Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)

15. “Whoever thinks that never will Allah help him (His Apostle) in this world and the Hereafter, let him stretch up a rope to heaven (to hang himself), then let him cut it off, then see if his device takes away that at which he is enraged.”

16. “And thus have We sent it (The Qur’an) down, (as) clear signs, and that verily Allah guides whomsoever He intends."

The Occasion of Revelation

Upon the occasion of revelation of the first verse in the above, some of the commentators have said as follows:

A number of people from the tribes of Bani Asad and Bani Qatfan, who had already covenanted with the Prophet of Islam (S) said that they were afraid that at last Allah would not assist Mohammad (S) and consequently their relation with their Jewish confederates might be ceased and they would not give them foodstuff any longer.

The abovementioned holy verse was revealed and warned them while it reproached them seriously.

Some other Islamic commentators have said that, a group of Muslims, as a result of their intensive anger against the disbelievers, were anxious and restless to follow the Prophet (S) and said why the promise of Allah in that ground did not occur. The verse was sent down and reproached them for their impatience.¹

Since the words in the previous verses were about those whose faith is weak, in this verse too, another feature from them has been demonstrated, where it says:

“Whoever thinks that never will Allah help him (His Apostle) in this world and the Hereafter, let him stretch up a rope to heaven (to hang himself), then let him cut it off, then see if his device takes away that at which he is enraged.”

A great many of the commentators have accepted this interpretation, or they have at least mentioned it as a notable probability.²

According to this interpretation, the pronoun mentioned in the phrase

“never will Allah help him”

returned to the Prophet (S).

The Arabic term /sama’/, in this verse, means ‘the ceiling of the house’, (since this term is applied for anything which is located in the upside). And, the holy phrase /li yaqta‘/ means ‘suffocation’, ceasing of the breath, and going forth as far as being nigh to death.

There have been said some other probabilities upon the commentary of this verse, among which two commentaries are notable:

1. The objective of /sama’/ is this very sky. In this case the verse means:

“Such people who thinks that Allah will not help His Apostle, let them go to the sky and stretch a rope to it and hang themselves between the earth and the heaven until when their breaths will be ceased (or they cut off the rope by which they have hanged themselves so that they fall down), then see whether their wrath will quench.”

2. The abovementioned pronoun returns to these persons themselves, not to the Prophet (S). In this case, the verse means:

“Those who think that never will Allah help them, and their sustenance will be ceased as a result of embracing the Faith, may do whatever thing they can. They may go to the sky and hang themselves by a rope, and then they may cut off this rope to fall down. Do these things quench their wrath?”

It is notable that all these interpretations refer to one psychological point in relation to those impatient and wrathful persons whose Faith is weak. Often when they apparently are helpless and cannot do anything, they immediately get excited in their job and they may make madly decision.

Sometimes they bruise against the walls vainly; sometimes they want to cleave the land and hide themselves inside of it, and finally, in order to quench the fire of their anger, they decide to commit suicide, while neither of these madly actions does solve their problem.

If they become a little cold, use patience and toleration, and try to struggle against the difficulties by means of the power of belief in Allah (s.w.t.), self-confidence, and steadfastness, the removal of their difficulties will certainly be possible.

For, the only means of peace is belief and trust in Allah, and any other device and program, without Allah’s will, is in vain.

The next holy verse points to a general conclusion upon the former verses, where it says:

“Thus have We sent it (The Qur’an) down, (as) clear signs…”

There were mentioned some reasonings for the legitimacy of Resurrection, such as verifying the course of embryo of man, the growth of plants, the dead lands being quickened which make all acquaintance with the subject of Resurrection, and some reasonings like uselessness of idols, and mentioning the end of those who make use of religion as a means for obtaining material interests.

Yet, all these mere clear reasonings are not enough, but the fitness of the acceptance of the truth is necessary, too.

For this very reason, at the end of the verse, the Qur’an says:

“…and that verily Allah guides whomsoever He intends.”

We have repeatedly said that the Will of Allah is not undue. He is Wise and all His deeds are done wisely. Whoever tries to struggle in His cause and heartily desires to be guided, Allah will guide him by means of His clear signs.

The Qur’an is a means of guidance, but guidance itself is the job of Allah and is done through His Grace.