Others said that it means the devastation of the land ⦗192/A⦘: that is, “Have they not seen that We come upon the land, laying it waste and destroying its inhabitants? Do they not fear that We may do the same to them?” (1)
Mujahid said: It means the devastation of the land and the taking away of its inhabitants. (2)
Ikrimah said: “The taking away of people.” Al-Shabi held the same view.
Ata and others said: Its diminution is the death of the scholars and the passing away of the jurists. (3)
Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Nuaymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Ismail narrated to us; Ismail ibn Abi Uways narrated to us; Malik narrated to me, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As—may Allah be pleased with him—who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say: “Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from His servants; rather, He takes away knowledge through the death of the scholars. Then, when He leaves no scholar behind, people take ignorant leaders, who are asked and give legal rulings without knowledge. Thus, they go astray and lead others astray.” (4)
Al-Hasan said: Abd Allah ibn Masud said: “The death of a scholar is a breach in Islam that nothing can repair for as long as night and day continue to alternate.” (5)
Ibn Masud—may Allah be pleased with him—said: “Hold fast to knowledge before it is taken away; and its being taken away is the passing of those who possess it.” (6)
Ali—may Allah be pleased with him—said: “The scholars are like hands: when one hand is severed, it does not return.”
Sulayman said: “People will remain upon goodness so long as the earlier generation remains until the later generation learns from them. But if the earlier generation perishes before the later generation has learned, the people will perish.”
Said ibn Jubayr was asked, “What is the sign of people’s ruin?” He replied, “The death of their scholars.” (7)
(1) Al-Tabari, 16:494.
(2) See al-Tabari, 16:495.
(3) Tafsir al-Tabari, 16:497; al-Durr al-Manthur, 4:665-666. Al-Hakim narrated in al-Mustadrak, 2:350, from Ibn Abbas concerning the meaning of the verse: “The loss of its scholars, jurists, and best inhabitants.”
(4) Narrated by al-Bukhari in the Book of Knowledge, chapter “How Knowledge Is Taken Away,” 1:194; Muslim in the Book of Knowledge, chapter “The Removal and Taking Away of Knowledge,” no. 2673, 4:2058; and the author of Sharh al-Sunnah, 1:4.
(5) Narrated by Ibn Abd al-Barr in Jami Bayan al-Ilm, p. 240, from al-Hasan.
(6) Narrated by Abd al-Razzaq in al-Musannaf, 10:252; al-Tabarani in al-Kabir, 9:189; al-Darimi in the introduction to al-Sunan, 1:54; al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in al-Faqih wa al-Mutafaqqih, 1:43; and al-Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal ila al-Sunan, p. 272. Al-Bayhaqi said: “This is mursal,” meaning that its chain is missing the Companion, “though it has also been narrated with a connected chain through the Syrians.” See Dr. Muhammad al-Azami’s annotation in the same place.
(7) Al-Tabari said in his Tafsir, 16:497-498: “The soundest interpretation is that of those who said that the words, ‘Have they not seen that We come to the land, reducing it from its borders?’ refer to the Muslims, the companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, gaining ascendancy over it and subjugating its inhabitants. Will they not then take heed of this and fear that the Muslims will gain ascendancy over their land and subjugate them? For Allah warned the polytheists among his people who had asked His Messenger for signs, saying: ‘Whether We show you some of what We promise them, or cause you to die, your duty is only to convey the message, and upon Us is the reckoning.’ Then, exalted is He, He rebuked them for failing to learn from what they witnessed of Allah’s treatment of their counterparts among the unbelievers, while they continued to ask for signs. Thus He said: ‘Have they not seen that We come to the land, reducing it from its borders?’—by subjugating its inhabitants and gaining dominion over it from its borders and sides—yet they do not take heed of what they see.”