Surah Al Ahzab Notes (63-70)

Source: Ibn Kathir

No One knows when the Day of Resurrection will come except Allah

(63) People ask you concerning the Hour, say: "The knowledge of it is with Allah only. What do you know? It may be that the Hour is near!"

Here Allah tells His Messenger that he cannot know when the Hour will come, and if people ask him about that, He instructs him to refer the matter to Allah, may He be exalted, as Allah says in Surat Al-A`raf, even though that was revealed in Makkah and this Surah was revealed in Al-Madinah. Allah continues to tell him to refer this matter to the One Who knows about it, but He tells him that it is at hand, as He says:

(What do you know It may be that the Hour is near!) This is like the Ayat:

(The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder.) ﴿54:1﴾

(Draws near for mankind their reckoning, while they turn away in heedlessness.) ﴿21:1﴾

(The Event (the Hour) ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it) ﴿16:1﴾.

(64) Verily, Allah has cursed the disbelievers and has prepared for them a flaming Fire (Hell).

Then Allah says:

(Verily, Allah has cursed the disbelievers,) means, He has distanced them from His mercy.

(and has prepared for them a flaming Fire (Hell).) means, in the Hereafter.

(65) Wherein they will abide for ever, and they will find neither a Wali (a protector) nor a helper.

(Wherein they will abide forever,) means, they will stay there forever and ever, never leaving or finding relief from it.

(and they will find neither a protector nor a helper.) means, they will have no saviour to help them or rescue them from their predicament. 

(66) On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: "Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger (Muhammad SAW)."

(On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: "Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.'') means, they will be dragged into the Fire on their faces and their faces will be contorted in Hell, and in that state they will wish that they had been among those who had obeyed Allah and His Messenger in this world. Allah describes how they will be in the Hereafter:

(And the Day when the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as an intimate friend! He indeed led me astray from the Reminder after it had come to me. And Shaytan is to man ever a deserter in the hour of need.'') (25:27-29)

(67) And they will say: "Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way.

(68) Our Lord! give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!"

(And they will say: "Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way.'') Tawus said: " `Our chiefs' means their nobles and `our great ones' means their scholars.''

(Our Lord! Give them double torment) means, `for their disbelief and because they mislead us.' Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani recorded from Abu Rafi` that among the names of those who fought with `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was Al-Hajjaj bin `Amr bin Ghaziyah, and he was the one who, when they met, said; "O people of the Ansar! Do you want to say when we meet our Lord:

(Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way. Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!)''

The Fabrications of the Jews against Musa

(69) O you who believe! Be not like those who annoyed Musa (Moses), but Allah cleared him of that which they alleged, and he was honourable before Allah.

Al-Bukhari recorded in the Book of Hadiths about the Prophets, that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said:

(Musa, peace be upon him, was a shy and modest man who would never show anything of his skin because of his shyness. Some of the Children of Israel annoyed him by saying: "He only keeps himself covered because of some defect in his skin, either leprosy or a scrotal hernia or some other defect.'' Allah, may He be glorified, wanted to clear Musa, peace be upon him, of what they were saying. One day Musa was alone, so he took off his garment and put it on a rock, then he took a bath. When he had finished, he turned back to pick up his garment, but the rock moved away, taking his garment with it. Musa picked up his stick and chased the rock, saying, "My garment, O rock! My garment, O rock!'' Until he reached a group of the Children of Israel, who saw him naked and found that he was the best of those whom Allah had created. Thus he was cleared of what they had said about him. Then the rock stood still, so he took his garment and put it on. He started hitting the rock with his stick, and by Allah, the marks of that beating were left on the rock, three or four or five. 

This is what is referred to in the Ayah: 

(O you who believe! Be not like those who annoyed Musa, but Allah cleared him of that which they alleged, and he was honourable before Allah.)) This Hadith is one of those which were recorded by Al-Bukhari but not Muslim. 

Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah (bin Mas`ud) said: "One day, the Messenger of Allah distributed some booty and a man among the Ansar said, `This division was not done for the sake of Allah.' I said, `O enemy of Allah! I am going to tell the Messenger of Allah what you have said.' So, I told the Prophet about it. His face reddened and he said, (May Allah have mercy on Musa. He was annoyed with worse than this, yet he remained patient.)'' This was recorded in the Two Sahihs.

(and he was honourable before Allah. ) means, he had a position of status and honour before his Lord, may He be exalted and glorified. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "His supplications would be answered by Allah.'' Some of them said that part of his great standing before Allah was that he interceded for his brother Harun, asking Allah to send him with him as a Messenger, and Allah granted his request and said:

(And We granted him his brother Harun, (also) a Prophet, out of Our mercy.) (19:53)

The Command to the Believers to have Taqwa and speak the Truth

(70) O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth.

Here Allah commands His servants to have Taqwa of Him, worshipping Him as if they can see Him, and to

(speak (always) the truth.) meaning, to speak in a straightforward manner, with no crookedness or distortion. He promises them that if they do that, He will reward them by making their deeds righteous, i.e., enabling them to do righteous deeds, and He will forgive them their past sins. With regard to whatever sins they may commit in the future, He will inspire them to repent from them.