Big hadith misinterpretation of Verse 44:29 Surah Ad-Dukhan

[Ruhi_Rose]

“And the heaven and the earth wept not for them, nor were they given a respite.” 44:29 Surah Ad-Dukhan.

Reference here is to Pharaoh, his helpers and their tyranny at a time when Prophet Musa (pbuh) came to them with the Message of Allah Almighty and they rejected it through pride and arrogance.  As long as Pharaoh and his supporters were in power, everyone flattered, praised and glorified them.  But when they fell from power, were drowned and dead, no one grieved for them. Nor was the punishment of such tyrants reprieved.  Egypt was a rich land at that time, and everything which Pharoah lost was inherited by his successors whose ultimate fate too is known to Allah alone.  By then, Prophet Musa (pbuh) and his followers were already out of Egypt.

But a hadith presented by Ibn Kathir claims the explanation of V.44:29 as follows:

Ibn Jarir recorded that Sa`id bin Jubayr said, “A man came to Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and said to him: `O Abu Al-`Abbas, Allah says, (And the heavens and the earth wept not for them, nor were they given respite) — do the heavens and the earth weep for anybody?  He (Ibn Abbass), said:  Yes, there is no one who does not have a gate in the heavens through which his provision comes down and his good deeds ascend. When the believer dies, that gate is closed; it misses him and weeps for him, and the place of prayer on earth where he used to pray and remember Allah also weeps for him.”   This hadith is a glaring proof that Ibn Kathir didn’t even read much of the Quran, and he certainly hadn’t read Surah Ad-Dukhan.  Thus he completely misunderstood the Verse through and through!  To avoid the embarrassment, the hadithist website, AbdurRehman.org, added in their own words at the end of this wrong tafsir, “But the people of Fir`awn left no trace of righteousness on the earth and they had no good deeds that ascended to Allah, so the heavens and the earth did not weep for them.”  Even this annexation by the hadithist website is partly incorrect, as traditionalists take the Words of V.44:29 "heaven and the earth wept" to be literally referring to heaven and Jannah.  But that Quranic expression actually alludes to the subjects of Pharoah whom he ruled.   Needless to say, there is NO such mention in the Noble Quran of everyone having a gate in the heavens through which their provisions arrive, and that gate being closed after their death and the gate also crying if the deceased was a believer.  A total hadith fabrication for which the Noble Quran gives no warrant.

Moreover, in his hadith, Ibn Kathir didn’t even have the courtesy to quote the name of the Surah and the Verse number.

Particularly after you read a few of the preceding Verses before Verse 44:29, the interpretation becomes even more simple and clear.  Yet hadith narrator, Ibn Kathir, totally misinterpreted this Verse with an explanation that has no link nor any compatibility with the Noble Quran.

The following are the complete set of Verses of Surah Ad-Dukhan for every reader to perceive themselves how simple it is to understand and how much the hadith has misinterpreted it.

And verily We tried before them Pharaoh's folk, when there came unto them a noble messenger, 44:17.
Saying: Give up to me the slaves of Allah. Indeed, I am a faithful messenger unto you. 44:18.
And saying: Be not proud against Allah. Indeed, I bring you a clear warrant.  44:19.
And indeed, I have sought refuge in my Rabb and your Rabb lest you stone me to death.   44:20.
And if you put no faith in me, then let me go.  44:21.
And he cried unto his Rabb, (saying): These are guilty folk. 44:22.
Then (his Rabb commanded): Take away My slaves by night.  Indeed, you will be followed,   44:23.
And leave the sea behind at rest, for lo! they are a drowned host.  44:24.
How many were the gardens and the watersprings that they left behind,  44:25.
And the cornlands and the goodly sites   44:26.
And pleasant things wherein they took delight!   44:27.
Even so (it was), and We made it an inheritance for other folk;   44:28
And the heaven and the earth wept not for them, nor were they reprieved.  44:29.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Ibn Kathir's lack of education and complete lack of interest in the Noble Quran is so notoriously obvious.  Just about none of his works have shown even a shred of conformity with the Noble Quran. Yet the more he exposes his ignorance the more the hadithists adore this discourteous wacko.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Yeah .... and according to some of the hadithists I know, Ibn Kathir is supposed to be even a greater genius thank Bukhari.  The more ridiculous their talk, the more the traditionalists glorify them.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Yes, and the reason for it is their own uneasiness and their denial acts as a cover-up of the bad works of these crazy so-called ulemas.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Such a simple and clear Verse to understand.  SubhanAllah.  Yet if someone misinterprets it as widely as Ibn Kathir, that guy must either be very uneducated, dumb unconscientious or on dope.  There cannot be any other possibilities. 

[N. Truth Seeker]

.... that guy must either be very uneducated, dumb unconscientious or on dope.  There cannot be any other possibilities. 

 😄

I think both reasons apply to Kathir.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

I don't know why the fraudulent works of such people are not banned.  Even traditionalists ought to have a slightly better conscience than accepting ones like Kathir, Bukhari etc. .. and of course the king of scoundrels and Satan's best friend, Tabari.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Tabari is by far the worst.  How much advantage that shameless Salman Rushdi took from the false commentaries of madman Tabari, and yet not a single current traditionalist had the decency to stand up and say that Tabari was an uneducated crook who knew nothing about the Noble Quran. 

For info of readers, read:  The mischief of Rushdi originated from the lies of al-Tabari

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Yes, right.   That's because in the hearts of traditionalist Sheikhs, imams and their followers, the hadith narrators and compilers are far more respected than Allah Almighty, His Final Message and the final messenger.  For the sake of those medieval traditionalists, the modern traditionalists don't mind the Quran being maligned with utter misinterpretations and so they never want to give any clarifications correcting the lies of medieval traditionalists.  Absolutely pathetic.  Allah will deal with all of them, InshAllah.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Unfortunately yes, that's precisely the case.  They won't acknowledge it, but that doesn't make any difference.  Their intent is apparent.

[Zainab_M]

Moreover, in his hadith, Ibn Kathir didn’t even have the courtesy to quote the name of the Surah and the Verse number.

These hadith guys, most of whom were new Persian converts to Islam, knew very little or no Arabic and they never knew any of the titles of Quranic Surahs.  Even those who were Arabs between the 11th and 15th centuries such as Ibn Kathir, knew very little Quranic Arabic. They didn’t even know the titles of the shorter Surahs in the 30th part (or juz) of the Quran.  Thus they identified these Surahs by the first Ayat or the first words rather than the title.  That is a marked difference  between the learned Arabic speaking people of that time who knew the Quran and the ordinary ones including the early Persian converts who knew nothing of the Quran.  For instance, people like Bukhari, Kathir, Tabari etc.  will refer to Surah Ikhlas (or Tawheed) as “Qul huwal laahu ahad ..”   They will refer to Surah Al-Kausar as “Innaaa a'tainaa ..” and so on.   This is because they had only heard the recitation of some of the shorter Surahs but never read them.  They never opened the Quran and read it at all, so they knew nothing about the names or titles of the 114 Surahs in the Noble Quran.

Thanks for another of these very revealing posts, sister Ruhi.  Proves yet again how careful people need to be who are perpetually seeking explanations of Quranic Verses from something as unreliable as the hadith.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Very, very valid point Sister Zainab.  First of all, the early Persian converts knew very little Arabic and very little or nothing of the Quran.  Secondly, their mission was the distortion of Quranic Verses, not their correct interpretation.  Many of the unlearned Arab hadith compilers also followed the same path.  The hearts of most of these folk were still into their pre-Islamic culture and traditions despite their conversion to Islam.  The only way they could deviate people from the Quran was through their misinterpretations of Quranic Verses and the offensive ahadith. 

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Absolutely.  Also for this reason, if you check the Arabic of the hadith, you will find it to be of very inferior quality while the quality of the Arabic of the Noble Quran is by far the best of Arabic literature. 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Exactly sister Heba.  Very correct point.

[Zainab_M]

Absolutely correct.