Surah Al-Hajj 22:44

The Consequences for the Disbelievers

Here Allah consoles His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for the disbelief of those among his people who opposed him.

وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ

(And if they deny you, so did deny before them the people of Nuh) until His saying,

وَكُذِّبَ مُوسَى

(and denied was Musa.) means, despite all the clear signs and evidence that they brought.

فَأمْلَيْتُ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ

(But I granted respite to the disbelievers for a while,) means, `I delayed and postponed.'

ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ

(then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My punishment!) means, `how great was My vengeance against them and My punishment of them!' In the Two Sahihs it is reported from Abu Musa that the Prophet said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»

(Allah lets the wrongdoer carry on until, when He seizes him, He will never let him go.) Then he recited:

وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ

(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong. Verily, His punishment is painful (and) severe.) 11:102 Then Allah says:

فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَا

(And many a township did We destroy)

وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ

(while they were given wrongdoing,) meaning, they were rejecting their Messengers.

فَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(so that it lie in ruins,) Ad-Dahhak said, "Leveled to their roofs," i.e., their houses and cities were destroyed.

وَبِئْرٍ مُّعَطَّلَةٍ

(and (many) a deserted well) means, they draw no water from it, and no one comes to it, after it had been frequented often by crowds of people.

وَقَصْرٍ مَّشِيدٍ

(and a castle Mashid!) `Ikrimah said, "This means whitened with plaster." Something similar was narrated from `Ali bin Abi Talib, Mujahid, `Ata', Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Al-Mulayh and Ad-Dahhak. Others said that it means high and impenetrable fortresses. All of these suggestions are close in meaning and do not contradict one another, for this sturdy construction and great height did not help their occupants or afford them any protection when the punishment of Allah came upon them, as He says:

أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِى بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ

("Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in Buruj Mushayyadah!") 4:78

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Have they not traveled through the land,) means, have they not traveled in the physical sense and also used their minds to ponder That is sufficient, as Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya said in his book At-Tafakkur wal-I`tibar, "Some of the wise people said, `Give life to your heart with lessons, illuminate it with thought, kill it with asceticism, strengthen it with certain faith, remind it of its mortality, make it aware of the calamities of this world, warn it of the disasters that life may bring, show it how things may suddenly change with the passing of days, tell it the stories of the people of the past, and remind it what happened to those who came before."' Walk through their ruins, see what they did and what became of them, meaning, look at the punishments and divine wrath that struck the nations of the past who belied,

فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ ءَاذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا

(and have they hearts wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear) meaning, let them learn a lesson from that.

فَإِنَّهَا لاَ تَعْمَى الاٌّبْصَـرُ وَلَـكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِى فِى الصُّدُورِ

(Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind.) means, the blind person is not the one whose eyes cannot see, but rather the one who has no insight. Even if the physical eyes are sound, they still cannot learn the lesson.

Ayat-ayat ini merupakan penawar hati Nabi Muhammad saw dan hati para sahabat yang sedang susah dan gundah akibat tindakan sewenang-wenang yang dilakukan orang-orang musyrik Mekah terhadap mereka. Seakan-akan Allah mengatakan kepada Nabi Muhammad, hai Muhammad jika orang-orang musyrik Mekah mendustakanmu, tidak mengindahkanmu, bahkan menentang seruan engkau, berbuat kerusakan di muka bumi, menyakiti dan menyiksa para sahabatmu dengan cara yang beraneka ragam, janganlah kamu bersedih hati, janganlah putus asa dan kuatkanlah hatimu dalam menghadapi mereka, karena umat-umat dahulu pun telah mendustakan para rasul yang diutus kepada mereka, tetapi Aku memberikan pertolongan kepada mereka, sehingga kemenangan berada pada mereka.

Allah berfirman:

Sehingga apabila para rasul tidak mempunyai harapan lagi (tentang keimanan kaumnya) dan telah meyakini bahwa mereka telah didustakan, datanglah kepada mereka (para rasul) itu pertolongan Kami, lalu diselamatkan orang yang Kami kehendaki. Dan siksa Kami tidak dapat ditolak dari orang yang berdosa. (Yusuf/12: 110)

Demikianlah Nuh as telah didustakan oleh kaumnya, mereka mengancam dan mendurhakainya, termasuk anaknya sendiri. Nabi Hud as telah didustakan oleh kaumnya, yaitu kaum 'Ad, Nabi Saleh oleh kaumnya, yaitu kaum Samud, begitu pula Ibrahim, Lut, Syu'aib. Semuanya didustakan oleh kaumnya, disakiti dan disiksa, tetapi mereka tetap tabah dan sabar. Semakin keras siksa dan penentangan dari kaumnya, semakin bertambah kuat iman mereka. Akhirnya kemenangan berada di pihak mereka.

Musa telah didustakan oleh Fir'aun dan kaumnya, mereka tidak mempercayai semua mukjizat yang diperlihatkan Musa, sekalipun mereka tidak dapat mengalahkan Musa as atau mendatangkan mukjizat seperti mukjizat Nabi Musa itu. Karena mereka tetap ingkar, maka sunnah Allah berlaku bagi mereka, yaitu Allah menolong orang-orang yang beriman dan menghancurkan semua orang kafir yang durhaka kepada-Nya, pada saat yang ditentukan-Nya.

Perhatikanlah sejarah umat-umat dahulu yang menentang para rasul yang diutus kepada mereka, akhirnya semua ditimpa malapetaka yang dahsyat, sehingga kesombongan, kegembiraan dan kesenangan yang ada pada mereka beralih seketika menjadi kesedihan dan kesengsaraan yang tiada taranya. Kemudian setelah mengalami malapetaka yang dahsyat itu, di akhirat mereka akan ditimpa azab yang pedih. Mengubah suatu kemewahan dan kesenangan menjadi suatu kesengsaraan dan penderitaan, suatu kemenangan berubah menjadi suatu kekalahan dalam waktu yang sangat singkat amatlah mudah bagi Allah Yang Mahakuasa dan Maha Bijaksana melakukannya.

Allah berfirman:

Sungguh, azab Tuhanmu sangat keras. (al-Buruj/85: 12)

Dan firman Allah:

Dan begitulah siksa Tuhanmu apabila Dia menyiksa (penduduk) negeri-negeri yang berbuat zalim. Sungguh, siksa-Nya sangat pedih, sangat berat. (Hud/11: 102)