Surah Luqman (31) — Ayah 34

(Ayah 34) ➊ { اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ :} Regarding the mention of the Resurrection, the question arises: when will it come? And this is the very question the disbelievers used to ask repeatedly. Therefore, it is said that its knowledge is only with Allah, and keeping it hidden is Allah’s special wisdom, so that every person remains prepared for it at all times and everyone receives the recompense for their deeds. (See Ta-Ha: 15) By bringing {’’ عِنْدَهٗ ‘‘} first, the meaning of exclusivity is created, that the knowledge of the Resurrection is only with Him, not with anyone else. See Surah Al-A’raf (187), Al-Ahzab (63), and An-Nazi’at (42 to 44). In the Hadith of Jibril, in response to the question of Jibril (peace be upon him) {’’مَتَي السَّاعَةُ؟‘‘} (When is the Hour?), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَا الْمَسْئُوْلُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ ] “The one being questioned knows no more than the questioner.”… Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ فِيْ خَمْسٍ لَا يَعْلَمُهُنَّ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ : « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ» ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ : « إن اللہ عندہ علم الساعۃ » : ۴۷۷۷ ] “The knowledge of the Hour is among the five things which none knows except Allah.” Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ » [ لقمان: ۳۴ ] Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَفَاتِيْحُ الْغَيْبِ خَمْسٌ، ثُمَّ قَرَأَ : « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ » ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ : « إن اللہ عندہ علم الساعۃ » : ۴۷۷۸ ] “The keys of the unseen are five.” Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ » [ لقمان : ۳۴ ]

➋ { وَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ :} Its conjunction is with {’’ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘}, as if the phrase is: {’’وَ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ‘‘} meaning Allah alone sends down the rain, and the One who sends it down is the One who knows where to send it, when to send it, and how much to send; no one else knows this. Here is a question that in {’’ وَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ ‘‘} both sentences, there is no word indicating exclusivity, whose translation would be that Allah alone does this. The strongest answer is the one given by Shanqiti, that the fact that exclusivity is meant here is established by the authentic hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as mentioned above, and no one knows the Qur’an and the Arabic language better than the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Otherwise, the scholars of Arabic have established exclusivity here in several ways, one of which is mentioned here. First, consider that if it had been said {’’إِنَّ عِلْمَ السَّاعَةِ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ‘‘}, the sentence would have been shorter and the point would have been made, but Allah said: {’’ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} and stated its predicate as {’’ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘}. In this, there is exclusivity in two ways: bringing the word {’’ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} forward with more clarity, then bringing the predicate {’’ عِنْدَهٗ ‘‘} forward in the sentence, which creates specification. As if the beginning of the sentence, which started with exclusivity, that same exclusivity is considered in {’’ وَ يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ ‘‘} as well, because both are conjoined to the sentence {’’ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘}. Sometimes, a question arises from the general public that nowadays science has advanced so much that meteorological departments can predict in advance that it will rain on such and such day. If this is among the keys of the unseen, whose knowledge is with none but Allah, then how do they tell? The answer is that knowledge is certainty; conjecture, estimation, and assumption are not called knowledge. Meteorological departments, based on their experience, observe air pressure and humidity in the atmosphere, etc., and announce whether it will rain or not, but sometimes their prediction turns out correct and sometimes incorrect. Sometimes, according to experience, all the causes for rain are present, but the clouds pass without dropping a single drop, and sometimes none of the causes for rain are present, yet suddenly all causes appear and it starts raining. The proof that no one but Allah knows when, where, and how much it will rain is also the announcement of the meteorological department that “there is a possibility of rain today.” They do not have, nor do they claim, one hundred percent knowledge. The state of those who object to the verse is like “the claimant is lazy, the witness is alert.”

➌ { وَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ :} Its conjunction is also with {’’ عِنْدَهٗ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘}: {’’ أَيْ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْأَرْحَامِ‘‘} meaning Allah alone knows what is in the wombs. Here, too, the question is raised that nowadays, through ultrasound, it is known whether the child to be born is a boy or a girl. In response, Islamic scholars generally say that the words of the verse are not that Allah alone knows whether there is a boy or a girl in the wombs, but rather it is said {’’ مَا فِي الْاَرْحَامِ ‘‘} “whatever is in the wombs.” It is not necessary that only boy or girl is meant by this; rather, it means whether the fetus will survive or be miscarried, will have a long life or a short one, will be fortunate or unfortunate, will remain healthy or become ill. So even if its gender is known, whether boy or girl, still there is no objection to the statement of the Qur’an. Certainly, this answer is very excellent, but so far the claim that the gender of the child can be known with ultrasound has not been proven one hundred percent correct. The doctors themselves say that the position of the fetus in the womb is such that its genital organs are hidden under its head, and the decision is made on the basis of estimation through ultrasound, which is often correct and sometimes wrong. Therefore, to say that gender can be known through ultrasound is not one hundred percent correct. Despite the fame of ultrasound, I have seen in my life twice the prediction of ultrasound being proven wrong before the whole world: once, the doctors announced that the wife of the British Crown Prince, Lady Diana, would give birth to a girl, but contrary to their announcement, a boy was born. The second time, the doctor of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir announced that a boy would be born, but a girl was born. Now you can think, what shortage of ultrasound experts could there be for people holding such high positions in Britain and Pakistan? The reality is that if a prediction is made about a thousand children through ultrasound, of which nine hundred and ninety-nine turn out correct and one wrong, even then it cannot be called knowledge, because knowledge is that which is certain and never turns out wrong. However, if someone performs an operation and sees the gender of the child with their own eyes, even then the statement of the Qur’an stands, that only Allah knows what is in the wombs, because “what is” includes countless things besides the gender of boy or girl.

➍ { وَ مَا تَدْرِيْ نَفْسٌ مَّا ذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا:} Masruq says: I asked Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): “Mother! Did Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) see his Lord?” She replied: “What you have said makes my hair stand on end. Are you unaware of these three things? Whoever tells you any of them has lied.” Then she said: [ مَنْ حَدَّثَكَ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ رَأَی رَبَّهُ فَقَدْ كَذَبَ، ثُمَّ قَرَأَتْ : « لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْاَبْصَارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْاَبْصَارَ وَ هُوَ اللَّطِيْفُ الْخَبِيْرُ » [الأنعام : ۱۰۳], « وَ مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ اَنْ يُّكَلِّمَهُ اللّٰهُ اِلَّا وَحْيًا اَوْ مِنْ وَّرَآءِ حِجَابٍ » [الشورٰي : ۵۱] “And whoever tells you that he knows what will happen tomorrow has lied.” Then she recited: « وَ مَا تَدْرِيْ نَفْسٌۢ بِاَيِّ اَرْضٍ تَمُوْتُ » [لقمان : ۳۴] “And whoever tells you that he has concealed (something), has lied.” Then she recited: « يٰۤاَيُّهَا الرَّسُوْلُ بَلِّغْ مَاۤ اُنْزِلَ اِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ» [المائدة : ۶۷], “But he saw Jibril (peace be upon him) in his true form twice.” [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب : ۴۸۵۵۔ مسلم : ۱۷۷ ] “Whoever tells you that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) saw his Lord has certainly lied.” Then the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) recited this verse: « لَا تُدْرِكُهُ الْاَبْصَارُ وَ هُوَ يُدْرِكُ الْاَبْصَارَ وَ هُوَ اللَّطِيْفُ الْخَبِيْرُ » [ الأنعام : ۱۰۳ ] “Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives all vision; and He is the Subtle, the All-Aware.” And this verse: «وَ مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ اَنْ يُّكَلِّمَهُ اللّٰهُ اِلَّا وَحْيًا اَوْ مِنْ وَّرَآئِ حِجَابٍ » [ الشورٰی : ۵۱ ] “And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil.” “And whoever tells you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knows what will happen tomorrow has certainly lied.” Then she recited this verse: « وَ مَا تَدْرِيْ نَفْسٌ مَّا ذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا » [ لقمان : ۳۴ ] “And no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow.” “And whoever tells you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) concealed (something of the revelation), has certainly lied.” Then she recited this verse: «اَيُّهَا الرَّسُوْلُ بَلِّغْ مَاۤ اُنْزِلَ اِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَّبِّكَ» [ المائدۃ : ۶۷ ] “O Messenger! Convey what has been revealed to you from your Lord.” “But the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw Jibril (peace be upon him) in his true form twice.”

{رُبَيِّع بنت مُعوّذ} (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: “The morning after my wedding night, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me and sat on my bed where you are sitting, and some young girls were beating the duff and singing verses about their fathers who were martyred at Badr, until one girl said: [ وَفِيْنَا نَبِيٌّ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِيْ غَدٍ ] ‘And among us is a Prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow.’ So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لاَ تَقُوْلِيْ هٰكَذَا ، وَقُوْلِيْ مَا كُنْتِ تَقُوْلِيْنَ ] ‘Do not say this, but continue saying what you were saying.’” [ بخاري، المغازي، باب : ۴۰۰۱ ]

➎ { وَ مَا تَدْرِيْ نَفْسٌۢ بِاَيِّ اَرْضٍ تَمُوْتُ:} That is, no human knows where death will come to him—on land, at sea, or on a mountain. When he does not know the place of his death, how can he know the time? Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِذَا كَانَ أَجَلُ أَحَدِكُمْ بِأَرْضٍ أَوْثَبَتْهُ إِلَيْهَا الْحَاجَةُ ، فَإِذَا بَلَغَ أَقْصٰی أَثَرِهِ، قَبَضَهُ اللّٰهُ سُبْحَانَهُ ، فَتَقُوْلُ الأَرْضُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَبِّ! هٰذَا مَا اسْتَوْدَعْتَنِيْ ] [ ابن ماجہ، الزھد، باب ذکر الموت والاستعداد : ۴۲۶۳، وقال البوصیري و الألباني صحیح ] “When the death of any one of you is decreed in a certain land, some need causes him to go there. Then, when he reaches the place where his last footprint will be, Allah the Exalted seizes him. Thus, the earth will say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘O my Lord! This is the trust You placed with me.’”

➏ { اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلِيْمٌ خَبِيْرٌ :} That is, Allah’s knowledge is not limited to these five things; rather, He is the Knower of all things and fully aware of their outward and inward aspects.

34-1. It is mentioned in a hadith that there are five things which are the keys of the unseen, which no one knows except Allah. The signs of the Hour have indeed been described by the Prophet ﷺ, but the certain knowledge of the occurrence of the Hour is known to none except Allah, neither to any angel nor to any sent prophet. The matter of rain is similar; estimates can be made from signs and indications, and can be made, but it is part of every person's experience and observation that these estimates sometimes turn out to be correct and sometimes incorrect. Even the announcements of the meteorological department sometimes do not prove to be correct. This clearly shows that the certain knowledge of rain is also not with anyone except Allah. Through mechanical means, an imperfect guess about the gender in the mother's womb may perhaps be possible, whether it is a boy or a girl, but the child developing in the mother's womb—whether he will be fortunate or unfortunate, imperfect or perfect, handsome or ugly, dark or fair, etc.—the knowledge of these matters is with none except Allah. What will a person do tomorrow? Whether it is a matter of religion or the world, no one has knowledge about the coming tomorrow—whether it will even come in his life or not? And if it comes, what will he do in it? Where will death come? At home or outside the home, in his homeland or in a foreign land, will it come in youth or in old age, after the fulfillment of his desires and wishes or before that? No one knows.

34. The knowledge of the Hour is only with Allah [49]. He sends down the rain, and He knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in which land [50] it will die. Surely, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.

[49]
The Hadith of Jibreel:

The disbelievers of Makkah would often ask you when the Day of Judgment will come. There are several different answers to this in the Book and Sunnah. For example, one answer is that whenever the Day of Judgment comes, it will come suddenly. Sometimes, the signs of the nearness of the Day of Judgment have been mentioned. When a companion asked this question, you ﷺ asked him: Have you made any preparation for it? To one questioner, you ﷺ replied that whoever dies, his Qiyamah has been established. But the most accurate answer to this question is that the knowledge of the Day of Judgment is only with Allah. Not even any prophet knows it, not even the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. As is clear from the following hadith. Hazrat Abu Hurairah ؓ narrates that one day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting among us when a man came walking (this was Jibreel ؑ) and said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! What is faith? You ﷺ replied: Faith is that you believe in Allah, His angels, and His messengers, and have certainty of meeting Him (on the Day of Judgment), and believe in resurrection after death. Then he said: “What is Islam?” You ﷺ replied: That you worship only Allah and do not associate anyone with Him, establish prayer and give zakat, and fast in Ramadan. Then he asked: “What is Ihsan?” You ﷺ replied: Ihsan is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and if you cannot do that, then at least know that He is seeing you. Then he asked: “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! When will the Day of Judgment come?” You ﷺ replied: The one being questioned knows no more than the questioner (i.e., both are equally unaware). However, I will tell you its signs: one is that a woman will give birth to her master. Another is that barefoot and naked (bedouin-type people) will become the leaders of the people. Look, among these five things is the Day of Judgment, which no one knows except Allah; He alone knows when the Day of Judgment will come, and when rain will fall, and what is in the wombs. Then that person turned and left. You ﷺ said: Call him back. People went to call him, but found no one there. You ﷺ said: “That was Jibreel, who came to teach you your religion.” [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]

This hadith is famous as the Hadith of Jibreel ؑ. And it is clear from this that neither Jibreel ؑ nor the Messenger of Allah ﷺ knew the appointed time of the Day of Judgment. The wisdom in not telling the appointed time is that if the exact time of the Day of Judgment or of someone’s death were to be told, the very purpose of this world being a place of trial would be lost. That is why faith at the time of death is not accepted, nor will it be accepted at the time of the Day of Judgment when its clear signs, such as the sun rising from the west, have appeared; even then, faith will not be accepted.

[50]
The Unseen Matters of Which Man Cannot Have Knowledge:

Besides the Day of Judgment, there are four other things that no one knows except Allah. The first of these four is when beneficial rain will fall. The second is what happens in the mother’s womb. Included in this is that when the soul is breathed into the fetus, an angel also determines its lifespan, its sustenance (i.e., how much provision it will receive), whether it will be prosperous or destitute, and whether it will be fortunate or unfortunate—these matters are also included in the stages of the womb. The third is what he will do tomorrow, i.e., whether he will be granted the ability to repent or not, and even whether he will live until tomorrow or not. And the fourth is when and where he will die. These four matters are such that every person is interested in them. That is why these matters have been mentioned in particular. Otherwise, there are many other matters that are related to the unseen and are beyond human reach.