Part 88

Allbiya ' 2 1:84) - as a Mercy from Us 10 him and a Kindness and

Benefi cence ( and il reminder for th e worshippers. ) (Soorah

AI-Anbiya ' 2 1:84) Tha t is, a re mi nde r for those who a re tested

in their bodies, th eir wea lth or their childre n, for th ey have an

ex ampl e in the Prophet o f Allah, Ayyoob e , who was tested

by All ah with a test greater than that and he bore it pat ientl y,

hoping for A lla h's Reward , unt il He relieved him of it.

He, Most Hi gh, says , ( And take in your hand a bund le of thi n

grass and strike therew ith (your wife), and break not your oath.

Trul y! We found him pati ent. I-low excelle nt (a) slave! Veri ly,

he was eve r o ft -retuming in repentance (to Us)! ) (Soorah Sad

38 :44) Thi s is a lice nse from All ah, Most Hi gh, to Hi s slave

and I-li s Me ssenger, Ayyoob ~ . beca use of the oath he had

made to beat hi s wife with a hundred slripes. II was said Ihal

he mad e an oat h to do this becau se she had sold he r braids.

It was also said that Satan appeared to her in a pleasan t form

and he desc ribed to he r how to prepare a cure for Ayyoob .~

and so she prepared it and informed Ayyoob ~ o f what had

happened. He reali zed immedi ately that it was Satan and he

swore an oath that he woul d beat her with a hun dred stripes.

When All ah, the Almi ghty, the AllPowerful cured him , He

command ed hi m to tak e a hundred stems of thin grass a nd

strike her with the m once; an d thi s wo ul d be equi va lent to a

388 Tile Story ofAXl'Ooh (Job) ~'

hund red stripes. Thus he had fulfilled hi s oat h a nd not broken

it. This is a release and a way out for the one who fears Allah

and obeys Him, espec iall y with regard to the rig ht of a pati ent

wife, who hopes for All ah 's Reward , who is long-suffering.

honest, duti ful and rightl y gui ded - may Allah be pleased with

her. Thi s is why Allah gra nted this license and ex plai ned it in

His Words: ( Tru ly! We fo und hi m pmi ell t. Ilow excell ent (a)

s lave ! Verily. he was ever ofl-returni ng in repenta nce (to Us)!

Who, According to SOllie People, Was the Son 0/

A ll ah , Most High , says, after re lating th e SIOI)' of Ayyoob

~ in SoO/'ali AI-Anhiya', ( And (remember) Isma'eel. and

Idri s (Enoc h) and Dhlll-Kffl ( Isaia h), all we re li'om among ...1 .... -

Sahircell (th e patient Dil es, cIC.). A nd We admitted th em to QUI'

Me rcy. Veril y, they were orlh e ri ght eous. ) (Soorah AI-Allbiya '

Also afte r relat ing the story of Ayyoob :i!::9 in 500mh Sad, He,

Most Hig h, says, ( And remembe r Our slaves. [bra hccm, Ishaq .

and Ya 'qoob. (all) oWllers of strength (in worshipping Us) and

(a lso) of rcl igious und erstandin g. Ver il y, We did choose the m by

grantin g [helll (a good thi ng, i.c.) the remembran ce of th e hom e

( in th e Hereafter and Ihey used to make th e people remember

it, and a lso th ey used to in vit e the peop le 10 obey Allah and 10

do good deeds for the Il e rcaficr). A nd Ih cy arc wi th Us , verily,

o rlh e c hosen and the bes t! And rcme mber Isma 'eel (l sma 'cc!).

AI-Va sa"a (Eli sha ), an d DII/{I-K[fl (I sa iah) , all arc alllong the

best ) (SoO/·ali Sad 38 :45 -48).

390 Tile 5101)1oj DIII/I-Kifl ~

Ibn Jareer and Ibn Abi Naj eeh narrated on the aUl hority of

Muj ahid that he wa s not a Prophet, but th at he was a right eo us

ma n, who was appointed to act on beha lf o f the Prophet se nt

to hi s people and to carry out his responsibiliti es toward s them

and to judge betwcen them with fairness; as a result, he was

known as Dh ul-Kift. ( J [)

And Ibn Abi Hatim sai d: It is reported on the au thori ty of

Kina nah Ibn AI-Ak hnas th at hc said: I heard Al-A sh' ari (Lc.

Abu Moosa) when he was at the pulpit, sayin g, "D hul -Kin

wa s not a Prophet; but thcre was a righteous man alllong the

Children of Isra ' ce l, who used to ofTer a hundred prayers evel) '

day. He di ed and DIIIII-Kif/ too k hi s place, o fTering a hundred

praye rs e very day. For thi s reason, he was call ed Dhul-Kifl ." (J 2)

Mention of Communities That Were Completely

T hi s was before the revelati on of th e Torah , based on th e

ev idence in the Word s o f A ll ah, Mos t Hi gh: ( And indeed We

gave Moosa (Moses), afie r We had destroyed thc gencrations

of old, th e Scripture (the rtlll'rlIII [Tora h]) ) (SoO/·all AI-Qastls

28:43). Likewi se, Ibn Jarec r At-Tabari, Ibn Abi Hatim and

A IBazzar narrated on the au thorit y o f Abu Sa'eed AI -Khudri

~ that he said, "A ll ah did not destroy any peoplc on the fa ce

o f th e Earth with a pun ishme nt frolll the heaven or from the

Ea rt h aficr the Tawrah had been revealed, cxccpt fo r Ihe villa ge

(4 1) Thi s is because the word kifl is derived rrom Ihe verb kaJala, meani ng to

(42) See Ad-DI/n· Al-Mallll/oor (5/664). A I-Hafiz Ibn Katheer said in his · Tal-

.~l!er' (311 92), ·· It is IIII/m/tlli" (broken) between Q:lIl1dah and Abu Moosa

The S(OI:I' oj" Dhllf-K iff ~ 391

whose peop le we re tra ns fonn ed into apes. Do you not see tha t

Allah, Most Hi gh, says, ( And indeed We gavc Moosa, 'I fler

We had destroyed th e generatio ns o f old, the Scripture (the

1'(111'1"011» (So oralt AI-Qasas 28:43) (4J) In one vers ion narra ted

by AI-Bazza r, he described it as 1/101/00 '. BU I it appears most

like ly that il is IIUlII'qoof(i.e. th at it may be atlribU led to Abu

Sa'eed AlKhudri , and not to the Messenge r of Alla h ~). In any

case, it proves that every nati on Iha t was comp lc tely destroyed

was before Moosa ~\ . Among them were Ihe dwe ll ers o f Ar-

Rass, of whom All ah, Most High, says, ( And (a lso) •Ad and

Thulllood, a nd the dwe lle rs of ArRass, a nd ma ny generati ons

in be twee n. And for eac h of them We put fo rward examp les

(as proof') and lessons, etc.), and each (of th cm) We brough t to

ulle r ruin (beca use of thei r disbe lie f alld ev il deeds» (Soorab

He, Most Hi Gh, says in Sooralt Qaf, ( Dc ni ed be fore the m

(Le. these pagans of Makkah who de ni ed YOll, 0, Muhammad)

the peop le of Nooh. fi nd th e dwe ll ers o f Ar-Rass, and Thamood.

And ·Ad, and Fir'awn (Pharaoh), and the brethren of Loo t. And

the dwe lle rs o rtha t wood. an d the peopl e o fTub ba' Everyone

of them den ied (thei r) Messengers. so My Th reat took effec t.

) (SoO/'ail QaJ50: 12.14), The context of these Soorails proves

that they were destroyed, eradicated and ann ih ilated. And thi s

refutes the preferred opinion oflbn Jarcer At-Tabari, whi ch was

that they were th e Peopl e of the Ditch, who were mentioned in

SOOl·ah AI-Burooj, because these peopl e ca me aft er the Masech

~ , according to Ibn Ishaq and a number of ot hers. And thi s

(4 3) Narr:ltcd by Ibn Jarccr At-Tabari in his Tafteer (2 0/80). In AIJ\lajlllll'. AI-

J-Iai lhami amihUled it to AIBazzar in both 1//{/\l"(lo<ifand II/ar/oo' forms.

while in At/·/JII"" i11-MUll/hoor (5/ 129). As·Suyooti ascribed it to Ibn Abi

lI alitn. And Al-Haitharni said. ·· ... :lnd it s rijal (men) arc all narrators of

392 The SIOfJ' oj DIIIII-Kifl ~

claim also requires careful investi ga tion.

Ibn Jareer At-Tabari narrated on the aut hori ty of 'Abdulla h

Ibn ' Abbas 4:0 that he said: "The dwe llers of Ar-Rass were the

inhabitants of one of the villages ofThamood." And at the start

of his Tareekh, when describing th e buildi ng of Damascus,

AI-Hafiz Abul-Qasim Ibn 'Asakir related from the 7llreekh of

Abul-Qasim ' Ubaidullah Ibn ' Abdull ah Ibn Khurdazbah and

from other sources th at the dwellers of Ar-Rass were in !-Iadoor

(44) and A Ilah sent a Prophet to Ihem whose name was l-Ianzalah

Ibn Safwan, but they rejected hi m and kill ed him . So ' Ad, son

of' Aws, son of Iram, son of Sam, son of Nooh ~ led his

children from Ar-Rass and sett led in AI-Ahqaf and thcy spread

out through the land of Ycmen and through out all the lands,

until Jairoon, son ofSa 'd, son of ' Ad, son of ' Aws, son of Iral11,

son of Sam, son of Noah settled in Damasl.:us and built the city,

ca ll ing it Jairoon and that is Iram of the Pillars. (4~) And there

is no place with marc stonc pillars than Damascus. Allah sent

Hood, son of 'Abdullah Ibn Rabah, son of Khal id, son of AI-

Khu lood, son of 'Ad to the descendants of ' Ad at AI-A hqaf, but

th ey rejected him and so A\l ah, th e Almighty, the All-Powerful

destroyed them. This means th at the dwellers of Ar-Rass li ved

a vcl)' long time before 'Ad. And Allah knows better.

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah Ibn