Tafseer Ibn Kathir of ATH THUUR [21]

21. And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith, -- to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned. 22. And We shall provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire. 23. There they shall pass from hand to hand a cup, free from any idle talk, and free from sin. 24. And there will go round boy-servants of theirs, to serve them as if they were preserved pearls. 25. And some of them draw near to others, questioning. 26. Saying: ”A foretime, we were afraid in the midst of our families.'' 27. ”So Allah has been gracious to us, and has saved us from the torment of the Fire.'' 28. ”Verily, We used to invoke Him before. Verily, He is the Most Subtle, the Most Merciful.'' In this Ayah, Allah the Exalted affirms His favor, generosity, graciousness, compassion and beneficence towards His creation. When the offspring of the righteous believers imitate their parents regarding faith, Allah will elevate the latter to the ranks of the former, even though the latter did not perform deeds as goodly as their parents. Allah will comfort the eyes of the parents by seeing their offspring elevated to their grades. Surely, Allah will gather them together in the best manner, and He will not decrease the reward or the grades of those higher in rank for joining them together, hence His statement,

(to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything.) Ath-Thawri reported that Ibn `Abbas said, ”Verily, Allah elevates the ranks of the believers' offspring to rank of their parents, even though the latter have not performed as well as the former, so that the eyes of the parents are comforted.'' Ibn `Abbas then recited this Ayah,

(And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith, -- to them shall We join their offspring, and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything.) Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded this statement from Sufyan Ath-Thawri from Ibn `Abbas. Ibn Abi Hatim also recorded that Ibn `Abbas commented on Allah's statement,

(And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith, -- to them shall We join their offspring.) saying, ”They are the offspring of the believers who died on the faith. If the ranks of their parents are higher than their ranks, they will be joined with their parents. No part of the reward their parents received for their good deeds will be reduced for them.'' `Abdullah, son of Imam Ahmad, recorded that `Ali said, ”Khadijah asked the Prophet about two of her children who died during the time of Jahiliyyah, and the Messenger of Allah said;

(They are both in the Fire.) When he saw sadness on her face, he said,

(If you saw their dwelling place, you would hate them.) She said, `O Allah's Messenger! What about my children with you.' He said,

(They are in Paradise.) The Messenger of Allah said,

(Verily, the believers and their offspring will dwell in Paradise, while the idolators and their offspring will dwell in the Hellfire.) The Prophet then recited the Ayah,

(And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in faith...)'' Certainly, it is Allah's grace and favor that He grants the children this blessing because of the good deeds of their parents. He also grants His favor to parents on account of their offspring invoking Allah for them. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Verily, Allah shall elevate the grade of a righteous servant in Paradise, who will ask, ”O Lord! How did I earn this'' Allah will reply, ”Through your son's invoking Me to forgive you.'') This Hadith has an authentic chain of narration, but it was not recorded in the Sahih this way. However, there is a witnessing narration for it in Sahih Muslim, from the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(When the Son of Adam dies, his record of deeds will cease except in three cases: an ongoing charity, knowledge that people are benefiting from and a righteous son who invokes Allah for him.)   Allah the Exalted said,

(Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned.) After Allah mentioned His favor of elevating the offspring to the ranks of their parents, even though the deeds of the former did not qualify them, He affirmed His fairness in that, He does not punish anyone for the mistakes of others,

(Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned.) Therefore, every person will be responsible for his actions. No sin committed by others shall ever be added to one's load, even if committed by his or her parents or offspring. Allah the Exalted said,

(Every person is a pledge for what he has earned, except those on the Right. In Gardens, they will ask one another about the criminals.)(74:38-41)   Allah said,

(And We shall provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire.) meaning, `We shall provide them with various types and kinds of fruits and meat, whatever they wish for and desire,'

(There they shall pass from hand to hand a cup,) meaning, of wine, according to Ad-Dahhak,

(free from any Laghw, and free from Ta'thim) meaning, when they drink, they do not say any idle, vain words or utter dirty, sinful speech like the drunken people in this life do. Ibn `Abbas said that Laghw means `falsehood' while Ta'thim means `lying'. Mujahid said, ”They do not curse each other nor sin.'' Qatadah said, ”These were the consequences of drinking in this life, and Shaytan helped in this regard. Allah purified the wine of the Hereafter from the ills and harm caused by the wine of this life.'' Therefore, Allah has purified the wine of the Hereafter from causing headaches, stomachaches and intoxication like the wine of this life. Allah stated that wine of the Hereafter shall not cause those who drink it to utter false, vain words that carry no benefit, full of foolishness and evil. Allah also described the wine of the Hereafter as beautiful in appearance, tasty and fruitful,

(White, delicious to the drinkers. Neither will they have Ghawl from that nor will they suffer intoxication therefrom.)(37:46-47) and,

(Wherefrom they will get neither nay aching of the head nor any intoxication.)(56:19) Allah the Exalted said here,

(There they shall pass from hand to hand a (wine) cup, free from any Laghw, and free from sin.) Allah said,

(And there will go round boy-servants of theirs to serve them as if they were preserved pearls.) This is a description of the servants and aids, the believers will have in Paradise. Their servants will be beautiful, graceful in appearance, clean and neat as well-preserved pearls,

(Immortal boys will go around them with cups, and jugs, and a glass of flowing wine.)(56:17-18) Allah the Exalted said,

(And some of them draw near to others, questioning.) meaning, the believers will draw near to each other talking and remembering their actions and conditions in this life, just as people in this life talk while drinking, especially when they become intoxicated,

(Saying: ”Aforetime, we were afraid in the midst of our families.'') meaning, `in the life of world and in the midst of our families, we were afraid of our Lord and fearful of His torment and punishment,'

(So Allah has been gracious to us, and has saved us from the torment of the Fire.) meaning, `He has granted us a favor and saved us from what we feared,'

(Verily, We used to invoke Him before.) meaning, `we used to invoke Him with submission and humility, and He accepted our invocation and gave us what we wished,'

(Verily, He is the Most Subtle, the Most Merciful.)