The fight between good and evil has been in vogue from the very first day of human life on the earth. The story of Cane and Able is perhaps the perhaps encounter of good with evil and it was seen that the good prevailed. But man, never learns from history and prefers to live in the present and continues to part of the tug of war between evil and good forces.
Although seemingly evil is seen prevailing, yet in the end good prevails. No matter how an influential person may be who using his power of wealth and authority tries to beat off the fable yet good. But we have seen empires and demagogues crumbling and being subdued or perishing in a miserable end.
Islam also teaches that while good and evil can never be equal, yet still a believer should continue to respond evil with good, for in the end good prevails upon the evil. When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ presented the concept of a new religion to the pagans of Makkah, He ﷺ was rebuked, mocked, teased and laughed at and even called a sorcerer and a magician. Yet Prophet ﷺ stood to his ground, bore the evil machinations of the polytheists of Makkah, till a time came when Makkah fell without any resistance from them for they finally came to know that Islam was all about good, completely tangent to evil.
The very theme of 34th verse of Surah 41 Ha Mim (also known as Surah As Sajdah, and also as Surah Fussilat (Explained in Detail) is hinged on a directive from God to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to remain good even in the face of treachery and evil unleashed by the pagans of Makkah for ultimately good and the truth will prevail - and the world saw the truth and goodness finally prevailed.
(41:34) (O Prophet), good and evil are not equal. Repel (evil) with that which is good, and you will see that he, between whom and you there was enmity, shall become as if he were a bosom friend (of yours).
To understand the full significance of these words also, one should keep in view the conditions in which the Holy Prophet and, through him, his followers were given this instruction. The conditions were that the invitation to the Truth was being resisted and opposed with extreme stubbornness and severe antagonism, in which All bounds of morality, humanity and decency were being transgressed. Every sort of lie was being uttered against the Holy Prophet and his Companions; every kind of evil device was being employed to defame him and to create suspicions against him in the minds of the people; every kind of accusation was being leveled against him and a host of the propagandists were busy creating doubts against him in the hearts; in short, he and his Companions were being persecuted in every possible way because of which a substantial number of the Muslims had been compelled to emigrate from the country. Then the program that had been prepared to stop him from preaching was that a hand of the mischievous people was set behind him, who would raise such a hue and cry that no one should be able to hear anything as soon as he opened his mouth to preach his message. In such discouraging conditions when apparently every way of extending invitation to Islam seemed to be blocked, the Holy Prophet was taught this recipe for breaking the opposition.
First, it was said that goodness and evil are not equal, as if to say: "Although apparently your opponents might have raised a dreadful storm of mischief and evil, as against which goodness might seem absolutely helpless and powerless, yet evil in itself has a weakness which ultimately causes its own destruction. For as long as man is man, his nature cannot help hating evil. Not only the companions of evil, even its own upholders know in their hearts that they are liars and wicked people and arc being stubborn for selfish motives. Not to speak of creating dignity and honor for them in the hearts of others, it lowers them in their own esteem, and causes their morale to be weakened and destroyed in the event of every conflict. As against this evil, the good which appears to be utterly helpless and powerless, goes on operating and working and it becomes dominant in the long run. For, in the first place, the good has a power of its own which wins the hearts and no man however perverted and corrupted, can help esteeming it in his own heart. Then, when the good and evil are engaged in a face to face conflict and their nature and merits become apparent and known, after a long drawn out struggle, not many people would be left, who would not start hating the evil and admiring the good.
Second, it was said that evil should be resisted not by the mere good but' by a superior good, as if to say: "If a person treats you unjustly and you forgive him, it is the mere good. The superior good is that you treat the one who ill-treats you which kindness and lout. "
The result would be that "your worst enemy would become your closest friend," for that is human nature itself. If you remain quiet in response to an abuse, it will be mere goodness but it will not silence the abuser. But if you express good wishes for him in response to his abuses, even the most shameless opponent will feel ashamed, and then would hardly ever be able to employ invectives against you. If a person doesn't miss any opportunity to harm you, and you go on tolerating his excesses, it may well make him even bolder in his mischiefs. But if on an occasion he gets into trouble and you come to his rescue, he will fall down at your feet, for no mischief can hold out against goodness. However, it would be wrong to take this general principle in the meaning that every enemy will necessarily become a close friend when you have treated him with the superior good. There are such wicked people also in the world, whose inimical nature will never change for the better no matter how tolerantly you may overlook their excesses and how benevolently you may react and respond to every evil committed by them. But such devil-incarnates are as few in the world as the embodiments of goodness are.
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
You do not return good for evil, for there is no equality or comparison between the two. You repel or destroy evil with something which is far better, just as an antidote is better than poison. You foil hatred with love. You repel ignorance with knowledge, folly and wickedness with the friendly message of Revelation. The man who was in the bondage of sin, you not only liberate from sin, but make him your greatest friend and helper in the cause of Allah! Such is the alchemy of the Word of Allah! Cf. xxiii. 96; xxviii. 54.
Asad Ali Explanation:
In the present instance, the injunction to "repel [evil] with something that is better" relates to scurrilous objections to, and hostile criticism of, the Qur'an. The whole of this passage (verses {33} ff.) connects with verse {26}.
This verse is better explained for the 22nd verse of Surah 13 Ar R'ad. wherein the same theme is covered "... and [who] repel evil with good". Some of the commentators take this to mean that "if they have committed a sin, they repel it [i.e., its effect] by repentance" (Ibn Kaysan, as quoted by Zamakhshari), while others think that the "repelling" connotes the doing of a good deed in atonement of a - presumably unintentional - bad deed (Razi), or that it refers to endeavours to set evil situations to rights by word or deed (an alternative interpretation mentioned by Zamakhshari). But the great majority of the classical commentators hold that the meaning is "they repay evil with good"; thus Al-Hasan al-Basri (as quoted by Baghawi, Zamakhshari and Razi): "When they are deprived [of anything], they give; and when they are wronged, they forgive." Tabari's explanation is very similar: "They repel the evil done to them by doing good to those who did it"; and "they do not repay evil with evil, but repel it by [doing] good". See also {41:34-36}.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
(In reality, good and evil are not equal. [There is no doubt that these disbelievers of yours are now after evil, ) It is mentioned earlier that that miscreants of the Quryash had gone so far to oppose the Prophet (sws) that they would urge people to make noise when he stood to recite the Qur’ān so that nothing could be heard. The attitude that should be adopted in return is explained ahead.
(but] you do that which is good in response to evil.) Ie., patience and forgiveness because it is only this attitude which is befitting to reform people. Thus every caller to the truth has been directed by the Almighty to adhere to this attitude before the phases of conclusive communication of the truth and decisive punishments arrive.
(Then you will see that the very person between who and yourself there is enmity, it is as if he has become a bosom friend. ) This is stated with regard to general human nature.
Imām Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī writes: " … When people whose nature has not been perverted see that so anxious is a person in wishing well for them that in spite of their bad behaviour and disrespect for him, his graciousness towards them remains the same and in fact he responds to this bad behaviour with prayers for them, their attitude does change: even if because of some misunderstanding they have animosity for him, they are deeply influenced by his magnanimous behaviour and their animosity gives way to love and affection and they become his bosom friends. Thus, it is an undeniable fact that the most effective factor in the preaching mission of Muḥammad (sws) was this aspect of his character. Whoever among his enemies had any trace of decency in them were greatly influenced by this aspect of his character and ultimately became his sincere companions and undaunted men of Islam. Only those hard-hearts whose nature had been perverted were not affected by this attitude. (Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī, Tadabbur-i Qur’ān, vol. 7, 103)"
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir: (Wisdom in Da`wah)
(The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal.) means, there is a huge difference between them.
(Repel (the evil) with one which is better,) means, `when someone does you wrong, repel him by treating him well,' as `Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "There is no better punishment for one who has disobeyed Allah with regard to you, than your obeying Allah with regard to him.''
(then verily he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.) means, `if you treat well those who treat you badly, this good deed will lead to reconciliation, love and empathy, and it will be as if he is a close friend to you and he will feel pity for you and be kind to you.'
Having explained the above said verse in detail, you may now listen to explanation of the Ayat by eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan:
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be firm on our feet of goodness and truth and respond to evil with good for we know good will prevail over evil one day. May we be like the ones Allah loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others life miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible to make you accept it forcibly, And if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, You will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with Non Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources:
Towards Understanding the Quran
Tafsir Ibn Khatir
Muhammad Asad Translation
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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At many a place, Allah spells out traits of true Muslims - those who scarifies their comforts and continue to prostrate in front of their Creator to thank Him for the innumerous bounties and blessings showered on them. We have been sharing such verses from time to time. Today we share two verses from Surah 32 As Sajdah (The Prostration) in the same context:
None believes in Our Signs except those who, when they are given good counsel through Our verses, fall down prostrate and celebrate the praise of their Lord and do not wax proud. ۩ Their sides forsake their beds, and they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and expend (in charity) out of the sustenance We have granted them (Surah 32 As Sajdah 15-16) Note: Whenever ۩ symbol appears at the end of a verse, the reciter must prostrate twice.
In the verses above, it is being said that they, the true Muslims and believers, do not regard it as below their dignity to give up their false notions and believe in Allah’s revelations and adopt His service and obedience. Their conceit does not hinder them from accepting the truth and obeying their Lord. They worship their Lord instead of enjoying sensuous pleasures at night. They are not like the world worshipers, who seek entertainments in music and dancing, drinking and merry-making, in the night in order to get relief from the day’s fatigue and labor and toil. Instead, when they are free from their day’s work and duties, they devote themselves to the adoration of their Lord, spend their nights in His remembrance, tremble out of fear of Him, and pin all their hopes on Him. “Who forsake their beds” does not mean that they do not sleep at all at night, but that they spend a part of the night in Allah’s worship. In the original, rizq means lawful provisions. Unlawful provisions have nowhere been called rizq by Allah. The verse therefore means: They spend from whatever little or much of pure provisions We have given to them; they do not overspend and do not grab unlawful wealth in order to meet their expenses. Yusuf Ali Explains these two verses as under: "In adoration": Sujjadan, or in a posture of prostration, expressive of deep humility and faith. This is the keyword of the Surah, which bears the title of Sajda. All the Signs of Allah lead our thoughts upwards towards Him, and when they are expounded, our attitude should be one of humble gratitude to Allah. At this passage it is usual to make a prostration. Men and women "breathless with adoration" shun soft, comfortable beds, and luxurious sleep. Their limbs are better exercised in offices of devotion and prayer, especially by night. Commentators specially refer this to Prayers called Tahajjud, which are offered after midnight in the small hours of the morning.
In Fear and Hope: in spiritual fear lest their dedication to Allah should not be sufficiently worthy to be accepted, and a spiritual longing or hope that their shortcomings will be overlooked by the Mercy of Allah. And their adoration is not shown only in Prayer, but also in practical Service and Charity, out of whatever gifts they may have received from Allah.
May Allah help us understand Qur'an and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.
Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the Sūrahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources:
Exegesis by Maulana Mufti Muhammad Sharif, revised by Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given in each page. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Surah As Sajdah السجدة is the 32nd surah with 30 ayahs with three rukus and one Sajdah (verse 15), part of the 21st Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an. The Surah has been entitled As-Sajdah after the theme of Sajdah (prostration) as expressed in verse 15.
Before reading the exegesis / tafseer of Surah As Sajdah (that is this post), readers are requested to go through our earlier post which presents an Overview of the surah, explaining its main theme.
Let us now read the translation and exegesis / tafseer in English of the Surah segmented into portions as per the subject matter. For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given at the end and may also listen to its recitation in Arabic with English subtitles:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
Rukhu 1 [Verses 1-11] In Rukhu 1, it is explained that the Al-Quran is beyond all doubts, revealed to Muhammad, so that he may warn those people to whom no Warner has come before
Verses 2-3 exhibit that there is no doubt that this Book, the Quran, is from Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. People try to say that Muhammad (peace be upon him) has made it up, or forged it but those who have wisdom and can think when read the Holy QUran understand that no human being could have written such an eloquent and well meaning and well worded book. It is a Book of truth from Allah to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in order that he may warn his people. No warner has come to them before and from this Book they will receive guidance.
( 2 ) [This is] the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds.
Several Surahs of the Quran begin with one or the other such introductory sentence, which is meant to declare at the outset where from this discourse is being issued. However, here, what has been said is not merely that this Book has been sent down by the Lord of the Worlds, but, besides, it also asserts most forcefully: “It is without any doubt the Book of God: there is absolutely no room for doubt about its having been revealed by Allah.” If this assertive sentence is studied in the actual context itself, it will be seen that it contains the argument also along with the assertion, and this argument was not hidden from the people of Makkah before whom the assertion was being made. The whole life of the person presenting it had been spent before them. They knew that the person presenting the Book with that assertion was the most righteous, the most serious and the most pious and virtuous man of their society. They also knew that until a day before he made the claim to prophethood, no one had ever heard from him those things which he had started presenting suddenly just after his claim to prophethood. They found a marked difference between the diction and style used in the Book and the diction and style used by Muhammad (peace be upon him) himself, in his daily life. They also recognized naturally that one and the same person could not have two styles so different from each other. They were also experiencing the highly miraculous literature being presented in the Book and, being the Arabic speaking people themselves, knew that all their literary men and poets were feeling utterly helpless in producing anything the like of it. They were also not unaware that there was a world of difference between the literary productions and orations of their poets and sorcerers and orators, and the divine discourses being recited before them and the sublimity of the pure themes being presented in them. Then, they could also see what sort of the people of their society were being drawn to his message and what great revolution was taking place in them as soon as they came in contact with his invitation. All these things together supported and proved the assertion and claim. That is why in that background it was enough to say that it is, beyond any doubt, a Book that has been sent down by the Lord of the Worlds. No further argument was needed to substantiate the claim.
( 3 ) Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Muhammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.
In the thrid verse, the first objection of the polytheists of Makkah, which they raised concerning the Prophethood of the Prophet (peace be upon him), is being dealt with. In fact this is not merely a question but also an expression of great surprise and astonishment. It means to imply this: In spite of all those things on account of which this Book is, without any doubt, a revelation from Allah, do those people yet say stubbornly that Muhammad (peace be upon him) has himself forged it and is falsely attributing it to Allah? Don’t they feel any shame in uttering such a senseless and baseless accusation? Don’t they at all realize what opinion will those people form who are aware of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his work and his discourses and also understand the Book, when they hear their absurd accusation?
It is being said: “Just, as its being the truth and a revelation from Allah is absolutely certain, so is its being based on wisdom and Allah’s mercy for you also evident. You yourselves know that for the past many centuries no prophet has been raised among you, and you also know that your entire nation has been involved in ignorance and moral degeneration and sheer backwardness. In a state like this if a Prophet (peace be upon him) has been raised among you to awaken you and show you the right way, you should not be surprised. This was a great need which Allah has fulfilled for the sake of your own welfare and wellbeing.”
Here, another question may arise in the minds, which should be answered straightaway. One may ask: When no Prophet had come to the Arabs for hundreds of years before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), what would be the basis of accountability of the people who had lived in that age of ignorance? They could not tell guidance from deviation and error. Then, if they had gone astray, how could they be held responsible for their deviation? The answer is this: The detailed knowledge of the true faith might have been lost to those people, but even in that age of ignorance the people were not unaware that the true faith was based on Tauhid, and the Prophets had never taught idol-worship to their followers.
This truth was also contained in those traditions which the Arabs had received from the Prophets born in their own land, and they were also aware of this through the teachings of the Prophets Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be upon them) who had been born in the land adjoining their own. In the traditions of Arabia, it was also well known that in the earliest times the Arabs’ real religion was the religion of Abraham and that idol-worship had been introduced among them by a person named Amr bin Luhay. In spite of the prevalence of shirk and idol-worship, there were living in different parts of Arabia many such people, who rejected shirk, professed Tauhid and openly condemned offering of sacrifices at the shrines of idols. In the age close to the Prophet’s own, there had passed people who were known as Hunafa. These people publicly professed Tauhid as the basis of the faith and declared their dissociation from the religion of the mushriks.
Moreover, the inscriptions belonging to the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. which have been discovered in Yaman as a result of modern archaeological research and investigation, reveal that a monotheistic religion existed there in that age, whose followers acknowledged ar-Rahman (the All-Merciful) and Rabb-us-sama walard (Lord of the heavens and earth) alone as the One and only deity. An inscription. dated 378 A.D. has been found from the ruins of a house of worship, which says that this house of worship has been built for the worship of “God of heavens” or “Lord of heavens”. In an inscription of 465 A.D. there are words which clearly point to the doctrine of Tauhid. Similarly, an inscription of 512 A.D. has been discovered at Zabad, a place between the river Euphrates and Qinnasrin, in northern Arabia, bearing the words: Bismilahu, laizza illa lahu, la shukra, illa lahv. All this shows that before the advent of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the teachings of the former Prophets had not altogether been forgotten, and there still existed many means which at least reminded man of the truth: “Your God is only One God.”
Verses 4-11 below expound on the creation of the mankind. It is Allah who has created the heavens and the earth and everything between them in six days (periods of time), He then set Himself above the throne. (Mentioning the throne establishes the fact that God not only created the worlds but rules over them in a very real way.) There is no protection or intercession except what comes from God Himself, so why will you not listen and take heed. God arranges every matter in the heavens and on earth and then they will ascend to Him in one day, but in the reckoning of the human being this is a period of one thousand years. (This could be understood to mean that events in a thousand years of our history are accomplished by God in one day.)
Allah knows everything that is hidden and everything that is openly revealed. He is Almighty and He is Merciful, the One who perfected everything. He created the beginning of humankind with the creation of Adam from clay. He then made his descendants from an extract of fluid (semen). He then fashioned him in perfect proportions and breathed life into him, giving him hearing, and sight, and a mind. Even so humankind is seldom grateful. And they say, when we are dead and buried will we really be recreated? They disbelieve in the meeting with their Lord. Say, the angel of death, who has been assigned to you will carry you back to your Lord.
( 4 ) It is Allah who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days; then He established Himself above the Throne. You have not besides Him any protector or any intercessor; so will you not be reminded?
Now the second objection of the mushriks which they raised against the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) message of Tauhid, is being dealt with: They were severely critical of him because he rejected their gods and saints and openly invited the people to the creed that there is no helper, no fulfiller of needs except Allah, and no answerer of prayers, no remover of ills and no sovereign other than Him.
It is being reminded that “Your real God is the Creator of the heavens and earth. But you in your folly have set up others than Him as your helpers and supporters in the vast kingdom of this universe. The Creator of this whole universe and whatever it contains is Allah. Here, everything except His own self is created, and Allah has not gone to sleep after having created and made the world go. But He Himself is the Ruler and Sovereign and Sustainer of His kingdom. Then, how senseless are you that you have set up a few of His creatures as the masters of your destinies! If Allah does not help you, none of them has the power to help you. If Allah should seize you, none of them has the power to secure your liberty. If Allah does not permit, none of them has the power to intercede for you before Him.”
( 5 ) He arranges [each] matter from the heaven to the earth; then it will ascend to Him in a Day, the extent of which is a thousand years of those which you count.
That is, “The events of a thousand years of your history are a day’s work for Allah.” He entrusts His scheme of work to the “angels of destiny”, who submit their report of work before Him and receive orders for the scheme of the next day (whose length according to your calculation would be a thousand years). This thing has also been expressed at two other places in the Quran, the study of which can help understand it. The disbelievers of Arabia said, “Muhammad (peace be upon him) claimed to be a Prophet many years ago. He has warned us again and again that if we did not accept his message and rejected his invitation, we would be seized by Allah’s torment. He has been repeating this threat since many years, but the torment has not overtaken us, although we have denied and rejected him clearly over and over again. Had his threats any substance in them, we would have been seized in the torment long ago.” In this connection, in Surah Al-Hajj Allah says: “These people are demanding of you to hasten the chastisement. Allah will never fail to fulfill His threat, but a day with your Lord is equal to a thousand years as you reckon.” (Ayat 47).
In Surah Al-Maarij (Ayats 1-7), it has been said: “An asker has asked for a torment, (the torment) which must befall the disbelievers. There is none to avert it. It is from that God Who is the Owner of the Steps of Ascent. The angels and the Spirit ascend to His Presence in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years. So, have patience, O Prophet, a graceful patience! They think it is far off, but We see it near at hand.”
( 6 ) That is the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,
That is, “For others one thing may be open and known but countless other things are hidden. Whether angels or jinns, prophets or saints, or other pious people, none of them has the knowledge of everything. It is Allah alone Who knows everything. He knows all that has passed, all that is present, and all that will happen in the future.”
Here in this verse two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: “The All Mighty”: The One Who is dominant over everything: no power in the universe can hinder Him in His design and will and obstruct His command from being enforced. Everything is subdued to Him and nothing can resist Him.
The Most Compassionate, that is, He is not tyrannous to His creatures but is Gracious and Merciful in spite of being overwhelmingly dominant and possessor of all power and authority.
For more explanation of these two attributes and other attributes of Allah, please refer to our earlier post: 99 Attributes of Allah.
( 7 ) Who perfected everything which He created and began the creation of man from clay. ( 8 ) Then He made his posterity out of the extract of a liquid disdained.
In the last portion of verse 7 and the verse 8, the creation of man from clay and then from mean fluid has been explained. It is being said “In the beginning He created man directly by His own act of creation, and then placed in man himself such a procreative ability that similar men continue being produced by his sperm-drop. By one excellent act He gave life and consciousness and intellect to a combination of earthly elements by His creative command so that a wonderful creation like man came into being; by another excellent act He placed in man’s own organism such a wonderful machinery for the production of similar more men in the future, whose mode of functioning is highly astonishing and amazing.”
This is one of those verses of the Quran, which points to the direct creation of the first man. The scientists since the time of Darwin have felt greatly critical of this concept and have rejected it with contempt as unscientific. But the fact is that they cannot get rid of the concept of the direct creation of the first germ, if not of the first man, or of the first species of animals. If creationism is not accepted, then one will have to accept the utterly absurd idea that life originated merely accidentally; whereas even the simplest form of life as found in the single cell organism is so full of complexities and subtleties that regarding it as the result of an accident would be a million times more unscientific an idea than what the evolutionists think of creationism. And if once it is accepted that the first germ came into being by an act of direct creation, it would be no longer difficult to accept that the first member of every species of animal life was created by the Creator’s own act of creation, and then its race started through different forms of procreation. If accepted, this concept would explain away all those riddles and complexities which have remained unsolved in their theory of evolution in spite of all the scientific theorizing by the upholders of Darwinism.
( 9 ) Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful.
This is a fine way of saying something. Before the mention of “breathing into him of His spirit”, man has been referred to in the third person: “He created him, spread his progeny, shaped him, breathed into him His spirit,” for till then he was not even worthy of being addressed. Then, when the spirit had been breathed into him, he became worthy of the honor and it was said: “He gave you the ears, gave you the eyes, gave you the hearts,” for after having been blessed with the Spirit, man became worthy of being addressed.
The ears and the eyes imply the instruments by which man obtains knowledge. Although the senses of taste and touch and smell are also instruments of obtaining knowledge, hearing and sight are the major and by far the more important senses. Therefore, the Quran has mentioned only these two at different places as the most important gifts of God to man. “The Heart” implies the mind which arranges the information obtained through the senses and draws inferences from it, and selects a possible way of action and decides to follow it.
And then it is said "Little are you grateful." That is after having received these invaluable blessings from Allah, when you adopt polytheism and atheism, when you assume godhead yourself or become servants of other gods, when you lose yourself in sensual pleasure by serving your lusts, you in fact tell your God: “We were not worthy of these blessings: You should have made us a monkey, or a wolf, or an alligator, or a crow, instead of man.”
( 10 ) And they say, "When we are lost within the earth, will we indeed be [recreated] in a new creation?" Rather, they are, in [the matter of] the meeting with their Lord, disbelievers.
After answering the disbelievers’ objections about the prophethood and Tauhid, now their objection about the Hereafter, which is the third basic belief of Islam, is being dealt with. The conjunction waw (and) in the beginning of the verse connects this paragraph with the foregoing theme, as if the sequence were like this: “They say: Muhammad is not Allah’s Messenger,” They say: “Allah is not One and the only Deity,” and They say: “We shall not be raised back to life after death.”
Their saying: “When we have become dust” is meaningless for that which is “we” can never become dust. Dust is the destiny of the body after it has become devoid of the “we”. The body itself is not the “we”. When alive, limbs and other parts of the body may be cut off one by one, but the “we” remains intact. No part of it is cut off with the cut off limb. And when the “we” has vacated a body, the “we” remains no longer applicable even in its remotest sense although the body still remains intact. That is why a sincere lover goes and buries the body of his beloved, because the beloved is no more in the body.
Thus, the very first premise of the disbelievers’ objection is baseless. As for its second part, “Shall we be recreated?” this question containing surprise and denial would not have arisen, had the objectors considered and taken into account the meaning of the “we” and its creation. The present existence of this “we” is nothing more than that a little of coal and iron and lime and some other earthly substances got together from here and there to combine themselves into a body, which became the home of the “we”. Then what happens when it dies? When the "we" has left the body, the constituent substances of its abode which had been gathered together from different parts of the earth go back to the same earth. The question is: He who had made this home for the “we”, can He not make the same home from the same substances once again and settle the “we” in it? When this was possible before and has in actual fact existed, what can hinder its possibility and its existing as an actual fact once again? These are such things as can be understood by the application of a little of the common sense. But why doesn’t man allow his mind to think on these lines? Why does he raise the meaningless objections about the life of Hereafter? Leaving out all these details, Allah has answered this question in the second sentence, saying: “The fact is that they disbelieve in the meeting with their Lord.” That is, “The real thing is not this that the recreation of man is something odd and remote in possibility, which they cannot understand, but in fact, what prevents them from understanding this is their desire to live freely and independently in the world and commit any sin, any excess that they please and then escape free from here: they should not be held accountable for anything, nor answerable for any of their misdeeds.”
( 11 ) Say, "The angel of death will take you who has been entrusted with you. Then to your Lord you will be returned."
That is, “Your ego will not mix in the dust, but as soon as its term of action comes to an end, God’s angel of death will come and will take it out of the body and seize it completely. No part of it will be allowed to become dust with the body. It will be taken intact into custody and produced before its Lord.” However, it must be understood that treatment by the angels of death of a guilty soul is different from their treatment of a believing, righteous soul. (For details, see (Surah An-Nisa: Ayat 97), (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayat 93), (Surah An-Nahl: Ayat 28), (Surah Al-Waqiah: Ayats 83-94).
The verse also means that man does not cease to exist after death, but his soul survives the body. The words of the Quran: “The angel of death shall seize you completely,” point out the same reality. For something which does not exist cannot be seized. Seizing something and taking it into custody implies that the seized thing should be in possession of the seizer.
Rukhu 2 [Verses 12-22] Verses 12-14 are for those who deny the happening of the Day of Judgement. It is said herein that if only you could see how the criminals hang their heads in shame asking their Lord to return them to the world. We are now convinced and will try to do better, they say. If it had been God’s will He could have given guidance to every soul. But God’s word will be fulfilled and Hell will be filled with jinn and humankind. You ignored the meeting planned for Judgment Day and now you will be ignored by God. You will taste the punishment for all of eternity.
( 12 ) If you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, [saying], "Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness. Indeed, we are [now] certain."
( 13 ) And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come into effect [that] "I will surely fill Hell with jinn and people all together.
That is, “Had it been Our will to give guidance to the people after having made them observe and experience the reality, We would not have brought you here after making you undergo this hard test in the world. We could have given you such guidance even before. But we wanted to test you by keeping the reality hidden from your eyes and senses in order to see whether you could recognize it by your intellect after perceiving its signs in the universe and in your own selves or not, whether you could take advantage of the help that We provided to you through Our Prophets and Our Books to recognize the reality or not, and whether after knowing the reality, you could attain such control over your self or not that you should free yourselves from the service of your desires and lusts and believe in the reality and mend your ways and attitudes accordingly.
You have failed in this test. Now setting the same test once again will be useless. If the second test is set in a condition when you remember everything that you have seen and heard here, it will be no test at all. And if, like before, you are given re-birth in the world, while you do not remember anything and the reality is kept hidden from you, and you are set the test once again as before the result will not be, any different.” (For further explanation, see (Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayat 210), (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayats 7-9, 27-28, 158), (Surah Yunus: Ayat 19), (Surah Al-Muminun: Ayats 99-100).
The word ajmain (all together) here does not mean that all jinns and all men will be cast into Hell, but it means that the satans and the men who follow them, will be cast into Hell all together.
( 14 ) So taste [punishment] because you forgot the meeting of this, your Day; indeed, We have [accordingly] forgotten you. And taste the punishment of eternity for what you used to do."
That is, “You became so absorbed in pleasure-seeking in the world that you totally forgot that you had to meet your Lord on this Day.”
Verses 15-22 give glad tidings to the people who believe in God’s revelations prostrate themselves whenever they are reminded of them. They bow down in worship and praise God. They are not arrogant, and they forsake their beds in order to pray to their Lord with fear and hope. They are charitable with what God has given them. Nobody knows what joy they will receive as a reward for what they have done. Is a believer like a transgressor? Of course not! Those who believe and do good deeds will be rewarded with gardens of Paradise. However, those who defy God will have their eternal home in the Fire. Every time they try to leave they will be returned and told to taste the punishment. They will surely taste the calamities and disasters of this world in the hope that they will return to the Right Path. The one who rejects the messages from God recited to him will surely face retribution.
( 15 ) Only those believe in Our verses who, when they are reminded by them, fall down in prostration and exalt [Allah] with praise of their Lord, and they are not arrogant. (As Sajdah)
In other words, they do not regard it as below their dignity to give up their false notions and believe in Allah’s revelations and adopt His service and obedience. Their conceit does not hinder them from accepting the truth and obeying their Lord.
۩ Readers are to perform sajdah / prostration after reading verse 15.
( 16 ) They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and from what We have provided them, they spend.
That is, they worship their Lord instead of enjoying sensuous pleasures at night. They devote themselves to the adoration of their Lord, spend their nights in His remembrance, tremble out of fear of Him, and pin all their hopes on Him. “Who forsake their beds” does not mean that they do not sleep at all at night, but that they spend a part of the night in Allah’s worship.
( 17 ) And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.
Abu Hurairah has been quoted as saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Allah says: I have made ready for My righteous servants that which has neither been seen by the eye, nor heard by the ear, nor ever conceived by any man.” (Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Imam Ahmad).
( 18 ) Then is one who was a believer like one who was defiantly disobedient? They are not equal.
Here mumin (believer) and fasiq (sinner) have been used as two contrasting terms. Mumin is he who believes in Allah as his Lord and the One and only deity and adopts obedience of the law which Allah has sent down through His Prophets. Contrary to this, fasiq is he who adopts the attitude of fisq (disobedience, rebellion, independence and obedience to others than Allah). This is it said: “They can neither have the same way of thinking and life in the world nor can they be treated alike by God in the Hereafter.”
( 19 ) As for those who believed and did righteous deeds, for them will be the Gardens of Refuge as accommodation for what they used to do. ( 20 ) But as for those who defiantly disobeyed, their refuge is the Fire. Every time they wish to emerge from it, they will be returned to it while it is said to them, "Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny." ( 21 ) And we will surely let them taste the nearer punishment short of the greater punishment that perhaps they will repent.
The 'near punishments' in the world descend as calamities - but in fact these are not mere calamities but warnings of Allah, which are sent to make man conscious of the reality and to remove his misunderstandings. If man learns a lesson from these and corrects his belief and conduct here in the world, he will not have to face the greater torment of Allah in the Hereafter.
( 22 ) And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord; then he turns away from them? Indeed We, from the criminals, will take retribution.
Signs like calamities, losses in business and of family, droughts, famines etc proclaim consistently and clearly: “O man, you are neither without God, nor the servant of many gods, but your God is only One Allah: no other way of life is correct for you except the way of His service and obedience. You have not been left to live a free and independent and irresponsible life in this world, but you have to appear before yow God and render an account of your deeds after your life-activity here has come to an end, and be rewarded or punished accordingly. Therefore, it is in yow own interest that you should follow the guidance which your God has sent through His Prophets and His Books for your instruction and desist from an independent way of lift.” Now, obviously, the man who has been warned in so many different ways, for whose admonition countless different signs have been provided, and who has been blessed with the eyes to see and the ears to hear and the mind to think, and yet he closes his eyes to all these signs, and closes his ears to the admonitions of his well-wishers, and uses his mind for inventing stupid and blind philosophies only can be a wretched and wicked person. He only deserves to be given full punishment for rebellion when he appears before his God after the expiry of the period of test in the world.
Rukhu 3 [Verses 23-30] The final verses [23-30] tell (Prophet Muhammad): Do not have any doubt in the Book you are receiving (Quran). It meets the same criteria as the Book we gave to Prophet Moses as a guide for the Children of Israel. When they were patient and believed in Our signs We raised leaders from among them who guided according to their Book. And on the Day of Judgment God will decide the matters over which they differed. They do not understand how many previous generations were destroyed by God. They walk and dwell in the same places but still do not see the signs, nor do they hear. They do not think about how God sends down rain onto the barren land. Without it they would have no crops or vegetation, for their livestock or for themselves. They do not listen and they do not see. They ask when the Day of Judgment will take place. Tell them that on that Day believing will be of no benefit to the disbelievers. It will be too late and they will not be granted reprieve. Do not pay any attention to them, turn away and wait. They are also waiting.
( 23 ) Verily We bestowed the Book upon Moses. So entertain no doubt if (the Prophet Muhammad) received the same. We had made that Book a guidance for the Children of Israel.
That is, “That Book (Torah) was made a means of guidance for the children of Israel, and this Book The Holy Quran), likewise, has been sent down for your guidance.” As has already been elucidated in (Ayat 3), the full meaning of this verse can be understood only if one keeps in view the historical background. History bears evidence, and the disbelievers of Makkah also were not unaware, that the children of Israel had been passing miserable lives for centuries in Egypt. At such a Juncture, Allah raised the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) among them, and delivered them from bondage. Then He sent down the Book to them, because of which the same very suppressed and subdued nation received guidance and became a prominent nation in the world. Alluding to this historical background, the Arabs are being told: “Just as that Book was sent for the guidance of the Israelites, so has this Book been sent for your guidance.”
( 24 ) And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our command when they were patient and [when] they were certain of Our signs.
That is, “Whatever progress the children of Israel made and whatever heights they attained by that Book, was not simply due to the reason that a Book had been sent among them. It was not an amulet that they might have hung around their necks and they might have started ascending the steps of glory under its good and protective influence. But the glory was the direct result of their firm faith in the revelations of Allah, and of the patience and perseverance that they showed in following the divine commandments. Among the Israelites, the leadership also belonged to only those who were true believers of the Book of Allah and were not tempted at all by the greed of worldly gains and enjoyments.
The object is to warn the disbelievers of Arabia that just as the coming of the Book of Allah had decided the destinies of the children of Israel, so will this Book decide the destinies among you. Now only those people will become the leaders, who will believe in it and follow the truth presented by it patiently and resolutely. Those who turn away from it are destined to end up in failure and wretchedness.
( 25 ) Indeed, your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
The allusion is to the differences and schisms in which the children of Israel were involved after they became deprived of the faith and belief and gave up obedience of their righteous leaders and were given to the worship of the world. One result of this is obvious and before the whole world: they suffer from disgrace and infamy and misfortune; the other result is that which is not known, to the world: it will appear on the Day of Resurrection.
( 26 ) Has it not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them, [as] they walk among their dwellings? Indeed in that are signs; then do they not hear?
That is, “Have they not learned any lesson from this continuous experience of history that to whichever nation a messenger came, the decision of its destiny became dependent upon the attitude it adopted with regard to him? If it rejected its messenger, it could not escape its doom. The only people to escape were those who believed in the messenger. Those who disbelieved became an object of warning for ever and ever.”
( 27 ) Have they not seen that We drive the water [in clouds] to barren land and bring forth thereby crops from which their livestock eat and [they] themselves? Then do they not see?
Keeping the context in view it becomes obvious that this thing has not been mentioned here for the sake of providing an argument for the life-after-death, as generally found in the Quran, but in this context its object is different. This, in fact, contains a subtle allusion to this effect: “Just as a person seeing a barren land cannot imagine that it will ever bloom and swell with vegetation, but a single shower of the rain sent by God changes its color altogether, so is the case with the message of Islam at this juncture. People think that it is not going to gain ground, but a single manifestation of Allah's power and grace will cause it to gain such glory that people will be amazed at its progress.”
( 28 ) And they say, "When will be this conquest, if you should be truthful?" ( 29 ) Say, [O Muhammad], "On the Day of Conquest the belief of those who had disbelieved will not benefit them, nor will they be reprieved."
That is, “It is not a thing for which you should feel so impatient and restless. When the torment of Allah comes, you will get no time to mend your ways. Make the best of the time which is available before the coming of the torment. If you will believe only when you see the torment, it will not avail you anything then.”
( 30 ) So turn away from them and wait. Indeed, they are waiting.
In conclusion, the Holy Prophet has been addressed to the effect: "These people mock at what you say and ask as to when you will attain this decisive victory. Tell them: when the time comes for the final judgment regarding you and us, believing then will not profit you at all. If you have to believe, believe now. But if you intend to await the final judgment, then await it as you please."
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Surah As Sajdah with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Juzʼ / Part backwards for chapters in 30th Juzʼ / Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [3]
And the exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran are basically based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [1]
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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