Al-Muddaththir 74:48

What will take place in the Discussion between the People of Paradise and the People of the Hellfire

Allah informs that,

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ

(Every person is a pledge for what he has earned,) meaning, bound to his deed on the Day of Judgement. Ibn `Abbas and others have said this.

إِلاَّ أَصْحَـبَ الْيَمِينِ

(Except those on the Right.) For verily, they will be

فِى جَنَّـتٍ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ - عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ

(In Gardens they will ask one another, about criminals (and they will say to them)) meaning, while they are in lofty rooms they will ask the criminals, who will be in the lowest levels (of Hell), saying to them,

مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِى سَقَرَ - قَالُواْ لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ - وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ

("What has caused you to enter Hell" They will say: "We were not of those who used to offer the Salah, nor did we feed the poor.") meaning, `we did not worship Allah, nor did we do good to His creatures of our own species (i.e., other people).'

وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الُخَآئِضِينَ

(And we used to speak falsehood with vain speakers.) meaning, `we used to speak about what we had no knowledge of.' Qatadah said, "It means that every time someone went astray we would go astray with them."

وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ - حَتَّى أَتَـنَا الْيَقِينُ

(And we used to deny the Day of Recompense, until the certainty (Al-Yaqin) came to us.) meaning, death. This is as Allah says,

وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ

(And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty.) (15:99) The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«أَمَّا هُوَ يعني عثمان بن مظعون فَقَدْ جَاءَهُ الْيَقِينُ مِنْ رَبِّه»

(Concerning him verily, Al-Yaqin (death) came to him from his Lord.)" Allah then says,

فَمَا تَنفَعُهُمْ شَفَـعَةُ الشَّـفِعِينَ

(So no intercession of intercessors will be of any use to them.) meaning, whoever has these characteristics, then the intercession of whoever tries to intercede for him will be of no benefit on the Day of Judgement. This is because intercession is only useful if the conditions for it are met. However, whoever comes before Allah as a disbeliever on the Day of Judgement, then he will get the Hellfire and there is no way of avoiding it. He will abide in it (Hell) forever.

The Disapproval of the Disbelievers' Rejection and Their Position

Then Allah says,

فَمَا لَهُمْ عَنِ التَّذْكِرَةِ مُعْرِضِينَ

(Then what is wrong with them that they turn away from admonition) meaning, `what is wrong with these disbelievers who are turning away from what you are calling them to and reminding them of'

كَأَنَّهُمْ حُمُرٌ مُّسْتَنفِرَةٌ - فَرَّتْ مِن قَسْوَرَةٍ

(As if they were wild donkeys. Fleeing from a Qaswarah.) meaning, as if they were fleeing from the truth and turning away from it, like a wild donkey when it flees from something that is trying to catch it, like a lion. This was said by Abu Hurayrah. Hammad bin Salamah reported from `Ali bin Zayd who reported from Yusuf bin Mihran who narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "It (Qaswarah) is the lion in the Arabic language. It is called Qaswarah in the Abyssinian language, Sher in the Persian language and Awba in the Nabtiyyah (Nabatean) language." Concerning Allah's statement,

بَلْ يُرِيدُ كُلُّ امْرِىءٍ مِّنْهُمْ أَن يُؤْتَى صُحُفاً مُّنَشَّرَةً

(Nay, everyone of them desires that he should be given pages spread out.) meaning, each one of these idolators wants to have a book revealed to him as Allah revealed to the Prophet . Mujahid and others have said this. This is similar to Allah's statement,

وَإِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ءَايَةٌ قَالُواْ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ حَتَّى نُؤْتَى مِثْلَ مَآ أُوتِىَ رُسُلُ اللَّهِ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ

(And when there comes to them a sign they say: "We shall not believe until we receive the like of that which the Messengers of Allah ﷺ had received." Allah knows best with whom to place His Message.) (6:124) It is reported in a narration from Qatadah that he said, "They want to be declared innocent (on the Day of Judgement) without having to do any deeds." Then Allah says,

كَلاَّ بَل لاَّ يَخَافُونَ الاٌّخِرَةَ

(Nay! But they fear not the Hereafter.) meaning, they were only corrupted by their lack of faith in it and their rejection of its occurrence.

The Qur'an is a Reminder

Then Allah says,

كَلاَّ إِنَّهُ تَذْكِرَةٌ

(Nay, verily, this is an admonition.) meaning, truly the Qur'an is a reminder.

فَمَن شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُ وَمَا يَذْكُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ

(So, whosoever wills receives admonition (from it)! And they will not receive admonition unless Allah wills;) This is similar to Allah's statement,

وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ

(And you cannot will unless Allah wills.) (81:29) Concerning Allah's statement,

هُوَ أَهْلُ التَّقْوَى وَأَهْلُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ

(He is the One, deserving the Taqwa and He is the One Who forgives.) This means that He deserves to be feared and He is eligible to forgive the sin of whoever turns to Him and repents. This was said by Qatadah. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Muddaththir, all praise and thanks are due to Allah. ffer the Salah, nor did we feed the poor.") meaning, `we did not worship Allah, nor did we do good to His creatures of our own species (i.e., other people).'

وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الُخَآئِضِينَ

(And we used to speak falsehood with vain speakers. peakersieA ھ The Qur'an is a Reminder Then Allah says,

كَلاَّ إِنَّهُ تَذْكِرَةٌ

(Nay, verily, this is an admonition.) meaning, truly the Qur'an is a reminder.

فَمَن شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُ وَمَا يَذْكُرُونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ

(So, whosoever wills receives admonition (from it)! And they will not receive admonition unless Allah wills;) This is similar to Allah's statement,

وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلاَّ أَن يَشَآءَ اللَّهُ

(And you cannot will unless Allah wills.) (81:29) Concerning Allah's statement,

هُوَ أَهْلُ التَّقْوَى وَأَهْلُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ

(He is the One, deserving the Taqwa and He is the One Who forgives.) This means that He deserves to be feared and He is eligible to forgive the sin of whoever turns to Him and repents. This was said by Qatadah. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Muddaththir, all praise and thanks are due to Allah.

فَمَا تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفَاعَةُ الشّٰفِعِيْنَ (Then intercession of intercessors will not avail them...74:48) The attached pronoun of tanfa'uhum refers to those sinners who have been mentioned in the preceding verses. They confessed to four crimes: [ 1] they did not perform obligatory prayers; [ 2] they did not feed the poor, that is, they did not spend on the necessities of the poor; [ 3] they indulged (in mocking at the truth) along with those who indulged in opposing Islam or committing sins and shameful deeds; and [ 4] they denied the Day of Requital.

This verse purports to say that whoever has these characteristics, including denial of the Day of Requital, is an infidel. The intercession of anyone who tries to intercede for an infidel will be of no benefit to him on the Day of Judgment. Even if all the intercessors join forces to intercede, it will not help. This is because intercession is only useful if the conditions for it are met. Therefore, the verse uses the plural expression, thus: شَفَاعَةُ الشّٰفِعِيْنَ

'intercession of intercessors'

No Intercession will Benefit an Unbeliever, but will Benefit a Believer

It is deducible from the verse under comment that, besides infidels, all Muslims, even though they may be sinners, will benefit from intercession as many authentic ahadith bear ample testimony to this. The intercessors will be the Prophets of Allah, Allah's friends and righteous personalities. It is confirmed that the general body of believers will intercede for one another, and their intercession will be accepted.

A Special Note

Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud 4 narrates that Allah's angels and Prophets, the martyrs and the righteous will intercede for sinners in the Hereafter, and they will be delivered from Hell by virtue of their intercession, except the four types of sinners who have been classified above, that is, those who failed to perform their obligatory prayer and to pay their Zakah, those who opposed Islam with the opponents of Islam and denied the Hereafter. This shows that intercession will not be accepted for those who fail to perform their obligatory Salah and pay their Zakah. However, other narratives indicate that the correct view with regard to the verse under comment is that the unacceptability of intercession refers to those sinners who commit the four types of crimes that include the rejection of the Hereafter. Besides the rejection, it is not necessary that sinners committing other sins should be punished in the same way. However, there are other Hadith narratives that refer to certain major sins which deprive people of intercession. For instance, if a person denies the veracity of intercession, or if he denies the existence of the Pond of Kauthar, he will have no share in either of the two.