Tafsir of Surah Al-Mu'minun - Verse 117

Shirk is the Worst form of Wrong, its Practitioner shall never succeed. Allah threatens those who associate anything else withHim and worship anything with Him. He informs that those whoassociate others with Allah:

لاَ بُرْهَانَ لَهُ

(of whom he has no proof), meaning no evidence for what he says. Then Allah says:

وَمَن يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَـهَا ءَاخَرَ لاَ بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ

(And whoever invokes, besides Allah, any other god, of whom he has no proof;) this is a conditional sentence, whose fulfilling clause is:

فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِندَ رَبِّهِ

(then his reckoning is only with his Lord.) meaning, Allah will call him to account for that. Then Allah tells us:

إِنَّهُ لاَ يُفْلِحُ الْكَـفِرُونَ

(Surely, disbelievers will not be successful.) meaning, they will not be successful with Him on the Day of Resurrection; they will not prosper or be saved.

وَقُل رَّبِّ اغْفِرْ وَارْحَمْ وَأنتَ خَيْرُ الرَحِمِينَ

(And say: "My Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for You are the best of those who show mercy!") Here Allah is teaching us to recite this supplication, for forgiveness, in a general sense, means wiping away sins and concealing them from people, and mercy means guiding a person and helping him to say and do good things.

Commentary

The last few verses of this Surah Al-Mu'minun from verse 115 to verse 118 have special merit. Baghawi and Thalabi have related from Sayyidna Ibn Masud ؓ that he came across a person who was very ill. He recited the above verses into the sick man's ears and he was cured immediately. The Holy Prophet ﷺ asked him what he had whispered in the sick man's ears to which Sayyidna 'Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ replied that he had recited these verses (115 to 118) in his ears. Thereupon the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "I swear by Him Who has power over my life that if a person with genuine faith were to recite these verses on a mountain, the mountain itself may move from its place". (Qurtubi and Mazhari)

There are two types of human beings: one leads a principled life, while another leads an unprincipled one. While one sacrifices himself for the sake of an unseen Truth, the other remains preoccupied with visible things. While one accepts the call for Truth—in spite of all its unfamiliarity—the other ignores it or even ridicules it. While one abstains from indulging in cruelty—solely because God has prohibited it, another becomes a tyrant at the very first opportunity, because his self-interest bids him do so. The meaningfulness of the universe contradicts the theory that there is no purpose behind the creation of this world. The perfect system of the universe shows its Creator to be a highly intelligent Being. The vast and perfect system of the universe introduces us to a Creator Who is perfect to the ultimate degree. It is inconceivable that such a Creator would countenance or tolerate the aforesaid two types of individuals meeting the same end. This is totally impossible. The Lord of this universe will certainly scorn those who scoffed at the Truth and will show His appreciation for those who valued it.