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ʾinna lladhī faraḍa ʿalayka l-qurʾāna la-rādduka ʾilā maʿādin qul rabbī ʾaʿlamu man jāʾa bi-l-hudā wa-man huwa fī ḍalālin mubīnin
Indeed He who has revealed to you the Quran will surely restore you to the place of return. Say, ‘My Lord knows best him who brings guidance and him who is in manifest error.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Qasas - Verse 85
85. “Verily He Who has (revealed and) ordained the Qur’an unto you will bring you back to the destination. Say: ‘My Lord knows best him who has brought the guidance and him who is in manifest error.”
The Occasion of Revelation
A group of commentators have narrated an occasion of revelation for this verse from Ibn-Abbas, the content of which is as follows: When the Prophet (S) was coming as migration from Mecca to Medina, he reached Juhfah, a land not so distanced from Mecca. He thought of his home, Mecca, a city which is the secure sanctuary of Allah, and where Ka‘bah was located, the thing that the heart and soul of the Prophet (S) had an unbroken link with it. The signs of this yearning, which had been mixed with an impression and sadness, were seen in his blessed face. Here Gabriel, the harbinger of revelation, came down and asked him (S) whether he was fond of his city and home town. The Prophet answered him positively.
Gabriel said:
And we know that this great promise was finally fulfilled and the Prophet of Islam (S), with a mighty army and with abundant glory, returned to Mecca victoriously, and the secure sanctuary of Allah was given to him without fighting and blood shedding. Thus, the abovementioned verse is one of the miraculous predictions of the Qur’an which stated such a prophecy so decisively and without any condition and it happened after a short time. This verse addresses the Prophet of Islam (S) and, following the statement about some parts of the life story of Moses, the son of ‘Imran (as), and his struggle against Pharaoh, gives a glad tidings with some serious instructions to the Prophet of Islam (S).
We said that the first verse out of these verses, as it is circulated, was revealed in Juhfah when the Prophet (S) was going to Medina. He was going to go to Yathrib and change its name to Madinat-ur-Rasul in order to form the main center of the Islamic government there and to cause the people’s talents to open to blow. He wanted to make it a platform for availability to the vast Divine government and his aims. Yet, his love and affection to Mecca vexed him hard and that periodic from that secure sanctuary of Allah was very inconvenient for him.
Here, the light of revelation enlightened his pure heart and gave him the good tidings of returning to his hometown, and announced:
Do not grieve! The same Lord Who returned Moses to his mother when he was a baby; the same Lord Who after ten years of absence returned him from Egypt to his main home-town in order to lighten the light of Monotheism and form the government of the oppressed after breaking the power of Pharaoh and his people, the same Lord will return you to Mecca with full might and strength and will lighten the light of Monotheism by your hand in this holy land.
These affairs are easy for the power of the Lord, the same Lord Who sent down the Qur’an unto your heart and made its conveyance obligatory and its ordinances incumbent. Yes, He is the Lord of the Qur’an, the Mighty Lord of the earth and heavens. Then the Qur’an adds that, against the stubbornness of the obstinate opponents, the Prophet (S) must treat as follows:
The way of guidance is clear, and their aberration is manifest. They make themselves tied in vain. Allah is well aware and the truth-seeking hearts also know this reality. Of course, the manifest commentary of the verse was the same thing which was said in the above, but some of the commentators have delivered some other probable meanings upon the Qur’anic word /ma‘ad/ and said that the purpose of /ma‘ad/ is ‘returning to life after death’, or ‘the land’, or ‘the rank of the Great Intercession’, or ‘Paradise’, or Jerusalem which was the place of ascension of the first prophet, and the like.
But regarding to the whole content of Surah Qasas and what is said in the story life of Moses and the Children of Israel, as well as the occasion of revelation that was cited in the above, all of these meanings seem improbable except the commentary of /ma‘ad/ i.e., the place of return, the land of Mecca.
In addition, Resurrection on the Day of Hereafter is not something that can be specific to the Prophet (S), while the verse speaks only about the Prophet (S), and this verse, being mentioned after the verse concerning the reward and retribution in the Hereafter, not only is not an evidence for this matter but also it may be a reason for its contrary, because the previous verse talks about the felicity in the next world and it is appropriate that the verse under discussion talks about the victory in this world.
By the way, the commentaries of Burhan, Safi, and ‘Atyab-ul-Bayan narrated from Jabir, from Hadrat Imam Baqir (as) and Imam Sadiq (as) that the purpose of the Qur’anic phrase: /la radduka ’ila ma‘ad/ is the period of Raj‘at (return to this world after death) when the Prophet (S), Imam Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as), the Immaculate Imams (as), those who are absolutely believers, and those who are absolutely disbelievers will return to this world and the Imams will govern throughout the world and will take vengeance from the enemies.
The narrations of Raj‘at are widely transmitted and Raj‘at is of the self-evident knowledge of Shi‘ah sect. There are also some verses in the Holy Qur’an that adapt to it. For example:
and some other verses. Up to now the religion of Islam has not prevailed over all religions and the promise of Allah has not been done yet, but it will not fail either, and this belongs only to the period of Raj‘at. The Late Sayyid Murtada ‘Alam-al-Huda has narrated in his book: ‘Muhkam Wa Mutashabih’ from Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) that this verse relates to Raj‘at in this world.12 At the presence of Imam Baqir (as) Jabir-ibn-‘Abdillah-’Ansari was spoken about, when Imam Baqir said:
“May Divine Mercy be upon Jabir. He was one of our jurisprudents.
His knowledge had reached to a point that he knew the verse:
which relates to Raj‘at.” 13
Once Imam Sadiq (as) was asked about the commentary of this verse. He said:
“By Allah, the world will not end until the holy Prophet (S) and Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) meet each other in Thuwiyyah. They will build a mosque there the doors of which will be numerous.” 14
Thuwiyyah is the name of a province in the suburb of Kufah.15
Footnotes