Majmu Fatawa - Salih Al-Fawzan - (1/153)

Majmu FatawaSalih Al-Fawzan

Answer: These two verses, along with the ones that precede them, depict the scene of the Day of Resurrection. The Most High says: “Indeed in that is a sign for whoever fears the punishment of the Hereafter. That is a Day for which mankind will be gathered, and that is a Day witnessed. And We delay it only for a limited term. On the Day it comes no soul will speak except by His permission; among them will be the wretched and the blessed. As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire; for them therein is violent exhaling and inhaling” (Hūd 103–106) — up to the end of the two verses in question.

He — exalted is He — makes clear that on that momentous Day people will fall into two groups: the wretched and the blessed. He then explains the recompense of the wretched and the recompense of the blessed: “As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire; for them therein is violent exhaling and inhaling, abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure.” The exegetes have differed over the meaning of His words “as long as the heavens and the earth endure.” One view is that this follows the idiom of the Arabs: when they wish to describe something as everlasting they say, “It will last as long as the heavens and the earth.” Thus what is meant here is unrestricted perpetuity, in accordance with their customary style.

Another view holds that what is intended is the genus of the heavens and the earth, for the Hereafter will also have a heaven and an earth, though they are not this present heaven and earth; Allah the Most High says, “On the Day when the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens as well, and they will appear before Allah, the One, the All-Compelling” (Ibrāhīm 48). Hence “the earth” and “the heavens” here denote the genus, even though the specific entities differ. The meaning, therefore, is that these disbelievers will never leave the Fire; they are consigned to it for all eternity.

As for the exception in His words “except as your Lord wills” that appears in both verses, the exception in the first verse concerning the wretched — “abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills” — the opinion of most exegetes is that what is intended by this exception

الجواب: هاتان الآيتان وما قبلهما في وصف مشهد يوم القيامة، قال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً لِمَنْ خَافَ عَذَابَ الْآخِرَةِ ذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَجْمُوعٌ لَهُ النَّاسُ وَذَلِكَ يَوْمٌ مَشْهُودٌ وَمَا نُؤَخِّرُهُ إِلَّا لِأَجَلٍ مَعْدُودٍ يَوْمَ يَأْتِ لَا تَكَلَّمُ نَفْسٌ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ فَمِنْهُمْ شَقِيٌّ وَسَعِيدٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ شَقُوا فَفِي النَّارِ لَهُمْ فِيهَا زَفِيرٌ وَشَهِيقٌ﴾ [هود ١٠٣-١٠٦] الآيتين. بين ﷾ أن الناس ينقسمون في هذا اليوم العظيم إلى قسمين: شقي وسعيد، ثم بين جزاء الأشقياء وجزاء السعداء ﴿فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ شَقُوا فَفِي النَّارِ لَهُمْ فِيهَا زَفِيرٌ وَشَهِيقٌ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ﴾ ، اختلف المفسرون في معنى قوله تعالى: ﴿مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ﴾ ، فقيل: إن هذا جرى على أساليب العرب، وأن العرب إذا أرادوا أن يصفوا شيئًا بالدوام، قالوا: هذا دائم ما دامت السماوات والأرض، والمراد هنا مطلق الدوام، كما هو عادة العرب في أساليبها. وقيل: إن المراد جنس السماوات والأرض؛ لأن الآخرة أيضًا فيها سماء وفيها أرض، لكنها غير هذه السماء، وغير هذه الأرض الموجدتين الآن؛ لأن الله تعالى يقول: ﴿يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ الْأَرْضُ غَيْرَ الْأَرْضِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ وَبَرَزُوا لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ﴾ [إبراهيم: ٤٨] ، فالمراد هنا بالأرض وبالسماء الجنس، وإن كان العين مختلف، والمعنى: أن هؤلاء الكفار لا يخرجون من هذه النار أبد الآباد، وأنهم مخلدون فيها. أما الاستثناء في قوله تعالى: إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ في الآيتين المراد بالاستثناء في الآية الأولى في حق الأشقياء ﴿خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ﴾ ، الذي عليه أكثر المفسرين: أن المراد بهذا الاستثناء