(An-Nahl)

(An-Nahl)

[16:1]

(The commandment of Allah will come to pass…) [16:1]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: “When Allah, exalted is He, revealed (The Hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain) [54:1], the unbelievers said to each other: 'This man claims that the Day of Judgement is near, so refrain from some of the things you usually do until we see what happens'. When they saw that nothing happened, they said: 'Nothing happened', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Their reckoning draweth nigh for mankind, while they turn away in heedlessness…) [21:1]. They again became apprehensive and waited for the nearing last Hour. When a long time had  passed [and nothing happened] they said: 'O Muhammad, nothing of that with which you have threatened us happened'. And Allah, exalted is He, revealed (The commandment of Allah will come to pass). The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, jumped up when he heard this and people raised their heads [to heaven]. The revelation (so seek not ye to hasten it) came, and people felt relieved. And when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah, bless him and give him peace, said: 'I and the last Hour are like this - and he pointed with his finger - ; it almost came before me' ”. Other unbelievers said: “The judgement is already here; it is chastisement through the sword”. This is the answer of al-Nadr ibn al-Harith when He said (O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us…) [8:32], as if hastening chastisement, and so Allah exalted is He, revealed this verse.

[16:4]

(He hath created man from a drop of fluid, yet behold! he is an open opponent) [16:4]. This verse was revealed about Ubayy ibn Khalaf al-Jumahi when he brought decaying bones to the Messenger of Allah,  Allah bless him and give him peace, and then said: “O Muhammad, do you think Allah will bring this to life after its decay?”. Something similar to this verse is Allah’s words in Surah Yasin (Hath not man seen that We have created him from a drop of seed? Yet lo! He is an open opponent…) [36:77] up to the end of the Surah. This verse was revealed on the occasion of this incident.

[16:38]

(And they swear by Allah their most binding oaths (that) Allah will not raise up him who dieth…) [16:38]. Al- Rabi‘ ibn Anas reported from Abu’l-‘Aliyah: “A Muslim man had a debt with an idolater and he went to ask  for it to be paid. As they were talking, the Muslim happened to say: ‘By Him in Whom I have hope after death’, and the idolater retorted: ‘And you claim you will be resurrected after death?’ And he swore by Allah that Allah will not resurrect those who die. Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse [to confirm the dead will be resurrected]”.

[16:41]

(And those who became fugitives for the cause of Allah after they had been oppressed…) [16:41]. This verse was revealed about the Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, in Mecca: Bilal, Suhayb, Khabbab, ‘Ammar, and Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl. The idolaters seized them in Mecca, tortured and harmed them. Later, Allah, exalted is He, made them settle down in Medina.

[16:43]

(And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men whom We inspired…) [16:43]. This verse was revealed about the idolaters of Mecca who denied the prophethood of Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace. They said: “Allah is too great to have a human being as His messenger; could He

100

not have sent an angel?” [16:75-76]

(Allah coineth a similitude: (on the one hand) a (mere) chattel slave, who hath control of nothing, and (on the other hand) one on whom we have bestowed a fair provision from Us, and he spendeth thereof secretly and openly. Are they equal? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not. And Allah coineth a similitude: Two men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing, and he is a burden on his owner; whithersoever he directeth him to go, he bringeth no good. Is he equal with one who enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path (of conduct)?) [16:75-76]. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Abu Bakr ibn al-Anbari> Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Shakir> ‘Affan> Wuhayb> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Khuthaym> Ibrahim> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “This verse (Allah coineth a similitude: (on the one hand) a (mere) chattel slave…) about Hisham ibn ‘Amr who used to spend his wealth openly and in secret and his client Abu’l-Jawza’ who used to bid him to stop doing so. As for the verse (And Allah coineth a similitude: Two  men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing), the dumb who has control of nothing is Usayd ibn Abi al-‘Is and the one who (enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path…) is ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan”.

[16:90]

(Lo! Allah enjoineth justice and kindness…) [16:90]. Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim informed us> Shu'ayb ibn Muhammad al-Bayhaqi> Makki ibn 'Abdan> Abu'l-Azhar> Rawh ibn 'Ubadah> 'Abd al- Hamid ibn Buhram> Shahr ibn Hawshab> 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas who said: “While the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was sitting in his House's courtyard in Mecca, 'Uthman ibn Maz'un passed by and smiled at him. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'Will you not sit down?' He sat down facing toward him. As the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace was talking   to 'Uthman, his eyes turned toward heaven, he looked upward for a while and then brought his gaze down and looked down at the ground on his right hand side. Then, he looked away from his companion 'Uthman toward where he gazed, moving his head as if trying to understand what he was being told. He then looked up again toward heaven, as he did the first time, and kept looking up until his gaze was completely focused on heaven. Then he was back with 'Uthman as he was initially. 'Uthman said: 'O Muhammad, I used to come to see you and sit with you and I have never seen you do what you did this morning'. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'And what did you see me do?' He said: 'I saw you raising your eyes toward heaven, you looked down on your right, and then you moved away from me and moved your head  as if trying to understand something which was being said to you'. The Prophet said: 'Did you catch all that?' when 'Uthman said he did, the Prophet said: 'Gabriel came to me earlier on while you were sitting'. 'Uthman asked: 'And what did he tell you?' He said: 'He told me (Lo! Allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and giving to kinsfolk, and forbiddeth lewdness and abomination and wickedness. He exhorteth you in order that ye  may take heed)'. 'Uthman said: 'It was at that point that faith became firm in my heart and I loved Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace' ”.

[16:101-102]

(And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation…) [16:101-102]. This verse was revealed when the idolaters said: “Muhammad is mocking his Companions; one day he commands them to do something and the next day he forbids them from doing it, or brings instead something which is easier. He is nothing but a calumniator who says things of his own invention”, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse and the verse after it.

[16:103]

(And We know well that they say: Only a man teacheth him. The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish…) [16:103]. Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki> Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Hamdan al-Zahid> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz> Abu Hisham al-Rifa‘i> Ibn Fudayl> Husayn> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muslim who said: “We owned two Christian youths from the people of ‘Ayn Tamr, one called Yasar and the other Jabr. Their trade was making swords but they also could read the Scriptures in their own tongue. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to pass by them and listen to

their reading. As a result, the idolaters used to say: ‘He is being taught by them!’ To give them the lie, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish, and this is clear Arabic speech)”.

[16:106]

(Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief…) [16:106]. Said Ibn 'Abbas: “This verse was revealed about 'Ammar ibn Yasir. The idolaters had taken him away along with his father Yasir, his mother Sumayyah, Suhayb [al-Rumi], Bilal [ibn Rabah], Khabbab [ibn al-Aratt] and Salim [the client of Hudhayfah] and tortured them. As for Sumayyah, she was tied up between two camels and stabbed with a spear in her female organ. She was told: 'You embraced Islam for the men', and was then killed. Her husband Yasir was also killed.

They were the first two persons who were killed in Islam. As for 'Ammar, he was coerced to let them hear what they wanted to hear. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was told that 'Ammar has renounced faith, but he said: 'Never, 'Ammar is filled with faith from his head to his toes; faith is admixed with his flesh and blood!' 'Ammar then went to see the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, crying. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, wiped his tears with his own hand and said: 'if they return to you, let them hear again what you told them'. Then, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Mujahid said: “This verse was revealed about some Meccans who accepted faith. The Muslims of Medina wrote to them urging them to migrate and told them that they did not consider them part of them unless they migrated. And so they left Mecca intending to migrate to Medina. The Quraysh caught up with them on the way and coerced them to renounce their faith. It is about them that this verse was revealed”.

[16:110]

(Then lo! thy Lord - for those who became fugitives after they had been persecuted …) [16:110]. Said Qatadah: “It was related to us that when Allah, exalted is He, revealed before this verse that the people of Mecca who had embraced Islam would not be considered Muslim until they migrated to Medina, the people of Medina wrote to their companions in Mecca to inform them of this. When they received the message, they left Mecca but the idolaters caught up with them and took them back. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (Alif. Lam. Mim. Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not  be tested with affliction?) [29:1-2], and the Muslims of Medina wrote to them to inform them about it. The Muslims of Mecca vowed to each other to leave Mecca and fight the idolaters of Mecca, were they to catch up with them, until they join Allah or escape to Medina. The idolaters did catch up with them. Some of them died fighting while others were able to flee. Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Then lo! thy Lord - for those who became fugitives after they had been persecuted, and then fought and were steadfast…)”.

[16:125-127]

(Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation…) [16:125-127]. Abu Mansur Muhammad  ibn Muhammad al-Mansuri informed us> 'Ali ibn 'Umar al-Hafiz> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al- 'Aziz> al-Hakam ibn Musa> Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash> 'Abd al-Malik ibn Abi Ghaniyyah> al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah> Mujahid> Ibn 'Abbas who said: “When the idolaters retreated from those who were killed at the Battle of Uhud, The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went there and saw a scene which he strongly disliked. And he also saw Hamzah with his stomach ripped open, nose burnt and ears cut off. He said: 'If it were not for the fear of causing more grief to the women or that it becomes a followed practice after me, I would leave him until Allah, exalted is He, resurrect him from the bellies of predatory animals   and birds. I shall kill seventy men of them [of the disbelievers of Quraysh] in revenge', He then asked for a mantle to cover him with it. When he covered his face, his feet remained uncovered and so he covered them with some Bulrush. He then placed him forward and said 'Allah is the greatest' ten times. Then, all those Muslim dead were brought, one by one, while the body of Hamzah was unmoved from its place, and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, prayed on them. And so He performed seventy prayers on Hamzah. There were seventy Muslims who died in this battle. When they were buried and finished with, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation) up to His words (Endure thou patiently (O Muhammad). Thine endurance is only by (the help of) Allah…) [16:127].

And so, he was patient and did not mutilate any one”. Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa'iz informed us> Abu'l-'Abbas

Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 'Isa al-Hafiz> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz> Bishr ibn al-Walid al- Kindi> Salih al-Murri> Sulayman al-Taymi> Abu 'Uthman al-Nahdi> Abu Hurayrah who said: “When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, got closer to Hamzah, he saw that he was dead. Nothing that he ever saw was more painful to his heart than that sight. He said: “By Allah, I will kill seventy of them in return!” This verse was then revealed (If ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient) [16:126]. Abu Hassan al-Muzakki informed us> Abu'l-'Abbas Muhammad ibn Ishaq> Musa ibn Ishaq> Yahya ibn 'Abd al-Hamid al-Humani> Qays ibn Abi Layla> al-Hakam> Muqassim> Ibn 'Abbas who reported that, on the day Hamzah was killed and mutilated, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “If I get my hand on the Quraysh I will mutilate seventy men of them. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (If ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient), upon which the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'I would rather be patient, O Lord!' ” The commentators of the Qur'an said: “When the Muslims saw what the idolaters did to their dead  at the Battle of Uhud in terms of ripping open their stomachs, cutting off their male organs and mutilating them in the most ugly way, they said: 'If Allah gives us a chance to get our hands on them, we will mutilate them even worse than what they did; we shall maim them in a way that none of the Arabs did before to any other Arab; and we shall do this and we shall do that'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, stopped at the body of his paternal uncle Hamzah with his nose and ears amputated, his male organs cut off and his stomach ripped open. Hind bint 'Utbah had taken a piece of his liver, chewed it and  swallowed it but her stomach could not take it and she threw it up. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, heard of this, he said: 'She would have never entered hell if she did digest it; Hamzah is too noble in the sight of Allah to allow any part of his body to enter hell'. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, saw Hamzah [lying dead and mutilated], he had never seen, before that, anything which was more painful to his heart. And so he said: 'May Allah's mercy be on you; you were, as  far as I know, someone who kept his ties of kinship and did always good deeds. Had it not been for the grieving of those who survived of your family, it would have pleased me to leave you as you are until you  are resurrected [on the Day of Judgement] from different bellies. By Allah, if Allah, exalted is He, gives me the opportunity to lay my hand on them, I will mutilate seventy men of them, for what they did to you'. But Allah, exalted is He, revealed (If ye punish, then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted. But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient) and so the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'I would rather be patient', and then he made amends for the oath he had made”. Here, we need to mention how Hamzah was killed. 'Amr ibn Abi 'Amr al-Muzakki informed us> Muhammad ibn Makki>

Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Ju'fi> Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah> Hujayn ibn al-Muthanna> 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Salamah. And we were informed by Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> Sa'id ibn Yahya al- Umawi> his father> Muhammad ibn Ishaq> 'Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl ibn 'Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi'ah> Sulayman ibn Yasar> Ja'far ibn 'Amr ibn Umayyah al-Damri who said: “I travelled with 'Ubayd Allah ibn 'Adiyy ibn al- Khiyar through Hums. While we were there 'Ubayd Allah said to me: 'Do you wish to go to visit Wahshiyy to ask him how he killed Hamzah'. I said: 'If you want to'. A man said to us: 'You will find him in the courtyard of his house; he is a man who is always drunk. However, if he is sober, he will speak in Arabic and you might find what you are after'. When we got to him, we greeted him and he raised his head. We said: 'We have come to you to tell us about your killing of Hamzah, may Allah have mercy on him'. He said: 'I will relate to you exactly what I related to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, when he asked me about the same. I was a slave of Jubayr ibn Mut'im ibn 'Adiyy ibn Nawfal whose uncle Tu'aymah ibn 'Adiyy was killed at the Battle of Badr. When the Quraysh marched toward Uhud, Jubayr ibn Mut'im said to me: 'You are free if you kill Hamzah, Muhammad's uncle, as a revenge for the killing of my uncle Tu'aymah'. I went out with them. It is to be remembered that I am an Abyssinian who is expert in throwing spears, like all Abyssinians, and I never missed my target. When the two sides met, I went looking for

Hamzah until I saw him in the middle of the army, like a white-and-black camel, slaughtering people with his sword such that nothing stood in his way. By Allah, I was waiting for my moment, hiding behind a rock or tree, so that he drew closer to me, when Siba' ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza passed me and went toward him. When Hamzah, may Allah have mercy on him, saw him, he called him: 'Here, O son of a cutter of clitoris!' Then he struck him on the head and, by Allah, he did not miss. I moved my spear about until I felt comfortable and threw it at him. It caught him in the lower abdomen and the spear came out from his feet. He made a move toward me and then collapsed and I left him to die. I went toward him, retrieved my spear and joined the people at the camp. I did not want to kill anyone else, for I only killed him to gain my freedom. When I went

back to Mecca, I was emancipated. I stayed there until Islam spread throughout it upon which I travelled to al-Ta'if. In Ta'if, they sent emissaries to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and mentioned that he does not harm emissaries. And so I went with them to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. When he saw me, he said: 'Are you Wahshiyy?' and when I answered in the affirmative, he asked again: 'You are the one who killed Hamzah?' I said: 'What happened is exactly as it  was related to you'. He said: 'Could you keep your face away from me?' I left. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, died and Musaylimah the liar emerged to the people, I thought to go and kill Musaylimah to cancel out my killing of Hamzah. I went out with people, and what happened to him  is now known' ”.