Surah Al-Qasas Ayat 17 (28:17 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(28:17) Thereupon Moses vowed: “My Lord, because of the favour that You have done me I shall never support the guilty.”^[26]

26. This pledge of the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) is in very comprehensive words. What he meant by this was that he would neither become a helper of an individual, nor of those who perpetrated cruelty and tyranny in the world. Ibn Jarir and several other commentators have rightly understood this to mean that on that very day the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) pledged to sever his relations with Pharaoh and his government, for it was a tyrannical government, which had set up a wicked system on God’s earth. He realized that it was not for any honest person to continue as a functionary of a tyrannical kingdom and become an instrument of increasing its power and grandeur.

The Muslim scholars in general have deduced from this pledge of the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) that a believer should completely refrain from helping a tyrant, whether the tyrant is an individual, or a group, or a government, or a kingdom. Somebody asked Ata bin Abi Rabah (may Allah be pleased with him), the well-known follower of the companions, “My brother is secretary to the governor of Kufah, under the Umayyids. Though he does not decide the disputes of the people, the decisions, however, are issued through his pen. He has to continue in this service because this is his only source of income.” Ata recited this verse, and said, “Your brother should throw away his pen: the Provider is Allah.”

A secretary asked Amir Shabi, “O Abu Amr, I am only responsible for writing down and issuing the judgments: I have nothing to do with passing them. Is it lawful provision for me?” He replied, “It is just possible that a sentence of murder is passed against an innocent person and it is issued under your pen; or a person’s property is confiscated unjustly; or somebody’s house is ordered to be pulled down, and the orders are issued under your pen.” Then the said Imam recited this verse, hearing which the secretary said, “After this day my pen will not be used for issuing judgments of the Umayyids.” The Imam said, “Then Allah also will not deprive you of your daily bread.”

Abdur Rehman bin Muslim had only asked Dahhak to go to Bukhara and distribute the salaries of the officials there, but he declined even this. When his friends said there was nothing wrong in it, he replied, “I do not want to be a helper of the unjust in any way.” All of Imam Abu Hanifah’s authentic biographers including Al-Muwaffaq al-Makki, lbn al-Bazzaz al- Karvari, Mulla Ali Qari, etc. have related that Hasan bin Qahtubah, the commander-in-chief of Mansur, had tendered his resignation only on his instruction, saying, “Whatever I have done to support your kingdom until today, is enough for me if it was in the cause of Allah, but if it was for injustice and tyranny, then I do not want to add to my crimes in my book of conduct.”

Ibn-Kathir

The tafsir of Surah Qasas verse 17 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Qasas ayat 14 which provides the complete commentary from verse 14 through 19.