Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:18
And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about Allah? Those will be presented before their Lord, and the witnesses will say, "These are the ones who lied against their Lord." Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exegesis of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أُولَئِكَ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ هَؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ أَلا لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ (18) (And who is more unjust than he who has invented a lie against Allah? These shall be brought before their Lord, and the witnesses will say: "These are the ones who lied about their Lord." Indeed, the curse of Allah rests upon the wrongdoers.)
Abū Jaʿfar says: Allah the Exalted says: Who among mankind deserves the most severe punishment more than the one who has invented a lie against Allah and falsely ascribed it to Him? And أُولَئِكَ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ هَؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ — they will be brought before their Lord on the Day of Resurrection, and He will question them concerning that which they used to do in the worldly life, as in the following:
18080 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning the words: وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا: he said: "This concerns the unbeliever (kāfir) and the hypocrite (munāfiq)." أُولَئِكَ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ — and He will question them concerning their deeds.
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And His words: وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ — by this are meant the angels and the prophets who were present with them and who preserved that which they used to do. The word al-ashhād (الأشهاد) is the plural form of shāhid (شاهد — witness), just as al-aṣḥāb (الأصحاب) is the plural form of ṣāḥib (صاحب). هَؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ — that is to say: these witnesses bear witness in the hereafter against those who in the earthly life invented a lie about Allah, and they say: "These are the ones who in the earthly life lied about their Lord." Allah then says: أَلا لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ — that is to say: truly, the wrath of Allah (ghaḍab Allāh) rests upon the transgressors who had disbelief (kufr) toward their Lord.
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In accordance with what we have said concerning وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ, the expositors of the tafsīr also spoke.
Mention of who said that:
18081 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ: he said: "The angels."
18082 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "The angels."
18083 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ: al-ashhād are the angels; they bear witness against the children of Adam on the basis of their deeds.
18084 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning الأَشْهَادُ: he said: "The creatures" — or he said: "The angels."
18085 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — in accordance with the foregoing.
18086 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ: those who preserved their deeds in the earthly life for them — هَؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ — they preserved it and bear witness against them concerning it on the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: "Al-ashhād are the angels."
18087 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, who said: I asked al-Aʿmash about His words وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ; he said: "The angels."
18088 — It was related to me, from al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ: he means the prophets and the messengers. That is what is meant in His words: وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَجِئْنَا بِكَ شَهِيدًا عَلَى هَؤُلاءِ (Sūrat al-Naḥl: 89). He said: And His words وَيَقُولُ الأَشْهَادُ هَؤُلاءِ الَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا عَلَى رَبِّهِمْ — they will say: "O our Lord, we brought them the truth but they rejected it, and we now bear witness against them that they lied to You, O our Lord."
18089 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd and Hishām, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn Muḥriz al-Māzinī, who said: While we were at the House with ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, and he was performing the ṭawāf, a man addressed him and said: "O Ibn ʿUmar, what did you hear the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say about the secret consultation (al-najwā)?" He answered: I heard the Prophet of Allah ﷺ say: "The believer draws near to his Lord until He places His covering over him, and then makes him confess his sins; He says: 'Do you acknowledge this?' The believer answers: 'Lord, I acknowledge it!' — this twice — until Allah has made him confess that which He wished him to confess. Then He says: 'I concealed this for you in the earthly life, and I forgive it for you today.' Thereupon he receives the record of his good deeds — or: his book — in his right hand. As for the unbelievers (al-kuffār) and the hypocrites (al-munāfiqūn): concerning them it will be proclaimed before all the witnesses: 'These are the ones who lied about their Lord — indeed, the curse of Allah rests upon the wrongdoers.'"
18090 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn Muḥriz, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — in accordance with the foregoing.
18091 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: We used to be told that no one will be humiliated on that Day whose shame will remain hidden from any of the creatures of Allah — or: the creatures.
