Allah is All-Powerful

Understand and Learn English Translation andTafsir of Surah al-Isra Ayah 99-100

Allah confirms in the Quran that resurrection will take place on the Day of Judgment by pointing out to things that man can see. For example, the creation of the heavens and the earth with their magnificence is clear evidence that nothing is impossible for Allah, who created them. 

(Have they not seen that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them? He has appointed a term for them, about which there is no doubt. Yet the wrongdoers refuse to accept nothing but disbelief.

Say, ‘If you possessed the treasures of my Lord’s mercy, you would hold them back for fear of spending. Man is ever stingy.’) 

Relationship with the Previous Part

After refuting suspicions of the deniers of prophethood, the ayat return to refute to suspicions of the deniers of resurrection on the Day of Judgment. They claim that it is impossible that man becomes alive after dying and becoming crumbled remains. Allah has proved that such a claim is false by referring to the fact that the One Who is able to create the heavens and the earth with magnificent creation is able to bring back the dead alive. 

Tafsir 

(Have they not seen that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them? He has appointed a term for them, about which there is no doubt. Yet the wrongdoers refuse to accept nothing but disbelief.) [99]

(Have they not seen that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them?)

Can the disbelievers not see the truth that those who are endowed with sound intellect can easily discern? 

Do the disbelievers not know that Allah, who has created the heavens and the earth, is able to create a greater creation, and bring them back to life after death for reckoning on the Day of Judgment?

Indeed, He is Omnipotent and nothing is impossible for Him, Exalted is He. The disbelievers’ ignorance of such a clear fact is evidence of their defective minds. 

After establishing clear evidence for the occurrence of resurrection, and that people will become alive after death, then Allah mentions that resurrection will take place at an appointed time according to His wisdom and will.

(He has appointed a term for them, about which there is no doubt.)

Allah has appointed a specific time for resurrection on the Day of Judgment. People will be brought out of their graves for reckoning and recompense on that day.

  

(Yet the wrongdoers refuse to accept nothing but disbelief.)

This shows the disbelievers’ insistence on rejecting and denying the truth though they know it.

The deniers of resurrection accept nothing but disbelief in Allah, which is the typical characteristic of the ignorant. 

Then Allah commanded Messenger Muhammad to encounter the disbelievers, informing them about their inborn stinginess after they asked him for corrupt suggestions.

(Say, ‘If you possessed the treasures of my Lord’s mercy, you would hold them back for fear of spending. Man is ever stingy.’) [100]

O Messenger! Tell the disbelievers, who have rejected your message and asked you impossible things, ‘O people! If you possessed the treasures of sustenance of Allah, you would be stingy and not spend them for fear of becoming poor though the treasures of Allah never run out. But stinginess is your inherent disposition.’

(Man is ever stingy.)

Man is extremely stingy by nature. He is tightfisted with people and even with his own self for fear of poverty even if he owns all the treasures of the heavens and the earth. 

Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Isra Ayah 99-100

• Though evidence, denoting the Oneness of Allah and His omnipotence, is clear, e.g. creation of the heavens and the earth, the disbelievers insist on disbelief.

• The Day of Judgment will certainly occur. 

• Even if man owns all treasures of the heavens and the earth, he will not spend them for fear of poverty, as stinginess is his innate characteristic. 

• It may be said that there are generous people. How can this be reconciled with the fact that man is stingy by nature? 1) Stinginess is an inherent characteristic of man since he normally needs things, so he loves things that avail and protect him from being in need. He may be generous for reasons that force him to be generous. 2) When man gives to people, he may do so in order to be thanked, he may be obliged to give, and he may give to be rewarded by Allah. In fact, he gives to attain compensation. 

English Translation and Tafsir of Surah Al-Fil (The Elephant)

Introduction to English Translation and Tafsir of Surah Ad-Duha

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf: Ayah 37-41

He said to his companion, conversing with him, ‘Do you disbelieve in He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, and then formed you into a man?’ 

But as for me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not worship any one besides my Lord. 

Why did you not say, when you entered your garden, ‘This is what Allah has willed, and there is no power except by Allah’s help’? Although you see that I have less wealth and children than you.  

It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and will send upon it torment from heaven, so it will become a slippery, plantless land, or its water will sink into the ground, so you will never be able to seek it out. [Surah al-Kahf: 37-41]

Tafsir

Admonition & Warning

The following ayat present what the believing man said to the owner of the two gardens, who was ungrateful to Allah’s blessings on him. 

He said to his companion, conversing with him, ‘Do you disbelieve in He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, and then formed you into a man? [37]

The poor believing man replied to the owner of the two gardens, who denied resurrection on the Day of Judgment, and was ungrateful to Allah, who granted him the wealth he was enjoying. He said, ‘Do you disbelieve in Allah, who created Adam, your first father, from dust, and then created you by means of sexual reproduction, and formed you into a man in the best form? 
Do you disbelieve in He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, and then formed you into a man?

The interrogation indicates disapproval and astonishment. That is because knowing that Allah is the Creator necessitates worshipping Him alone sincerely and thanking Him for His blessings.  In another ayah, Allah says,

How do you disbelieve in Allah, seeing that you were dead, then He gave you life, then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you back to life, and then you will be returned to Him? [Surah al-Baqarah: 28]

How could you disbelieve in Allah though proofs denoting His existence are clear, and self-evident? There is no created being but knows that he was nothing, and then was created, and his existence does not depend on any other created being because it is created just like him. Therefore, it becomes clear that there is a Creator, Allah, who created everything. 

Then, the righteous man courageously declares his position. 

But as for me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not worship any one besides my Lord. [38]

O disbeliever! While you have disbelieved in Allah, who created you and formed you into a man, I will never disbelieve in Allah. I believe in Him and worship Him alone. 

In this manner, the glory of faith powerfully emerges. It does not care for wealth, supporters, nor pride. It also does not declare the truth hesitatingly, nor does it try to flatter the companion at the expense of the truth. In this manner, the believing man believes that he is noble before prestige and wealth, and that attaining Allah’s reward is better than all worldly life enjoyments. He believes that Allah’s bounty is great. He also believes that Allah’s wrath against the arrogant people is also great, and will imminently befall them.  
The believer guided his disbelieving fellow to what he should say when entering his gardens.

Why did you not say, when you entered your garden, ‘This is what Allah has willed, and there is no power except by Allah’s help’? Although you see that I have less wealth and children than you. [39] 

This is exhortation and admonition. The believer said to the owner of the gardens, ‘When you entered your garden, looked at, and admired it, why you did not thank Allah for His blessings, and the wealth and offspring that He granted to you. Why did you not say, ‘This is what Allah has willed for me, and I have no power except by Allah’s help?’’ 

 Some of the righteous predecessors said, ‘If one admires anything of his condition, health, or wealth, he should say, ‘This is what Allah has willed for me, and I have no power except by Allah’s help.’ 

The believer wants to teach the owner of the two gardens how to react to Allah’s blessings by attributing them to their giver, Allah. That is because a person enjoying a blessing does not play any role in obtaining it; rather, Allah is its giver. Gardens and orchard, how do they come? They grow on the land that Allah created. When the person cultivates it with a plow, Allah has granted him this blessing. Allah also has granted him the power he uses to work, and He may take it at any time. This will render the person weak and unable to do anything. Hence, all blessings come from Allah.  

 After exhorting and admonishing the owner of the gardens, the righteous believer replied to the conceit and pride of his fellow.  

It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and will send upon it torment from heaven, so it will become a slippery, plantless land, or its water will sink into the ground, so you will never be able to seek it out. [40-41] 

O conceited one! Although I have less wealth and offspring than yours, I hope that Allah, the Omnipotent, will give me something that better than your garden, and will send upon it torment on your garden, so it will be slippery, plantless ground. It may be that Allah will make water in your garden sink into the ground, so you will never be able to seek it out. No one can give you water but Allah.
 In other words, the disbeliever’s garden will become useless. It will be destroyed by either heavenly torment or a calamity.

Then the ayat conclude the story of the owner of the two gardens by mentioning the evil end that the conceited, ungrateful owner of the gardens suffered. 

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf: Ayah 32-36

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

Rule of Guidance and Misguidance

Tafsir of Surah al-Isra Ayah 97-98

The rule of guidance and misguidance states that the one whom Allah guides to believe in His Oneness is indeed the guided one. On the other hand, the one whom Allah lets go astray because he rejects to follow the truth, no one can guide him to the right path. 

(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him. And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.

That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our proofs and said, ‘What! When we become bones and crumbled remains, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’)

[Quran Surah al-Isra: 97-98] 

Relationship with the Previous Part 

Some suspicions of the disbelievers were refuted in the previous part. Then consolation to Messenger Muhammad is mentioned for the oppression and abuse he suffered from the disbelievers. He was told that whomever is destined to follow the right path would be rightly guided, and those whom are destined to follow the path of misguidance would never be guided to the right path. 

Tafsir

(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him. And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.) [97]

(Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided; and whom He lets go astray, you will find no supporters for them other than Him.)

Whomever Allah guides to the right path is truly the guided one. He will attain the pleasure of Allah. On the other hand, whomever is destined to follow the path of misguidance, will go astray, and one can guide him to the right path. Indeed, being guided to the right path and being misguided is only in the hands of Allah, according to His will and wisdom. 

It should be understood that the fact that Allah knows beforehand who will follow the right path and who will not follow it does not mean human beings are compelled to be believers or disbelievers. Rather, man has full will to choose which path to follow according to his will. Allah says, interpretation of meaning,

(It is nothing but admonition for all the worlds, for whomever of you who wants to be rightly guided. And you will not want unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wants.)[Q81:27-29] 

The Quran is admonition for whomever wants to be rightly guided to the truth, but whoever does not want to benefit from its guidance, he will never be guided to the truth. Someone may say, ‘Can a person choose what he wills? Yes, he can choose what he wills. Allah has given man will and ability to choose and do what he wants. If he wants to something, he will do it. On the other hand, if he does not want to do something, he will do it. Otherwise, evidence against people to whom the messengers of Allah were sent would not be established.  Likewise, whoever wants to obey Allah will obey Him, and whoever wants to disobey Allah will disobey Him. Thus, man has his own will, yet it is certain that man is unable to choose anything unless Allah wills it to be so in the first place. 

Then the ayat depict the horrible state of the disbelievers when they will be gathered and resurrected on the Day of Judgment.

(And We shall gather them on the Day of Judgment, dragged on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf.)

On the Day of Judgment, the disbelievers will be resurrected from their graves, be gathered, and dragged to Hell on their faces. On that day, they will be blind, dumb, and deaf. They will be humiliated and treated in such a disgracing manner because they rejected to believe in the Oneness of Allah in the worldly life. 

The scholars have three opinions on how the disbelievers will be gathered on the Day of Judgment. The first is that they will walk on their faces. Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that a man asked Messenger Muhammad about how the disbeliever will walk on his face on the Day of Judgment when Allah will gather people. The Messengerﷺ said, ‘The One, Who made him walk on his feet in the worldly life, will make him walk on his face on the Day of Judgment.’ The second is that the disbelievers will be resurrected and gathered while being dragged on their faces. The third is that they will be gathered and move swiftly. 

Then the ayat mention the end abode of the disbelievers.

(Their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase its burning.)

The final abode of the disbelievers will be Hell. It will severely burn and destroy their skins and flesh. This will make it abate. Then their burned skin and flesh will be changed, and this will make Hell rekindle blazingly. This process will be repeated forever. 

The following ayah presents the causes that make the disbelievers deserve such horrible punishment.

(That will be their recompense because they disbelieved in Our proofs and said, ‘What! When we become bones and crumbled remains, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’) [98]

The disbelievers will deserve such severe torment because they disbelieved in the Oneness of Allah in the worldly life though proofs, denoting His Oneness were conclusively clear and abundant. Denyingly and ignorantly, they said, ‘When we become bones and crumbled remains after death, shall we be resurrected as a new creation?’ 

They insisted on disbelief and denied resurrection and reckoning on the Day of Judgment. Therefore, their punishment will be severe. Allah will make Hell burn their skins and flesh. Then they will be given new skins and flesh and it will be re-burn again. This process will be repeated forever. 

Learned Lessons 

• Only Allah can guide to the right path. Thus, He must be worshipped alone and invoked for help and guidance. 

• The torment of the disbelievers in Hell on the Day of Judgment will be severe and forever. 

• Hell is the final abode of those who disbelieve on resurrection and reckoning on the Day of Judgment. 

• Proofs in the Quran, Sunnah of Messenger Muhammad, and logic confirm that the Day of Judgment will be established. Logic dictates that the one, who creates something from nothing, is able to re-create it. Allah has created man from nothing and He is able to re-create him on the Day of Judgment. 

Tafsir of Surah al-Isra: Ayah 94-96

English Translation of Surah al-Isra