Al-Hajj 22:42

"And if they deny you, [O Muḥammad] - so, before them, did the people of Noah and ʿAad and Thamūd deny [their prophets],"

The Consequences for the Disbelievers

Here Allah consoles His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for the disbelief of those among his people who opposed him.

وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ

(And if they deny you, so did deny before them the people of Nuh) until His saying,

وَكُذِّبَ مُوسَى

(and denied was Musa.) means, despite all the clear signs and evidence that they brought.

فَأمْلَيْتُ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ

(But I granted respite to the disbelievers for a while,) means, `I delayed and postponed.'

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ

(then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My punishment!) means, `how great was My vengeance against them and My punishment of them!' In the Two Sahihs it is reported from Abu Musa that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»

(Allah lets the wrongdoer carry on until, when He seizes him, He will never let him go.) Then he recited:

وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ

(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful (and) severe.) 11:102 Then Allah says:

فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَا

(And many a township did We destroy)

وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ

(while they were given wrongdoing,) meaning, they were rejecting their Messengers.

فَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(so that it lie in ruins,) Ad-Dahhak said, "Leveled to their roofs," i.e., their houses and cities were destroyed.

وَبِئْرٍ مُّعَطَّلَةٍ

(and (many) a deserted well) means, they draw no water from it, and no one comes to it, after it had been frequented often by crowds of people.

وَقَصْرٍ مَّشِيدٍ

(and a castle Mashid!) `Ikrimah said, "This means whitened with plaster." Something similar was narrated from `Ali bin Abi Talib, Mujahid, `Ata', Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Al-Mulayh and Ad-Dahhak. Others said that it means high and impenetrable fortresses. All of these suggestions are close in meaning and do not contradict one another, for this sturdy construction and great height did not help their occupants or afford them any protection when the punishment of Allah came upon them, as He says:

أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِى بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ

("Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in Buruj Mushayyadah!") 4:78

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Have they not traveled through the land,) means, have they not traveled in the physical sense and also used their minds to ponder That is sufficient, as Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya said in his book At-Tafakkur wal-I`tibar, "Some of the wise people said, `Give life to your heart with lessons, illuminate it with thought, kill it with asceticism, strengthen it with certain faith, remind it of its mortality, make it aware of the calamities of this world, warn it of the disasters that life may bring, show it how things may suddenly change with the passing of days, tell it the stories of the people of the past, and remind it what happened to those who came before."' Walk through their ruins, see what they did and what became of them, meaning, look at the punishments and divine wrath that struck the nations of the past who belied,

فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ ءَاذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا

(and have they hearts wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear) meaning, let them learn a lesson from that.

فَإِنَّهَا لاَ تَعْمَى الاٌّبْصَـرُ وَلَـكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِى فِى الصُّدُورِ

(Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind.) means, the blind person is not the one whose eyes cannot see, but rather the one who has no insight. Even if the physical eyes are sound, they still cannot learn the lesson.

Если такие люди приходят к власти и начинают господствовать на земле, не встречая сопротивления со стороны противников и недовольных, то они совершают намаз, выполняя условия и обязательные предписания молитвы, собираются на пятничные и групповые намазы, собирают пожертвования со своих подданных и сами выплачивают закят тем, кто действительно нуждается в поддержке, призывают людей выполнять свои обязанности перед Аллахом и людьми, а также совершать поступки, одобряемые шариатом и разумом, удерживают окружающих от поступков, которые не одобряются шариатом и разумом. Повеление одобряемого и запрещение предосудительного невозможно, если люди не знают того, что одобряется, а что порицается мусульманским шариатом. Мусульмане должны изучать это и обучать этому остальных, и поэтому праведники, которые помогают Аллаху, побуждают людей изучать религию и обучать ей окружающих. Повеление одобряемого и запрещение предосудительного также невозможно без осуществления воспитательных мер, некоторые из которых оговорены в шариате, а некоторые - нет. К последним относятся, например, различные порицания и осуждения. И поэтому при необходимости праведники, которые помогают Аллаху, наказывают и осуждают людей. А когда возникает необходимость в привлечении людей к делам, они поступают таким образом. Они также выполняют все иные предписания, без которых невозможно повеление одобряемого и запрещение предосудительного. Все деяния возвращаются к Аллаху, и Он поведал о том, что благой конец уготовлен только богобоязненным. И если правитель, которого Аллах наделил властью над рабами, исправно выполнял Его повеления, то его ожидает прекрасный и похвальный конец. Если же он пришел к власти благодаря своей силе и правил в угоду собственным желаниям, то его власти непременно придет конец, и конец этот будет недобрым. Скверным было его правление, и скверным будет его конец. Затем Всевышний Аллах обратился к Своему пророку, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, и сказал:

Qur’ anic prophecy about the Rightly Guided Caliphs ( خُلفأے راشدین ) and its fulfillment

الَّذِينَ إِن مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Those who, when We give them power in the land - 22:41) In this verse the word (those) refers to those people who have been mentioned in the preceding verse: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِ‌جُوا مِن دِيَارِ‌هِم بِغَيْرِ‌ حَقٍّ (Those are the ones who were expelled from their homes without any just reason - 22:40). Referring to such people the verse says that if they are placed in authority in this world, they will use it to promote good deeds, will set up prayers, pay the obligatory charity, enjoin people to do good and abstain from evil deeds. It has already been mentioned that these verses were revealed soon after Hijrah, at a time when the Muslims did not exercise dominion anywhere on earth, which means that Allah Ta’ ala had already made it known that when, at a future date, they would come to power and establish their government, they would serve the Faith in the manner described in this verse. Sayyidna ` Uthmane ؓ said referring to this verse, ثنَا قَبلَ بَلَاء that this verse praises those people before they actually perform the praise-worthy deeds. In due course Allah Ta’ ala's prophecy was fulfilled in that the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Muhajirin (emigrants) from Makkah were indeed those whom the Qur'an described by the words الَّذِينَ أُخْرِ‌جُوا (those who were expelled - 22:40) and when they established their government and held sway over vast territories, they used their power and authority in setting up prayers, strengthening the system of Zakah, enjoining good and forbidding evil deeds. Many scholars are of the view that this verse is a clear evidence of the fact that accession to power of the four Caliphs (خُلفَاے راشدین) is a direct fulfillment of Allah's Prophesy, and the system of caliphate which was set up by them was in accordance with His will. (Ruh ul-Ma’ ani)

Having discussed the factual aspect of the circumstances leading up to the revelation of this verse it must, at the same time, be emphasized that where the Qur'an uses general words and phrases, their purpose is not restricted to a particular situation, but is universally applicable to all similar situations. Following this reasoning, Dahhak says that this verse contains an injunction for all those whom Allah Ta’ ala grants power and authority to do all those things which the Four Caliphs did when they controlled the rule. (Qurtubi)

Other English translations

Tafsīr · classical commentary

The Consequences for the Disbelievers