Surah Al-Haaqqa (69) — Ayah 44

(Ayah 44 to 47){ وَ لَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْاَقَاوِيْل …:} In these verses, the claim of the disbelievers is refuted that these statements have been fabricated by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and attributed to Allah. It is said that when it has been established that you are the true Messenger of Allah and every statement you make is Allah’s statement, then if Allah were to allow him to attribute statements to Him and not say anything about it, all those statements would be considered Allah’s statements. How could Allah possibly allow this? It is said, if our true Messenger were to fabricate any statement and attribute it to Us, then for this crime of forgery, We would seize his right hand and cut the vein of his life, and no one could intervene on the way.

Some people have wrongly deduced from this verse that if the life vein of a claimant to prophethood is not cut immediately upon his claim, then this is proof of his prophethood. However, what is stated in this verse is about the true Prophet, not about false claimants to prophethood. False claimants make claims not only to prophethood but even to divinity and roam the earth for long periods; this is not proof of their truthfulness. Understand this with the example that just as a king appoints someone to a position, giving him credentials and sending him somewhere, now if he fabricates a statement and attributes it to the king, the king immediately refutes it and punishes the perpetrator severely. But if a road worker or a sweeper announces that the king has issued such and such order, neither do the listeners care nor does the government immediately take action against him. For the argument of the Dajjal Qadiani of our time from this verse and its refutation from his own words, see Tafsir Thanai. [ فَإِنَّہٗ کَفٰی وَ شَفٰی رَحِمَہُ اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی رَحْمَۃً وَاسِعَۃً ]

{’’ تَقَوَّلَ ‘‘ } means to attribute to someone a statement which he has not made. {’’ الْاَقَاوِيْل ‘‘ ’’أُقْوُوْلَةٌ‘‘} is the plural of {’’أُقْوُوْلَةٌ‘‘}, just as {’’أُعْجُوْبَةٌ‘‘} and the plural of {’’أُضْحُوْكَةٌ‘‘} is {’’أَعَاجِيْبُ‘‘} and {’’أَضَاحِيْكُ‘‘}. By {’’ لَاَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِيْنِ ‘‘} is meant either that We seize his right hand and cut the vein of his neck. This is a depiction of the horror of the punishment, as when the killer is about to strike a criminal with a sword, he seizes his right hand. Or it means that Allah Himself, with His right hand, seizes and cuts the vein of his life. Some commentators have interpreted {’’اَلْيَمِيْنُ‘‘} to mean strength, i.e., We seize him with full strength and cut the vein of his life. In Arabic idiom, this meaning is also used, but while interpreting it this way, it is not correct to deny the hands of Allah, because Allah has said: « بَلْ يَدٰهُ مَبْسُوْطَتٰنِ» [ المائدۃ : ۶۴ ] “Rather, both hands of Allah are outstretched.” And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ كِلْتَا يَدَيْ رَبِّيْ يَمِيْنٌ مُبَارِكَةٌ ] [ترمذی، تفسیر القرآن، باب : ۳۳۶۸۔ مسلم : ۱۸۲۷] “Both hands of my Lord are right and blessed.” However, there is no doubt that the hands of Allah are not like our hands, as He said: «لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهٖ شَيْءٌ » [ الشورٰی : ۱۱] “There is nothing like unto Him.” Rather, they are as befits His majesty. {’’ الْوَتِيْنَ ‘‘ } is the vein in the neck that connects to the heart, and when it is cut, a person dies instantly. (Ashraf al-Hawashi)

44. 1. That is, if he had fabricated something from himself and attributed it to Us, or made additions or omissions in it, then We would have immediately seized him and would not have given him respite, as mentioned in the following verses.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).