576 Page Notes

74 Surah Al-Muddaththir (continued)

Page 576 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 576 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

Page 576 continues with Surah Al-Muddaththir (Chapter 74), verses 19 through 47.

This section contains some of the most striking eschatological (End Times) imagery in the entire Quran. It continues the severe direct warning to Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, transitions into a detailed architectural description of the intense heat of Saqar (Hellfire), introduces its nineteen celestial guardians, and concludes with a poignant dialogue between the dwellers of Paradise and the denizens of the Fire explaining exactly why they were condemned.

The Sunnah and classical Hadith clarify the historical mockery that surrounded these specific verses and unpack the profound daily spiritual habits they produced.

1. Verses 19–30: The Mockery of the "Nineteen" and Abu Jahl's Arrogance

"Over it are nineteen [keepers]." (Quran 74:30)

Misunderstanding Angelic Power

When verse 30 descended declaring that Hell was managed by only nineteen guardians, the Meccan elite completely misunderstood the nature of angels. They viewed them through a human, physical lens and began openly laughing, believing they could easily overpower nineteen guards by sheer numbers.

The Sunnah preserves the exact, sarcastic response of Abu Jahl and his tribal wrestling champions that triggered the immediate revelation of the clarifying explanatory verse (Verse 31).

Abdullah ibn Abbas (ra) and other early commentators reported that when the phrase "Over it are nineteen" was revealed, Abu Jahl mockingly said to the Quraysh: "May your mothers be bereaved of you! I hear Ibn Abi Kabshah (the Prophet) telling you that the keepers of Hell are only nineteen. Are you not capable of defeating them? Can every ten men among you not just grab one guard of Hell?!"

Hearing this, Abu al-Ashadd ibn Qasid, a famous Meccan powerhouse wrestler boasting massive physical strength, stood up arrogantly and declared: "O people of Quraysh! Don't worry. I will personally take care of seventeen of them by throwing them over my shoulders, and you can handle the remaining two for me!"

Allah immediately responded by revealing Verse 31 on the same page: "And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels. And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve..." emphasizing that a single angel possesses the cataclysmic power to annihilate an entire civilization.

Source: Preserved in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Al-Bayhaqi’s Dala’il al-Nubuwwah, and Al-Wahidi’s Asbab al-Nuzul.

2. Verse 31: The True Scale of Allah's Armies

"...And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him..." (Quran 74:31)

The Staggering Reality of the Unseen Forces

To obliterate the idea that "nineteen" implied a small or weak heavenly defense force, the Sunnah provides jaw-dropping statistics on the actual scale and weight of the angelic army mentioned in this verse.

Abu Dharr (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, I see what you do not see, and I hear what you do not hear. The sky groans and creaks, and it has every right to groan! There is not a space even the width of four fingers in the entire heavens except that an angel is placing its forehead down in prostration (Sujud) to Allah."

Source: Sunan at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 2312) and Sunan Ibn Majah.

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (ra) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said regarding the sheer mass of these "soldiers": "Hellfire will be brought forth on that Day (Judgment Day) pulled by seventy thousand ropes. At each individual rope, there will be seventy thousand angels tightly pulling it." (Totaling 4.9 billion angels escorting the Fire).

Source: Sahih Muslim (Hadith 2842).

3. Verses 42–43: "We Were Not of Those Who Offered Prayer"

"What has caused you to enter Saqar?" They will say, "We were not of those who used to pray..." (Quran 74:42-43)

The Barrier Between Islam and Disbelief

In this profound dialogue, the criminals confess that their very first step toward Hell (Saqar) was their deliberate neglect of the ritual prayer (Salah). The Sunnah establishes this exact verse as the ultimate legal baseline for why prayer is considered the definitive identity of a Muslim.

Jabir ibn Abdullah (ra) reported that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Verily, between a man and polytheism (Shirk) and disbelief (Kufr) is the absolute abandonment of the prayer."

Source: Sahih Muslim (Hadith 82).

Buraydah (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The covenant that stands firmly between us and them is the prayer. Therefore, whosoever abandons it has slipped into disbelief."

Source: Sunan at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 2621) and Sunan an-Nasa'i.

4. Verse 44: "Nor Did We Feed the Poor"

"...Nor did we used to feed the poor." (Quran 74:44)

The Inseparable Bond of Faith and Charity

The dwellers of the fire list a social crime directly alongside their theological crime: an total lack of empathy for the destitute. The Sunnah models the absolute urgency of avoiding this specific trap.

Adi ibn Hatim (ra) reported that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the Fire and sought refuge from it, turning his face away three times. He then forcefully commanded his companions: "Protect yourselves from the Fire, even if it is only by giving half of a single date fruit in charity. And if you cannot find even that, then do it with a good, kind word."

Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1413) and Sahih Muslim.

The final verses on page 575—Surah Al-Muddaththir (Chapter 74), verses 45 through 47—wrap up the chilling testimony of the dwellers of Hell (Saqar). After admitting that they skipped their prayers and neglected the poor, they confess to their final two fatal lifestyle choices: indulging in toxic, vain speech and living in total denial of accountability, until death abruptly ended their game.

The Sunnah provides precise definitions for the unique phrasing in these verses and outlines how the Prophet ﷺ trained his companions to actively avoid these traps.

1. Verse 45: The Danger of "Vain Discourse" (Al-Khawd)

"And we used to enter into vain discourse (Nakhudu) with those who engaged in it." (Quran 74:45)

The Arabic root kh-w-d literally means to plunge into, wade through, or splash around in water. In a spiritual context, it refers to a person who has no solid principles of their own, so they carelessly "plunge" into whatever toxic gossip, mockery of religion, or sinful trends are popular around them just to fit in.

The Sunnah explicitly warns against this passive, crowd-pleasing mentality, highlighting that reckless speech alone can doom a person.

Abu Hurairah (ra) reported that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Indeed, a servant may utter a word that pleases Allah without giving it much thought, and because of it Allah raises him in ranks. And a servant may utter a word that angers Allah without giving it much thought, and because of it he plummets straight into the Hellfire." Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 6478).

In another famous tradition, Mu'adh ibn Jabal (ra) asked the Prophet if humanity would really be held accountable for everyday casual speech. The Prophet ﷺ responded forcefully: "May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu'adh! Is there anything that throws people headfirst into the Hellfire except the harvests of their own tongues?!" Source: Sunan at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 2616) and Sunan Ibn Majah.

2. Verse 46: Intellectual Mockery of Accountability

"And we used to deny the Day of Recompense." (Quran 74:46)

The pagan elite of Mecca did not just quietly disbelieve in the Day of Judgment; they aggressively ridiculed the concept, joking about bones turning to dust and demanding the Prophet bring on the punishment immediately. The Sunnah reveals that this arrogant cosmic gamble is a defining trait of those who lose their spiritual compass.

Abu Hurairah (ra) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Allah the Almighty says: 'The son of Adam denies Me, and he has no right to do so... As for his denial of Me, it is his saying: He will not recreate me as He created me the first time—even though the initial creation is not any easier for Me than repeating it.'" Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 4974).

3. Verse 47: The True Definition of "Certainty" (Al-Yaqin)

"Until there came to us Al-Yaqin [the Certainty]." (Quran 74:47)

In regular conversation, Yaqin means absolute conviction. However, in this specific Quranic verse, the Sunnah explicitly defines Al-Yaqin as a code word for Death. Death is the ultimate certainty because whether a person is an atheist, an agnostic, or a believer, everyone agrees that their earthly life will end. For the deniers, the reality of the afterlife only became "certain" the moment their soul left their chest—at which point, repentance was no longer accepted.

The Prophet ﷺ used this exact linguistic definition when mourning his companions, confirming how the Sunnah reads this verse.

When the companion Uthman ibn Mazh'oon (ra) passed away, the Prophet ﷺ went to visit his body. Looking at him, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ explicitly used the vocabulary of Verse 47, stating: "As for him, by Allah, Al-Yaqin (Death) has firmly come to him from his Lord, and I wish nothing but good for him." Source: Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 1243).