Reply to the doubt: There is not one of you but will pass over it

 This is a general address to all creation without exception, as evidenced by the Almighty’s statement after that:

{ Then We will save those who feared Allah… “72”}
(Surat Maryam)

. So: the arrivals here include the pious and others.


So what is the meaning of arrivals here? Arrivals is to go to the source of water to drink, i.e. to take water without drinking from it, as in the Almighty’s statement:


{ And when he reached the water of Madyan, he found there a group of people watering … “23”}
(Surat Al-Qasas)


, i.e. he reached the water.

So the meaning of:
{ And there is not one of you but will pass over it … “71”}
(Surat Maryam)


is : that all of you, pious and sinful, will return to the Fire and see it, because the path that everyone passes over is laid out on the surface of Hell.


It was narrated in this regard that Abu Saeed Al-Khudri said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said : “ The bridge will be placed in the midst of Hell, and it will have thorns like the thorns of the Sa’dan tree. Then people will ask to pass through it. Some will be saved, some will be scratched by it, some will be saved, some will be detained by it, some will be upside down, and some will be crushed in it . ”


So when the believer sees the Fire from which Allah has saved him, he will praise Allah and acknowledge His blessings and mercy upon him. Some scholars believe that “to come” means to reach the water and drink from it, and they cite as evidence the words of Allah the Almighty:


{ He will precede his people on the Day of Resurrection and will lead them into the Fire … “98”} (Hud), meaning : He will admit them. However, this contradicts the Arabic system in which the Qur’an was revealed, as the poet says: And when they reached the water, its brimful blue, We put down the staffs of the camper. That is , when they reached the water, they pitched their tents there. When they reached it and pitched their tents there, they had not drunk from it or taken any of its water. So the meaning of “to come” is: to reach it without drinking from its water. The proponents of this opinion who say { and its [water] will come to it … “71”} (Surat Maryam) meaning : inside it, also cite as evidence the words of Allah the Almighty: { Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers therein on their knees… “72 ” } ( Surat Maryam) They say : If coming to the water was merely reaching a place of water without drinking from it or entering it, Allah the Almighty would not have said: { and the wrongdoers therein … “72”} (Surat Maryam) And He would have said: Then Allah will save those who feared Allah and admit the wrongdoers… But { and the wrongdoers … “72”} (Surat Maryam) contains evidence of all of them entering the Fire. { And there is not one of you but will come to it : this is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed… “71”) According to the first opinion : coming to the Fire means seeing the Fire without entering it, and the wisdom behind it is that Allah the Almighty bestows His favor upon His believing servants by showing them the Fire and its blazing flames, so that they may know Allah’s favor upon them, and what faith in Allah has provided them with in terms of saving them from this Fire, as Allah the Almighty said: { So whoever is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire].” (Surat Al Imran: 185) The verse can be understood as follows:
















































The other meaning : “Entering” means entering, because the Creator, glory be to Him, created things and created for each thing a nature that governs it, and He, glory be to Him, is the only one who is able to disable this nature and strip it of its characteristics.


As we saw in the story of Abraham, peace be upon him, so the believers’ entry into the fire is as happened with Abraham, and God, glory be to Him, made it cool and safe for him, and God enabled them to do so, so they threw him into the fire, and it was in its natural state according to the law of burning in it, and He did not send rain on the fire, for example, to extinguish it in order to provide them with all the reasons for burning, and yet He saved him from it so that the miracle would be evident before their eyes.


And just as God stripped the nature of water in the story of Moses, peace be upon him, so it froze and its flow stopped, until every part became like a great mountain, He, glory be to Him, is able to change the nature of things. So : There is no objection to the believers entering the fire in the manner of Abraham, peace be upon him


{ We said, “O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham ”
(Surat Al-Anbiya’ 69).


Then God saves the believers and leaves the disbelievers in it, and that would be more painful and vexing for them.
Then Allah the Almighty says:


{ It was a decreed upon your Lord “71”}
(Surat Maryam).


Determinism is something that inevitably happens, and the servant cannot judge the inevitability of anything because he does not own the inevitable or the one who is inevitably.


You may say to your friend : I decree that you visit me tomorrow, and you do not own any of the reasons for this visit to happen. How do you know that you will live until tomorrow? And who knows that circumstances will not change and prevent this friend from coming?


So : you do not decree anything, but the one who decrees is the one who is able to control things so that nothing goes against His will.


If you say : Who decreed upon Allah? Allah decreed upon Himself, and there is no other power that decreed upon Him, as in His saying the Almighty:


{ Your Lord has prescribed upon Himself mercy “54”}
(Surat Al-An’am).


Then He confirms this inevitability by saying:


{ decided “71”}
(Surat Maryam)


, meaning : a decree from which there is no return, and no one can change the decree of Allah, so it is a final decree. For example: When the infidels of Mecca said to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace: We will worship your God for a year and you will worship our God for a year, they wanted faith and disbelief to coexist.


But God, the Blessed and Exalted, wanted to sever relations with them in a final and definitive manner, which does not know such middle ground. So He, the Almighty, said:


{ Say, "O disbelievers, "1" I do not worship what you worship, "2" Nor will you worship what I worship, "3" Nor will I worship what you worship, "4" Nor will you worship what I worship, "5" To you be your religion, and to me mine. "6" }
(Surat Al-Kafirun).


Severing relations here is not like what we see, for example, between two countries, each of which severs its political relations with the other, and the situation may then be resolved by reconciliation between them and a return to what they were, but severing relations with the infidels is inevitable and irreversible, as if He is saying to them: Do not think that we may restore relations with you again; therefore, the denial was repeated in this Surah, to the point that some thought it was a repetition; this is because they receive the Qur’an without contemplation.


What is meant now?: I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship what I worship, and likewise in the future: Nor am I a worshipper of what you worship, nor are you a worshipper of what I worship. No one will force us to amend this decision or return to reconciliation. Therefore, after Surah ( Al-Kafirun ), Surah Al-Hikam came:


{ Say, “He is Allah, the One …”
(Surah Al-Ikhlas)


. There is no second to Him to amend it, for His Almighty words and judgment are final and inevitable, with no going back or amendment.


Then the Truth, the Almighty, says: { Then We will save those who feared Allah and leave the wrongdoers therein on their knees . “72”} Jathyan : from Jatha, yajthu, meaning: he sat on his knees, indicating humiliation and torture. O Allah, accept from us righteous deeds. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.