Surah Ar-Ra'd (13) — Ayah 41

(Ayah 41) ➊ { اَوَ لَمْ يَرَوْا اَنَّا نَاْتِي الْاَرْضَ …: } This is a warning for the disbelievers and good news for the Muslims, meaning, have these disbelievers not seen that We are reducing their land from its borders, their cities and regions are coming under the control of the Muslims one after another, and a time is coming when they will have to be expelled even from the center of the land, Umm al-Qura, that is, Makkah. Since the series of Muslim victories in Makkah had not yet begun, some commentators have considered this surah to be Madinan. Allah Almighty has attributed the Muslims’ advance to Himself, because it was only Allah’s religion that was progressing, and the Muslims’ advancement was only with Allah’s help; otherwise, they could never have advanced on their own strength in the face of the united forces of the disbelievers. The expression of Allah’s awe and majesty in describing the Muslims’ advance with the words {’’ اَنَّا نَاْتِي ‘‘} (“Our coming”) is a unique feature of Allah’s speech, as He said: «{ فَاَتَى اللّٰهُ بُنْيَانَهُمْ مِّنَ الْقَوَاعِدِ فَخَرَّ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّقْفُ مِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَ اَتٰىهُمُ الْعَذَابُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَشْعُرُوْنَ }» [ النحل : ۲۶ ] “(That is, those before them had plotted) so Allah came upon their building from the foundations, so the roof fell upon them from above, and the punishment came upon them from where they did not perceive.” This is the reality that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) expressed while standing on Safa and Marwah in these words: [ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَحْدَهُ أَنْجَزَ وَعْدَهُ وَ نَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ وَهَزَمَ الْأَحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ ] [ مسلم، الحج، باب حجۃ النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ۱۲۱۸ ] “There is none worthy of worship except Allah, He fulfilled His promise, helped His servant, and He alone defeated all the groups.” It is astonishing about the disbelievers that even after seeing that the circle of Islam is expanding day by day and disbelief and polytheism are shrinking, they do not accept Islam. According to Allah’s glad tidings, then that time came when the banner of Islam was raised to the ends of the east and west, and according to the prophecy of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that time is surely coming, as Miqdad bin al-Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him): I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: [لاَ يَبْقَی عَلَی ظَهْرِ الْأَرْضِ بَيْتُ مَدَرٍ وَلاَ وَبَرٍ إِلاَّ أَدْخَلَهٗ اللّٰهُ كَلِمَةَ الْإِسْلاَمِ بِعِزِّ عَزِيْزٍ أَوْ ذُلِّ ذَلِيْلٍ إِمَّا يُعِزُّهُمُ اللّٰهُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ فَيَجْعَلُهُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِهَا أَوْ يُذِلُّهُمْ فَيَدِيْنُوْنَ لَهَا ] [ أحمد : 4/6، ح : ۲۳۸۷۶ وصححہ الألبانی ] “There will not remain a house (or tent) made of bricks or hair on the surface of the earth except that Allah will cause the word of Islam to enter it, honoring those who are honorable and humiliating those who are humiliated; either He will honor them and include them among those who recite this word, or He will humiliate them and they will become subjugated to it.” See also Surah Al-Anbiya (44).
➋ { وَ اللّٰهُ يَحْكُمُ لَا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهٖ:} Because only one who is dominant over Him can review and change His decision, whereas no such being exists anywhere.
➌ { وَ هُوَ سَرِيْعُ الْحِسَابِ :} That is, the time for His reckoning is coming very swiftly, so much so that when it comes, the criminals will swear that they remained in the world only for an hour. (Ar-Rum: 55) The second meaning is that it does not take Him even a moment’s delay in taking account; rather, on the Day of Resurrection, the entire reckoning will be presented in an instant.