وَإِن مِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا ۚ كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَّقْضِيًّا
21:99.
Commentary:
The word کم (you) in منکم is not of general application. It applies, as the context shows, only to the disbelievers and to those who doubt the existence of the life after death. All these categories of men have been mentioned in the preceding verses. According to Ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Ikrimah, another reading of منکم (of you) is منھم (of them) and the former used to say that the expression منکم is addressed to disbelievers (Qurtubi). So it is to these people i.e. disbelievers mentioned in vv. 67-69 above that the pronoun کم (you) clearly refers. On the other hand the Quran quite clearly and emphatically supports the view that the righteous believers will not go to Hell; they will bask in the sunshine of God’s love and mercy (27:90; 39:62; 43:69; etc.) and will be far removed from the fire of Hell and will not hear even its faintest sound (21:102-103). But if the pronoun (you) be taken to include both the believers and the disbelievers, then in the case of disbelievers the verse would mean that all of them will go to Hell and in the case of believers the fire of Hell referred to in the verse would mean the fire of trials and tribulations through which they have to pass in the present life and which they endure with patience and fortitude and out of which eventually they are taken to be brought into the haven of divine bliss and peace as the next verse shows. This reference is supported by several sayings of the Holy Prophet in which he has likened fever to the fire of Hell. He is reported to have said: The fever is a believer’s share of the Hellfire (Qurtubi as quoted by Tabari).
The Holy Prophet himself has explained the meaning of this verse. His wife Hafsah is reported to have said: "On one occasion when the Prophet said that none of those of his Companions who had taken part in the battle of Badr or Uhud will go to Hell, I drew his attention to the present verse, upon which he slightly reprimanded me for having misunderstood its meaning and directed me to read the next verse" (Muslim as quoted by Jami‘ul-Bayan). The fact that the Holy Prophet referred Hafsah to the next verse (v. 73) shows that he also understood the word ثم occurring in that verse to mean "and", and had taken the next verse as an independent and separate clause, otherwise he could not have reprimanded Hafsah for having misunderstood the meaning of the verse under comment.
21:99.
The pronoun kum (you) in Minkum is not of general application. It applies, as the context shows, only to the disbelievers and to those who doubt the existence of the Life after death. All these categories of men have been mentioned in the preceding verses. According to Ibn-e-‘Abbas and ‘Ikrimah, another reading of Minkum (of you) is Minhum (of them) and Ibn-e-‘Abbas used to say that the expression Minkum is addressed to disbelievers (Qurtubi). So it is to disbelievers mentioned in vv. 67-71 that the pronoun kum (you) clearly refers. On the other hand the Qur’an quite clearly and emphatically supports the view that the righteous believers will never go to Hell; they will ever bask in the sunshine of God’s love and mercy (27:90; 39:62; 43:69; etc.) and will remain far removed from the fire of Hell and will not hear even its faintest sound (21:102, 103). But if the pronoun kum (you) be taken to include both the believers and the disbelievers, then in