Surah Al-Hajj (22) — Ayah 52

(Ayah 52) ➊ In the language, the word {’’تَمَنّٰي يَتَمَنّٰي تَمَنِّيًا‘‘} means to wish, desire, and long for, and it also means to recite and read. In Surah Al-Baqarah, verse (78): «{ وَ مِنْهُمْ اُمِّيُّوْنَ لَا يَعْلَمُوْنَ الْكِتٰبَ اِلَّاۤ اَمَانِيَّ }», {’’اَمَانِيَّ‘‘} is the plural of {’’أُمْنِيَّةٌ‘‘}, which also means desire and to recite. According to the first meaning, the point is that whenever We sent a Messenger or Prophet before you, Satan kept putting obstacles in the way of his every wish and desire. Obviously, what could be the Prophet’s wish except for people to accept faith and for the true religion to prevail? For this purpose, Satan kept trying to thwart every effort of the Prophets and Messengers, but Allah removed all obstacles coming from him and made His verses firm and His religion dominant, as He said: «{ هُوَ الَّذِيْۤ اَرْسَلَ رَسُوْلَهٗ بِالْهُدٰى وَ دِيْنِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهٗ عَلَى الدِّيْنِ كُلِّهٖ }» [ التوبۃ : ۳۳ ] “He it is Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, so that He may make it prevail over every religion.” According to the second meaning, it means that whenever a Messenger or Prophet came before you and recited the verses of Allah, Satan would create obstacles in people’s listening to them, as He said: «{ وَ قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا لَا تَسْمَعُوْا لِهٰذَا الْقُرْاٰنِ وَ الْغَوْا فِيْهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُوْنَ }» [ حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۲۶ ] “And those who disbelieved said, ‘Do not listen to this Qur’an and make noise in it, so that you may prevail.’” But Allah removes his obstacles and makes His verses firm. It can also mean that at the time of the Prophets’ recitation of the verses, Satan would cast doubts and suspicions in people’s hearts about the meanings of those verses, which Allah would later clarify and remove, as in Surah An-Nahl, verse (115): «{ اِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةَ }», a doubt was cast that, “Look, they declare what they themselves kill as lawful and what Allah kills as unlawful.” In Surah Al-Anbiya, verse (98): «{ اِنَّكُمْ وَ مَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ حَصَبُ جَهَنَّمَ }», a doubt was cast that then, Jesus (peace be upon him) would also, God forbid, be in Hell. Allah clarified both and removed the doubt cast by Satan and made His verses firm.

➋ { وَ اللّٰهُ عَلِيْمٌ حَكِيْمٌ :} That is, Allah knows very well all those devils who put obstacles in the way of the Prophets’ wishes, or who cast doubts and suspicions in people’s hearts at the time of the Prophets’ recitation of the verses, and He knows very well those doubts and suspicions and the ways to refute them. And He is the Most Wise, due to which He has given respite to the devils so that they themselves remain astray and lead others astray as well.

➌ Some commentators have written in the context of the revelation of this verse that once the Prophet (peace be upon him) was reciting Surah An-Najm, and when he reached verse (20): «{ وَ مَنٰوةَ الثَّالِثَةَ الْاُخْرٰى }», then unconsciously, Satan made these words flow from his tongue, or recited them in his tone and voice: {’’ تِلْكَ الْغَرَانِيْقُ الْعُلٰي وَ إِنَّ شَفَاعَتَهُنَّ لَتُرْتَجَي‘‘} “These are exalted goddesses, and their intercession is to be hoped for.” At this, the disbelievers of Quraysh became very happy that today our idols have also been praised, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) became very distressed. So this verse of Surah Al-Hajj was revealed and he was comforted that even before, Satan used to interfere in the revelation to the Prophets in this way, but Satan’s tricks do not succeed, etc. This story is in clear contradiction to those verses in which Allah has stated that He keeps a strong guard all around the Prophets until they have delivered Allah’s messages to the people (in such strict protection, it is not possible for Satan to have any effect in any way). See the last verses of Surah Al-Jinn from {’’ عٰلِمُ الْغَيْبِ فَلَا يُظْهِرُ ‘‘} to the end of the surah. The verifying scholars have strongly refuted this story. Al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) says, this story is fabricated. Ibn Khuzaymah (may Allah have mercy on him) has written that this story was fabricated by the heretics (atheists and irreligious people). Qadi Iyad has refuted it in “Al-Shifa.” Razi said that this story is false. Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) tried to establish some basis for this incident on the basis of three mursal narrations and to interpret it, but the hadith scholar Al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) in his treatise {’’نَصْبُ الْمَجَانِيْقِ لِنَسْفِ قِصَّةِ الْغَرَانِيْقِ‘‘} has, with strong scholarly discussion, proved this story to be absolutely baseless and has cited references from ancient and modern hadith scholars and jurists who have refuted this incident with evidence.