Surah Az-Zumar (39) — Ayah 67

(Ayah 67) ➊ { وَ مَا قَدَرُوا اللّٰهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهٖ:} That is, those who worshipped others besides Allah, or who demanded from you (O Prophet ﷺ) to worship others besides Allah, they did not appreciate the greatness and majesty of Allah, nor did they realize how exalted His status is, and how insignificant and powerless are all those beings whom they worship before Him. Otherwise, they would never have done so.

➋ { وَ الْاَرْضُ جَمِيْعًا قَبْضَتُهٗ يَوْمَ الْقِيٰمَةِ … :} That is, such is the greatness of Allah that on the Day of Resurrection the entire earth will be in His grasp, and all the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand like a scroll, as He said: «يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَآءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ» [ الأنبیاء : ۱۰۴ ] "The Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a written sheet."

➌ Some people do not accept Allah’s taking the earth in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, or rolling up the heavens in His right hand, or such expressions about Allah mentioned in the Qur’an and authentic ahadith, and they interpret all of them in a way that is, in reality, denial. According to them, Allah being on the Throne means His sovereignty (they do not care how they will interpret the eight angels carrying it on the Day of Resurrection). Taking in the grasp and rolling up in the right hand means all are under His power (they do not care that all of this is always under His power anyway). These people openly deny Allah’s face, shin, hands, fingers, ears, and eyes, and His descending and ascending, and even deny His hearing and seeing, interpreting them as meaning that He is All-Knowing. Similarly, they deny His speech. The real reason for their denial is that they understood all these attributes of Allah as being like their own attributes, whereas if they believed regarding all these attributes and words that they are not like ours or any creature’s, but rather as befits His majesty, they would never deny them. See, man is hearing and seeing, as He said: «فَجَعَلْنٰهُ سَمِيْعًۢا بَصِيْرًا» [ الدھر : ۲ ] "So We made him hearing and seeing." So, should we deny Allah’s being Hearing and Seeing just because that would make Him like man? No, never! Allah said: «لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهٖ شَيْءٌ وَ هُوَ السَّمِيْعُ الْبَصِيْرُ» [ الشورٰی : ۱۱ ] "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." That is, His hearing and seeing are not like anyone else’s, but rather as befits His majesty. Similarly, He certainly has hands, both of which are right hands, a grasp, and fingers, but not like those of man or any creature, rather as befits His majesty. It is not correct to deny them by calling them metaphors. The explanation of these verses of the Qur’an given by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ refutes such interpretations.

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: [ يَقْبِضُ اللّٰهُ الْأَرْضَ، وَ يَطْوِی السَّمٰوَاتِ بِيَمِيْنِهِ، ثُمَّ يَقُوْلُ أَنَا الْمَلِكُ، أَيْنَ مُلُوْكُ الْأَرْضِ؟ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ : «والأرض جمیعا قبضتہ…» : ۴۸۱۲ ] "Allah will take the earth in His grasp and roll up the heavens in His right hand, then He will say: 'I am the King, where are the kings of the earth?'" Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reports: [ أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ قَرَأَ هٰذِهِ الْآيَةَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ عَلَی الْمِنْبَرِ : « وَ مَا قَدَرُوا اللّٰهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهٖ وَ الْاَرْضُ جَمِيْعًا قَبْضَتُهٗ يَوْمَ الْقِيٰمَةِ وَ السَّمٰوٰتُ مَطْوِيّٰتٌۢ بِيَمِيْنِهٖ سُبْحٰنَهٗ وَ تَعٰلٰى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُوْنَ » [الزمر : ۶۷] وَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ يَقُوْلُ هٰكَذَا بِيَدِهِ، وَ يُحَرِّكُهَا، يُقْبِلُ بِهَا وَ يُدْبِرُ، يُمَجِّدُ الرَّبُّ نَفْسَهُ أَنَا الْجَبَّارُ، أَنَا الْمُتَكَبِّرُ، أَنَا الْمَلِكُ، أَنَا الْعَزِيْزُ، أَنَا الْكَرِيْمُ فَرَجَفَ بِرَسُوْلِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ الْمِنْبَرُ، قُلْنَا لَيَخِرَّنَّ بِهِ] [مسند أحمد : 72/2، ح : ۵۴۱۳ ] "One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited this verse on the pulpit: «وَ مَا قَدَرُوا اللّٰهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهٖ وَ الْاَرْضُ جَمِيْعًا قَبْضَتُهٗ يَوْمَ الْقِيٰمَةِ وَ السَّمٰوٰتُ مَطْوِيّٰتٌۢ بِيَمِيْنِهٖ سُبْحٰنَهٗ وَ تَعٰلٰى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُوْنَ » 'And they did not appraise Allah with true appraisal, while the whole earth will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.' And he moved his hand forward and backward. The Lord Himself praised Himself: I am the Compeller, I am the Supreme, I am the King, I am the Mighty, I am the Generous. Then such a tremor overtook the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that the pulpit shook, and we feared that he would fall with the pulpit." The researcher of Musnad Ahmad said that its chain is authentic according to the conditions of Muslim, and all its narrators are narrators of Bukhari and Muslim, except Hammad bin Salamah who is only a narrator of Muslim. The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and other righteous predecessors interpreted the verses and ahadith of attributes according to their apparent meaning, did not interpret them away, and said that these attributes are established for Allah as befits His majesty.

➍ {سُبْحٰنَهٗ وَ تَعٰلٰى عَمَّا يُشْرِكُوْنَ :} That is, Allah is pure and very exalted above their shirk.

Because they did not obey what He conveyed to them through the prophets, nor did they make their worship sincere for Him alone, but instead associated others with Him in it. It is mentioned in a hadith that a Jewish scholar came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "We find in the books regarding Allah that on the Day of Resurrection He will place the heavens on one finger and will say, 'I am the King.'" The Prophet ﷺ smiled and affirmed this, and recited the verse: وما قدروا اللہ (They have not appraised Allah...) Sahih Bukhari, Tafsir Surah Az-Zumar. The belief of the hadith scholars and the Salaf is that the attributes of Allah mentioned in the Quran and authentic ahadith, such as the affirmation of the hand in this verse and the fingers in the hadith, must be believed in without asking how, without likening them to creation, and without interpretation or distortion. Therefore, it is not correct to take the reality mentioned here merely in the sense of dominance and power. 67.1 Regarding this, it is also mentioned in a hadith that then Allah will say: اَنَا المُلْکُ ، اَیْنَ مُلُوک الاٰرْضِ "I am the King, where are the kings of the earth (today)?"

They have not valued Allah as He deserves to be valued [83]. On the Day of Resurrection, the whole earth will be in His grip, and the heavens will be folded up in His right hand [84]. Exalted is He and far above what they associate with Him.

[83] That is, those polytheists who advised you ﷺ to prostrate before idols, those wretched ones did not even understand how exalted and sublime is the status of Allah Almighty. They have no estimation whatsoever of Allah’s greatness and majesty. How can these insignificant beings like idols be anything in comparison to Allah? If they had any estimation of Allah’s greatness and His status, they would never have uttered such foolish words.
[84]
Allah’s Address to the Kings of the World on the Day of Judgment:

Such is the state of Allah Almighty’s greatness, majesty, and complete control over the entire universe that everything in this universe is utterly powerless in His hand, and the following hadiths also explain this subject:
1. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: Allah Almighty (on the Day of Judgment) will take the earth in His grasp and will roll up the heavens in His right hand. Then He will say: “I am the King! (Today) where are the kings of the earth?” [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]
2. Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a Jewish scholar came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Muhammad ﷺ! We find (written in our books) that Allah Almighty (on the Day of Judgment) will lift the heavens on one finger, the earths on one finger, the trees on one finger, the water and wet soil on one finger, and the rest of all creation on one finger, then He will say: “I am the King!” Upon hearing this, the Prophet ﷺ laughed so much that his molar teeth became visible. The Prophet ﷺ affirmed the statement of that scholar. Then he recited this very verse ﴿وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللّٰهَ﴾ to the end [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]. It is as if all the deities of the polytheists will also be in the grasp of Allah Almighty, those whom today they declare to be equals of Allah.