Surah Al-Israa (17): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Commentary

The word: يَدْعُوكُمْ (He will call you) in: يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ (on a day when He will call you, and you will respond praising Him - 52) is a derivation from: دُعَاء (dua' ) which means to call out for someone by announcing it vocally. The sense is that the day when Allah Ta’ ala will call everyone to come to the plains of Resurrection, this calling will be through Angel Israfil. When he sounds the second trumpet, the dead will come alive and assemble on the plains of Resurrection. It is also possible that, once alive, a call goes through to all of them to assemble there. (Qurtubi)

In a Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "On the day of Qiyamah, you will be called out with your name and the name of your father, therefore, give yourself good names (avoiding the absurd ones)." (Qurtubi)

Even disbelievers will rise praising Allah on the day of Resurrection

The word: اِستِجَابَۃ (istijabah) in: فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ (and you will respond praising Him - 52) means to respond on being called by someone and be present before him. The sense is when you will be called to present your-selves on the plains of Resurrection, all of you will obey that call and assemble there. The word: بِحَمْدِهِ (bihamdihi: praising Him) is the state of the nominative pronoun in: تسْتَجِيبُونَ (tastajibun: you will respond) which releases the sense of hamidin (حَامِدِین) that is, those praising Him. Thus, the outcome is that all of them will present themselves praising Allah while coming to those fateful plains.

As outwardly obvious, the verse does seem to indicate that this will be the state of all, believers or disbelievers - they both will rise praising Allah. But, the real addressees here are the disbelievers. It is about them that it is being said they all will rise praising Allah. From among Tafsir authorities, Sayyidna Said ibn Jubayr has said that the disbelievers too will rise from their graves saying: سُبحَانَکَ وَ بِحَمدِکَ (Pure are You and to You belong all praises), but their act of praising at that hour will be of no use to them. (Qurtubi) The reason is not far to see. When these people see life after death, the words of praise for Allah will escape their mouth involuntarily. This will be no deed deserving recompense.

Some commentators have said that this state has been particularized with believers. They argue that, regarding the disbelievers, the Qur'an has only this to say: (1) When they rise, they will say, يَا وَيْلَنَا مَن بَعَثَنَا مِن مَّرْ‌قَدِنَا (Woe be to us! Who made us rise from our resting-place? – Surah Ya Sin, 36:52). (2) And according to another verse, they will say, يَا حَسْرَ‌تَىٰ عَلَىٰ مَا فَرَّ‌طتُ فِي جَنبِ اللَّـهِ (0 my remorse [ is boundless ] over what I have neglected on the side of [ obedience to ] Allah! - Surah az-Zumar, 39:56).

But, the truth of the matter is that there is no likelihood of a contra-diction between these two sayings. May be, in the beginning, all rise praising. Later, when disbelievers are separated from believers as said in Surah Ya Sin: وَامْتَازُوا الْيَوْمَ أَيُّهَا الْمُجْرِ‌مُونَ (But today, 0 criminals, you stand out distinctly apart - 36:59), they will also say what appears in the cited verses. Then, it stands proved from many explications of the Qur'an, and Sunnah that stations of Resurrection will be different with a corresponding difference in the states and conditions of people in each of these. Imam al-Qurtubi has said that rising in Resurrection will begin with the praise of Allah with everyone doing it when rising and on it will end all matters. This is as it was already said: وَقُضِيَ بَيْنَهُم بِالْحَقِّ وَقِيلَ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَ‌بِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (And matters between them have been settled in accordance with the truth and it was said: All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds - az-Zumar, 39:75)

Commentary

Using foul or harsh language is not correct, even against infidels

The first verse (53) prohibits Muslims from talking harshly to disbelievers. It means that a hard line should not be taken unnecessarily, and should there be the need, even killing would be in order - as succinctly put in two lines of Persian poetry:

کہ بےحکم شرع آب خوردن خطاست وگر خون بفتوٰی بریزی رواست

Whereas, without an injunction of the Shari` ah, to drink water is a sin,

In another case, to shed blood under Fatwa is permissible!

Since it is possible to suppress the aggressive might of disbelievers and their hostility to Islam through fighting and killing (as an inevitable measure of defense), therefore, it is allowed. However, by using foul language and harsh words, neither a castle stands conquered nor anyone guided right, therefore, it has been prohibited. Imam al-Qurtubi said that this verse was revealed in the background of an event relating to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ . It so happened that someone used foul language against Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ who retaliated harshly and wanted to kill him. This posed the danger of a war breaking out between their two tribes. Thereupon, this verse was revealed.

And according to the interpretation of Imam al-Qurtubi, this verse contains a guideline for Muslims as to how they should address each other. It suggests that they should not speak harshly at the time of mutual difference, for this is a trap door through which the Shaitan pushes them into mutual infighting and disorder.

That Zabur (the Psalms) has been mentioned particularly in the last sentence of verse 55: وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورً‌ا ، (And We gave Dawud the Zabur) has been done, perhaps, because Zabur reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ will be a ruler along with being a messenger and prophet. This is as it appears in the Qur'an: وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ‌ مِن بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ‌ أَنَّ الْأَرْ‌ضَ يَرِ‌ثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَ (And We have already written in the Zabur, after the [ previous ] mention, that the land is inherited by My righteous servants - al-Anbiya', 21:105).

At this stage, Imam al-Baghawi says in his Tafsir that Zabur is a book of Allah revealed to Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) . It has one hundred and fifty surahs or chapters and all surahs are restricted to praises of Allah and prayers to Him. The areas of lawful and unlawful, obligations and limits have not been taken up there.

Commentary

The word 'al-wasilah' in: يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ (seek the means of close ness to their Lord - 57) conveys the sense of that which is used as a means of reaching someone. As for reaching Allah, the wasilah or means is to always keep the pleasure of Allah in sight when learning or doing anything while adhering to the injunctions of the Shari` ah strictly. Thus, the sense of the sentence is that all of them are seeking the closeness of Allah Ta’ ala through their righteous deeds.

About the sentence which follows immediately after: يَرْ‌جُونَ رَ‌حْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ (hope for His Mercy and fear His punishment - 57), Sahl ibn ` Abdullah said: Hope and Fear, that is, hoping for mercy from Allah as well as fearing Him are two different states one is in. When they stay at par, one keeps on course, correct and stable. And if any one of the two overcomes the other, one finds the equilibrium of his spiritual state subjected to disorder to the measure of that imbalance. (Qurtubi)