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Tafsir of Surah Al-Isra - Verse 41

Surah 17
Verse 41
111 verses
41

وَلَقَدۡ صَرَّفۡنَا فِی هَـٰذَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِ لِیَذَّكَّرُوا۟ وَمَا یَزِیدُهُمۡ إِلَّا نُفُورࣰا

And We have certainly diversified [the contents] in this Qur'an that mankind may be reminded, but it does not increase the disbelievers except in aversion.

Scholarly Interpretations(3)

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وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَا فِى هَـذَا الْقُرْءَانِ

(And surely, We have explained in this Qur'an) meaning, `We have explained Our warni- ngs so that they may remember the proof, evidence and exhorta- tions contained there- in, and be prevented from Shirk, wrong- doing and scandal.'

وَمَا يَزِيدُهُمْ

(but it increases them in naught) the wrong- doers among them

إِلاَّ نُفُورًا

(save aversion.) aversion towards the truth; they go further away from it.

You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 17:38 to 17:41

After having described details of the injunctions appearing above, it was said in the last verse: كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ كَانَ سَيِّئُهُ عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ مَكْرُ‌وهًا (That which is evil, of all these, is detestable in the sight of your Lord - 38).

As for what has been forbidden in the said injunctions, their repugnance is obvious. But, within these there are some commandments where rights of parents and relatives have been enjoined or fulfillment of promises has been made mandatory. Here too, the purpose is to avoid doing the opposite of it, like hurting parents, breaking off from relatives and going back on solemn promises. Since all these things are haram or reprehensible, therefore, it has been called 'makruh' in a general sense of 'detestable' which includes the haram and makruh both. (Bayan al-Qur an)

Note

The injunctions described in the fifteen verses cited above are, in a way, the explanation of the effort acceptable in the sight of Allah mentioned in: وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا (and makes effort for it as due - 19). There it was said that not every effort is acceptable with Allah. Instead, the effort made in accordance with the Sunnah and teaching of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is the only one acceptable with Him. Main divisions of such acceptable effort have been mentioned in these injunctions which take up the rights of Allah first and then the rights of the servants of Allah.

A gist of Torah in fifteen verses

Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ said that the commandments of the entire Torah have been reduced to fifteen verses of Surah Bani Isra'il. (Mazhari)

You are reading a tafsir for the group of verses 17:40 to 17:44

The truth is so complete and perfect in itself that, if any untruth is placed next to it, the truth immediately stands out as such. One example of an untruth is ascribing partners to God. Worshippers of deities call their supposed partners God’s children, but this in itself is a refutation of their claim. Firstly, if these so-called partners are given feminine gender and called God’s daughters, then immediately an objection may be raised, for the disbelievers hold that daughters belong to the weaker sex. Why then would God approve of a member of this weaker class as His partner? How surprising it would be if He gave man sons as his loving children and chose daughters for Himself! Secondly, if the partner is taken to be God’s son, —who, in the experience of man is a symbol of power and strength—this again would defy understanding, for, power is indivisible. If in any system there is more than one person invested with power, a struggle between them is bound to take place, for each one of them would want to have absolute power. Now, if there had been more than one powerful being in this universe, there would certainly have been a struggle for power and this would have created disorder and dissension. But, as there is no disorder or dissension in the universe, this proves that no such being or beings exist as have a share in God’s power. Whether God’s supposed partners are called sons or daughters, the notion of partnership clashes with reality. The truth is that the entire universe rejects all ideas that ascribe partners to God’s divinity.