471 Page Notes

40 Surah Ghafir (continued)

Page 471 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 471 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

Page 471 of the Quran continues the address of the "Believing Man of Pharaoh's Family" in Surah Ghafir (40), verses 34 through 40. In this section, he leverages the history of Prophet Joseph (Yusuf) to warn his people against skepticism, while Pharaoh interrupts with a grandiose order to build a tower to see the God of Moses. The section ends with the Believing Man contrasting the fleeting nature of worldly life with the eternal reward of the Hereafter.

Canonical Hadith literature and classical commentary (Tafsir) tie these specific verses to explicit teachings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

1. Verse 34: The Legacy of Joseph and the Finality of Prophethood

"And Joseph had already come to you before with clear proofs, but you remained in doubt of that which he brought to you, until when he died, you said, 'Never will Allah send a messenger after him.'..."

The Lineage of the "Noble Son of Noble Men"

The Believing Man reminds the Egyptians that they had previously doubted Prophet Joseph, yet upon his death, they erroneously assumed Allah would never send another guide. In the Sunnah, the Prophet ﷺ deeply honored Joseph’s legacy, establishing his status as the peak of noble lineage.

• Hadith Context: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked who the most honorable of people was. He replied:
  "The most honorable of people is the noble son of a noble son, of a noble son, of a noble son: Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham."

• Citation: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 60 (Book of the Prophets), Hadith 3374.

The Warning Against Rejecting Messengers

The verse critiques people who default to saying, "Allah will never send another messenger," as an excuse to ignore the living guide in front of them. The Prophet ﷺ explicitly warned his own Ummah against a similar psychological trap—failing to follow the finality of his message.

• Hadith Context: The Prophet ﷺ stated:
  "My similitude and that of the prophets before me is that of a man who built a house... People walk around it wondering at its beauty, saying: 'Why has this brick not been put in its place?' I am that brick, and I am the last of the Prophets."

• Citation: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 61 (Virtues), Hadith 3535; Sahih Muslim, Book 43, Hadith 2286.

2. Verses 36–37: Pharaoh’s Tower and the Illusion of Arrogance

And Pharaoh said, "O Haman, construct for me a tower that I might reach the ways—the ways into the heavens—so that I may look at the deity of Moses; but indeed, I think he is a liar."...

The Arrogant Search for God in the Physical Sky

Pharaoh’s attempt to build a physical tower to climb to the heavens represents total literalist arrogance. The Sunnah counters this by teaching that Allah's elevation above the heavens does not mean He is contained by physical space, nor can he be found via human engineering.

• Hadith Context: In a famous narration regarding where Allah is, a young slave girl pointed up. The Prophet ﷺ accepted her answer as proof of her sound faith (Fitrah), confirming the divine loftiness (Al-Uluww) that Pharaoh tried to mock:
  The Prophet ﷺ asked her, "Where is Allah?" She replied, "Above the sky (Fi-Sama)." He asked, "Who am I?" She said, "You are the Messenger of Allah." The Prophet ﷺ then told her master, "Free her, for she is a believer."

• Citation: Sahih Muslim, Book 5 (The Book of Mosques), Hadith 537.

3. Verse 39: The Fleeting Nature of Worldly Life (Al-Dunya)

"O my people, this worldly life is only [a temporary] enjoyment, and indeed, the Hereafter—that is the home of [permanent] settlement."

This verse forms a core philosophical pillar of the Sunnah. The phrase "temporary enjoyment" (Mata') indicates something small, short-lived, and passing.

Living as a Stranger

The Prophet ﷺ perfectly mirrored the Believing Man's advice when instructing his close companions on how to view their daily lives.

• Hadith Context: Abdullah ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took him by the shoulder and said:
  "Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler on a path."

• Citation: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 81 (To make the Heart Tender), Hadith 6416.

The Value of the World Compared to the Hereafter

To give the believers a tangible sense of how tiny the Mata' (enjoyment) of this world is compared to the permanent home (Dar al-Qarar) mentioned in the verse, the Prophet ﷺ used a striking liquid analogy:

"By Allah, this world in comparison to the Hereafter is just as if one of you were to dip his finger into the ocean; let him see what it brings back."

• Citation: Sahih Muslim, Book 53 (Paradise, its Blessions and its People), Hadith 2858.

Verse 40 of Surah Ghafir (40), found at the very bottom of page 471, represents a massive theological pivot in the address of the Believing Man of Pharaoh’s family.

“Whoever does an evil deed will not be recompensed except by the like thereof; but whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer—those will enter Paradise, being given provision therein without account.”

This single verse outlines the core Islamic matrix of divine justice and boundless mercy. In the Sunnah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ elaborated extensively on the three distinct mathematical equations laid out here: the exact match for a bad deed, the exponential multiplication of a good deed, and the concept of provision "without account."

1. The Divine Math: Justice vs. Exponential Mercy

The verse explicitly states that evil is recompensed only by its exact equivalent ("except by the like thereof"), whereas righteousness combined with faith leads to boundless, uncalculated rewards.

The Hadith Qudsi on Intentions and Deeds

The most direct prophetic explanation of this asymmetric math is found in a famous Hadith Qudsi (where the Prophet ﷺ narrates directly what Allah has decreed):

• Hadith Context: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ explained how Allah ordered the recording angels to calculate deeds:
  “Allah ordered (the appointed angels) over you that the good and the bad deeds be written, and He then showed how (to write): If someone intends to do a good deed and he does not do it, Allah writes for him a full good deed... and if he intends to do it and actually does it, Allah writes for him from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or even many more times. And if someone intends to do a bad deed and he does not do it, Allah writes for him a full good deed... and if he intends to do it and actually does it, Allah writes for him one bad deed.”

• Citation: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 81 (To make the Heart Tender), Hadith 6491; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 131.

2. Gender Equality in Spiritual Reward

“...whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer...”

Surah Ghafir verse 40 explicitly codifies that spiritual accountability and the capacity for ultimate success in the eyes of Allah are identical for men and women.

The Sabab al-Nuzul (Reason for Revelation) in the Sunnah

In the early days of Islam in Makkah and Madinah, the women of the Sahabah actively questioned their placement in the divine text, prompting explicit Quranic declarations like this one.

• Hadith Context: Ummu Salama (the wife of the Prophet ﷺ) went to him and remarked: "O Messenger of Allah, I do not hear Allah mentioning women in the migration (Hijrah) as He mentions men." In response to this mindset, Allah revealed verses explicitly coupling "male or female" in reward. The Prophet ﷺ heavily enforced this baseline in the Sunnah, famously stating:
  “Indeed, women are the twin halves of men.”

• Citation: Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 1 (The Book of Purification), Hadith 236; Sunan At-Tirmidhi, Hadith 113 (Authenticated as Sahih by Al-Albani).

3. Entering Paradise "Without Account" (Bighayri Hisaab)

“...those will enter Paradise, being given provision therein without account.”

The phrase Bighayri Hisaab indicates a reward so immense it bypasses standard auditing, or a group of people who are completely spared the grueling questioning of the Day of Judgment.

The 70,000 Who Bypass the Auditing Entirely

The Prophet ﷺ gave a vivid description of the elite elite among his Ummah who embody the absolute completion of this verse.

• Hadith Context: The Prophet ﷺ was shown the nations of the past, and then saw his own massive following. He told his companions:
  “With them are seventy thousand who will enter Paradise without an account (Bighayri Hisaab) and without suffering any punishment.” When asked who they were, he explained: “They are those who do not treat themselves with Ruqyah (incantations), nor do they seek omens, nor do they get themselves cauterized, and they put their absolute trust (Tawakkul) in their Lord.”

• Citation: Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 76 (Book of Medicine), Hadith 5705; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 220.