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Day 47: Tafsir Part 42

SURAH AL-KAHF AYAHS 29-31

Description
This video discusses the tafsir of ayahs 29-31 of Surah Al-Kahf.

Ayah 29

Translation: And say the truth is from your Master (or could also mean it is the truth from your Master referring to
everything that came before). Then whoever may want then let them believe and whoever may want then they may
disbelieve. No doubt about it We have prepared especially for wrong doers a fire whose canopies have surrounded
them. If they were to ask for water to be replenished, they would immediately be rained upon with a kind of water that
is hot, boiling and will melt and roast faces. What a terrible drink and what a horrible heinous place to find rest.

This deen is from Allah. If you were to accept it the benefit comes to you and if you were not to accept it the
harm would only come back to you. Allah doesnt care if you accept or not. He will not be harmed or benefited
by anything. It is you who will benefit or be harmed
The one who rejects the truth or accepts it has nothing to do with the status of the person. None of that
matters.
Another way of looking at it, the truth has come from your Master; the truth being that the Prophet (pbuh) will
never abandon his companions. So that is the truth from Allah and the Prophet is telling the leaders of Quraish
whoever wants to stay and listen and believe so be it. And whoever doesnt want to then so be it.
What is the significance of using the word Rabb? Conundrum in this ayah: half the ayah is about you can make
whatever choice you want and the other half is everyone is going to hell who hasnt listened and believed
o In philosophy, they call this the unseen the metaphysical, i.e. the discussion on things that are abstract
and beyond our touch this world of metaphysics is a world of endless ideas and you can go in any
direction and this is no end to the isms that come in this world
o The concept of a God and Creator, the concept of an eternal being - this is to them an abstract idea and
discussion
In Islam, we are not talking about an abstract entity. We dont lose sight of the fact that we are
talking about some abstract entity. But we are talking about an Entity that has a fundamental
relationship with us and that is that He is our Rabb
o Truth comes from your Rabb asserts the fact, that even when we are discussing the purpose of our life,
or why we were created, or the afterlife, or the creation of humans, etc, the first premise of Islam isnt
that there is a creator. We actually believe in a Rabb!

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In Surah Fatiha, before describing Himself as anything, He describes Himself as it is

then Rabb that is responded to in the second half of the surah where we say we are a
/slave to the Rabb

A slave of his Rabb has no liberty in the decisions they make so when Allah says whoever
wants to believe they can and whoever wants to disbelieve they can it is a threat
Allah is telling the Prophet (pbuh) let them be defiant and here is what you go and tell
them. Youre not the one that offended them by keeping your comapnions with you.
Theyre the ones who have offended us. The choice is philosophical. There will be
consequences. If you dont recognize Allahs lordship, authority and Mastership over
you, then go ahead and do what you want.
o People when reading this dont understand the authority of Allah. This is a threat. It is not meant to be a
choice.
The only intent of this kind of speech is to terrify and threaten you. The evidence that this is clearly a threat,
Allah started describing consequences of making the wrong choice. That is only done when you have a threat.
o And that is the clearest, unambiguous kind of evdidence that the intent here is to threaten.
o If this was actually just a matter of choice, then He would not have threatened one side (i.e. the
disbelievers).
Other examples from the Arabic language, where the obvious seems like its a command or an allowance but
hidden behind it is condemnation or a threat, exist throughout the Quran
o Ayah: Is the one who is going to be thrown in the fire better or is one who comes safely on the day of
resurrection? Do whatever you want. Allah says this right after saying stuff about hell and heaven. It is a
threat to those who want to be defiant.
o Hadith: If youre not going to have shame then do whatever you want. If you understand this like, oh I
dont have shame so that means I can do whatever I want. This is also a threat.
o

This command or and the choice given is not literal but this is an expression of how Allah

does not need or care for people that dont express the need for Him or dont care for Him. Allah does
not care. This is Allahs reaction to those that deny Him
Whoever wants to believe was mentioned first and disbelief was mentioned second because Allah still inclines
and want that they make the right choice
The verbs are used in the future tense i.e. make a decision about your future and stick with it. Make up your
mind

Benefits from this part of the ayah
1. The ayah illustrates that Allah gave the choice of iman and kufr in the hands of the doer. Were going to be held
responsible. Allah isnt just throwing someone into the fire. Allah made it the active version. He isnt going to
just decide who will be in hellfire. We have to make the choice
2. Allah does not benefit from the iman of those who believe and He will not be harmed by the kufr of those who
disbelieve. The benefit of iman goes to the believers and the harm of kufr goes to the disbelievers

is to add another layer of instilling fear and terror in them and to magnify it
The tanween on

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The idea of tanween being grand is because the hellfire is being talked about a number of times in the
Quran. It is not a rare occurrence in the Quran. Make it common and nakira suggests that this is a special
fire that is prepared for them specifically

a canopy or tent like structure

o
o
o

o
o
o
o

Also said to be a barrier that is there surrounding the tent itself that prevents people from reaching the
tent itself so a boundary or bounding wall around the tent
This is an Arabized word from Persian/Farsi
As fort he intent behind this word in the ayah, there are many scholarly opinions but it all goes back to it
being some kind of wrapping or encircling of the fire from every direction so the fire has somehow
taken them and surrounded them from every direction
Razi says that the intent here is that there is no way theyre going to be able to get out of it and that
they cant even find something that isnt filled with fire
Theres also the opinion that it means a long standing wall or the outer walls of a city
Some scholars say it is a wall of smoke that surrounds them
Theres also a hadith of the Prophet (pbuh)

The of the fire are made up of four walls, the span of each of those walls is the width

of forty years

And if they were to be asked for water, they would be rained on

This is the second quality of the fire Razi says that perhaps when they ask for water, they are given this molten
to drink or maybe it is possible that they ask for water because of the heat of the hellfire that they can pour on
themselves so they can cool off.
o Allah says describing their situation in an ayah in the Quran please pour water onto us
o And in another ayah Allah said, the fire is going to cover their faces and when they do ask for water
what is poured on them is molten coppen that takes over their entire body like a shirt would
o

The words
theyre going to be rained on with burning metal etc is done as a joke against them.

They made a joke of revelation

actually refers to rain. And rain bring life. But in this ayah it is rain that gives death. This is

sarcasm from Allah

So Allah is telling the Prophet (pbuh) to go tell Quraish and be sarcastic with them about how
they are going to burn and be welcomed with molten copper

There are seven opinions on this word
1. This is dirty water with sediments
2. It could also be oil that is poured onto them. And what does oil do if you already have fire? It just inflames the
fire even more
3. It is the filthy mucky heavy crude form of oil like tar that sticks on you so itll increase this fire in its flaming
more
4. It may also refer to everything that is melted or dissolved until it becomes completely melted and mixed in
5. It could be everything that youve melted that is made up of copper or lead molten copper or molten lead

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6.
7.
8.
9.

It could also be pus or black darkened blood that has turned muddy like the mud of oil
It could also be melted silver and lead together
It could also be something that cant be heated anymore. It has reached its maximum in being heated
It could be pus or spoiled blood - It could also be the water that will flow from the sweat and the blood and of
the people in akhirah and whatever pus and blood flows out of them will flow into a valley in Jahannam and
Jahannam will cook it and it will be the first thing that the people of hellfire are poured on with
10. It is actually ash that rises when you burn bread completely and that is what is poured onto them

Ibn Kathir says that all of these are opnions there isnt one of them that negates the other because seems to

combine all of these hideous heinous qualities together. It is rotten and black, filthy and hot, thats why it roasts faces
because of its own heat.
So they asked for relief and they got something that burned things that werent burning before
When the disbeliever wants to drink it, it roasts his face just because he came close to it.
It is like the thick form of oil that even if it comes close to his skin, then his skin and hair and face will start to fall
off and melt off
o The face will experience the most intense pain in Jahannam especially from the heat of the fire

What a terrible drink!

This is to further help you understand how ugly that drink is going to be as it has been made ugly and theyre
going to be rained with it and showered with it
And on the other hand you have water that is praised in the Quran
o This is a water to be showered in, it is cool and you can even drink out of it

Allah is saying

and re-iterating the nastiness of this water because it is unimaginably horrible

How terrible the fire is to be a place to come down to and to be gathered in and find company in. Because the
people of hell fire will also be gathered together as companions just like the people of paradise
The people giving each other comfot in the hellfire are the disbelievers and the devils
So the meaning is how terrible a companionship they have of each other and how terrible the place where they
could find companionship
This is again sarcasm is a positive word it shouldnt have negativity of the hellfire with it. But here it

does

Could also means to lean back on a pillow

A pillow or cusion is called this because it is leaned on leaning is only done when you want to relax and the

is the place where youre supposed to be able to relax. So using this word here is meant sarcastically and

as mockery

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Ayah 30

Translation: No doubt those that belived and did the few good things asked of them, We will not waste the
compensation of the one who excelled in terms of work.

Is to put something to waste

The essence of wasting is to destroy something from the essential thing that it was supposed to be
Also used figuratively to make something comepletely useless as though it is there but no good anymore
It is also used for preventing for something to becoming stable or to be something beneficial almost as though it
is prevented from usage
We are not going to keep them from accessing the compensation of their work no doubt Allah does not waste
the compensation of those who excel

The ayah starts with no doubt those who believe and did good deeds and then it goes on and the meaning
opens up when the word
is used

o
o

So it is opened up to both believers and non-believers

A non-believer could be the one that excels in his work and Allah will never short change them but Allah
will give them whatever they deserve in this dunya. They will get compensated and their reward in this
dunya
Even if a disbeliever did hard work, whether it wasin science or agriculture or a business, he wont be
denied the fruit of his labor and his hard work, the only difference is it will be expedited for him in this
world and whereby there is nothing left for him in the akhirah.
A human being only demands his compensation from the one for whose sake he worked. So if you
worked for the sake of humanity or society then you should expect compensation from them. And in
this world they will have gotten that compensation and there is nothing left for them in the akhirah.

This is going back and talking about the sahaba all the efforts of the disbelievers will be going to waste. But the
sahaba that have excelled in good deeds and their compensation will not be wasted
o

The use of excellence

here points to the fact that it was the companions because they are the

ones that excelled and did the best of the best

o

The use of
here opens it up as well and so it could be anybody and nobody and so Allah uses this

here to get back at Quraish who said that the sahaba were nobodies. So Allah is saying well these are
the nobodies that will be compensated

The difference between and

o

includes intent (listening, watching), while doesnt and is involuntary (like breathing, hearing,
seeing)

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This is why Allah does not compensate but he compensates that have intentions associated with
them

AYAH 31

This ayah is in contrast to the previous people in Jahannam

Translation: Those people are going to have gardens of Aden that will have rivers flowing underneath them. They are
going to be decorated and adorned in it with bracelets made of gold and they will dress in clothing that will be green and
made of fine silk and thick silk (the idea here is that when you get nice clothes tailored, the inside of the clothes is
tailored differently than the outside inside is supposed to be comfortable and outside is supposed to be resilient if it
was all made of the outward it would be uncomfortable and if it was made from the inside it would look weird). In those
gardens they are leaning back and chilling on a high bed that is surrounded with a curtain (this is a direct contrast with
suraadiq they were dressed with molten metal on this side here they are dressed and decorated with gold metal.
Theyre basically getting dressed to go lie in bed). What a beautiful compensation and how gorgeous a place to recline
on.
o This imagery is done to demonstrate how Allah instills motivation for heaven by painting pictures that already
exist in dunya even though the Prophet (pbuh) said no eyes have ever seen or ears have ever heard Jannah
o The accessories are talked about first in this ayah and then the essential clothes are mentioned
o This is because Allah is talking about Jannah and the things that are above and beyond that you dont
think about are being talked about first. So the blessing from Allah is being mentioned here and then the
things that you are used to are mentioned later.
o The more expensive your taste gets and the more elite you become the more you pay attention to the
accessories and the smaller things
o

they are being decorated and adorned and decked out by others in Jannah that are fitting you

with accessories this is part of the pampering and being treated like royalty
This is said only about the accessories part

it switches to the people themselves dressing themselves

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