Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah be merciful to you. Your Eminence, the questioner says: In the saying of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He,[Az-Zumar 39:53], in this verse Allah commanded His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by saying "Say," then followed it with "O My servants." The apparent meaning of the verse is that the servants in the context are attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh:
Who said this except the grave worshippers? As for the Muslims, they do not say this. They do not say that people are the servants of the Messenger; rather, the Messenger is a servant (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, "I am the servant of Allah,"Ash-Shama'il Al-Muhammadiyah 329Sahih (Zubair `Aliza'i). Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, says: [Al-Isra 17:1], [Al-Furqan 25:1] [Al-Baqarah 2:23], meaning Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So he is a servant; how can people be his servants when he is a servant? This statement is false and a distortion of the speech of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Yes.
The questioner:
We ask Allah for you. Your Eminence, the questioner says:
The Shaykh:
Allah commanded His Messenger to convey to His servants who have transgressed against themselves that they should not despair of His mercy, Blessed and Exalted is He.
May Allah be merciful to you. Your Eminence, the questioner says: In the saying of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He,
Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah.
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِThe Shaykh:
Who said this except the grave worshippers? As for the Muslims, they do not say this. They do not say that people are the servants of the Messenger; rather, the Messenger is a servant (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, "I am the servant of Allah,"
I am merely a servant,’ so say: '[He is] Allah’s servant and His Messenger.’
إنما أنا عبد، فقولوا عبد الله ورسولهExalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَىBlessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant
تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْفُرْقَانَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِAnd if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَاThe questioner:
We ask Allah for you. Your Eminence, the questioner says:
The Shaykh:
Allah commanded His Messenger to convey to His servants who have transgressed against themselves that they should not despair of His mercy, Blessed and Exalted is He.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 1 تفسير سورة الحجرات / من الاية 1 الى الاية 8 — youtube.com (1:15:29)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.