Tafsir of Surat al-Buruj

Question:
We return at the beginning of this episode to a message sent to the program from the Syrian Arab Republic, sent by listener Khalid al-Ahmad. Brother Khalid asks Your Eminence—may Allah reward you with good—about the tafsir of Surat al-Buruj?

Answer:
... Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) mentioned in al-Buruj the state of those who transgressed against the Muslims, burned them, and tried them, as a warning to the Muslims against their evil deeds, and as an encouragement to be patient with what a servant is tested with. For this reason, He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: and the promised day and a witness and a witnessed thing [al-Buruj:1-3].
He swears by the sky with the constellations, which are the great stars according to a group of the exegetes, and Allah swears by what He wills of His creation for Him to swear by the sky, and by other things, as He swore by the Mount, and by the stars that scatter, and by the morning, and by the night when it covers, and so on; because they are signs indicating His great power, and that He is the Creator, the All-Knowing and that He is Able to do everything.
As for the servant, it is not permissible for him to swear except by Allah. The created being is not permitted to swear except by his Lord. It is not permissible to swear by the prophets, nor by the angels, nor by the trust, nor by the idols, nor by the honor of so-and-so, nor by anything else. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Imam Ahmad narrated it with a sound chain in many hadiths, including his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): And His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): [al-Buruj:2] meaning: the Day of Resurrection.
And His saying: [Al-Buruj:3] The witness is Friday according to a group of the scholars, and the witnessed is the Day of 'Arafah; because it is witnessed by the many nations of the pilgrims, and they are two great days. Friday is the best of the days of the week, and the most excellent of them. In it Adam was created, in it he was entered into Paradise, in it he was brought out of it, in it the Hour will be established, and in it there is an hour in which no supplicant is turned away; Allah responds to the supplication in it. And the Day of 'Arafah has the standing of the pilgrims, and in it the Lord draws near to His servants as in the authentic hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And in it the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about fasting on the Day of 'Arafah—meaning: for other than the pilgrims—and he said: As for the pilgrims, fasting is not prescribed for them; rather, they are prohibited from fasting on the Day of 'Arafah during the state of Hajj. The Sunnah is that the pilgrim stands while breaking his fast, not fasting, just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood in the Farewell Pilgrimage while breaking his fast.
And His saying -Exalted and Majestic is He-: the Fire with its fuel when they were sitting over it and they were witnesses to what they did to the believers [Al-Buruj:4-7] makes clear the magnitude of the crime of the people of the trench, and for this reason the companions of the trench were killed, meaning: they were cursed by their great, heinous crime, where they threw the believers into the trench if they did not submit to their falsehood. So this warns against responding to the people of falsehood, and it indicates that it is obligatory for the believer to beware of the causes of destruction, and to stay away from falsehood and its people.
And in the Shari'ah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), Allah prescribed for the one who is coerced to repel the coercion by responding to what was demanded of him while his heart is at peace with faith, and this is from the favor of Allah that the coerced one, if he is coerced into disbelief and misguidance, has the right to utter it; following them, and repelling the injustice, while his heart believes and is at peace with faith. And the coerced one is named as in His saying -Exalted and Majestic is He-: [An-Nahl:106] So if they force him into disbelief, or burn him, or kill him, or beat him; he has the right to utter disbelief, while believing and being at peace in the heart, as some of the Companions did in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Prophet permitted them to do so -may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him- So coercion by beating, or killing, or the like of that which harms the servant with clear harm permits him to speak the word of disbelief if his heart is at peace with faith, and he only said it in agreement to repel the evil with the tongue only.
And this is from the mercy of Allah for this Ummah, and His excellence toward them Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Buruj:8] meaning: from those who were thrown into the Fire, and they are the companions of the trench, and what did the polytheists and the oppressive disbelievers find fault with them for? [Al-Buruj:8] meaning: they did not blame them, nor punish them, except for the sake of their faith. And this is a defect, it is the place of praise, it is a defect in the eyes of the people of falsehood, but it is praise and honor for the people of faith. So we ask Allah for well-being and safety. Yes.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.