Surah An-Najm (53) — Ayah 32

(Ayah 32) ➊ { اَلَّذِيْنَ يَجْتَنِبُوْنَ كَبٰٓىِٕرَ الْاِثْمِ وَ الْفَوَاحِشَ …:} For its details, see the commentary of Surah Ash-Shura (37).
➋ The original meaning of { اِلَّا اللَّمَمَ: ’’اَلْإِلْمَامُ‘‘} and {’’اَللَّمَمُ‘‘} is "to stay at a place for a short while." {’’أَلَمَّ فُلَانٌ بِالْمَكَانِ‘‘} is when a person stays at a place for a short time. That is, the people who do good, whom Allah will reward with goodness, are those who avoid major sins and indecencies, but if at any time they commit a sin, they do not persist in it; rather, they immediately repent and leave it. Their pollution from sin is only for a short while. (See Nisa: 17, 18) Tabari has narrated with an authentic chain from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) that: "It refers to the person who commits an indecency and then repents." The meaning of {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} is also "to come near," {’’ أَلَمَّ بِالشَّيْءِ إِذَا قَارَبَهُ وَلَمْ يُخَالِطْهُ ‘‘} is when a person comes near to doing something, but does not actually do it. Therefore, most of the Salaf have taken {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} to mean minor sins. Thus, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "I have not seen anything more similar to {’’ اللَّمَمَ ‘‘} than what Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him), that he said: [ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ كَتَبَ عَلَی ابْنِ آدَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا، أَدْرَكَ ذٰلِكَ لاَ مَحَالَةَ، فَزِنَا الْعَيْنِ النَّظَرُ وَ زِنَا اللِّسَانِ الْمَنْطِقُ وَالنَّفْسُ تَمَنّٰی وَتَشْتَهِيْ وَالْفَرْجُ يُصَدِّقُ ذٰلِكَ كُلَّهُ وَ يُكَذِّبُهُ ] [ بخاري، الاستئذان، باب زنا الجوارح دون الفرج : ۶۲۴۳ ] 'Allah has written for the son of Adam his share of adultery, which he will inevitably get. So the adultery of the eye is looking, and the adultery of the tongue is speaking, and the soul desires and wishes, and the private part either confirms all that or denies it.'" For more, see the commentary of Surah An-Nisa (31).
➌ Among the attributes of Allah Almighty, after mentioning { اِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ:} and {’’رَبٌّ‘‘}, it is said that your Lord is vast in forgiveness, meaning that as a result of His Lordship, He covers the sins of His servants and forgives them. Otherwise, if He were to seize for every small and big sin, He would not leave a single soul alive on earth. His forgiveness is so vast that He forgives every sin of those who repent, even disbelief and polytheism, and He forgives whatever He wills, except for disbelief and polytheism, even without repentance.
➍ { هُوَ اَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ اِذْ اَنْشَاَكُمْ مِّنَ الْاَرْضِ …:’’ اَجِنَّةٌ ‘‘ ’’جَنِيْنٌ‘‘} is the plural of 'janin', referring to a child as long as it remains in the mother's womb, because it is hidden there. That is, the vastness of His forgiveness is due to the vastness of His knowledge; He knows you even better than you know yourselves. He knows your state even when you were not capable of knowing anything. Thus, He knows your state when He created you from the earth and also when you were in the state of a fetus in your mothers' wombs. He knows well your weakness and your inclination towards sin, so He forgives minor sins just like that.
➎ {فَلَا تُزَكُّوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ هُوَ اَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقٰى:} Therefore, if you are granted the ability to do any good deed, neither be proud of it nor declare yourselves pure. Always look at your beginning and also at your end, because only Allah Almighty knows whether your end will be good or bad. He alone knows who the true righteous are, whose end will be upon piety. So when you do not even know your own end, how can you claim to be pure? For more details, see the commentary of Surah An-Nisa, verse (49).
➏ The most blatant opposition to this command has been made by some Sufi individuals. The clear proof of this is their belief in "Wahdat al-Wujud" (Unity of Existence). How can a person who was made from dead earth, then nurtured in the three darknesses of the womb with impure blood, and who came into existence after passing twice through the urinary tracts, who does not even know his own end—whether it is Paradise or Hell—how does he not feel ashamed to claim divinity? These people have hidden the Pharaoh-like arrogance of their {’’ اَنَا رَبُّكُمُ الْاَعْلٰي ‘‘} under the veil of asceticism and sanctity. Among them, someone says: {’’سُبْحَانِيْ مَا أَعْظَمَ شَأْنِيْ‘‘} "I am pure, how great is my status." Another says: {’’مُلْكِيْ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ مُلْكِ اللّٰهِ‘‘} "My kingdom is greater than Allah's kingdom." Another says: "I wish to extinguish Hell and burn Paradise." In short, the boasting and absurd talk these people do along with their claims of purity, you will hardly find anywhere else.

32. 1. Kaba'ir is the plural of kabirah. There is a difference of opinion regarding the definition of a major sin. According to most scholars, every sin is a major sin for which there is a warning of Hell, or for which the perpetrator is severely condemned in the Quran and Hadith. Scholars also say that persistence and continuity in a minor sin also makes it a major sin. Furthermore, just as there is a difference of opinion regarding its meaning and nature, there is also a difference regarding its number. Some scholars have compiled them in books, such as Kitab al-Kaba'ir by al-Dhahabi and al-Zawajir, etc. Fawahish is the plural of fahishah. Since manifestations of indecency have become very common, indecency has come to be considered as "culture," to the extent that now even Muslims have adopted this "culture of indecency." For example, televisions, VCRs, etc. are common in homes; women have not only abandoned hijab, but have made it their practice and habit to go out adorned and as living advertisements of beauty and charm. Co-education, mixed institutions, mixed gatherings, and many other occasions where men and women mix freely and converse without restraint are increasing day by day, whereas all these fall under fawahish, about which it is being stated here that those whose forgiveness will occur are those who avoid major sins and indecencies, not those who are involved in them. (2) This means committing the beginning of a major sin, but then refraining from the major sin, or committing a sin once or twice and then abandoning it forever, or merely thinking about a sin in the heart but not actually approaching it in practice—these are all minor sins, which Allah will forgive due to the blessing of avoiding major sins. (3) Ajinnah is the plural of janin, which refers to a child in the womb, because it is hidden from people's eyes. (3) That is, when none of your states and actions are hidden from Him, even when you were in your mother's womb, where no one was able to see you, He was aware of all your conditions there as well, then what is the need to declare your own purity and to praise yourself? The meaning is: do not do this, so that you may be saved from showing off.

32. Those who avoid major sins and indecencies, except for minor faults [22]—surely, your Lord's forgiveness is vast [23]. He knows you well when He created you from the earth and when you were embryos in your mothers' wombs [24]. So do not claim purity for yourselves; He knows best who is truly righteous.

[22] For the explanation and commentary of this phrase, see the footnotes 51 and 53 of verse 31 of Surah An-Nisa.
[23] That is, this is only the result of the vastness of His forgiveness that if you refrain from major sins, then He will forgive all your thoughts related to those sins, your initial steps, your slips, and impurities. Although their number is much greater compared to the major sins.
[24]
Why is Self-Praise Wrong?

That is, no person should be proud or boastful of his piety and good deeds, nor should he consider himself superior and greater than others. Rather, he should look at the beginning of his own creation, through what stages he has passed to reach this position, and whether those stages are worthy of pride. After dust, his creation began from a filthy and insignificant drop of water, then for a period he was nurtured in the filth of his mother's womb. And now, if he has embraced faith or performed some good deeds, how can self-praise befit him? Then, he does not know, nor is there any means to know, what kind of deeds he will perform in the rest of his life and die upon, because mostly, the real consideration is for those deeds which he performs in the last part of his life, and his ultimate reward or punishment or salvation will depend on such deeds, as is evident from the following hadiths:

1. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud ؓ says that the Prophet ﷺ said—and he was truthful, and what was promised to him was also true: "The substance (nutfa) of each one of you is collected in his mother's womb for forty days. Then for forty days, it remains as a clot of blood. Then for forty days, it remains as a lump of flesh. Then Allah sends an angel and commands him to write four things: What will his deeds be? How much will his provision be? How long will his life be? And will he be fortunate or unfortunate? Then the soul is breathed into him. Then (after coming into the world) among you, there is one who keeps doing good deeds all his life until Paradise is only a hand's span away from him. Then what is written in destiny overtakes him, so he does a deed of the people of Hell . And there is a person who keeps doing evil deeds all his life until Hell is only a hand's span away from him, then what is written in destiny overtakes him, and he does a deed of the people of Paradise" (and he enters Paradise). [بخاري، كتاب بدء الخلق۔ باب ذكر الملائكة]

2. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that we were present at the battle of Khaybar. When the Prophet ﷺ said about one of his companions (Qazman), who claimed to be a Muslim (but was actually a hypocrite), "This person is of the people of Hell." This person fought bravely and was wounded, to the extent that some people began to doubt the statement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then people saw him in such a state that when his wounds became too painful, he put his hand into his quiver, took out an arrow, and wounded his own neck, committing suicide. Seeing this situation, several companions ؓ ran to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Allah has made your statement true. This person destroyed himself by suicide. The Prophet ﷺ said to one person: Get up and announce among the people that "Only a believer will enter Paradise, and it is Allah's power that He can help His religion even through a wicked person." [بخاری، کتاب المغازی۔ باب غزوۃ خیبر]