Surah Zumar, Aayah 29-35

Transcript of Tafseer by Hazrat Mufti Ebrahim Salejee Saheb

ضَرَبَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا رَجُلًا فيهِ شُرَكاءُ مُتَشـٰكِسونَ وَرَجُلًا سَلَمًا لِرَجُلٍ هَل يَستَوِيانِ مَثَلًا الحَمدُ لِلَّـهِ بَل أَكثَرُهُم لا يَعلَمونَ ﴿٢٩﴾

Allah Ta’ala sets forth a parable and a simile of a man who belongs to several partners disputing and quarreling with each other and another man who belongs entirely to a single master. Can both be equal in comparison? All praise be to Allah but most of them do not understand.

A man who belongs entirely to one master knows the purpose and his mind is settled and at ease that he has to just please a single master and he knows the commands of the master. So his mind becomes easy and his mind is not suffering with turmoil and he finds a direction in his path. And the second person who is owned by several disputing, quarreling partners at variance with each other, then when they are at variance with each other then one is commanding him to do a certain work and the other is asking him to do something else and the third is asking him to do something else. Now he is constantly in a state of mental turmoil that he doesn't know who to please. If he pleases one, then the other one is displeased. If he pleases the second, then the first is displeased. So he doesn't know who to please and who to displease. He is constantly suffering from turmoil. His mind is not at ease whatsoever. So this is a comparison between those who worship Allah Ta’ala and those who worship these false deities, that when they are worshipping their false deities, they do not know whether Allah Ta’ala is pleased with them. When they are worshipping Allah Ta’ala, then they are concerned about their deities. So their minds are being tossed from one end to the other.

Similarly, the same parable and example can be applied to a person who is consumed with customs, ways and people. When he has allowed people to give him direction and instruction, so if he is pleasing one, then he is concerned about the other, how will the other person take it. If it is a marriage, if he is pleasing his wife then he is worried about the Shari’ah. If he is worried about the Shari’ah then he is also concerned about his wife. Now who to please and who to displease? How to reconcile? So when you have got so many people, and so many masters to obey and to please, then obviously your mind will be in a constant state of turmoil. Compared to a person who has just submitted himself to Allah Ta’ala and His Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), his mind is totally at ease. It is just Allah Ta’ala and His Nabi (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) that I have to please and I don’t have to be concerned about the rest of the world. No matter what the world may say. So this is a parable that can be applied to all different types of situations.

إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَيِّتونَ ﴿٣٠﴾ثُمَّ إِنَّكُم يَومَ القِيـٰمَةِ عِندَ رَبِّكُم تَختَصِمونَ ﴿٣١﴾

Indeed you will also die and they will also die, then (at the end) on the day of Qiyaamat will you settle your disputes in the presence of your Rabb.

In the Hadith it is recorded that if any person has anything to settle, any obligations any debts, then let him settle it immediately in this life. Because in the next life there isn't any wealth that is of any avail, nor is there any influence that is of any avail. What counts is your deeds. So if it is that you have anything that is unsettled in this life, then see to it that you have settled it in this very life and don’t postpone it for the hereafter. For there, you will have to pay dearly with your deeds. Hence, on the Day of Qiyaamat when people will appear, then Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) had enquired from the Sahabah-e-Kiraam that who is a bankrupt and insolvent person? The obvious reply the Sahabah-e-Kiraam had given ‘The one that doesn't have any wealth and is covered with debts. That is the person that is counted as a bankrupt person’. He said, “Well, no no, the real bankrupt person is that person who will come with a mountain of deeds. So heavy will his deeds be that they will even suppress the mountains. But then he will appear such that he has oppressed a person, he has been aggressive to the other, he has insulted the third person, he has robbed and cheated someone else and he has been humiliating others; suppressing them, cheating them, humiliating them, robbing them of their rights. So the sins of those who he wronged will be loaded upon him and if they have no sins left, then his good deeds will be transferred to those people who he had wronged. Hence, on that day the concern will be so great that even the son will hope and desire that can I make any claims and desires from my father. The wife will demand the same from her husband that he had been cruel to me on a certain occasion and I need my rights today. So rights will be fulfilled and they will be fulfilled with your deeds.

So when this is the condition,

فَمَن أَظلَمُ مِمَّن كَذَبَ عَلَى اللَّـهِ وَكَذَّبَ بِالصِّدقِ إِذ جاءَهُ أَلَيسَ فى جَهَنَّمَ مَثوًى لِلكـٰفِرينَ ﴿٣٢﴾

Then who does greater wrong than the one who utters a lie against Allah Ta’ala or rejects the truth when it comes to him. (Obviously one is at the level of oppression, wrong, cheating and robbing. And then the higher wrong is to utter a lie against Allah Ta’ala, attribute something falsely towards Him or rejects the truth when it comes to him.) Is there not an abode in Jahannum for the unbelievers.

وَالَّذى جاءَ بِالصِّدقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ أُولـٰئِكَ هُمُ المُتَّقونَ ﴿٣٣﴾ لَهُم ما يَشاءونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِم ذٰلِكَ جَزاءُ المُحسِنينَ ﴿٣٤﴾ لِيُكَفِّرَ اللَّـهُ عَنهُم أَسوَأَ الَّذى عَمِلوا وَيَجزِيَهُم أَجرَهُم بِأَحسَنِ الَّذى كانوا يَعمَلونَ ﴿٣٥﴾

And the one that has brought the truth and the one that confirms it (one is the one that brings the truth i.e. the Nabi and then the one that confirms and supports it i.e. the Sahabah and the believers in general) then these are the righteous ones. For them will be all that they please, all that they desire and they wish for in the presence of their Rabb. Such is the reward of those who do good. The result (of this good) is that Allah Ta’ala will pardon and wipe off even the worst of their deeds, (let alone their minor deeds, he will even wipe out and obliterate the worst of their deeds) and he will reward them for the best of their deeds.

2013-08-14_Surah_39_Ayah_29.mp3

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