Indeed, We have diversely clarified every kind of example for people in this Quran. Man is ever extremely contentious.
Nothing has prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, and seeking their Lord’s forgiveness, but what befell the former nations should befall them, or variety of torments should befall them.
We send the messengers only as givers of good news and warners. Those who disbelieve dispute by means of falsehood to nullify the truth thereby. They have made My proofs and what they have been warned of objects of ridicule.
Who is more unjust than he, who is reminded of the ayat of His Lord, turns away from them, and forgets what his hands have committed? Indeed, We have placed coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it, and deafness in their ears. If you invite them to the guidance, they will never be guided.
Your Lord is the All- Forgiving, the Giver of mercy. If He were to punish them for what they have done, He would hasten their torment. Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no escape.
Those towns, We destroyed them when their inhabitants wronged, and We made an appointed time for their destruction.
[Surah al-Kahf: 54-59]
Tafsir
Clarity of the Quran, Duty of the Messengers, Unjustness of the Rejecters of the Truth & the Reason behind Delaying the Punishment
Relationship
After refuting the allegations of the disbelievers, who were proud of their wealth, and refused to sit with the poor companions of Messenger Muhammad, Allah mentions that He has diversely clarified many examples in the Quran for those who want to reflect on them. He also mentions what is the duty of His Messengers, and the evil end of the disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah.
Indeed, We have diversely clarified every kind of example for people in this Quran. Man is ever extremely contentious. [54]
Allah have given diverse examples in the Quran for people so that they know the path of guidance and righteousness by reflecting on these examples and seeking to understand and benefit from them. However, despite the clarity of the proofs and examples of the Quran, there are many people who love to dispute and argue only for the sake of argumentation, not for the sake of knowing the truth.
Man is ever extremely contentious.
Human beings by nature love to dispute and argue, which is a proof of their intelligence and diversity of their desires.
Argumentation may be impartial and aiming to establish the truth, which is praiseworthy. On the other hand, it is blameworthy, if it is biased and is done to support falsehood.
Then the ayat mention the reasons, preventing some people from believing in Allah and following and obeying His Messengers.
Nothing has prevented men from believing when the guidance came to them, and seeking their Lord’s forgiveness, but what befell the former nations should befall them, or variety of torments should befall them. [55]
Nothing has prevented the disbelievers from believing in the Oneness of Allah and seeking His forgiveness, when Allah’s Messengers invited them to follow the path of guidance and obey Allah, but the annihilating torment that befell the disbelievers among the former nations should befall them, or variety of torments should befall them. Allah, the Omniscient, knows that the disbelievers will not believe in His Oneness and follow the path of guidance until a destroying punishment should befall them, just as the former disbelievers did.
In sum, the disbelievers will not believe in Allah or seek His forgiveness until punishment in this world should befall them, or different kinds of torments should befall them, taking place while they see them and experience their severity.
We send the messengers only as givers of good news and warners. Those who disbelieve dispute by means of falsehood to nullify the truth thereby. They have made My proofs and what they have been warned of objects of ridicule. [56]
The ayah mentions the duty of the Messengers of Allah, which is to invite people to believe in the Oneness of Allah, obey His commands, and avoid His prohibitions, and give good news of the reward of Allah to the believers. They also warn people of disbelief in the Oneness of Allah and the severe punishment awaiting them if they reject to follow the path of guidance.
The disbelievers dispute by means of falsehood to nullify the truth that Allah’s Messengers brought. In addition, they make the Quran, Allah’s proofs denoting His Oneness and ability, and the warning of Allah’s Messengers objects of their ridicule.
Who is more unjust than he, who is reminded of the ayat of His Lord, turns away from them, and forgets what his hands have committed? Indeed, We have placed coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it, and deafness in their ears. If you invite them to the guidance, they will never be guided. [57]
The ayah mention the evil end of those who refuse to listen to the admonitions of the Quran.
No person is more unjust than the person who is reminded of ayat of the Quran that Allah revealed to Messenger Muhammad but he rejects to reflect on them and refuse to follow the Quran teachings. Moreover, he forgets the sins he has committed, ignoring and forgetting that he will be recompensed for what he has done.
Then the ayah mentions the cause of such rejection and forgetfulness.
Indeed, We have placed coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it, and deafness in their ears.
Allah has placed coverings over the hearts of the rejecters of the truth, preventing the light of guidance to reach their hearts. Thus, they cannot understand, reflect on, and follow what benefit them. Moreover, Allah has placed deafness in their ears so that they cannot hear the truth and follow it.
If you invite them to the guidance, they will never be guided.
O Messenger! If you invite such people to believe in the truth and follow the path of guidance, they will never believe and never follow the right path. They will insist on following the path of misguidance. Thus, their hearts and ears are deservedly are sealed so that they cannot understand or hear the truth.
Your Lord is the All- Forgiving, the Giver of mercy. If He were to punish them for what they have done, He would hasten their torment. Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no escape. [58]
Allah informs of His vast forgiveness and mercy. He forgives the sins of the sinners if they seek His forgiveness, and bestows His mercy on the repentant.
If Allah wanted to punish His slaves for their sins, He would hasten their torment. However, Allah is forbearing and does not punish swiftly, but He never forgets the sins of those who insist on sinning and refuse to repent.
Rather, they have an appointed time from which they will find no escape.
Allah is just. He gives people opportunity to repent of their sins and do righteous deeds. He has assigned an appointed time for calling people to account and punishing those who insist on following the path of misguidance. The wrongdoers will find no escape from the torment Allah has prepared for them.
Those towns, We destroyed them when their inhabitants wronged, and We made an appointed time for their destruction. [59]
Allah, Exalted is He, destroyed the inhabitants of former nations, such as the people of Aad, Thamud, and Lot, when they disbelieved in the Oneness of Allah and transgressed. He made an appointed time for their destruction, which they could not escape.
O disbelievers! Beware that a similar torment may befall you if you do not believe in Allah and His Messengers even if the torment does not take place swiftly. Allah will certainly punish the wrongdoers. His torment will befall them, and they can never escape from it.
Learned Lessons
• The Quran clearly mentions that all man needs to know about this life and the Hereafter. It mentions variety of examples and proofs, denoting the Oneness of Allah and His perfect ability.
• Human beings by nature, especially, the disbelievers, are argumentative. They try to obliterate the truth and preserve their whims by means of baseless argumentation.
• Nothing prevents people from believing in the Oneness of Allah and His Messengers, but experiencing the torment that befell the former nations, or encountering many kinds of punishments.
• Only Allah decides when and how His punishment befalls on the wrongdoers. It will befall according to His wisdom and justice.
• The duty of the Messengers of Allah is to invite people to worship Allah alone, give good news to the believers, warn the wrongdoers and disbelievers of the sever torment of Allah.
• The most unjust person is he, who is reminded of the proofs of Allah and warned of His punishment, but he rejects to believe in Allah.
• Allah is Omniscient. He knows that there are people will never believe in Him. Thus, He has sealed their hearts and ears so that they will never be guided to the truth.
• Allah is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful. He forgives the sins of the repentant and bestows His mercy on them.
• One of the signs of the perfect Mercifulness of Allah is that He does not swiftly punish the wrongdoers and the disbelievers. Rather, He gives them opportunities to repent of their sins, believe in Him and do righteous deeds.
• Allah destroyed the former disbelieving nations when they insisted on rejecting the message of their messengers and disbelieving in Allah. Those nations could never escape from the torment of Allah.
'Do you think I am a disbeliever?'
This was Ahmad's comment when his teacher told his sisters to pray and did not tell him to do so.
Ahmad is an eight-year old boy. Though he does not pray on a regular basis, he was very angry when his teacher did not ask him to pray when she asked his sisters to pray.
He kept on repeating these words,
"Do you think I am a disbeliever?"
What was the message behind this reaction and repetition?
Was it a spontaneous reaction of a child, who was saying, "I need your attention too”?
Was he saying, ‘Even if I do not pray on a regular basis, I still pray and need encouragement to keep on praying until I pray regularly?
Was he saying, ‘Change needs time to take place. Do not rush me to be the person you want me to be. I will change at the right moment. You just need to be kind and help me be a good person’?
Yes, change needs time to take place. However, sometimes, we forget this simple fact and act as if those whom we love are objects in our hands that we can form in the manner we want and at the moment we want forgetting that we only can control our own selves.
To love means to give opportunities.
To love means to help those whom we love be what they want to be, not what we want them to be. We can help them see and discover their negative characteristics, but we cannot force them to change. They must take this step by themselves at the time they feel they can do so,
Was the message that we should invite people to what bring them happiness regardless of our attitude towards them?
We may disagree with them about one or another thing, but they are humans just like us who want to be treated justly.
Was the message that we should not let our negative attitude control our abilities to be positive?
Yes, Ahmad does not perform the prayer on a regular basis, but at the same time, there is a great chance that he will change this habit and pray on a regular basis if he is encouraged to do so. But, if he is not encouraged, the possibility that he may stop praying is great.
Do not let negative attitudes have the upper hand over the positive attitudes.
Mention when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam.’ They prostrated except Satan, who was one of the jinn. He disobeyed the command of his Lord. Then do you take him and his descendants as allies instead of Me though they are your enemies? How an evil substitute for the wrongdoers is!
I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation; I do not take the misleaders as helpers.
Mention the day when He will say, ‘Call those whom you alleged that they were My partners.’ Then they will call them, and they will not respond. And We will make between them a place of destruction.
The sinners will see the Fire, and will be certain that they will enter it. They will find no escape from it. [Quran Surah al-Kahf: 50-53]
Tafsir
The Trial of Satan
After the previous ayat referred to the horrors of the Day of Judgment, commandment not to obey Satan and his followers comes, showing the painful end of those who follow him and his followers.
Mention when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam.’ They prostrated except Satan, who was one of the jinn. He disobeyed the command of his Lord. Then do you take him and his descendants as allies instead of Me though they are your enemies? How an evil substitute for the wrongdoers is! [50]
The ayah reminds human beings of the old enmity that Satan has for them in order to warn them of his evil temptations and urge them not to obey him.
O Messenger! Mention to the people when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam (prostration as a sign of respect and veneration, not a sign of worship.)’
The angels obeyed the command of Allah and prostrated themselves before Adam. However, Satan, who was one of the jinn, disobeyed the command of Allah and refused to prostrate before Adam so he deserved the curse of Allah, Exalted is He.
(They prostrated except Satan, who was one of the jinn. He disobeyed the command of his Lord.)
The scholars differ about whether Satan belongs to the jinn or the angels. They have two opinions on this matter. The first is that Satan belongs to the jinn due to the explicit meaning of this ayah. In addition, Satan has offspring, and the angels have no offspring, he disbelieves in Allah and the angels are the messengers of Allah so they are infallible and never disobey Allah.
The second opinion is that Satan belongs to the angels, and the ayah states that ‘he was one of the jinn’ because he belongs to a group of angels called ‘the jinn’. And Allah knows best.
Among the scholars who believes that Satan belongs to the jinn is Imam ibn Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him. He said that since Satan’s origin is fire, he was influenced by his nature. On the other hand, the angels were created from light, so they did what agrees with their nature. Satan was mentioned with the angels because he tried to imitate acts of obedience done by the angels.
The ayah is concluded with disapproval, censure, and astonishment as there are people who still obey and follow the footsteps of Satan and his followers though it is clear that he is their sworn enemy.
Then do you take him and his descendants as allies instead of Me though they are your enemies? How an evil substitute for the wrongdoers is!
O children of Adam! After it has become clear to you that Satan disobeys Allah, do you obey and follow his footsteps?
Undoubtedly, any person, who obeys and follow the footsteps of Satan, he exchanges what is good with what is evil, and favors misguidance over following the path of guidance!
The statement makes it clear that it is impossible that a wise and prudent person will follow the footsteps of Satan. He knows that that the end of Satan’s followers is loss.
How an evil substitute for the wrongdoers is!
However, there are people who still obey Satan. Those who obey him are wrongdoers who substitute evil for good and misguidance for guidance.
Then the ayat mention what denotes the perfect ability and knowledge of Allah and the powerlessness of the false gods are worshipped besides Allah.
I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation; I do not take the misleaders as helpers. [51]
Allah did not make Satan and his offspring witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor their own creation. Allah, the Omnipotence, created the creatures without the help of anyone. Therefore, how people worship Satan and his offspring besides Allah though Allah is the only Creator of everything!
The ayah demonstrates the perfect ability and knowledge of Allah, and that Satan and whatever are worshipped besides Allah do not deserve worship.
I do not take the misleaders as helpers.
Allah, the Omnipotence, never seeks help from the misguided nor the guided ones. However, He states that He never has helpers from among the misguided ones to severely criticize those who worship other gods besides Him and whoever acts like them.
Then a scene from the Day of Judgment is presented, showing the evil end of those who worshipped others besides Allah.
Mention the day when He will say, ‘Call those whom you alleged that they were My partners.’ Then they will call them, and they will not respond. And We will make between them a place of destruction. [52]
O Messenger! Mention to the people the Day of Judgment. On this day, rebuking the disbelievers, it will be said, ‘Call those, whom you alleged that they were partners of Allah and you worshipped them besides Allah in the worldly life. Can they benefit you, and intercede with Allah on your behalf?’
Then, the disbelievers will call the false gods they worshipped besides Allah in the worldly life. Alas! They will not respond to them let alone benefit or help them.
(And We will make between them a place of destruction.)
A place of destruction, i.e. Hell, will be put between the misleaders and the misled followers. They all will fall in Hell and suffer its severe and lasting torment.
Then the ayat mention the condition of the sinners and disbelievers when they see the Hell.
The sinners will see the Fire, and will be certain that they will enter it. They will find no escape from it. [53]
The sinners and disbelievers will see Hell. They will be certain that they will enter it as they know that their deeds are wicked that deserver severe punishment. They will find no escape from Hell and its torment.
Learned Lessons
• Allah honored human beings as He made the angels prostrate before Adam, the father of human beings (prostration as a sign of respect not worship).
• The angels obeyed the command of Allah. They prostrated before Adam while Satan refused to do so. He disobeyed the command of Allah.
• Refusal of Satan to prostrate before Adam denotes his enmity to Adam and his children. Therefore, Allah severely has criticized those who follow Satan and his followers and make them as their supporters and helpers though they are their sworn enemies. Indeed, an enemy never helps his opponent.
• Refusal of Satan to prostrate before Adam indicates his arrogance, as he believed that he was better than Adam, as he was created from fire whereas Adam was created from clay. Satan believed that fire is better than clay. The disbelievers had the same mentality, as they refused to sit with the poor companions of Messenger Muhammad and believed they were better than them since they were wealthy and the companions of Messenger Muhammad were poor.
• Allah has perfect ability and knowledge. He did not make anyone witness the creation of the heaven and the earth, nor their own creation. Allah is the only true God and He only deserves sincere worship.
• The false deities the disbelievers worship besides Allah in the worldly life will never benefit them. The disbelievers and their false gods will enter Hell and suffer its severe torment.
English Translation and Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf Ayah 47-49
Mention the day when We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth as a clear empty land. We will gather them and leave none of them.
They will be presented, lining-up, before your Lord. Indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time though you claimed that We had not appointed a time for your resurrection.
The Book will be put. You will see then the sinners fearful of what is recorded therein. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a book this is! It does not leave a small or great thing, but keeps a record thereof. They will find what they did recorded, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.
Tafsir
Scenes from the Day of Judgment
The surah moves on to talk about the horrors of the Day of Judgment. On that day, the everlasting righteous deeds will bestow their benefits over their doers.
Mention the day when We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth as a clear empty land. We will gather them and leave none of them.[47]
O Messenger! Mention to the people the Day of Judgment when We will move the mountains from their places, and crumble them so they will be like scattered specks of dust. You will see the earth then, as a clear empty land, and nothing will be on it. On that day, We will gather all creatures for reckoning in the appointed place for their gathering, and We will leave none of them. Indeed, We will bring them all from their graves.
They will be presented, lining-up, before your Lord. Indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time though you claimed that We had not appointed a time for your resurrection.[48]
All creatures will be brought, lining up, before Allah, Exalted is He. They will be called to account for what they did in the worldly life, and recompensed justly.
It will be said, ‘You have come to Us, just as We created you the first time without wealth, family, nor relatives. Only your deeds will be with you, good or evil.’
Then addressing the deniers of the occurrence of the Day of Judgment, it will be said, ‘In the worldly life, you claimed that Allah had not appointed a time for your resurrection and reckoning.’
Then the ayat depict another scene of the Day of Judgment when the sinners and disbelievers will receive the books wherein their deeds were recorded.
The Book will be put. You will see then the sinners fearful of what is recorded therein. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a book this is! It does not leave a small or great thing, but keeps a record thereof. They will find what they did recorded, and your Lord does not wrong anyone. [49]
The records of deeds will be brought, and will be given to the slaves of Allah. Some will receive their records of deeds in their right hands, and some in their left hands.
When the disbelievers and sinners will see the records of their deeds, and see that all their deeds that they did in the worldly life were written without any omission, they will be fearful because of their evil deeds. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a record this is! It does not leave a small or great deed, but keeps a record thereof.’ They will say so because they will be certain that they will be recompensed for their evil deeds.
Then the ayah is concluded with what shows the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah, and His perfect justice.
(They will find what they did recorded, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.)
The disbelievers and sinners will find whatever thing they did in the worldly life was recorded in the record of their deeds.
Indeed, Allah is never unjust and He never wrongs anyone. Allah’s justice is perfect. He will justly recompense people for their deeds, good or evil.
Since life pleasures are the greatest causes of trial in the worldly life, the story of the owner of the two gardens was mentioned in the surah, presenting two different personalities. The first one is someone, who was deceived by the pleasures of the worldly life, and denied the blessings that Allah bestowed on him. The second one is someone, whom Allah protected from being deceived by the pleasures of the worldly life due to his firm belief in Allah. Then the surah presented the example of the worldly life, showing its impermanence, and then the surah moved on to present scenes from the Day of Judgment so that people will prepare themselves for it.
Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 47-49
• Taking a lesson from the condition and evil end of the person, whom Allah granted blessings, but he disbelieved in Him, and denied His blessings.
• Constant remembrance of the reward of Allah in the Hereafter helps not to focus on the pleasures of the worldly life.
• It is important to admonish the heedless people.
• It is permissible to pray that the wealth of someone is destroyed if it causes him to disbelieve in Allah and disobey Him.
• Allah has given actual example of the true nature of the worldly life, and that it will soon end so that the believer will be not deceived thereby.
• As wealth and children are the greatest pleasures of the worldly life, and the reward of Allah in the Hereafter is better and everlasting, the believer should do his best to perform righteous deeds whose rewards are eternal and will benefit him in the Hereafter.
