Tafsir of Surah Al-Furqan - Verse 53

The universality of the Prophet's Message, how He was supported in His Mission and Allah's Blessings to Mankind

Allah says:

وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَبَعَثْنَا فِى كُلِّ قَرْيَةٍ نَّذِيراً

(And had We willed, We would have raised a warner in every town.) `Calling them to Allah, but We have singled you out, O Muhammad, to be sent to all the people of earth, and We have commanded you to convey the Qur'an,'

لاٌّنذِرَكُمْ بِهِ وَمَن بَلَغَ

(that I may therewith warn you and whomsoever it may reach) (6:19).

وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ مِنَ الاٌّحْزَابِ فَالنَّارُ مَوْعِدُهُ

(but those of the sects that reject it, the Fire will be their promised meeting place) (11:17).

لِّتُنذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا

(that you may warn the Mother of the Towns and all around it) (42:7).

قُلْ يَأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا

(Say: "O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah...") (7:158). In the Two Sahihs (it is reported that the Prophet said:)

«بُعِثْتُ إِلَى الْأَحْمَرِ وَالْأَسْوَد»

(I have been sent to the red and the black. ) And:

«وَكَانَ النَّبِيُّ يُبْعَثُ إِلَى قَوْمِهِ خَاصَّةً، وَبُعِثْتُ إِلَى النَّاسِ عَامَّة»

(...A Prophet would be sent to his own people, but I have been sent to all of mankind.) Allah says:

فَلاَ تُطِعِ الْكَـفِرِينَ وَجَـهِدْهُمْ بِهِ

(So obey not the disbelievers, but strive hard against them with it.) meaning, with the Qur'an. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas.

جِهَاداً كَبيراً

(with the utmost endeavour.) This is like the Ayah,

يَأَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ جَـهِدِ الْكُفَّـرَ وَالْمُنَـفِقِينَ

(O Prophet! Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites,) (9:73)

وَهُوَ الَّذِى مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ هَـذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَاتٌ وَهَـذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ

(And it is He Who has let free the two seas, this is palatable and sweet, and that is salty and bitter;) means, He has created the two kinds of water, sweet and salty. The sweet water is like that in rivers, springs and wells, which is fresh, sweet, palatable water. This was the view of Ibn Jurayj and of Ibn Jarir, and this is the meaning without a doubt, for nowhere in creation is there a sea which is fresh and sweet. Allah has told us about reality so that His servants may realize His blessings to them and give thanks to Him. The sweet water is that which flows amidst people. Allah has portioned it out among His creatures according to their needs; rivers and springs in every land, according to what they need for themselves and their lands.

وَهَـذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ

(and that is salty and bitter;) meaning that it is salty, bitter and not easy to swallow. This is like the seas that are known in the east and the west, the Atlantic Ocean and the Straits that lead to it, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and so on, all the seas that are stable and do not flow, but they swell and surge in the winter and when the winds are strong, and they have tides that ebb and flow. At the beginning of each month the tides ebb and flood, and when the month starts to wane they retreat until they go back to where they started. When the crescent of the following month appears, the tide begins to ebb again until the fourteenth of the month, then it decreases. Allah, may He be glorified, the One Whose power is absolute, has set these laws in motion, so all of these seas are stationary, and He has made their water salty lest the air turn putrid because of them and the whole earth turn rotten as a result, and lest the earth spoil because of the animals dying on it. Because its water is salty, its air is healthy and its dead are good (to eat), hence when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked whether sea water can be used for Wudu', he said:

«هُوَ الطَّهُورُ مَاؤُهُ، الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُه»

(Its water is pure and its dead are lawful.) This was recorded by Malik, Ash-Shafi`i and Ahmad, and by the scholars of Sunan with a good Jayyid chain of narration.

وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخاً وَحِجْراً

(and He has set a barrier and a complete partition between them. ) meaning, between the sweet water and the saltwater.

بَرْزَخاً

(a barrier) means a partition, which is dry land.

وَحِجْراً مَّحْجُوراً

(and a complete partition) means, a barrier, to prevent one of them from reaching the other. This is like the Ayat:

مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ - بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لاَّ يَبْغِيَانِ فَبِأَىِّ ءَالاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

(He has let loose the two seas meeting together. Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress. Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny) (55:19-21)

أَمَّن جَعَلَ الاٌّرْضَ قَرَاراً وَجَعَلَ خِلاَلَهَآ أَنْهَاراً وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَاسِىَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزاً أَءِلـهٌ مَّعَ اللهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ

(Is not He Who has made the earth as a fixed abode, and has placed rivers in its midst, and placed firm mountains therein, and set a barrier between the two seas Is there any god with Allah Nay, but most of them know not!) (27:61)

وَهُوَ الَّذِى خَلَقَ مِنَ الْمَآءِ بَشَراً

(And it is He Who has created man from water,) means, He created man from a weak Nutfah, then gave him shape and formed him, and completed his form, male and female, as He willed.

فَجَعَلَهُ نَسَباً وَصِهْراً

(and has appointed for him kindred by blood, and kindred by marriage.) in the beginning, he is someone's child, then he gets married and becomes a son-in-law, then he himself has sons-in-law and other relatives through marriage. All of this comes from a despised liquid, Allah says:

وَكَانَ رَبُّكَ قَدِيراً

(And your Lord is Ever All-Powerful to do what He wills.)

وَهُوَ الَّذِي مَرَ‌جَ الْبَحْرَ‌يْنِ هَـٰذَا عَذْبٌ فُرَ‌اتٌ وَهَـٰذَا مِلْحٌ أُجَاجٌ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْ‌زَخًا وَحِجْرً‌ا مَّحْجُورً‌ا ﴿53﴾

And He is the One who joined the two seas - this is sweat, very sweat and this is bitter, very bitter - and made between them a buffer and a barrier, prohibited (to cross) - 25:53.

The word مَرَج (maraja) means to let off or allow to roam freely and hence pasture is called رَج (maraj) that is where animals can graze and roam about. عَذْبٌ ('adhb) is sweet water, while فُراَت means delicious and pleasant; and مِلح (milh) means salty and أُجَاجٌ means bitter.

Allah Ta’ ala in His own Wisdom has created two types of waters. One is enormous in size called oceans and cover up about two third of the global space while the rest of the one third space is made up of land mass on which people live. The water of the oceans and seas is extremely brackish, bitter and of a bad taste. On the other hand the water found on land in different forms is potable, pleasant and tasty. This water is just right for the needs of mankind and animals alike who drink it and use it for cleaning. If the water of the seas and oceans were not brackish, it would have decayed very quickly leaving behind a pungent and foul odor making the life unbearable for humans and animals on land. Moreover, the creatures living in ocean and sea water, and number manifold than those living on land could not have survived because when they die, they perish in the brackish water. If they were to die in sweet water their decomposition would have contaminated the water making the survival of the marine life impossible and its stink would have been unbearable for the life on land. Then the garbage of the land is generally dumped in the sea where it is decomposed (except for a few modern age items which need special treatment). Therefore, brackish water of the oceans and seas is a great blessing of Allah Ta’ ala for all creatures, whether living in the sea or on the land. Without the presence of brackish water mass, there would have been no marine or land life.

In this verse it is elucidated that it is a great blessing and grace of Allah Ta` a1a to have provided two types of waters in accordance with the needs of mankind. Then it is a perfect demonstration of His complete power that when a river of sweet water falls into the sea, the two waters .(the sweet and the brackish) do not mingle immediately where they meet, but for miles they remain separated from each other, despite the fact that there is no physical curtain between them. This is yet another example of His omnipotence.

When two rivers meet or a river flows down into the sea, at the point of confluence, in spite of coming together, the two waters remain separate and a line of demarcation can be seen for quite a distance. The writer of these words has witnessed this scene at the meeting place of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna at Allahabad. This happens under the natural law which in the present age is known as ‘surface tension’. Similarly, at the sea coast when the tides are rising the salt sea water rides over the coastal river’s fresh water. But the surface tension keeps the two waters separate, and when the tide goes out, the saltish water withdraws from above (without affecting the water below), and the fresh water below maintains its natural character. Due to this surface tension law, it has been possible to find reservoirs of fresh water in the very midst of salt sea waters to meet the needs of voyagers.