Tafsir of Surah Yunus - Verse 12

Man remembers Allah at Times of Adversity and forgets Him at Times of Prosperity

Allah tells us about man and how he becomes annoyed and worried when he is touched with distress.

وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ فَذُو دُعَآءٍ عَرِيضٍ

(but when evil touches him, then he has recourse to long supplications.)41:51 `Long supplications' also means many supplications. When man suffers adversity he becomes worried and anxious. So he supplicates more. He prays to Allah to lift and remove the adversity. He prays while standing, sitting or laying down. When Allah removes his adversity and lifts his distress, he turns away and becomes arrogant. He goes on as if nothing were wrong with him before.

مَرَّ كَأَن لَّمْ يَدْعُنَآ إِلَى ضُرٍّ مَّسَّهُ

(He passes on as if he had never invoked Us for a harm that touched him!) Allah then criticized and condemned those who have these qualities or act this way, so He said:

كَذلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(Thus it is made fair seeming to the wasteful that which they used to do.) But those on whom Allah has bestowed good guidance and support are an exception.

إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ

(Except those who have patience believe and do righteous good deeds.) 11:11 The Prophet said:

«عَجَبًا (لِأَمْرِ) الْمُؤْمِنِ لَا يَقْضِي اللهُ لَهُ قَضَاءً إِلَّا كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، إِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ فَصَبَرَ كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ فَشَكَرَ كَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُ، وَلَيْسَ ذَلِكَ لِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا لِلْمُؤْمِن»

(How wonderful is the case of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this is not the case with anyone except a believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah, and that is good for him. And if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is also good for him.)

An eloquent approach has been made in the second verse (12) to convince those who denied that Allah was One (Tauhid) and that there was a life to come ('Akhirah). It was said: When conditions are normal, people would find time to engage in debating the nature and existence of God and the Hereafter. They would feel free to ascribe all sorts of partners and associates to His pristine divinity and look forward to them in the hope that they would respond at their hour of need. But, as soon as some major distress overtakes them, even these very people, disappointed by the entire range of their false gods they pinned their hopes on, do nothing but call Allah for help, not simply once but repeatedly, lying, sitting, standing. They have no choice. They must invoke Him for help. However, along with this attitude, certainly terrible is their ingratitude. When Allah Ta` ala removes their distress, they forget all about Him becoming so disconnected and indifferent to Him as if they had never called Him and never sought His help in their hour of need. This tells us that those who associate anyone or anything else with Allah Ta` ala in His exclusive domain as the Dispenser of all that is needed by His creation do themselves get to experience the demolition of this belief of theirs. But, because of their hostility and obstinacy, they keep glued to their false notion.

The system of this world is so designed that from time to time man is hit by some calamity or accident. He begins to realise that he is absolutely helpless against external forces. At that time he spontaneously starts calling upon God; he admits his humbleness compared to God’s Power. But, he is humble only so long as he is in trouble. The moment he gets relief from trouble, he becomes as negligent and arrogant as he was earlier. God does not accept the obeisance of such people, because only that obeisance is acceptable which is offered in a free atmosphere. Obeisance offered under the pressure of compelling circumstances has no value in the eyes of God. Man is a creature who likes justification. He seeks justification for every action of his. If a man chooses to be arrogant, his mentality will be inclined towards that. He will, in practice indulge in arrogance, and his mind will provide him with beautiful words in order to prove his arrogance justified. This is known as taz’in. Man expresses his misdeeds in beautiful words and is satisfied that he is in the right. But, this is like a man holding a burning lump of coal in his hand and thinking that it will not burn him simply because he calls it a red flower.