Surah Al-Hajj (22) — Ayah 76

(Ayah 76) ➊ { يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ اَيْدِيْهِمْ وَ مَا خَلْفَهُمْ:} This phrase appears in the Qur’an at four places: Surah Al-Baqarah (2:255), Surah Ta-Ha (20:110), Surah Al-Anbiya (21:28), and here in Surah Al-Hajj. At each place, before or after this phrase, there is mention of intercession or false deities. The meaning is that if you call upon angels, prophets, or saints not as independent fulfillers of needs and removers of difficulties, but as intercessors with Allah, even this is incorrect, because the only One who sees and hears everything is Allah Almighty. He alone knows every person’s apparent and hidden conditions, and He alone knows the open and concealed needs and benefits of the world. No creature, including angels and prophets, knows fully what should be done and what should not be done at any given time. Therefore, Allah Almighty has not given even His closest servants the right to intercede as they wish without His permission, nor that their intercession be accepted. See also the commentary of Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah (2:255) «مَنْ ذَا الَّذِيْ يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهٗۤ اِلَّا بِاِذْنِهٖ».

➋ { وَ اِلَى اللّٰهِ تُرْجَعُ الْاُمُوْرُ:} Shah Abdul Qadir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: “That is, the Prophet himself has no authority; authority in everything belongs to Allah.” (Muwadhih)

76. 1. When the ultimate reference for all matters is Allah alone, then where can a person go by disobeying Him, and how can he escape His punishment? Would it not be better for him to choose the path of obedience and submission to Him and thus attain His pleasure? Accordingly, the next verse clarifies this.

76. He knows what is before them and what is hidden from them [105], and all matters are returned to Him [106].

[105]
Restrictions on Intercession:

﴿يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ اَيْدِيْهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ﴾ This phrase has been used in four places in the Noble Quran: Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 255 (Ayat al-Kursi), Surah Ta-Ha, verse 110, Surah Al-Anbiya, verse 28, and here in Surah Al-Hajj, verse 76. And at every place, either before or after this phrase, there is mention of intercession and false deities. In this phrase, the reason for the restrictions on intercession has been stated. The restrictions on intercession are as follows:
(1) No one will be able to intercede without Allah’s permission.
(2) Intercession will only be possible for the one for whom Allah wills.
(3) It will only be possible for that sin or mistake which Allah intends to forgive. Now, by combining all these restrictions, the logical conclusion is that one should never rely solely on intercession. And in this phrase, the reason for not relying on intercession is being explained, for example: an influential person meets an officer and says, “Sir! The employee of yours who is being held accountable for a certain crime, please forgive him. He is my special man.” And the officer replies, “Your focus is only on his recent crime, but his previous record is also very bad. Therefore, I see no way to forgive his current crime as well.” At this, the intercessor becomes speechless and helpless. Exactly the same is the case with intercession before Allah. Allah is aware of the entire record of every human being, and this is the meaning of this phrase, but the intercessor can never know the complete history sheet of the one for whom he wants to intercede. That is why restrictions have already been imposed by Allah Almighty on intercession.

[106] Although this phrase is general and the outcome of all matters is entrusted to Allah alone, but here, in the context of the subject, its meaning can only be that the deities or elders on whose intercession people rely, or people are given false assurances, or people themselves are deluded, these are merely superstitions which are baseless and false. The outcome of every person will be only what Allah wills.