Tafsir of Surah Hood - Verse 4

Which was revealed in Makkah

Surah Hud made the Prophet's Hair turn Gray

Abu `Isa At-Tirmidhi recorded from Ibn `Abbas that Abu Bakr said, "O Messenger of Allah, verily your hair has turned gray." The Prophet replied,

«شَيَّبَتْنِي هُودٌ وَالْوَاقِعَةُ وَالْمُرْسَلَاتُ وَعَمَّ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ وَإِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَت»

(Surahs Hud, Al-Waqi`ah, Al-Mursalat, `Amma Yatasa'lun An-Naba' and Idhash-Shamsu Kuwwirat At-Takwir have turned my hair gray.) In another narration he said,

«هُودٌ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا»

(Surah Hud and its sisters...)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Qur'an and its Call to (worship) Allah Alone

A discussion concerning the letters of the alphabet (which appear at the beginning of some chapters of the Qur'an) has already preceded at the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah. That discussion is sufficient without any need for repetition here. Concerning Allah's statement,

أُحْكِمَتْ ءايَـتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ

(The Ayat whereof are perfect and then explained in detail) This means perfect in its wording, detailed in its meaning. Thus, it is complete in its form and its meaning. This interpretation was reported from Mujahid and Qatadah, and Ibn Jarir At-Tabari preferred it. Concerning the meaning of Allah's statement,

مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ

(from One (Allah), Who is All-Wise, Well-Acquainted.) This means that it (the Qur'an) is from Allah, Who is Most Wise in His statements and His Laws, and Most Aware of the final outcome of matters.

أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ اللَّهَ

((Saying) worship none but Allah.) This means that this Qur'an descended, perfect and detailed, with the purpose of Allah's worship alone, without any partners. This is similar to the statement of Allah, the Exalted,

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ نُوحِى إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنَاْ فَاعْبُدُونِ

(And We did not send any Messenger before you but We revealed to him (saying): There is no God but I, so worship Me.) 21:25 It is similar to Allah's statement,

وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولاً أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُواْ الْطَّـغُوتَ

(And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming): `Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid Taghut (calling false deities.)')16:36 In reference to Allah's statement,

إِنَّنِى لَكُمْ مِّنْهُ نَذِيرٌ وَبَشِيرٌ

(Verily, I am unto you from Him a warner and a bringer of glad tidings.) This means, "Verily, I am unto you a warner of the punishment if you oppose Him (Allah), and a bringer of the good news of reward if you obey Him." This meaning has been recorded in the authentic Hadith which states that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ascended mount As-Safa and called out to his near relatives of the Quraysh tribe. When they gathered around him, he said,

«يَا مَعْشَرَ قُرَيْشٍ أَرَأَيْتُمْ لَوْ أَخْبَرْتُكُمْ أَنَّ خَيْلًا تُصَبِّحُكُمْ أَلَسْتُمْ مُصَدِّقِيَّ؟»

(O people of Quraysh, if I informed you that a cavalry was going to attack you in the morning, would you not believe me) They replied, "We have not found you to be a liar." He said,

«فَإِنِّي نَذِيرٌ لَكُمْ بَيْنَ يَدَي عَذَابٍ شَدِيد»

(Verily I am a warner unto you before a severe punishment.) Concerning His statement,

وَأَنِ اسْتَغْفِرُواْ رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُواْ إِلَيْهِ يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ

(And (commanding you): `Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance, that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding grace to every owner of grace.) This means, "I am commanding you to seek forgiveness from previous sins and to turn to Allah from future sins, and thereafter you abide by that."

يُمَتِّعْكُمْ مَّتَاعًا حَسَنًا

(that He may grant you good enjoyment,) This is in reference to this worldly life.

إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى وَيُؤْتِ كُلَّ ذِي فَضْلٍ فَضْلَهُ

(for a term appointed, and bestow His abounding grace to every owner of grace.) This refers to the Hereafter, according to Qatadah. "This is like the statement of Allah,

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَوةً طَيِّبَةً

(Whoever works righteousness -- whether male or female -- while a true believer, verily to him We will give a good life.)16:97 Concerning Allah's statement,

وَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَإِنِّي أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيرٍ

(But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day.) This is a severe threat for whoever turns away from the commandments of Allah, the Exalted, and rejects His Messengers. Verily, the punishment will afflict such a person on the Day of Resurrection and there will be no escape from it.

إِلَى الله مَرْجِعُكُمْ

(To Allah is your return,) This is means your return on the Day of Judgement.

وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(and He is able to do all things.) This means that He is capable of doing whatever He wishes, whether it be goodness towards His Awliya' (friends and allies), or vengeance upon His enemies. This also includes His ability to repeat the creation of His creatures on the Day of Resurrection. This section encourages fear, just as the previous section encourages hope.

In the fifth verse, the theme has been emphasized further. Let man do what he elects to. Let him live the way he fancies. But, ultimately, once dead, man has to return to Him and He is powerful over everything. It is not at all difficult for Him to have each particle man is made of reassembled after he is dead and becomes dust and see to it that there rises the man he was, all over again.

The message of the Quran is that man should not worship anyone except the one and only God. He should make the one and only God his everything; he should fear Him alone and repose his hopes in Him alone; his mind and heart should obey Him alone. In the affairs of his life, he should give prior consideration to His will and pleasure. He should be willing to place himself in the position of a worshipper and give God the status of the worshipped one. The task of the prophet is, in fact, that of making man aware of this position. This has been powerfully and lucidly described in the Quran. Now, what is expected of man is that he should give the correct response to the divine message. He should not ignore it under the influence of such feelings as jealousy, hauteur, vested interest or self-centredness, but duly accept it and turn towards God. He should seek God’s pardon for his past sins and, for the future, he should solicit God’s help. If food is presented to a man and he accepts it, it means that he intends to stimulate his physical growth. On the contrary, if he does not accept the food, it is as if he means to stunt his physical growth. The same holds for the call to the Truth. When a man accepts the Truth, in reality he accepts that Divine provision which enters into him and causes the righteous growth of his soul and his body, and finally takes him to that stage of his spiritual progress which entitles him to enter the Gardens of Paradise. One who does not accept the call to the Truth has, in effect, deprived his soul of the opportunities afforded by Divine uplift. While the acceptor of Truth lives in modesty, the rejecter of Truth will be flawed by hauteur. While the acceptor of Truth will spend each moment of his life in the remembrance of God, the denier of God will spend his time in the remembrance of beings other than God. While the acceptor of Truth adopts the way of obedience to God on all occasions in his life, the denier will instead adopt the way of arrogance. The result of this will be that the former will leave this world with a healthy and developed soul and will be treated as deserving of being settled in the rarefied atmosphere of Paradise. The soul of the latter will be unhealthy and under-developed and will deserve only to be thrown on to the garbage dump of hell.