Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Conversation between (the People of) `Ad and Hud Allah, the Exalted, informs that they said to their Prophet, مَا جِئْتَنَا بِبَيِّنَةٍ (No evidence have you brought us.) This means that they claimed that Hud had not brought them any proof or evidence for what he claimed. وَمَا نَحْنُ بِتَارِكِى ءالِهَتِنَا عَن قَوْلِكَ (and we shall not leave our gods for your (mere) saying!) They were saying how could his mere statement, "Leave these gods," be sufficient proof for them to leave their idols وَمَا نَحْنُ لَكَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ (and we are not believers in you.) This means that they did not believe what he was saying was true. إِن نَّقُولُ إِلاَّ اعْتَرَاكَ بَعْضُ ءَالِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ (All that we say is that some of our gods have seized you with evil.) They were saying, "We think that some of our idols have afflicted you with madness and insanity in your intellect because you are trying to stop them from being worshipped and defame them." قَالَ إِنِّى أُشْهِدُ اللَّهِ وَاشْهَدُواْ أَنِّى بَرِىءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَمِن دُونِهِ (He said: "I call Allah to witness and bear you witness, that I am free from that which you ascribe as partners in worship besides Him (Allah).)11:54-55 Here, he is saying, "Verily, I am innocent of all of the rivals and idols (that you associate with Allah). فَكِيدُونِى جَمِيعًا (So plot against me, all of you,) you and your gods if they are true." ثُمَّ لاَ تُنظِرُونِ (and give me no respite.) the blinking of an eye." Then, Allah says, إِنِّى تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ رَبِّى وَرَبِّكُمْ مَّا مِن دَآبَّةٍ إِلاَّ هُوَ ءاخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَآ (I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature but He has the grasp of its forelock.) Every creature is under His (Allah's) power and His authority. He is the Best Judge, the Most Just, Who does not do any injustice in His ruling. For verily, He is upon the straight path. Verily, this argument contains a far-reaching proof and absolute evidence of the truthfulness of what Hud had come to them with. It also proves the falsehood of them worshipping idols that could not benefit nor harm them. Rather, these idols were inanimate objects that could not hear, see, befriend, or make enmity. The only One Who is worthy of having worship directed solely towards Him is Allah alone, without any partners. He is the One in Whose Hand is the sovereignty and He is in control of all things. There is nothing except that it is under His owner- ship, power and authority. Thus, there is no deity worthy of worship except Him and there is no Lord other than Him.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَسْتَخْلِفُ رَبِّى قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ (My Lord will make another people succeed you, ) This refers to a group of people who will worship Allah alone, without associating anything with Him. This also implies that the polytheists do not bother Allah and they do not harm Him in the least with their disbelief. To the contrary, their disbelief merely harms their own selves. إِنَّ رَبِّى عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ (Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things.) This means that Allah is a Witness and Guardian over the statements of His servants and their actions. He will give them due recompense for their actions. If they do good deeds, He will reward them with good. If they do evil, He will punish them with evil. The Destruction of the People of `Ad and the Salvation of Those among Them Who believed وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا (And when Our commandment came,) This is referring to the barren wind with which Allah destroyed them, to the very last of them. The mercy and kindness of Allah, the Exalted saved Hud and his followers from this terrible punishment. فوَتِلْكَ عَادٌ جَحَدُواْ بِآيَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ g(Such were `Ad (people). They rejected the Ayat of their Lord) This means they disbelieved in the proofs and revelations (of Allah) and they disobeyed the Messengers of Allah ﷺ. This is due to the fact that whoever disbelieves in a Prophet, then verily, he has disbelieved in all of the Prophets, peace be upon them. There is no difference between any one of them, in the sense that it is necessary to believe in all of them. Therefore, `Ad disbelieved in Hud and their disbelief was considered disbelief in all of the Messengers. وَاتَّبَعُواْ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ (and followed the command of every proud, obstinate.) This means that they abandoned following their rightly guided Messenger and they followed the command of every proud, obstinate person. Thus, they were followed in this life by a curse from Allah and His believing servants whenever they are mentioned. On the Day of Resurrection a call will be made against them in front of witnesses. أَلا إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُواْ رَبَّهُمْ (Verily, `Ad disbelieved in their Lord.)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَسْتَخْلِفُ رَبِّى قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ (My Lord will make another people succeed you, ) This refers to a group of people who will worship Allah alone, without associating anything with Him. This also implies that the polytheists do not bother Allah and they do not harm Him in the least with their disbelief. To the contrary, their disbelief merely harms their own selves. إِنَّ رَبِّى عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ (Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things.) This means that Allah is a Witness and Guardian over the statements of His servants and their actions. He will give them due recompense for their actions. If they do good deeds, He will reward them with good. If they do evil, He will punish them with evil. The Destruction of the People of `Ad and the Salvation of Those among Them Who believed وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا (And when Our commandment came,) This is referring to the barren wind with which Allah destroyed them, to the very last of them. The mercy and kindness of Allah, the Exalted saved Hud and his followers from this terrible punishment. فوَتِلْكَ عَادٌ جَحَدُواْ بِآيَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ g(Such were `Ad (people). They rejected the Ayat of their Lord) This means they disbelieved in the proofs and revelations (of Allah) and they disobeyed the Messengers of Allah ﷺ. This is due to the fact that whoever disbelieves in a Prophet, then verily, he has disbelieved in all of the Prophets, peace be upon them. There is no difference between any one of them, in the sense that it is necessary to believe in all of them. Therefore, `Ad disbelieved in Hud and their disbelief was considered disbelief in all of the Messengers. وَاتَّبَعُواْ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ (and followed the command of every proud, obstinate.) This means that they abandoned following their rightly guided Messenger and they followed the command of every proud, obstinate person. Thus, they were followed in this life by a curse from Allah and His believing servants whenever they are mentioned. On the Day of Resurrection a call will be made against them in front of witnesses. أَلا إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُواْ رَبَّهُمْ (Verily, `Ad disbelieved in their Lord.)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَسْتَخْلِفُ رَبِّى قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ (My Lord will make another people succeed you, ) This refers to a group of people who will worship Allah alone, without associating anything with Him. This also implies that the polytheists do not bother Allah and they do not harm Him in the least with their disbelief. To the contrary, their disbelief merely harms their own selves. إِنَّ رَبِّى عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ (Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things.) This means that Allah is a Witness and Guardian over the statements of His servants and their actions. He will give them due recompense for their actions. If they do good deeds, He will reward them with good. If they do evil, He will punish them with evil. The Destruction of the People of `Ad and the Salvation of Those among Them Who believed وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا (And when Our commandment came,) This is referring to the barren wind with which Allah destroyed them, to the very last of them. The mercy and kindness of Allah, the Exalted saved Hud and his followers from this terrible punishment. فوَتِلْكَ عَادٌ جَحَدُواْ بِآيَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ g(Such were `Ad (people). They rejected the Ayat of their Lord) This means they disbelieved in the proofs and revelations (of Allah) and they disobeyed the Messengers of Allah ﷺ. This is due to the fact that whoever disbelieves in a Prophet, then verily, he has disbelieved in all of the Prophets, peace be upon them. There is no difference between any one of them, in the sense that it is necessary to believe in all of them. Therefore, `Ad disbelieved in Hud and their disbelief was considered disbelief in all of the Messengers. وَاتَّبَعُواْ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ (and followed the command of every proud, obstinate.) This means that they abandoned following their rightly guided Messenger and they followed the command of every proud, obstinate person. Thus, they were followed in this life by a curse from Allah and His believing servants whenever they are mentioned. On the Day of Resurrection a call will be made against them in front of witnesses. أَلا إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُواْ رَبَّهُمْ (Verily, `Ad disbelieved in their Lord.)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَسْتَخْلِفُ رَبِّى قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ (My Lord will make another people succeed you, ) This refers to a group of people who will worship Allah alone, without associating anything with Him. This also implies that the polytheists do not bother Allah and they do not harm Him in the least with their disbelief. To the contrary, their disbelief merely harms their own selves. إِنَّ رَبِّى عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ (Surely, my Lord is Guardian over all things.) This means that Allah is a Witness and Guardian over the statements of His servants and their actions. He will give them due recompense for their actions. If they do good deeds, He will reward them with good. If they do evil, He will punish them with evil. The Destruction of the People of `Ad and the Salvation of Those among Them Who believed وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا (And when Our commandment came,) This is referring to the barren wind with which Allah destroyed them, to the very last of them. The mercy and kindness of Allah, the Exalted saved Hud and his followers from this terrible punishment. فوَتِلْكَ عَادٌ جَحَدُواْ بِآيَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ g(Such were `Ad (people). They rejected the Ayat of their Lord) This means they disbelieved in the proofs and revelations (of Allah) and they disobeyed the Messengers of Allah ﷺ. This is due to the fact that whoever disbelieves in a Prophet, then verily, he has disbelieved in all of the Prophets, peace be upon them. There is no difference between any one of them, in the sense that it is necessary to believe in all of them. Therefore, `Ad disbelieved in Hud and their disbelief was considered disbelief in all of the Messengers. وَاتَّبَعُواْ أَمْرَ كُلِّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ (and followed the command of every proud, obstinate.) This means that they abandoned following their rightly guided Messenger and they followed the command of every proud, obstinate person. Thus, they were followed in this life by a curse from Allah and His believing servants whenever they are mentioned. On the Day of Resurrection a call will be made against them in front of witnesses. أَلا إِنَّ عَادًا كَفَرُواْ رَبَّهُمْ (Verily, `Ad disbelieved in their Lord.)