Tafsir of Surah Ibrahim - Verse 2

Which was revealed in Makkah

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ )

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

Describing the Qur'an and warning Those Who defy it

Previously we discussed the meaning of the separate letters that appear in the beginnings of some Surahs.

كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَـهُ إِلَيْكَ

((This is) a Book which We have revealed unto you...) Allah says, `This is a Book that We have revealed to you, O Muhammad. This `Book', is the Glorious Qur'an, the most honored Book, that Allah sent down from heaven to the most honored Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent to all the people of the earth, Arabs and non-Arabs alike,

لِتُخْرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(in order that you might lead mankind out of darkness into light) We sent you, O Muhammad, with this Book in order that you might lead mankind away from misguidance and crookedness to guidance and the right way,'

اللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ الطَّـغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُم مِّنَ النُّورِ إِلَى الظُّلُمَـتِ

(Allah is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light. But as for those who disbelieve, their Awliya (supporters and helpers) are Taghut (false deities), they bring them out from light into darkness.) 2:257, and,

هُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ ءَايَـتٍ بَيِّنَـتٍ لِّيُخْرِجَكُمْ مِّنَ الظُّلُمَـتِ إِلَى النُّورِ

(It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant that He may bring you out from darkness into light. ) 57:9 Allah said next,

بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ

(by their Lord's leave), He guides those whom He destined to be guided by the hand of His Messenger , whom He sent to guide them by His command,

إِلَى صِرَاطِ الْعَزِيزِ

(to the path of the All-Mighty,) Who can never be resisted or overpowered. Rather, Allah is Irresistible above everything and everyone else,

الْحَمِيدِ

(the Praised.) Who is glorified and praised in all His actions, statements, legislation, commandments and prohibitions and Who only says the truth in the information He conveys. Allah's statement,

اللَّهِ الَّذِى لَهُ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَمَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(Allah to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth!), is similar to,

قُلْ يَأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا الَّذِى لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(Say: "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah - to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth.) 7:158 Allah's statement,

وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْكَـفِرِينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ

(And woe unto the disbelievers from a severe torment. ) means, `woe to them on the Day of Judgment because they defied you, O Muhammad, and rejected you.' Allah described the disbelievers as preferring the life of the present world to the Hereafter, coveting the former life and working hard for its sake. They have forgotten the Hereafter and abandoned it behind their backs,

وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(and hinder (men) from the path of Allah), from following the Messengers,

وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا

(and seek crookedness therein) they seek to make Allah's path crooked, even though it is straight itself and does not deviate on account of those who defy or betray it. When the disbelievers do this, they become engulfed in ignorance and misguidance far away from truth, and therefore, there is no hope that they will gain guidance and correctness while on this state.

After having mentioned these two attributes of Allah Ta’ ala earlier, it was said: اللَّـهِ الَّذِي لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Allah, the One to whom be-longs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth). In other words, Allah is that particular Being who is the Creator of everything in the heavens and the earth and He is the absolute Sovereign having no partners or associates.

Said in the concluding sentence of verse 2 was: وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْكَافِرِ‌ينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ (Woe is to the disbelievers from a severe punishment). The word: وَيْلٌ (waiyl : woe to) is used in the sense of severe punishment and fatal consequence. The verse means that those who dismiss and deny this blessing of the Qur’ an, and prefer to go on living in a multiplicity of darkness, should know that there is for them the darkest of destruction, and the severe punishment which is about to visit them.

The Meaning in Summation

The gist of the verse is that the Qur'an has been revealed so that it rescues all human beings from darkness and brings them into the light of the way of Allah. But, certainly unfortunate are those who reject the Qur'an itself - they, by doing so, are bringing punishment on themselves with their own hands. So, those who deny from the very outset that the Qur’ an is the Divine Word, are the targets of this warning of punishment obviously. But, those who, despite their belief in the Holy Qur'an, have abandoned it in their practical life, in the sense that they never re-cite it, nor try to understand it, nor act upon its teachings, they too can-not be considered totally free and safe from becoming targets of this warning.

Faith enables man to discover God as a Being who is all powerful and possessed of all the good attributes. Such a mental state is not merely a formal belief. It, in fact, signals the emergence of a man from the darkness of ignorance and his entering into the light of knowledge. It amounts to the observation and realization of the Hereafter, while actually remaining in this world. Faith in reality is a conscious attainment and not the spiritless repetition of certain combinations of words. The Book of God aims to lead man to this higher stage of consciousness. Receiving guidance at the command of God would appear to attribute the matter of guidance to God. But these words are, in fact, aimed at man himself. There is an immutable law of God, which He has established for the guidance or misguidance of man. According to this law, a man’s serious desire for guidance is the only condition which will take him towards it. When a man receives guidance in this world, it is not simply because of the efforts of the missionary, but because it is available to him by the law of God which lays down that only that person will receive the bounty of guidance who himself is desirous of receiving it. Nobody can receive guidance without his own personal desire to have it.