The word: ثُمَّ (thumma: Then) in verse 32: ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا (Then We conveyed the Book as an heritage to those of Our slaves whom We chose.) serves as a conjunction to denote that the two things mentioned before and after it, despite having common characteristic, are marked by precedence and succession. What comes first has precedence, and that which comes after, succeeds. In addition to that, on some occasions, this precedence and succession takes effect in terms of time while, on some others, in terms of rank and degree. In this verse, the word: ثُمَّ (thumma: Then) is عَطف (atf: Conjunctive particle) connected to the word: اَوحَینا (awhaina: We revealed). It means: This Book, that is, the Qur'an which is nothing but the truth, and confirms all earlier Scriptures, We first sent to you as a revelation. After that, We made those We chose out of Our servants inherit the Book.
The earlier and later of it, or the precedence and succession of it in terms of rank and degree is already very obvious in the sense that the sending of the Qur'an to the Holy Prophet ﷺ through the medium of wahy (revelation) has precedence in rank and degree. Then, its bestowal on the community of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ takes effect in succession to it. And if making the Muslim ummah the inheritor of the Qur'an is taken to mean that he", rather than leave behind his legacy in the form of wealth and lands, left behind the Book of Allah as his legacy or inheritance - as borne by Hadith: 'Prophets do not leave coins of gold and silver as inheritance: They leave (true) knowledge as their legacy.' Or, '"Ulama' are inheritors of prophets" - then, in those terms, this precedence and succession could also reflect a time frame in the sense that 'We have blessed you with this Book. After that, you passed it on to your ummah as its inheritor.' To make someone inherit something means to bestow it on someone, give it as legacy, gift.
This act of bestowal when expressed as inheritance points out to the fact that the way an inheritor gets his or her share from the inheritance without he or she having done anything to acquire it, similarly, this wealth of the noble Qur'an has been given as a gift to these chosen servant without any effort on their part.
A peculiarity of the Muslim Community, and that of its ` Ulama'According to the majority of commentators, the sentence: الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا (those of Our slaves whom We chose) in verse 32, means the ummah (community) of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ ، its ` Ulama' - directly, and others, through the ` Ulama'. Reporting a Tafsir of this verse from Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، ` Ali Ibn Abi Talhah has said: The expression: الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا (those whom We chose) means the the ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . These are the people Allah Ta’ ala has made the inheritors of every Book He has revealed (that is, the Qur'an, as being the Book that confirms and preserves all previous Scriptures, encompasses the contents of all revealed Books. Being its inheritor amounts to inheriting all revealed Books).
Then he (Ibn ` Abbas) said: فَظَالِمُھُم یُغفَرُلَ ، وَ مُقتَصِدُھُم یُحَاسَبُ حِسَاباً یَسِرا وَّ سَابِقُھُم یُدخَلُ الجَنَّۃَ بغَیرِ حِسَابِ that is, even the unjust one from among them will be forgiven, and those who pursue a middle course among them will pass through a reckoning that is easy, while those who excel in good deeds will enter Jannah without reckoning. (Ibn Kathir)The word: اصْطَفَيْنَا (istafaina: We chose) used in this verse shows the great honor bestowed upon the Muslim ummah, because this word: اِصطِفَاء (istifa': to choose) has frequently appeared for prophets in the Holy Qur'an as in: اللَّـهُ يَصْطَفِي مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ رُسُلًا وَمِنَ النَّاسِ (Allah chooses messengers from the angels and from men. - a1-Hajj, 22:75) and in: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ اصْطَفَىٰ آدَمَ وَنُوحًا وَآلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَآلَ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ (Verily, Allah has chosen Adam and Nuh and the House of Ibrahim and the House of ` Imran over the worlds - Al-` Imran, 3:33).
In the verse under study, Allah Ta’ ala has put the Muslim ummah in line with the chosen ones, the prophets and the angels, although the degrees of such choice vary. The choice of prophets and angels occupies a higher degree, while the choice of the Muslim ummah, one that is posterior.
Three kinds of the Muslim ummah
The sentence: فَمِنْهُمْ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ (Then, some of them are those who wrong their own selves, and some of them are mediocre, and some of them are those who outpace (others) in righteous deeds with Allah's permission - 35:32) is virtually an explanation of the first sentence of the verse. In other words, it means that 'there are three kinds of Our servants We have chosen and have made them inherit the Qur'an: (1) The unjust (2) The moderate (3) The excellent.
Imam Ibn Kathir (رح) has explained these three kinds by saying: The one who wrong himself means a person who falls short in fulfilling some obligatory duties, and goes on to commit some of what is forbidden as well. And the one who follows the middle course is a person who fulfills all legally binding obligations and avoids everything forbidden, but on occasions, leaves out what has been recommended and falls into what is reprehensible. And excellent is the one who goes ahead of everyone in good deeds, fulfills all obligatory and recommended duties and avoids everything declared forbidden or considered reprehensible and goes on to leave what is allowed to him because of his devotion to acts of worship or because of some doubt in its lawfulness.
This is what Ibn Kathir (رح) has said. Other commentators have reported many more sayings while explaining these three kinds. Tafsir Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani mentions forty-three sayings with reference to at-Tahrir. But, on deliberation, the outcome of most is the same as stated with reference to Ibn Kathir.
A doubt and its answer
The explanation given above proves that الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا (those whom We chose) means the Muslim ummah that has three kinds and that its first kind - the unjust - is also included among the chosen servants of Allah. Taking this probability to be obviously remote, some people have said that this kind of people (who have wronged themselves) is excluded from the definition of: الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا (We chose) and from the Muslim ummah. But, it already stands proved from many authentic ahadith that each one of these three kinds relate to Muslim ummah and are not excluded from the characteristic of: اصْطَفَيْنَا (We chose). In fact, this is the ultimate merit of the believing servants of the Muslim ummah that even those who are somewhat wanting in the matter of deeds are also sharers in this supreme distinction.
At this place, Ibn Kathir has put together all those Hadith narrations, some of which are being cited below:According to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Said al-Khudri ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ said about these three kinds of: الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا (those We chose): They rank alike and alike they are in Jannah, all of them.' The expression 'being in one rank' means that all of them will be forgiven and all of them will go to Jannah - not that there will be no variance among them in terms of their ranks.
Then, there is a Hadith reported from Sayyidna Abu-d- Darda' ؓ which is supported by several chains of authorities. Ibn Kathir has documented all of them. One of these has been reported by Ibn Jarir from Sayyidna Abu Thabit ؓ who, when he went to the Masjid one of those days, found Sayyidna Abu-d-Darda' ؓ already sitting there. Sayyidna Abu Thabit went close, sat down by his side and started making a prayer: اللَّھُمَّ اٰنِس وَحشَتِی وَارحم غُربَتِی وَیَسِّرلِی جلِیساًصالِحاً ( O Allah, mollify the loneliness and anxiety of my heart, and have mercy on me in my state of homelessness, and make it easy on me by (sending) a good companion' ). (At this point, it is worth recalling that the great emphasis was placed by the early forbears of Islam on the quest for a good companion. They took this need to be an important objective in life and considered it to be a cure of all anxieties, so much so that they would raise their hands of prayer before Allah and ask Him that they be blessed with one).
When Sayyidna Abu-d- Darda' ؓ heard this prayer, he said, 'If you are honest in your prayer (for a companion), then, I am more fortunate than you (in the sense that Allah blessed me with a good companion like yourself, on the spot, without asking). Then, he said, 'I relate to you a Hadith I have heard from the Holy Prophet ﷺ . But, since the time I heard it, I did not have the occasion to relate it before anyone. Here is the Hadith: He mentioned this verse: ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا (Then We conveyed the Book as an heritage to those of Our slaves whom We chose - 32). Then, he said, 'As for those who race ahead of others in the matter of good deeds, out of the three kinds, they will go to Jannah without reckoning. And those who are in the middle will face an accounting that will be easy on them. And the unjust, the ones who fall short in deeds and are prone to slip into sins, will be overwhelmed with remorse at this juncture.
After that, they too will be asked to enter Jannah and all their sorrows will stand removed from them.' It finds mention in the next verse: وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ الَّذِي أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ (" Praise be to Allah who has removed all sorrow from us. Surely our Lord is Most-Forgiving, Very-Appreciative," ).
And at-Tabarani reports from Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, It means that each of the three kinds will be from this very Ummah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ .
Abu Dawud at-Tayalisi reports from ` Uqbah Ibn Sahban Hana'i that he asked the Tafsir of this verse from Ummul-Mu'minin, Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ . She said, "My son, all these three kinds are to go to Paradise. Out of these, those who were ahead of everyone in good deeds were people who passed away during the period of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He himself testified that they are to go to Jannah. And those who took the middle course are people who followed the former as their role models to the extent that they joined up with them. As for those who have been unjust to themselves, they are people like me and you!"Certainly great was the modesty of Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ that she counted herself too as part of the third kind, that is, among those who are unjust to themselves - although, according to very clear statements in sound and authentic ahadith, she ranks high among the very first and foremost people (as-sabiqun al-awwalun) of early Islam.
And Ibn Jarir has reported from Muhammad Ibn-ul- Hanafiyyah (رح) who said, 'This ummah is a community of people blessed with the mercy of Allah so en masse that even the unjust one in it stands forgiven, and the one of the middle course is in Jannah and the one way ahead in good deeds enjoys high ranks with Allah.'And Sayyidna Muhammad Ibn al-Baqir ؓ ، while explaining: ظالِمُ لِّنَفسِہٖ (zalim linafsihi: who wrong himself), said: اَلَّذِی خَلُطَ عَمَلاً صالِحاً وَّاخَرَ سَیِّٔاً لِنَفسِہٖ meaning: 'a person who mixes good and bad deeds.'The great merit of the ` Ulama' of the Muslim ummah
In this verse, Allah Ta’ ala has said that He has made a particular people to become inheritors of His Book, people who are chosen and honored ones from among His servants. Then, it is also obvious that ` Ulama' are the direct inheritors of the knowledge relating to the Book of Allah and the mission of prophets, as it has also been stated in the Hadith: اَلعُلَمَاُء وَرَثَہُ الاَنبِیاِء Ulama' inherit [ the legacy of ] prophets). In sum, people who have been so blessed by Allah Ta’ ala that they engage in the pursuit of the fields of knowledge relating to the Qur'an and Sunnah with unalloyed sincerity is, in itself, a sign of their being men of Allah worthy of the task.
This is as it has been supported by a narration of Sayyidna Tha'labah Ibn al-Hakam ؓ that reports the Holy Prophet ﷺ to have said, 'Allah Ta’ ala will address the ` Ulama' of the Muslim community on the Day of Judgment and say, "I had placed My knowledge and wisdom in your chests, for I had intended to forgive you irrespective of the nature of your actual deeds." (From the earlier presentation, it is already established that a person who has no awe and fear of Allah is simply not counted as one of the ` Ulama'. Therefore, this address will be to people for whom the awe and fear of Allah has become their natural reflex. Hence, it would be virtually impossible for them to indulge in sins carelessly. Yes, on occasions, they too could slip or make a mistake under the dictates of human temperament. This very aspect was alluded to in the Hadith mentioned above where it was said - no matter the nature of your deeds, forgiveness is destined for you).
All these narrations have been taken from Ibn Kathir. The last Hadith reported from Sayyidna Tha'labah (رح) has also been reported by at-Tabarani with all chains of authority cited by him being reliable. (Tafsir Mazhari) And in Tafsir Mazhari, the subject of the same Hadith has been reported from Abu ` Umar San'ani with reference to Ibn ` Asakir. Similarly, according to a narration of Sayyidna Abu Musa al-Ash` ari, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'On the Day of Resurrection (al-mahshar), Allah Ta’ ala will gather all His servants together. Then, He will assemble the ` Ulama' from among them at a prominent place and will say to them:اِنِّی لم اَضَع عِلمِی فِیکُم اِلَّا لعلمی بِکُم وَلَم اَضَعُ عِلمِی فِیکُم لِاُعَذَّبَکُم اِنطَلِقُوا قَد غَفَرتُ لَکُمI had placed My ilm in you since I knew you (that you will fulfill the due rights of this ilm, the knowledge given to you) and I had not placed My عِلم ilm in you so that I punish you. Go, I have forgiven you - Mazhari.
Special Note
In this verse, mentioned first was the category of the unjust, then of those following the middle course, and finally, of those who are ahead in good deeds. The reason for this order may, perhaps, be that the number of those unjust to themselves is larger, those following the middle course are less than them and those ahead in good deeds happen to be less than the later. Thus, those whose number was large were made to appear first.
