Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:71
[Mention, O Muhammad], the Day We will call forth every people with their record [of deeds]. Then whoever is given his record in his right hand - those will read their records, and injustice will not be done to them, [even] as much as a thread [inside the date seed].
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 exegetes differed over the meaning of the "imām" (leader) which Allah, glorious be His praise, mentions as that by which He will summon every people. Some said: it is his prophet and the one who was followed as an example in the worldly life.
— Mention of who said that:
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: their prophet.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: their prophet.
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, concerning بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: their prophet.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: their prophet.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — the same.
Others said: rather the meaning is that Allah will summon them with the registers of their deeds which they perform in the worldly life.
— Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: the imām is what a person has performed and dictated, and what was recorded about him. Whoever is raised up as a god-fearing, Allah-fearing person, his book is placed in his right hand; he reads it and is joyful, and he is not wronged in the least "fatīl" — and that is the term for the rolled-up little fiber in the cleft of a date-stone. That is like His word وَإِنَّهُمَا لَبِإِمَامٍ مُبِينٍ . The imām is thus what was dictated and performed.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: with their deeds.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: al-Ḥasan said: with the book that contains their deeds.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: Abū Muʿādh related to us, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he says: with their book.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: he said: with their deeds.
Others said: rather the meaning is that Allah will summon every people with the book that was revealed to them and that contained His commands and prohibitions.
— Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Zayd concerning the word of Allah, mighty and exalted يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : he said: with their book that was revealed to them and that contains the command of Allah, His prohibition, and His obligations, and for which they will render account. He recited لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنْكُمْ شِرْعَةً وَمِنْهَاجًا and said: the "shirʿa" is the religion and the "minhāj" is the sunnah. And he recited شَرَعَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا and said: Nūḥ was the first of them and you are the last.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ : with their book.
The most correct view in this regard, in my opinion, is that of the one who says: the meaning is: the day on which We will summon every people with its imām whom they followed as an example in the worldly life, for the most common usage of "al-imām" among the Arabs is for that which one takes as an example to follow. It is more fitting to carry the meaning of Allah's word to the better-known sense, unless a proof demonstrates the contrary to which one must submit.
And His word فَمَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ — He says: whoever is given the book of his deeds in his right hand فَأُولَئِكَ يَقْرَءُونَ كِتَابَهُمْ — until they know all that is in it. وَلا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلا — Allah, exalted be His mention, says: they are not wronged by Allah in the recompense for their deeds in the least "fatīl" — that is the rolled-up little fiber in the cleft of the date-stone. The explanation of "al-fatīl" has already been given previously in a manner that makes its repetition here unnecessary.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَلا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلا : he said: the little fiber in the cleft of the date-stone.
