Verses 69 - 78

Have you not seen those who quarrel in the matter of the verses of Allah? From where are they being turned away (by their selfish desires?) [69] - those who rejected the Book and what We sent with Our messengers. So, they will soon come to know. [70] - when shackles will be round their necks, and chains. They will be dragged [71] into the hot water after which they will be thrown in the Fire as a fuel. [72] Then, it will be said to them, "Where are those whom you used to associate (in worship) [73] beside Allah?" They will say, "They are lost to us, rather, we used to invoke nothing at all. This is how Allah makes disbelievers get lost. [74] (It will be said to them,) "This is because you used to rejoice on the earth wrongfully, and because you used to show arrogance. [75] Enter the gates of Jahannam to live in it forever. So, how evil is the abode of the arrogant. [76]

Therefore, be patient. Surely, the promise of Allah is true. Then, whether We show you (in your life) a part of the promise We are making to them, or make you die (before they are punished), in any case they have to be returned to Us. [77] And We had sent messengers before you. Among them there are those whose history We have narrated to you, and of them there are those whose history We did not narrate to you. And it is not up to a messenger that he could come up with a Sign without the permission of Allah. So, when the command of Allah will come, matters will stand decided justly, and on that occasion all adherents of falsehood will turn into losers. [78]

Commentary

In verses 71 and 72, it was said: (They will be dragged [71] into the hot water after which they will be thrown in the Fire as a fuel.)- The word: (al-hamim) is boiling hot water. The verse seems to suggest that the people of Jahannam will first be put into the hamim, then, into the jahim, that is, the Jahannam. Again, it also seems to suggest that the hamim is somewhere outside the Jahannam. The verse: (Then, their return is but to the Fire -As-Saffat, 37:68) also appears to be suggesting that the hamim is located somewhere outside the Jahannam. The people of Jahannam will be brought here to drink its water, and will then be returned to Jahannam. Then there are some verses of the Qur'an that suggest that the hamim too is within the jahim or Jahannam as in: (This is the Jahannam (Hell) that the guilty people deny. They will circle around between it and between hot, boiling water - Ar-Rahman, 55:43,44). Here too, it is explicitly said that the hamim is also within the Jahannam.

A little deliberation shows that there is no contradiction between these two things. There will be many strata or sections of Jahannam itself serving as venues of many kinds of punishment. One of these could be that of hamim which could as well be called as being outside the Jahannam because of its separate and distinct location, and since this is also a section of Jahannam itself, therefore, it could also be called the Jahannam. Ibn Kathir has said that the people of Jahannam, shackled in chains, will sometime be dragged into the hamim and at others, in Jahannam.

In verse 74, it was said: (They will say, "They are lost to us,....), that is, once they reach Jahannam, the disbelievers will say that all those idols and satans they used to worship have disappeared in the sense that they do not see them around, though, they might as well be lying somewhere in a corner of Jahannam, as their being in Jahannam stands proved from other verses of the Qur'an, for instance: (Surely, you and whatever you worship other than Allah are the fuel for Jahannam - Al-Anbiya', 21:98)

The word: (tafrahun) in verse 75: (This is because you used to rejoice on the earth wrongfully, and because you used to show arrogance.) has been derived from: (farah) which means to be happy while the word: (tamrahun) is from: (marah) which means to exult unduly or to trample over the rights of others by priding on one's wealth and power. Hence, this kind of marah or undue exultation is absolutely blameworthy and haram (unlawful). As for farah or mirth, it can be explained by saying that seeking enjoyment out of sinfulness under the intoxication of wealth coupled with the absence of any thought of there being a God is certainly haram and impermissible. Meant in this verse is this kind of farah - as it also appears in the story of Qarun (Korah) in the same sense: ("Do not exult. Surely, Allah does not like the exultant. - al-Qasas, 28:76). There is another degree of farah - that one takes good things of life as blessings from Allah Ta'ala, and expresses his or her joy on having these - this is permissible, in fact, is recommended (mustahabb), and desirable. It is about such farah that the Qur'an has said: (with these they should rejoice - Yunus, 10:58). As for marah, it is a cause of punishment absolutely, without any restriction. Therefore, no qualifying words were added to it. But, in the case of farah, the words: (bi ghayril-haqq: wrongfully) are added. It was thus pointed out that jubilating over the undue and the impermissible was forbidden (haram) while being pleased with blessings that are rightful and permissible as an expression of gratitude was an act of 'ibadah (worship of Allah) and thawab (reward from Him).

In verse 77, it was said: (Therefore, be patient. Surely, the promise of Allah is true. Then, whether We show you [in your life] a part of the promise We are making to them, or make you die [before they are punished], in any case they have to be returned to Us). From this verse it appears that the Holy Prophet was hopefully waiting for the disbelievers to be punished. Therefore, it was to comfort him that he was asked to be somewhat patient about it. The promise of Allah for them, that they will be punished, will certainly be fulfilled - may be during his lifetime, or after he has departed from the mortal world. Waiting for the disbelievers to be punished apparently seems contrary to the dignity of one who was sent with universal mercy. But, here the matter is different. When the purpose of punishing criminals is to bring comfort to innocent believers who were oppressed, then, the punishment of criminals is not contrary to compassion and mercy. Nobody regards the punishment given to a criminal against the dictate of mercy.