Tafseer of Surah al-Baqarah: vs. 21-29
by
Shaykh Muhammad al-Amîn ash-Shanqîti
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21) O mankind! Worship your Lord Who created you and those before you so that you may become God-fearing.
22) Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down rain from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allaah while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
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The saying of the Exalted, "O mankind! Worship your Lord Who created you and those before you so that you may become God-fearing. Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down rain from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allaah while you know": indicating in these verses three of the proofs for the resurrection after death and these in turn are explained in detail in other verses.
The First: the creation of mankind in the first instance pointed to in His saying, "worship your Lord Who created you and those before you," because the existence of the first creation is the greatest proof for the existence of the second. Allaah has clarified this further in many verses, like His sayings,
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"And it is He who originates the creation, then He will repeat it (after it has perished) and this is easier for him." (30:27)
"We shall repeat it as We began the first creation" (21:104)
"Then they will say: 'who will bring us back (to life)?' Say: 'He Who created you first!'" (17:51)
"Say: He will give life to those who He created the first time!" (37:79)
"Were We then tired with first creation? Nay, they are in confused doubt about a new creation" (50:15)
"O mankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection then verily! We have created you from dust, then from a mixed drop." (22:5)
"And indeed you have already known the first form of creation, why then do you not take heed?" (56:62)
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This is why Allaah mentions that the one who rejects the Resurrection has forgotten and not taken heed from the first creation, as in His sayings,
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"And he puts forth a parable for Us and forgets his own creation. He says: 'who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away and become dust?'" (37:78)
"And man says: 'when I am dead, shall I be raised up alive?' Does man not remember that We created him before, while he was nothing?" (19-66-67)
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Going on to stress the conclusion to mentioning this evidence, "so, by your Lord, We shall gather them together, and the devils, then We shall bring them round Hell on their knees" (19:68) and other such verses.
The Second: the creation of the heavens and the earth pointed to in His saying, "Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy,"because these are from the greatest of creations, and the One Who is capable of creating the greatest is definitely capable of creating anything else. Allaah has clarified this proof further in other verses, like His sayings,
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"Indeed the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of man, but most of mankind know not" (40:57)
"Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing, Supreme Creator" (37:81)
"Do they not see that Allaah, Who created the heavens and the earth, and was not wearied by their creation, is able to give life to the dead? Yes, He surely is able to do all things" (46:33)
"Are you more difficult to create, or is the heaven that He constructed, He raised it's height, and has equally ordered it." (79:27-28)
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And other such verses.
The Third: reviving the earth after it's death, for indeed this is from the greatest proofs for the resurrection after death as indicated here with His saying, "and sent down rain from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you." Allaah clarified this further in many other verses such as His sayings,
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"And among His Signs is that you see the earth barren, but when We send down the rain to it, it is stirred to life and growth (of vegetation). Indeed, He Who gives it life, surely, (He) is able to give life to the dead. Indeed! He is able to do all things" (41:39)
"And We give life therewith to a dead land. Thus will be the resurrection (khurooj)" (50:11)
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Meaning: your exiting (khurooj) the graves alive after you used to be decaying bones. And His sayings,
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"And He revives the earth after it's death, and thus shall you be brought out (resurrected)" (30:19)
"Till when they (the winds) have carried a heavy laden cloud, We drive it to a land that is dead, then We cause rain to descend thereon. Then we produce every kind of fruit therewith." (7:57)
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And other such verses.
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23) And if you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a surah of the like thereof and call your witnesses besides Allaah, if you are truthful.
24) But if you do not, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.
25) And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow. Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say: 'this is a fruit we were provided with before,' and they will be given things in resemblance, and they shall have therein pure wives, and they will abide therein forever.
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The saying of the Exalted,"and if you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down to Our servant": there is no elucidation here of the name of this noble servant (SAW), but his name has been clarified in another place with His saying, "so believe in what has been sent down to Muhammad" (SAW) (47:2).
The saying of the Exalted, "then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones":many of the People of Knowledge said concerning these stones: they are stones from arrogance, and some of them said: they are the idols that the disbelievers used to worship. This opinion is explained and supported by His saying, "indeed you and what you worship besides Allaah are fuel for Hell." (21:98)
The saying of the Exalted, "and give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow": there is no explanation here as to the types of these rivers, but this is explained in His saying,
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"In it are rivers of water, the taste and smell of which are not changed; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, delicious to those who drink; and rivers of clarified honey (clear and pure)." (47:15)
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The saying of the Exalted, "and they shall have therein pure wives (azwaaj)": there is no explanation here of the descriptions of these wives, but there beautiful features are explained in other verses such as His sayings,
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"And with them will be chaste females, restraining their glances, with wide beautiful eyes" (37:48)
"They are like rubies and coral" (55:58)
"And Houris with wide, lovely eyes, like preserved pearls" (56:22-23)
"And young, full-breasted maidens of equal age." (78:33)
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And other such verses.
Al-Azwaaj is simply the plural of zawj (partner in marriage) according to the classical Arabic, and there is no grammatical mistake in (the word) zawja (wife) as some think. In the hadeeth of Anas from the Prophet (SAW) there occurs that he said, " indeed she is my wife (zawjatee)," reported by Muslim.
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26) Verily, Allaah is not ashamed to set forth a parable even of a mosquito or so much more when it is bigger (or less when it is smaller) than it. As for those who believe, they know that it is the Truth from their Lord, but as for those that disbelieve, they say: 'what did Allaah intend by this parable?' By it He misleads many, and many He guides thereby. And He misleads thereby only those who are disobedient.
27) Those who break Allaah's Covenant after ratifying it, and sever what Allaah has ordered to be joined and do mischief in the land, it is they who are the losers.
28) How can you disbelieve in Allaah? Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life, and then unto Him you will return.
29) He it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Rose Over the heaven and made them seven heavens, and He is the All-Knower of everything.
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The saying of the Exalted,"and sever what Allaah has ordered to be joined": there is no explanation here as to what Allaah has ordered to be joined, but He has indicated that from these things is the ties of kinship with His saying,
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"Would you then, if you were given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever your ties of kinship?" (47:22)
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And He indicated in another place that from these things is to have faith in all of the Messengers, it is not permissible to sever some off from others by believing in some and not others. This in His saying,
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"Indeed those who disbelieve in Allaah and His Messengers and wish to make a distinction between Allaah and His Messengers (by believing in some) saying: 'we believe in some and we disbelieve in some' and wish to adopt a way in between. They in truth are the disbelievers." (4:150-151)
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The saying of the Exalted, "He it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Rose over the heavens": the literal meaning of this verse, and likewise the verse of Surah as-Sajdah, is that everything in the earth was actually created before the creation of the heaven. But it is explained in another place that the meaning of it's creation before the heaven is: planning it's limits and measure, and the Arabs called planning limits and measure, creation, as occurs in the saying of (the poet) Zaheer,
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Indeed you invent what you have planned (khalaqta) [1]
And some people plan without inventing
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This in His saying, "and measured therein it's sustenance" going on to say, "then He Rose Over the heaven" (41:10-11)
(ins) His saying in Surah an-Naazi'aat,
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"Are you more difficult to create, or is the heaven that He constructed.. And after that He spread the earth." (79:27-30)
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Know that ibn Abbaas was asked about the reconciliation between the verse of Surah as-Sajdah[2 ]and this verse of Surah an-Naazi'aat and he replied that Allaah first created the earth before the heaven, but it was not spread out, then He rose over the heaven and he fashioned it as seven heavens in two days then after this he spread the earth and placed in it gardens and rivers etc. So the basic creation of the earth would be before the creation of the heaven and it's being spread out by placing in it mountains and trees etc would be after the creation of the heavens. This explanation is proven by His saying, "and after that He spread the earth," for He did not say 'and after that He created the earth." Then He went on to explain the meaning of it's being spread out in His saying,
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"And brought forth therefrom its water and pasture." (79:31)
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This reconciliation of ibn Abbaas is clear and removes any potential difficulties in understanding the two verses and is also understood from the literal sense of the Qur'aan, but it leaves a difficulty in understanding this verse of al-Baqarah. For the literal meaning of this verse is that all that is in the earth was created before the creation of the heaven, this because He, Exalted is He, said, "He it is Who created for you all that is on earth. Then He Rose over the heavens." And I have spent a long time pondering over this problem and how it is to be removed until one day Allaah guided me and I came to understand the answer from the Great Qur'aan itself. To clarify, this problem is removed via one of two ways:
- What we have previously mentioned, that the meaning of creation is planning.
- That He created the earth without spreading it out before the creation of the heaven, but due to the earth being the basis for everything that was to be in it, it was considered that everything in it had been actually created due to the physical existence of this basis. The evidence from the Qur'aan, that the existence of the basis alone allows one to generalise the term creation to all of it's various offshoots, lies in the verse,
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"Indeed We created you, then We gave you shape, then We said to the Angels: 'Prostrate to Adam.'" (7:11)
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So His saying, "We created you (pl.) then We gave you (pl.) shape" means: Our creating and giving shape to Adam who is the basis for all of you.
Some of the scholars reconciled this by saying that the meaning of "and after that He spread the earth" is 'and alongside that He spread the earth," taking the word 'after' (ba'd) with the meaning of 'alongwith' (ma'a) as occurs in His saying, " Cruel, alongwith (ba'd) that, base-born" (68:13). So this explanation also removes any difficulties in understanding this verse. This opinion is also supported by an irregular reading of this verse, the reading of Mujaahid, "and alongside that He spread the earth."
Footnotes
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