وَسيقَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا إِلىٰ جَهَنَّمَ زُمَرًا ۖ حَتّىٰ إِذا جاءوها فُتِحَت أَبوابُها وَقالَ لَهُم خَزَنَتُها أَلَم يَأتِكُم رُسُلٌ مِنكُم يَتلونَ عَلَيكُم آياتِ رَبِّكُم وَيُنذِرونَكُم لِقاءَ يَومِكُم هٰذا ۚ قالوا بَلىٰ وَلٰكِن حَقَّت كَلِمَةُ العَذابِ عَلَى الكافِرينَ
قيلَ ادخُلوا أَبوابَ جَهَنَّمَ خالِدينَ فيها ۖ فَبِئسَ مَثوَى المُتَكَبِّرينَ
The faithless will be driven to hell in throngs. When they reach it, its gates are opened, and its keepers will say to them: ‘Did there not come to you [any] apostles from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your Lord and warning you of the encounter of this day of yours?’ They will say: ‘Yes,’ but the word of punishment became due against the faithless.
It will be said: ‘Enter the gates of hell to remain in it [forever]. Evil is the [ultimate] abode of the arrogant.’
EXEGESIS
Sīqa means to be driven or charged from the back, in order to move a person or an animal forward. Initially, each soul will be driven toward its meeting point with God for reckoning: Then the trumpet will be blown: ‘This is the promised day.’ Then every soul will come accompanied by a driver and a witness (50:20-21); That day he shall be driven toward your Lord (75:30). But this verse refers to the stage after the books of deeds, the witnesses, and the final judgement (discussed in the previous verses). The day when they will be shoved toward the fire of hell forcibly (52:13). Based on some other verses, it could be that they are driven to hell by being seized, fettered, and dragged on their faces by chains that are seventy cubits long (44:47, 54:48, 69:30-32).
Zumar is the plural of zumrah, meaning a group, multitude, or throng of people. Its root (zamr) means a soft and subtle voice, like that of a quill on a paper, or the sound of an ostrich. Its application to the groups of people in the hereafter could be due to the following aspects: 1. They are summoned and grouped by a voice that calls them forth. 2. Each group will have a soft rustling and whispering voice, which is common whenever there is a multitude of people, and in this case perhaps due to fear and shock. Both aspects are captured in the following verse: On that day they will follow a summoner in whom there will be no deviousness. The voices will be muted before the All-Beneficent, and you will hear nothing but a murmur (20:108). 3. The different groups (and/or the people in each group) follow one another much like the sounds of different letters in a speech, or the sound of musical notes in a composition. Zumrah is apparently synonymous with the word fawj (group), which is used in the same context in 67:8. Its plural form shows that there will be multiple groups and classifications of the infidels, according to their level of disbelief and inequity. The day We shall summon every group of people with their imam (17:71). The same is true about the God-wary, discussed in verse 73. For each [group] there are ranks in accordance with what they have done (6:132).
Abwāb: doors, gates. Its plural form shows that there are different ways and channels by which one may be sentenced to hell. The same is true about paradise, as seen in verse 73. It also shows that even though people will be taken to hell or paradise in groups, each might enter there through a different gate according to his more specific acts and beliefs. It has seven gates, and to each gate belongs a separate portion of them (15:44). Some scholars of ethics and exegesis have identified different moral vices as the gates of hell (because they lead one toward hell), such as arrogance, stinginess, greed, lust, envy, anger, and hatred. These are some tangible examples and concrete applications, but the list could include other evil traits or false beliefs, especially if the number seven is intended to express multiplicity. Overall, keeping away from the gates of hell necessitates keeping away from all wrong beliefs, moral vices, and evil acts. A similar but opposite picture is true about the gates of heaven.
It will be said: ‘Enter the gates of hell to remain in it [forever]. Evil is the [ultimate] abode of the arrogant.’ The speaker of these words is not specified, but it is apparently said by the guardian angels of hell which were mentioned in the last verse. It could also be that the speaker is not specified because the point and focus of the verse is only what is actually said, regardless of who says it.
EXPOSITION
The previous verses talked about the people’s resurrection and God’s court of judgement in the hereafter. There will be two main categories of people at that point: The faithless (discussed here), and Those who were wary of their Lord (discussed in the next set of verses). Yet, each of these will have its own sub-categories, referred to as throngs. People will be grouped in the hereafter based on their affiliations and the nearness of their beliefs and practices in this world. Indeed, ‘if one loves a piece of rock, God will resurrect him with it’.
The welcome greeting that they will receive at the entrance of hell will be a rhetorical question that serves as a censure and rebuke for their irresponsible and negligent attitude toward the messengers and guidance sent by God. This further shows that what is meant by The faithless is those who received God’s message yet they denied and rejected it. This is clearly seen in verse 72, which refers to the same group as the arrogant (the article al- in al-mutakabbirīn could be a definite article, which would equate the arrogant with the faithless). In other words, the cause of their faithlessness was their arrogance. Moreover, the question shows that We do not punish [any community] until We have sent [it] an apostle (17:15), which is a universal Quranic principle seen in many verses (4:165, 20:134, 26:208-209, 28:59, 98:1-3).
A similar question and answer is seen in the following verses: Whenever a group is thrown in it, its keepers will ask them: ‘Did there not come to you any warner?’ They will say: ‘Yes, a warner did come to us, but we impugned [him] and said: “Allah did not send down anything; you are only in great error”’ (67:8-9).
The apostles of God are described by three qualities: 1. From among yourselves: they were human beings like yourselves, having the same make-up, creation, and nature. Therefore, you had perfect role models like yourselves to follow, they were accessible to you, and you could understand their language and message. 2. Reciting to you the signs of your Lord: this apparently refers to God’s guidance and proofs that were revealed to the prophets to lead the people towards truth and perfection. 3. And warning you of the encounter of this day of yours: in addition to signs and proofs, God’s prophets have informed us of a tremendous day to come. Regardless of those signs and proofs, a wise person should at least take these warnings seriously. The encounter of this day of yours could mean either the fact that there will be a resurrection and afterlife to come (in general), or the threat of being sentenced to hell and coming to this position that you are in right now. Either meaning can be a subject of warning, and the prophets told their people about both. ‘O company of jinn and humans! Did there not come to you apostles from yourselves, recounting to you My signs and warning you of the encounter of this day?’ They will say: ‘We testify against ourselves.’ The life of this world had deceived them, and they will testify against themselves that they had been faithless (6:130).
But the word of punishment became due against the faithless. This is apparently not a continuation of the disbelievers’ confession, but God’s explanation and completion of the story. The word of punishment refers to God’s decree concerning who shall be punished: the faithless. This was decreed from the onset of creation with Adam’s fall on the earth: But those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of the fire and they shall remain in it [forever] (2:39). God has decreed to fill hell with jinn and men (7:18, 11:119, 32:13, 38:84-85). This is because He has created the world such that anyone who turns a blind eye to its realities will suffer the consequences of being deprived of and away from the truth, which is the essence of punishment and hell: Thus they will confess to their sin. So away with the inmates of the blaze! (67:11).
There is a clear connection between the quality of arrogance and the humiliating command seen in this verse. The same command is found in two other verses in the Quran (16:29, 40:76). Based on verse 60, the arrogant are those who attributed lies to Allah and whose faces will be blackened. Indeed, those who deny Our signs and are disdainful of them – the gates of the heaven will not be opened for them, nor shall they enter paradise until the camel passes through the needle’s eye, and thus do We requite the guilty (7:40). Arrogance is the one decisive quality that blocks one from paradise and God’s proximity and results in one’s eternal damnation. It is the spirit of being rebellious and defiant against the truth and God’s command: Indeed hell is an ambush, a resort for the rebels, to reside therein for ages (78:21-23); As for him who was rebellious and preferred the life of this world, his refuge will indeed be hell (79:37-39).
Satan’s sin was arrogance, which made him devoid of faith: he acted arrogantly and he was one of the faithless (38:74; see also 2:34 and 7:13). As a result, God decreed: I will surely fill hell with you and all those who follow you (38:85; see also 7:18 and 17:63). The current verses clearly show that whoever follows Satan in his sin will end up in his destination. ‘God, glorified is He, would never let a human being enter paradise by an act for which he expelled an angel from it [referring to Satan, who was at the rank of the angels]. Indeed He has the same rules for the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth. In addition, God has no favouritism towards any of His creatures so that He exempts him from what He has made illegal for everyone else.’
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- The Prophet said: ‘One who thinks that he loves me while he dislikes Ali is a liar. My love and his love do not gather except in the heart of a believer. Indeed God, mighty and majestic is He, has made those who love me and you, O Ali, as the first group (zumrah) to take the lead towards paradise. And He has made those who dislike me and you as the first group among my nation who will stray [from the straight path] towards hell.’
- The Prophet said: ‘When the people of hell are driven towards it, it will throw a spark at them which will make any meat on their bones to fall down on their feet.’
TOPICAL ARTICLES
See Topical Article: Determinism and Free Will.
[1] Tahqiq, under s-w-q.
[2] Ayn; ʿAskarī, al-Furūq fī al-Lughah; Bahrayn; Taj; Tahqiq, under z-m-r.
[3] Razi, 27/478, with some elaboration.
[4] Tabari, 24/24; Bursawi, 8/143.
[5] Alusi, 12/286.
[6] Amali.S. pp. 209-210, h. 9; Rawḍat al-Wāʿiẓīn, 2/417.
[7] Alusi, 12/287.
[8] Razi, 27/479.
[9] Furqan, 25/392; Bursawi, 8/143.
[10] Tabari, 24/23.
[11] Mizan, 17/297.
[12] Zamakhshari, 4/146.
[13] This is how Alusi, 12/287, has interpreted the verse as well, saying that we can identify the cause of their damnation as God’s word of punishment or as their arrogance and faithlessness. Either way is true without any contradiction, because God has decreed punishment for the arrogant and the faithless. In other words, God’s decree and their disbelief are at two different levels of causation, and one acts through the other. This is exactly unicity in actions (al-tawḥīd al-afʿālī), which can be proven from the Quran, and which can reconcile the Asharite and Mutazilite views on determinism and entrustment.
[14] Bursawi, 8/143.
[15] Nahj, sermon 192.
[16] Khisal, 2/577.
[17] Suyuti, 5/342.