Allah's saying
[كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ
تَعُودُونَ]
(As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being
again) [7:29]. Until;
[الضَّلَـلَةُ]
(error.) There is some difference over the meaning of:
[كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ
تَعُودُونَ]
(As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being
again.) Ibn Abi Najih said that Mujahid said that it means, "He will bring you
back to life after you die.'' Al-Hasan Al-Basri commented, "As He made you begin
in this life, He will bring you back to life on the Day of Resurrection.''
Qatadah commented on:
[كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ
تَعُودُونَ]
(As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being
again.) "He started their creation after they were nothing, and they perished
later on, and He shall bring them back again.'' `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam
said, "As He created you in the beginning, He will bring you back in the end.''
This last explanation was preferred by Abu Ja`far Ibn Jarir and he supported it
with what he reported from Ibn `Abbas, "The Messenger of Allah stood up and gave
us a speech, saying,
«يَا أَيُّهَا
النَّاسُ إِنَّكُمْ تُحْشَرُونَ إِلَى اللهِ حُفَاةً عُرَاةً غُرْلًا
[كَمَا بَدَأْنَآ
أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُّعِيدُهُ وَعْداً عَلَيْنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا فَـعِلِينَ]
(O people! You will be gathered to Allah while barefooted, naked and
uncircumcised, (As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it. (It is) a
promise binding upon Us. Truly, We shall do it)).[21:104] This Hadith was
collected in the Two Sahihs. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas
commented on the Ayah,
[كَمَا بَدَأَكُمْ
تَعُودُونَفَرِيقًا هَدَى وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَـلَةُ]
(As He brought you in the beginning, so shall you be brought into being
again. A group He has guided, and a group deserved to be in error;) "Allah, the
Exalted, began the creation of the Sons of Adam, some believers and some
disbelievers, just as He said,
[هُوَ الَّذِى
خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَمِنكُمْ مُّؤْمِنٌ]
(He it is Who created you, then some of you are disbelievers and some of you
are believers) [64:2]. He will then return them on the Day of Resurrection as He
started them, some believers and some disbelievers. I say, what supports this
meaning, is the Hadith from Ibn Mas`ud that Al-Bukhari recorded, (that the
Prophet said:)
«فَوَالَّذِي لَا
إِلَهَ غَيرُهُ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا
يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا بَاعٌ أَوْ ذِرَاعٌ، فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ
الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا، وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ
لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا
إِلَّا بَاعٌ أَوْ ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ، فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ
أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّة»
(By He, other than Whom there is no god, one of you might perform the deeds
of the people of Paradise until only the length of an arm or a forearm would
separate him from it. However, that which was written in the Book takes
precedence, and he commits the work of the people of the Fire and thus enters
it. And one of you might perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only
the length of an arm or a forearm separates between him and the Fire. However,
that which was written in the Book takes precedence, and he performs the work of
the people of Paradise and thus enters Paradise.) We should combine this meaning
-- if it is held to be the correct meaning for the Ayah -- with Allah's
statement:
[فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ
لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفاً فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا]
(So set you your face towards the religion, Hanifan. Allah's Fitrah with
which He has created mankind) [30:30], and what is recorded in the Two Sahihs
from Abu Hurayrah who said that the Messenger of Allah said:
«كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ
يُولَدُ عَلَى الْفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ وَيُنَصِّرَانِهِ
وَيُمَجِّسَانِه»
(Every child is born upon the Fitrah, it is only his parents who turn him
into a Jew, a Christian or a Zoroastrian.) Muslim recorded that `Iyad bin Himar
said that the Messenger of Allah said,
«يَقُولُ اللهُ
تَعَالـى: إِنِّي خَلَقْتُ عِبَادِي حُنَفَاءَ، فَجَاءَتْهُمُ الشَّيَاطِينُ
فَاجْتَالَتْهُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِم»
(Allah said, `I created My servants Hunafa' (monotheists), but the devils
came to them and deviated them from their religion.) The collective meaning here
is, Allah created His creatures so that some of them later turn believers and
some turn disbelievers. Allah has originally created all of His servants able to
recognize Him, to single Him out in worship, and know that there is no deity
worthy of worship except Him. He also took their covenant to fulfill the
implications of this knowledge, which He placed in their consciousness and
souls. He has decided that some of them will be miserable and some will be
happy,
[هُوَ الَّذِى
خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ وَمِنكُمْ مُّؤْمِنٌ]
(He it is Who created you, then some of you are disbelievers and some of you
are believers) [64:2]. Also, a Hadith states,
«كُلُّ النَّاسِ
يَغْدُو فَبَائِعٌ نَفْسَهُ فَمُعْتِقُهَا أَوْ مُوبِقُهَا»
(All people go out in the morning and sell themselves, and some of them free
themselves while some others destroy themselves.) Allah's decree will certainly
come to pass in His creation. Verily, He it is
[وَالَّذِى قَدَّرَ
فَهَدَى ]
(Who has measured (everything); and then guided) [87: 3], and,
[الَّذِى أَعْطَى
كُلَّ شَىءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى]
(He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright)
[20:50]. And in the Two Sahihs:
«فَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ
مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ السَّعَادَةِ فَسَيُيَسَّرُ لِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ السَّعَادَةِ،
وَأَمَّا مَنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الشَّقَاوَةِ فَسَيُيَسَّرُ لِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ
الشَّقَاوَة»
(As for those among you who are among the people of happiness, they will be
facilitated to perform the deeds of the people of happiness. As for those who
are among the miserable, they will be facilitated to commit the deeds of the
miserable). This is why Allah said here,
[فَرِيقًا هَدَى
وَفَرِيقًا حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الضَّلَـلَةُ]
(A group He has guided, and a group deserved to be in error;) Allah then
explained why,
[إِنَّهُمُ
اتَّخَذُوا الشَّيَـطِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ]
(because) surely, they took the Shayatin as supporters instead of Allah). Ibn Jarir said, "This is one of the clearest arguments proving the mistake of those
who claim that Allah does not punish anyone for disobedient acts he commits of
deviations he believes in until after knowledge of what is correct reaches him,
then he were to obstinately avoid it anyway. If this were true, then there would
be no difference between the deviations of the misguided group - their belief
that they are guided - and the group that is in fact guided. Yet Allah has
differentiated between the two in this noble Ayah, doing so in both name and
judgement.''
[يَـبَنِى ءَادَمَ
خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ
إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ ]
(31. O Children of Adam! Take your adornment to every Masjid, and eat and
drink, but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not the
wasteful.)