The meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “A group from among the former”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is meant by "the former" in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Waqi'ah 56:13] Are the former in this Ummah? It was said that this refers to the former ones of this Ummah and a group of the latter ones from the end of this Ummah, so both groups are within this Ummah.
The Shaykh:
It was also said that a group of the former means from the beginning of creation, from the righteous servants of Allah from the beginning of creation, from Adam and those after him, and a group of the latter ones from this Ummah. So there are two opinions: are the former ones from the previous nations, or are they from the beginning of this Ummah? Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, the people of the right hand are a group of the former and a group of the latter, but regarding the predecessors, He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said: a group of the former and a few of the latter.
The Shaykh:
Because the foremost are the highest and most noble ranks of the Muslims, whereas the righteous are below them; the righteous are below them, below the foremost. Yes. And they are called the people of the right hand; the righteous are the people of the right hand.
Honorable Shaykh, what is meant by "the former" in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
A [large] company of the former peoples
ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَThe Shaykh:
It was also said that a group of the former means from the beginning of creation, from the righteous servants of Allah from the beginning of creation, from Adam and those after him, and a group of the latter ones from this Ummah. So there are two opinions: are the former ones from the previous nations, or are they from the beginning of this Ummah? Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, the people of the right hand are a group of the former and a group of the latter, but regarding the predecessors, He, Exalted and Majestic is He, said: a group of the former and a few of the latter.
The Shaykh:
Because the foremost are the highest and most noble ranks of the Muslims, whereas the righteous are below them; the righteous are below them, below the foremost. Yes. And they are called the people of the right hand; the righteous are the people of the right hand.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 106- معنى قوله تعالى: ﴿ثُلَّةٌ مِنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ﴾ - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.