وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِي مَا أَفَضْتُمْ فِيهِ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you in this world and the hereafter, there would have befallen you a great punishment for what you ventured into.
EXEGESIS
Massakum comes from mass, literally meaning to touch something. Here it is used in a figurative sense to mean something befalling someone.[1]
Afaḍtum fīhi (you ventured into) is from fāḍa, meaning to proceed and flow with ease, as in, Then when you stream out (afaḍtum) of Arafat remember Allah at the Holy Mashʿar (2:198). It also means to engage in an action, like in the verse, You do not engage in any work, neither do you recite any part of the Quran, nor do you perform any deed without Our being witness over you when you are engaged therein (tufīḍūna fīhi) (10:61).
EXPOSITION
The fourth verse to begin with the deploring law lā (Were it not) is no longer a criticism, but rather, similar to its usage in verse 10, it exhorts the Muslim community that they should be mindful that it is by God’s grace that He is giving them respite to repent, and sending them these verses from the Quran to guide them.
This recalls what we said in the Introduction and its main theme, that this surah has been sent down to guide the Muslim community towards a good end: [This is] a surah which We have sent down, and prescribed it, and We have sent down in it manifest signs so that you may take admonition (verse 1). Giving admonition and the opportunity to repent and correct one’s course is Allah’s grace and His mercy.
It is not only a reminder of God’s grace, rather at the same time it acts as a warning, that one should not think that simply because immediate consequences have not transpired and punishment has not descended that one is safe from God’s wrath. God says of those who mock His Messenger: and they say to themselves: ‘Why does not Allah punish us for what we say?!’ Let hell suffice them (58:8). This is explicated in the next verse as well.
Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you: although the address here is general, it is specifically directed to those in the Muslim community who engaged in the slanderous rumours; obviously, it does not include the band from amongst them (verse 11) that initiated it, or the one who assumed its major burden (verse 11), because those groups would not be included in God’s mercy in the hereafter.[2]
One of the aspects of God’s grace and mercy is that He grants His servants the chance to repent in this world and does not take them to task for their sins immediately.[3] This is similar to the verse, Were Allah to take mankind to task for their wrongdoing, He would not leave any living being upon it (16:61). This is why some people say in their supplication: ‘Lord, deal with us with Your grace, and do not deal with us with Your justice.’
In this world and the hereafter: God has two mercies, one is the all-encompassing mercy of raḥmāniyyah from which everyone benefits, whether faithful or faithless, good or evil. The second is the special mercy of raḥīmiyyah, reserved only for the deserving. The most important aspect of that mercy is faith and guidance, both in this world and in the hereafter. In the hereafter the blissful people will say: All praise belongs to Allah, who guided us to this. We would have never been guided had not Allah guided us (7:43). In this world everyone benefits from that all-encompassing mercy of God. Whether good or bad, we all enjoy from God’s bounties on this earth. In the hereafter however, only those who had faith and did good deeds will benefit from God’s goodly provision. The wicked will be veiled from God’s mercy and this is why in hell there is no hope or sanctuary, no food except that which is torturous to eat, and not even anything which could be called life, Then he will neither live in it, nor die (87:13).
As per the surah’s theme, in this verse God reminds the believers that they have benefitted from God’s special mercy of guidance and faith, and if they keep on it, they will benefit from His mercy in the hereafter as well. They should be grateful for that mercy and show their appreciation by abiding by His commands and respecting His Messenger.
That God mentions His mercy towards them in the hereafter also suggests that He has forgiven the Muslim community for its engagement with the slander, or is willing to forgive them, as the next phrase also leads us to understand. However, as for the one who invented the slander, God has promised him hell, there is a great punishment for him (verse 11), as well as anyone who is joyed by the spread of such slander (verse 19).
There would have befallen you a great punishment: the context of what preceded in the verse makes it clear that punishment here means both the punishments of this world and the hereafter.[4]
For what you ventured into: the specific nature of the slander was never mentioned in verse 11 out of respect for the Prophet and the fact that such vile slander is not worth repeating. Following that model, God only refers to the event in an even more indirect way here. A slanderous accusation is a transgression even when the accuser is speaking the truth. It becomes doubly so and a great transgression when it is a false accusation. When targeted at the Messenger of God, it is monstrous. Indeed those who torment Allah and His Apostle are cursed by Allah in the world and the hereafter, and He has prepared a humiliating punishment for them (33:57).[5]
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.[6]
- Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.[7]
- Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.[8]
- The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.[9]
[1] Tahqiq, 11/114-115, m-s-ḥ.
[2] Especially not the one who initiated it. See Munyah, 19/88. See also Tibyan, 7/417; Tabari, 18/78.
[3] See also Zamakhshari, 3/219; Razi, 23/342; Alusi, 9/315; Munyah, 19/88.
[4] Mizan, 15/92.
[5] See Razi, 23/343.
[6] 2 Peter 3:9.
[7] Ecclesiastes 8:11.
[8] Isaiah 30:18.
[9] Psalms 103:8.