Surah Al-Hajj (22) — Ayah 1

(Ayah 2,1) ➊ With { يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ:’’ النَّاسُ ‘‘}, Muslims and disbelievers, and all people present at the time of the revelation of the verse or those who will come until the Day of Resurrection, are addressed. Some people consider the beginning of the surah with {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ‘‘} as evidence of its being Makki, but this is not a general rule, because in Madani surahs also, there is address with {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ‘‘}, for example, in Surah Al-Baqarah: «{ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوْا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَكُمْ }» [ البقرۃ : ۲۱ ] According to the commentators, there are also Madani verses in this surah, for example, verse (39): «{ اُذِنَ لِلَّذِيْنَ يُقٰتَلُوْنَ بِاَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوْا وَ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلٰى نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيْرُ }» and also Makki, but they are mixed, and it is not known separately which one is Makki or Madani. (Qurtubi)

➋ The meaning of { اتَّقُوْا رَبَّكُمْ:} is both to save oneself and to fear, because a person avoids what he fears, that is, save yourselves from the punishment of your Benefactor who has been nurturing you from creation until now and has been bestowing countless favors upon you. The meaning is that avoid everything that can make you deserving of His punishment, whether it is abandoning His obligations or committing His forbidden acts; avoiding both is His taqwa.

➌ { اِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيْمٌ:’’ زَلْزَلَةَ ‘‘ ’’زَلْزَلَ يُزَلْزِلُ‘‘} is a verbal noun on the pattern of {’’ فَعْلَلَةٌ ‘‘}, meaning to shake very violently. The literal meaning of {’’ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘} is "moment" or "instant." The Day of Resurrection is called {’’ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘} because it will be established in a moment. {’’ اِنَّ ‘‘} comes at such an occasion to state the reason for the previous statement, meaning: fear your Lord because the earthquake of the Hour is a tremendous thing. What is even more frightening is that it is not only great by human standards, but Allah Himself is declaring it great, so can anyone estimate its magnitude and horror?

➍ In {يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّاۤ اَرْضَعَتْ : ’’ تَرَوْنَهَا ‘‘}, the pronoun of { ’’هَا‘‘} can refer to {’’ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘} in {’’ زَلْزَلَةَ ‘‘}, meaning: the day you see this earthquake; and it can also refer to {’’ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘ }, in which case it would mean: the day you see this Resurrection. The meaning of {’’ ذُهُوْلٌ ‘‘} is such heedlessness that is accompanied by terror or fear. A woman who is breastfeeding her child at the time is called {’’مُرْضِعَةٍ ‘‘}. The attributes that are found only in women are not accompanied by "taa," for example, {’’حَائِضٌ، حَامِلٌ، مُرْضِعٌ‘‘}; "taa" is added when they are engaged in that act, for example, any woman who is breastfeeding at any time will be called {’’ مُرْضِعٌ ‘‘}, and {’’ مُرْضِعَةٌ ‘‘} will be at the time when she is breastfeeding the child. The purpose is to describe the horror of that moment: the breastfeeding woman, for whom nothing is dearer than her child, will be so terrified by that earthquake that even while breastfeeding, she will be oblivious to her child.

➎ {وَ تَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا :} is called a pregnant woman, but this word can be used for anyone carrying a burden, so Allah used the word {’’ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ ‘‘} (pregnant) instead of {’’حَامِلٌ‘‘}. Elsewhere He said: «{ وَ اُولَاتُ الْاَحْمَالِ اَجَلُهُنَّ اَنْ يَّضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ }» [ الطلاق : ۴ ] "For pregnant women (who are divorced), their waiting period is until they deliver their burden." The meaning is to describe the intensity of the Day of Resurrection or its earthquake: every pregnant woman will miscarry her pregnancy (which, according to Allah's command, {’’ فِيْ قَرَارٍ مَّكِيْنٍ ‘‘} is in a very secure place) due to the severity of that day.

➏ {وَ تَرَى النَّاسَ سُكٰرٰى …: ’’ سُكٰرٰى ‘‘ ’’سَكْرَانُ‘‘} or {’’سَكِرٌ‘‘} is the plural, just as the plural of {’’كَسْلَانٌ‘‘} is {’’كُسَالٰي‘‘}, meaning: you will see people as if they are intoxicated, they will have no sense, although they will not be intoxicated, but Allah's punishment is very severe, due to which they will have no awareness. The commentator Qasimi, may Allah have mercy on him, presented {’’ سُكٰرٰى ‘‘} as an example of metaphor, saying: a metaphor is that which can be said about something and its negation can also be said, for example, Hamzah, Sa'd, and Ali were lions, this is correct, and it is also correct to say they were not lions. Similarly, someone is called a donkey due to lack of understanding, while it can also be said that he is not a donkey.

➐ There is a difference among the commentators regarding what is meant by the earthquake of the Resurrection. There is no doubt that the most authentic tafsir of the Qur'an is that which is found within the Qur'an itself, then that which comes from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with an authentic chain. The occasion of this earthquake as described in the Sahih hadith narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is: "Allah will say, 'O Adam!' He will say, 'Labbaik wa Sa'daik! I am present again and again, and all goodness is in Your hand.' Allah will say, 'Bring forth the group for the Fire.' He will say, 'And what is the group for the Fire?' Allah will say, 'From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.' At that time, the child will become old: «{ وَ تَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَ تَرَى النَّاسَ سُكٰرٰى وَ مَا هُمْ بِسُكٰرٰى وَ لٰكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللّٰهِ شَدِيْدٌ }» 'And every pregnant woman will miscarry her pregnancy, and you will see people as if they are intoxicated, but they are not intoxicated, but Allah's punishment is severe.' This was very hard on the Companions, so they said, 'O Messenger of Allah! Who among us will be that man?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Rejoice, for among Yajuj and Majuj there will be one thousand, and among you, one.' Then he said, 'By the One in Whose hand is my soul! I hope that you will be one third of the people of Paradise.' The narrator said, when we heard this, we praised Allah and said takbir. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'By the One in Whose hand is my soul! Surely I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise. Your example among the other nations is like a white hair on the skin of a black bull, or like a round mark on the inner side of a donkey's arm.'" [ بخاري، الرقاق، باب « ان زلزلۃ الساعۃ شیء عظیم» … : ۶۵۳۰۔مسلم، الإیمان، باب قولہ : یقول اللہ لآدم أخرج بعث النار… : ۲۲۲ ]

This Sahih hadith is evidence that the earthquake mentioned in this verse refers to the time when Adam (peace be upon him) will be commanded to separate nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand people for Hell. At that time, such an earthquake will seize the people, they will be shaken so violently and will be so terrified as described in this verse. Some people object to considering this hadith as the referent of the verse, saying that at that time there will be neither any pregnant woman nor any breastfeeding woman, so how will a pregnant woman miscarry and how will a breastfeeding woman be oblivious to her child? Therefore, that time is not meant by this verse; in fact, one person, while accepting that the chain of this hadith is Sahih, refused to accept it. Someone should explain to such people: did Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) not know this, then why did they say so? In reality, such people have not understood the style of speech; this is a metaphor for the horror and intensity of that time, that if there were pregnant women at that time, all would miscarry, and if there were breastfeeding women, they would become oblivious to their children. An even stronger answer to this question is that Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said, I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: [ يُبْعَثُ كُلُّ عَبْدٍ عَلٰی مَا مَاتَ عَلَيْهِ ] [ مسلم، الجنۃ و صفۃ نعیمھا، باب الأمر بحسن الظن باللہ… : ۲۸۷۸ ] "Every servant will be resurrected in the state in which he died." From this, it is known that breastfeeding and pregnant women will not only be in this state at the time of the first blowing of the trumpet, but also at the time of resurrection on the Day of Judgment. This completely answers the question of the deniers of hadith. Ibn Jarir, Baqa'i, and many commentators have said that after the Sahih hadith, no other tafsir is valid. Some commentators have considered its referent to be the first blowing of the trumpet of the Resurrection and have mentioned three blowings: one of terror, one of swooning, and one of resurrection. They say that the earthquake referred to is the one caused by the first blowing, i.e., the blowing of terror, because at the Resurrection there will be neither any pregnant woman nor any breastfeeding woman. With this blowing, everything will be thrown into chaos; at that time, any breastfeeding woman will become oblivious to her child. This is also the view of Alqamah and Sha'bi. Tabari narrated a marfu' hadith from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) on this view, saying that there is some consideration in its chain (because it contains two unknown narrators). Tabari says: "This would have been the original view if the Sahih ahadith were not against it, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had the most knowledge of Allah's revelation and the meanings of the Qur'an." Moreover, the correct view is that there are only two blowings; the narration of three blowings is not established. Imam Baqa'i and the author of Ahsan al-Tafsir have said a very good thing: "It is quite possible that by {’’ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘} is meant the earthquake that will occur at the time when Adam (peace be upon him) is commanded to separate the people of Hell, and also the previous earthquakes (i.e., the earthquake of the first blowing of the trumpet and the earthquake of the second blowing, by which all people will be resurrected and rush towards the gathering), because the Day of Resurrection is very long (fifty thousand years), so attributing every earthquake to the Resurrection is correct." Now Allah knows best how many earthquakes will occur on that long day, all of which will be {’’ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ ‘‘}. May Allah, by His grace and mercy, keep us in His protection.