At-Tawba 9:70

Advising the Hypocrites to learn a Lesson from Those before Them

Allah advises the hypocrites who reject the Messengers,

(Has not the story reached them of those before them) have you (hypocrites) not learned the end of the nations before you who rejected the Messengers,

(The people of Nuh), and the flood that drowned the entire population of the earth, except those who believed in Allah's servant and Messenger Nuh, peace be upon him,

(and `Ad), who perished with the barren wind when they rejected Hud, peace be upon him,

(and Thamud), who were overtaken by the Sayhah (awful cry) when they denied Salih, peace be upon him, and killed the camel,

(and the people of Ibrahim), over whom He gave Ibrahim victory and the aid of clear miracles. Allah destroyed their king Nimrod, son of Canaan, son of Koch from Canaan, may Allah curse him,

(and the dwellers of Madyan), the people of Shu`ayb, peace be upon him, who were destroyed by the earthquake and the torment of the day of the Shade,

(and the overturned cities), the people of Lut who used to live in Madyan. Allah said in another Ayah,

(And He destroyed the overturned cities) 53:53, meaning the people of the overturned cities in reference to Sadum Sodom, their major city. Allah destroyed them all because they rejected Allah's Prophet Lut, peace be upon him, and because they committed the sin that none before them had committed homosexuality.

(to them came their Messengers with clear proofs.), and unequivocal evidence,

(So it was not Allah Who wronged them), when He destroyed them, for He established the proofs against them by sending the Messengers and dissipating the doubts,

(but they used to wrong themselves), on account of their denying the Messengers and defying the Truth; this is why they earned the end, torment and punishment, that they did.

Let us now consider the statement: كَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ (You are) like those before you' in verse 69. According to one exegetical explanation, this is addressed to hypocrites while according to the other explanation, the address is to Muslims. The addition of ` you are' in parenthesis points out in this direction. Thus, it means that ` you too are like people before you. They went for worldly enjoyments and forgot all about the life to come. The result was that they sank into all sorts of sins. So shall you be.

Explaining this verse, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ عنہ narrates a Hadith in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ . 1n al has been reported to have said that ` you too will take to the ways taken by communities before you. You will imitate them in toto as dittos and clones to the limit that should you see one of them entering into the hole of a lizard (iguana), you will follow him there too.' After having narrated this far, Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ said that should anyone wish to as-certain the thematic authenticity of this Hadith, let him read this verse of the Qur'an: كَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ `(You are) like those before you - 69.'

On hearing this, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said: مَا اَشبَہَ اللَّیلَۃ بِالبَارِحَۃِ that is, ` how similar is this night (in our time) to the last night (way back) - they are the people of Bani Isra'il and we have been likened to them.' (Qurtubi)

The aim of the Hadith is fairly evident. It warns that Muslims too will start following the ways of the Jews and Christians by latter times. This statement appears only after a punishment has been announced for the hypocrites. It serves as an indicator that good Muslims would not do that. Only those among them, who are weak in 'Iman may do so because they are still infected with the germs of hypocrisy. All good men and women of the Muslim community have been instructed in this verse that they should themselves abstain from such ways as well as help others do the same.