Surah Al-Jaathiya (45) — Ayah 24

(Ayah 24) ➊ {وَ قَالُوْا مَا هِيَ اِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوْتُ وَ نَحْيَا:} For its explanation, see Surah Al-Mu’minun (37). Here is a question: instead of saying {’’ نَحْيَا وَ نَمُوْتُ‘‘} (We live and we die), why was it said: { «نَمُوْتُ وَ نَحْيَا » } “We die and we live?” The answer to this is in several ways: firstly, the “waw” (and) does not necessarily indicate sequence, and here, while quoting their statement, it was done for the eloquence of speech, because after {’’ مَا هِيَ اِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا ‘‘} the beauty and harmony in the sentence {’’ نَمُوْتُ وَ نَحْيَا ‘‘} is not found in {’’نَحْيَا وَ نَمُوْتُ‘‘}. The second answer is that {’’ نَمُوْتُ وَ نَحْيَا ‘‘} means that we die and our children remain, or some of us die and some remain alive. The third answer is that {’’ نَمُوْتُ ‘‘} means that first we are in a state of non-existence and death, and {’’ نَحْيَا ‘‘} means that then we come into the state of worldly life, so if there is any life, it is only this worldly life; after this, there is no other life.

➋ { وَ مَا يُهْلِكُنَاۤ اِلَّا الدَّهْرُ:} From their statement, it is clear that they believe there is someone who destroys them, and obviously, that is Allah Almighty, because He alone is the Creator, Owner, and Manager of the entire universe. But since the belief in Allah Almighty and appearing before Him is a great obstacle in the way of their unrestrained desires, they denied the life of the Hereafter altogether, and instead of accepting that life and death are in Allah’s control, and that He can and will resurrect them as He did the first time, they said that there is nothing but time that destroys us; it is only the alternation of day and night that annihilates us. In reality, this is their self-deception, because time and the alternation of day and night cannot do anything by their own will; their reins are in the hands of a Master, who is Allah Almighty, whose name they do not wish to mention, so instead they mention time. An example of this is the atheist Muslims of our time, who, due to their own immorality, call the limits set by Allah Almighty as barbaric punishments, but cannot say this openly, so they abuse the scholars, saying that the scholars want to impose barbaric punishments on people, want to have the hands of thieves cut off, flog the adulterer, and have the murderer killed. Whereas, what fault does the poor scholar have in this? He only conveys the command that his Master has stated in His Book. Similarly, those polytheists attribute their destruction and annihilation to time, whereas poor time is bound by Allah Almighty’s command; that is why the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade reviling time. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ قَالَ اللّٰهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُؤْذِيْنِي ابْنُ آدَمَ، يَسُبُّ الدَّهْرَ وَأَنَا الدَّهْرُ، بِيَدِي الْأَمْرُ، أُقَلِّبُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، سورۃ الجاثیۃ : ۴۸۲۶ ] “Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: The son of Adam hurts Me; he reviles time, whereas I am time; all matters are in My hand; I alternate the night and the day.” And Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): [ لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ ] [ مسلم، الألفاظ من الأدب وغیرھا، باب النھي عن سب الدھر : 2246/5 ] “Do not revile time, for Allah is time.” In another narration from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), the words are that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ قَالَ اللّٰهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُؤْذِيْنِي ابْنُ آدَمَ، يَقُوْلُ يَا خَيْبَةَ الدَّهْرِ! فَلَا يَقُوْلَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ يَا خَيْبَةَ الدَّهْرِ! فَإِنِّيْ أَنَا الدَّهْرُ أُقَلِّبُ لَيْلَهُ وَنَهَارَهُ فَإِذَا شِئْتُ قَبَضْتُهُمَا ] [ مسلم، الألفاظ من الأدب وغیرھا، باب النھي عن سب الدھر : 2246/5 ] “Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: The son of Adam hurts Me. He says: ‘Woe to time!’ So none of you should say: ‘Woe to time!’ for I am time. I alternate its night and day, then when I wish, I will seize them both.”

Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) writes: “Al-Shafi’i, Abu Ubaydah, and many other Imams (may Allah have mercy on them) said in the explanation of {’’لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ‘‘} (Do not revile time, for Allah is time): ‘The Arabs in their days of ignorance, when any hardship, calamity, or difficulty befell them, used to say: {’’ يَا خَيْبَةَ الدَّهْرِ!‘‘} (Woe to time!). Thus, they attributed these actions to time and reviled it, whereas the One who actually did all these things was Allah Almighty, so it is as if they reviled Allah Himself, because He is the true Doer. Therefore, in this sense, reviling time was forbidden, because the One they actually meant was Allah Almighty.’ This is the best explanation and this is what is meant. (And Allah knows best.) And those who, following Ibn Hazm and his approach, have counted {’’ اَلدَّهْرُ ‘‘} (time) among the Beautiful Names of Allah based on this hadith, have made a mistake.” (Ibn Kathir)

➌ { وَ مَا لَهُمْ بِذٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ اِنْ هُمْ اِلَّا يَظُنُّوْنَ:} That is, their statement that “there is no life after this life” and that “it is not Allah Almighty who causes man to die, but time that destroys him” is not based on any knowledge, but only on conjecture. At most, they can say: “We do not know whether there is any life after death or not, and we do not know how the soul departs and who destroys us.” Because when they have no knowledge of what is to come, how can they say with certainty that there is no life after this one? In reality, their desire is that there should be no life after death, nor anyone to question them about what they did, so that they may continue to do as they please. In this way, they have made their own desires their deity, and knowingly have closed their eyes and ears to their Master and to the reckoning of the Day of Judgment.