Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:51
But the ones who strove against Our verses, [seeking] to cause failure - those are the companions of Hellfire.
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.
His statement: وَالَّذِينَ سَعَوْا فِي آيَاتِنَا مُعَاجِزِينَ — that is to say: those who have striven [to wage war] against Our proofs, and have turned [people] away from following Our Messenger and from agreeing with Our Book which We have sent down. It says "in Our signs" — with "fī" inserted, just as one says: "So-and-so strove in the affair of so-and-so."
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of the word (muʿājizīna). Some said: its meaning is "those who live in enmity" (mushāqqīna).
Mention of those who said this: Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf related to us, saying: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — that he in any case read it [in the Qurʾān] as (muʿājizīna) — with alif — and he said: mushāqqīna [that is to say: adversaries].
Others said: no, its meaning is: they supposed that they could escape Allah, so that He would not have them in His power.
Mention of those who said this: Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: فِي آيَاتِنَا مُعَاجِزِينَ — he said: they denied the signs of Allah as lies and supposed that they could escape Allah — but they will never escape Him.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — similar to the foregoing.
These two modes of interpretation apply according to the reading of him who reads it as: فِي آيَاتِنَا مُعَاجِزِينَ — with alif — and that is the reading of most of the reciters of Medina and Kufa. Some reciters of Mecca and Basra, however, read it as: "muʿajjizīna" — with tashdīd on the jīm, without alif — with the meaning that they discouraged the people and held them back from following the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and from belief in the Qurʾān.
Mention of those who said this and read it thus: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them together, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word: "muʿajjizīna" — he said: holders-back who hold the people back from following the Prophet ﷺ.
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 — similar to the foregoing.
The most correct view concerning this is to say: they are two well-known readings, each variant of which has been read by learned reciters; the meaning of the two is nearly identical. For whoever tries to nullify the signs of Allah has tried to elude Allah (ʿājaza Llāha); and among the trying-to-elude of Allah is the nullifying of the signs of Allah, the working at His disobedience, and the going against His command. And among the characteristics of the people concerning whom Allah sent down these verses was that they delayed the people from belief in Allah and from following His Messenger, and tried to overpower the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — supposing that they could vanquish and dominate him — while Allah had guaranteed him His help over them. This was their "muʿājaza" of Allah. Since this is so, everyone who chooses one of the two readings has attained correctness.
"Al-muʿājaza" (the trying-to-elude) is the "mufāʿala" of "al-ʿajz" (incapacity), with the meaning of mutual struggle between two [parties], each trying to vanquish and dominate the other.
"Al-taʿjīz" (the nullifying) is the making weak — the "tafʿīl" of "al-ʿajz".
His statement: أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ — that is to say: those who possess these characteristics are, on the Day of Judgment, the inhabitants of Hell (jahannam) and its permanent population who are at home in it.
