Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 72

(Ayah 72) ➊ { اِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ … :} In the universe, two types of commands from Allah Almighty are continuously in effect. One is His command {’’كُنْ‘‘} (“Be”), when He gives this command to something, it comes into existence; it is not possible for it not to be according to His command. This is called the creative command. The second command is that in which He has given choice, so that the one who is commanded may do it if he wishes, or may not do it if he wishes. Along with this, there is the promise of reward for compliance and the warning of punishment for non-compliance; this is called the legal command. The name of these legal commands and obligations from Allah Almighty is “trust” (amanah). Except for jinn and humans, the rest of the universe is bound by Allah’s creative commands. None of them have the option to disobey Allah. They neither disobey nor can they do so. In some matters, man is also bound by creative commands like other creatures, for example, his birth, all the systems of his body, the coming and going of breath, the beating of the heart, youth, old age, health, illness, the stages of life and death—these are not in his control. However, in some matters, i.e., legal commands, he has been given choice, as a result of which reward or punishment has been set for him. In this verse, trust (amanah) refers to legal commands, i.e., the obligations and prohibitions that have been imposed on man.
The interpreter of the Qur’an, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), has given this very explanation. Thus, Tabari has narrated his statement with an authentic chain from Ali bin Abi Talhah: {’’ اَلْأَمَانَةُ الْفَرَائِضُ « اِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الْاَرْضِ وَ الْجِبَالِ » إِنْ أَدَّوْهَا أَثَابَهُمْ، وَ إِنْ ضَيَّعُوْهَا عَذَّبَهُمْ، فَكَرِهُوْا ذٰلِكَ، وَ أَشْفَقُوْا مِنْ غَيْرِ مَعْصِيَةٍ، وَ لٰكِنْ تَعْظِيْمًا لِّدِيْنِ اللّٰهِ أَنْ لَّا يَقُوْمُوْا بِهَا، ثُمَّ عَرَضَهَا عَلٰي آدَمَ، فَقَبِلَهَا بِمَا فِيْهَا، وَ هُوَ قَوْلُهُ : « وَ حَمَلَهَا الْاِنْسَانُ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ ظَلُوْمًا جَهُوْلًا» غُرًّا بِأَمْرِ اللّٰهِ ‘‘} [ طبري : ۲۸۹۱۹، ۲۸۹۱۷ ] “By trust is meant the obligations. Allah Almighty presented them before the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, that if they fulfilled them, He would reward them, and if they neglected them, He would punish them. So they disliked it and were afraid of it—not because of any disobedience, but considering the practice of Allah’s religion to be a great matter, fearing that they would not be able to uphold it. Then these (obligations) were presented to Adam (i.e., man), and he accepted them along with the reward and punishment that was in them. This is the meaning of Allah Almighty’s statement: « وَ حَمَلَهَا الْاِنْسَانُ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ ظَلُوْمًا جَهُوْلًا » ‘And man undertook it; indeed, he is ever most unjust, most ignorant.’ That is, he is heedless of Allah’s command.”
All the explanations that have come from the Companions and the Followers are included in what Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said. For example, in Ibn Kathir it is mentioned that Ubayy bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “A woman was made the trustee of her private part.” Some said: “By this is meant the ritual bath after sexual impurity.” Zayd bin Aslam said: “It means prayer, fasting, and the ritual bath after sexual impurity.” In summary, all commands and prohibitions, obligations and forbidden things, are a trust from Allah for mankind, and this trust is such a great and heavy thing that the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, despite being such great creations, refused to accept it and were afraid of it.
➋ Some commentators have said that this matter is stated metaphorically, meaning that such great creations do not have the capacity to bear this responsibility which is present in man, otherwise it is not that Allah Almighty actually presented the trust before the heavens, the earth, and the mountains and they did not accept it. But this is not correct, because interpretation is only needed when it is not possible to take the apparent meaning, whereas the presence of perception and understanding in the earth, heavens, and mountains, their glorification of Allah, their weeping and rejoicing, are established by numerous verses and hadiths. See Surah Al-Baqarah (73), Bani Isra’il (44), Nur (41), Hashr (21), Nahl (48), Dukhan (29), and Surah Ha Mim As-Sajdah (21).
➌ Shah Abdul Qadir translated {’’ ظَلُوْمًا جَهُوْلًا ‘‘} as “pitiless and ignorant” and then writes: “That is, he did not have mercy on his own soul. What is trust? To keep something belonging to another by restraining one’s own desire. In the earth and heavens, there is no personal desire, or if there is, it is only that upon which they are established. The desire of the sky is to revolve, the desire of the earth is to remain stationary. In man, the desire is different, and the command is contrary to it. To hold this foreign thing against one’s own will requires great strength. Its outcome is that the deniers are seized for their shortcomings, and the shortcomings of the believers are forgiven. Even now, the command is that if someone knowingly wastes a trust, there is retribution, and if it is wasted involuntarily, there is no retribution.” (Mawduh) The last part of Shah Sahib’s statement (Its outcome is…) is the explanation of the next verse {’’ لِيُعَذِّبَ اللّٰهُ الْمُنٰفِقِيْنَ ‘‘}.
➍ The word “trust” (amanah), just as it is used for those obligations and commands and prohibitions that have been imposed on man by Allah Almighty and which he has accepted, it is also used for that quality which Allah Almighty has placed in human nature, by virtue of which he gives every rightful person his due and fulfills those obligations which Allah Almighty has imposed on him. Thus, Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told us two hadiths, one of which I have seen and I am waiting for the other. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told us: [ أَنَّ الْأَمَانَةَ نَزَلَتْ فِيْ جَذْرِ قُلُوْبِ الرِّجَالِ، ثُمَّ عَلِمُوْا مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ، ثُمَّ عَلِمُوْا مِنَ السُّنَّةِ ] “That is, trust descended into the roots of people’s hearts, then they learned it from the Qur’an, then they learned it from the Sunnah.” Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told us about its removal, saying: [ يَنَامُ الرَّجُلُ النَّوْمَةَ فَتُقْبَضُ الْأَمَانَةُ مِنْ قَلْبِهِ، فَيَظَلُّ أَثَرُهَا مِثْلَ أَثَرِ الْوَكْتِ، ثُمَّ يَنَامُ النَّوْمَةَ فَتُقْبَضُ فَيَبْقٰی أَثَرُهَا مِثْلَ الْمَجْلِ، كَجَمْرٍ دَحْرَجْتَهُ عَلٰی رِجْلِكَ فَنَفِطَ، فَتَرَاهُ مُنْتَبِرًا، وَ لَيْسَ فِيْهِ شَيْئٌ، فَيُصْبِحُ النَّاسُ يَتَبَايَعُوْنَ فَلَا يَكَادُ أَحَدٌ يُؤَدِّي الْأَمَانَةَ، فَيُقَالُ إِنَّ فِيْ بَنِيْ فُلاَنٍ رَجُلاً أَمِيْنًا وَ يُقَالُ لِلرَّجُلِ مَا أَعْقَلَهُ وَ مَا أَظْرَفَهُ وَ مَا أَجْلَدَهُ وَ مَا فِيْ قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةِ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ إِيْمَانٍ ] [ بخاري، الرقاق، باب رفع الأمانۃ : ۶۴۹۷ ] “A man will sleep, and trust will be taken away from his heart, and only a faint mark will remain, like a light burn. Then he will sleep again, and (more) will be taken away, so that its mark will be like a blister, as if you roll a burning coal on your foot and a blister swells up—you see it raised, but there is nothing in it. The situation will become such that people will get up in the morning and engage in buying and selling, and it will be rare to find anyone who fulfills trust, to the extent that it will be said: ‘There is a trustworthy man in such-and-such tribe,’ and it will be said: ‘How intelligent, how clever, and how strong is such-and-such man,’ even though there will not be faith in his heart equal to a mustard seed.”
➎ The word “trust” (amanah) has another meaning as well. It is narrated from Buraydah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ مَنْ حَلَفَ بِالْأَمَانَةِ فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا ] [ أبو داوٗد، الإیمان و النذور، باب کراھیۃ الحلف بالأمانۃ : ۳۲۵۳، و قال الألباني صحیح ] “Whoever swears by trust is not one of us.” As for what is meant by trust in this hadith, most commentators of hadith have said that just as a person is a created being, so is his trust, and it is not permissible to swear by a created thing, hence this severe ruling has been given. But in my view, its referent is that book containing the beliefs and laws of the Christian shariah, which, in the time of their king Constantine, was compiled by three hundred and eighteen priests at his command, and its name was {’’اَلْأَمَانَةُ الْكَبِيْرَةُ‘‘}. In it, many lawful things were made unlawful and unlawful things were made lawful. Hafiz Ibn Kathir says: “They named it {’’اَلْأَمَانَةُ الْكَبِيْرَةُ‘‘}, whereas in reality it is {’’اَلْخِيَانَةُ الْحَقِيْرَةُ‘‘}.” The details of this are present in Tafsir Ibn Kathir under the verses of Surah Al-Imran (55–58), the opening verses of Surah Ar-Rum, and in the commentary of several other places.
According to the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that “the Muslim Ummah will also follow in the footsteps of the Jews and Christians,” some kings of our Ummah also assigned the scholars of their time the task of compiling a book for the laws of the shariah, but those scholars, instead of the Book and Sunnah, collected statements and declared them to be the laws of the shariah, and hardly any limit of Allah remained which they did not abolish through tricks and excuses. This is indeed a great favor of Allah Almighty upon this Ummah that the heavenly guidance in the form of the Qur’an and Sunnah is preserved. Therefore, those who declare people’s statements to be the Shariah of Islam have not succeeded in their objective, nor, insha’Allah, will they ever succeed. In short, the book called Amanah, which Christians consider a sacred book and swear by it, Muslims have been strictly forbidden to swear by it.