Surah Zumar, Aayah 11-21

Transcript of Tafseer by Hazrat Mufti Ebrahim Salejee Saheb

قُل إِنّى أُمِرتُ أَن أَعبُدَ اللَّـهَ مُخلِصًا لَهُ الدّينَ ﴿١١﴾

“Say, I have been commanded to worship Allah Ta’ala with sincere and exclusive devotion.”

The theme of this very Surah is sincerity. The scales and the balances on the Day of Qiyaamah will weigh deeds, it will not count the deeds. Thus, impressing upon us that, build up on the sincerity and the weight will be built accordingly. So Allah Ta’ala repeatedly says this that, with sincere and exclusive devotion, worship Him.

وَأُمِرتُ لِأَن أَكونَ أَوَّلَ المُسلِمينَ ﴿١٢﴾ قُل إِنّى أَخافُ إِن عَصَيتُ رَبّى عَذابَ يَومٍ عَظيمٍ ﴿١٣﴾ قُلِ اللَّـهَ أَعبُدُ مُخلِصًا لَهُ دينى ﴿٤﴾ فَاعبُدوا ما شِئتُم مِن دونِهِ قُل إِنَّ الخـسِرينَ الَّذينَ خَسِروا أَنفُسَهُم وَأَهليهِم يَومَ القِيـمَةِ أَلا ذلِكَ هُوَ الخُسرانُ المبينُ ﴿١٥﴾

“I have been further commanded that I be first amongst those who submit to Allah Ta’ala in obedience. And say that in the event I disobey my Rabb, I fear the punishment of a mighty day. Say, it is Allah who I worship with all my devotion and sincerity, then worship whatever you please besides Him. Say, the true losers are those who lose their own souls and their own families on the day of Qiyaamah. Behold this is evident loss.”

Those families on to whom they had clung, those for whom they had strived, and worked for their prosperity, then they would lose the very same people on the Day of Qiyaamah. So these are the true losers.

لَهُم مِن فَوقِهِم ظُلَلٌ مِنَ النّارِ وَمِن تَحتِهِم ظُلَلٌ ذلِكَ يُخَوِّفُ اللَّـهُ بِهِ عِبادَهُ يـعِبادِ فَاتَّقونِ ﴿١٦﴾وَالَّذينَ اجتَنَبُوا الطّـغوتَ أَن يَعبُدوها وَأَنابوا إِلَى اللَّـهِ لَهُمُ البُشرى فَبَشِّر عِبادِ ﴿١٧﴾ الَّذينَ يَستَمِعونَ القَولَ فَيَتَّبِعونَ أَحسَنَهُ أُولـئِكَ الَّذينَ هَدىهُمُ اللَّـهُ وَأُولـئِكَ هُم أُولُوا الأَلبـبِ ﴿١٨﴾

“For them will be layers of fire from above them and layers of fire beneath them. With this does Allah Ta’ala warn His servants ‘O My servants do fear Me!’

“Those who guard themselves against false worship and they turn to Allah Ta’ala (in obedience and repentance) then for them is the good news. Then give the good news to My servants; those who listen to the word of Allah Ta’ala and follow the best. These are the ones who are upon guidance from Allah Ta’ala and they are the ones of intelligence and understanding.”

In this verse Allah Ta’ala commands that ‘give that good news to those servants who listen to the word and follow the best.’

What is meant by ‘following the best?’ Obviously the word أحسن is in the superlative degree. So when we say it’s the best then what is it compared with? When we say that he is the best then what is he being compared against? So there are three different explanations that are given. The one explanation is that the entire Qur’an Shareef is the best in comparison to any other advice and any other admonition, so follow the Qur’an. The second explanation is that in our deeds and our actions there are different levels. The one level is the level of permissibility and the other level is the level of virtue. So don’t just content yourself with the level of permissibility, rather look at the level of virtue. For example, to exact revenge from someone and retaliate is permissible.

وَجَزَاءُ سَيِّئَةٍ سَيِّئَةٌ مِّثْلُهَا

To exact revenge of equality is permissible. To retaliate to the extent of the wrong that was done to you is permissible.

فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّـهِ

But obviously the one that forgives and overlooks, then this is even better and even more rewarding in the sight of Allah Ta’ala. So when a person is confronted with this situation that he can go on the avenue of permissibility and he can go on the avenue of virtue, so he should go on the avenue of virtue.

The third explanation that has been given is that this is with reference to Hazrat Salmaan Faarsi (Radiyallahu Anhu), Abu Zar (Radiyallahu Anhu) and Zaid ibn Amr ibn Nufail (Radiyallahu Anhu) who had also been upon the true religions in the past; Christianity and Judaism were the true religions before Islam. Then when they had seen Islam, they had obviously opted for Islam seeing that Islam is the best, the most complete and the most perfect of all religions. Hence, they listened to the word in the correct manner.

Such people who listen to the word in the correct manner are those who do not just fall onto anything, any statement, any advice, anything given to them or any word passed on to them or any message they have received, they don’t just take it like that on face value. Rather thereafter they think for themselves and they try and understand that which is the best path. Then they follow the best path. They don’t just act on impulse or they don’t just act on their emotions, rather they will see what is the best. They will think for themselves, reason with the ability that Allah Ta’ala has given them, and follow the best path. These are the ones who are upon guidance of Allah Ta’ala. Allah Ta’ala has guided these people and they are the people of understanding and intelligence.

أَفَمَن حَقَّ عَلَيهِ كَلِمَةُ العَذابِ أَفَأَنتَ تُنقِذُ مَن فِى النّارِ ﴿١٩﴾ لـكِنِ الَّذينَ اتَّقَوا رَبَّهُم لَهُم غُرَفٌ مِن فَوقِها غُرَفٌ مَبنِيَّةٌ تَجرى مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهـرُ وَعدَ اللَّـهِ لا يُخلِفُ اللَّـهُ الميعادَ ﴿٢٠﴾

“Is the one against whom the divine decree due, (can he be equal to the one who’s been saved from the punishment, who is upon the path of virtue on account of which he has been delivered from all wrong and all types of torment and punishment, can both of them be equal?) “Can you save the one that is in the fire? But for those people who fear their Rabb (they fear disobeying their Rabb), then for them are mansions built one above the other beneath them will rivers flow. Such is the promise of Allah Ta’ala. And Allah Ta’ala does not fail in His promise.”

أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّـهَ أَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَسَلَكَهُ يَنـبيعَ فِى الأَرضِ ثُمَّ يُخرِجُ بِهِ زَرعًا مُختَلِفًا أَلونُهُ ثُمَّ يَهيجُ فَتَرىهُ مُصفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَجعَلُهُ حُطـمًا إِنَّ فى ذلِكَ لَذِكرى لِأُولِى الأَلبـبِ ﴿٢١﴾

“Don’t you see Allah Ta’ala sends down the rain from the heavens then He leads it to the springs through the earth thereafter he brings out crops of different colours. Then you will see them withering away and you will see it yellow and then you see it drying and crumbling away. These are lessons for those imbued with intelligence and understanding.”

So this is the life that we go through. The first and initial stage of life we are very weak and helpless, then we grow to our levels of perfection. We feel that there is nobody that is equal to us. Thereafter man gradually withers away, the greyness comes in, the weakness settles in and thereafter eventually he just crumbles. Like how those plants and those crops, after the beauty and after they had peaked, then they crumble and become totally dry. These are lessons for those imbued with intelligence and understanding.

2013-08-12_Surah_39_Ayah_11.mp3

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