليه حتى هلكوا وقومهم أجمعين . ـ

al-Firyaabi, ibn Abi Shaybah, ‘Abd ibn Humayd, ibn Jarir [al-Tabari], ibn al-Mundhir, and ibn Abi Haatim reported the following from Mujahid:

فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ

… and at once they were two parties conflicting.[27:45]

meaning: believers and disbelievers. The first group said, “Saalih is sent from his Lord,” while the other group said, “He was not sent.”

“Are you recompensed except for what you used to do?”: Tafsir al-Shinqitee

Sheikh Muhammad al-Ameen al-Shinqitee wrote the following in his tafsir of surah al-Naml:

قوله تعالى : ومن جاء بالسيئة فكبت وجوههم في النار هل تجزون إلا ما كنتم تعملون . قال ابن كثير – رحمه الله – في تفسير هذه الآية : وقال ابن مسعود ، وابن عباس ، وأبو هريرة ، وأنس بن مالك – رضي الله عنهم – وعطاء ، وسعيد بن جبير ، وعكرمة ، ومجاهد ، وإبراهيم النخعي ، وأبو وائل ، وأبو صالح ، ومحمد بن كعب ، وزيد بن أسلم ، والزهري ، والسدي ، والضحاك ، والحسن ، وقتادة ، وابن زيد ، في قوله تعالى : ومن جاء بالسيئة ، يعني الشرك . ـ

Allah’s statement:

وَمَن جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَكُبَّتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ‌ هَلْ تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

And whoever comes with an evil deed – their faces will be overturned into the Fire, [and it will be said], “Are you recompensed except for what you used to do?” [27:90]

Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his tafsir of this ayah:

Ibn Mas’ood, ibn ‘Abbaas, Abu Hurayrah, Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with all of them), as well as ‘Ataa’, Sa’eed ibn Jubayr, ‘Ikrimah, Mujaahid, Ibrahim al-Naka’ee, Abu Waa’il, Abu Saalih, Muhammad ibn K’ab, Zayd ibn Aslam, al-Zuhri, al-Suddi, al-Dhihhaak, al-Hasan, Qataadah, and ibn Zayd all said regarding Allah’s statement, “And whoever comes with an evil deed” – meaning: al-shirk.

وهذه الآية الكريمة تضمنت أمرين : ـ

And this noble ayah includes two issues:

الأول : أن من جاء ربه يوم القيامة بالسيئة كالشرك يكب وجهه في النار . ـ

First: That whoever comes to his Lord of the Day of Judgement with an evil deed such as al-shirk then he will be cast down on his face into the Hell-fire.

والثاني : أن السيئة إنما تجزى بمثلها من غير زيادة ، وهذان الأمران جاءا موضحين في غير هذا الموضع ; كقوله تعالى في الأول منهما : إنه من يأت ربه مجرما فإن له جهنم لا يموت فيها ولا يحيا [ 20 \ 74 ] ، وكقوله تعالى في الثاني منهما : ومن جاء بالسيئة فلا يجزى إلا مثلها الآية [ 6 \ 160 ] ، وقوله تعالى : ومن جاء بالسيئة فلا يجزى الذين عملوا السيئات إلا ما كانوا يعملون [ 28 \ 84 ] ، وقوله تعالى : جزاء وفاقا [ 78 \ 26 ] . ـ

Second: That evil deeds are repaid with an equal amount without any addition.

These two issues come clearly in many places in the Qur’an, such as Allah’s statement regarding the first of these two points:

“Blessed is whoever is at the fire and whoever is around it” : Tafsir al-Baghawi

While recounting the story of Moosaa approaching the burning bush in surah al-Naml, Allah says:

إِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِأَهْلِهِ إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارً‌ا سَآتِيكُم مِّنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ‌ أَوْ آتِيكُم بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ * فَلَمَّا جَاءَهَا نُودِيَ أَن بُورِ‌كَ مَن فِي النَّارِ‌ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّـهِ رَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

[Mention] when Moosaa said to his family, “Indeed, I have perceived a fire. I will bring you from there information or will bring you a burning torch that you may warm yourselves.” * But when he came to it, he was addressed, “Blessed is whoever is at (lit. “in”) the fire and whoever is around it. And exalted is Allah, Lord of the worlds. [27:7-8]

Commenting on the second ayah in his book of tafsir, Imam al-Baghawi wrote:

ـ ( فَلَمَّا جَاءَهَا نُودِيَ أَنْ بُورِكَ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا ) أَيْ : بُورِكَ عَلَى مَنْ فِي النَّارِ أَوْ مَنْ فِي النَّارِ ، وَالْعَرَبُ تَقُولُ : بَارَكَهُ اللَّهُ وَبَارَكَ فِيهِ ، وَبَارَكَ عَلَيْهِ ، بِمَعْنًى وَاحِدٍ . ـ

فَلَمَّا جَاءَهَا نُودِيَ أَن بُورِ‌كَ مَن فِي النَّارِ‌ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا

But when he came to it, he was addressed, ‘Blessed is whoever is at (lit. “in”) the fire and whoever is around it’ [27:8]

Meaning: Blessings upon those at (lit. “in”) the fire. And the Arabs say, “baarak Allaahu” (God bless), “baarak feehi” (blessings ‘in’ him) and “baarak ‘alaihi” (blessings on him) all with the same meaning.

وَقَالَ قَوْمٌ : الْبَرَكَةُ رَاجِعَةٌ إِلَى مُوسَى وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ ، مَعْنَاهُ : بُورِكَ فِي مَنْ طَلَبَ النَّارَ ، وَهُوَ مُوسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ ) ( وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا ) وَهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ الَّذِينَ حَوْلَ النَّارِ ، وَمَعْنَاهُ : بُورِكَ فِيكَ يَا مُوسَى وَفِي الْمَلَائِكَةِ الَّذِينَ حَوْلَ النَّارِ ، وَهَذَا تَحِيَّةٌ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ – عَزَّ وَجَلَّ – لِمُوسَى بِالْبَرَكَةِ ، كَمَا حَيَّا إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَى أَلْسِنَةِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ حِينَ دَخَلُوا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُوا : رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ . ـ

A people said, “the barakah (blessings) refers to Moosaa and the angels”, meaning blessings on the one who sought the fire, and that is Moosaa (‘alaihis salaam).

وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا

“Whoever is around it“

and they are the angels who were around the fire, meaning ‘blessings on you, O Moosaa, and on the angels who were around the fire’, and this is a greeting of blessings from Allah to Moosaa, just as He greeted Ibrahim via the tongues of the angels when they entered upon him and said,

رَ‌حْمَتُ اللَّـهِ وَبَرَ‌كَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ

May the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, people of the house [11:73]

“They Became Two Parties Quarreling with One Another”: Tafsir

Allah, Exalted is He, informs us in surah al-Naml about the story of the Prophet Saalih (‘alaihis salaam) and his people when He says:

وَلَقَدْ أَرْ‌سَلْنَا إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّـهَ فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِ‌يقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ

And We had certainly sent to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ, saying, “Worship Allah alone,” and at once they became two parties quarreling with each other. [27:45]

Imam al-Suyooti writes in his tafsir:

عن قتادة في قوله: {فإذا هم فريقان يختصمون} قال: إن القوم بين مصدق ومكذب. مصدق بالحق ونازل عنده، ومكذب بالحق تاركه. في ذلك كانت خصومة القوم

Qataada said about His statement, “and at once they became two parties quarreling with each other” – the people were divided by either affirmation of denial (of Saalih’s call to tawheed). Affirmation of the truth and living according to it, or denial of the truth and abandoning it. That was the heart of the people’s quarreling.

[al-Durr al-Manthoor 11/386 – read more here]

Imam al-Sa’di said in his tafsir:

ولقد أرسلنا إلى ثمود أخاهم صالحًا‏:‏ أن وحِّدوا الله‏,‏ ولا تجعلوا معه إلهًا آخر‏,‏ فلما أتاهم صالحٌ داعيًا إلى توحيد الله وعبادته وحده صار قومه فريقين‏:‏ أحدهما مؤمن به‏,‏ والآخر كافر بدعوته‏,‏ وكل منهم يزعم أن الحق معه‏.‏

“And We had certainly sent to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ” to single out Allah for worship, and to not make any other gods along with him. And when Saalih came to them calling to the tawheed of Allah and His worship exclusively, then the people became two parties: one of them believing in it, and the other disbelieving in his call, and each of them asserted that the truth was with them.”

[Taysir al-Kareem al-Rahman]

Imam al-Qurtubi, in his tafsir, writes:

{فَإِذا هُمْ فَرِيقانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ} قال مجاهد: أي مؤمن وكافر، قال: والخصومة ما قصه الله تعالى في قوله: {أَتَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ صالِحاً مُرْسَلٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ} إلى قوله: {كافِرُونَ}.

“and at once they became two parties quarreling with each other“. Mujaahid said, “meaning mu’min and kaafir.” And he said, “And the quarreling is what Allah, Exalted is He, narrated when He said:

‘The leaders who were arrogant among his people said to those who were oppressed – to those who believed among them, “Do you [actually] know that Saalih is sent from his Lord?” They said, “Indeed we, in that with which he was sent, are believers.” Those who were arrogant said, “Indeed we are disbelievers in that which you have believed.” So they hamstrung the she-camel and were insolent toward the command of their Lord and said, “O Saalih, bring us what you promise us, if you should be of the messengers.” [7:75-77]

وقيل: تخاصمهم أن كل فرقة قالت: نحن على الحق دونكم.

And it is said that “their quarrel was what every group says, ‘We are upon the truth to the exclusion of you.'”

[Jaami’ al-Ahkam al-Qur’an 13/198]

For more on the story of Saalih, see also: “We guided them, but they preferred blindness

over guidance”

See also: The Story of Saalih as explained by Mujahid and Qatadah