The benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “It is Allah who has sent down the Book with the truth and the balance. And what will inform you of what the Hour is? Perhaps the Hour is near.”

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen

Machine translationRead the Arabic original

In this verse there are benefits. Allah the Exalted said:

It is Allah who has sent down the Book in truth and [also] the balance

الله الذي أنزل الكتاب بالحق والميزان

[Ash-Shuraa 42:17]

Among the benefits of this noble verse is the exaltation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He the Exalted said:

It is Allah who has sent down the Book

الله الذي أنزل الكتاب

[Ash-Shuraa 42:17]

.
And among the benefits of this verse is that the Qur'an is the speech of Allah. Since the Qur'an is speech, when its sending down is attributed to someone, it becomes His speech and one of His attributes.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that the books which Allah sent down were sent down with truth, so there is no falsehood in them. Falsehood in reports is lying, and falsehood in rulings is injustice, tyranny, and corruption. So the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) contains no lying, no injustice, no tyranny, and no corruption.
And among its benefits is also that they were sent down from Allah truly, as He said:

with the truth

بالحق

And I think you remember that we mentioned two aspects regarding its meaning.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the establishment of analogical reasoning (qiyas), as He said:

and the balance

والميزان

Because the balance is that by which things are weighed and compared with one another. So in it is the establishment of analogical reasoning in the heavenly laws. This issue, which I mean the issue of analogical reasoning, was denied by some scholars, especially the Zahiris, may Allah pardon us and them. And their denial is the denunciation, because analogical reasoning came in the Book and the Sunnah. Here the balance is mentioned, and the balance is that by which things are weighed, and this does not happen except by analogical reasoning. Know that every example which Allah strikes in the Qur'an establishes analogical reasoning, because the intended meaning is to analogize this situation to that situation:

The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb

إنما مثل الحياة الدنيا كماء أنزلناه من السماء فاختلط به نبات الأرض

[Yunus 10:24]

to the end of it. Here we have the thing being compared and the thing it is compared to, and comparison necessitates similarity and attaching the thing being compared to the thing it is compared to, and this is exactly analogical reasoning. Take this as a rule: every example in the Qur'an includes the establishment of analogical reasoning. Good. And Allah the Exalted said:

Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them?

أوليس الذي خلق السماوات والأرض بقادر على أن يخلق مثلهم

[Ya-Sin 36:81]

Does this contain analogical reasoning of priority or similarity? Priority. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned analogical reasoning in several hadiths, among which is that he compared performing Hajj on behalf of a deceased person to paying off a debt. And among them is that a man came to him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, my wife gave birth to a black boy, while he and the woman are white.” So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:

“Do you have any camels?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “What is their color?” He said, “Red.” He said, “Are there any white ones among them?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “How did that come about?” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, perhaps a vein caused it.” He said, “So this child of yours—or he said: this son of yours—perhaps a vein caused it.”

هل لك من إبل قال: نعم قال: ألوانها قال: حمر قال: هل فيها من أورق قال: نعم قال: أنى لها ذلك قال: يا رسول الله لعله نزعه عرق قال: فولدك هذا ـ أو قال: فابنك هذا ـ لعله نزعه عرق

So the establishment of analogical reasoning is necessary, and the Shari'ah cannot expand except by analogical reasoning, because most events did not exist in the texts in their exact form, but rules and principles were found to which these events are referred in their rulings.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the indication of the nearness of the Hour, as He said:

And what will make you perceive? Perhaps the Hour is near.

وما يدريك لعل الساعة قريب

[Ash-Shuraa 42:17]

It was previously mentioned in the exegesis whether the intended meaning of the Hour is the great, major Hour or the minor Hour, which is the death of every person? And we said: The intended meaning is both meanings. Good.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not know when the Hour will occur, as He said:

And what will inform you

وما يدريك

Meaning, what does it inform you of? And this is an established truth, for Jibril (peace be upon him) asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying:

tell me about the Hour.' He lowered his head and did not answer. Then he repeated the question, and he did not answer. Then he repeated the question (a third time) and he did not answer. Then he raised his head and said: 'The one who is being asked does not know more than the one who is asking

أخبرني عن الساعة فقال : ما المسئول عنها بأعلم من الطالب

Sunan an-Nasa'i 4991Sahih (Darussalam)

Meaning, just as you do not know it, I do not know it. Therefore, whoever claims knowledge of the Hour is a disbeliever who denies the saying of Allah the Exalted:

None will reveal its time except Him

لا يجليها لوقتها إلا هو

[Al-A'raf 7:187]

.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is the establishment of the exaltation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), as He said:

sent down the Book

أنزل الكتاب

And the intended meaning of the Book here is His speech (Mighty and Majestic) which He revealed to His messengers. What is the indication from the verse? The indication is that the sending down is from the highest to the lowest.

Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas