What is meant by the words: "because Allah decrees provision and His
slaves' affairs (on that Laylat al-Qadr), and the angels take the
books of decrees for an entire year, from one Laylat al-Qadr to the
next, and there is no one, prominent or insignificant, but Allah
decrees his affairs for an entire year"? When the angels take the
books of decrees, what do they do with them? Do they read them? Do the
angels know what will happen of unseen matters during that year, and
is that something which Allah discloses to them, or what?
-
Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
Allah, may He be exalted, said:
"We sent it (this Qur'an) down on a blessed night ((i.e. night of
Qadr) in the month of Ramadan, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar).
Verily, We are ever warning (mankind that Our Torment will reach those
who disbelieve in Our Oneness of Lordship and in Our Oneness of
worship).
Therein (that night) is decreed every matter of ordainments"
[ad-Dukhaan 44:3-4].
That is, Allah, may He be exalted, instructs the angelic scribes to
copy down what will happen during that year from al-Lawh al-Mahfooz.
This was narrated from some of the early generations and was quoted by
the commentators on the Qur'an.
Ibn Abi Haatim narrated in hisTafseer(18527) that Ibn 'Abbaas said
concerning the words "Therein (that night) is decreed every matter of
ordainments": There is written down from the Mother of the Book on
Laylat al-Qadr what is to happen during the coming year of provision,
death, life, or rain, to the extent that it is written down: So and so
will perform the Hajj, and So and so will perform the Hajj.
Al-Haakim (3678) narrated – and classed it as saheeh – from Ibn
'Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: Verily you will see
a man walking about in the marketplaces, when his name has been
included among those who are to die. Then he recited the words
(interpretation of the meaning):
"We sent it (this Quran) down on a blessed night ((i.e. night of Qadr)
in the month of Ramadan,, the 9th month of the Islamic calendar).
Verily, We are ever warning (mankind that Our Torment will reach those
who disbelieve in Our Oneness of Lordship and in Our Oneness of
worship).
Therein (that night) is decreed every matter of ordainments"
[ad-Dukhaan 44:3-4].
That is Laylat al-Qadr; on that night worldly matters are decreed
throughout the coming year until the following Laylat al-Qadr.
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
That is, on Laylat al-Qadr the decrees of the coming year are
transferred from al-Lawh al-Mahfooz, ordaining what is to happen
during the year of deaths and provision, and what is to happen until
the end of the year. This was narrated from Ibn 'Umar, Abu Maalik,
Mujaahid, ad-Dahhaak and more than one of the early generations. The
phraseamrin hakeem(translated here as "every matter of ordainments"),
means something which has been determined and cannot be altered or
changed.
End quote fromTafseer Ibn Katheer(7/246). Something similar was stated
by at-Taahir ibn 'Aashoor inat-Tahreer wa't-Tanweer(6/422) and by
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen in hisFataawa(20/3 44)
Secondly:
No one knows the unseen except Allah. He, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):
"Say: 'None in the heavens and the earth knows the Ghaib (unseen)
except Allah, nor can they perceive when they shall be resurrected'"
[an-Naml 27:65].
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Here Allah, may He be exalted, commands His Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) to say, informing all people, that no one
knows the unseen except Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, for He
is the only One Who has knowledge of that, alone, with no partner or
associate.
End quote fromTafseer Ibn Katheer(6/2 07)
But Allah, may He be exalted, discloses to whomever He will of His
creation whatever He will of matters of His unseen. Allah, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"(He Alone) the All-Knower of the Ghaib (unseen), and He reveals to
none His Ghaib (unseen).'
Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen (He informs
him of unseen as much as He likes), and then He makes a band of
watching guards (angels) to march before him and behind him"
[al-Jinn 72:26, 27].
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas said:
Knowledge of unseen matters is something that belongs exclusively to
Allah, may He be exalted, so no one among His creation – no jinni or
anyone else – has any knowledge of it, except what Allah reveals to
whomever He will among His angels or His Messengers.
End quote fromFataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah(1/346)
What is mentioned about the angels copying down what is to happen of
events in the coming year indicates that Allah, may He be exalted,
shows the angelic scribes what is to occur during this year, and
instructs them to copy it down from al-Lawh al-Mahfooz.
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The scholars said: Laylat al-Qadr is so called because of what the
angels write down during this night of decrees (aqdaar, sing.qadr),
provision and deaths that will occur during that year, as Allah, may
He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): "Therein (that
night) is decreed every matter of ordainments" [ad-Dukhaan 44: 4].
What is meant by the words of Allah, may He be exalted (interpretation
of the meaning):"Therein descend the angels and the Rûh [Jibril
(Gabriel)] by Allâh's Permission with all Decrees" [al-Qadr 97:4]is
that during this night, Allah shows to the angels what is to happen,
and he instructs them to carry out their duties, and all of that is
because of Allah's prior knowledge and ordainment of that.
End quote fromSharh an-Nawawi 'ala Muslim(8/57).
Thirdly:
Some of the scholars stated that when the angelic scribes have
finished writing down what is to happen during the coming year, Allah,
may He be exalted, instructs them to give each angel his individual
instructions from those pages, but they did not mention any evidence
or proof for that.
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shinqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
To explain the meaning of the verse: On every Laylat al-Qadr, Allah,
may He be blessed and exalted, explains to the angels and writes down
for them in clear detail everything that is to happen during the
coming year, until the following Laylat al-Qadr.
So that explains whatever He has decreed of deaths, provision, poverty
and wealth, good yields and drought, health and sickness, wars,
earthquakes, and everything that is to happen during the coming year,
no matter what it is.
Az-Zamakhshari said inal-Kashshaaf:
What is meant by "is decreed" [in ad-Dukhaan 44:4] is determined and ordained
"every matter of ordainments" of people's provisions and deaths, and
all their affairs, until the following year.
… Then a copy of the decrees concerning provision is given to
Meekaa'eel; and a copy of the decrees concerning war is given to
Jibraa'eel, and also the decrees concerning earthquakes, thunderstorms
and landslides. A copy of the decrees concerning deeds is given to
Ismaa'eel, who is in charge of the lowest heaven; he is a mighty
angel. And a copy of the decrees concerning calamities is given to the
Angel of Death. End quote.
What we are aiming to do here is explain the meaning of the verse; it
does not necessarily mean that the report about the giving of the
copies mentioned to the angels mentioned is sound, because we do not
know of any sound basis for it.
End quote fromAdwa' al-Bayaan(7/271) .
To sum up our answer:
Allah, may He be exalted, informs some of the angels (namely the
angelic scribes) of the events that will happen in the coming year,
and He instructs them to copy it from al-Lawh al-Mahfooz.
With regard to any additional information about the giving of
individual instructions to each of the angels from those pages, there
is no evidence to support that.
And Allah knows best.
No comments:
Post a Comment