Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:92
He said, "O my people, is my family more respected for power by you than Allah? But you put Him behind your backs [in neglect]. Indeed, my Lord is encompassing of what you do.
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 exposition of the words of Allah the Exalted: قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَرَهْطِي أَعَزُّ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاتَّخَذْتُمُوهُ وَرَاءَكُمْ ظِهْرِيًّا إِنَّ رَبِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ (He said: O my people, is my clan mightier with you than Allah, and have you cast Him behind your backs? Truly my Lord encompasses all that you do.) [11:92]
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: Shuʿayb said to his people: O my people, have you honored your people so that they are mightier with you than Allah, and have you despised your Lord and thrown Him behind your backs, so that you do not obey His command, do not fear His punishment, and do not honor Him as is His due?
It is said of a man when he does not fulfill the need of another: "he has thrown his need behind his back" — that is, he left it lying without giving it any attention. And when he does fulfill it, one says: "he placed it before himself, and before his eyes." It is also said: "you have left my need behind" and "you have regarded it as ẓihriyya" — that is, behind your back, as the poet said:
"We found the sons of al-Barṣāʾ, of the progeny of al-ẓahr"
with the meaning: that they neglect the needs of people, leaving them behind.
The exegetes explained it in accordance with what we have said.
Mention of those who said that:
18515 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me and said: my father related to me and said: my uncle related to me and said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (He said: O my people, is my clan mightier with you than Allah, and have you cast Him behind your backs) — that is, the people of Shuʿayb and his clan were mightier with them than Allah, and the affair of Allah was held in little regard with them — exalted and majestic is our Lord.
18516 — Al-Muthanná related to me and said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us and said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: behind your backs.
18517 — Bishr related to us and said: Yazīd related to us and said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (O my people, is my clan mightier with you than Allah, and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have honored your people and left your Lord behind.
18518 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us and said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have not shown Him any regard in anything; you show regard only to my people — (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have honored your people and left your Lord behind.
18519 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us and said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have not shown Him any regard in anything; you show regard only to my people — (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — you do not fear Him.
18520 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us and said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us and said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (is my clan mightier with you than Allah) — he said: you have honored your people and let yourselves be deluded with regard to your Lord. I heard Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl say: Sufyān said: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — as a man says to a man: "you have left my need behind your back" — (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — you have despised His command. When a man wishes to fulfill the need of his companion, he places it before himself and keeps it at hand, and does not despise it.
18521 — Yūnus related to me and said: Ibn Wahb informed us and said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: "al-ẓihrī" (that which is behind the back) is the surplus, like the camel-driver who takes along with him some spare camels — surplus — that carry no load, but are only for the case in which he needs them. So he says: your Lord is to you like these — for when you need Him. And when you do not need Him, He is nothing.
Others said: its meaning is: and you have thrown that which Shuʿayb brought behind your backs — the pronoun in His word (you have cast Him behind your back) refers, according to this view, to what Shuʿayb brought.
Mention of those who said that:
18522 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us and said: Ibn Numayr related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have left behind what Shuʿayb brought.
18523 — [isnād link], he said: Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid — he said: they cast away his command.
18524 — Al-Ḥārith related to me and said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: you have cast his command behind you.
18525 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us and said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us and said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: the clan of Shuʿayb intended to leave that which he brought behind their backs as a ẓihriyya.
18526 — Al-Muthanná related to me and said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us and said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — he said —,
18527 — and Isḥāq related to us and said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (and have you cast Him behind your backs) — he said: their exception of the clan of Shuʿayb, and the fact that they left that which Shuʿayb brought behind their backs as a ẓihriyya.
Abū Jaʿfar said: We chose the view which we chose in its exposition, because of the nearness of His word (and have you cast Him behind your backs) to His word (is my clan mightier with you than Allah) — so that the pronoun in His word (you have cast Him behind your back), because of its nearness to that word, is more fitting and better as a reference to Allah.
His word: (truly my Lord encompasses all that you do) — that is, my Lord encompasses all that you do with His knowledge, nothing of it is hidden from Him, and He will recompense you for all your deeds, both speedily and later.
