'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Ar-Ra'd

This surah is Meccan, as said by Sa'id ibn Jubayr. And Qatadah said: It is Medinan except for two verses: His saying, the Exalted, "And those who disbelieve will not cease" [Ar-Ra'd: 31], and His saying, the Exalted, "And if there were a Qur'an by which mountains could be moved" [Ar-Ra'd: 31]. This was reported by Az-Zahrawi. And Al-Mahdawi reported from Qatadah that the surah is Meccan except for His saying, the Exalted, "And those who disbelieve will be struck by what they have done, a calamity or it will settle near their homes" [Ar-Ra'd: 31], and His saying, "And whoever has knowledge of the Book" [Ar-Ra'd: 43]. The apparent view to me is that the Medinan verses in it are many. And all that was revealed concerning 'Amir ibn Tufayl and Arbad ibn Rabi'ah is Medinan. It is said that the surah is Medinan, as reported by Mundhir ibn Sa'id Al-Baluti, and mentioned by Makki ibn Abi Talib.

His saying, the Exalted:

"Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, but most of the people do not believe." "Allah is He who raised the heavens without pillars that you see, then He established Himself on the Throne and made the sun and the moon subservient, each running for an appointed term. He directs the affair; He details the signs so that you may be certain of meeting your Lord."

The saying regarding the beginnings of the surahs and the mention of interpretations in that has preceded. However, what specifically pertains to this place from that is what Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "These letters are from His saying: I am Allah, I know and I see." And whoever said: "The letters at the beginnings of the surahs are examples of the letters of the alphabet," he said: The reference here with "those" is to the letters of the alphabet. It is correct - on this - that "the Book" refers to the Qur'an, and it is correct that it refers to the Torah and the Gospel. And "Alif Lam Ra" - on this - is a beginning, and "those" is a second beginning, and "the verses" is the news of the second, and the sentence is the news of the first. And according to the saying of Ibn Abbas regarding "Alif Lam Ra," "those" would be a beginning, and "the verses" would be an alternative to it. And it is correct in "the Book" to have the two interpretations that have preceded.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth." "What" is raised by the beginning, and "the truth" is its news. And on this is the interpretation of those who see "Alif Lam Ra" as letters of the alphabet, and "those" and "the verses" are a beginning and news. And according to the saying of Ibn Abbas, "what" would be an addition to "those," and "the truth" is the news of "those." And if "the Book" is intended to mean the Qur'an, then what is meant by "what has been revealed" is all of the Shari'ah, what the Qur'an contains of it and what it does not contain. And it is correct in "what" to be in the position of a genitive, added to "the Book." If you intend - with that - by "the Book" the Qur'an, then the conjunction would be an addition of a description to one thing, just as you say: The clever and the wise came to me, while you intend one person. And from that is the saying of the poet:

To the noble king and the son of the proud And the lion of the battalion in the crowd.

And if you intend - along with that - by "the Book" the Torah and the Gospel, then that is clear. If you interpret - along with that - "Alif Lam Ra" as the letters of the alphabet, you elevate His saying: "The Truth" on the implied subject whose estimation is: it is the Truth. And if you interpret it as Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, then "The Truth" is the news of "that." And whoever elevates "The Truth" with the implication of a beginning and stops at His saying: "from your Lord" and the rest of the verse is clear and evident, if Allah wills.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Allah, who raised the heavens" - when His saying: "But most people do not believe" contains a reprimand of the disbelievers, He followed that by mentioning Allah, blessed and exalted is He, whom one should certainly have certainty in, and by mentioning the evidence that calls to belief in Him. And the pronoun in His saying: "You see them" a group said: it refers back to "the heavens" so "you see them" - on this - is in the position of a state. And the majority of people said: there are no pillars for the heavens. And a group said: the pronoun refers back to "the pillars," so "you see them" - on this - is a description for the pillars. And this group said: for the heavens there are invisible pillars, as Mujahid and Qatadah said. Ibn Abbas said: And what would make you know that they are with pillars that are not seen? And some of them narrated that the pillars are the mountain of Qaf that surrounds the earth, and the heavens are above it like a dome.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: All of this is weak, and the truth is that there are no pillars at all, for the pillars require pillars, and the matter would continue in a chain, so it must stop at the ability. And this is the apparent meaning of His saying, exalted is He: "And He holds up the heaven from falling upon the earth except by His permission" [Al-Hajj: 65], and similar verses. And Iyas ibn Muawiyah said: The heavens are arched over the earth like a dome. And in the Mushaf of Ubayy, it is "You see it" with the masculine pronoun.

And "the pillars" is the plural of column, and the form in its plural is "columns" with the three letters pronounced with a Dhamma, like "messenger" and "messengers" and "shoot" and "shoots," and others. And from this word is the saying of Al-Nabighah:

And the jinn informed that I have permitted them to build Tadmor with the flat stones and the columns.

And Al-Tabari said: "The pillars (with the opening of the 'ain) is the plural of column, just as the leather is pluralized as leathers," and it is not as he said. In the book of Sibawayh, it is stated that the leather is a name of a plural, and likewise the linguists have stated regarding the pillars, but Abu Ubaidah mentioned the matter uncertainly, so Al-Tabari followed him. And Yahya ibn Thawban read: "without pillars" with the 'ain pronounced with a Dhamma.

And His saying: "Then" here is for the conjunction of sentences, not for the order, because the establishment on the Throne was before the raising of the heavens. So it is authentically reported from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Allah was, and there was nothing before Him, and His Throne was upon the water, then He created the heavens and the earth."

(p-171) And the statement regarding the speech of the people about the 'Istiwā' has already been mentioned. Its summary is that Abu al-Ma'ālī preferred that He 'Istiwā' by His overpowering and dominance. Al-Qāḍī Ibn al-Ṭayyib and others said: 'Istiwā' in this context means: 'took control', and taking control may occur without overpowering. This is the difference between the two sayings. Sufyān said: He did an action that he called 'Istiwā'. Al-Farrā' said: The Messenger of Allah 'Istiwā' - in this context - as the Arabs say: 'Zayd did such and then turned to me to speak', meaning he approached and intended. It was reported to me from Abu al-Faḍl Ibn al-Nahwī that he said: 'The 'Arsh' - in this context - is the source of 'Arasha', so it is as if he meant all of the creations. Abu Manṣūr mentioned from al-Khalīl: That the 'Arsh' is the kingdom. This supports the position of Abu al-Faḍl Ibn al-Nahwī when he said: 'The 'Arsh' is a source.' This is contrary to what people have followed that 'the 'Arsh' is the greatest of the creations, and it is the being that was upon the water, and that which is before it is the Kursī. Also, it is necessary to consider Abu al-Faḍl's meaning of 'Istiwā' closely to what is in the saying of all. In al-Bukhārī from Mujāhid that he said: 'The meaning is: He rose above the 'Arsh'. Likewise, this is the expression of al-Ṭabarī, and the correct view refutes this expression. And His saying: 'And He subjected' is an indication of power, and 'the sun and the moon' in the context of mentioning them includes the mention of the stars. Therefore, He said: 'Each one runs', meaning everything that is in the meaning of the sun and the moon from the subjugation. And 'each' is a word that necessitates addition, whether apparent or implied. The appointed term is the end of the world and the corruption of this structure. It is said: He means by His saying: 'for an appointed term' the limits that these creations do not exceed, meaning: they run according to known measures. (p-172) And His saying: 'He manages' means: He decrees and executes. He expressed by managing to make it easier for understanding, as managing is indeed looking into the outcomes of matters and their consequences, and that is a characteristic of humans. And 'the matter' is general in all matters and what occurs at every moment in the heavens and the earth. Mujāhid said: 'He manages the matter' means: He decrees it alone. The majority read: 'He details', and al-Ḥasan read it with the pronoun of greatness. Al-Khaffāf and 'Abd al-Wahhāb narrated it from Abu 'Amr, and Hubayra from Ḥafṣ. Al-Mahdawī said: And they did not differ in 'He manages'. Abu 'Amr al-Dānī said: Indeed, al-Ḥasan read with the pronoun in both. The view necessitates that His saying: 'He details the verses' is not in the context of His saying: 'He manages' in the counting of the verses, but when the verses were numerous, and in their totality He manages the matter, He informed that He details them so that perhaps the disbelievers may be certain of the resurrection. And 'the verses' here refers to what was mentioned in the verse and after it.