I had a question regarding Ayat 110 from Surah Yusuf.
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ٱسۡتَيۡـَٔسَ ٱلرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّوٓاْ أَنَّہُمۡ قَدۡ ڪُذِبُواْ جَآءَهُمۡ نَصۡرُنَا فَنُجِّىَ مَن نَّشَآءُۖ وَلَا يُرَدُّ بَأۡسُنَا عَنِ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ (١١٠)
The word used here is (ٱسۡتَيۡـَٔسَ), which is from the baab of (استفعال) and one of the special nuances created by this baab is (إستحقاق أو لیاقة) to the (مأخذ).
So can we use this in the interpretation of the ayah and say that the ayah is telling us about the continuous struggle of the messengers to bring their respective nations to the straight path despite the ever-increasing opposition to the extent that the messengers found themselves in a hopeless situation. Yet still, they did not lose hope as the ayah does not mention the word (يئس). And the reason for them not losing hope is, the firm conviction in the arrival of the help of Allah Ta’ala, which is mentioned right afterwards.
Moreover, the help of Allah Ta’ala on the one hand is to remove the obstacles in the path of Hidayat (as understood from the ayah under consideration), and on the other hand it also consists of bringing the masses to the Deen of Allah (as understood from Surah Al Nasr).
Therefore, the great lesson derived from this ayah is to never lose hope in the help of Allah Ta’ala and also not lose hope in people accepting the message of Islam. If the likes of ‘Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl, Khalid bin Waleed, ‘Amr bin ‘Aas and Safwan bin Umayyah radhiallahu ‘anhum – sons of the biggest enemies of Islam – can accept Islam, then we don’t know who can accept Islam our times. But it requires continuous effort as these four Sahabah accepted Islam after about 20 or more years.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
To explain a verse of the Quran, one must be an expert in the Arabic language and also one must have expertise in many other fields.
The explanation posed in the enquiry i.e. the word استيأس being taken from استحقاق or لياقة has not been found. Rather استيأس is in the meaning of وجدان.
Furthermore, the second part of the verse وظنوا انهم قد كذبوا does not collaborate with your explanation. Hereunder is the explanation presented by Mufti Shafee’ Rahmatullahi Alihi:
“The disbelieving people of the past were given long respites, and because the punishment was not coming upon them, the messengers were in despair over the possibility that the punishment of Allah Ta’ala will not come upon such people and truth will not manifest itself at the time they had hoped it to be, they were wrong in their estimation (because Allah Ta’ala had not told them of a definite time), and the time fixed by them was based on particular signs. It was in this state of despair that Allah Ta’las help came to them, that is, the punishment on the disbelievers as promised, and those that brought Iman were saved from the punishment. Therefore, the disbelievers of Makkah should not be in any doubt about a delay in the punishment.
The words قد كذبوا in the verse under reference also carries the same sense, that is, the punishment which was to come upon the disbelievers was delayed while the prophets had estimated a time for it in their minds. When this punishment did not come at that time, they thought that they had made a mistake in determining the time for it. This Tafsir has been reported from Hadhrat Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas Radiallahu Anhu and Imam Tibi Rahimahullah has said that this Hadith is Sahih (sound).
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Tareque Ahmed
Student Darul Iftaa
New York, USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
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Ma’ariful Quran (English) 5/174-176