Chapter 49:
وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَـٰهُ رَحْمَةًۭ مِّنَّا مِنۢ بَعْدِ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَـٰذَا لِى وَمَآ أَظُنُّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ قَآئِمَةًۭ وَلَئِن رُّجِعْتُ إِلَىٰ رَبِّىٓ إِنَّ لِى عِندَهُۥ لَلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ فَلَنُنَبِّئَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ بِمَا عَمِلُوا۟ وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُم مِّنْ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍۢ ٥٠
“And truly, if we give him a taste of mercy from us, after some adversity [such as severe poverty or disease] has touched him, he is sure to say: ‘This is due to my merit. I do not think that the Hour will be established. But if I am brought back to my Lord, surely, there will be for me the best [wealth] from Him.’ So, we will show the disbelievers what they have done, and we shall make them taste a severe torment.”
(Fussilat 41:50)
The Text of the Chapter
Shaikhul-Islam Muhammad Ibn Abdul-Wahhāb said:
Mujāhid (d. 104H, rahimahullah) said: “Meaning he will say, ‘This is due to my deeds, and I am deserving of it.’”
[Al-Bukhārī (6/127) in Tasfeer of Fussilat, 41:50]
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbās (radiyallahu ‘anhumā) said: “He intends by that, that ‘it is from myself.” (i.e., the goodness that he has been given is from himself).
Allah (the Most High) said:
إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِي
“I have been given this due to the knowledge that I possess.” (Surah al-Qasas 28:78—The statement of Qārun who was given vast wealth in the time of Moosā, ‘alaihis-salām).
Qatādah explained that [Qāroon intended]: ‘It is due to the knowledge that I possess of the various methods of acquiring wealth.’
Others have said that it means, ‘Due to the knowledge from Allah that I am well deserving of.’
(So, in both cases, he is ascribing it to himself and claiming that he is deserving of it).
This is the meaning of the statement of Mujāhid: that it means, ‘I have been given this vast wealth due to my nobility.’
Abu Huraira (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said that he heard Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) saying:
“There were three men from the children of Israel: a leper, a bald man and a blind man. Allah wished to test them, so he sent an angel to them.
The angel went to the leper and said to him, ‘What would be the thing most beloved to you?’ So, he replied, ‘A nice colour and nice skin—and that which repels the people from me, goes away.’ The angel touched him, and his affliction left him, and he was given a nice colour and nice skin. The angel then asked him, ‘Which type of possessions do you love the most?’ The leper replied, ‘Camels,’ (or cows; the narrator Ishāq was unsure). So, he was given a pregnant she-camel, and the angel said to him, ‘May Allah give you blessings by way of it.’
Then the angel went to the bald man and asked him, ‘What is the thing that is most beloved to you?’ So, he replied, ‘To possess fine hair and that which repels the people, that it goes away.’ The angel touched him, and he was given a fine head of hair. The angel then asked, ‘What possession is most beloved to you?’ He replied, ‘Cows (or camels).’ So he was given a pregnant cow, and the angel said, ‘May Allah bless her for you.’
Then he went to the blind man and asked him, ‘What is the most beloved thing to you?’ He replied, ‘That Allah should return my sight to me so I could see the people.’ The angel touched him, and his sight was restored. The angel asked him, ‘What possession is the most beloved to you?’ He said, ‘Sheep.’ So he was given a pregnant sheep.
Thereafter, all three animals gave birth, such that one of the men filled a valley with camels, the other filled a valley with cows, and the third filled a valley with sheep.
The angel returned to the cured leper in the form of a leper himself and said: “I am a poor person and a wayfarer upon a journey, and I have lost all my wealth. I cannot reach my destination today except if Allah helps me, and then you. So, I ask you by the One who gave you this fine colour and this fine skin, to give me just one camel by which I can reach my destination.’ The man replied, ‘I have many other obligations.’
The angel said to him, ‘I know you. Were you not a leper whom the people used to avoid? Were you not poor and Allah gave you wealth?’ The man replied, ‘Rather, I inherited all of this wealth from my forefathers.’ So, the angel said, ‘If you are lying, may Allah return you to how you were.’
Then the angel went to the bald man in the form of a bald man and said the same as what he said to the leper, and the bald man responded in a similar fashion to the leper. So, the angel said to him, ‘If you are lying, may Allah return you to how you were before.’
Then the angel went to the blind man in the form of a blind man and said, ‘I am a poor man upon a journey, and I have lost all my possessions. There is no way for me to reach my destination except by Allah’s help, and then yours. So, I ask you by the One who returned your sight, to give me just one sheep by which I may reach my destination.’ The man replied to the angel, ‘I too used to be blind, and Allah returned my sight to me, so take whatever you wish and leave whatever you wish. By Allah! I will not prevent you today from taking anything for Allah’s sake.’ The angel said, ‘Keep your wealth, for verily all of you were tested, and Allah is pleased with you, and He is angry with your two companions.’” (Bukhārī no. 3464; Muslim no. 2964 with this wording)
Explanation
This chapter has within it a prohibition against taking liberties with Allah with respect to one’s deeds and status—that a person becomes conceited with respect to his deeds and his status. This causes a person to make himself an associate alongside Allah (the Most High) wherein he ascribes the blessings that Allah has bestowed upon him, to himself and to his own works and his own knowledge and position before Allah.
So, he ascribes all his blessings to himself—and if he claims that all that he has attained is as a result of his own deeds, his knowledge etc., then this is a bold assertion. This is a rejection of the bounties and blessings of Allah, for it is Allah who bestows the bounties upon His servants without them having any right upon Him. Therefore, every bounty bestowed is a blessing from Allah, and the one who rejects and denies these bounties or believes that he is rightfully deserving of them, then this enters into an aspect of shirk and therefore removes the completeness of one’s tawheed.
So, these three men from the children of Israel were tested—two of them failed the test—they were carried along by their own ignorance and chose to forget what state they were once in, and they denied Allah’s bounty on them. Shaytān made them miserly and deniers of Allah’s favors, and thus they failed the test.
As for the third man, he recognised Allah’s favor on him, and he gave his wealth for his Lord in gratitude of the bounty that Allah had bestowed upon him, and he offered it to the one who came to him and thus he succeeded. We seek refuge with Allah from failing when put to test and from His anger.
Did those two men not see that they were tried and afflicted with a physical disability, and then Allah cured them and gave each of them wealth and acceptance among the people? If one ponders over what he once was and what has been gathered for him of wealth, and where he has now reached, that becomes a lesson and a warning for him. This lesson makes him one who is thankful to Allah, and we seek refuge in Allah from being forsaken and abandoned.
We take from this story that the servant never feels secure, because Allah may bestow possessions upon him as a test, as Allah (the Most High) said:
وَمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُم بِالَّتِي تُقَرِّبُكُمْ عِندَنَا زُلْفَىٰ إِلَّا مَنْ آمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَأُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ جَزَاءُ الضِّعْفِ بِمَا عَمِلُوا وَهُمْ فِي الْغُرُفَاتِ آمِنُونَ
“And it is not your wealth, nor your children that bring you closer to Us, but only he who believes and does righteous deeds [will please Us]. As for them, there will be a double reward for what they did, and they will reside in the high dwellings (of Paradise) in peace and security.” (Surah Saba 34:37).
From Al-ʿAllāmah Shaikh Ahmad Ibn Yahyā An-Najmi’s (rahimahullāh) explanation with added notes by Abu Khadeejah.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك
الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم
This article was transcribed by Umm Maryam (may Allah reward her) from the classes of Abu Khadeejah. Please share it with others.