Tafsir of Surah An-Nahl - Verse 80

Homes, Furnishings and Clothing are also Blessings from Allah

Allah mentions His great blessings for His servant in that He has given them homes to dwell in and protect themselves with, in which they find all kinds of benefits. He has also given them homes from the hides of cattle, i.e., leather, which are light and easy to carry on journeys and can be erected wherever they stop, whether they are traveling or are settled. Thus Allah says:

تَسْتَخِفُّونَهَا يَوْمَ ظَعْنِكُمْ وَيَوْمَ إِقَـمَتِكُمْ

(which you find so light when you travel and when you camp;)

وَمِنْ أَصْوَافِهَا وَأَوْبَارِهَا وَأَشْعَارِهَآ

(out of their wool, fur and hair) refers to sheep, camels and goats respectively.

أَثَـثاً

(furnishings) meaning what you take from them, i.e., wealth. It was also said that it means articles of convenience, or clothing. The correct view is more general in meaning than this; it means that you make carpets, clothing and other things from their wool, hair etc., which you use as wealth and for trade. Ibn `Abbas said: `Al-Athath means articles of convenience and comfort." This was also the view of Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, `Atiyah Al-`Awfi, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah. The phrase,

إِلَى حِينٍ

(for a while) means, until the appointed time.

Shade, Places of Refuge in the Mountains, Garments and Coats of Mail are also Blessings from Allah

وَاللَّهُ جَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّمَّا خَلَقَ ظِلَـلاً

(And Allah has made shade for you out of that which He has created,) Qatadah said: "This means trees."

وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْجِبَالِ أَكْنَـناً

(and He has made places of refuge in the mountains for you,) meaning fortresses and strongholds.

جَعَلَ لَكُمُسَرَابِيلَ تَقِيكُمُ الْحَرَّ

(and He has made garments for you to protect you from the heat,) meaning clothing of cotton, linen and wool.

وَسَرَبِيلَ تَقِيكُم بَأْسَكُمْ

(and coats of mail to protect you from your violence.) such as shields made of layers of sheet iron, coats of mail and so on.

كَذَلِكَ يُتِمُّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَيْكُمْ

(Thus does He perfect His favor for you,) meaning, thus He gives you what you need to go about your business, so that this will help you to worship and obey Him.

لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْلِمُونَ

(that you may submit yourselves to His will). This is interpreted by the majority to mean submitting to Allah or becoming Muslim.

All the Messenger has to do is convey the Message

فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ

(Then, if they turn away,) meaning, after this declaration and reminder, do not worry about them.

فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْكَ الْبَلَـغُ الْمُبِينُ

(your duty (O Muhammad) is only to convey (the Message) in a clear way), and you have delivered the Message to them.

يَعْرِفُونَ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنكِرُونَهَا

(They recognize the grace of Allah, yet they deny it) meaning they know that Allah is the One Who grants these blessings to them, and that He is Bountiful towards them, but they still deny this by worshipping others besides Him and thinking that their help and provisions come from others besides Him.

وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْكَـفِرُونَ

(and most of them are disbelievers.)

وَيَوْمَ نَبْعَثُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا ثُمَّ لاَ يُؤْذَنُ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَلاَ هُمْ يُسْتَعْتَبُونَ

وَإِذَا رَأى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ الْعَذَابَ فَلاَ يُخَفَّفُ عَنْهُمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يُنظَرُونَ- وَإِذَا رَءا الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ شُرَكَآءهُمْ قَالُواْ رَبَّنَا هَـؤُلآء شُرَكَآؤُنَا الَّذِينَ كُنَّا نَدْعُوْا مِن دُونِكَ فَألْقَوْا إِلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلَ إِنَّكُمْ لَكَـذِبُونَ- وَأَلْقَوْاْ إِلَى اللَّهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ السَّلَمَ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يَفْتَرُونَ-

In the statement: وَاللَّـهُ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّن بُيُوتِكُمْ سَكَنًا (And Allah has made for you of your houses a place of comfort - 80), the word: بُيُوتِ (buyut) is the plural of bayt (بَیت) which means a house where night could be spent. Imam Al-Qurtubi says in his Tafsir:

کُلُّ مَا عَلَاکَ فَاَظَلَّکَ فَھُوَ سَقفُ وَّسَمَآُء وَ کُلُّ مَآ اَقَلَّکَ فَھُوَاَرضُ وَّ کُلُّ مَا سَتَرَکَ مِن جِھَاتِکَ الاَربَعِ فَھُوَ جِدَارُ فَاِذَا انتَظَمَت فَھُوَ بَیتُ

'Whatever is above your head and provides shade for you is roof or sky, and whatever holds you atop is earth, and whatever screens you out from all four sides are walls, and when (all these components are) put together properly, that is a house.

The real purpose of making a house is to have peace for body and heart

Here, by calling the human house a place of comfort and peace Allah Ta’ ala has made the logic and wisdom of making houses fully evident, that is, its real purpose is to have comfort of the body and peace of the heart. Customarily, the avenues of human work lie outside houses. Human work owes its existence to human movement and struggle. The real purpose of one's house is to go there, when tired after moving around and doing things, and rest and enjoy peace - even though, there are times when one keeps moving around and doing things in one's own house, but such instances are usually on the lower side.

This help us realize that peace is really the peace of mind and heart, something one finds in one's home only. This also tells us that the highest qualification of human home is that it provides peace. The world of today is at the height of its building craze. Limitless expenditure is incurred on their superficial finishing. But, there are very few homes among them which would provide peace of mind and heart. In fact, the artificially imposed additions in them become the very agents which destroy comfort and peace, and even in the absence of such material extravagance, the kind of people one confronts in the house is a misfortune which sucks that peace away. When such elegant houses are compared with a modest hut, the dweller of the hut who is blessed with comfort and peace for his body and heart is certainly living in a better place.

The Qur'an manifests the 'elan vital, the essence and the root of everything. Hence, peace was declared to be the real purpose of human home, and the greatest need indeed. Similarly, the real purpose of marital life was also determined to be peace as in: لِّتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا (so that you may enjoy peace with her - 30:21). A married life which fails to achieve this pur-pose remains deprived of the real benefit destined for it. Life in our day is infested with so many customs and formalities reaching the limits of absurdity in showing what you have through all sorts of artificial veneers. To compound the problem further, the outpourings of Western cultural and social norms and products have provided everything one needs to embellish personal surroundings with artificial decor - but, it has certainly made human beings become all deprived of what would be real comfort for their bodies and peace for their hearts.

The statement: مِّن جُلُودِ الْأَنْعَامِ (from the hides of the cattle - 80) and the statement: أَصْوَافِهَا وَأَوْبَارِ‌هَا out of their wool and their fur and their hair 80) prove that it is Halal to use everything out of the hide, wool and hair of animals. Here, even the restriction that the animal be properly slaughtered or be a dead animal does not exist, nor is there any restriction as to their meat being Halal or Haram. It is perfectly Halal to use the hides of the animals of this kind by tanning them, and as for hair and wool, the death of the animal leaves just no effect on them. That remains halal and permissible without any specific technical treatment. This is the Madhab (creed) of the great Imam, Abu Hanifah. However, the hide of swine and all parts thereof are unclean and unfit for use under all conditions.

The flight of birds in the atmosphere is possible thanks to the magnificent planning of nature. (The shape of birds, most suitable for the purpose of flight, is imitated in the shape of aeroplanes). Just as ships could not have sailed without the existence of water on the surface of the earth, birds would not have been able to fly if there had not been the superior arrangment of continuously maintaining air on the earth’s surface by means of the earth’s gravity. If man reflects deeply upon these phenomena, he will feel as if he is seeing God in action in His universe; he will discover the Creator in the creative system; he will see the glory of the Manufacturer in the artefacts. At the human level, take the house. The house is a shelter and a resting place for man. But how is a house built? There are many arrangements of God—thanks to which the construction of a house on earth is possible. All the elements by means of which a house is built have been placed in advance in our world. The earth has exactly the right gravitational force, thanks to which houses stay stable on the surface of the earth—otherwise they would have flown away from the earth, which is moving at a speed of one thousand miles per hour. Then there are things like the hides of animals from which man makes tents and basic crops such as cotton and flax from which fabrics can be made to decorate and protect the human body in the changing seasons. All such things are provided so that man should develop a deep feeling gratitude for his Lord and Sustainer; and for the bounties granted by Him, he should fall down on his knees before God in the full realization of His Majesty and Powers.