يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يَا لَيْتَنَا أَطَعْنَا اللَّهَ وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولَا ۞ وَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّا أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَاءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا ۞ رَبَّنَا آتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْنًا كَبِيرًا
“On the Day when their faces are being turned over in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed Allah and the Messenger,’ And they will say: “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite, and they misled us from the right path. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely!” [Q 33: 66-68]
Imām al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH) said: On the day of Judgement, the disbelievers will say whilst in Hell; “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite…” meaning in shirk; “and they misled us from the right path” meaning that they removed us from reaching the truth, from the path of guidance, from believing in you, ascertaining your Oneness and sincerely obeying you in this life.
al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH) mentions that Qatādah said: “our masters…” refers generally to the overall leaders and heads of shirk and misguidance, meaning: we obeyed them in disobeying you and in whatever they called us to, so they misled us from the path – the path of tawḥīd. And regarding the statement, “Our Lord, give them double the torment“ Qatādah mentions: a punishment in this life and a punishment in the next. It is also said to mean a punishment for disbelief and a punishment for misguidance.
al-Hāfiz Ibn Kathīr (d. 701 AH) mentions regarding the āyah; “On the Day when their faces are being turned over in the Fire, they will say, ‘If only we had obeyed AllAh and the Messenger“, meaning they will be dragged into the Fire on their faces and their faces will be distorted in Hell, thereupon they will wish that they had been among those who had obeyed Allāh and His Messenger ﷺ in this life. Ṭāwūs said ‘our masters‘ i.e their notables and ‘our elite‘ i.e their scholars. That was reported by Ibn Abū Hātim. Meaning: we followed our masters – the leaders and elite of the mashaykh – in opposition to the Messenger ﷺ, and we believed that they had substance with them. We believe them to be upon something but [in reality] they were upon nothing. “Our Lord, give them double the torment” meaning; due to their disbelief and leading us astray.
Shaykh as-Saʿdī (d. 1376 AH) commented regarding the statement, “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite…” [meaning] we obeyed them in misguidance “and they misled us from the right path.” They acknowledged that they and their masters were rightly deserving of punishment so they cursed those who misguided them in saying; “Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely!” So Allāh will say; “For every party is a portion. You all participated in disbelief and sin, then too participate together in the punishment. Some of you will have a different punishment in accordance to the crime committed.
Shaykh an-Najmī (d. 1429 AH) comments regarding the verse: “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely!” O Servant of Allāh! What did they obey them in!? It is mandatory that we exclusively take the Messenger ﷺ as an Imām. We should not dignify anyone in a way that makes us follow him in opposition to the Messenger ﷺ.
Shaykh Rabīʿ said: They [followers of the people of innovation] are put alongside them. If they aid, help and defend them, they are their soldiers. They are together. Just like the soldiers of Pharaoh, “Our Lord, we certainly obeyed our masters and our elite. Our Lord, give them double the torment and curse them and reject them completely!” So the followers are their weak ones. Those whom the people of falsehood have betrayed and drove them in opposing the truth and waging war against the people of truth. Those [followers] take the same ruling as their masters. However, if you see some of the people who have been tricked there is nothing wrong in clarifying and showing them the truth, and if they continue to stick with them then they are put along side them.
