Commentary
In verse 18, Allah Ta` ala has likened the deeds of disbelievers to ashes which, if blown away by the wind, would scatter all over leaving no traces behind and making it impossible for someone interested to retrieve them and put them back to some use. So, the verse: مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا بِرَ‌بِّهِمْ ۖ أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَرَ‌مَادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّ‌يحُ فِي يَوْمٍ عَاصِفٍ (The deeds of those who disbelieve their Lord are like ashes blown away by the wind on a stormy day - 18) means that the deeds of disbelievers - though, they may obviously be good too - still, they too do not find acceptance with Allah Ta’ ala. There-fore, they are all wasted.
After that, in the verses cited immediately above, the similitude of a believer and his deeds has been given first (24) which is followed by a similitude of disbelievers and hypocrites (26). In the earlier verse, a believer and his deeds have been likened to a tree with strong trunks, and roots going deep down the ground watered by underground streams. Deep-set roots give strength and stability to this tree so that strong winds would not throw them off the ground. And being high above the ground level, its fruit too remains protected against polluting agents. Then, another attribute of this tree is that its branches should be fairly elevated skywards. And the third attribute of this tree is that its fruit could be eaten during all seasons and under all conditions.
What tree is that and where is it found? About that, the sayings of the commentators differ. In all likelihood, that is a date-palm. This view is supported by experience, observation, and by Hadith narrations as well. That the trunk of the date-palm is high and strong can be noticed physically. That its roots go deep down the ground is also well-known, and its fruit too is eaten at all times and in different ways and conditions. From the time its fruit shows up on the tree upto the time it becomes ripe, it is eaten in all possible forms and situations as is or as transformed into chutneys and jams and in a myriad other preparations. After the fruit becomes ripe, it can be stored throughout the year. It somehow comes handy morning and evening, day and night, summer and winter, almost every season, every time. Even the pith of the tree is eaten while sweet juice is extracted from it. Mats and other articles of use are made from its leaves. Date stones make fine fodder for animals. In contrast, other trees yield their fruit during particular seasons and they become available within those seasons. They are not stored naturally, nor everything in them is put to some or the other use.
Based on a narration of Sayyidna Anas , Tirmidhi, Al-Nasai, Ibn Hibban and Hakim have reported that the Holy Prophet said: The good tree (شَجَرَ‌ةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ mentioned in the Quran) is the date-tree; and the bad tree (شَجَرَ‌ةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ - also mentioned in the Quran) is the tree of Hanzal [ colocynth, citrullus colocynthis ] (Mazhari)
According to a report from Mujahid appearing in the Musnad of Ahmad, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Umar ؓ said: Once we were present in the company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ when someone brought the pith of a date-palm for him. At that time, he asked his Companions: Out of the many trees, there is the tree which is like a believer (at this point, in a narration of Sahih al-Bukhari, it has been mentioned that the Holy Prophet ﷺ also said: The leaves of this tree do not fall in any season). Tell me which tree is that? Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar ؓ says that he felt like telling him that it was the date tree. But, present there in the sitting were many senior Companions like Sayyidna Abu Bakr and Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ observed their silence and did not have the courage to say that. After that, the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself said: That is the date tree.
One of the reasons why a believer has been likened to this tree is that the faith in Kalimah Tayyibah is his root, which is deep-set and strong. The accidents of the world cannot shake it out. There is no dearth of examples among the most perfect of all believers, the Sahabah and the Tabi` in, rather among the staunch believers of every period of time, that they cared more about their Iman and less for their life or wealth or anything else. The second reason is their concern for purity and taste for decency in that they are not affected by the pollutants of the world - just like a large tree which remains unaffected by the impur-ities of the land surface. As for these two attributes, they bear similarity to: أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ (with its roots firm - 24) while the third reason is that the way the branches of the date-palm are high and skyward so are the fruits of the Iman of a believer, that is, their deeds which are also raised toward the heavens. It appears in the Quran: إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ that is, good words are raised towards Allah Ta’ ala. The sense is that what a believer does in the form of Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah, Tasbih (proclaiming His purity), Tahlil (saying la ilaha illallah) and the recitation of the Quran keeps reaching Allah Ta’ ala morning and evening.
The fourth reason is that the way the date fruit is eaten day and night at all times, in all seasons and under all conditions, it is in the same way that the good deeds of a believer continue day and night at all times, in all seasons and under all conditions. And the way everything about the date-palm is useful and beneficial, in the same way, every word and deed, movement and rest, and the effects generated by them, prove beneficial for the whole world - on condition that he or she be a perfect believer, and be a faithful practitioner of the teachings of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ .
The Similitude of Disbelievers (Kuffar)
In contrast, the second image given is that of disbelievers. They have been likened to a bad tree شَجَرَ‌ةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ. It is similar to the example of the good tree which refers to the statement of Muslim creed: لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah : There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah), that is, Iman or faith. And, in this manner, the equation of the bad word with the bad tree denotes words and deeds of disbelief. As stated in the Iladith quoted earlier, the bad tree has been identified as: حَنظَل۔ (hanzal) and, according to others, it is garlic.
As for the bad tree, the Quran describes it by saying that its roots do not go deep into the earth, therefore, anyone can pull out the whole of it at will. This is what the expression: اجْتُثَّتْ مِن فَوْقِ الْأَرْ‌ضِ (translated as: re-moved from the top soil) means - because the real meaning of the word: اجْتُثَّتْ (ujtuththat) is to remove the body of something as a whole.
That the deeds of a disbeliever have been likened to such a tree is fairly obvious. First of all, the beliefs of a disbeliever have no root or foundation. In no time, they would lose their ground. Secondly, they are affected by the filth of the world around them. Thirdly, the fruits of their tree, that is, their deeds, are worthless in the sight of Allah.
The Special Effect of Iman
Described in the second verse (27) is the special effect of the Iman or faith of a believer and the saying of la ilaha illallah: لا إله إلا اللہ "Allah keeps the believers firm with the stable word in the worldly life and in the Hereafter". It means that the Kalimah Tayyibah, the pivotal guiding principle of a believer, is a stable word, stable like a strong and firmly established tree which is kept standing powerfully and surviving eternally by Allah Ta’ ala, in this world, and in the Hereafter as well. However, the condition is that this blessed statement is uttered with unalloyed sincerity and that the sense of لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah : there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah) is understood fully and clearly following which it should be adopted as the guiding principle of life.
In other words, one who believes in Kalimah Tayyibah is supported and strengthened with the grace of Allah Ta’ ala because of which he or she stands firm by this conviction right upto the time of death, no matter how many challenges and unwelcome happenings have to be encountered in its defence. As for the Akhirah or the Hereafter, one is helped with this Kalimah when it is made to stay on and keep emitting its beneficial effects. It has been said in a Hadith of Sahih al-Bukhari that "Akhirah (Hereafter) in this verse means Barzakh (the post-death and pre-Resurrection state of life) that is, the world of the grave.
The Reward and Punishment of the Grave Stand Proved from the Quran and Sunnah
According to Hadith, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: When a believer will be questioned in the grave, he or she will remain firm on this Kalimah, even in a place so awesome and a state so punishing, of course, with Divine will and support, and bear witness to the blessed statement: لا إله إلا اللہ la ilaha illallah. And then he said: This is what the saying of the Quran: يُثَبِّتُ اللَّـهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَ‌ةِ (Allah keeps the believers firm with the stable word in the worldly life and in the Hereafter - 27) means. (This Hadith was narrated by Sayyidna Bara ibn ` Azib). Similar ahadith have been reported from about forty Sahabah ؓ with reliable chains of authorities which Ibn Kathir has put together at this stage of his Tafsir. Ash-Shaykh Jalaluddin As-Suyuti, in his versified treatise At-Tathbit ` Ind at-Tabyit, and by referring to seventy alhadith in Sharh As-Sudur, has confirmed that these narrations have come to us in an uninterrupted (mutawatir) succession. A11 these noble Sahabah رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہم ، have declared that "Akhirah (Hereafter) in this verse refers to the grave and the verse itself relates to the reward and punishment of the grave.
That man, after his death and burial, lives again, answers the questions asked by the angels, then the coming of reward or punishment as a result of success or failure in this test has been mentioned in almost ten verses of the Holy Qur’ an, by way of hint; while, in seventy mutawatir ahadith (those passed on in uninterrupted succession), these have been mentioned very clearly and explicitly - in which there remains no room for a Muslim to doubt. As for the commonplace doubts like - in this world of our experience, nobody sees these rewards and punishments - there is no room here to accommodate detailed answers to them. However, it is quite sufficient to understand that not being able to see something is no proof of its being not present. Nobody sees the Jinn and angels, but they are there. The air is not seen, but it is present there. The deep space which is being probed and examined in our time through rockets and space vehicles was something nobody could see before this, but it did exist. A dreamer dreams of being in some trouble in his dream, even writhes under the pain of punishment, but people around him remain to-tally unaware of what is happening to him.
As a matter of principle, it can be said that taking one world on the analogy of the conditions prevailing in the other is wrong by itself. When the Creator of the universe has told us through His Messenger that once we pass on to another world, there is reward and punishment there, it becomes necessary for us to believe in it.