Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَهَـذَا صِرَطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيماً (And this is the path of your Lord leading straight.) that is, Islam, that We have legislated for you, O Muhammad, by revealing this Qur'an to you, is Allah's straight path. قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الآيَـتِ (We have detailed Our Ayat...) We have explained the Ayat and made them clear and plain, لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ (for a people who take heed) those who have sound comprehension and understand what Allah and His Messenger convey to them, لَهُمْ دَارُ السَّلَـمِ (For them will be the abode of peace) Paradise, عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ (with their Lord.) on the Day of Resurrection. Allah described Paradise as `the abode of peace', because its residents are safe due to their access to the straight path, which conforms to the way of the Prophets. And just as their way was not wicked, they earned the abode of peace which is free from all wickedness. وَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُم (And He will be their Wali) Protector, Supporter and Helper, بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ (because of what they used to do,) As reward for their good deeds, Allah has favored them and been generous with them, and awarded them Paradise.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَهَـذَا صِرَطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيماً (And this is the path of your Lord leading straight.) that is, Islam, that We have legislated for you, O Muhammad, by revealing this Qur'an to you, is Allah's straight path. قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الآيَـتِ (We have detailed Our Ayat...) We have explained the Ayat and made them clear and plain, لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ (for a people who take heed) those who have sound comprehension and understand what Allah and His Messenger convey to them, لَهُمْ دَارُ السَّلَـمِ (For them will be the abode of peace) Paradise, عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ (with their Lord.) on the Day of Resurrection. Allah described Paradise as `the abode of peace', because its residents are safe due to their access to the straight path, which conforms to the way of the Prophets. And just as their way was not wicked, they earned the abode of peace which is free from all wickedness. وَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُم (And He will be their Wali) Protector, Supporter and Helper, بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ (because of what they used to do,) As reward for their good deeds, Allah has favored them and been generous with them, and awarded them Paradise.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعاً (on the Day when He will gather them (all) together.) gather the Jinns and their loyal supporters from mankind who used to worship them in this life, seek refuge with them, obey them and inspire each other with adorned, deceitful speech. Allah will proclaim then, يَـمَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ قَدِ اسْتَكْثَرْتُم مِّنَ الإِنْسِ (O you assembly of Jinn! Many did you mislead of men,) So the Ayah; قَدِ اسْتَكْثَرْتُم مِّنَ الإِنْسِ (Many did you mislead of men) refers to their misguiding and leading them astray. Allah also said; أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يبَنِى ءَادَمَ أَن لاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ الشَّيطَـنَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ - وَأَنِ اعْبُدُونِى هَـذَا صِرَطٌ مُّسْتَقِيمٌ - وَلَقَدْ أَضَلَّ مِنْكُمْ جِبِلاًّ كَثِيراً أَفَلَمْ تَكُونُواْ تَعْقِلُونَ (Did I not command you, O Children of Adam, that you should not worship Shaytan. Verily, he is a plain enemy to you. And that you should worship Me. That is the straight path. And indeed he (Shaytan) did lead astray a great multitude of you. Did you not, then, understand) 36:60-62, and وَقَالَ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُم مِّنَ الإِنْسِ رَبَّنَا اسْتَمْتَعَ بَعْضُنَا بِبَعْضٍ (and their friends among the people will say: "Our Lord! We benefited one from the other...") The friends of the Jinns among humanity will give this answer to Allah, after Allah chastises them for being misguided by the Jinns. Al-Hasan commented, "They benefited from each other when the Jinns merely commanded and mankind obeyed." Ibn Jurayj said, "During the time of Jahiliyyah, a man would reach a land and proclaim, `I seek refuge with the master (Jinn) of this valley,' and this is how they benefited from each other. They used this as an excuse for them on the Day of Resurrection." Therefore, the Jinns benefit from humans since humans revere the Jinns by invoking them for help. The Jinns would then proclaim, "We became the masters of both mankind and the Jinns." وَبَلَغْنَآ أَجَلَنَا الَّذِى أَجَّلْتَ لَنَا (but now we have reached our appointed term which You did appoint for us.) meaning, death, according to As-Suddi. قَالَ النَّارُ مَثْوَاكُمْ (He (Allah) will say: "The Fire be your dwelling place...") where you will reside and live, you and your friends, خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ (you will dwell therein forever. ) and will never depart except what Allah may will.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Wrongdoers Are the Supporters of Each other Ma`mar said that Qatadah commented on this Ayah, "Allah makes the wrongdoers supporters for each other in the Fire by following one another into it." `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam commented on Allah's statement, وَكَذَلِكَ نُوَلِّى بَعْضَ الظَّـلِمِينَ بَعْضاً (And thus We do make the wrongdoers supporters of one another.) "It refers to the wrongdoers of the Jinns and mankind." He then recited, وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَـنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَاناً فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ (And whosoever turns away blindly from the remembrance of the Most Gracious (Allah), We appoint for him Shaytan to be a companion to him.)43:36 He said next -- concerning the meaning of the Ayah; "We appoint the wrongdoer of the Jinns over the wrongdoer of mankind." A poet once said, "There is no hand, but Allah's Hand is above it, and no wrongdoer but will be tested by another wrongdoer." The meaning of this honorable Ayah thus becomes: `Just as We made this losing group of mankind supporters of the Jinns that misguided them, We also appoint the wrongdoers over one another, destroy them by the hands of one another, and take revenge from them with one another. This is the just recompense for their injustice and transgression.'

Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged) — Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Chastising the Jinns and Humans after their Admission that Allah Sent Messengers to Them Allah will chastise the disbelieving Jinns and humans on the Day of Resurrection, when He asks them, while having better knowledge, if the Messengers delivered His Messages to them, يَـمَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنْكُمْ ("O you assembly of Jinn and humans! Did not there come to you Messengers from among you") We should note here that the Messengers are from among mankind only, not vice versa, as Mujahid, Ibn Jurayj and others from the Imams of Salaf and later generations have stated. The proof for this is that Allah said, إِنَّآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ كَمَآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَى نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِن بَعْدِهِ (Verily, We have sent the revelation to you as We sent the revelation to Nuh and the Prophets after him.) 4:163, until, رُّسُلاً مُّبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ لِئَلاَّ يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ (Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allah after the (coming of) Messengers.) 4:165 Allah said, concerning the Prophet Ibrahim, وَجَعَلْنَا فِى ذُرِّيَّتِهِ النُّبُوَّةَ وَالْكِتَـبَ (And We ordained among his offspring prophethood and the Book) 29: 27, thus sending the prophethood and the Book exclusively through the offspring of the Prophet Ibrahim. No one has claimed that there were Prophets from among the Jinns before the time of Ibrahim, but not after that. Allah said, وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَيَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشُونَ فِى الاٌّسْوَاقِ (And We never sent before you any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets.) 25:20, and, وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلاَّ رِجَالاً نُّوحِى إِلَيْهِمْ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَى (And We sent not before you any but men unto whom We revealed, from among the people of townships.) 12:109 Therefore, concerning prophethood, the Jinns follow mankind in this regard and this is why Allah said about them, وَإِذْ صَرَفْنَآ إِلَيْكَ نَفَراً مِّنَ الْجِنِّ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقُرْءَانَ فَلَمَّا حَضَرُوهُ قَالُواْ أَنصِتُواْ فَلَمَّا قُضِىَ وَلَّوْاْ إِلَى قَوْمِهِم مُّنذِرِينَ - قَالُواْ يقَوْمَنَآ إِنَّا سَمِعْنَا كِتَـباً أُنزِلَ مِن بَعْدِ مُوسَى مُصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ يَهْدِى إِلَى الْحَقِّ وَإِلَى طَرِيقٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ - يقَوْمَنَآ أَجِيبُواْ دَاعِىَ اللَّهِ وَءَامِنُواْ بِهِ يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ وَيُجِرْكُمْ مِّنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ - وَمَن لاَّ يُجِبْ دَاعِىَ اللَّهِ فَلَيْسَ بِمُعْجِزٍ فِى الاٌّرْضَ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَآءُ أُوْلَـئِكَ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ (And (remember) when We sent towards you a group of the Jinn, listening to the Qur'an. When they stood in the presence thereof, they said: "Listen in silence!" And when it was finished, they returned to their people, as warners. They said: "O our people! Verily, we have heard a Book sent down after Musa, confirming what came before it, it guides to the truth and to the straight way. O our people! Respond to Allah's caller, and believe in him. He (Allah) will forgive you your sins, and will save you from a painful torment (i.e. Hell-fire). And whosoever does not respond to Allah's caller, he cannot escape on earth, and there will be no helpers for him besides Allah. Those are in manifest error.) 46:29-32 A Hadith collected by At-Tirmidhi stated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited Surat Ar-Rahman, to these Jinns, in which Allah said, سَنَفْرُغُ لَكُمْ أَيُّهَا الثَّقَلاَنِ فَبِأَىِّ ءَالاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (We shall attend to you, O you two classes (Jinn and men)! Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both (Jinn and men) deny) 55:31-32 Allah said in this honorable Ayah, يَـمَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنْسِ أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنْكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَـتِي وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَـذَا قَالُواْ شَهِدْنَا عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا (O you assembly of Jinn and humans! "Did not there come to you Messengers from amongst you, reciting unto you My verses and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours" They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves.") meaning, we affirm that the Messengers ﷺ have conveyed Your Messages to us and warned us about the meeting with You, and that this Day will certainly occur. Allah said next, وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَوةُ الدُّنْيَا (It was the life of this world that deceived them.) and they wasted their lives and brought destruction to themselves by rejecting the Messengers ﷺ and denying their miracles. This is because they were deceived by the beauty, adornment and lusts of this life. وَشَهِدُواْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ (And they will bear witness against themselves) on the Day of Resurrection, أَنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ كَـفِرِينَ (that they were disbelievers...) in this worldly life, rejecting what the Messengers, may Allah's peace and blessings be on them, brought them.